Arcade Games

[HickoryDickory]

I miss arcades. There used to be one in the local mall that was pretty decent and one downtown... And one at the university. I used to go every weekend with my friends and play, or just go watch the guys trying to one-up each other. That was entertainment in and of itself... House of the Dead and Samurai Shodown were my favorite later games, but Altered Beast and Golden Axe were my jams~

When I have enough room (And money) I plan on buying a fixer-upper cabinet, or having one custom made.

 

[c-no]

I miss arcades. There used to be one in the local mall that was pretty decent and one downtown... And one at the university. I used to go every weekend with my friends and play, or just go watch the guys trying to one-up each other. That was entertainment in and of itself... House of the Dead and Samurai Shodown were my favorite later games, but Altered Beast and Golden Axe were my jams~

When I have enough room (And money) I plan on buying a fixer-upper cabinet, or having one custom made.

Who doesn't miss arcades (Well, those that have played at them I mean)? It is fun not just playing some of the games but also watching people play. I remember at the college seeing a friend of mine play some DDR and succeeding at it. Also had one childhood memory at an arcade on a naval base, watching a guy play MVC 2 up to the end only to die.

 

[alex_theman]

I have a place near me called Skate Station Funworks, they have some stuff, but not many newer games (I saw they have a Deal or No Deal). Anyway, it would be cool if someone could make new Play-Choice-10 (An arcade NES with a hint screen) cartridges, so we could have great games like Little Samson or Battle Kid in a (b)arcade.

 

[HickoryDickory]

Agreed! I loved the interaction and learned so much... Watching others play helped me work on my own mistakes when playing, and it is a very different experience than watching YouTube videos or reading GameFaqs. -- The feeling after beating someone in-person just to later then go out and have some pizza and chat... The bonding is what I miss the most. I might not know the person(s), but it wouldn't be out of the question to hang out after a tenuous bout of Tekken.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't one of those people whose guilty pleasure was egging on super serious/frustrated players and dropping a few quarters on them...

 

[drtoboggan]

Fun facts: Defender machines could be customized down to the falling speed of the people/whatever. It was probably the first. A pin for everything.
In circa 1980s Chicago, kids got to play arcade games before they were released. It was a form of market research. Machines were set up in an arcade, a cop was around to keep the kids safe, and kids got free games. Everybody won.

 

[The Fair Lady]

There's this BYOB place called Yestercade that I went to back in December. They have a balance of both vintage stuff and modern games you can hook up to a TV. The old ones were the less occupied, as one might expect, so I mostly just skipped from cabinet to cabinet.

 

[Lacquer Head]

I love arcades. My favorite arcades games are Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, DDR, JuBeat, Pop N. music, Taiko drum master, Soundvoltex, Metal Slug and Raiden

Asian arcades have this card system where you can save your progress on most games and its awesome. I miss playing this game in Korea

 

[c-no]

I have a place near me called Skate Station Funworks, they have some stuff, but not many newer games (I saw they have a Deal or No Deal). Anyway, it would be cool if someone could make new Play-Choice-10 (An arcade NES with a hint screen) cartridges, so we could have great games like Little Samson or Battle Kid in a (b)arcade.

Considering that play-choice-10, I remember coming across a similar machine at a Pizza Hut my mother and I ate at a couple months back. At first I thought it was just a Ms. Pac-Man Galaga arcade cabinet but the thing was actually an I-cade which mean't alot more games to play. I decided to try Donkey Kong Jr. and needless to say, "git gud" would be fitting for me.

 

[alex_theman]

Speaking of which, Nintendo would sometimes put in development games in Play-Choice 10 units to playtest them and do market research. They also put in complete games that had not been released yet, such as Mario 3 in the summer of 1989.

 

[Jace E. Denton]

In dedicated arcades I mostly played beat em ups like The Simpsons and that Avengers game. I always liked doing really well solo and it would usually inspire a random bro to jump in for some co-op. I never knew their names, but I still vividly remember the faces of these people who could co-op with me, it was like we were best friends for all of 30 minutes, then I never saw them again in my life.

I mean I liked fighters and racing games and light gun shooters as well, but my nirvana was those co-op beat em ups. To me, that as the arcade experience. I did also enjoy top-down scrolling shooters like 1942, I played the fuck out of that at a roller skating rink.

My most recent experience was at Dave and Buster's with some friends, I wasn't hungry so when they were eating I sat down at some 8 person linked racing game and some Chinese kid who didn't speak English, couldn't have been more than 10 years old, sits down and puts his tokens in, so we just had this head to head race with a total language barrier, he kept saying things I didn't remotely understand, but he had such a smile on his face, I think he was just happy to play that game with someone. It reminded me so much of when I was a kid and how much arcades meant to me, it was nice to see a kid from a newer generation is still able to get that experience in his own way.

(But I totally whooped his fucking ass in that race, I still play to win, kid)

 

[WireSponge]

Unfortunately, I missed my chance to play most of the good arcade games, but I have a lot of arcade ports. Is talking about those acceptable?

 

[D.Angus]

I remember playing a lot of Die Hard Arcade a lot as a kid. (Mainly because it was the only machine that was 25 cents for some reason at the theater.) A decent 3D Beat-em-up. I recall going to this place were there tons of arcades on this single strip most of them ticket games though. My parents would take me and my brother there every summer.. I still know where it is.. Too bad I've been too broke to go there, that and it's an hour away from where I live now.

I do remember it having a Fascination Parlor if anyone knows what that is..

 

[SOINCHU]

In dedicated arcades I mostly played beat em ups like The Simpsons and that Avengers game. I always liked doing really well solo and it would usually inspire a random bro to jump in for some co-op.

I remember playing a lot of Die Hard Arcade a lot as a kid.

All very good Beat em Ups. Its really a genre that I wish would make more of a comeback (preferably 2d as the 3d ones aside from Die Hard rarely turned out well). I think my favorite beat em up arcades are: Alien Vs Predator (Capcom), Night Slashers, Final Fight (of course), and Cadillac and Dinosaurs!

Am I the only one who remembers some of these weirdo 90s arcade games?

 

[That Chris Guy]

Anyone ever play the light gun rail shooter CarnEvil? This was a neat little game from around '98. I never achieved getting through it on one coin, but fairly often could do it in two.

I played it briefly with a couple of friends. Never finished, but got through a fair few levels, and never on just a couple of coins mind you. I was more of a console player than an arcade visitor.

Also played the first 4 Time Crisis games, Dynamite Cop, Silent Scope and one of the Daytona racing games at some point or another. Wish I'd joined in and played Street Fighter at the arcade though; that's an experience I would have thoroughly enjoyed.

 

[Sonic Hoo]

I love arcades. My favorite arcades games are Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, DDR, JuBeat, Pop N. music, Taiko drum master, Soundvoltex, Metal Slug and Raiden

Asian arcades have this card system where you can save your progress on most games and its awesome. I miss playing this game in Korea

Do you live near a Round 1? They have eamuse just like in Japan and have SDVX, IIDX, and Pop'n. DJ DAO is also having an arcade style controller sale if you want to grab one for about $119 + shipping.

I got into the arcade gaming scene myself through Beatmania IIDX, and only recently started playing DDR (does anyone else still play?). I tried playing kshoot but it's no fun without a controller, and frankly I hate Jubeat and Reflec Beat.

I also like playing Tekken 5 at my local arcade but I'm no good at fighters.

 

[Anchuent Christory]

I still remember when Sega were absolute giants in the arcade space. They consistently came out with exciting, original, graphically stunning games that just begged you to have a go. It's funny to think of a time when the arcade graphics were considerably ahead of dedicated games systems in the home, and having a respectable arcade port on your console was the equivalent of the Halo's and Uncharted's of today.

The closest to my home where you could play an arcade game was the local bowling alley, and they were inconsistent at best with machines appearing and disappearing at random. They had a cabinet with X-Men: Children of the Atom running on it for a while, and I got pretty good at it. That Alien vs Predator brawler by capcom appeared briefly.
One time, I went in there and was amazed to see a Virtual On cabinet set up. Virtual On was a Sega game focused on fast paced anime style mech combat that required a dedicated cabinet with specialised controls. It's the sort of game you'd be lucky to see in an actual major arcade, let alone this dinky wee flea pit, so bizarre.

The star of the show was the two player Sega Rally cabinet that sat in there and was regularly played up until the place shut down a few years ago. It's bonkers to think of how much money that machine must have collected in the near 15 years it was in there.

 

[Lacquer Head]

Do you live near a Round 1? They have eamuse just like in Japan and have SDVX, IIDX, and Pop'n. DJ DAO is also having an arcade style controller sale if you want to grab one for about $119 + shipping.

I got into the arcade gaming scene myself through Beatmania IIDX, and only recently started playing DDR (does anyone else still play?). I tried playing kshoot but it's no fun without a controller, and frankly I hate Jubeat and Reflec Beat.

I also like playing Tekken 5 at my local arcade but I'm no good at fighters.

Sadly I do not live near one. I still play DDR when I can and I'm pretty good. I can play doubles on expert

 

[AnOminous]

Another neat game I used to love was Toobin', a neat little inner tubing game with five buttons for controls (one for each hand and foot and one to chuck cans at stuff).

It was fairly simple and linear, but with engaging graphics and play, and when you got to the end of the 15 levels, it started over at the beginning.

This is another game that, like CarnEvil and Marble Madness, I never got through on one coin but fairly often would wrap around on two.

 

[Jace E. Denton]

All very good Beat em Ups. Its really a genre that I wish would make more of a comeback (preferably 2d as the 3d ones aside from Die Hard rarely turned out well). I think my favorite beat em up arcades are: Alien Vs Predator (Capcom), Night Slashers, Final Fight (of course), and Cadillac and Dinosaurs!

Am I the only one who remembers some of these weirdo 90s arcade games?

I remember most of those. I loved needing to go to an arcade to actually 'discover' new games in the pre-Internet days. It was either that or you just browsed a rental store and asked your mom to rent what looked cool, sometimes it was a turd and sometimes you fell in love with it. I did have Nintendo Power and later PlayStation Magazine and I think EGM, but they only covered the big AAA hype titles mostly, so I would still always find new games at the rental rack.

 

[Twaughthammer]

I only really got to frequent arcades at the seaside but my fondest memories were of The Simpsons, TMNT (1989), Street Fighter II, House of the Dead series, Sunset Riders, Time Crisis II and Alpine Racer II.

The Simpsons and TMNT were a bit frustrating because if you were playing Lisa, Marge, Leonardo or Raphael, you were on the side of the cabinet and couldn't see the screen so well. Hurrah for MAME and console releases.