By Chris Nashawaty 
Kids Extra: Entertainment Weekly, March 11, 1994
Reprinted with permission.
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"Everyone's got an opinion about violent video games"

Kids love them. Critics, from senior members of Congress to newspaper editorialists, see them as Public Enemy No. 1.  Some people say they send the wrong message; others think they're more silly than scary. Parents, no doubt, have been left thoroughly confused by the controversy. So Kids Extra decided to evaluate the 10 video games that have been singled out as the most violent. Here, we settle the debate.

1. Night Trap (Sega CD)

• Violent Content: Ninja-like vampires stalk scantily clad coeds. Victims get drilled through the neck with a power tool.
• Is the Violence Realistic? This full-motion video game is more lifelike than traditional animated fare; it plays like a movie and features human actors (including Dana Plato from Different Strokes).
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? This is intended to be a campy B-movie in video-game form, but frightened kids won't get the joke. Sega, which appropriately rated it -17 (not for players under 17) for its graphic violence and mature story line, announced in January that it would halt production of the game until the violence is scaled down and an industry-wide rating system is in place, but it will not pull games from the shelves.

2. Mortal Kombat (Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega)

• Violent Content: The most infamous title in the hand-to-hand fighting category is bloodless on SNES; the Sega version has an unpublished, but widely known, "secret" blood code that players can punch in. This allows them to rip out their opponent's still-beating heart, decapitate him, or pull out his bloody spinal cord.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Very: both versions use live-action video animation.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? If your children don't have the blood code, Mortal Kombat is your basic fighting game. But unless they live under a rock, your kids have the code.

3. Lethal Enforcers (Sega CD)

• Violent Content Although the game has little blood, it is violent and comes with a large pistol called the Justifier that players fire at the screen.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Yes; the game uses photo-realist images of actors pointing guns.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? Definitely. Sega has rated the game a justly deserved -17. Lethal Enforcers puts a gun in kids' hands and teaches them to shoot first and ask questions later.

4. Ground Zero Texas (Sega CD)

• Violent Content: This shooting game has players blowing away human-looking aliens in a Texas border town.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Full-motion video footage makes this the most true-to-life game on the list.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? There's no blood, but kids are shooting at real people and watching them die.

5. Splatterhouse-3 (Sega)

• Violent Content: A hockey-masked man trying to save his family wields knives and cleavers against flesh-eating ghouls; gallons of blood.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Typical game animation, with harrowing graphics of the wife fearing for her life.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? Worse. Although the blood is cartoonish, the slasher story could be troubling for younger kids.

6. Prize Fighter (Sega CD)

• Violent Content: This boxing video game doesn't show blood or actual violence - except boxing, of course.
• Is the Violence Realistic? The game's selling point (picture-perfect graphics) is the very thing that makes it problematic for children under 13.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? The best litmus test: Do you let kids watch boxing on TV?

7. Street Fighter II (SNES and Sega)

• Violent Content: The grand-daddy of hand-to-hand fighting games features flying head-buttings, torching, and electrocutions.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Not especially.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? Not really. For kids ages 13 and up, the creativity and challenge of Street Fighter II make it the best of its class.

8. Terminator 2: The Arcade Game (Sega)

• Violent Content: A very standard shooting-game tie-in to a very violent film. The problem here is the Menacer - a shoulder-mounted gun used in place of a joypad.
• Is the Violence Realistic? No; graphics are run-of-the-mill.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? Worse. Learning how to fire the Menacer isn't a skill a child needs to develop. It is possible, though, to pay T2 with the joypad instead of the gun.

9. Mutant League Football (Sega)

• Violent Content: The field is dotted with land mines, players get to kill the referee after a bad call, and deaths are listed as a halftime statistic.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Average animation, with a cartoonishly high body count.
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? Older kids may find it a funny twist on the basic sports game, but it may be too much for the younger children.

10. Clayfighter (SNES)

• Violent Content: Not much in this toned-down fighting game.
• Is the Violence Realistic? Nah - the warriors are wacky digitized characters (Bad Mr. Frosty, Blue Suede Goo).
• Is It as Bad as It Sounds? Far from it. Although still a brawling game, this clever newcomer is a more suitable alternative for parents who don't want to expose their kids to too much violence.

Related Lesson

Killer Games