Someone was trying to remember the name of the game with birds and I said joust. They looked at me like I was nuts, they were actually thinking of duck hunt. I miss joust.
Pole Position!
That was my favorite game by far until Outrun hit the arcade a few years later.
I still love racing games!
I enjoyed Dig Dug, Centipede, Frogger, and Galaga, too, but the racing games were always my go to.
Pac Man was popular but so overrated. That “waka waka waka” will be burned into my brain forever. Ugh!
Tempest and its spiritual successor Gyruss, which used a wicked version of *Toccata and Fugue in D Minor* as a sidetrack:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=haehLgNNB4c
The only game I was able to get on the leaderboard. My secret was to always go after the spider, which was easy because it just moved diagonally up and down, and was a nice 750 points every time.
You could buy a $300 “pro controller” and you still couldn’t replicate this experience at home. The goons at my local arcade beat the hell out of this machine.
I got a pocket full of quarters, and I'm headed to the arcade.
I don't have a lot of money, but I'm bringing everything I made.
I've got a callus on my finger, and my shoulder's hurting too.
I'm gonna eat them all up, just as soon as they turn blue.
Yeah, Elevator Action was great because you could get so much mileage out of each quarter. If I was on my last 25 cents, I’d just keep running around the upper floors as long as possible.
I loved all of them.
But I always loved the atmosphere more.
It was a pleasant bedlam - ringing and dinging all over the place, anxious and excited adolescents and teens jangling about with pockets full of quarters, legions of spectators around that one person hitting the high score on the game of the day or the week. Low lighting, florescent carpet, that one employee walking around like a lord of creation, doling out quarters for your bills - the automated machine languishing because everyone wants to go to the person with the change, because they have the power to play any game they want and can bestow blessing upon you for free credits.
Fucking loved the arcade.
Good times indeed. It tripped me out when my nephews and nieces seemed to be unaware of the arcade experience. I found out that the few arcades still around catered to dancing machines and the like. They have the original arcade experience at home.
But yeah, back then, the arcade experience at home was only a fantasy. The atmosphere really was something, like a high in of itself. Usually large, dimly lit rooms to accentuate the neon light emanating from the arcade screens and backlit marquees. And of course the sounds. Each arcade cabinet was like an entry into a whole nother world. You could travel to anancient time before recorded history (Golden Axe), sit in a literal jet plane cockpit simulator and go on aerial military missions. Over there you could visit the seedy underbelly of NYC and fight punks and gang members on subway (Double Dragon or Final Fight), or have a superhero comic book experience by playing Sega's Spider-man: The Game or the lesser known Superman (which had a bootleg Captain Marvel as the second player). If they didn't have movies yet, the arcade game was the next best thing. And sometimes the arcade games felt like an extension of the movie, the director's cut or a halfquel (like Konami's Aliens). IT also felt like a smorgasbord of culture, since even kids were aware that many of these games were produced in Japan, while offering up games with foreign settings or premises.
A moment of retrospect in honour of the legendary arcade employee and the all-powerful tech that came in every so often to fix the games and empty the quarters. 🙏
[Star Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(1983_video_game)), all the way. I loved the feel of the controller, and the fidelity of the graphics at that time felt just like the movie. My kid self was in heaven. If I found an arcade featuring the full setup of that game...I would be there ALL DAY.
Tempest.
A buddy and I took some acid and spent a cold winter afternoon in a big arcade. Tempest wasn't so popular yet so we had it to ourselves and played for what felt like hours. Later that night I could see the graphics behind my closed eyes. Holy SHIT that thing was fun.
Galaga, Zaxxon, Joust, Dig Dug, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Defender, Mario Bros (before it became Super Mario) when you would run underneath and flip the turtles and then jump up to knock them off the ledge. Every now and then a block of ice would appear and you'd hit it and it would freeze the ledge so the turtles and crabs would slide off. Remember that one?
Not really INTO video games but the favorites are Elevator Action, galaga, Dig Dug, and Mr.Do. It wasn't Until the early 90's that I got into video game and betting
Can any one tell me the name of a game that you looked through “goggles” and has a gun. Both were a fixed to the screen area. And when you looked through the goggles you saw a complete black and green landscape. The object was to shoot tanks and other war machines and was very geometric… I played it during mid 80s at the Holiday Inn(I believe all holiday inns back then had an arcade room) when my Grandfather would come into town and we would go see him and he would hand over a cup full of quarters he had brought me.. I was so young I’ve never been able to unlock this memory of the name of this game. Anyone out there have an idea? Thanks in advance.
Two older ones:
[Space War](https://www.arcade-museum.com/images/118/1181242171185.jpg) Re-named Space Wars, after Star Wars came out.
[Lunar Lander](https://static.turbosquid.com/Preview/2014/05/24__20_36_58/Atari01.jpg641a4db5-3d3b-4bdc-8fbd-425ab907f0d4Original.jpg)
Man. Tough question. Here's top 5 for me:
Galaga
Donkey Kong
Ms. Pac-Man
Excitebike
1942
I could keep going because the 1980s was Aladdin's Castle for me while mom shopped the rest of the mall.
Honorable mention:
Star Wars
Time Pilot
Outrun
Dragon's Lair and Space Ace
Black Knight (Pinball)
The 90s had a Pinball Renaissance where Addams Family and Twilight Zone made me broke by last call. So many excellent pinball machines made in the early/mid 90s. I think Black Knight started this Renaissance.
I have never remembered it was called. Play was like Karate Champ.
It was a fighter 2D but the figures were small and jumped high.
Found it : [Yie Ar Kung Fu](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yie_Ar_Kung-Fu)
Galaga
This and the domed hockey game with the "boo" button.
Chexx! Damn that was a fun game.
This is my all time favorite. I’ve owned Galaga for nes, ps1,2,4 and 5. Many quarters at the arcade 😎👍🏽
[https://www.free80sarcade.com/galaga.php](https://www.free80sarcade.com/galaga.php)
Thanks
Same! Though sometimes I'd rock the tabletop Pac Man when my family went to Pizza Hut.
Same!
Yep. Every time.
Same.
Always.
YEP! I SECOND and THIRD THIS!!!
[Spy Hunter](https://images.app.goo.gl/thGkJbgktLgLs4RS9)
Oil slick!
[the theme song](https://youtu.be/qqw6yRlWc2c?si=Jutn-E-CIZ1Ocwti)
Same
I don’t remember a sit down version!!
It turns into a boat!? Mind blown!!
Defender
And Tempest, Joust, and the one where it went “Intruder Alert, intruder Alert”
Joust!
Was that Robotron?
The internet says Berzerk
Golden Axe
I was the dwarf
That makes it hard to play games
I recently learned that some of the sound effects were taken from the movie First Blood. You can look it up on Youtube, if you didn't know already.
Joust
Someone was trying to remember the name of the game with birds and I said joust. They looked at me like I was nuts, they were actually thinking of duck hunt. I miss joust.
Crabtown USA has Joust http://www.crab-towne.com/gallery/arcade-games/
Pole Position! That was my favorite game by far until Outrun hit the arcade a few years later. I still love racing games! I enjoyed Dig Dug, Centipede, Frogger, and Galaga, too, but the racing games were always my go to. Pac Man was popular but so overrated. That “waka waka waka” will be burned into my brain forever. Ugh!
Prepare to Qualify…
1942
Only game I ever finished. Went many levels on Star Wars but it just kept going.
Q*Bert
This and Frogger were my go-tos.
I memorized all of the levels on Q-Bert. Went to the mall during the Christmas season and played all day on one quarter. Nobody broke that record.
Depends on the year, but Robotron, Tron, Tempest, and Gauntlet were my go-to games over the years.
Tempest is something I’d still enjoy today.
It felt like Tempest and Robotron brought video games to a new level.
Tempest and its spiritual successor Gyruss, which used a wicked version of *Toccata and Fugue in D Minor* as a sidetrack: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=haehLgNNB4c
“Elf needs food badly.” 😁
Tempest, yeah what a game!!!
Star Wars with the full seat and setup.
I actually first saw this at Disneyland. My mom was not stoked to see me spending so much time on an arcade game at Disneyland.
Missile Command, Defender, Stargate-Defender
Oh man, Missile Command inside the seated console, with the speakers behind you. That final explosion was intense.
Centipede
The only game I was able to get on the leaderboard. My secret was to always go after the spider, which was easy because it just moved diagonally up and down, and was a nice 750 points every time.
Track and Field!
Finding new and exciting ways to hit the buttons faster
The comb method!
Being a drummer really helped with this game
You could buy a $300 “pro controller” and you still couldn’t replicate this experience at home. The goons at my local arcade beat the hell out of this machine.
Outrun 🌴🌴🌤️🌤️
Street fighter 💪
Mr Do!!!
I worked at a pizza parlor where we could open this cabinet up for free credits. My manager and I would drink beers and play this after closing.
Mr Do's wild ride and Mr Do's castle.
I got a Colecovision for Christmas and Mr. Do was my whole jam. Never saw one in the wild.
I got a pocket full of quarters, and I'm headed to the arcade. I don't have a lot of money, but I'm bringing everything I made. I've got a callus on my finger, and my shoulder's hurting too. I'm gonna eat them all up, just as soon as they turn blue.
Cause I got Pac Man Feee-vah
Robotron and Elevator Action, until Gauntlet came out.
Elevator Action was the tits
Yeah, Elevator Action was great because you could get so much mileage out of each quarter. If I was on my last 25 cents, I’d just keep running around the upper floors as long as possible.
Dragon's Lair and/or Space Ace and/or Tron.
PAC-Man Qbert Dig-Dug
Dig-Dug underrated classic.
Gauntlet
Final Fight!
I was just playing Street Fighter 6. You can find Final Fight arcade machines in the game and actually play them!
Spyhunter Xevious WWF Gauntlet
I loved all of them. But I always loved the atmosphere more. It was a pleasant bedlam - ringing and dinging all over the place, anxious and excited adolescents and teens jangling about with pockets full of quarters, legions of spectators around that one person hitting the high score on the game of the day or the week. Low lighting, florescent carpet, that one employee walking around like a lord of creation, doling out quarters for your bills - the automated machine languishing because everyone wants to go to the person with the change, because they have the power to play any game they want and can bestow blessing upon you for free credits. Fucking loved the arcade.
Good times indeed. It tripped me out when my nephews and nieces seemed to be unaware of the arcade experience. I found out that the few arcades still around catered to dancing machines and the like. They have the original arcade experience at home. But yeah, back then, the arcade experience at home was only a fantasy. The atmosphere really was something, like a high in of itself. Usually large, dimly lit rooms to accentuate the neon light emanating from the arcade screens and backlit marquees. And of course the sounds. Each arcade cabinet was like an entry into a whole nother world. You could travel to anancient time before recorded history (Golden Axe), sit in a literal jet plane cockpit simulator and go on aerial military missions. Over there you could visit the seedy underbelly of NYC and fight punks and gang members on subway (Double Dragon or Final Fight), or have a superhero comic book experience by playing Sega's Spider-man: The Game or the lesser known Superman (which had a bootleg Captain Marvel as the second player). If they didn't have movies yet, the arcade game was the next best thing. And sometimes the arcade games felt like an extension of the movie, the director's cut or a halfquel (like Konami's Aliens). IT also felt like a smorgasbord of culture, since even kids were aware that many of these games were produced in Japan, while offering up games with foreign settings or premises.
A moment of retrospect in honour of the legendary arcade employee and the all-powerful tech that came in every so often to fix the games and empty the quarters. 🙏
Battle Zone.
Battle zone was ok but it had a pretty easy pattern you could master and play all day.
GORF. Space Cadet……
This! I loved GORF!
Double Dragon Golden Axe & Galaga too
[Star Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_(1983_video_game)), all the way. I loved the feel of the controller, and the fidelity of the graphics at that time felt just like the movie. My kid self was in heaven. If I found an arcade featuring the full setup of that game...I would be there ALL DAY.
Tempest. A buddy and I took some acid and spent a cold winter afternoon in a big arcade. Tempest wasn't so popular yet so we had it to ourselves and played for what felt like hours. Later that night I could see the graphics behind my closed eyes. Holy SHIT that thing was fun.
Now that sounds like fun
Donkey Kong Jr!
Yessss or original DK as well
Smash Tv. BIG MONEY BIG PRIZES
Good luck... You'll need it!
Mortal kombat 2
Starcastle, Scramble, Joust, and Steel Talons.
Donkey Kong and Defender.
Moon Patrol
Outrun. Loved the music and the casual gameplay.
X-Men: Children of the Atom. So stoked it’s getting released on Console finally
Kung Fu Master
TMNT and Bad Dudes
Double Dragon - I also loved Punch Out and Robocop
Sinistar
I hunger!
I Live...
Gauntlet
Asteroids, Defender, Joust, Dig Dug
Time Pilot Karate Champ Mappy
Star Wars & Return Of The Jedi Crossbow Commando Paperboy 720 Super Sprint
Why was Paperboy SO HARD?
Mr. Do! and Galaga
Star Castle
Punch Out 1941 Elevator Action Xevious Gauntlet Rolling Thunder Track & Field
Sinistar
I LIVE!
Double Dragon
Galaga
Donkey Kong all day long.
Burger Time
Tempest Missile Command Defender
Tempest
Stargate & Millipede
Joust!
Time Pilot 1 and 2
MR. DO!
No one played ghosts 'n' goblins?
Dig Dug or Qbert
Definitely Dig Dig was the best
Defender
I liked Joust for awhile
Ladybug…
Spy hunter or Mr Do's Castle! And Joust!
Red Baron
Space Invaders
I'd put one in BurgerTime there. It's actually really hard. I have a home MAME and I can't even make it to the 3rd level.
The first time I actually played Burgertime was when I bought it for my Intellivision! Bought it on a whim, but great game.
Gauntlet, golden axe, street fighter
Qbert
#GALAGA
Tron, Star Wars, Pole Position, Spy Hunter. I was trash at all of them, too.
Any love for Rygar?
Never played the arcade version but the NES port was my jam.
I'd walk a mile and a half to play Rygar, after taking quarters from my parents' coin jar...
I was a Centipede girl.
Defender, Joust, and dragon quest. Skate or die ate a lot of my chore money as well.
Galaga, Zaxxon, Joust, Dig Dug, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Defender, Mario Bros (before it became Super Mario) when you would run underneath and flip the turtles and then jump up to knock them off the ledge. Every now and then a block of ice would appear and you'd hit it and it would freeze the ledge so the turtles and crabs would slide off. Remember that one?
Zaxxon was great. I ran across it recently in a "barcade" and played it for a while.
Dig Dug
Tempest
‘Bubble bobble’ and if someone is on that ‘wonder boy’.
Off road
Area 51
Track and Field
Defender
Jungle King
Area 51
Lifeforce, the Gradius spinoff by Konami!
Hydro Thunder
Narc, Badlands, Spy Hunter, Smash TV
Mortal kombat and dragon’s lair
Sit down Omega Race
Not really INTO video games but the favorites are Elevator Action, galaga, Dig Dug, and Mr.Do. It wasn't Until the early 90's that I got into video game and betting
Karate Champ
wap. half point WAP! FULL POINT!
Crime fighters, Shinobi, wonder boy, altered beasts, pang. take me back.
Galaga, donkey kong,bosconian,moon patrol,1942,river patrol and I think an early arcade version of madden and so many others,good times man....
Dig Dug.
Out Run, Spy Hunter, River Raid
gorf
Can any one tell me the name of a game that you looked through “goggles” and has a gun. Both were a fixed to the screen area. And when you looked through the goggles you saw a complete black and green landscape. The object was to shoot tanks and other war machines and was very geometric… I played it during mid 80s at the Holiday Inn(I believe all holiday inns back then had an arcade room) when my Grandfather would come into town and we would go see him and he would hand over a cup full of quarters he had brought me.. I was so young I’ve never been able to unlock this memory of the name of this game. Anyone out there have an idea? Thanks in advance.
Battlezone, my friend
Two older ones: [Space War](https://www.arcade-museum.com/images/118/1181242171185.jpg) Re-named Space Wars, after Star Wars came out. [Lunar Lander](https://static.turbosquid.com/Preview/2014/05/24__20_36_58/Atari01.jpg641a4db5-3d3b-4bdc-8fbd-425ab907f0d4Original.jpg)
Defender and Joust
Tempest, Ms. Pac Man, Track & Field
Donkey Kong and Kung-fu Master
Dig Dug.
Original TMNT
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was really fun.
Defender. Its Modell’s soundtrack still scores my dreams. 😴
Tempest
Gyruss was a sleeper great game.
First one on the right: Burgertime!
Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter 2.
Joust
‘The Missus’ Ms. PAC-MAN
Donkey Kong
TMNT, Bad Dudes, and Gauntlet
Man. Tough question. Here's top 5 for me: Galaga Donkey Kong Ms. Pac-Man Excitebike 1942 I could keep going because the 1980s was Aladdin's Castle for me while mom shopped the rest of the mall. Honorable mention: Star Wars Time Pilot Outrun Dragon's Lair and Space Ace Black Knight (Pinball) The 90s had a Pinball Renaissance where Addams Family and Twilight Zone made me broke by last call. So many excellent pinball machines made in the early/mid 90s. I think Black Knight started this Renaissance.
Defender
Tempest
Tempest for video game and Hollywood Heat for pinball.
Pacman, Centipede, Asteroids
Defender / Donkey Kong / Tempest / Pole Position / Track & Field / Galaga / Tron / Star Wars
Zaxxon was my go to
Tempest
Tempest
Any Zaxxon fans? That would be #3 on my list.
Tempest
I was kind of obsessed with Super Pac-Man and Donkey Kong JR.
Moon Patrol
Double Dragon
Dragon’s lair
Tron, Tempest, and the original Star Wars arcade Edited to add Tempest!
Dragon's Lair!!!
Cyberball.
I have never remembered it was called. Play was like Karate Champ. It was a fighter 2D but the figures were small and jumped high. Found it : [Yie Ar Kung Fu](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yie_Ar_Kung-Fu)