Xenophobe

How could you not love the duck guy?

Humanoids versus aliens. It's a concept as old as time itself. OK, well, maybe it's not that old. But it's one that's usually done in a pretty standard way. The aliens are evil, the protagonists are some sort of generic space-marine military faction, and so on. Midway's Xenophobe, released in 1987, starts in familiar territory--acid-spitting aliens have taken over a number of space stations and moonbases, and it's up to you to stop them by any means necessary--but it takes itself less seriously than the average alien shoot-'em-up. Xenophobe was a lighthearted and memorable arcade game that made its way home in a variety of forms, but none really captured the true essence--or maddening difficulty--of the original. Since alien shooting games being released these days take themselves too seriously, we'd like to see a new sequel or remake bearing the Xenophobe name and carrying the Xenophobe spirit.

The first clue that Xenophobe wasn't exactly the dark, brooding, Giger-inspired sci-fi shooter that you'd expect was in its character lineup. Among a variety of human-looking figures, you'd also find alien-headed characters, a man that looked suspiciously like a Vulcan, and a humanoid with the head of a duck. Needless to say, we always chose the duck guy.

Duck guy stumbles upon a roomful of alien eggs.

While the cast of characters and the expressive, cartoony art style certainly didn't hurt, what really gave Xenophobe its appeal was its cooperative play. The game supported up to three players via a horizontally split screen, and playing together was really the only viable way to fight off the alien horde that came at you in each and every level. Going at it alone was essentially a one-way ticket to "insert-coin-to-continue-ville," because the aliens would chew through your thousand health points pretty quickly. This cooperative aspect, combined with the challenge of fighting off the massive infestation on each level, gave the game a feel similar to Atari's classic co-op game Gauntlet, though, of course, Xenophobe was played from a side-scrolling perspective.

Alien shooting action has been done a billion different ways since Xenophobe's initial release, so a lot of different design choices are available for a potential remake. It would probably make a pretty great third-person shooter, because a first-person shooter wouldn't give you enough of the characters' personality. Give it a wider scope, some new alien beasties to blast through, and online co-op play with headset support, and you've got a winner in our book.