All this carnage, just for a toaster.

A Smash TV sequel was, at one time, on Midway's drawing board, but the company's escape from the arcade business seems to have put a halt to those plans. With the company constantly updating its old lineup for the new generation of consoles, it really only seems like a matter of time before another Smash TV is made.

While the game has yet to see a full-fledged sequel, it was followed by a very similar game called Total Carnage. Total Carnage put the Smash TV-style, dual-control scheme into a military-themed shooter with scrolling screens. Total Carnage's first level was tough, but once you finished, it popped up and told all Smash TV players to get away from the machine. Total Carnage's difficulty ramped up pretty hard from there, making it a solid follow-up to an already difficult game.

I'd buy that for a dollar!

Smash TV was originally released to arcades in 1990, and it served as a continuation of the gameplay concepts originally popularized by another fantastic dual-joystick game, Robotron: 2084. It was also a hectic, white-knuckle shooter that stands the test of time and easily makes our list of the Greatest Games of All Time.

Smash TV is set up as a comical look into the near future. The year is 1999, and man's violent nature has finally spilled over into reality television. Taking a cue or two from the classic 1987 action film, The Running Man, Smash TV is an ultra-violent gameshow where two contestants battle against a horde of enemies in a quest for boatloads of cash and fabulous prizes. The game culminates in a battle with a mechanized version of the show's host, who is always ready with a one-liner, including the Robocop classic, "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

As a dual-joystick game, Smash TV is all about letting you run in one direction while shooting in another. Enemies swarm at you from all sides, making this sort of directional-fire control a must if you hope to stay alive. Like Robotron before it, Smash TV delivers a perfect feeling of panic. It's not a matter of if you'll die--it's when, and how often.

Smash TV also shines as a cooperative game. Two players could play the game simultaneously, giving you a much-appreciated second gun to use against your foes. Weapon power-ups also appear around the arena, giving you access to bombs, spread fire, rockets, and other more destructive weapons.

A big part of Smash TV's appeal is its rampant difficulty. Even the standard waves are tough; but the boss fights are even tougher. The first round puts you up against Mutoid Man, a large, hulking upper torso with laser eyes and a set of tank treads to keep it mobile. From there you square off against giant robot snakes and other gruesome creations. All of this action is tied together by a cool graphical look that does a better job at conveying the game's violence than most games did back in 1990. Enemies split apart when shot, exploding into bloody chunks. And, when you finally take a bat to the back of the head or an electric shock, you'll fall apart in a similar fashion.

Smash TV's nonstop action and strong level of difficulty make it a classic game you can return to again and again. That replayability, along with the game's great control and premise, make it a lock for our list of the Greatest Games of All Time.

Over the years, I've probably played Smash TV from start to finish something like 100 times. Between the pizza place with the Smash TV machine and the 7-11 on the other side of town that had Total Carnage, I got to be pretty good at both games. But that doesn't mean I could, like, get through a significant portion of the game without dying. Those games are insanely difficult in spots, and only the roughest, toughest action game fans can take them on without breaking a sweat.