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[Davevil]

 

[Robot Carnival]

X-MEN - Videogame by Konami

X-MEN is a Videogame by Konami (circa 1992). Select your favorite X-Men character and fight various foes. You can punch, kick, throw, and back-attack the enemies plus jump to avoid or jump-attack the enemi

www.arcade-museum.com

I remember this X-men game. was one of the earliest co-op beat'm up I played back then. and that was before I even know a lot about the X-men series too

 

[FoxMcChief]

This bad boy was my childhood machine

 

[El Muerto]

The GOAT. Played it every time I went to chuck e cheese growing up.

This one was cool and was quite the workout. You had to physically dodge bullets. There was a boxing game too which had the same tech.

My local arcade had this one too and it was surprisingly fun.

 

[Kings Field]

House of the dead was my favorite arcade game of all time. I had the chance to buy one from my arcade that closed for $500 but I was a broke PA student at the time. Now they run up to $5,000.

 

[TheDuskwalker]

This classic is one of my favorites.

Unfortunately I don't remember the place that had it having it for long. After SNES version released, I told my mom to keep an eye out for the SNES version at the pawn shop she worked at, but no luck. Did rent the SNES version a few times though. Glad both it and its successor, Mystic Warriors, are on Playstation and Switch now.

Not a favorite, but I do have the most nostalgia for this one since the local pizza place just had it in the back for years. So I played it the most since I played it while waiting everytime we ordered pizza.

 

[DGrayson]

Simpsons, Turtles, Final Fight, Avengers, XMen, Aliens v Predator. I really loved the beat em up genre at the arcades.

 

[Crayon]

I see you put virtual on right at the top.

That fucker was ALWAYS BROKEN.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Probably this one:

This was at my bowling alley. I spent like $10 in quarters to finish the entire game. It wasn't worth it.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Stun Runner
Low frame rate tube racing. I remember playing it alot but not getting very far.
Look at the size of that seat.

 

[Robot Carnival]

This classic is one of my favorites.

Unfortunately I don't remember the place that had it having it for long. After SNES version released, I told my mom to keep an eye out for the SNES version at the pawn shop she worked at, but no luck. Did rent the SNES version a few times though. Glad both it and its successor, Mystic Warriors, are on Playstation and Switch now.

oh boy, this one reminded me of another Western theme arcade.

Blood Brothers.

Blood Bros. - Videogame by TAD Corporation

Blood Bros. is a Videogame by TAD Corporation (circa 1990). The setting is the Wild West where the player moves a cross hairs and shoot at objects on a stationary screen. The player character can duck and roll along a on

www.arcade-museum.com

at least I think it is this one in my memory. you just run/roll around at the bottom of the screen and shoot whatever's up ahead/above. pretty fun game and you can even get upgrades to use a shotgun which has a huge hitbox.

I see you put virtual on right at the top.

That fucker was ALWAYS BROKEN.

haha, I don't really remember the one I visited was broken, but I've only played it like once a week or less, so I can't really tell you. but I loved the experience when I did play it. especially that one big and slow robot that has a once a fight nuke that you can shoot out. and it's literally a gaint missle the size of my robot.

 

[Crayon]

haha, I don't really remember the one I visited was broken, but I've only played it like once a week or less, so I can't really tell you. but I loved the experience when I did play it. especially that one big and slow robot that has a once a fight nuke that you can shoot out. and it's literally a gaint missle the size of my robot.

Legendary game. The controls were fragile, though. I think the character you're talking about is raiden. Raiden had lasers that were enormous.

 

[Robot Carnival]

Legendary game. The controls were fragile, though. I think the character you're talking about is raiden. Raiden had lasers that were enormous.

I had to dig around and look it up, and nope, it's actually Grys-Vok from the 2nd Virtual On that I was thinking about. it's all missles and bombs and it has an ICBM nuke that flys up then comes down very slowly, but has HUGE AOE and damage.

Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram/Grys-Vok

Missiles launched in large quantities from both shoulders have high tracking performance, strenghtening the further you are from your opponent. The reload speed of each weapon is fast, allowing continuous fire. If you can keep a good distance between you and your opponent, you can create a...

wiki.gbl.gg

 

[Yerd]

It's a crime against humanity that Capcom's Alien Vs Predator hasn't had a console/PC port.

A fucking crime!

It's not in any of those bundle games they sell?
I bought one of those (probably illegal) hard drives on amazon that has a bajillion games in it. I've only messed with it a couple times. I wonder if I have the game in that mess.

This bad boy was my childhood machine

I know I played the xmen game, I don't remember it being 6 players. That looks no fun for those 2 end players.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I grew up with arcades, I really liked arcades, I don’t understand why they aren’t relevant anymore. They’re a chance to play games for a few quarters with people you don’t even know.

 

[Quasicat]

When I was in college, the Pizza Hut next door had a four slot MVS machine. I would go in there every day for lunch and get a $4 combo meal and spend the next two hours going through all the games on that system.
This unit had Blazing Star, Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug, and Samurai Shodown; I played these games so much, especially Blazing Star, that I could run the entire thing on 2 quarters.
As I moved on in life, I was unable to play them on a home consoles until Hamster released them on the Xbox and the switch. Now I have so many Neo Geo games that I’ve double dipped on both so that I can play them whenever I want.

 

[Comfortgel]

My two favorite arcade machines at the Aladdin's Castle when I was growing up were

I, Robot - I think this was the first game to use polygons?

and the walk-in Discs of Tron. I would kill to have one of these in my basement.

I'm old.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I have fond memories of Daytona, Virtual On, Time Crisis, Terminator and such but what awed me was this massive room where you get to play Jurassic Park 2 iirc. You literally have an arcade room where in the game you play as someone in a Jeep and is getting chased by a T-rex. That was so wild for me.

I think this was it. Only my arcade also put some kind of curtain and decorative bushes around it and on the sides where you go in. Basically, shit was dark once you’re inside. Really immersive for my very young mind.

This was by far my favorite because of the pod design. I don't remember if it was styled after a Jeep or another random vehicle from the park. The colors seem to suggest that. There is a segment where you are being chased by a herd of Triceratops and that was certainly immersive. Especially with the surround sound.

I think the difficulty rating of this arcade was fairly high. It throws Velociraptors at you in the beginning and it is not afraid to up ante as you progress. Dinos are in a frenzy and are out to get you. We trespassed their property and they are mad as shit at human colonizers.

 

[dalyr95]

 

[Vyse]

Time Pilot was my jam. Could play that forever. Also loved Smash TV.

 

[Robot Carnival]

It's not in any of those bundle games they sell?
I bought one of those (probably illegal) hard drives on amazon that has a bajillion games in it. I've only messed with it a couple times. I wonder if I have the game in that mess.



I know I played the xmen game, I don't remember it being 6 players. That looks no fun for those 2 end players.

it's definitely not on any official release. I think it's due to some licensing issues with the movie companies. it's a real shame for sure. I mean, I'm pretty sure you can still find it via emulator and what not, but still.

and I think I've only seen the 6 players X-men machine once or twice before. most of the ones I remember are just the 4 players ones.

I grew up with arcades, I really liked arcades, I don’t understand why they aren’t relevant anymore. They’re a chance to play games for a few quarters with people you don’t even know.

oh boy, Gauntlet was hilarious, especially if you're playing with randos. I've seen people almost get into fights just because they took the meat that woulda keep them from dying.

as for the decline of arcades, I feel it really is only ever going to work in high density cities where you'll get a lot of traffic from people who likes to play. that's why it was so huge in Asia in general. most of North America cities other than NYC and maybe SF are just too spread out to sustain that business. you need to be on the way of people getting off work and school in order to get money. and once home computers, consoles and finally smartphones are more wide spread, it's really just a matter of time because arcade goes into the sunset.

When I was in college, the Pizza Hut next door had a four slot MVS machine. I would go in there every day for lunch and get a $4 combo meal and spend the next two hours going through all the games on that system.
This unit had Blazing Star, Puzzle Bobble, Metal Slug, and Samurai Shodown; I played these games so much, especially Blazing Star, that I could run the entire thing on 2 quarters.
As I moved on in life, I was unable to play them on a home consoles until Hamster released them on the Xbox and the switch. Now I have so many Neo Geo games that I’ve double dipped on both so that I can play them whenever I want.

ah, the good old Neo Geo machines. sometimes if the store owner is cool enough, you might even get some of the cool less well known games on it too. I miss those. thou I do prefer the Japan ones where you can sit down, or the ones that they would put outside the stores so they have a little hood to block out the sunlight.

My two favorite arcade machines at the Aladdin's Castle when I was growing up were

I, Robot - I think this was the first game to use polygons?

and the walk-in Discs of Tron. I would kill to have one of these in my basement.

I'm old.

I think I've seen the Tron machine before, but I definitely never seen the I, Robot one. how do you play it?

 

[Robot Carnival]

btw, which do all my arcade veterans prefer? side by side or across the other side?

to clarify, a lot of the Japanese arcades have the fighting game machines having only 1 stick and button set. and if you want to challenge the player, you go to the machine on the other side and put in the coin to challenge. so the two of you are more or less face to face, but with 2 machines in between you.

 

[IDKFA]

It's not in any of those bundle games they sell?
I bought one of those (probably illegal) hard drives on amazon that has a bajillion games in it. I've only messed with it a couple times. I wonder if I have the game in that mess.

Nope. Unfortunately not.

 

[Yerd]

as for the decline of arcades, I feel it really is only ever going to work in high density cities where you'll get a lot of traffic from people who likes to play. that's why it was so huge in Asia in general. most of North America cities other than NYC and maybe SF are just too spread out to sustain that business. you need to be on the way of people getting off work and school in order to get money. and once home computers, consoles and finally smartphones are more wide spread, it's really just a matter of time because arcade goes into the sunset.

I'm pretty sure it's the fact that the home systems could replicate anything in the arcades. Besides those giant sit-in vehicle cabs and what have you. There was a time when the arcade machines were much more powerful than home consoles and would take years until we would be ports. Before that, the arcades were bustling. Even in my local malls.

My local malls had an arcade in each one. I worked in a store at the mall and would spend too much time on breaks playing mostly marvel vs capcom and other SF and MK games.

btw, which do all my arcade veterans prefer? side by side or across the other side?



to clarify, a lot of the Japanese arcades have the fighting game machines having only 1 stick and button set. and if you want to challenge the player, you go to the machine on the other side and put in the coin to challenge. so the two of you are more or less face to face, but with 2 machines in between you.

I've never encountered those face to face machines. I didn't go frequenting arcades outside of my nearby home towns. Maybe they existed in the bigger cities in US, I never saw one. There was a new movie theater down the road from a mall that had this huge SF 3 cabinet. I think this is it. It's the biggest cab I can find pic of.

I remember it being huge, at the time, taking up a lot of floor space, for a fighting game cab.

 

[simpatico]

For me it’s the 4 player beat em ups like XMen and TMNT. Also, anything with a reciprocating gun like Time Crisis

 

[Robot Carnival]

I'm pretty sure it's the fact that the home systems could replicate anything in the arcades. Besides those giant sit-in vehicle cabs and what have you. There was a time when the arcade machines were much more powerful than home consoles and would take years until we would be ports. Before that, the arcades were bustling. Even in my local malls.

My local malls had an arcade in each one. I worked in a store at the mall and would spend too much time on breaks playing mostly marvel vs capcom and other SF and MK games.


I've never encountered those face to face machines. I didn't go frequenting arcades outside of my nearby home towns. Maybe they existed in the bigger cities in US, I never saw one. There was a new movie theater down the road from a mall that had this huge SF 3 cabinet. I think this is it. It's the biggest cab I can find pic of.

I remember it being huge, at the time, taking up a lot of floor space, for a fighting game cab.

yeah, the increase in power of home computers and then consoles and the speed of ports are also a huge factor too. I remember it took like forever back then for Street Fighters 2 to come out on SNES. now a days they have them out at the same time with fighting games, which to be honest, it only make sense if you want to make money.

the "face to face" machines are primarily in bigger arcades in Japan as far as I can tell. back when arcades were still arcades in Hong Kong, only a handful of them has those too. mainly because it'll just take up too much space when you can put in another side by side machine to earn more money. as far as I can tell, it's main purpose is so you won't get accidentally bumped or elbowed by the other guys and miss your input while fighting. as for the big screen fighting machines, I think even back then it's only in some big movie theaters or one of those "fancier" places like a Dave & Buster types.

 

[Yerd]

yeah, the increase in power of home computers and then consoles and the speed of ports are also a huge factor too. I remember it took like forever back then for Street Fighters 2 to come out on SNES. now a days they have them out at the same time with fighting games, which to be honest, it only make sense if you want to make money.

the "face to face" machines are primarily in bigger arcades in Japan as far as I can tell. back when arcades were still arcades in Hong Kong, only a handful of them has those too. mainly because it'll just take up too much space when you can put in another side by side machine to earn more money. as far as I can tell, it's main purpose is so you won't get accidentally bumped or elbowed by the other guys and miss your input while fighting. as for the big screen fighting machines, I think even back then it's only in some big movie theaters or one of those "fancier" places like a Dave & Buster types.

I remember a guy that was left handed at the marvel vs capcom machine I used to frequent. He would play cross handed and I believe he used to underhand the joystick too. Total freakshow, in other words. To my 90s sensibilities. Now that I think about it, he could've been a witch. I don't think I was ever bumped at any arcade machine. I guess it could happen if you stack machines so close together that it's oppressive.

 

[Robot Carnival]

and while we're on the subject of old arcades and history of gaming, I'm going to shamelessly push the anime High Score Girl on Netflix. it very accurately showcases the arcade scene back in the days.





it is a true work of passion and they were even getting some help from Capcom to produce it. the manga artist actually got into some legal trouble because he used some SNK stuff in the manga and SNK was being a bitch about it. but luckily Capcom was cool with it and even helped providing assets for the anime.

 

[Little Mac]

Hard to pick 1 let alone 5, but I couldn’t make a list without Killer Instinct. The graphics, audio, commentator, combos, breakers, fatalities, etc It was a sensory overload.

You could hear the menu theme music from across the mall.

 

[simpatico]

Mortal Kombat for the first time was a generational leap in photo realism and content. I remember being dazed over it. Reenacting the infinite jab combos at school. Really one of those "oh shit" technical moments we don't get anymore. If you were there, and the right age, the first time you saw and played Mortal Kombat at the arcade was a huge moment in the gaming memory rolodex. Street Fighter was instantly dead to me. (those tables turned again pretty quickly)

 

[Yerd]

Hard to pick 1 let alone 5, but I couldn’t make a list without Killer Instinct. The graphics, audio, commentator, combos, breakers, fatalities, etc It was a sensory overload.

You could hear the menu theme music from across the mall.

Yes, I spent a good deal of time on KI machine. The announcer could be heard throughout the arcade.
C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

Mortal Kombat for the first time was a generational leap in photo realism and content. I remember being dazed over it. Reenacting the infinite jab combos at school. Really one of those "oh shit" technical moments we don't get anymore. If you were there, and the right age, the first time you saw and played Mortal Kombat at the arcade was a huge moment in the gaming memory rolodex. Street Fighter was instantly dead to me. (those tables turned again pretty quickly)

I remember those days, on MK 2 and 3, people had to puzzle out the combos, and then finishers. I'm not sure how anyone figured out how to do the different finishers. Put your quarter on the cab to signify you got next.

 

[Ovek]

Starblade

 

[JohnnyPhats]

Mortal Kombat for the first time was a generational leap in photo realism and content. I remember being dazed over it. Reenacting the infinite jab combos at school. Really one of those "oh shit" technical moments we don't get anymore. If you were there, and the right age, the first time you saw and played Mortal Kombat at the arcade was a huge moment in the gaming memory rolodex. Street Fighter was instantly dead to me. (those tables turned again pretty quickly)

Yeah man. It was a HUGE deal. I was 16 when it came out and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I also remember being fascinated by Pit Fighter lol.

 

[Robot Carnival]

I remember a guy that was left handed at the marvel vs capcom machine I used to frequent. He would play cross handed and I believe he used to underhand the joystick too. Total freakshow, in other words. To my 90s sensibilities. Now that I think about it, he could've been a witch. I don't think I was ever bumped at any arcade machine. I guess it could happen if you stack machines so close together that it's oppressive.

honestly, and this isn't all that frequent but it was definitely there, sometimes it's actually intentional. back then some bigger kids would be losing to some smaller kids and would elbow them while playing the side by side machines to mess up their game. the face to face ones kinda avoids that, but if there would be other altercations after losing the game, that's a different matter.

 

[simpatico]

Yeah man. It was a HUGE deal. I was 16 when it came out and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I also remember being fascinated by Pit Fighter lol.

I played Pit Fighter and T2 to completion by virtue of being at my local movie theater. Also, that old 4 player 4x4 off road game with the really little trucks. Classic stuff. Lethal Enforcers was another one from that place.

 

[calistan]

Much as I loved the videogames, the best things in arcades for me were generally the pinball machines. As long as they well well maintained, you always got good value out of a pinball, whereas the videogames would be on a timer, or they'd throw in a difficulty spike so you had to insert more coins to see what came next.

Peak pinball was arguably the early 1990s, when you had some amazing designers making big-budget games packed with toys. Whitewater, Addams Family, Funhouse, Star Trek TNG, Indiana Jones... A few companies still make pinballs but they're almost exclusively for the collectors' market, so you'll rarely see them in the wild, and they're sold based on the license rather than on their gameplay.

I bought an ex-arcade Twilight Zone almost 25 years ago, and it's by far the best gaming purchase I've ever made. Big, noisy, heavy, tactile.

 

[Nydius]

I haven't looked at every post in the thread but thinking back to the age poll some months back I imagine there will probably be quite a few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, The Simpsons, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat arcade cabinets posted before and after this.

So I'm going to reach a few years further back with:
Tournament Cyberball 2072

I sunk so many quarters into this game. I'd still play it if I was rich and could afford to build my own retro arcade in a basement.

 

[John Marston]

Here's me (On the right) and my friend Martin on the Pier, Old Orchard in the summer of 1983.

I remember playing lots of Mario and Millipede.

That Star Wars game was new and I played the shit out of it.

I also watched a pro for a couple of hours playing Dragon's Lair and memorizing his every move.

When the game released in Montreal a couple of months later I took over the machine and onlookers thought I was an autistic Wizard.

Good times.

 

[StueyDuck]

Coin ops were never really a big thing here in South Africa, i mean you obviously got them but a lot of it is the really cheap knock off stuff.

however in the UK when i was a freshun i remember Outrun at the local leisure centre and it was the jam (bonus points for sega world, only went their once as a kid but i still have fond memories of all the machines there)

 

[King Dazzar]

Key memory for me was Asteroids in the arcade and then being amazed at how good it was on a BBC Micro B. There was something about the vector graphics on a CRT that looked great at the time. My memory has it looking better than I can get it today on any of the revamps. I'm sure it must be down to how the CRT screen handled it, mixed with my rose tinted glasses. Oh well, lost in time now.

 

[kunonabi]

Elevator Action Returns
Cyber Sled
Lucky & Wild
Dancing Eyes
Sunset Riders
TMNT
X-Men
The Simpsons
Street Fighter Alpha 2
X-Men vs Street Fighter
Darkstalkers
Virtua Cop 3
Double Dragon
Raiden
The King of Fighters 96
Sengoku
Battle Balls
Time Traveler
Aliens
Alien Syndrome
Magic Sword

As far as as actually physically playing games in the arcades these were the biggest ones for me. I'd post pics but the image thing doesn't work for me anymore. I spent most of my youth in arcades and I still miss those days.

 

[kungfuian]

 

[SegaManAU]

Sega & Namco were the kings for me.

Virtual On
Virtua Striker
Virtua Fighter
Sega Rally
Daytona USA
Manx TT
Scud Race
Wave Runner
Top Skater
Tekken
Point Blank
Time Crisis

The list goes on!

I've loved Daytona from the first time I ever played it. So much so that I bought a Japanese twin cab for myself to have at home!

 

[SegaManAU]

Who else remembers this one?

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Lots of nostalgia in this thread, I spent *a lot* of time (and quarters!) in arcades from the late 80's onward. Many of my favourites have already been posted but here are a few more:

So much goodness in one machine, from Metal Slug to Samurai Showdown.

The classic quarter eater, fond memories of grimy bowling alleys.

So happy this eventually came to Dreamcast.

Me wrecking people with Orchid and the sounds of "ul-tra, ul-tra, ul-tra" still echo even now.

I used to play both players and dual wield the pistols, true story, never saw anyone else do it lol. Also bought on Dreamcast with 2 lightguns

Hi-octane mech action, loved this cabinet.

I could go on and on, great thread

Edit: will also add, arcades are alive and well here in Japan, I sometimes go for the nostalgia.

 

[Yerd]

Who can forget this thing. It was only at the local Chuck-E-Cheese, for me, in the 80s.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Anyone remember this game? I remember beating it with about ten dollars worth of loonies, the guy dispensing the coins remarked that he hadn't seen anyone beat it before.

Also this was probably the first time I ever played a game with motion sensors. You could duck and sway your body to dodge incoming gun fire.

Came to post this! I’ve only seen it once, but damn was it fantastic. This was way more immersive than other light gun games at that point.

 

[Comfortgel]

I think I've seen the Tron machine before, but I definitely never seen the I, Robot one. how do you play it?

It's a puzzle/action game where you need to disable the ALL SEEING EYE in each level, by turning the red paths blue. The trick is you can only jump across gaps when the eye is closed. Then when you fly to the next level, you have to navigate a TETRA field, shooting any that get in your way.

Here's a gameplay video. Remember this is from 1983.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

My friends and I played this before we were old enough to get our drivers licenses. Good times.

 

[Shakka43]

I played so many as a kid, racing and light gun ones were my favorites, Pac-Man ate the most quarters from me though.