# What was your favorite \*arcade\* game? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [December 20, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902 "2023-12-20T20:54:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/141 "2024-01-05T17:18:11Z")
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the arcade game, 100%. Always with Raphael. Pressing jump and attack at the same time for all the other Turtles would have them do a flying kick, but Raphael would do a forward roll followed by a double jab with his sais, then roll back. Perfection. Other, contemporary side-scrolling beat-em-up games were good, too. Simpsons and X-Men in particular. I’ll also put in another vote for Rampart. Ports to home consoles sucked without the roller ball control. I’ll always have a soft spot for Ms. Pac-Man. A few years ago I was a guest on an aircraft carrier “Tiger Cruise” where one of the activities was a showdown on the Ms. Pac-Man machine in the mess hall / galley. I practiced all week. I was the last civilian to play, got a better score than any practice run at just over 100,000 points with everyone watching. I lost first overall to a helicopter pilot who got almost 350,000. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/142 "2024-01-05T19:51:44Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > I’ll always have a soft spot for Ms. Pac-Man. A few years ago I was a guest on an aircraft carrier “Tiger Cruise” where one of the activities was a showdown on the Ms. Pac-Man machine in the mess hall / galley. I practiced all week. I was the last civilian to play, got a better score than any practice run at just over 100,000 points with everyone watching. I lost first overall to a helicopter pilot who got almost 350,000. I was in college when it first came out, and apparently I was one of very few people to know that there were a considerable number of random “openings” for the ghosts on each level, going by the number of discussions I overheard by people who were “working on their patterns” like the ones Pac-Man had. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/143 "2024-01-05T20:31:48Z")
Rolling Thunder I saw a guy reach the final screen and die. I’m so glad Youtube exists and I was able to see what happens at the end. Here is the moment I saw a guy die, right when he was at the end. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ADEF8Uue7_0/hqdefault.jpg "Arcade Longplay [492] Rolling Thunder") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADEF8Uue7_0&t=1442) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/144 "2024-01-05T20:36:08Z")
I used to play the heck out of it on my Commodore 64 with a joystick. Lemme tell you, the joystick is not the ideal input controller for that game. But it was fun as hell, and impressive (at least my teenaged self thought so) for those isometric graphics. Similarly somewhat frustrating was playing Crystal Castles with a joystick. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/145 "2024-01-06T00:07:28Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > **Marble Madness** was another underrated and largely forgotten game. The programmer of that game designed the PS4 and PS5 architecture. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/146 "2024-01-08T01:37:22Z")
Tempest was a good one. I’d always clear a level and then get impaled on a spike. Good times 😁 ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/147 "2024-01-08T02:55:05Z")
I should add the Pump It Up games up to Premiere 3. I should point out that I was too embarrassed to even _look_ at Dance Dance Revolution when the first PIU came out, and I started playing only because there were so many songs that no one else ever picked that I wanted to hear. These were the games that taught me to stop being insecure, stop giving a damn what everyone was undoubtedly thinking, and just _get up there and play._ So many fantastic memories. After Premiere 3 the difficulty shot into the stratosphere (what else is new) and I gradually lost interest, but for those special few years this was completely my jam. Infovore - 🤨 Kinda hard to hit A or B on the **arcade machine** , don’t you think? snfaulkner - _Nintendo_ had nothing to do with the **arcade machine.** But since you brought up speedruns, [this might interest you](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T7V3qr65Mo). hogarth - It didn’t get a lot of hype, most likely because Capcom had so many great beat-'em-ups, but it had some cool ideas and definitely deserves recognition. Glad you remember now! 😁 BobLibDem - It was a nifty concept, but the controls were just a bit _too_ avant-garde for me. I did play Fire Trap (1986) quite a bit, though. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/148 "2024-01-08T03:09:06Z")
Vastly too many to list would be my “favorite”. 🙂 ALCON Golden Axe Xain d’Sleena Mat Mania Dragon’s Lair Space Ace Commando Street Fighter II Mortal Kombat Soul Edge Gyruss Afterburner Choplifter Double Dragon Missile Command Kung Fu Master Gun Smoke Time Pilot Gauntlet Elevator Action Mappy Punch Out Pengo Tron Discs of Tron Vindicators Darius 2 1942 Rygar Probably vastly more LOL I spent a lot of time in the arcades. I don’t think I could pick one. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/149 "2024-01-09T00:10:40Z")
Another game I loved, yet forgot until about 20 minutes ago, was the quite difficult **Tutankham** , which had a character which could only shoot right or left: > **[Tutankham – Hardcore Gaming 101](http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tutankham/amp/)** ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/150 "2024-01-09T19:42:18Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Tempest was a good one. I’d always clear a level and then get impaled on a spike. Good times 😁 Er, you were aware that you could shoot at the spikes as you were moving from one level to the next, right? > [@JohnT](#): > > Another game I loved, yet forgot until about 20 minutes ago, was the quite difficult **Tutankham** , which had a character which could only shoot right or left: I wonder who was it that first said, “Yes, Tutankhamun is a nice name, but it won’t fit on the screen”? (Supposedly, that’s why it’s called just Tutankham.) ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/151 "2024-01-09T19:53:23Z")
Why didn’t they just go for “King Tut”. [Got a condo made of stone-ah!](https://youtu.be/FYbavuReVF4?si=Uq7DjYedqtE01p2c) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/152 "2024-01-09T20:33:53Z")
Tutankham was my favorite Atari 2600 game. The graphics were… not as crisp as the screen shot of the arcade version. [![](https://atariage.com/2600/screenshots/s_Tutankham_2.png) ](https://atariage.com/2600/screenshots/s_Tutankham_2.png) That’s a key he’s holding, not a gun. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/153 "2024-01-10T17:01:50Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Er, you were aware that you could shoot at the spikes as you were moving from one level to the next, right? In the heat of the moment I froze. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/154 "2024-01-11T03:17:13Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > That’s a key he’s holding, not a gun. That’s like a “key to the city” size key. If my counting is correct, the player avatar is 17 blocks (I hesitate to call those things pixels) in size. That key is almost 20% the size of the player avatar. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/155 "2024-01-11T05:03:01Z")
Growing up we had big blocky characters and we liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/156 "2024-01-12T03:13:50Z")
I remember when the Apple II had it’s “High Resolution Graphics”. Yeah 280×192 pixels, baby! And you had six colors to choose from! Including Black and White! ---
**Author:** ![atomirex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomirex/32/15931_2.png) [@atomirex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomirex)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/157 "2024-01-15T18:18:34Z")
When actually growing up it was Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move (the vs mode is utterly brilliant). One office I worked in had an original Warlords cocktail cabinet though, and that thing was just amazing. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/158 "2024-01-16T06:32:08Z")
When I was a teen arcade games were like [Night Driver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Driver_(video_game)) and other rudimentary cabinet games. I was in my twenties before the golden age of arcade games was ushered in. [Wizard of Wor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Wor) was a game I liked. The only place I ever saw it was at a [Red Owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Owl_(retail_chain)) that we would otherwise never grocery shop at. I also liked [Berzerk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berzerk_(video_game)) and [Gorf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorf) which was like 5 games in one. Both of these transferred well into Atari 2600 cartridges. I also liked the original [Punch Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch-Out) where Mr Sandman was the champion. I found a cool site that has most of these games online for free. > **[RetroGames.cc - Play retro games online in your browser](https://www.retrogames.cc/)** > > Play retro games from NES, SNES, GB, GBC, GBA, SEGA Genesis and Classic Arcade Games in your browser. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/159 "2024-01-17T02:28:14Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > [Wizard of Wor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Wor) was a game I liked. The only place I ever saw it was at a [Red Owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Owl_(retail_chain)) that we would otherwise never grocery shop at. A local small amusement park where I grew up (weirdly enough started by Johnson Controls back when they were still Wisconsin-based) had that game. Only place I ever saw it. And for completely unrelated reasons I’m now thinking about the first game I remember that took two quarters: > **[APB (1987 video game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APB_(1987_video_game))** > > APB (short for "All Points Bulletin") is a video game released in arcades by Atari Games in 1987. The player assumes the role of "Officer Bob," a rookie police officer. As Bob, players drive around the city, ticketing motorists for minor infractions and pulling over more serious offenders. Eventually, players must apprehend criminals for which an all-points bulletin has been called. > The arcade cabinet looks like a police car, with a gas pedal, steering wheel and a siren button, complete with f... ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902/160 "2024-01-17T08:16:01Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > [APB (1987 video game) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APB_(1987_video_game)) I remember APB. Was pretty fun! Then there was **Rally X**. A true game of skill. You had to keep your eyes on a map to the right as you drove an RC car around picking up flags while red cars chased you. The first edition was quite hard and didn’t give enough extra players. Then they came out with a “ **New Rally X** ”. It was identical as the first edition except the first few screens were easier with less red cars chasing you in the beginning. You also got one extra car than the first edition and there was a “lucky” flag that boosted your score. It was a very compelling game. > **[New Rally-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Rally-X)** > > New Rally-X (Japanese: ニューラリーX, Hepburn: Nyū Rarī-Ekkusu) is a maze chase arcade video game released by Namco in 1981. It is a lightly tweaked version of 1980's Rally-X, with slightly enhanced graphics, easier gameplay, a new soundtrack, and a "Lucky Flag" that gives the player extra points for remaining fuel when collected. > New Rally-X was manufactured in greater numbers and was much more popular in Japan than its predecessor. While the original Rally-X, released under a Midway Games license, w... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-favorite-arcade-game/994902.md?page=9)