Barbarian

What do you get when you cross a martial-arts title with the sword-and-sorcery schlock of Gauntlet? This frenetic fighting game…and some hairy, mutton-splattered samurai. As one of 10 characters—from a buckskin-clad Amazon to a giant ape-man—you battle enemies with weaponry, magic, or the nearest oxcart. Though some of the button-smashing combos are tricky to execute, the multiplayer action is solid, and the quest mode stirs in puzzle solving for antisocial savages who prefer going solo. With its manic animation and game play, you’ll discover that, as Schwarzenegger taught us in the Conan movies, the English language isn’t the only thing that’s fun to mangle.