Greatest Coin-Op??

[Lord Voldemoo]

I'm surprised this hasn't been done before, but I ran through the games forum and didn't see anything on point. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Ok old people, what was the greatest/most fun coin-op arcade game of all time? In order to get the nerdstalgia juices flowing, here are a few of my faves off the top of my head:

Discs of Tron:



Star Wars Arcade:

The one that came out a few years ago is a blast too.

Battlezone:


Gauntlet:


Afterburner:


And, of course the game that made wanton, pointless destruction fun...Rampage!


And I'm not even including a lot of the classics! What were some of your faves growing up?

[darkjedijaina]

every time i go to the movie theatre, i must play centipede. not sure if that counts or not...

[Peven]

Galaxia

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

BAAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

THIS THREAD MAKES ME AND THE BABY JESUS CRY MORE THAN ELLEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!!! OR A PERSON HOLDING PUPPIES OR KITTENSSSBOOOHOOOOHOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lord Voldemoo]

BAAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!!!!

THIS THREAD MAKES ME AND THE BABY JESUS CRY MORE THAN ELLEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!!! OR A PERSON HOLDING PUPPIES OR KITTENSSSBOOOHOOOOHOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

where the hell is confused pete??

[Peven]

Frogger
Tank
Sea Wolf
Dig Dug


i come from a very rural small-town area so video games were scarce in the early 80's, no arcades within 40 miles, with video games found in laundry-mats, convenience stores, grocery stores, bowling alleys, etc, and rarely more than 2 in any one location with the exception of the bowing alley which had something like 6, which seemed extravagant to me at the time. aaannnyyywwwaaaaayyyyyy, there would often be a line to play a game, and the unwritten rule wherever you went was that to set your place in line you would place a quarter on the bottom left of the screen, to the right of any other quarters already there. a simple little thing, with no adult supervision, and it ran smooth as can be. so what system was used in your neck 'o the woods to keep track of who got next game?

[DennisMM]

I liked the three-event TRON machine, myself. Used to get half shit-faced at a bar in Des Moines, wander out of the main room to the usually dead pool room and play a couple rounds. One night I walked back and the machine was gone. It must have been 15 years old, but hey! If I couldn't meet women at least give me TRON!

[Lord Voldemoo]

I liked the three-event TRON machine, myself. Used to get half shit-faced at a bar in Des Moines, wander out of the main room to the usually dead pool room and play a couple rounds. One night I walked back and the machine was gone. It must have been 15 years old, but hey! If I couldn't meet women at least give me TRON!

that one was good too! Damnedable lightbike game...I was horrible, heh.

[bluebottle]

I'll always have a soft spot for Missile Command and the Star Wars game.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Gonna post about SPACE ACE later.

Man it'll be Epic.

How a manly hunky heroic game like that and all the memories and love I still have for that game - CAN MAKE A HUNKY MAN LIKE ME TOO, JUST WANNA CRRYYY CRRRYYYY CRRRYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAMN I'M GONNA GET THAT ZONER TODAY FOR NEARLY MAKING ME GHHHEEEEEYYYY!!!!!! SOON AS I STOP MY EYE MAKE UP FROM GOING ALL SMUDGY WITH PARTIAL TEARS!!!!!!

[bluebottle]

LOL Kirks, those partial tears get you every time.

[darkjedijaina]

i like coin operated boys.

[Wolfpack]

The Simpsons

[ONeillSG1]

I might get flack for this but . . .

All time? Marvel vs. Capcom.

Top 5 in my mind:

1) Marvel vs. Capcom (Got me through college)
2) X-Men (SIX PLAYER)
3) Final Fight (HAGGAR!)
4) King of Fighters '95
5) Spyhunter

[DennisMM]

there would often be a line to play a game, and the unwritten rule wherever you went was that to set your place in line you would place a quarter on the bottom left of the screen, to the right of any other quarters already there. a simple little thing, with no adult supervision, and it ran smooth as can be. so what system was used in your neck 'o the woods to keep track of who got next game?

We did something very similar in the bowling alley of an air force base in New Mexico, except we would sit them on the most convenient flat surface - sometimes that was the lip at the bottom of the screen. No doubles!

The first coin-op I can recall playing, except for Pong, was Stunt Cycle. I think I passed twenty buses once or twice.

Then came Death Race and the moms got upset.

[King Psyz]

Jesus Moo, you took all the fuckin good ones!

Those are all some of my top ones. But there was this version of Afterburner at disneyland back in the day in the tomorrowland arcade.

Get this shit, a 360 spinnning gyro. Sure it cost $5 to play 2 levels (back then this was a nearly blasphemous price, until you played)

It was fuckin choice, you did a loop, you do a real loop. You spin to the left, you really spun to the left.

[Vegeta]

I dropped a small fortune in quaters into Smash TV and Mortal Combat.

[King Psyz]

MMM Smash TV, I wonder if Midway ever tried to sue Universal over Amercian Gladiators?

[magicmonkey]

Too many to choose.

Street Fighter 2 is legendary, a monster of a game.

DigDug
KungFu Master!1! They had this one in my local cinema!
Quartet - At the bowling alley!
PacLand - at the swimming pool!

[papalazeru]

For overall time wasted...I would go with Streetfighter.

I think this section needs categories.

If we go with multiplayer (over 2UP) then it has to be gauntlet...nothing less. NO! I will not accept simpsons limited game dynamics (based on Turtles 4 player).

For design, I would chose battlezone. 1 player....with 2 sticks. How greedy can one player get?

Art work....now there's a question which needs an answer

[doglips]

No love for Double Dragon? I wasted a lot of change in that machine.

Operation Wolf, Paperboy and 780 were all great too.

Streetfighter 2 is the daddy though, as mentioned above.

Anyone remember Darkstalkers? that was a great Capcom fighter too, loved that Yeti.

[thebostonlocksmith]

The Simpsons

Agreed... for me it was either the Simpsons or the turtles, I still bare the button bashing callis that formed where my hand used to be...

[papalazeru]

780

Do you mean 720 degrees DL?

I nearly forgot the ULTIMATE BUTTON BASHER!!!!


HYPERSPORTS OR TRACK AND FIELD

Oh my god! Hilarious game. Make all kids look like they are having epileptic fits by just pushing 2 buttons.

It was an artform.
It had 3 buttons;
L= left R= Right and a jump button.

Most people had the same reaction,

LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRRLRL RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL RLRRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR JUMP.......................
.............
JUMP.....

LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR

"Yeah! 8.9 on the gymnastics"

[Nordling]

GAUNTLET was wonderful. It was a blast playing with three other people, screaming at each other.

"Green Elf needs food badly." Indeed. Indeed he did.

[godzillasushi]

Soul Calibur 2 is by far my favorite. Probably because I sucked at everything else. But darnit, I am awesome at that.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Rush's
Mortal Kombat 2
Hydro Thunder
Cruisin' USA/Exotica/World
That one game where you are a truck driver...I actually beat that one.
And House of the Dead I beat also. Took about 5 bucks and an hour. The final boss is...HARD!

I love the racing ones the most. It's like, no matter what kind of racing or how good it is, it's always a blast.

Going old school Missle Command is pretty fun. TMNT Arcade was cool. Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, fun!

And I proclaim myself the only Pac-Man hater on the planet. I really never could get into that.

[Vegeta]

Soul Caliber 2 definetly took many a token from me.

In my much younger days I remember PONGO, Dig Dug, and Battlezone quite fondly.

[LaDracul]

I loved "The Simpsons", as well as Nintendo's 8-Bit version where you could choose your game.

As for now, I haven't played DDR in a long time...

[so sorry]

*Takes deep breath*

I had an unhealthy addiction to coin operated video games from the time I was 10, up until the time I left college at 24. Many, many, MANY quarters were dropped.
I can't whittle my list down to just a few, so below is my mini list, each with a link for screenshots and descriptions.
Enjoy...

PS Despite all of the money spent on these games, I basically sucked ass at all of them.

Some Pre-teen favorites:
Marble Madness

Karate Champ

Zaxxon

Defender

Elevator Action

Joust

Q-Bert

PaperBoy

Satan's Hollow

Missle Command

Moon Patrol


Some Teenage favorites:

Xevious

Rush'n Attack

Gauntlet

After Burner

Championship Volleyball

Contra

Double Dragon

Lost Worlds


Some College-era favorites:
Golden Axe

Final Fight

Street Fighter II

Martial Champion

Alien Vs Predator

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker:oops:

Quiz and Dragons

Rampart

Toobin'

[url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10388] WWF WrestleFest
[/url]

[Zarles]

OMG - GAUNTLET. My friend John used to say 'Thor needs head - badly' ALL the time. ALL.

For me, it's Star Wars and Rampage. Used to play that while waiting for pepperoni pies at Perry's Pizza in SoCal. Good times.

What was the game that was the first one to use real animated scenes in it, not just electronic blips? You were a knight fighting a dragon...?

[The Todd]

What was the game that was the first one to use real animated scenes in it, not just electronic blips? You were a knight fighting a dragon...?

Dragon's Lair

[ONeillSG1]

I could never get into Dragon's Lair. Don't know why.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

The Dino, he remembers a the Dragon's Lair, eh?

[Zarles]

Dino, I think your next remake should be the Elmore Leonard classic, 'GET POOKY'.

[so sorry]

I could never get into Dragon's Lair. Don't know why.

I know why, because it was fucking impossible! You had to be dead on with your moves, or else you bit it. And if memeory serves me correctly, you didn't get multiple lives per game.. if you died once, you were done (and i think it was 50 cents too).

[ONeillSG1]

I could never get into Dragon's Lair. Don't know why.

I know why, because it was fucking impossible! You had to be dead on with your moves, or else you bit it. And if memeory serves me correctly, you didn't get multiple lives per game.. if you died once, you were done (and i think it was 50 cents too).

Ah, that's right!

[Vegeta]

So Sorry, thanks for mentioning Elevator Action! I used to love that game.
Rampart was also awesome.



Does anyone remember a football game that you played with orcs? The field had trap doors and stuff in it.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Dino, I think your next remake should be the Elmore Leonard classic, 'GET POOKY'.

IPAMPILASH!

The Dino, he was always a fond of a the classic vector-based game, she was a called a the "Eliminator", eh?

Holy crappa what a the goddamn rush that game, she was, eh? You gotta this giant donut-shaped thingy floating around inna the middle of a the screen, anna inna'side it, you gotta the little bad guy ship, anna as a the donut, she floats around anna bounces offa the sides of a the screen, the little ship inna the middle, she grows anna grows.

Meanwhile, you gotta the little ship you control like a the Asteroids ship, eh? Turn/Thrust/Fire... anna you can a bounce off a the sides of a the screen too, no? Anna your shots, they bounce off as a well, eh? Anna you gotta the enemy ship flying around trying to shoot atta you too, eh? Anna when you get a hit, you get "pushed"... anna when a you shoot a the enemy, you push a them, eh?

It donna sound a so hard unna'til a you realize that iffa you touch a the giant donut thingy that's alla bouncing around anna such, you gonna to die, eh? Anna so's a you gotta to fly around, trying to control a your ship a so's a not a to crash inna'to a the moving donut, anna avoiding a the constant shots of a the enemy ship, eh? Iffa you kill a the enemy, he comes back inna the greater numbers, eh? 1 ship, then a 2 ships, then a 3 ships, etc. Anna the donut, she moves faster anna faster, eh?

Anna as a the little ship inna the middle, she grows big enough, she comes out of a the donut anna pursues you inna the bee-line, anna she shoots a the flaming ball of a the Death that's a gonna to kill you right onna contact, eh? Anna you can a try anna shoot back, but the ship, she barely gets a deflected by a your shots, anna she continues with a the pursuit, eh? (All while a the other ships, they trying to PWN a your ass too, eh? Hehehe...)

The only salvation is a to line uppa yourself with a the tunnel leading down inna'to a the middle of the giant donut anna fire away... which makes a the biggest goddamn explosion anna the whole machine, she vibrates anna such. It's a not a so easy a 'cos a the donut, she is a moving anna you gotta the other ships firing away, knocking you alla'round, no?

Anna then she starts uppa all over again, eh? It never ends... unna'til a you die!!!

Goddamn I love a that game. I try anna play it onna my MAME these days, eh? To relive a the glory days, but a the Old Man's reflexes, admittedly, they are a not as a fast as a they were then, eh? Goddamn...

[Zarles]

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! COME BACK AND FIGHT LIKE A ROBOT!

Best robot voice EVER.

[The Todd]

IPAMPILASH!

The Dino, he was always a fond of a the classic vector-based game, she was a called a the "Eliminator", eh?

I don't remember that game. Did you play it after you mastered Pong?

[DennisMM]

I never understood the appeal of the fighting games. LRJRPPRLLLL run! Of course, I stopped playing about the time the fighting games started to look good, in the mid '80s. My favorites were 1977-1984 or so, some of those so sorry mentioned - Missile Command, Zaxxon, Donkey Kong (I was pretty good at DK) and of course Q*bert. I only played it a few times because it was in a bar/Mexican-Italian restaurant and I didn't hang out there. The first time I got really drunk I dropped seven bucks into Q*bert over the course of an evening. This was 1981, when seven bucks was a lot to a college student. The beer I drank cost less than the video game, but at least I got to keep the experience of the video game.

[King Psyz]

There's a lot to be said for the greats like Contra, Ikari Warriors, 1942, Double Dragon, Gradius, Lifeforce, Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden, Shadow Warriors with the trippy super widescreen.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

What was the game that was the first one to use real animated scenes in it, not just electronic blips? You were a knight fighting a dragon...?

Dragon's Lair

Yeah Bwoay!!!

I see your Dragon's Lair and raise you...


SPACE ACE!! (Please click the link and not ignore it like you do all the others!!)

MY FAVOURite coi op game EVER!! Really mean that now. To actually play something that felt not like I was playing a cartoon - but that I WAS a cartoon, or at least in it.

I've loads to tell you on this but I'll try to do it later. I'll just sat that I do still GENUINELY love this game. Not a lot of things like this or even a film will make my heart actually beat so strong and fondly for this.


"Help Dexter/Space Ace regain his manhood!"

Funny, lately I've been needing to do this a lot! Damn people trying to mush me up and make me ghey!!!!

[Hermanator X]

This was my fave. Great fun.....

[Fawst]

There's a lot to be said for the greats like Contra, Ikari Warriors, 1942, Double Dragon, Gradius, Lifeforce, Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden, Shadow Warriors with the trippy super widescreen.

You mean The Ninja Warriors? The one where you were either a male ninja in blue, or a female ninja in red? And you killed a lot of black soldiers? (wtf was THAT all about?) And dogs? And creepy long legged mutant looking things? The first boss was a tank? AND YOU WERE A FUCKING CYBORG NINJA?!?! I loved that game.

One of the greatest arcade games I ever played (and one of the biggest disappointments when I caught up with it again over a decade later) was Magician Lord for NEOGEO.

Cyberball 2027 (2072?) ruled (Xbox Live version FTW!!!)

The Capcom Dungeons and Dragons sidescroll button masher was awesome.

There was a multi-cabinet multiplayer FPS that took place in these crazy tank things. All I remember is the main bad guy looked like a really badly armored Black Knight. That was a lot of fun.

SF2/CE/HF/SSF2, MK/2, and Fatal Fury 2 all ate the most money out of my pocket when I was a kid.

Anyone remember Time Traveler? It was a Sega gimick game. The cabinet was a MASSIVE bulky white box. In the center they had this black space where a hologram was displayed. It made the game look like it was 3D, but all that was really there was this douchebag dressed up as a cowboy travelling through time. And by time, I mean he would have to kill enemies that looked like rejects from a Max Max extras casting call. It was pretty bad. Think Dragon's Lair/Space Ace controls, now give it COMPLETELY lagged response time. And a 1.00 per game charge. And 1 life. Fuck you, Sega.

Black Tiger was my all time favorite action game in the arcade, next up would be the Aliens game.

Honorable Mentions:

Xenophobe
APB
Time Crisis/2/3
Silent Scope
Crazy Taxi
House of the Dead
Mad Dog McCree

I'll come up with more eventually.

[godzillasushi]

Oh shoot! Crazy Taxi is an awesome game!!! The second was alright and the third was decent, but nothing can ever touch the first one.

Good pick.

[so sorry]

Anyone remember Time Traveler? It was a Sega gimick game. The cabinet was a MASSIVE bulky white box. In the center they had this black space where a hologram was displayed. It made the game look like it was 3D, but all that was really there was this douchebag dressed up as a cowboy travelling through time. And by time, I mean he would have to kill enemies that looked like rejects from a Max Max extras casting call. It was pretty bad. Think Dragon's Lair/Space Ace controls, now give it COMPLETELY lagged response time. And a 1.00 per game charge. And 1 life. Fuck you, Sega.

time traveler

[Nordling]

Thayer's Quest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thayer's_Quest

This game was insane.

[DennisMM]

Anyone remember Time Traveler? It was a Sega gimick game. The cabinet was a MASSIVE bulky white box. In the center they had this black space where a hologram was displayed. It made the game look like it was 3D, but all that was really there was this douchebag dressed up as a cowboy travelling through time. And by time, I mean he would have to kill enemies that looked like rejects from a Max Max extras casting call. It was pretty bad. Think Dragon's Lair/Space Ace controls, now give it COMPLETELY lagged response time. And a 1.00 per game charge. And 1 life. Fuck you, Sega.

time traveler

It's difficult to see from the small shots on that page, but Time Traveler was live-action, right? Total freakiness back then and I guess today.

[Fawst]

Anyone remember Time Traveler? It was a Sega gimick game. The cabinet was a MASSIVE bulky white box. In the center they had this black space where a hologram was displayed. It made the game look like it was 3D, but all that was really there was this douchebag dressed up as a cowboy travelling through time. And by time, I mean he would have to kill enemies that looked like rejects from a Max Max extras casting call. It was pretty bad. Think Dragon's Lair/Space Ace controls, now give it COMPLETELY lagged response time. And a 1.00 per game charge. And 1 life. Fuck you, Sega.

time traveler

It's difficult to see from the small shots on that page, but Time Traveler was live-action, right? Total freakiness back then and I guess today.

Yah, it was a live action game in the style of Dragon's Lair, but it was played on a 2D plane, if that makes sense. The recipe goes a little like this: Take a side scrolling action game, and remove the scrolling. Replace with static single-screen areas, max of 1 enemy (or event... I remember a few fast-flying glowing ball things flying around one part) per screen. Add live action characters. Display it on a cylindrical "screen" via a mirror, and you have your holographic effect. Increase controller-to-screen response time to somewhere between .5 and 1 second, and make sure the action requires a response time of around .3 seconds. Overcharge for it, and BAM!

Time Traveler.

[BuckyO'harre]

Arcade AND Nes!

MWUHAHAHAHA!






Aside from what's already been mentioned...

Galaga.

Anyone remember Darkstalkers? that was a great Capcom fighter too, loved that Yeti.

Yeah, I remember that. They made it into a cartoon as well.