Wow. Along with Toki, I would say that NARC was the game I most wanted to be emulated... and now it's a reality. Yes, you read right- I'm getting sentimental about NARC. But who wouldn't get a little teary-eyed about this fantastic game? Who wouldn't get choked up about a game that lets you play the role of Rambo as a DEA agent, blasting gangsters and pushers with your rocket launcher, only to laugh cruelly as their severed limbs come raining down in flames.

Well, I was very excited to see that the new MacMAME supported NARC, Smash TV and a host of other last-80s Williams games. But you should not be as excited as I am unless you have some pretty heavy-duty hardware. On my G3/266 with 128MB of RAM I have to set the frameskip to every 3rd frame to get a decent rate. For you PC types, a G3 266 is faster than just about any Pentium available. And without a game pad or something, you'll find the controls a little daunting since you have four buttons to take care of.

But about the game... I hadn't played this one since 1988, the summer between sixth and seventh grade, when just the other week I saw that the student center at a school near my work had (get this) NARC, Bad Dudes, Robocop and Sly Spy!! Kick ass!! I spent the only $2 I had on me on NARC and resolved to come back with a $20 and beat the thing. I also saw a NARC machine at a Greyhound station in Maryland but had no time to play it. Well, before I had the chance to revisit either machine MacMAME .34b8 was released and I'm in heaven.

NARC is like a DEA recruitment film mixed with a Stallone film- a one man crusade against the forces of Mr. Big's drug empire. (I'm pretty sure they're not talking about the band Mr. Big. I mean, I remember getting high with them on their bus back in '88, but they weren't really gangsters or anything...) Highlights include scrawny guys in black who throw syringes at you, crazed clowns that carry prostitutes off on their shoulders and the boss of the game, a giant skull that spits tongues that flail you to death. Running over the bad guys in your Porsche is pretty fun too.

I can't imagine trying to win this game in the arcade, but I guess I did, and probably on no more than $5 or so, since I don't think at age 11 I ever had more than $20 at once... The end is ridiculously hard- if you can't kill Mr. Big on three lives, you have to start over from the beginning of his stage. I could see spending $10 on that alone. Miraculously, I was able to do it on my second try this time around, even though I hadn't played NARC in almost 10 years.

The audio is super, too- all kinds of screams, howls, cackles, blasts and more. However, even on my G3 NARC runs too slowly with sound enabled, thanks to it's 16-bit pallette, so I turn it off : (

Well I heartly recommend downloading NARC- it's a bit hefty at 2.1MB, but it's well worth it. Took me a good hour to beat it (and around 50 credits!) It's got everything- tons and tons of blood, great textures (probably the best graphics around in 1988), humor and action up the butthole. I give it two thumbs up! Can you beat my record of 65 busts for level one??

I swiped this from the hallway in Mr. Big's hideout, but it would make a cool button too.

One of the best parts of NARC is getting eaten by dogs AND cockroaches simultaneously.

Dude!! 420!

When I'm traveling, I won't stay anywhere except Hotel Le Snob.

Here is the cool end game screen. Americans really DO make the best games!