Five classic arcade games that deserve the OhHeckYeah treatment

Before gamers had the option to kill each other anonymously via the Internet, they had to gather in real-world arcades to do it. In that arena, friendships were made, rivalries were born and a good time was had by all. Those days are long gone, but this summer OhHeckYeah is turning Champa Street into a giant arcade to return a sense of camaraderie and fun to video games. Three blocks of Champa, from 14th Street to the 16th Street Mall, will play host to three custom-designed games this summer, turning the city's cultural center into a giant, immersive gaming experience. The simple, engaging multiplayer games are designed to be easy to play, and all of them make players use their bodies to control the action, which should lead to some good times for players and onlookers alike. On the eve of this ambitious street arcade's launch, we got to wondering what classic arcade games might work well in the body-controlled, street-filling format of OhHeckYeah's creations. Here are five that would make the jump beautifully.

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5) Frogger Why did the frog cross the road? Who knows, but it probably had something to do with chicken. More important, it actually made for a fun gaming experience, and one that could only be improved by people standing on the sidewalk hopping to avoid virtual cars as they head toward the promised land of lily pads. Bonus points if the game somehow incorporated real-world traffic, as long as you didn't have to actually play in it.

4) Joust The original flappy bird video game, Joust put players on the back of giant, flying emus (yeah, it was weird) and tasked you with knocking off other emu-borne opponents. To do this, you pounded the buttons frantically to keep your bird flapping. Replace that button pounding with arm flapping and, well, that's video-game gold right there. Keep reading for more video games that deserve to be updated for the street arcade

3) Rampage With the new Godzilla in theaters, this classic game of giant monster destruction seems ripe for a comeback. As for the control scheme... well, is there any question that players should have to punch real buildings in order to punch the virtual buildings within the game? No. No, there is not.

2) Robotron 2084 This two-stick shoot-em-up pitted the player against endless waves of killer robots, keeping you firing as fast as you could to stay alive. In this theoretical street-arcade version, you have to run around a confined space, say ten foot by ten foot, and fire by pointing your finger at saying "pew pew." It's great exercise, and everyone gets to make laser noises. Pew pew!

1) Punchout In both its Mike Tyson and Tyson-less versions, Punchout taught many a youngster about the fine art of fisticuffs. Unfortunately, pushing buttons rapidly never stopped any of us from getting our asses kicked, but this potential street-arcade update might have. The controls here? Well, duh -- you want your little onscreen guy to punch? You punch. Just make sure there are no bystanders too close. We wouldn't want things to get ugly.

Check out OhHeckYeah starting Saturday, June 7, along Champa Street between 14th Street and the 16th Street Mall. For more info, visit the OhHeckYeah website or read our Night & Day OhHeckYeah coverage.

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