Arcades. Sadly, we don't have very many of those left in the US. And most are just for nostalgia purposes. So... many young gamers missed out on one of the coolest gaming experiences you could have. Dropping quarters or tokens into really awesome looking machines. $5 worth of either quarters or tokens, tokens that could be really great looking Namco collectibles with Pac-Man on them or custom designs for the arcade you were in, $5 worth could be hours of entertainment.
When I worked for Kroger, I would get excited to see a random arcade token that someone mistook as penny in my drawer, and then ask to trade a penny for the token. Not to use... but to hold onto. Because even then I knew arcades were having trouble.
Sadly I lost those tokens decades ago. But those memories in those arcades. But they weren't limited to arcades. You could also see them at the exits at your local pizza places, retail stores, movie theaters(some still do), and bowling alleys.
So... this list is dedicated to the arcade machines. Yes, gameplay and visuals for the game factor in, but so does how the machine looks and feels.
Walk down memory lane with me.
Top 15 Games IN the Arcade(I've Gotten To Play)
Honorable Mention 2: Time Crisis 2(1997): Another game I wasn't good at. But it was unique. Light guns paired with pedels to duck and reload. So much fun, I just wasn't fast enough.
Honorable Mention 3: Play Choice 10(1986): Nintendo released this as an NES away from home. Up to 10 different games to play, and you didn't use quarters for lives, you used it for time and could switch between the games at any time as long as you had time left. This machine introduced me to Hogan's Alley. And... yes... the machine had a Zapper for it.
15. Golden Axe(1989): Sega created this hack n slash DnD-esque title. Pick your class... beat waves of enemies. Arcade Beat Em Up.. it barely missed that list.
14. Marvel vs Capcom 2(2000): Capcom's Ultimate Franchise busting fighting game. 3 on 3 ass kicking with characters for both companies' plethora of options.
13. The Simpsons(1991): America's Longest Running Cartoon... well... now. Back then, it was still hitting it's stride. And while I knew of this machine, I only ever saw 1 or 2. The graphics were a bit off(weird shades of yellow), but it worked.
12. Street Fighter II Champion Edition(1992): Street Fighter II was revolutionary. Changed the arcade business, and singlehandedly saved the industry at the time. But... it also went through some changes. There are now about 6 different versions of Street Fighter II, but Champion Edition's Big Blue Cabinet is a sight to see.
11. Super Off Road(1989): A very basic game reminding us of RC Pro Am on the NES. But this machine always looked cool. A stand up cabinet with 3 wheels: Red Player, Blue Player, Green Player. And... it controlled worth crap. But it was still fun.
10. Mortal Kombat 3/Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3(1995): I never physically saw an original MK1 cabinet. And I did see some MK2 ones. But the MK3/UMK3 cabinets, I played the hell out of them during middle school(and the violence never made me violent... go figure). It was loud... it was flashy. And adapted controls from Street Fighter made it easy to pick up. This thing ate so many of my tokens.
9. X-Men Children of the Atom(1994): There are many others in this series that might grab attention, but I remember seeing this game for the first time in the "lobby" of my local Walmart... and I thought "a Street Fighter game with X-Men characters". It was glorious! And let to one of my favorite crossovers: X-Men VS Street Fighter.
8. Killer Instinct(1994): Yes... I put Killer Instinct over Mortal Kombat. Why? The visual from Rare weren't as cool as the motion capture, photo renders graphics from MK, but the soundtrack was better, that all black cabinet was beautiful, and C-C-C-C-C-COMBOBREAKER ringing through the arcade was epic. Too bad KI2 didn't get the same love.
7. Crazy Taxi(1999): Honestly, this is the game that made me feel like Arcades were dying. And it wasn't because Crazy Taxi was a bad game. It wasn't. It was glorious. But there was also a home release... and while the arcade version was way more cool(and visually more impressive), the console version had more options for the experience. And... this was the first big blow for Arcades, I think anyway.
6. Vs Super Mario Bros(1986): This is a fabled arcade machine. But it is real. So real, this version is purchasable on the Switch(I bought it). It is a modified version of the original Super Mario Bros to create a more difficult experience... or that is what I thought. Playing it now, I realized it was a test market concept. Some of the levels you come across in VS SMB are levels from the Japanese SMB2, the game we know as the Lost Levels. And it wasn't released initially from Japan. They thought it was too difficult for the US. And.. maybe they are right. I've barely beaten it myself... and I've NEVER finished VS SMB. Still doesn't change the memories of playing the hell out of it!
5. Dragon's Lair(1983): I was born in 1983. But once I got old enough to play in arcade, it was still there. Drawn by legendary animator Don Bluth(All Dogs Go To Heaven, Land Before Time, An American Tail), it was designed to be difficult. It didn't eat tokens... it consumed them. But it looked so great! Story driven... you didn't see story driven games in the arcade. Well... here you did.
4. Daytona USA(1993): Sit down racing title that focused on entertainment racing as opposed to racing sim. It was pretty common to see 4-8 of these cabinets together(in pairs) connected together. So... you can have all the spots filled in a race, no AI. And you would have groups switching out to play this game. Great games.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(1989): Konami made great Arcade Beat Em Ups. And TMNT was one of the best. 4 Player Cabinet, pick a spot for your favorite Turtle... kick some Foot Clan ass. And... it lead to Turtles In Time, which was one of my favorite SNES games of all time.
2. Terminator 2 Judgment Day(1991): LJN made some horrible games for consoles. Angry Video Game Nerd did a whole series on LJN games. But... this Terminator 2 arcade cabinet was epic. The gameplay was simple... kill enemies. You've seen this machine. It has a giant screen with giant machine guns. The Regal Theater in Greenwood, Indiana still has this machine. One of the coolest designs with simple gameplay. What happened to LJN on consoles?
And the Number One Arcade Machine I've Gotten To Play...
1. X-Men(1992): This is an anomaly of a game. It was based on an X-Men cartoon that NEVER happened in the US. It piloted. I know it did. I saw this cartoon. And I liked it. But it never materialized. This game... the translation was broken. But... the game was epic. Pick an X-Men member, go kick some ass together vs legendary Mutant enemies. And this game started my love for Colossus in the comics... all because of the super power attack that sounded like a constipated robot you could hear outside of the arcade... and... now... that wasn't what made the machine so appealing. There were two different machines. One was the traiditonal Konami Beat Em Up 4-Player machine that TMNT and The Simpsons had... and one was the epicly large 6-Player machine. Every member of the X-Men in the game represented, playing at the same time. It was a great experience.
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Any epic machines you've gotten to play? Share them below! I would love to look them up and see what they look like!!!
Comment and share.
Until next time...
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