What was your favourite arcade game?

So arcades are largely a thing of the past, at least here in the west. However they were a pretty big deal even as recently as the late 90s and early 2000s.

I have fond memories of playing the Star Wars Trilogy Arcade while stuck on P&O and Stena Line ferry trips as a kid. A 3D on-rails shooter released in 1998 which probably captured the feel of the original films better than any Star Wars game made since.

Never managed to complete it of course since it cost £1 a go, but you basically had three stages covering A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. You got to take part in the battle of Yavin and the climactic trench run, the battle of Hoth, the speeder bike chase through the forests of Endor as well as lightsaber boss battles against Boba Fett and Darth Vader!

How about you folks, which arcade game did you like the best?

Galaga has always been my go to.

Honorable mentions: Magic Sword and Bust-a-Move

Hot Rod. Brother and I used to play it all the time. Had a really novel 4 player top down arcade cabinet with pedals and wheels.

Yie Ar Kung-Fu I played on the C64, and a club house at a caravan site. It was cheaper than other arcade machines because it was an older game, and the place was always empty so I had it to myself.

PacMan Jr.

Arcade like you mean games I played at the Arcade ? if that so I spent so many quarters that I could have purchased the machine in PacMan, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Galaga, Joust, Punch Out and Tempest so you can say those were my favorite Arcade games at the Arcade, I miss those days and even though the place still exist the "atmosphere" is no longer there nor most of the machines, the newer Arcade machines are multigames machines with hundreds of "oldies" from which to choose ( not exactly bad at all ).

Mortal Kombat 2 I use to go to my local my mall that is sadly gone now and played it back in the spring of 94. I still can picture what the arcade place looked like and where the MK2 machine was. That game was such a huge leap from the original MK. The colors where vibrant the gameplay felt faster and better and it had the best fatalities of the old 2D games I was never so hyped to play that machine. No other video game ever got me so much excited to play. It hit me at the right time and age.

If I had to pick one, maybe Bust-a-Move. Sunk many hours into various iterations of that game, and it just doesn't seem to get old. But I don't want to pick one, so here's a list:

• Blitz
• NBA Jam
• Samurai Shodown
• Area 51
• Capcom vs SNK
• Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate

God I miss Midway.

I only really played the claw machines and time crisis 2. We only have a few machines at the cinema here. Arcades aren't really a thing here and havn't been for a long time. There's timezone but there all tiny (have about 30 machines, except for the gold coast which is pretty big for us.

House of the the dead and virtua cop.

@DEVILinIRON: Galaga my favorite too

Lots of good stuff in these posts. I was always a fan of Time Crisis also, or any light gun games really. +1 for House of the Dead.

@raugutcon: Yup, that's what I meant to say, games which you used to go to arcade halls to play on arcade machines. I should have been a bit clearer d'oh.

It's a real shame that the era is now over, consoles mostly killed them off. As great as it is having your own 'arcade' in your living room nowadays, the magic has been lost a bit in the transition I would say.

Virtual On: Cyber Troopers, Virtua Cop, House of the Dead 2, and Marvel vs. Capcom.

I didn't play games in arcades all that often growing up since they were quickly fading away during the early 2000s (when I was a kid). However, I've played lots of fighting games on arcade machines over the years like Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Killer instinct, King of Fighters, etc. There's a bowling alley near me with arcade machines, and I play MK 4 and Street Fighter 3 whenever I go there with my brother. MK4 is probably my favorite arcade game of all time, as well as my favorite MK overall.

Some of my favorites:

Galaga

Mantigames’ Mutilate A Doll 2

Cat Simulator: Kitty Craft

Skate Hooligans

Bloody Archers

Tunnel Rush

• House of the Dead
• Jurassic Park
• Hydro Thunder
• Pacman
• Killer Instinct
• Donkey Kong
• Time Crisis

While it's true the Arcade era is dead, but where I live, we have a Arcade like called Dave & Busters. It's like Chuck E Cheese for adults (and teens of course) and we have lots of Arcade games but I haven't been to Dave & Busters for 9 years now. PC gaming just spoiled me lol.

My best Arcarde classic is Metal Slug today and as a child. No matter what part. I loved playing them all. When the Neo Geo came, I had no reason to stop.

I still think the Pixel Art Style is awesome.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game is my all time favourite arcade game closely followed by Lethal Enforcers. I pumped so many quarters into those two games.

I always loved the original Star Wars arcade game with its vector graphics and sampled voices.

To this day whenever I hear 'Red five standing by' I smile.

80's and early 90's favourites, no particular order.

Pacman

Time Pilot

Track & Field

Shinobi

Contra

Double Dragon

Outrun

Afterburner

Super Hang-On

Bad Dudes Vs Dragon Ninja

1943

Gunsmoke

R-Type

Kung-Fu Master

Chase HQ

Final Fight

Operation Wolf

Operation Thunderbolt

I had some favourites in the middle to late 90's, then Arcades faded away

Sega Rally

Ridge Racer

Scud Race

Crusin' USA

Virtua Fighter 2

Rush the Rock

Area 51

Galaga

Marvel vs xmen

Tekken 3

Blitz 2000

Turtles in time

Outrun

Chase HQ

Smash TV

I really enjoyed the Simpsons beat em up game. Spent many coins on the metal slug machine at my local take away.

A lot of my favorite games I've played are arcade games I play on Mame. Lately I've been addicted to Robotron, Smash TV, and Total Carnage. I also really love Irem schmups like R Type, Dragon Breed, and X Multiply. Jackal, Mercs, Desert Assault, Stun Runner, After Burner, Strider, Final Fight, Gun Force ii, Metal Slug games, and just about anything developed by Taito are really excellent. Wish a lot of these would get more attention.

@Sevenizz: I loved the Simpsons arcade game

X-Men the arcade game

mortal kombat, nba jam, and tmnt are where i lost most of my money as a kid.

As a kid I recall enjoying a handful of arcade games...

Vs. Super Mario Bros. in my apartment's game room \ laundry room. My first exposure to the game.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the arcade across from my local mall's movie theater.

Shadow Dancer at the same location.

The original Street Fighter II at a convenience store on the way home from school.

Superman at a pizza parlor on the way home from school.

The Simpson's at a local budget department store.

Iron Man Ivan Stewart's Super Off-Road at a campsite game room.

And Tekken Tag Tournament at the Namco Wonder Tower while in college.

Pac-Man

Mortal Kombat Ultimate

Galiga

Marvel VS Capcom 2

Metal Slug 2

Street Fighter 2

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Street Fighter 4

Time Crysis

Aliens: Extermination

Initial D Arcade

Mario Kart DX

House Of The Dead

House of the Dead 1 and 2. My childhood friends would spend hours with these games. Good times...

Street Fighter II

Alien vs predator and metal slug 1-3

Wacky Wheels.:) And yes - it's not a racing game. :)

This and tekken at the arcade were my most played.

Obviously turtles also ghouls and ghosts deserves a mention.

My very favorite arcade game is Double Dragon. We used to play it as a kid on arcade machine all the time.

• House of the Dead II
• Star Wars Trilogy
• Galaga
• Crazy Taxi
• Popeye

Frogger

Punch Out

Pac Man

I remembered one more game which I used to play as a small one in our pool hall. Popeye was super best.

https://retrotip.com/atari_2600/popeye

So many - Major Havoc, Rolling Thunder, Yearrr Kung Fu, Star Wars Arcade, Gauntlet, Moon Patrol, for starters!

Crysis 2 I believe its called? Tekken 2 owned every quarter I had at the arcade. Crusin' USA and omg the hockey table

My happiest arcade memories were from an Arcade we had next to our Caravan park in North Wales. My favourite machine there was Double Dragon. That must have been in the late 80's, early 90's.

Also loved Outrun, Super-hang-on, After-Burner and especially Operation Wolf.

Mortal Kombat 2 that I still play to this day interesting trying to read the AI.

Street fighter 2 definitely aged a lot better than mk2.

Elevator Action

Kung Fu Master

Great Swordsman

Rolling Thunder

Asteroids

Paperboy

Cyber ball