What were your go to games when Arcades were king?

[greenfoot2001]

I LOVED Time Traveller, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Sampson's Arcade, and X-Men arcade

[orthicviper]

I didn't have enough quarters to beat any game so all the games were my go-to games. I wanted to try a bit of everything! 

[te72]

I didn't have enough quarters to beat any game so all the games were my go-to games. I wanted to try a bit of everything! 

Same here, I don't know if I ever beat a game in the arcade. Perhaps The Simpsons, and MAYBE X-Men, but it's been a while.

 

Speaking of the X-Men arcade unit, I recently read up on that one. I don't remember it being 6-player, did they make different versions of the machine, or did I somehow not appreciate the awesomeness that is a 6-player cabinet?

[kitsunebi]

Speaking of the X-Men arcade unit, I recently read up on that one. I don't remember it being 6-player, did they make different versions of the machine, or did I somehow not appreciate the awesomeness that is a 6-player cabinet?

 

2, 4, and 6-player versions of the cabinet were made.  Only the 6-player version had a double-wide screen.

[te72]

2, 4, and 6-player versions of the cabinet were made.  Only the 6-player version had a double-wide screen.

Good to know, I must have only ever seen the 4-player cabinet. Wonder how expensive that 6-player version must have been?

[Data]

I only began going to the Arcade around 1989-1990 and I remember playing Wrestlefest by Technos Japan with some gents.  We formed an alliance to become champions of the World Wrestling Federation.  I chose Hulk Hogan and he chose Ultimate Warrior and we almost succeeded in our goal.  On the last match, Warrior was taking a beating from Animal of Legion of Doom and I knew he was in trouble.  He had the opportunity to make the tag to me but his ego got in the way of the match.  I absolved all association with the Ultimate Warrior and I don't care what the fans think.  Wrestling is no place for an ego.

 

Anyway, I have no footage of me playing and I remember Technos did a good job making this game fun to play so I'll link a youtube in case anyone is curious.

 

[te72]

Jake, I would have been in peak appreciation age for wrestling then, pretty sure that game ate a few weeks worth of allowance down at the local Aladdin's Castle for me. Thanks for sharing man!

[TurnBased]

The Time Crisis series has always been my favorite at the arcades.  I can't do it anymore but I used to be able to finish them on 1 credit.

[danielgfm]

One that i always was a "king"... Sega GT or Scud Racer!

[te72]

Not sure if it was already mentioned or not, but Primal Rage. Sure, it's a product of its time, a game about dinosaurs fighting, completely mid-90's, that much is obvious. That aside, it was the first game I played that had an absolutely enormous monitor. I mean today we all have screens that big, but back then, to see a game that bright and loud on what must have been a 50" screen right in front of you? It was simply awesome.

 

Plus, dinosaurs fighting. Not sure if that was clear, but that kinda makes it awesome by default.

[RetroDefense]

An arcade visit was a rare treat until I was older, but if including the occasional arcade machine found in a department store lobby or pizza shop, I have fond memories of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Night Striker, X-Men, Street Fighter II, Mercs, Cadash, Afterburner, Outrun, Spy Hunter, Chase HQ, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Super Monaco GP, the Midnight Wanders portions of Three Wonders, Daytona USA, Hydro Thunder, Asteroids, Wrestle War, and Rampart.

[te72]

RD, you bring up a good point. Places that traditionally had arcade machines, do they still? Every once in a great while, I come across one, and I like to think that I drop a few quarters in them just as an obligatory thank you to the owner, but how often do you see arcade machines in the wild? Where I live, almost never, unfortunately. Our local arcade sells flooring now, it was super weird going in there as often as we did when the house was being built... just didn't feel right in any sense.

 

What about places like roller or hockey rinks, laser tag venues, mini-golf, those sorts of places, are they still around?

[marktrade]

S.T.U.N. Runner. I liked everything about it, but the fact that it was only a quarter and always open during visits to Chuck E. Cheese as a kid added to the feeling that it was made just for me. I can't not play "my" game, right? It's a one-player game, so if I was there with a friend, then we'd play the TMNT arcade game or The Simpsons.

During visits to Six Flags, the go to game was Virtua Fighter 2, because I couldn't find it anywhere else. My friends would always chastise me. "Why are you playing arcade games? We came here to go on roller coasters!" And I told them they could still go on a roller coaster and meet me back in front of the VF2 machine, the most beautiful thing in a thousand-mile radius. They just didn't get it. 

Going to the movies, I definitely had to stop and play Star Wars Episode 1 Pinball. Same deal, though. My friends or family would say, "we came here to watch movies." Okay, go watch your movie, then! I'll play the game, lol. Although I think any reasonable person would admit that Star Wars Episode 1 Pinball was over a hundred times better than the movie.

Edited January 31, 2017 by marktrade

[Areala]

More arcade fun from back in the day, now that I think about it. In the 1980's I was in a youth bowling league, and of course the local alley had an arcade room. I spent plenty of time in there enjoying the sights as they had classic stuff like Gorf, Centipede, and Asteroids alongside the more recent fare like Double Dragon, Outrun, and a Nintendo PlayChoice-10 machine.

Two of my favorites were Black Tiger by Capcom:

And Cabal by Taito:

*huggles*
Areala

[orthicviper]

On 1/25/2017 at 1:02 PM, TurnBased said:

The Time Crisis series has always been my favorite at the arcades.  I can't do it anymore but I used to be able to finish them on 1 credit.

?! how many hours did you play to get that good?

[vnerob]

Whenever I'd get to visit a proper arcade, I would walk in and just be kind of in awe.  Then I'd head towards whatever the biggest and coolest looking cabinet was.  I remember that was often Daytona USA. 

After SF II and MK were already on home consoles and I knew how to play them, I'd play them in the arcades whenever I could.

[TurnBased]

On 04/02/2017 at 10:38 AM, orthicviper said:

?! how many hours did you play to get that good?

I didn't count but I visited the arcade every Wednesday after school.  Time Crisis became a ritual for me.  I loved light gun games and played Virtua Cop, Point Blank, House of the Dead but the Time Crisis series was my favorite.

Time Crisis 1 was the hardest because you got a game over when you ran out of time.  The sequels only made you lose a life.

[Sky10w10w]

WWF Wrestlefest

Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder

[imdavid555]

I loved playing Metal Slug and the Capcom Vs. series games. Good times.

[atik]

There were only two Arcades in my City (Cork City, Ireland) when I was a teenager but both had a good selection of cabinets. I loved playing Out Run although I only had access to the stand up version and not the cool sit down deluxe cabinet. Other games I loved were Gauntlet, Star Wars, Hang-On and Enduro Racer. 

Even if I didn't have any spare cash to spend I'd often just go in to the Arcade and watch the attract screens of my favourite games as they looked so cool and were so much more impressive than what I was playing at home.

There aren't any Arcades (either retro or current) in my area anymore but I've always got MAME 

[sqwirral]

Hang On
Enduro Racer
OutRun
Power Drift
Daytona
Ridge Racer
OutRunners
Chase HQ
Continental Circus
Wrestlefest
World Cup '90
Final Fight
Turtles
Simpsons
Street Fighter II

Gotta stop I'll be here all day

Edited March 11, 2017 by sqwirral

[te72]

11 hours ago, atik said:

Other games I loved were Gauntlet, Star Wars...

Still remember playing the sit down cabinet of the Star Wars arcade game. What a thrill! This was sometime in 1998, I believe it was. So, a full 15 years after it initially was released, and it blew my young mind that such a cool experience could be had.

 

Wouldn't mind a cabinet for the basement, I think it might be one of those experiences that is pretty much timeless as far as games go.

[Sky10w10w]

On 12/5/2016 at 9:02 AM, Sean697 said:

Ghosts and Goblins

Ha ha. I'm sure the people who played that game often in arcades did so because they were super hardcore, had no other games to choose from in their local arcade, or had a lot of money that was burning holes in their pockets.

[magcollector]

Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Cruis'n World, TMNT, The Simpsons

[Areala]

On 3/11/2017 at 1:30 PM, Sky10w10w said:

Ha ha. I'm sure the people who played that game often in arcades did so because they were super hardcore, had no other games to choose from in their local arcade, or had a lot of money that was burning holes in their pockets.

Personal anecdote, but I've seen "Ghosts 'n Goblins" cabinets in FAR more places where alcohol was served than in regular arcades. If this was deliberate strategy on Capcom's part, commend their genius.

*huggles*
Areala