Poor Jaleco. They never really made any must-have games, or even many half-decent ones if I'm brutally honest, but when there was a rumour they'd gone bump in January 2009, I have to say I was a little sad. Their games weren't exactly stellar, but they released one of my favourite arcade games of all time, the sublime City Connection.Games don't get much simpler than this- you're driving a little car and you've got to paint the multi-tiered highway by driving over it while dodging police cars and hitch-hiking cats (?). As well as popping a sweet wheelie every time you turn around, your tiny Honda City hatchback can jump (it must have great suspension) and fire a limited supply of oil cans to stun enemy cars so you can ram into them for points. Painting all of the roads on each stage sends you to the next city, and that's all you need to know, because there's nothing more taxing or complex beyond that- the rest is up to your driving skills.

City Connection is the very definition of 'easy to learn, hard to master', because while it starts off simple, the level designs gradually get more fiendish (like the stage where the gaps between the roads get too big, forcing you to constantly change tiers) and the enemy cars chase you relentlessly. The levels eventually start to repeat, but you have to be completely in-tune with all the little quirks of your car to get that far- not only are there some sick aerial manoeuvres you can pull off that become vital later on, but this is one tough little game!Unfortunately, the game seems to have a pretty lousy reputation these days, mostly because of the dreadful NES port which was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console. Give the arcade version a try if you can, though, because it's one hell of a time-waster, and perfect for any high-score junkies out there. Just try to avoid running over that damn cat.