What was your favorite cab at your local arcade?

[sylvie]

"That's not a credit....

... that's a credit. "

 

[HornheaDD]

I 'discovered' arcades in about 1990, when I was at a local movie theater and they had this weird boxing game with 6 buttons. The movie employee told me that they had more of them at the 'arcade down the street', but I'd never been to an arcade. Kinda didn't really frequent them until 91 after Street Fighter II came out. But I did used to frequent a Mr. Gatti's pizza that had a small arcade inside, probably 10 or so cabs. Chase HQ, they had Blues Journey, Simpsons, etc. They also had a Street Fighter II Champion Edition at some point, I think. Might have been just vanilla SFII. But that was pretty much my go-to game from then on, until shit hit the fan with MK - and then... Killer Instinct.

That was my jam.

 

[RAZO]

My two favorites were SFII HF and Mortal Kombat II.

I remember when MKII first arrived at a local video rental store. The place got ridiculously packed. Sometimes it got so bad that the owner would kick people out. As soon as school was out, kids would run to Kenji's and get a few gaming sessions in.

He definitely got his money's worth from that machine.

I think MKII is also one of the best sounding fighting games I ever heard. I still remember hearing how crisp the sound was on those brand new cabinet speakers. Shit was life like.

 

[HornheaDD]

Definitely agree with MKII sound. I still remember when the first MK came out and seeing Raiden's fatality for the first time. There had to be 20 or so kids packed around that cab watching people play. Those were some good times.

 

[sylvie]

I first encountered the MKII cabinet at a Dairy Queen.

As if it were Szondi's test, I picked Baraka. The computer picked Baraka. I lost to him badly, and he did the neckchopper Fatality on me, faced the screen, and crossed his bladed arms. The deep, loud tone of the final note of the stage's song buzzing menacingly as he stared directly at me

Formative.

 

[Fygee]

Discs of Tron, followed by Altered Beast.

 

[ShaolinAce]

I like how I mentioned this game before mr phony gamer movie buff nerd made a video about it.

Me and my little brothers would play it all the time. 1 would drive and 2 would shoot we were all small enough to fit on the seat. Damn i miss this game.

 

[Joe T.]

In the early 90s when Time Out and Exihlarama were the main go to arcades for me:

Steel Gunner and Steel Gunner 2
Whichever Konami beat em up was newest at the time
GI Joe
Moon Patrol
Space Harrier
Whichever Sega racing game was newest at the time

 

[Neo_Mike_81]

When I was young it had to be
Shinobi and Street fighter 2.

 

[Neodogg]

R-Type
Shinobi
Ikari Warriors
Operation Wolf
All at the local Marsh (grocery store)

 

[HornheaDD]

R-Type
Shinobi
Ikari Warriors
Operation Wolf
All at the local Marsh (grocery store)

No frontin' dawg, but it wasn't until several years later that I realized one of my favorite arcade games, Victory Road - was Ikari 2.

Derpness.

 

[Mr.Bojangles]

Probably a tie between TMNT and X-Men the arcade games.

 

[SignOfGoob]

I’m sort of surprised, to be honest, that there are so many noobs here on a Neo Geo forum that rarely or ever saw a Neo Geo in an arcade. Yes arcades still exist, pre-pandemic they were on an upswing. Galloping Ghost and Pinball Pete’s are both still going...I think. Where did you learn about SNK, Youtube videos?

When I was a kid there was a bowling alley in my town called Circle Bowl. They had a mid-sized arcade which I started going to regularly in probably 1982. This was a “real” American arcade, IMO, meaning that it was indie and it wasn’t run by 16 year olds. It wasn’t in a mall or some place else you needed to ride to in your mom’s Dodge Caravan it was directly in the middle of town. All of its customers got themselves there and went home when they felt like it. The entire building was quite large because it had two bowling allies, the arcade, a bar, a pro shop, etc. Somewhat like a university “diag” you could walk right through the place from end to end to save time. It did this almost daily for probably 12-15 years until CVS bought it, tore it down, and now operate one of those damned pharmacies that never seems to have a single person in it.

Games I saw for the first time there when they were new:

Ikari
Ikari II
Ninja Gainden
Renegade
Dragon’s Lair
Super Mario Bros/Excite Bike/that stuff
Double Dragon
Spy Hunter
Street Fighter II
Off Road
Gauntlet
That turtles game all you Gogert chugging 90s kids are gushing over.
Many many many pins.

It was not the first place I saw a Neo but I certainly played them there.

The games I spent the most $$$ on were probably Ikari II and Ninja Gaiden. It’s impossible to convey how exciting those games were to a 12 year old back then. This was when Fist of the North Star was the biggest manga in Japan and all the games were similarly manly and mysterious and macho. Spy Hunter was also a major thrill because...well, you wanted to see what was up the road and the road never ends...

 

[Late]

Sam Sho 2
Virtua Fighter 2

+ Scud race

 

[ShaolinAce]

I’m sort of surprised, to be honest, that there are so many noobs here on a Neo Geo forum that rarely or ever saw a Neo Geo in an arcade. Yes arcades still exist, pre-pandemic they were on an upswing. Galloping Ghost and Pinball Pete’s are both still going...I think. Where did you learn about SNK, Youtube videos?

When I was a kid there was a bowling alley in my town called Circle Bowl. They had a mid-sized arcade which I started going to regularly in probably 1982. This was a “real” American arcade, IMO, meaning that it was indie and it wasn’t run by 16 year olds. It wasn’t in a mall or some place else you needed to ride to in your mom’s Dodge Caravan it was directly in the middle of town. All of its customers got themselves there and went home when they felt like it. The entire building was quite large because it had two bowling allies, the arcade, a bar, a pro shop, etc. Somewhat like a university “diag” you could walk right through the place from end to end to save time. It did this almost daily for probably 12-15 years until CVS bought it, tore it down, and now operate one of those damned pharmacies that never seems to have a single person in it.

Games I saw for the first time there when they were new:

Ikari
Ikari II
Ninja Gainden
Renegade
Dragon’s Lair
Super Mario Bros/Excite Bike/that stuff
Double Dragon
Spy Hunter
Street Fighter II
Off Road
Gauntlet
That turtles game all you Gogert chugging 90s kids are gushing over.
Many many many pins.

It was not the first place I saw a Neo but I certainly played them there.

The games I spent the most $$$ on were probably Ikari II and Ninja Gaiden. It’s impossible to convey how exciting those games were to a 12 year old back then. This was when Fist of the North Star was the biggest manga in Japan and all the games were similarly manly and mysterious and macho. Spy Hunter was also a major thrill because...well, you wanted to see what was up the road and the road never ends...

I think most everyone who posts here has seen a neo geo in the arcade and in the 90s without a doubt.

 

[SignOfGoob]

+ Scud race

Indeed Scud Race/Super GT is my favorite driving game ever. In multiplayer with the machines set to 12 laps...such a good time.

 

[SignOfGoob]

"That's not a credit....

... that's a credit. "

Past about 1984 most new games in the US were $0.50. Dragon’s Lair was probably the first most people saw but I can assure you that by 1995 $1 a play was common with new machines. I played most of my fighting games at $0.50 and that was only because fighting games cost like $1300 and Virtual On or Ridge Racer was like $13,000. When you play for a quarter it’s because the price was reduced. Now many arcades are “flat rate” or by the hour so...much cheaper than ever.

 

[prof]

In the 80s, I'd always seek out the Space Invaders cab. It seemed like every arcade had one, and it was always available because no one liked that game anymore except me. And later on it was Outrun. It took me a while to figure out the high/low gear change though. Once I got that right, I was able to do much better.

In the mid-90s I was in an after school bowling league, and they had a great arcade. We'd race each other in Daytona, and play lots of WWF Arcade. They had an Addams Family pinball machine too which was great.

As popular as the fighters were at that time, I didn't play much of them. I got MK and SF ports for my Genesis, but if I was at the arcade at the mall or wherever, I sought out the games that I could actually play, and not crowd around and wait in line for the latest fighter.

 

[prof]

Reading this thread makes me want to watch the movie Joysticks. Has anyone ever seen that one? Crazy early 80s movie that takes place in an arcade.

 

[HDRchampion]

I just recently got Scud Race/ Sega GT. Game is hard.

Yie ar kung-fu & Ikari Warriors were my goto game during the 80s. In the 90s, i always had to play a game of Wrestlefest, Hyper Fighting, Daytona USA, when i had to wait my turn on whatever was the main fighting game at the time.

Point Blank 00s. If i see it, its going to get played.

My grail piece though is Fight Mania Hokuto No ken. Havent been able to see this here in the US. I think i only played it handful of times but i know i want it and want to own it one day.

 

[Mr.Bojangles]

Aside from TMNT and XMEN, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, and Mortal Kombat 2 were regular cabs youd find me stuck on. The early 90's were a great time for fighting games.

 

[Arcademan]

Past about 1984 most new games in the US were $0.50. Dragon’s Lair was probably the first most people saw but I can assure you that by 1995 $1 a play was common with new machines. I played most of my fighting games at $0.50 and that was only because fighting games cost like $1300 and Virtual On or Ridge Racer was like $13,000. When you play for a quarter it’s because the price was reduced. Now many arcades are “flat rate” or by the hour so...much cheaper than ever.

Not much of a choice with Dragon's Lair since its lowest price setting was 50 cents. Missile Command when it first came out had a factory setting of 50 cents though many arcades most likely felt that was too big a shock for most players. Our usual game coinage in the game rooms I worked at were 1 coin for uprights and 2 coins for sitdown games. In the 90's, new games generally got the 2 coin method until they were either no longer popular or they got paid off. One of the old arcades I went to had a unique system: They sold 6 tokens for a dollar yet every new game they got were on quarters only. Popular games were 2 tokens (33 cents a game) and the typical game 1 token (17 cents). That was the same game room that offered a $100 prize to anyone that could break a million on Sinistar. After a year, no one came close so the offer came to an end. The following week, I broke the million with 14 ships remaining. The owner gave me $50 bucks still

 

[Arcademan]

Aside from TMNT and XMEN, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, and Mortal Kombat 2 were regular cabs youd find me stuck on. The early 90's were a great time for fighting games.

All made good money. While most places had the 4 player X-Men and standard SF2, we had the giant dual screen 6 player X-Men and the original Street Fighter game with the giant pneumatic punch and kick buttons that was converted to a SF2 (minus the big buttons). Of course when available, our TMNT was converted to Turtles in Time. Another arcade I worked in got the first Mortal Kombat in the state and... it did not initially make much money, especially against SF2, Double Dragon and Bad Dudes...until players found out about the fatalities. Then it was raking in the $$$.

 

[LoneSage]

My grail piece though is Fight Mania Hokuto No ken. Havent been able to see this here in the US. I think i only played it handful of times but i know i want it and want to own it one day.

My hometown arcade amazingly had this in 2005. Aside from the hilarious voice acting what stands out the most was the smell. The gloves were absolutely rank. Years of sweaty hands from many different people wearing them forming together to create a smell that I still haven't forgotten. One of those really cool ideas that doesn't work if you don't do maintenance.

 

[max 330 mega]

Reading this thread makes me want to watch the movie Joysticks. Has anyone ever seen that one? Crazy early 80s movie that takes place in an arcade.

I love that movie and own it on dvd. Watch it about once a year.