retrorussell

I think stating specifically whether it's an actual machine or emulation should be up to the individual poster. Myself it's almost always been emulation. My emulators include FCEUX (NES/Game Boy/GBA), EPSXE (Playstation), Stella (Atari 2600), Nostalgia (Intellivision), Kega Fusion (Sega Genesis), ParaJVE (Vectrex) and of course, MAMEUI64 for arcade emulation. I do have Dig Dug, NEO GEO 4-slot and Phoenix cabinets in my living room but they don't work at all currently. Hoping to persuade someone to try to fix them in a couple weeks.

TETRIS ROBOCOP CAPCOM BOWLING all arcade

Oh yes.. Finest Hour is arguably Namco's WORST hour! What a steaming heap.. unfortunately I had to keep playing because someone asked me to make a YouTube video of it. Ugh!

SUPER CONTRA ALTERED BEAST FORGOTTEN WORLDS all arcade

Sorry, it's late and I'm silly.

TOOBIN' CABAL THE NINJA WARRORS all arcade

Next: THE COMBATRIBES (1990 Technos Japan) Way cool, very violent multiplayer beat-em-up that's sort of like Double Dragon/Renegade meets Final Fight. You get plenty of brutal moves to finish off your enemies, including swinging them by their legs into their buddies, smashing their face into the ground, picking them up and tossing them, charging at them, and bashing their heads together! This is one of those "buy in" life bar games where you add credits to increase your life meter (in digits). Have 2 other friends play at once for the maximum experience. I first saw this at a nickel arcade in Tigard OR, I think. I love the varied stage designs and colorful enemies.

DASH GALAXY IN THE ALIEN ASYLUM (NES). Rented it and felt completely cheated. Such awful gameplay and goofy jump mechanics. Definitely one of the all time worst NES games. Feels like an ACTION 52 game.

Added note: I guess some cabinets had a slightly different order of enemies than others. In most I see the pink birthday cake enemies (at least that's what I call them) as the very first enemies, and one other cabinet I saw the first enemies from sector 5 somewhere in sector 1, if I remember correctly. Somebody who donated the cabinet to Ground Kontrol (an arcade I'd been to multiple times in Portland) commented on an Astro Blaster video I did on YouTube and told me about it being there, so I went and played it. Cool! Had my best score on an actual machine.

One I guess I did not cover: ASTRO BLASTER (1981 Gremlin/Sega) Man did I love this game! Creepy voice synthesis informing you of impending alien attack, counting down your warp time, telling you your fuel status, and how many ships you have left (or none). The sound effects and action were great too. I could never beat Sector 4. So many hidden bonuses in this game! I was crazy for this when I first saw it at my dad's bowling alley in Milwaukie OR (Kellogg Bowl). One of the all-time ultimate come-ons during the attract mode: "Fighter pilots needed in sector wars! Play Astro Blaster!"

LODE RUNNER: THE GOLDEN LABYRINTH LODE RUNNER: THE BUNGELING STRIKES BACK CHASE H.Q. all arcade

Next: NARC (1988, Williams) Holy cow was this game hilarious! I didn't really play this back in the day but I was sure missing out (started playing it when MAME was pretty new). Wall-to-wall gore in this run and gun game as you roam the streets on foot or in vehicle laying waste to junkies, drug dealers and crime bosses, blowing them to bloody bits (QUITE literally) with various destructive weaponry. Famed designer Eugene Jarvis helmed this. I think I first saw it at a nickel arcade (Electric Castle's Wunderland) in my neighborhood.

Wow, been half a year since I posted something here. Here's one I am currently working on: CHASE H.Q. (Taito, 1988) REALLY tough racing game in which you are a pair of cops trying to catch various criminals, one at a time, by catching up to their vehicle and SLAMMING INTO IT until their vehicle stops! You get 3 turbo boosts and since the timer is strict, your car can easily crash (losing you precious time), and the criminal can easily get away-- use them all! Also, there will be forks in the road, and you ABSOLUTELY need to know which way to go, since the wrong way will be the longer way to get to the perpetrator. I love the story cutscenes, like the dispatcher Nancy telling you your mission over a Ham radio frequency, and the dialogue from the cops is pretty awesome. I think I saw this in numerous arcades, the first might have been a nickel arcade in either a Tigard OR location or NE Portland location.