You find a lamp by the side of the road. For reasons known only to you you pick it up and rub it. To your surprise a genie pops out. A genie that will grant you one very specific wish. He'll make an arcade game appear, factory new in the shipping crate, that you have to keep, UNMODIFIED, in your home until your dying day. (Oh, if you ask for a XX-in-1 or a MAME cabinet he'll turn you into a worm. Anniversary games like Pacman/MsPacMan/Galaga are okay.)
I hate to say it but I'd have to go with a Burgertime upright simply because it has the most nostalgia for me. Until I hit driving age if I got to play a game it was usually Burgertime.
I'd like to get a Merit MegaTouch Double Diamond machine. Sure it's big'n'boxy. But the games ruled and it can sit on my bar down within the dungeon. :-)
--Bekki
Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
They were actually brass. Though I think it would cost hella extra to get 24K gold plating. Or solid gold fittings. But it would be worth it, especially if one could create a combo game/beermeister cab. Now that would be an extreme Tapper machine. ;-)
--Bekki
Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
A neo geo cab with Metal Slug 1-4 if that's an acceptable answer.
Otherwise probably a Star Wars sit-down cab. I loved that game at my local Chuck E. Cheese as a kid. Even if it was wireframe, with the sound and music ripped right from the movie, I really felt like I was flying an X-Wing through the Death Star canal. It was awesome.
> You find a lamp by the side of the road. For reasons known only to you you pick it up > and rub it. To your surprise a genie pops out. A genie that will grant you one very > specific wish. He'll make an arcade game appear, factory new in the shipping crate, > that you have to keep, UNMODIFIED, in your home until your dying day. (Oh, if you ask > for a XX-in-1 or a MAME cabinet he'll turn you into a worm. Anniversary games like > Pacman/MsPacMan/Galaga are okay.) > > > I hate to say it but I'd have to go with a Burgertime upright simply because it has > the most nostalgia for me. Until I hit driving age if I got to play a game it was > usually Burgertime.
Burgertime is a good one.
I can't decide, a Robotron upright or a Power Drift sit down. What say the genie?
> Tapper....gold bars n all. > > They were actually brass. Though I think it would cost hella extra to get 24K gold > plating. Or solid gold fittings. But it would be worth it, especially if one could > create a combo game/beermeister cab. Now that would be an extreme Tapper machine. ;-) > > --Bekki
As a quarter slinging 10 year old they were gold in my eyes, and will always remain so. Sometimes the magic never dies.
Excellent choice, sir. I commend your taste. Many difficult decisions on this question, but Strider is definitely somewhere near the top for me too.
I think that when it comes down to it though, and after much reflection, I'll have the Space Lords 4-player double-cab. Just way too much fun when playing with friends (and nuke ganking opponents). It's like multiplayer Star Raiders on roids.
Well that would be assuming I could play against another human opponent of equal skill.If not then it would def have to the Grandmaster version-I would like to play a few rounds at least
Track & Field - Quick playing, multiplayer, competitive.. fun. If arcade game also includes the possibility of pinball tables, I might have to choose Black Knight 2000 instead..
Quote: Galaga upright - and I want my goddamn genie.
Too bad that I couldn't pick one arcade spot to be resurrected. Prior to it burning down, "The Inn" in West Kittanning was where I enjoyed the classics: Galaga, Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Kangaroo and a nice shuffleboard bowling game. And every year our family and relatives would get together and have fun at that bar in the '80s.
My fave game to play there was Galaga. :-)
--Bekki
Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
This is one difficult question. What classic game did I enjoy most, and won't get bored to tears with after a while? Then again, this could just be an arcade *starter* piece that I could add to later, even with an XX-in-1 system. Hmm.
Donkey Kong is probably the title I would give for most nostalgic game, but there are literally dozens more games I really enjoyed over the years. Dragon's Lair was definitely another game of high-nostalgic value, but its re-playability is a bit on the minimum side. Maybe a sit-down game like Outrun, Turbo, SF Rush or one of the many other racing games I came to enjoy over the years.
Indecisive? Me? Never.
Well, either I waste a lot of time going through a list of games, or I just pick one and purchase the game I regret not picking later. Okay, I'll go with a racing game. SF Rush the Rock or Outrun? Ah, let's go with the more classic one- Outrun. There. Done.
Death Race is a serious contender. Probably the first video game to kick-off a firestorm of bad publicity over video game violence... plus was just plain fun.
> Death Race is a serious contender. Probably the first video game to kick-off a > firestorm of bad publicity over video game violence... plus was just plain fun.
Yeah, if I was to pick a single arcade machine with one game, it would be one of the very early driving games. Not sure which, but that's one of them.
Quote: > A neo geo cab with Metal Slug 1-4 if that's an acceptable answer.
The genie frowns.
And then smirks. MS 1-4 it is...
It's interesting to note that with the advances of multigame systems that I find myself looking back at the single games of my youth and it's hard to pick just one.
Then you have NeoGeo, Merit Megatouch, TouchMaster and the recent Namco multigame cabs (there's more, of course).
While I'd love to snag up that cabaret Pac-Man machine near Saxonburg the idea of having a selection of games in one unit is more appealing in my older-and-wiser life now.
So as much as I enjoy MegaTouch now there's that youthful appeal of a cab such as this:
Sure, I could go the PokéROM route and just get a MAME-based cab from X-Arcade. But there's just something about having authentic and legit games and hardware within a coin-based cab.
Rally X...blech. I'm not sure why that's always included as a "classic". I never liked the game as a kid, and as I got older, I'd always see a Rally X in the corner of my arcade and it was never being played. It had such a tiny screen, bad colors, and for me at least, very boring gameplay....yet I always see it included as a "classic"
Anyone else feel this way? Or i guess if not, explain why it should be included with PAC Man, Galaga, etc...
Quote: Rally X...blech. I'm not sure why that's always included as a "classic".
I have fond memories of both "Rally-X" and "Pole Position II" from the old Kennywood Park back in the mid-to-late '80s. Both games were one's I'd play between coaster rides.
"Rally-X" didn't get a lot of love, though. While "Pole Position II" is an undeniable racing classic, "Rally-X" is more like a hybrid racing game and "Pac-Man" that somehow didn't gel with the gaming public. While both "Pac-Man" and "Rally-X" were released in 1980 the one problem that held back "Rally-X" was while it had a racing motif it was nothing but a very sparse version of "Pac-Man" but with some randomly-placed obstacles and ten randomly-placed flags as opposed to 240 dots. It even has a time limit in the form of remaining fuel. You're essentially racing against time while attempting to go from flag-to-flag while avoiding the other cars and the rocks within the maze.
And yet, to this day, I still play "Rally-X" due to the challenge as well as the simplicity. For example, are you willing to use up fuel and pass up a flag within view while hoping the next flag is the bonus flag that doubles the points for the remaining flags? Should you burn extra fuel to lay down smokescreens? And where are those other cars hiding? Will they cut into your path between flags? Sure, you have the radar to track the cars as well as know where the flags are. But your eyes can't be on both the radar and the main game screen at the same time. There's quite a bit of drama and split-second strategy involved.
Then "Pole Position" was released in 1982 and it redefined the racing genre. "Rally-X" couldn't compete with that.
On the other hand, I see the 1981 release of "New Rally-X" as a dumbing down of the original game. It was far too forgiving and much easier for new gamers to pick up. I even played it and went right back to the original for some adrenaline-pumping action.
I can see where "Rally-X" fits into Namco's history and why it's considered a classic.
As a young Hizz, every arcade, every pizza place, every bowling alley, and every movie theater I went to had this game set up. Know how I know? That theme song playing at full volume every 20 seconds. Just looking at the picture of the cab you posted, I can hear the theme song in my head.
> As a young Hizz, every arcade, every pizza place, every bowling alley, and every movie theater I went to had this game set up. > Know how I know? That theme song playing at full volume every 20 seconds.
Yep, that was one LOUD cabinet. There were games set up in a back room at a diner I worked at. TMNT music and sounds are forever burned into my brain...
> > I can't decide, a Robotron upright or a Power Drift sit down. What say the genie?
I have a Power Drift upright. The moving cockpit version is the tits, though. My favorite circuit is B, but the best single track is circuit A, track 5. Love it for some reason. Tough but rewarding.
I actually have a lead on one in Seattle. Seller is a friend of friend and will dump it for cheap, I just gotta pay shipping. Oh, and there's the small problem of storage, but my friend says I can store it in his warehouse. Still haven't pulled the trigger on it yet, it really only shines in 2+ player mode. Single player gets old.
> I'll die for this [the new wide-screen Darius, Darius Burst] :
Good idea, cause you won't be playing it in MAME for a couple of decades, if at all. That Taito Nesica arcade system is gonna make it really difficult to even attempt emulation of that game.
> > I'll die for this [the new wide-screen Darius, Darius Burst] : > > Good idea, cause you won't be playing it in MAME for a couple of decades, if at all. > That Taito Nesica arcade system is gonna make it really difficult to even attempt > emulation of that game.
It's on Taito Type X˛ and is already "emulated". Arcade PC loader is "emulator" for those games. (Type X/X2 games are easily hacked to work on todays PCs) A few of them are not dumped yet ! (DariusBurst is not dumped - I hope it will be soon, alone with Chase HQ 2 and few others)
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Poll: If you could pick one arcade game, which would it be?
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