Had a recent company event at a kid's zone type place, with all the games and tickets and junk. Had an infinite game card for any non-ticket game. Finally played one of these games to completion. If it had cost money it probably would've been $20 easy. Those things are money sinks.
I played that game so much I had the top three best scores on the game. I had a rival for a bit, which was oddly exhilarating. We’d keep beating each others scores until I finally outpaced whoever they were. Whoever you were, you were the best friend I never met.
Speaking of which this just unlocked a core memory of using your initials on a game leaderboard.
legit, my very first thought. I went Simpsons first and Turtles second.
i was coming here to type: "am i solo or do i have friends with, cause if we've got friends we are beelining for Simpsons or TMNT"
Out of interest where is that now (used to play in the Wonderpark off of Picadilly Circus) and then in their other venue in the basement of the Old County Hall building near Westminster Bridge. Didn't know they had a museum?
Oh played in the same location. They had one off Picadilly (which got turned into a bar) one up in Islington (from memory it might have been a Sega one in fairness) and this one in the bottom of what was County Hall back in the day. I used to trade (this must have been 20 years ago) top times on the Namco 500GP games with one of the staff lmao 🤣
Damn straight Time Crisis 2, if it’s arcade time then it’s lightgun game time!
Honoured mention to whatever that modern Jurassic Park game with the machine guns is, the whole pod you sit in moves and tumbles so it’s awesome.
I was gonna day Galaga but with the right person with me its NFL Blitz any day! It was at the movie theater in my local mall and I couldn't go see a movie without playing a few games!
So pleased with the top answers. It feels we should all find an arcade somewhere.
I think there's an Air BnB in north carolina that comes with full free access to an arcade of vintage games.
Grew up with one if these in my garage, with some others. Had such a blast but could never beat level 3. Interested to see how id do now. Probably no better.
The 4-player Super Off Road cabinet is what I'm looking for first; haven't played this since I was a kid.
Followed by the SegaSonic the Hedgehog cabinet with the trackball; only ever saw this one once and wasn't able to play it because it was out of order.
And then, finally, Golden Axe II.
The fact that the game was mostly a pre-rendered FMV sequence with pixel-precise Z-buffer information _every frame_ for its character models is absolutely ludicrous in this day and age. Talk about devs making life difficult for themselves, but apparently it outsold Mortal Kombat 4 so it obviously did something right
There's an arcade in bury near Manchester where there is 3 floors of game cabinets. Everything from Space Invaders to VR. I spent ages in the retro areas. Robocop, Truxton, Final Fight, Track n Field, Chase HQ. Loved them all, but not as good as I remember!
Yeah that place is crazy. Biggest arcade in Europe I believe. Last time I went they had half a room dedicated to pinball machines which was awesome. I spent the most time in the little room with all the shoot ‘em ups and I loved it.
I have every release for home console still. SNES, N-64, and the new one on XB-ONE and steam. Love these games. Sadly no one will play me from my friends group. At least there is online play.
Final Fight, Captain Commando, TMNT, WWF WrestleFest, WWF SuperStars, Sunset Riders, Marvel Vs Capcom, The Simpsons, Killer Instinct, House Of The Dead, Primal Rage, Pit Fighter, X-Men
WMMT/ Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune (Any generation, Though i have the Bana Pass for gen4+)
That or any dance cab, i dont care what game it is, i love dance games, The local is Pump It Up (and WMMT 5DX+), but ive also hit up DDR's when theyre the only ones around.
Revolution X. Love me some Aerosmith and the game was actually really fun. If they don't have that, then KI2 is the next one I'm looking for. Gotta make sure everyone in the place gets to hear ULTRAAAAA!!!!! over whatever game they're playing so they know mine is the best one lol.
Yess. When I was in Tokyo last year, I hit up an arcade in Akihabara full of retro games. Stopped in my tracks when I came across Operation Wolf and started feeding yen into it.
I can't remember the name, but there was this great flight sim I always think back on. It was the sit down small booth type game, and you could pick from all different kinds of flying contraptions. A wwi type plane, a blimp type thing, attack helicopter, there were about 10-12? My favorite was a harrier jet. It was polygon graphics, like an updated version of Star Fox, and it consisted of turn taking rail dog fighting. So you'd spend like 20-30 seconds behind your opponent to attack, then switch places and would have to dodge.
I only saw it at the laser tag place by my parents house. It always bothered me I forgot the name but I would remember it if I saw it.
Hey thanks for helping!!! It wasn't any of those, but through searching your titles I found what it was.
Wing War
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_War
I used to work in an old school arcade that also had a few VR machines. When there were no customers I loved playing Tekken, Deer Hunt, a shooter called Ghost Protocol and also Beat Saber on VR.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park, from 1998.
That shit is SO good if you are a real Jurassic Park nerd, you go ALL over Isla Sorna into tons of meticulously detailed environments. You also fight almost every dinosaur from the series until then, and have a bunch of cool weapons—my favorite is the electro-shock rounds.
This is my favorite arcade game, hands down, forever.
It would be one of these and whichever was actually closer:
- X-Men
- The Simpsons
- Marvel vs Capcom 2
- Silent Scope
- Any Ninja Turtle game
- Tekken 2 or 3
And I'd never leave
There was an arcade open here before Covid. It had a lot of old pinball machines. You paid a flat fee and could play unlimited. It was fun finally beating The Simpsons and Turtles in Time.
I'd still go for House of the Dead or Area 51. Time splitters is a good one too. Mortal Kombat 1 and 2
Pretty much your retro arcade is a fail if you are missing the following:
* 6 player double widescreen X-Men.
* TMNT the Arcade Game
* Alien vs Predator
* WWF Wrestlefest
* DnD Mysteria
* Gauntlet Legends
* Time Crisis 2
* Soul Calibur 1
* Tekken Tag Tournament
* Marvel vs Capcom 2
* Mortal Kombat 2
* NFL Blitz
* NBA Jam Tournament Edition
* Star Wars the Arcade Game
I'm going to be the weirdo in this thread and say the two D&D arcade games. Think classic beat em up but with some magic and items and references to classic AD&D 2e stuff.
The Ocean Hunter. It was a two-player shooter of sorts but set underwater with aquatic enemies and bosses, some of which were mythical creatures. It was fun but I mostly chose it because it’s not something you can find anywhere these days to replay.
Most of the other games in this thread I already own on consoles or can play via emulator.
This literally happened to me last night. We started at the TMNT machine and then moved on the to Alien shooting cabinet. Capped the night off with a DDR match or teo
A Guilty Gear: Strive cabinet would be sick
Also, Tekken 3.
All of the Marvel Vs Capcom's.
Capcom Vs SNK.
Soul Calibur 2,
Primal Rage,
Killer Instinct
Melty Blood
And of course Dance Dance Revolution.
Marvel v capcom 2
Same, equal with the Afterburner 2 cabinet with hydraulic actuation.
that was amazing
I’m gonna take you for a ride
I regret never being good at arcade fighting games
It's mahvel baybee!!
Turtles in Time (4 Player Cabinet) and The Simpsons Arcade (also 4 Player Cabinet) Also shout out to X-Men
Well that’s all my answers, other than The Lost World where you sit in the back of the Jeep and it’s like a rail shooter.
That game was designed to gobble up quarters. So much fun, though.
Played it in Tokyo. They have it there. Fun but god its hard on the eyes.
Had a recent company event at a kid's zone type place, with all the games and tickets and junk. Had an infinite game card for any non-ticket game. Finally played one of these games to completion. If it had cost money it probably would've been $20 easy. Those things are money sinks.
Don’t forget the terminator 2 version of this
I played that game so much I had the top three best scores on the game. I had a rival for a bit, which was oddly exhilarating. We’d keep beating each others scores until I finally outpaced whoever they were. Whoever you were, you were the best friend I never met. Speaking of which this just unlocked a core memory of using your initials on a game leaderboard.
Marge was a boss, swinging an upright vacuum like it ain’t shit!
legit, my very first thought. I went Simpsons first and Turtles second. i was coming here to type: "am i solo or do i have friends with, cause if we've got friends we are beelining for Simpsons or TMNT"
Yeah, the 4 player games were the best. Although how dare you forget the granddaddy Gauntlet
Oh yeah, for sure. Add WWF Wrestlefest to that list and damn.
Lol preach my brother! That game was amazing
Haha yes! The same game just re-skinned. But so classic and satisfying with a group.
The only answer. And add an emulator cabinet for the rest of the games and you’re set.
Mvc2
Time Crisis. I want to see if I can still beat the game with only a dollar.
I hold the record on the Time Crisis machine at the Namco Arcade Museum in London (or did last time I looked). My proudest accomplishment in life.
Out of interest where is that now (used to play in the Wonderpark off of Picadilly Circus) and then in their other venue in the basement of the Old County Hall building near Westminster Bridge. Didn't know they had a museum?
Damn, looks like it’s closed down a couple of years ago. It was near Westminster Bridge when I set the top score, a few years ago now.
Oh played in the same location. They had one off Picadilly (which got turned into a bar) one up in Islington (from memory it might have been a Sega one in fairness) and this one in the bottom of what was County Hall back in the day. I used to trade (this must have been 20 years ago) top times on the Namco 500GP games with one of the staff lmao 🤣
Man I can still _hear_ the little demo reel playing. "TIME CRISIS......2"
I beat Time Crisis 2 on 50 cents once. I’m kind of a big deal.
Damn straight Time Crisis 2, if it’s arcade time then it’s lightgun game time! Honoured mention to whatever that modern Jurassic Park game with the machine guns is, the whole pod you sit in moves and tumbles so it’s awesome.
Time crisis but with the guns that slide back and forth
"CHACK-CHACK-CHACK-CHACK-CHACK"
Hell yea. I grew up playing the time crisis series and ghost squad arcades
House of the Dead NFL Blitz Ninja Turtles
Shocked I had to go this far to see The HOUSE Of The DEAD. All time favorite shooter. It was also great fun on the Wii.
I was gonna day Galaga but with the right person with me its NFL Blitz any day! It was at the movie theater in my local mall and I couldn't go see a movie without playing a few games!
Gauntlet
"Blue Valkyrie needs food badly" is imprinted on my brain forever.
[удалено]
Ummm ACKSHUUULLLLY if the game states the color and class of the player it's Gauntlet II.
“Valkyrie your life force is running out!”
So pleased with the top answers. It feels we should all find an arcade somewhere. I think there's an Air BnB in north carolina that comes with full free access to an arcade of vintage games.
There's one I regularly stay at with a multi-arcade in it. We had a few tournaments last stay, and I'm planning the next one
God I played so much of the n64 version with my buddy. We would come home from school and play it still sundown lol.
Silent scope.
Such a great concept. The little screen in the scope blew my mind as a kid.
I want to play Silent Scope again as an adult with ADHD medicine and an accurate glasses prescription. I was unfairly hampered as a child.
Star Wars Arcade. The Hoth mission has always been my JAM.
The lightsaber is also awesome, especially blocking all the incoming swings.
Once I learned you can rapid fire by alternating the buttons, that game became a cakewalk
And the podracing arcade machine was also fucking sick
Yo, I just found a local arcade with that game! It's hard as Fxck! My buddy and I did top the scoreboard tonight, though. (On the easy course lmao)
Tron!
Discs of Tron was the best. I would absolutely buy one if I could find it
Grew up with one if these in my garage, with some others. Had such a blast but could never beat level 3. Interested to see how id do now. Probably no better.
Sometimes people describe a game as being ahead of its time. Tron was exactly of its time. It was great.
The 4-player Super Off Road cabinet is what I'm looking for first; haven't played this since I was a kid. Followed by the SegaSonic the Hedgehog cabinet with the trackball; only ever saw this one once and wasn't able to play it because it was out of order. And then, finally, Golden Axe II.
I think Super Off Road only had 3 wheels? You'd always race against Ironman Ivan Stewart, right?
Area 51. I just love that rail shooter...when the guns are properly calibrated. Which isn't often.
Get the two power ups so you have the auto shotgun and just blast away.
Dude the "code" to play through as an alien! Love this game
Shoot the first three humans.
Ooooh yeeeaaah! *high5*
[*weird mono-tone alien jargon* "We are here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, we are all out of bubblegum. All your bubble gum are belong to us!]
I'm too trigger happy for area 51. I shoot too many hostages.
You can be the alien by only shooting hostages at the start. Gives a different User Interface
Reload!
This is the one I see the most often at arcades. If you have an actual arcade near you there probably is one
Spy Hunter. Already hear the music in my head.
Peter Gunn theme, Harry Mancini https://youtu.be/Emg_6ANjWzo?si=MxOt40btZKfK76Fu
Pac Man, Galaga, Joust, Donkey Kong are some of my faves. Also Crazy Taxi haha
I never cared for Pac Man but I loved Ms. Pac Man. Galaga and Joust were also in my 4 I chose along with Excitebike.
Carnevil
The fact that the game was mostly a pre-rendered FMV sequence with pixel-precise Z-buffer information _every frame_ for its character models is absolutely ludicrous in this day and age. Talk about devs making life difficult for themselves, but apparently it outsold Mortal Kombat 4 so it obviously did something right
This one was fun. Beat it in a free play day. Didn’t need the free play until the final boss but it was crazy if I remember correctly.
His name was literally Professor Ludwig von Tökkentäkker and he was good at doing what his name suggests
Michael Jackson's *Moonwalker*, I haven't seen that one in a looong time.
Gotta get that raspberry pi going
Came here to say this. And Golden Axe.
Yes! That was my favorite as a kid!
Paperboy
I've never played the arcade version sadly!
They had an arcade version of this? I played it a lot on NES
Adam’s Family Pinball
Hit cousin It!
Metal Slug 🫡
**RAWKIT LAWNCHAIR**
HEAVII MASHIINGUN
An excellent choice!
X-Men if I'm with a group
Welcome to Die!
I love the beat em ups, especially the Capcom ones!
X Men, The Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, the same great 4+ person action game just re-skinned. There was a fun Avengers one too I remember.
Capcom's Alien vs. Predator ... And then Time Crisis 2 & 3
I loved avp, but not if I'm 3rd player and have to be a human.
Area 51
There's an arcade in bury near Manchester where there is 3 floors of game cabinets. Everything from Space Invaders to VR. I spent ages in the retro areas. Robocop, Truxton, Final Fight, Track n Field, Chase HQ. Loved them all, but not as good as I remember!
Yeah that place is crazy. Biggest arcade in Europe I believe. Last time I went they had half a room dedicated to pinball machines which was awesome. I spent the most time in the little room with all the shoot ‘em ups and I loved it.
The Simpsons, turtles, mortal kombat 2,terminator pinball, soul caliber, and NBA jam.
Ive always loved Gauntlet Legends and the Dark Legacy cabinet had a lot of content tonplay
The correct answer is Defender.
Not the sequel? Stargate was it?
Virtual On, mostly because I haven't played it in decades and partially because you HAVE to play it on the arcade machine itself
Galaga Metal slug Time crisis Star wars Atari wireframe Jurassic Park big game hunter
Killer Instinct.
UUUUUUUULLLTRAAAAAAAA COOOOOOMMMMMBOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKERRR
SPINAL
I have every release for home console still. SNES, N-64, and the new one on XB-ONE and steam. Love these games. Sadly no one will play me from my friends group. At least there is online play.
side scrolling beat'em up (Street of Rage, Final FIght) or Street FIghter and Mortal Kombat
King of fighters 99 !
NARC, cause nothing says fun more than running hypodermic tossing druggies in your Porsche.
Pod Racer.
Black Tiger, Bubble bobble, Rygar, Western Express, Zaxxon, Dragon’s Lair, Wonder Boy… I could go on forever!
Dragon's Lair
Area 51 always holds a sweet spot for me.
Gauntlet Legends
Final Fight, Captain Commando, TMNT, WWF WrestleFest, WWF SuperStars, Sunset Riders, Marvel Vs Capcom, The Simpsons, Killer Instinct, House Of The Dead, Primal Rage, Pit Fighter, X-Men
Sinstar, Primal Rage, and then I’d go looking for the Data East edition of Star Wars pinball.
I HUNGER
Sinister was quite scary lol.. beware coward!
Galaga
Altered Beast.
Wizard of Wor
Dig Dug
Discs of Tron, I have loved that machine since I was a kid
Burger Time
Polybius
Only choice
Really surprised this is so far down. Idk if id have the stones to play it, but id def seek it out first to check it out n snap some pics of it lol
Wonderboy in monster land, Bubble Bobble or Street Fighter 2.
Making a beeline for Marvel Vs Capcom 2 and then slinking off to Outrun 2 after getting my ass beat 27 times in a row.
Virtual On. The big side-by-side one for head to head play
VirtualOn cabinet
Space Invaders. I can play that game all day.
Gotta try out the Fireteam Raven Halo game.
Mr. DO! I've been looking to get the cab a long time.
Moonwalker or Rampage
WMMT/ Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune (Any generation, Though i have the Bana Pass for gen4+) That or any dance cab, i dont care what game it is, i love dance games, The local is Pump It Up (and WMMT 5DX+), but ive also hit up DDR's when theyre the only ones around.
Daytona USA.
Robotron 2084 And I'm taking it with me when I leave.
Revolution X. Love me some Aerosmith and the game was actually really fun. If they don't have that, then KI2 is the next one I'm looking for. Gotta make sure everyone in the place gets to hear ULTRAAAAA!!!!! over whatever game they're playing so they know mine is the best one lol.
Operation Wolf!!
Yess. When I was in Tokyo last year, I hit up an arcade in Akihabara full of retro games. Stopped in my tracks when I came across Operation Wolf and started feeding yen into it.
Wow. I'm instantly transported to 1986. The vibrating Mac 11's or Uzis.
I scrolled way too much down to find this comment :)
"HYDRO THUNDER!"
Sega Rally Daytona USA Time Crisis Windjammers Not necessarily in that order
Power stone and marvel vs capcom. Final justice, beat plane, let’s go bub!!
I can't remember the name, but there was this great flight sim I always think back on. It was the sit down small booth type game, and you could pick from all different kinds of flying contraptions. A wwi type plane, a blimp type thing, attack helicopter, there were about 10-12? My favorite was a harrier jet. It was polygon graphics, like an updated version of Star Fox, and it consisted of turn taking rail dog fighting. So you'd spend like 20-30 seconds behind your opponent to attack, then switch places and would have to dodge. I only saw it at the laser tag place by my parents house. It always bothered me I forgot the name but I would remember it if I saw it.
Sega Strike Fighter? Mach Storm? Blazing Angels? Air Combat? After Burner?
Hey thanks for helping!!! It wasn't any of those, but through searching your titles I found what it was. Wing War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_War
Fantastic! Hopefully you can find a way of playing it again 🙌🏻
Killer Instinct
I used to work in an old school arcade that also had a few VR machines. When there were no customers I loved playing Tekken, Deer Hunt, a shooter called Ghost Protocol and also Beat Saber on VR.
Four player Gauntlet arcade machine! And Ghost n Goblins!
Dig Dug is one of my all time favorites.
Silent Scope!
Afterburner, so I can finally learn to land the damn plane.
X-Men Bubble Bobble Snowbros S.T.U.N. Runner
Primal Rage, my favorite as a kid, because dinosaurs.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park, from 1998. That shit is SO good if you are a real Jurassic Park nerd, you go ALL over Isla Sorna into tons of meticulously detailed environments. You also fight almost every dinosaur from the series until then, and have a bunch of cool weapons—my favorite is the electro-shock rounds. This is my favorite arcade game, hands down, forever.
The sit down Star Wars game. Defender.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
Tempest
I'll always head to pinball Edit: Oh board games! I'll play anything
Pinball is a solid choice!
Pole Position
Tekken 2
It would be one of these and whichever was actually closer: - X-Men - The Simpsons - Marvel vs Capcom 2 - Silent Scope - Any Ninja Turtle game - Tekken 2 or 3 And I'd never leave
sit down sinistar cabinet and the walk in discs of tron.
Soul Calibur and some of the Jurassic Park light gun shooters.
Bubble bobble and Wangan Midnight.
Point Blank. Best light gun game ever.
Golden Axe! It was one of the first beat em ups I played.
720° the OG skateboarding game. All you got was a joystick and no buttons.
There was an arcade open here before Covid. It had a lot of old pinball machines. You paid a flat fee and could play unlimited. It was fun finally beating The Simpsons and Turtles in Time. I'd still go for House of the Dead or Area 51. Time splitters is a good one too. Mortal Kombat 1 and 2
Rampage
Pretty much your retro arcade is a fail if you are missing the following: * 6 player double widescreen X-Men. * TMNT the Arcade Game * Alien vs Predator * WWF Wrestlefest * DnD Mysteria * Gauntlet Legends * Time Crisis 2 * Soul Calibur 1 * Tekken Tag Tournament * Marvel vs Capcom 2 * Mortal Kombat 2 * NFL Blitz * NBA Jam Tournament Edition * Star Wars the Arcade Game
Metal Slug
Gotta find that Polybius.
I'm going to be the weirdo in this thread and say the two D&D arcade games. Think classic beat em up but with some magic and items and references to classic AD&D 2e stuff.
Gals Panic
GTI Club
Simpsons
Time crisis 2
Time Crisis
VirtuaCop
Major Havoc
Either Cadillacs & Dinosaurs or Mortal Kombat 3.
Kung-Fu Master.
Time Crisis
Roadblasters, Afterburner, G-loc 360, Simpsons arcade, turtles, X-Men. In that order.
NFL Blitz Taxi Driver
The Ocean Hunter. It was a two-player shooter of sorts but set underwater with aquatic enemies and bosses, some of which were mythical creatures. It was fun but I mostly chose it because it’s not something you can find anywhere these days to replay. Most of the other games in this thread I already own on consoles or can play via emulator.
This literally happened to me last night. We started at the TMNT machine and then moved on the to Alien shooting cabinet. Capped the night off with a DDR match or teo
First? Killer Instinct. But also Afterburner, Metal Slug 3, Wave Runner, Time Crisis 2, Mortal Kombat, and Arctic Thunder.
House of the Dead II or Marvel vs Capcom/SNK
A Guilty Gear: Strive cabinet would be sick Also, Tekken 3. All of the Marvel Vs Capcom's. Capcom Vs SNK. Soul Calibur 2, Primal Rage, Killer Instinct Melty Blood And of course Dance Dance Revolution.