The arcade version of the game appears in the 1989 film "Parenthood", in which the son of Steve Martin's character wonders why the game is so difficult. Martin, grasping for an answer, says, "Well, they're bad dudes. That's why they call the game "Bad Dudes"." The "Bad Dudes" logo can be seen at the end of Stage 4 in "Sly Spy", another Data East arcade game. In the 1990 film "RoboCop 2", Officer Duffy gets pushed by RoboCop into a "Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja" arcade cabinet, but with "Sly Spy" built into it.