1. "Pac-Man Fever": Not to overanalyze things, but for a guy with a fever, he never once mentions sweating or feeling hot. As a silly song it's not bad, but it could stand to have a bit more of the actual Pac-Man music involved. Honestly, it's kind of hard to imagine this song taking off, which says a lot about the power of video games and Pac-Man at the start of the '80s.

2. "Froggy's Lament": It's a shame that the chorus of the song is so weak, because the verses are actually kind of fun. The spoken-word description of the journey of Frogger's unnamed protagonist is funny and the game sound effects work nicely. Sadly "Go, Froggy, Go!" doesn't inspire the audience to cheer him/her on to his destination across road and water.

3. "Ode to a Centipede": A shockingly good track that sounds like a super-nerdy Journey outtake. Seriously, the keyboards are crazy reminiscent of "Separate Ways." There's something bizarrely charming about the singer asking if the centipede has Nikes for all of his feet, even if the spoken-word part of the song goes on a bit too long. If it were two minutes shorter, it would be an almost perfect bit of '80s nostalgia.

4. "Do the Donkey Kong":- This is the first song that really sounds like chart bait. "Pac-Man Fever" sounds like an accidental hit, but this track sounds like they're trying really hard to write something that will be popular. The vocals are a bit cheesy, but it actually kind of works. The singer plays it so straight with his requests to "do the Donkey Kong!" that you have to admire their dedication to the bit.

5. "Hyperspace": The most interesting thing about this track is that it's the first that doesn't mention the original game in its hook. Writing a song about Asteroids makes sense in that it's a classic, but doesn't make sense in the context of the album because the music was far from iconic. This is the first real misfire on the album and the first time the gimmick really wears thin.

6. "The Defender": Buckner & Garcia were, if nothing else, decent songwriters. They're easily the Nickelback of the video-game song genre. Yeah, every song follows the same basic format, but when that formula works the songs are at least listenable. "The Defender" is a perfectly acceptable, middle-of-the-road track. It's not great, but it's not a waste of time. It's what more deep cuts should aspire to be.

7. "Mousetrap": When the band decided to reissue the album in the late '90s, the label wouldn't turn over the masters and so they had to rerecord the tracks. It's not a big deal for most of the tracks, but it hurts this one pretty bad. They were unable to locate an original Mousetrap machine to sample, and thus made the baffling decision to sample real animals instead. You know that theory about how people really like songs that feature dogs? These barks weren't enough to save this one.

8. "Goin' Berzerk": Musically not bad, but the vocals don't work for this particular vocalist. Luckily the sound effect usage is pretty hilarious, which makes it a bit easier to look past its problems. One wonders if they wouldn't have been better off putting this track together without the vocals, although it's hard to imagine the label being pleased with an instrumental about a video game.

Final Thoughts: There have been better gimmick concept albums, there have been worse gimmick concept albums. Credit where credit is due: Only one track is really awful, and even the less good tracks had something going for them.

Overall, the high-end tracks are the type of thing you'd put on a fun mixtape for long car rides. Still, after sitting through the entire thing, it isn't shocking to discover that Buckner & Garcia were a one-hit wonder.

Best Tracks: "Do The Donkey Kong"; "Ode to A Centipede" Final Score: 4.5 out of 8