Arcade machines munching on your coins

[GPX | 1,403]

Let’s go back to the prehistoric days when arcade machines ruled the streets and computers/consoles were the ugly duckling..

Remember when you were a kid when you would be saving up all your coins just to eagerly shove them into coin slots from those gaming machines? Remember when you starved yourself from lunch, and ended up using your lunch money for after school gaming? Remember breaking up that piggy bank just so you can spend it all on a weekend at the Arcades? Remember a time when you just couldn’t wait to get out of your house to game, walking to the local deli and enjoying some sunshine?

Ok, enough ramblings, what were some of your favorite arcade games? Which game did you spend the most on? Anything arcade-related, feel free to discuss here!

[Strange | 1,727]

I grew up after the golden age of arcades but I still saw arcade machines around various places, remnants of that age. My absolute favorite as a kid was Galaga. I remember loving the sounds, the designs of the enemies, everything about it.

We have a new arcade close to my place now (dedicated arcade, not a barcade) and I got to try some old machines. I particularly enjoyed playing Centipede and Space Harrier on their original cabinets. Just a different experience.

[RH | 5,196]

Well, I'll just give a top 5 list of my favorite arcade games.  For me, though, arcades were places I went to for special events like parties or lock-ins, or if we went to the mall on the weekends, I was often given $5 to enjoy.  There was the occasional release over to the pizza parlor arcade and those nights were the best because pizza + arcade games = the best thing ever.

1. Galaga/Mrs. Pac-Man combo
2. Time Traveler (Projection "3D" SEGA game)
3. Whatever sit-in racing game was available. I loved them all
4. If it had a gun, I was playing it
5. Skeeball

So, yeah, that's my list. Man, I loved light gun games. I should probably bump that one higher.

[RH | 5,196]

5 minutes ago, The Strangest said:

I grew up after the golden age of arcades but I still saw arcade machines around various places, remnants of that age. My absolute favorite as a kid was Galaga. I remember loving the sounds, the designs of the enemies, everything about it.

We have a new arcade close to my place now (dedicated arcade, not a barcade) and I got to try some old machines. I particularly enjoyed playing Centipede and Space Harrier on their original cabinets. Just a different experience.

This.  I posted my response before refreshing and seeing yours.  The Galaga/Mrs. Pac-Man combo is the only arcade machine I want (other than maybe a multicade machine) but I mostly want it for Galaga.  Regardless, why would you want to get an official arcade machine with one game when for the same price you could get one with three!

[Tulpa | 3,684]

Spy Hunter! It's the only arcade game that I've seriously contemplated buying. My local arcade's machine actually let you have a free game if you hit the weapons van button when it lit up. I think someone left a test setting enabled, but it was a guarded secret for a long time among the arcade customers.

I was also fond of Strike Force, but that machine was somewhat hard to find. I remember one was in the student union of the University of Kansas.

Arkanoid was at my local laundromat, and we frequented it when our laundry machines were being replaced. And after I would drop in to play it. Freakin' love that game.

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Tulpa

[GPX | 1,403]

My earliest memories of the arcades was probably Galaga as well. Back then, there were a few local deli/tuck shop and each would have their different arcade machines to play. Ghost n Goblins, Rastan and Superman were some of my earliest memories as well. 

The biggest arcade impact for me was definitely Street Fighter 2. With the amount of coin I had spent on this game, I could have probably bought the arcade machine itself! Graphics, sounds and gameplay was unbelievable for its time. Felt like participating in Blood Sport for real, except without actual bruises!

Also worth mentioning, Turtles and Simpsons arcade games were so cool to allow 4 players simultaneous.

Edited October 6, 2020 by GPX

[Tanooki | 5,103]

I used money I got from my parents at pizza place, summer camp food budget(most of it), whatever.

I had a large post here, got too much.  Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man, Galaga were early interests, so was DK, DKjr and DK3 too.

There were some moments I'd be stuck at an after school program, camp, or regulared where I got quite good at stuff.  Ghosts N Goblins I could 2 loop to finish, Double Dragon on a quarter, 20-30 waves into Mario Bros easy enough, Final Fight on a quarter or two.  Super Dodgeball I got savant like with.  I'd put people into tears making them leave or leave if they tried to challenge me.  I couldn't whip my paypal account open fast enough when Super Dodgeball came out on the Switch!!  Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat after about a month worth of dedicated practice there and on the home versions.  Once I could nail down SF2 SNES on lv7, it was cake on the arcade machine.

The other notable, Neo Geo, loved the early 1990-91 stuff, was jacked when I got one for home so I could free play.  The 161in1 was a life saver, but it lacked many of those early games.  I was all about getting early/quick Magician Lord, NAM, League Bowling, 8man, Cyber Lip, Ninja Combat and a few others.  And thanks to the iCade 60in1 I have in a cocktail, a few other gems from early on the post are mine to play again too.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,120]

I spread the wealth all over the arcade for about 15 years. The 80s classics were my favorite, but I spent quite a bit on fighting games in the 90s. I still play what I can in the bar/arcades that are still left.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,912]

I was too poor to play arcade games.

...except for that time I went to a birthday at Aladdin's Castle and every kid got a roll of tokens.  I burned 'em all beating The Simpsons with 3 older randos

[GPX | 1,403]

2 hours ago, Tanooki said:

The other notable, Neo Geo, loved the early 1990-91 stuff, was jacked when I got one for home so I could free play.  The 161in1 was a life saver, but it lacked many of those early games.  I was all about getting early/quick Magician Lord, NAM, League Bowling, 8man, Cyber Lip, Ninja Combat and a few others.  And thanks to the iCade 60in1 I have in a cocktail, a few other gems from early on the post are mine to play again too.

Neo Geo were like the Luigi of the arcades. They were second to the giants in Konami/Capcom (Mario-like status), but they indeed have a lot of charm that was undeniable. Samurai Shodown was a notable game for me, I think being the first genuine great arcade fighter using weapons. 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

DAYTONNNAAAA!!!

My favorites would've had to been X-Men 4 player and NBA Jam. Street fighter and Tekken were always fun. The cabs had signs on them that said winner was allowed to stay on lol apparently there were some heated debates that the owner had to take action over. 

[JamesRobot | 6,022]

An early arcade love was the cocktail Ms. Pac-Man at the Pizza Hut.  I'd always ask Pop for two quarters while we waited for the large thin and crispy pepperoni.  (That's the best chain pizza there is.)

One quarter for the table, and one for the jukebox so I could listen to Run DMC Walk This Way.

 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

4 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

An early arcade love was the cocktail Ms. Pac-Man at the Pizza Hut.  I'd always ask Pop for two quarters while we waited for the large thin and crispy pepperoni.  (That's the best chain pizza there is.)

One quarter for the table, and one for the jukebox so I could listen to Run DMC Walk This Way.

 

Take me back! The pizza place down the street from where I grew up still has the Ms Pac Man cab but got rid of the juke box. It was Livin' on the Edge for me

[Nintegageo | 583]

8 hours ago, RH said:

Regardless, why would you want to get an official arcade machine with one game when for the same price you could get one with three!

Honestly, this is why I have the arcade machines that used cartridges, so it's sorta like a console that is super awesome.

[rdrunner | 444]

I still have fond memories of Show Biz Pizza.  No, not because I liked pizza (3-to-9-year-old me didn't).  And no, not because I liked the music/dancing puppets (rather lame).  It was all about the arcade!  Certain games will always stick out for me because of this place.

Mario Bros. (nothing like having sound waves from the low speaker hitting you in the face as a kid)

Mr. Do's Castle (desperately needs a modern console release)

Yie Ar Kung-Fu (what exactly IS a "Tonfun" anyway?)

TMNT (because, well, TMNT)

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by rdrunner

[cartman | 195]

I experienced none of it i've never played an arcade machine machine even to this day so no i don't remember "what it was like X" that you've brought up. 

[Sumez | 3,151]

13 hours ago, GPX said:

Ok, enough ramblings, what were some of your favorite arcade games? Which game did you spend the most on? Anything arcade-related, feel free to discuss here!

What do you mean were?
I thought this was the forum where we like to play old games frequently  

Here's my station, I play a billion different things on it.

 

 

7 hours ago, GPX said:

Neo Geo were like the Luigi of the arcades.

Neo Geo is the Mario of arcades, it's pretty much the most succesful arcade platform of all times.
(though to be fair, there weren't a lot of "platforms", with most reused hardware getting revamped for every new release, though Capcom's CPS1 and CPS2 platforms did well for a system supported by only one company)

Edited October 7, 2020 by Sumez

[Sumez | 3,151]

13 hours ago, RH said:

Regardless, why would you want to get an official arcade machine with one game when for the same price you could get one with three!

  

4 hours ago, Nintegageo said:

Honestly, this is why I have the arcade machines that used cartridges, so it's sorta like a console that is super awesome.

A vast majority of arcade games all use the JAMMA standard (basically anything since '86/'87 that doesn't require unique cabinets/controls, or the JVS standard) so there's really no reason to have an arcade cabinet "with one game".  
Even most older games can easily be converted to JAMMA with an adapter.

I 100% recommend getting one.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,120]

10 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

An early arcade love was the cocktail Ms. Pac-Man at the Pizza Hut.  I'd always ask Pop for two quarters while we waited for the large thin and crispy pepperoni.  (That's the best chain pizza there is.)

One quarter for the table, and one for the jukebox so I could listen to Run DMC Walk This Way.

 

That sounds like the setup that my local Pizza Hut had. They had a jukebox and a Frogger cocktail table off in the back corner. I always got plenty of use out of both.

[Sumer | 221]

Excellent!  An ARCADE thread!  

I was a little kid at the tail end of the Golden Age (4 to 5 years old), but my dad exposed me to games during this time since he was a fan of PONG and pinball in the 70s.  Anecdotally, my first arcade game was Atari Star Wars at a bar that my dad took me to in '83 (back when kids were allowed into actual saloons, not the "bar and grill" of today) and I supposedly impressed the bar tender with my X-wing skills.  

So, yes, Atari Star Wars is up there for my top five games...I was also obsessed with Pac-Man back then and the Saturday Supercade TV show as a child, so Pac-Man is another love.  Going to arcades by myself started in the late 80s, so I also am attached to TMNT and the Simpsons machine...but SFII really blew me away when it hit our local arcade's floor and really revitalized the arcade scene for at least the next two or three years.  So SFII (World Warrior) is there as well in top five.

I guess this thread is an excuse to show off my current line up, though my Pac-Man Arcade Party cocktail table is not out on the floor currently, and Outrun is down for repairs (EDIT, sorry for the glare):

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Sumer

[Sumer | 221]

21 hours ago, RH said:

This.  I posted my response before refreshing and seeing yours.  The Galaga/Mrs. Pac-Man combo is the only arcade machine I want (other than maybe a multicade machine) but I mostly want it for Galaga.  Regardless, why would you want to get an official arcade machine with one game when for the same price you could get one with three!

You could always consider a Pac-Man Pixel Bash, as it has 32 games (if you get the home version) from Bandai Namco and is an actual arcade machine (if you don't want to go the Arcade 1up route), and is actually around the same price as a Class of 1981 Galaga/Ms Pac cab.  The caberet is the "home version" of it without the coin mech and with Ms. Pac-Man.  The full size one is the commercial/coin mech version of it, but does not include Ms. Pac.  It also comes in a cocktail table and also a version with a mini fridge! 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Sumer

[DefaultGen | 5,723]

As a kid I played what was available. Some of the ones I played most were Satan's Hollow, Gauntlet, Battletoads, Simpsons and what I think is an obscure game Chicken Shift which I loved. I generally played the games with the longest playtime rather than the games that were the most fun, so I played a lot of Galaga and Pooyan to stretch my dollar, because you can go for like 10 minutes on those even as a noob.

Now I'm all about high skill ceilings and replayability. If you can credit feed a game to the end, just throw that theme park nonsense in the trash. Pump it Up, Beatmania, Golden Tee, Outrun 1 and 2, and pinballlll. All my favorite games have a dexterity element to them and aren't just joystick and buttons.

Edited October 7, 2020 by DefaultGen

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,120]

4 hours ago, Sumer said:

Excellent!  An ARCADE thread!  

I was a little kid at the tail end of the Golden Age (4 to 5 years old), but my dad exposed me to games during this time since he was a fan of PONG and pinball in the 70s.  Anecdotally, my first arcade game was Atari Star Wars at a bar that my dad took me to in '83 (back when kids were allowed into actual saloons, not the "bar and grill" of today) and I supposedly impressed the bar tender with my X-wing skills.  

So, yes, Atari Star Wars is up there for my top five games...I was also obsessed with Pac-Man back then and the Saturday Supercade TV show as a child, so Pac-Man is another love.  Going to arcades by myself started in the late 80s, so I also am attached to TMNT and the Simpsons machine...but SFII really blew me away when it hit our local arcade's floor and really revitalized the arcade scene for at least the next two or three years.  So SFII (World Warrior) is there as well in top five.

I guess this thread is an excuse to show off my current line up, though my Pac-Man Arcade Party cocktail table is not out on the floor currently, and Outrun is down for repairs (EDIT, sorry for the glare):

 

Do you need a roommate? I'm cool with living in the basement with the video games! 

[Sumer | 221]

We actually just added a bedroom to the basement this spring, but I have turned it into my home office for COVID.  Wait for the vaccine and then let's talk.  

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,120]

1 minute ago, Sumer said:

We actually just added a bedroom to the basement this spring, but I have turned it into my home office for COVID.  Wait for the vaccine and then let's talk.  

I'd probably put enough quarters in the machines to cover the rent and then some!