Your favorite arcade game

I saw the thread about the book "Hard Driving" and it instantly reminded me of my all-time favorite arcade game: "Hard Drivin'". Or maybe it's "Race Drivin'", whichever came out in 1990 with the four selectable cars.

There is, to me, no better arcade game than that. It's how I learned to drive a car with a proper transmission (OK, it's how I learned to drive).

In 1990, I was 5. My mom used to take me to the Hunt Valley Mall for shopping and I'd endure whatever we needed to do (I hated clothes shopping--and still do). Her end of the bargain was to take me to the arcade (Which I called "Video Games House"--I was a cute kid).

The only game I ever wanted to play was this one. They had the full-cabinet version and the smaller bench version (which was tucked away in the back). I always played the full version, of course. I have only faint memories of what that mall looked like back then and only a dark, foggy recollection of that arcade, but I remember this game cabinet and I remember exactly where it was. I also remember that it was frequently broken, but I didn't care.

She knew back then that I was going to be a car freak and probably end up racing cars.

I want to buy a full version of the 1990 game. A local pizza joint has a messed up version of the small bench game, but it's probably not for sale. Anyone ever buy an arcade game? How do I pick one up?

Best Game Ever.

Moon Patrol FTMFW!

Shawn

Galaga, hands down.

For me, it's got to be Berzerk. Strangely enough, this game is how my life has turned out - I wander a cubicle maze, dodging people who are trying to kill me/make me do work. Evil Otto is the heart attack/stroke just waiting to descend upon me if I don't escape in time...

DigDug was my favourite growing up.. but in my late 20s and early 30s I was unbeatable at Samurai Shodown. Playing Nakaruru I could take on and destroy the most savy of teenaged arcade mall rats.. and that annoyed the hell out of them.

Pinballs, duh.

My favorite actual arcade game though is "Hydro Thunder", a mid-90's sit-in boat game that still cracks me up. My grandad has restored amusement machines since the 1950's and he has a standing order to find me one.

mad_machine wrote: DigDug was my favourite growing up.. but in my late 20s and early 30s I was unbeatable at Samurai Shodown. Playing Nakaruru I could take on and destroy the most savy of teenaged arcade mall rats.. and that annoyed the hell out of them.

I loved Samurai Shodown, though I was always better at The King of Fighters and Soul Edge. My favorite arcade game, though, is this obscure 2D fighter called Guilty Gear X2. Most bizarre game evar, but so much fun, and it has a kick-ass '80s metal soundtrack to boot.

P71 wrote: Pinballs, duh. My favorite actual arcade game though is "Hydro Thunder", a mid-90's sit-in boat game that still cracks me up. My grandad has restored amusement machines since the 1950's and he has a standing order to find me one.

Awesome game, the Dreamcast version is a pretty faithful recreation.

Donkey Kong Jr. was my all time favorite, but BattleZone is what I have in my basement.

Donkey Kong number one with Ivan Stewart's Off Road a very close second. used to spend hours breaking all the records on that game.

but i love pinball most, and have an old bally machine of my own now.

PubBurgers wrote: Galaga, hands down.

On one of our first dates, my wife expressed an interest in Galaga, so on a future date I made sure we ended up at a bar that had one.

Friendly bet ensued, and not only did she kick my ass, she went on to set the high score on the machine.

If we ever get around to converting our finished basement to a gameroom, we'll surely have one of those as well as a Pinbot machine, and maybe a Contra, 1942, and Double Dragon.

I got hooked on playing Centipede. One of the local pizza joints had the game in the corner and I usually had my initials in the high scores 9 times out of 10.

Centipede is my wife's favorite, but I'm a bigger fan of Asteroids. I also like Tempest and Galaga.

Pole Position is another old favorite, but the one I'd kill to have is a full cabinet Night Driver. It was silver fiberglass with metal flake to look like a bass boat. I haven't seen one in 25 years.

I guess I'm showing my age.

To the OP who asked about buying arcade games, there's probably a supplier of them in your area. Check the Internet or the old-fashioned yellow pages. Back when I still shopped on ebay, you could also find them there. You might try that and/or Craigslist.

You can also build a MAME machine fairly inexpensively. It's fairly easy to build or buy an authentic-feeling cabinet and the various controls are readily available. (Although I don't know if MAME supports Hard Drivin'/Race Drivin'.) Obtaining ROMs legally is somewhat difficult, but not impossible. Your best bet would actually be to buy a broken game for the ROMs. (Obtaining illegal ROMs is trivial.)

Pole Position II. We had a neighbor that worked for a video game company, and stored some games in our garage ffrom time to time. One summer he left PPII, Asteroid, and a jukebox in my garage, all switched on to work free. Between that and my father keeping pallets of soda there in case he ran out during the day we had an ideal place to hang out.

I remember playing hard driving and then leaving the arcade in my fiat.. and having to take a minute to get reaquanted with the more limited (and real) Physics of my car. The instraments and layout of the steering wheel and shifter were VERY similar to the game...

Rampage! You and two of your buddies pointlessly walling on buildings for hours. What could be more American?

I love that airplane game. Not sure what its called but you get all kinds of cool powerups that shoot some crazy stuff. You fly some kind of futuristic fighter jet dealy. Help me out here.

About 10 years ago, two of my buddies swiped a "TRON" cocktail unit from the local pizza joint.

Walked in wearing coveralls, said "we're here for the machine" and put in the van and left.

Shawn

well, i feel like i am obligated to post...

www.fortsandersyachtclub.com

we have over 40 games in rotation. all 80's early 90's vintage. my personal favorites are outrun, starwars, and gauntlet

check these auction sites out. you'll have to pay about a 15% fee on top of the sale price. but there are lots of good deals out there. let me know if anyone wants to buy a certain game, i either have it, or could pick it up at auction.

www.auctiongamesales.com www.superauctions.com

I played ALOT. I probably one of those kids that kept these people in business :) From memory: Tempest Rygar Rampage Defender Zaxxon Pole Position Burgertime Paperboy Galga Donkey Kong 3 Karate Champ Q-bert 1943 (bomber game) Commando Pooyan

Trans_Maro wrote: About 10 years ago, two of my buddies swiped a "TRON" cocktail unit from the local pizza joint. Walked in wearing coveralls, said "we're here for the machine" and put in the van and left. Shawn

That is awesome, truly awesome.

confuZion3 wrote: I saw the thread about the book "Hard Driving" and it instantly reminded me of my all-time favorite arcade game: "Hard Drivin'". Or maybe it's "Race Drivin'", whichever came out in 1990 with the four selectable cars. There is, to me, no better arcade game than that. It's how I learned to drive a car with a proper transmission (OK, it's how I learned to drive). In 1990, I was 5. My mom used to take me to the Hunt Valley Mall for shopping and I'd endure whatever we needed to do (I hated clothes shopping--and still do). Her end of the bargain was to take me to the arcade (Which I called "Video Games House"--I was a cute kid). The only game I ever wanted to play was this one. They had the full-cabinet version and the smaller bench version (which was tucked away in the back). I always played the full version, of course. I have only faint memories of what that mall looked like back then and only a dark, foggy recollection of that arcade, but I remember this game cabinet and I remember exactly where it was. I also remember that it was frequently broken, but I didn't care. She knew back then that I was going to be a car freak and probably end up racing cars. I want to buy a full version of the 1990 game. A local pizza joint has a messed up version of the small bench game, but it's probably not for sale. Anyone ever buy an arcade game? How do I pick one up? Best Game Ever.

I loved that game when I was a kid. I was happy when I finally got all the way around that damn loop.

Galaga!

Galaga, with Pac Man as a very close second.

confuZion3 wrote: I saw the thread about the book "Hard Driving" and it instantly reminded me of my all-time favorite arcade game: "Hard Drivin'". Or maybe it's "Race Drivin'", whichever came out in 1990 with the four selectable cars. There is, to me, no better arcade game than that. It's how I learned to drive a car with a proper transmission (OK, it's how I learned to drive). In 1990, I was 5. My mom used to take me to the Hunt Valley Mall for shopping and I'd endure whatever we needed to do (I hated clothes shopping--and still do). Her end of the bargain was to take me to the arcade (Which I called "Video Games House"--I was a cute kid). The only game I ever wanted to play was this one. They had the full-cabinet version and the smaller bench version (which was tucked away in the back). I always played the full version, of course. I have only faint memories of what that mall looked like back then and only a dark, foggy recollection of that arcade, but I remember this game cabinet and I remember exactly where it was. I also remember that it was frequently broken, but I didn't care. She knew back then that I was going to be a car freak and probably end up racing cars. I want to buy a full version of the 1990 game. A local pizza joint has a messed up version of the small bench game, but it's probably not for sale. Anyone ever buy an arcade game? How do I pick one up? Best Game Ever.

I was already driving when videogames came along (scaring the BMW E36 outta m'self in an old Triumph GT-6 on the backroads). I liked Pole Position because even though the other cars were moving chicanes, at least it was a real race track (Fuji) and it seemed to understeer & oversteer.

BGE? Missile Command. http://games.atari.com/arcade.php?game=missilecommand