【Deborah Sullavan Archives】

If you turn the '90s into a board game and Deborah Sullavan Archivesput it in a box, the toy you'd likely get is Crossfire.

Crossfire was a table top game that tasks players with pushing two pucks into their opponent's goal by shooting metal balls out of plastic guns mounted on either end of the board. Think foosball but smaller, and with way more pieces to lose. (Check out the original instructions here.)

It was tense. It was fast paced. It was peak '90s. It was Crossfire.

This week on The Toy Shop, Mashable's new show where we revisit our favorite retro toys from the '80s and '90s, we get caught in the showdown of Crossfire. Join us in the episode below.

Though Crossfire was popularized in the '90s, it has actually been around for almost half a century. Crossfire was first released in 1971 by Milton Bradley. And though the '70s version was played on a scarcely-designed board, the game still featured Crossfire's signature plastic guns and metal marbles.

And, because flattery is the greatest form of imitation, a knock-off version of Crossfire came out in 1973 called "Gunfight At OK Corral," which had the same set up as Crossfire, but instead of pushing a puck into a goal, players attempted to shoot down their opponent's cowboy. (And fun fact: Gunfight at the OK Corral takes its name from a real 1881 shootout in which the Earp brothers stood off against the Clanton/ McLaury families for control over Tombstone, Arizona.)

Milton Bradley later updated to their own version of Crossfire to the 1994 version we all know and love.

Or perhaps we should call it "crossfiiiiyaaaaahhhh," based on the game's peak '90s commercial. (Y'all! The commercial features hoverboards AND bad CGI flames AND an unnecessary lightning storm AND walking bass line.)

And while the board game has fallen victim to the fickle thing called time, Crossfire has resurfaced occasionally in pop culture. In 2006, Scott Gairdner (who created the Comedy Central series Moonbeam City) rewrote the Crossfire theme song as a power piano ballad.

So for one last time 🎵CROSSFIYAAAAHH! You'll get caught up in the CROSSFIYAAAAHH! 🎵

If you want more blasts from the past, be sure to follow along with 'The Toy Shop.' We'll be posting new videos every other Tuesday toMashable's Watercooler YouTube channel.