Blast from the Past...your favorite Arcade Games?

[Sazerac]

Going back into the bottom of the barrel for this one...this is for us "old-timers".

What were your favorite Arcade games from the 80's? I'm talking before Street Fighter, before Mortal Kombat, etc. The old upright video games. The "Pac-man" type games. Anyone remember those?

My personal favorite was an annoyingly addictive video game called "Tempest." It consisted of a gridwork that was in various shapes from level to level; the level complexity changed with the color and the amount of "enemies" that would attack. Your "man" cruised around the top of the gridwork, while the enemies would attack from the bottom. All you had was a firing button and a wheel that you spun to move the man from grid to grid. I can remember playing that game for HOURS off of one quarter. I got all the way up to the green screens on one quarter (I think it was 16 levels of blue, then red, then yellow, then green)...got top score that night.

My best friend was partial to a game called "Stargate" in which you had a space cruiser that had to catch people being abducted by aliens and bring them back down to the planet safely before they "crashed." At the same time you were being attacked by enemy ships, and there was always this little rotating box near the middle of the screen that was the "stargate" where you could warp out of the screen and away from your enemies when the going got tough.

My wife recalls drinking wine coolers at Chuck E. Cheese's (where she worked at the time) and playing a game called Galaga for hours (after hours, of course). The only thing I can remember about that game was that it was like Space Invaders except that your ship swung in a circle around the little invaders and kept blasting away at them. Seemed like it had a wheel for an interface as well, although maybe I forget.

Anyone remember these, or others? The original Donkey Kong? Dig-Dug? The Jousting game with ostriches?



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Great topic! I was absolutly hooked on -super dodgeball. It has recently been reincarnated on the gameboy advance. Other GBA reincarnates are Ms Pacman, Galaga, Pole Position, and Dig-dug. All bundled together in a Namco's greatest hits package. Sure the screen is SMALL but playing those games now brings back great memories.

[Liliara]

Okay! I was totally addicted to a game called ZooKeeper! If I could find that arcade game now, I would buy it in a heartbeat! I used to play it at the local Circle K.

My next would be a pinball game known as BadCats.

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Captain of Bouncers, Boogre Bar

LH Member

Oh, Tempest was my favorite as well.. I also loved Centipede and Crystal Castles the most.

I also really liked Tron Disc's... and before that was Missle Command..

In the 90's remember "Stunt Driving" or "Hard Driving" ? Where the actual wheel would react in a real way? but everything was untextured polygons? I liked that one too.. but it was 50 cents! I miss the 25 machines.. all arcades are probably 200 now.. A credit card slot probably!

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Ziroc™
Ironworks Webmaster
www.tgeweb.com/ironworks

[Djinn Raffo]

Venture (the first rpg) on the coleco...that was awesome...remember the music...de dillee dee, dee dillee dee... so awesome!

In the arcade that game called Rush n Attack...that was cool.
And that side scroller: Kung Fu game where you climb the levels and kick and punch. Also that kung fu fighter game with 2 joysticks...The one that Van Damne beats up the harley dude on in Bloodsport. That game was awesome.

Burger Time. Missle Command was cool.
Galaga is the classic too.

[Liliara]

Tron! Wow! Forgot about that one!
My favorite part was the bikes!

Cool movie too! Tell me we haven't ALL had THAT fantasy!

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Captain of Bouncers, Boogre Bar

LH Member

[Memnoch]

Double Dragon was what got me into arcades (and out of the classroom).

Also Street Fighter - nothing like watching someone struggle in single-player, then challenge him and kick his ass. Of course, that was 10 years ago, and I was young and immature then (you mean I still am *now*?)

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[Memnoch]

Sorry Saz, I didn't realize that Street Fighter was excluded. I'd have to say 1942 and Galaga.

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[Liliara]

Originally posted by Memnoch: Double Dragon was what got me into arcades (and out of the classroom).

I remember a girl friend of mine and I got about $10 worth of quarters between us and beat the game. The surprise was that at the end of the game we had to fight each other! I won of couse! LOL (huffs on nails and rubs them against her shirt)

Just joking, but I did win.

See that D&D player in the making!


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Captain of Bouncers, Boogre Bar

LH Member

[Sazerac]

Hey, Street Fighter is "cool", Memnoch! Hehe, I hadn't realized 10 years had passed (where DOES the time go?) I guess that's "classic arcade" now, too!

Ziroc, ^5 on Tempest! Oh, man, how could I have forgotten about Crystal Castles? That little bear running around those oddly-shaped boards. Oh, and Centipede...I did play that quite a bit, mainly when I went to a place that didn't have a Tempest Machine.

I never played TRON much, but boy my best friend did, and I would watch the game. He got danged good at it, although Stargate was still his favorite one.

I'd forgotten about 1942. Great game, that one.

What was the game where that giant space head would chase you around the screen yelling "Run, run, run, run!" Death Star, or something like that? That was so weird...fun, though!



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