Greatest Arcade Games of All Time?

[Trauma-san]

What's yall's favorite? I work in the industry, I'm an operator, and run a route around Charlotte.  I'd say the biggest games of all time are


1. Ms. Pac Man (huge, still huge)
2. Mortal Kombat II (prob. one of the greatest earners of all time)
3. Street Fighter 2 (setup for MKII)
4. Daytona (Daytona revolutionized the industry, it cost 12 grand per machine on debut, people were reluctant to buy, but some games brought in over a grand a week it was so huge when it came out)
5. Golden Tee (huge huge huge franchise.  The only big name left that still consistantly earns great money, hundreds of dollars a week at most locations).

[The Watcher]

SF vs XMEN or Marvel vs Capcom 2
MKII

the first arcade game i ever played was like MKII/SFII, only years before it. It had some guy in it called Minotaur, i only ever saw/played it once

[smerlus]

personally mine is killer instinct, sure MK had it's following around here, but when people started hearing ULTRAAAAAA COMBOOOOOOOOOO from across the arcade, there would be a huge gathering of people....

TRUE killer instinct players were more like artists painting a beating on people  

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Daytona USA - there was no other decent 3d racer at the time, and the multiplayer was amazing, wasted a lot of money on this. Pity it wasn't ported well to a console until the Dreamcast version.

NBA Jam - me and my mates used to play this non stop in the arcade, from the over the top dunks to the three point sweet spots this game was pure class when it first came out.

For some reason I can't think of any others that stand out at the moment, sure i'll think of some later though to add.

[Trauma-san]

Yeah, NBA Jam was huge, too.  It might be next on my list @ #6, people made a fortune off that thing.  

[Don Seer]

R-Type
Street Fighter II Championship Edition

umm...

[Trauma-san]

Man, wanna hear something awesome?  We have arcade 'auctions' every 2 months in Winston Salem... the whole building is full of games that operators are auctioning off... well, it looks good if I go to help move stuff and things for my manager, but get this.  They sell all the old shit really, really really fucking cheap.  You mentioned R-type? I bought fuckin' R-type 2 for 45 bucks last saturday at that thing.  I'm gonna try to sell it for $275.00.  I bought "Ring King" for 15 bucks, and bought "Rastan" for 35.  Pretty crazy.  

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Man, wanna hear something awesome?  We have arcade 'auctions' every 2 months in Winston Salem... the whole building is full of games that operators are auctioning off... well, it looks good if I go to help move stuff and things for my manager, but get this.  They sell all the old shit really, really really fucking cheap.  You mentioned R-type? I bought fuckin' R-type 2 for 45 bucks last saturday at that thing.  I'm gonna try to sell it for $275.00.  I bought "Ring King" for 15 bucks, and bought "Rastan" for 35.  Pretty crazy.  

Sounds really dope, could have your own old school arcade in your house.

Another game I thought of, which wasn't really that huge success wise but was real dope was F355 Challenge. I couldn't believe that someone had actually decided to make a straight up simulation game for the arcade. The three screen setup was real dope as well, cause you could really look to the side and see when people were coming up alongside you. And I'm still undefeated on the multiplayer. Probably worked better practical wise as a home game, but was cool to see a game like that in the arcade.

Thinking of Ferrari's, how could I forget Outrun, man that was a classic.

[Trauma-san]

Man, I've already got an old-school arcade in my house, lol.  Those were just a few I bought to sell.  

I never saw that game, sounds like Hard Drivin', I used to have a cockpit version of that, but it had problems so I sold it cheap.

[MANBEARPIG.]

Virtual On part 1 Boyeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Fuck Oratario Tangram it's all about part 1!  That new Initial D racer is dope too but Virtual On is my all time favorite and Tekken Tag and Soul Calibur 2 thats it.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Man, I've already got an old-school arcade in my house, lol.  Those were just a few I bought to sell.  

I never saw that game, sounds like Hard Drivin', I used to have a cockpit version of that, but it had problems so I sold it cheap.

F355 was ported to the Dreamcast as well, but being a big Nintendo fan i'm guessing you didn't own a Dreamcast.

Thinking of other games, Time Crisis was big when it came out, what with the whole duck pedal feature, although I have always prefered the Virtua Cop series for some reason. I also like that Police 24/7 game where you have to physically move to dodge bullets and shit, thats a pretty good game.

[Trauma-san]

^ it's prob. just too new for me.  I stopped really playing arcade games in like 95, then got into the business about a year ago, so anything in between, I missed, unless I have one on my route.  For instance I've got San Francisco Rush's on my route, those are awesome, I've got Crisis Zone's, Silent Scopes, etc. etc. so I know about all them, but I've never heard of F355, I don't have one on my route

[ecrazy]

The ENTIRE STREET FIGHTER SERIES!!
ADOOGIT!

Man, Memories of going to the pizza parlor after school in the 3rd grade just to have tornaments...Other Favorites:

BUST A MOVE <--BEST PUZZLE GAME EVER!!!!
Crusin USA
PAC MAN
The Simpsons (That's All I played When I Went to chuck E Cheese when i was little)
PINBALL <--any would do, but my favorite is "Tales From The Crypt"
Skee Ball <--Chuck E Cheese Classic
OutRun
Those Hockey Games That Are Like Foosball, <--played it @ sixflags Magicmountain for about an hour, GREAT Fun!

[Trauma-san]

The ENTIRE STREET FIGHTER SERIES!!
ADOOGIT!

Man, Memories of going to the pizza parlor after school in the 3rd grade just to have tornaments...Other Favorites:

BUST A MOVE <--BEST PUZZLE GAME EVER!!!!
Crusin USA
PAC MAN
The Simpsons (That's All I played When I Went to chuck E Cheese when i was little)
PINBALL <--any would do, but my favorite is "Tales From The Crypt"
Skee Ball <--Chuck E Cheese Classic
OutRun
Those Hockey Games That Are Like Foosball, <--played it @ sixflags Magicmountain for about an hour, GREAT Fun!

All great games.  

[West Coast Veteran]

Street Fighter II (The one with the glitches like the invisible throw and the freeze which Guile could do).