Fav/Best Arcade game machine games!

[Forrest]

Needs no introduction. That music alone makes it amazing, but it's just such a fun game to batter a couple of laps on.

 

My university union used to have one of these, and when they got rid of it, I was devestated. I was even more devestated when Sega delisted it form the Xbox Live Arcade before I got a chance to buy it.

 

Speaking of Sega XLA travesties, it's a fucking tragedy that this has been released, but only in Japan with no intentions to release it here. I WANT VIRTUA STRIKER DAMNIT! I want to be reminded of the arcade at M&Ds with the Jean Michel Jarre-themed claw machine.

 

I wasted so much money on this machine last year when I went on holiday to the US. I would go back to my shitty hotel with no cable and piss-weak wifi if it meant I could play this every day again.

 

To be honest, I find myself playing old Arcade games like The Simpsons, Daytona and Mortal Kombat on the 360 than I do modern games these days. I've learned to appreciate the linear beauty of a quick game you can blast through.

[goldeneye86]

Almost forgot about AFTER BURNER which was at skegness fantasy island years ago.

[King Coconut]

Most of my money went into Double Dragon. The best part of the game was playing 2-up and dancing like the New Kids.

 

...the right stuff.

[Mattyc]

I rarely got to go to Arcades so my memories of them are pretty much summed up by spending my time in them looking for Wrestlefest and A)Being happy to find it or B)Being pissed off that it wasn

[TheShowOff]

Daytona USA for me, all the way. I downloaded it on the Xbox, and from time to time I'll crank the music up on my system so loud it hurts to feel like I'm inside the arcade back in 1994. Haven't tried to put 50p in my machine yet though.

[HeavyT]

Only machine I over remember playing was double dragon down at the chippy, loved to play it. On holiday I loved playing SNK beat em ups and light gun games, used to go down to cosonas as an adult to play stuff like Rambo as well.

[Forrest]

I would like to thank this thread for indirectly inspiring me to go back and finally give Streets of Rage a proper go last night. I've really enjoyed it.

[PunkStep]

ALL POINTS BULLETIN (APB)

 

 

 

 

This was brilliant, certainly one of my favourites outside the 'Big 4' (Wrestlefest, Street Fighter 2, Simpsons & Turtles). The entire format and gameplay was so original and unlike anything else, it made it very interesting to play. Basically, you are the old bill and you have to chase down criminals (such as pot heads driving VW camper vans) to bust them- all in a 2D top-down view.

 

When Grand Theft Auto killed my social life in 1998, as soon as I first played it I was thrown back to the early 90s when I remember playing APB. It was so clearly influenced by the arcade game, that it was no surprise when DMA mentioned it years later.

 

[Merzbow]

 

Everyone goes on about the recent Batman games being the best ever comic related games but for me it has to be the Punisher, just think Final Fight with added guns and grenades and as an added bonus you could even play as Nick Fury. I would love it if i could still find this in Skegness Pier but i doubt that it would have lasted that long, do they even have arcade machines like this anymore over there?

 

 

Capcom were unstoppable in the 90's when it came to the scrolling beat 'em up, i always prefered running around and beating up multiple baddies than the 1 on 1 style of Street Fighter 2 etc.

[KingOfMetal]

Is there any way to get the TMNT arcade game? Like an emulator or something? And if so, how?

[Surf Digby]

I think I can say with certainty that I enjoyed the golden age of arcades. These days cabinets with joysticks are a rarity, and it's not uncommon to go into an arcade that where everything has either a steering wheel or a gun attached to it. Being able to go into one single arcade in Morecambe with a big bag of 10 pence pieces and being able to play Space Harrier, Vigilante (the four player version), Kung Fu Master, Dynamite Dux, Tron (admittedly the shit mini-games one), Cabal, Spy Hunter, Altered Beast, Midnight Resistance and God knows what else was a highlight of my teenage years. They sold food too, so if the weather was shit, you didn't have to leave the building for anything.

 

Air Raid has already covered Outrun for me, so here's some others that robbed what must amount to a small fortune from me over the years.

 

 

Golden motherfucking Axe. You could pretty much guarantee there'd be a queue at this machine, and plenty spectators. It wasn't particularly original (although the riding of the beasts was pretty unique, but it was basically Double Dragon redesigned by a Gauntlet fan) and wasn't particularly challenging, but it was just massively fun to play. Similar to the "VHS sleeve artwork rule", woman in a skimpy bikini instead of armour probably helped.

 

 

Double Dragon. Three fire buttons, two player co-op, gorgeous colourful graphics, this game had quasi-legendary status at school before I - and most likely half the people bragging about it - had even seen a cabinet in the flesh. As this appeared at a time when there was a renewed interest in Bruce Lee and generic Ninja films, this was just gold. Stood next to Kung Fu Master or (the bizarrely controlled) Karate Champ, this was a league above them.

 

 

Vigilante. An alternative to Renegade, this was basically an updated version of Kung Fu Master, with a similar controls and moves. Pretty tough, but you could even things out with nunchakus, and at the end you fought a massive Roger Moore.

 

 

Gang Wars. Yet another competitor to Double Dragon, but with the nice touch of having the player 1 and 2 having different fighting styles. One was a flashy spinny kicking kung fu guy, and the other was more of a streetfighter, with a cool neckbreaker move that would kill instantly if you could use it (as it left you vunerable).

 

 

Operation Wolf. Just look at it. It's got a fucking Uzi for a controller. Whoever was responsible for this must have retired happy, as not only did it pull in the punters, it was also a money eater. From this came Operation Thunderbolt, and then Mechanised Attack (Op Thunderbolt crossed with Terminator), but it didn't hit those high levels of coolness again, until...

 

 

Space Gun. Shit name, however no button for grenades did this have. The design team saw how popular the M41A Pulse Rifle from Aliens was, and so added the pump action to this. Add the reverse pedal (which loads of people ignored/forgot to use) and the ability to choose your route, and this was a winner. People at school were getting excited over the pump action before they'd even seen a cabinet.

 

 

Tapper. Fuck you, this is one of the hardest games ever. It has that winning formula of "simple concept - deceptively difficult execution" that makes games like Manic Miner so good. Give people a drink, catch the empty glasses. What could be hard about that/

 

 

Star Wars. It's been mentioned before, but it's a classic. If only they'd had the sense to do Return Of The Jedi in the same style.

 

 

Gryzor. They had this in the hotel in Benidorm when I was 11, and I was hooked on it. Featuring artwork that was shamelessly stolen from Predator and Aliens, it was a bit of Rolling Thunder, a bit of Xybots, and it was fucking solid.

 

 

Bubble motherfucking Bobble. Looks like a kids game, starts off easy, gets ridiculously difficult, and it's impossible to complete as a one player game. Brilliant.

 

I could go on to mention New Zealand Story, Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja, Chase HQ, Gauntlet, Battlezone, etc.... I rest my case about my generation having the best arcades around.

[Nick Soapdish]

No love for Sunset Riders? Buggy Boy? X-Men? Cadillacs and Dinosaurs?

[Merzbow]

No love for Sunset Riders? Buggy Boy? X-Men? Cadillacs and Dinosaurs?

 

That's another one of the great Capcom fighters, best played with a genuine turkish street vendor kebap. Sadly never found a cabinet in the UK.

[BigJag]

WWF Superstars was the one that bankrupted me. Much prefer it over Wrestlefest. This thread will more than likely develop into a Mame/emulator discussion. So I will get a question in early. Does anyone have a version of Double Dragon which doesn't suffer from crippling slowdown?

 

There were so many great games in that era. Wish I could remember the names of all of them. Who remembers Terra Cresta?

 

Or Tokio/Scramble Formation

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Giv3PQb6LT8

 

Flying Shark

www.youtube.com/watch?v=StgJV8-bOJI

[444 4444]

Mine has to be Killer Instinct.

 

 

This game used to give me goosebumps just by walking within earshot of the arcade machine. I was never that into Street Fighter 2 or Mortal Kombat but this game is the reason I only really play 2D fighting games today.