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Retro Every arcade game I played growing up (share your arcade memories, too)

NeoZeedeater

Tektite
*I don't want this thread to just be about me. Please talk your own arcade experiences, too.

I was bored and trying to figure out all the arcade games I played growing up, and it turns out to be a pretty big list. The time period I'm using is everything I played prior to my 18th birthday in late 1993. There were some games that had 1993 releases that I probably didn't play until 1994 so I left those out (stuff like Virtua Fighter, Run and Gun, Violent Storm, etc.).

I didn't want this to be just a list thread so I put in several screenshots and writing. Since the board has picture link limits, I didn't have screens for them all. It's plenty large already. And just because a game is in the "list pile" with no pics, that doesn't necessarily mean I think it's lesser than the others. I compiled the thread in quite a scattered manner. I blame having grown up in these type of environments:





Here are the games I recall...


Alien Storm (Sega, 1990)

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This was an impressive sci-fi follow up to Golden Axe. Alien Storm didn't have quite the same impact on me but given that its Genesis/Mega Drive port was much more downgraded, there's more reason for beat 'em up fans to check out the arcade original in this case.

Aliens (Konami, 1990)

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I was disappointed with some of Konami's licensed arcade games but this one kicked ass.

Apache 3 (Tatsumi/Data East, 1988)

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I didn't realize just how few people played this game until I frequented gaming forums many years later. And I don't think I registered the Tatsumi name back in the day as it was Data East's familiar logo prominently displayed on it. It was a helicopter shooter akin to the 3d sections of Sega's Thunder Blade but with a rescuing element like Broderbund's Choplifter. Explosions were so satisfying and it really nailed the swaying sensation of motion. I can still picture the feel of the controls decades later despite never having come across a real machine again.

Aurail (Westone/Sega, 1990)

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I was pleased to find this on a ferry boat ride as I had seen screenshots in magazines and knew Westone from the Wonder Boy franchise. Aurail was a mix of overhead view tank shooting and some sprite scaling 3d sections. I thought it was pretty neat although I was disappointed that I never found an arcade cab again, nor did a home port happen.

B.O.T.S.S.: Battle of the Solar System (Microprose/Jaleco, 1991)

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Among polygon arcade games of the early '90s, this seems to be one of the more obscure ones so I'm quite glad I experienced this mech action title when it was current. Microprose was an American company known for computer games so partnering with Japanese arcade/console company Jaleco wasn't a typical scenario.

Buster Bros. (Mitchell/Capcom, 1989)

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I would walk pretty far to the Hasty Market convenience store to play this (and Taito's Cadash) as it wasn't on my usual bus routes but it was worth it. Popping bubbles was so satisfying, and I still think this is a very underrated game.

Cameltry (Taito, 1989)

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I played this soon after the SNES version called On the Ball came out. Gameplay consisted of rotating a board to move a ball through a labyrinth.

Centipede (Atari, 1981)

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Home ports just weren't the same without the trackball, such a smooth glide for such a mesmerizing shooter.

Congo Bongo (Ikegami/Sega, 1983)

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This was one of my favourite arcade games even though I thought it was kind of a fancy rip off of Donkey Kong at the time. It was interesting learning decades later that it was co-developed by Ikegami Tsushinki, the company Nintendo hired to help create Donkey Kong.

Depth Charge (Gremlin, 1977)

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At my local Chuck E. Cheese's in the '80s, there was a coin-op game they had outside of their main arcade section, probably because it looked older and wouldn't have the same draw as other titles. It appeared to not be in its original cabinet but in some sort of makeshift sitdown one made to resemble a boat. It had no label nor title screen. I have scoured the internet and researched '70s gaming a lot, and the closest thing to my memory of it is Depth Charge. There's a good chance that's it but I'm not 100% sure. The game has always stuck in my mind as this mysterious thing, though.

Donkey Kong 3 (Nintendo, 1983)

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It may be worst of the original DK trilogy for many (including myself) but I still loved it. It was one of the earliest games I played where a sequel was radically different than its predecessors, going from platformer to shooter.

Dragon's Lair (Advanced Microcomputer Systems/Cinematronics, 1983)

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The hype for this game at my school was massive. It was the video game that looked just like a cartoon. Upon playing it, I was instantly disappointed at the lack of character control and no proper tutorial, not to mention the higher cost of playing. It eventually grew on me and despite its gameplay limitations. It is a memorable icon of that era.

Final Fight (Capcom, 1989)

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Later Capcom beat 'em ups had some gameplay and visual improvements but there's still something special about Final Fight. Food trash on the ground never looked so good.

Frogger (Konami/Sega, 1981)

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Long before we saw George Constanza take it on, this was an addictive title I would always be happy to encounter in various public places.

Galaga (Namco/Midway, 1981)

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Like Pac-Man, Galaga was everywhere in the early '80s. RIP Nobukyuki Ohnogi for those iconic tunes and sound effects.

Galaxy Force II (Sega, 1988)

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For those that don't know, games like this and After Burner II weren't really sequels but updates with the number "II" added. If you weren't there it might be hard to picture what made this game so special. Its moving cabinet and advanced 3d sprite graphics made it light years ahead of any rail shooters you could get at home.

Ghosts 'n Goblins (Capcom, 1985)

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The sequel was a huge improvement but I think the original was a bigger deal for its time given how few scrolling action platformers there were.

G.I. Joe (Konami, 1992)

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This was a ground-based rail shooter like Konami's Devastators and Taito's Rambo III arcade games before it but with even more detailed graphics, animations, explosions, and four-player simultaneous play. I thought it was better than Konami's licensed beat 'em ups (unless you count Aliens as one), too.

Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (Sega, 1992)

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This was the pinnacle of 2d graphics. Thanks a lot Sega for not even porting it to Saturn.

Hang On (Sega, 1985)

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Holy shit, you can sit on the motorcycle and ride it?! Sega's first taikan (body sensation) game was a spectacle, and a glimpse into the future of high end arcade games.

Hard Drivin' (Atari Games, 1988)

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I think this game's reputation has been somewhat tarnished because of more people having played downgraded home ports a few years later. The arcade version was amazing for its time with its polygon graphics, loops, realistic crashes, etc. It did a great job of simulating the feel of being in a real vehicle while having easy-to-learn accessible controls.

Karate Champ (Technos/Data East, 1984)

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I never went back to this much after World Karate Championship came out on Commodore 64 but for a moment in time, it mostly had the fighting genre to itself and its style was memorable. I played many battles against my uncle. He may have had a black belt in real life but these video game matches against me were close.

Moon Patrol (Irem/Willams, 1982)

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Getting into the rhythm of jumping and shooting to the bouncy soundtrack while enjoying the multiple layers of parallax scrolling always made for a great time.

Pac-Man (Namco/Midway, 1980)

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This wasn't just a game my parents knew the name of; even my grandparents were aware of the popularity. Pac-Man fever was a wild time. The cereal was nasty, though.

Power Drift (Sega, 1988)

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Before Mario Kart there was Power Drift, and it was intense with its high speed elevation changes.

Punch-Out!! (Nintendo, 1984)

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"Body blow!" With its two screens on top of each other and detailed cartoon graphics, this was bursting with personality. I was disappointed Nintendo stopped making advanced arcade hardware not long afterwards but it was understandable when the NES took off in popularity.

*to be continued in my next post.
 
Q*bert (Gottlieb, 1982)

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Like Donkey Kong and Dig Dug, this was one of those games where I just loved the characters and would often try drawing them.

Quartet (Sega, 1986)

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Four-player simultaneous side-scrolling action game goodness with one of the best soundtracks of the '80s.

Raiden (Seibu/Fabtek, 1990)

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Raiden ushered in a new level of success for Seibu. It didn't do anything drastically new (it was reminiscent of Toaplan shooters) but it was extremely polished and that's probably what made it so popular with arcade goers. Its smooth animations, small details like ships catching on fire, memorable soundtrack, and bombs where you could almost feel the power reverberating, gave it a signature feel.

Rastan (Taito, 1987)

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I was already a big fan of sword slashing action games back then, especially Capcom's Trojan, but Rastan took the genre to another level. The attacks were so satisfying (especially downward stabbing while falling) and the Conan-inspired soundtrack added to the intensity. The enemies and backgrounds were quite varied for the time as well.

Sinistar (Williams, 1983)

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Man, was I startled when that giant thing came chasing after me. It was the first time I encountered voice in a video game.

Star Wars (Atari, 1983)

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I remember the feel of this game so well: sitting in the cockpit, the sturdiness of the controls, flying through 3d space, the movie voice clips, and recreating moments like the Death Star trench. Incredible.

Street Fighter II and its upgrades/variants (Capcom, 1991)

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If you were there, then you know what an experience the SF2 phenomenon was.

Strider (Capcom, 1989)

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I was really drawn into this world. Every level was filled with creative and unexpected encounters, and your character had a level of agility I had never seen before.

S.T.U.N. Runner (Atari Games, 1989)

3d racing/shooter action.

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SubRoc 3-D (Sega, 1982)

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Sega dubbed it the "world's first truly 3-D video game". You would stick your face up to the periscope and stare into a world with actual depth and spaceships flying towards you. It was one of the earliest games to use hardware sprite scaling and would have been impressive even without the stereoscopic 3d.

Super Sprint (Atari Games, 1986)

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I wasn't aware of the older Sprint games from 1977-1978 at the time and how Super Sprint was faithful to their legacy. All I knew was that was a cool new three player 2d racing game.

Toki (TAD/Fabtek, 1989)

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Toki is definitely my favourite TAD release. It was a platform game where you play a man magically cursed into ape form who spits projectiles at enemies. It was a weird adventure that doesn't take itself seriously mixing things like ancient locations with modern football helmet power ups.

TRON (Midway, 1982)

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What I loved about this game aside from its visual style was its level variety. There are the MCP Cone areas where you shoot in constrained spaces, the Light Cycle sections similar to Blockade where you try to trap your opponent, the Battle Tank areas where you navigate mazes for enemies, and the I/O Towers where you need to blast bugs and escape.

Virtua Racing (Sega, 1992)

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Not only did this have the sharpest monitor I had seen but it was a leap forward for realism and 3d gaming. And even though it looks simple and blocky today, the art direction still shines.

VS. Hogan's Alley (Nintendo, 1984)

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I had missed the '70s light gun age: the original Odyssey, Bullet Mark, the Telstar line, etc. My first exposure to the genre was in the mid '80s revival with games like Hogan's Alley and Duck Hunt, the arcade versions prior to the NES arriving in the West.

VS. Slalom (Rare/Nintendo, 1986)

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This stood out for me because of its ski controls. It was a departure from a typical joystick and using your body movements added an extra element of realism. I hadn't encountered anything like it before.

Xybots (Atari Games, 1987)

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Having a third-person shooter with 3d movement back then was damn cool.



Other arcade games I played:

1942
1943
After Burner II
Air Buster
Alien Syndrome
Altered Beast
Arch Rivals
Arkanoid: Revenge of Doh
Asteroids
Bad Dudes
Bank Panic
Beast Busters
Bionic Commando
Blades of Steel
Bonanza Bros.
Bubble Bobble
BurgerTime
Cabal
Cadash
Carrier Airwing
Captain Commando
Choplifter
Cisco Heat
Combatribes
Commando
Contra
Crackdown
Crime City
Crime Patrol
Cyber Sled
Darius
D.D. Crew
Defender
Dig Dug
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II
Double Dragon III
Dragon's Lair II
Dynamite Duke
Enduro Racer
Galaxian
Gals Panic
Gauntlet
Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Golden Axe
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Dragon Saber
Hit The Ice
Hydra
In The Hunt
Joust
Karnov
King of Dragons, The
Knights of the Round
Klax
Kung Fu Master
Lethal Enforcers
Mad Dog McCree
Magic Sword
Mario Bros.
Mechanized Attack
Metamorphic Force
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
Millipede
Missile Command
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Ms. Pac-Man
NARC
NBA Jam
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
Night Striker
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Spirit
Ninja Warriors
Operation Wolf
OutRun
Pac-Land
Pit Fighter
Pole Position
Popeye
P.O.W.
R-Type
Rad Mobile
Raiden II
Rambo III
Rampage
Rampart
Revolution X
Ridge Racer
Roadblasters
Robocop
Rolling Thunder
Rygar
Saturday Night Slam Masters
Shadow Dancer
Shinobi
Silkworm
Simpsons, The
Smash TV
Space Ace
Space Invaders
Splatterhouse
Spy Hunter
Starblade
Star Trek
Steel Talons
Street Fighter
Sunset Riders
Super Hang On
Super Monaco GP
Super Off-Road
Super Punch Out!!
Super Street Fighter II
Superman
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tempest
Terminator 2
Tetris (Atari Games)
Thunder Blade
Thunder Cross
Thunder Fox
Time Soldiers
Time Traveler
Total Carnage
Trojan
Turbo OutRun
Two Crude
Valkyrie no Densetsu
Vendetta
Vindicators
VS. Baseball
VS. Duck Hunt
VS. Excitebike
VS. Wild Gunman
Wonder Boy
Wonder Boy in Monster Land
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
World Rally Championship
X-MEN
Xenophobe
Zaxxon

And Neo Geo MVS games first played in that time period:

Art of Fighting
Baseball Stars
Crossed Swords
Cyber Lip
Eight Man
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury 2
Ghost Pilots
League Bowling
King of the Monsters
Magician Lord
Mutation Nation
Nam 1975
Ninja Combat
Riding Hero
Samurai Shodown
Sengoku
Soccer Brawl
Super Baseball 2020
Super Sidekicks
Super Spy, The
Top Player's Golf
Viewpoint
World Heroes
World Heroes 2

And there were Nintendo Playchoice machines. Since these are basically NES games, they kind of blur with all the NES demo kiosks I played so I can't recall them all, even moreso than with VS. machines as I mostly played those before the NES was out domestically. I know I played Double Dribble, Dr. Mario, and Goonies II on Playchoice in an arcade. I also played arcade-ified SNES F-Zero on Nintendo Super System.

Share your arcade memories or ask me anything about mine.
 
Great thread!


The Simpsons Arcade game
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I have a lot of good memories playing this game in random arcades growing up. Everyone would say that there isn't a good Simpsons video game and I would point them to this one. Unfortunately it has not aged well at over the past 30 years. Hopefully Konami or someone gives this game an updated treatment because it deserves it.



Simpsons Bowling
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Another Simpsons game? Darn tootin! Back in Junior High, I saw a guy score a 298. I felt their pain.




TMNT: Arcade game
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I am a huge Ninja Turtles fan so of course I played this game for hours on end!



Jurassic Park
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This was the first game that I always saw when I walked into a Chuckie Cheese. Game was loud (and a little scary for a 5 year old) but it was awesome.


Coin game
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One more coin. I know I can win with just one.... more... coin....



Marvel vs Capcom 2
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Look, every Saturday morning most of the kids in my bowling group kept leaving the alley to play this game in the arcade. That game was so much fun.


Crusin' USA
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I always loved the crap out of these racing games as a kid.



Random Crane game
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Dear every crane machine that I spent more than a quarter on........ I hate you
 


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