What were your go to games when Arcades were king?

[vice350z]

Sad to see arcades gone. Was cool to see how console translations would match up to the arcade version. 

 

What games do you remember always playing when you went to an arcade back in the day

 

 

Tempest

Ms. Pacman

Digdug

Xevious

Outrun

Turbo Outrun

After Burner

Super Hangon

Terminator 2 pinball

 

 

Never really played MK in the arcades cuz I stunk at the game.

[lepkeleh]

For me it was all about the light gun games and some driving like Ferrar racer. Besides that I loved pinball. More recent and not ancient was the DDR etc and I enjoyed that a lot at the arcade.

I didn't even bother with the beat em ups or fighting games at the arcade, But I loved playing those on consoles at home or at someone else's place.

[shinobi33]

I loved Bad Dudes.  I have so many memories playing that game in the arcades.  Some of my other favourites are Robocop, X-Men and WWF Wrestlefest. There was also this racing game I used to love playing where you could control the car with a steering wheel.  I forgot the name of that game.  It was from the 80's.  I'm going to have to google that up. 

 

In my teens I got into Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury and some other fighters.  It was all about the fighting games for me between 92-98.

 

I miss the arcade days.  It was a special time.  There is this one arcade place called Playdium in Mississauga, Canada.  They got a bunch of old school and new arcade cabinets there.  My friends and I go there at least once a year to relive our arcade days

[Areala]

There was also this racing game I used to love playing where you could control the car with a steering wheel.  I forgot the name of that game.  It was from the 80's.  I'm going to have to google that up. 

 

*laugh* Man, that could have been any number of racing games from the 1980s: Pole Position, Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road, Final Lap, Outrun, Spy Hunter, Hard Drivin', Super Sprint, Championship Sprint, Demolition Derby...good luck on that search.

 

*huggles*

Areala

[KiwiArcader]

The games I played the most in the arcades in no particular order would be:

• Jackal (Top Gunner in the USA) ... far and away the game I spent the most money on. I would spend all lunch hour with a workmate playing two player and we got so good we could last the entire time on a single coin
• Gauntlet 2
• Space Invaders
• Defender
• Moon Patrol
• Joust

All of these I still tend to play in M.A.M.E so they've certainly stood the test of time in my gaming life.

[shinobi33]

*laugh* Man, that could have been any number of racing games from the 1980s: Pole Position, Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road, Final Lap, Outrun, Spy Hunter, Hard Drivin', Super Sprint, Championship Sprint, Demolition Derby...good luck on that search.

 

*huggles*

Areala

Hahaha.  Yeah I wasn't very specific in my description of that racing game.  It was one of the ones you mentioned Super Sprint  Spent a lot of quarters on that game back in the day.    

[kitsunebi]

Very rarely played/play arcade games, but as a kid, I gravitated towards co-op games I could play with friends such as Konami's various beat-em-ups:

 

And pretty much the only game I'll play these days is Taiko no Tatsujin:

[fousekis]

My favorites were SFII and the Punisher

[twiztor]

oh man, there were so few arcades where i grew up, so i would devour any arcade game that would show up at the local bowling alley, skating rink, pizza place, etc. some that stick out to me:

 

Dig Dug. probably my favorite arcade game, because it was the only arcade in the town where i grew up (it was at the bar)

TMNT, X-Men: got a bit older (i'm talking 8 or 9 now) and got to go places with friends. these arcade games ruled my life.

Tekken: a bit older still, fighting games were all the rage. and this one let you do wrestling moves! (this is the sole reason i picked King)

Lucky & Wild: now that i've got a car of my own, me and a friend drove to all the bigger cities around to find this game and set the high score. we'd alternate. one time, he'd drive & shoot and i would just shoot, the next time, i'd drive & shoot and he'd just shoot. it was fantastic.

 

plus, a shout out to Skee-Ball. not a video game, but easily my favorite non-video arcade game there is.

[Shinkanpo]

I am from the Street Fighter era the Arcade is like my heaven... those were the simpler times!!

[Sean697]

Donkey Kong

Frogger

Ms. Pacman

Wizard of War

Robotron

Jungle Hunt

Rally X

Turbo

Kid Niki

Snow Bros

Contra

Double Dragon

Ghosts and Goblins

Forgotten Worlds

Altered Beast

Lethal Enforcers

Double Dragon 2

X men

TMNT

Shinobi

Ghouls and Ghosts

Solar Warrior

Police Trainer

Gun Panic

Vanguard

Final Fight

Space Harrier

Tron

Elevator Action

Prop Cycle

Strider

Super Pacman

Slither

Golden Axe 2 the revenge of Death Adder

Outrun

Rad Mobile

Ninja Princess

That's just off the top of my head.

[KiwiArcader]

Jungle King was better thanks to the atmospheric Tarzan yell at the start of a level  

[dc2142]

Street Fighter 2 and all the Mortal Kombats, pretty much any fighting game.  The arcade I used to go to had one of the big screen setups in the front so whatever the big fighting game was would be on there.  I remember Mortal Kombat 3 being on it for months and always being packed.

 

I always loved the beat em ups as well.  TMNT, Simpsons, X-Men in particular.

[vice350z]

I loved Bad Dudes.  I have so many memories playing that game in the arcades.  

 

You just reminded me of when I used to work at a resort as a kid and always heard this game in the rec area back in the 80's lol.

 

How could I also forget Daytona USA. Loved the multiplayer versions.

 

I would watch people play Dragon's Lair but was too nervous to play it cuz it looked hard. 

 

Did anyone go to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid? That place was the bomb in the 80's.

[vice350z]

Street Fighter 2 and all the Mortal Kombats, pretty much any fighting game.  The arcade I used to go to had one of the big screen setups in the front so whatever the big fighting game was would be on there.  I remember Mortal Kombat 3 being on it for months and always being packed.

 

I always loved the beat em ups as well.  TMNT, Simpsons, X-Men in particular.

my bro was pretty good at MK2. He was in a tournament at the mall arcade and got pretty far until a little Asian kid beat him.

[Sean697]

Jungle King was better thanks to the atmospheric Tarzan yell at the start of a level

Always preferred the non Tarzan version. But that yell is cool.

[Areala]

My major arcade experiences come from the early-to-mid-90's, when it seemed like the success of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter would ensure they remained around forever. The Wal-Mart down the road from my high school had a Street Fighter II machine there my freshman year, and a couple times a year there would be an unofficial "tournament" held there with kids from all grade levels going round-robin. I never won, but it was fun to play anyway with the crowd of around ten other people watching the two at the controls. Surprisingly I wasn't the only girl either, which was nice.

 

In 8th grade, we took a class trip to Holiday World as part of a pre-graduation deal. I hate water parks, so rather than go on the slides or rides, I hung out with a few of the other geeks and played arcade games all day. We conquered TMNT in four-player mode. It was awesome. Mom was confused as to why I'd spend all day at an arcade when there were water park things to do, but I had so much fun I didn't care.

 

*huggles*
Areala

[te72]

Very rarely played/play arcade games, but as a kid, I gravitated towards co-op games I could play with friends such as Konami's various beat-em-ups:

 

And pretty much the only game I'll play these days is Taiko no Tatsujin:

Not that I blame you for wanting to play the taiko drums, but of all people on here, you have what is most likely the most badass arcades within reasonable distances... I've even seen a version of Ridge Racer where Namco converted an actual NA MX-5 into the cabinet, with the car's controls being the game's controls. Being a Miata owner and a big RR fan, you can see my appreciation there.

 

Heck, if I lived in Japan, I'd probably go broke from spending too much time in arcades...

 

As for me, I loved Cruisin' USA / World. As well as pretty much all the others mentioned so far, even the old stuff. I'd make a list, but not many haven't already been mentioned. Special mention of Ehrgeiz, for being one of only a couple fighters that Square made.

 

I must say though, the one and only thing that made arcades truly special, is the social aspect. Sure, the games were usually of higher quality than their console counterparts, at least until the PS1 era, but it was all about the atmosphere, the friends, the rivals, the strangers... the volume too. Anyone else ever play a game as loud as they had them turned up in arcades at home? Not likely, because if your parents were home, you were gonna get yelled at haha...

 

So, yeah, the social aspect. We can play online all we want, with any number of friends or strangers. You know what though? Playing together, in person, is STILL way more fun. Sadly, it's also why I don't play too many games anymore, as everyone has grown up and has responsibilities and lives that don't always allow for "hanging out playing games" time. I'd challenge anyone who lives in the same town as their friends, to cut the internet play out, and go actually play a game with your friends sometime, rekindle some of what spirit made the arcade so awesome.

[kitsunebi]

Not that I blame you for wanting to play the taiko drums, but of all people on here, you have what is most likely the most badass arcades within reasonable distances... I've even seen a version of Ridge Racer where Namco converted an actual NA MX-5 into the cabinet, with the car's controls being the game's controls. Being a Miata owner and a big RR fan, you can see my appreciation there.

 

Even in Japan, arcades probably aren't quite everything you're imagining.  Most of the prime real estate in every arcade is given to UFO catchers and print club photo booths (usually the 1st floor of an arcade is nothing but this stuff.).  After that, rhythm games of assorted types are king.  The games that most foreigners would recognize are usually off in a corner somewhere.  I'm sure if you were in Tokyo you could find arcades that cater to hardcore gamers that are wall to wall Street Fighter and whatnot, but most arcades have the (very) casual gamer foremost in mind.

[Sean697]

Even in Japan, arcades probably aren't quite everything you're imagining.  Most of the prime real estate in every arcade is given to UFO catchers and print club photo booths (usually the 1st floor of an arcade is nothing but this stuff.).  After that, rhythm games of assorted types are king.  The games that most foreigners would recognize are usually off in a corner somewhere.  I'm sure if you were in Tokyo you could find arcades that cater to hardcore gamers that are wall to wall Street Fighter and whatnot, but most arcades have the (very) casual gamer foremost in mind.

Maybe now. But this definetly was NOT the case when I was there. It was arcade heaven. I imagine you still get stuff like Sega's Joyoplis that are pretty appealing right?

[vice350z]

I remember going to Epcot in the mid/late 90's and their Innoventions center was a huge Sega setup with a bunch of Genesis, Saturn and Arcade games set up. Was great.

[te72]

I just meant that it must be nice to even have an arcade relatively close by. I'm in the least densely populated state in the country (save for possibly Alaska?), and I would have to drive three hours to even FIND an arcade...

 

Here in the states, I suspect it's similar to how you say, most of what is left is largely aimed at casual players (which makes sense, they ARE a business), while the ones you hear about are a lot more like what we remember from the 90's.

[vice350z]

If you're lucky enough to find a mall with an arcade, most likely it will be filled mostly with ticket redemption games. Only 6000 tickets for a pencil? Cool, let me spend $27 to win that.

[te72]

If you're lucky enough to find a mall with an arcade, most likely it will be filled mostly with ticket redemption games. Only 6000 tickets for a pencil? Cool, let me spend $27 to win that.

"I bought a $7 pen the other day, 'cause I'm always losing pens, and I'm sick of not giving a shit."

 

-Mitch Hedberg

 

Kidding aside, it's a sad reality you point out. That said, I loved flipping through hundreds of tickets won from my skeeball skills... not sure which I was better at, skeeball, or rapidly counting tickets.

[kitsunebi]

I don't know if I ever actually bought anything with the tickets, but I loved me some skeeball as a kid, regardless.