Smash TV: (Good Luck! Youuu’ll need it!)
I’d buy that for a dollar!
Y’know, I’ve already made my “real” picks… but it just occurs to me that an obvious choice for the SDMB Arcade would be Zero Wing. And if we got our hands on an old Journey machine, maybe we could hack it to show images of Duran Duran and loop “Rio” instead of “Separate Ways”. 
I’ll second S.T.U.N. Runner–one of the few racing games I’ve ever really liked.
Here are two less obvious ones for my bonus picks:
Both are sort of like Pac-Man, only fun. 
I’ll second:
Xevious (thanks Bearflag, for reminding me!)
Smash TV
Fun House for the pinball
Can we throw in the just for fun and nostalgia Michael Jacksons Moonwalker?
I’m sorry, but that honor goes to The Adams Family.
I’ll also add X-Men (the giant one that let 6 players play at once) and Time Crisis.
I’ll second Black Knight - I really enjoyed that game.
I’m also going to suggest two that I didn’t see mentioned:
Steel Talons
And
Cyberball. (I really, really, really loved screwing up the computer or other players by going for the ground game, and then killing their QB-bots, so they were playing the second half with a replacement QB.) I guess we could have the Cyberball 2072 upgrade, if people prefer that, but it wasn’t as easy for me - it was much better at stopping the running game while still being able to have a pass oriented defense and offense.
Of course, there are plenty of other games that have been mentioned I’d enjoy in our arcade - these are just the three I’d pick, given my druthers.
Shoot 'Em Up - Truxton
Pinball - Medieval Madness (although I was tempted to put in Adam’s Family)
Fighting - Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
I’ve spent more money on those games in the arcade than I care to count (because if I did I’d realise I’d spent enough to buy the whole cabinet).
I’ll second Fun House for pinball (Yay, creepy Rudy!)
I’ll third Rampart
Adding:
Rampage
Silent Scope II (two machines needed)
Is a Neo Geo machine acceptable? 'Cause I want Magical Drop III
Wow, I’d completely forgotten about that one! Seconded!
Yes! Thanks!
OK, you’ve gotta have Gauntlet. The original. You can have your Gauntlet II, I’ve got no beef with Gauntlet II, but Gauntlet is the must-have.
I once played for 6 hours straight, solo, on one quarter. As Warrior. A month later they patched the machine and removed a lot of food. Now I couldn’t play indefinately on one quarter any more. Bastards.
Make Trax was cool. Remember that little song and dance they did when they caught up to you?
Since someone seconded Street Fighter 2…
House of the Dead 2 (we need some light gun games!)
Samurai Showdown 2 (and SNK fighters!)
First of all, the correct fighting game is Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo.
In addition, we definitely need the greatest platform game ever, Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts (VASTLY more playable than the overrated Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins, imho). (Edging out other great platform games such as Elevator Action and Golden Axe.)
Finally, I have to request a version of the very underrated Buster Brothers (aka Pang). (Probably Super Buster Brothers (Pang 2) or Buster Buddies (Pang 3)).
I actually prefer Hyper Fighting. I don’t like a lot of the changes they made in Super and Super Turbo, and the only new character I think worthwhile is Cammy.
At any rate, we’ll also be needing Street Fighter Alpha 3.
The silverball age of arcades? 
Seriously, I noticed that too. I disagree with “pinball representing the silver age” premise, but it’s not a debate thread. I’m not even sure how such a debate could be resolved–maybe we all think our personal experiences represented a golden age? Anyway, no matter who remembers what, this thread brings back a lot of memories for everybody, I’m sure.
Oh, and I’ll add another vote for some Skee-Ball games.
The Ivan Stuart one? That and Danny Stewart’s Indy Heat were two of the last games I ever played in an arcade.
Berzerk (first game with voice synthesys)
Get-the-hum-an-noid–get-the-in-tru-der
Chicken–fight-like-a-robot
coin-de-tec-ted-in-pocket
Sega’s Top Gun sitdown with the motion cabinet
Hard Drivin’ sit-down with feedback steering