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Episode 617: NARC (Patreon)

Published:
2024-06-03 11:00:14
Imported:
2026-06
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Patrons, whassup? Diamond Feit here. Are any of you cops? You know you have to tell me if I ask, right?

No, no, I'm just playing…but if I sound on edge, it's because this week's podcast deals with a sensitive matter: drugs. Drugs may or may not be legal where you live at present, but back in the 1980s, in the United States, they were the hot topic amongst legislators and law enforcement. Whether textual or subtextual, tales of drug abuse and drug busts permeated countless movies and television shows of the era.

Video games were not exempt, but one game in particular handled America's War on Drugs like no other medium could: NARC cast players as ruthless agents of prohibition and threw an entire army of druggies into their crosshairs. Was it satire, or was it sincere? Not even the people behind the game seem to take a stand!

Tune in as Jeremy Parish, David Oxford, and I look back at both the video game NARC and the real-life policies that shaped its hyper-reality. Also, ahead of its 20th anniversary, we remember the failed 2005 reboot that tried to cash in on the arcade game's notoriety.

Art by Nick Wanserski; edits by Greg Leahy.

10:34 - Mike Curb Congregation: "More Than Ever"

20:19 - Kim Wilde: "Kids in America"

28:13 - Grandmaster Flash: "White Lines (Don't Do It)" (2005 Soundtrack)

33:53 - NARC (Arcade): K.R.A.K. Street

44:14 - NARC (Arcade): Junkyard | Thief (1981 Film): Burning Bar

52:29 - NARC (Arcade): The Pipeline

1:02:33 - NARC (Arcade): Swamp

1:12:30 - NARC (Arcade): The Bridge

1:21:14 - NARC (Arcade): NARC Rap

1:27:23 - Jelly Joe feat. Wish Master: "N.A.R.C." (2005 Soundtrack)

1:34:46 - Lynyrd Skynyrd: "That Smell" (2005 Soundtrack)

1:40:58 - The Stranglers: "Golden Brown" (2005 Soundtrack)

Closing - Pixies: "Theme from Narc"

Files

Comments

John Simon

Midway Games are extremely Midway Games - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYeHxe2Y5ZE Lots of use of digitized sounds and graphics - but as Jeremy pointed out - "Mac Shareware Vibes" - high resolution and color depth, but none of the artistry so everything looks like a taped together collage of assets, especially the lab stage. Narc cabinets must have been equipped with some giant ass speakers that dominate other games. In japanese arcades you'd have people plugging headphones into an arcade cabinet to work through a game of Gradius - Not to Japanese sensibilities, lol. Diamond mentioned visiting Galloping Ghost arcade sometime last month and the model of the Mr. Big head is one of their prized items. (How can a guy have three chins?) I can't find any footage of this on youtube, but they also have a undumped prototype version of NARC with an unfinished but functional helicopter shooting level.

Andrew Webb

Man I loved playing this game at my local 7-11 growing up. I really should look into playing this on retroarch.

Ryan Hanley

I can confirm that mere mention of the 2005 reboot causes Curtis Mayfield’s “Pusherman” to play on loop.

Sebastiano Gerace

NARC was my one game for Christmas 1990. I played it for hours until I had I mastered and I loved it. As a non-American I didn’t have the full on war on drugs message in school, but I still got to see every arcade game advising me to say no to drugs which even as a little kid seemed like a stupid waste.

Langdon Alger

I wasn't allowed to participate in the d.a.r.e. graduation ceremony because I wore a Marilyn Manson T-shirt

Patrick McClafferty

The main thing I think of lately with the Winners Don't Do Drugs screen in arcade games is the anime convention Otakon since it moved to Washington DC in 2017. The convention has electronic signs through out the center showing important information like schedule, room number or what day of the week it is (always helpful). However randomly they include a version of the Winners Don't Do Drugs screen with their logo instead. It's sad that Sessions was still relevant in politics at the time so he would still be listed too....

SEAN HARDY

Great podcast on a singular US hit during an era of Japanese arcade dominance. However, to shed some light on your questions about the harsh view of drug-use, and attendant penalties (legally and socially), in Japan, this was one thing you cannot blame on the US. Japan's war on drugs was home-grown and, similar to the US, can be traced to the influence of a conservative business man and otherwise shady "big figure" named Tsusai Sugawara. Sugawara was highly influential in Japanese politics before, during, and after the militarist period. In addition to being in bed with the Liberal Democratic Party and, uh, appearing in movies he helped produce, he campaigned relentlessly against the "three vices" of drugs, prostitution, and venereal disease he felt were weakening Japan. His power within LDP circles helped shape the laws, and public views, on each of these issues in Japan - which still reverberates today. Unsurprisingly, he associated drugs with malign foreign influences (first China, then SE Asia, and sometimes the USA), which always plays well in conservative circles - no matter the country! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ts%C3%BBsai_Sugawara

Kosmic Krill

Fun fact: the Dutch highway police used Porsches from 1962 well into the 90's, and since they drove Targa's, policemen had to wear helmets while on patrol. I never saw them jumping out and crouch-shooting street toughs though, but then again, Dutch society had a somewhat different attitude towards recreational drug use...

CapNChris

Thank you for this episode and the lengthy preamble introducing the historical and context before even discussing the game. Six days out of seven, I think video games should be political. Just like any other artistic or creative medium, I don't see why video games should not be political if that is the desire of their creators. Although like other mediums, video games are also subject to market forces, which would likely preclude much of that... Overdose deaths in the U.S. have soared (2023 estimate is 108k deaths) as increasingly dangerous drugs are being produced, sold, and consumed. And while I have a skeptical view of the war on drugs, society doesn't otherwise seem to be making any efforts commensurate with the size of this issue from any other angle. So maybe that makes me a reluctant supporter of the war on drugs? I'm still waiting for the war on poverty to be re-declared.

Stuart Gipp

Winners don't do drugs, with the small exceptions of literally every famous musician and actor

TheLupineOne

Well the music in this podcast rocked my socks off. Very redolent of Williams' pinball tables at the time, and no wonder, it's by Brian Schmidt, although I know more of his work for Data East's pinball tables of the early 90s.