Favorite arcade of all-time

[Cassidy Nolen]

To you pictues of your basement arcade online?

 

www.atarionline.com/guide.html

 

Click on the gameroom link

 

Cassidy

[MountainUU]

Marble Maddessssssssssss

[Red 5]

The Spa in Brookfield CT was the first one I really remember. I was so scared to go in there though because there were teenagers who smoked cigarettes in there all the time.

 

When I was a bad ass cigarette smoking teenager, I hung out at Showcase Pizza in Danbury CT which had a HUGE arcade and was attached to and Rollerland.

 

If I had a DeLorean with a Flux Capacitor, I would be hitting 88 Mph down I-84 straight to 1985 right now.

 

[leaving to search ebay for a Flux Capacitor]

[Lord Thag]

The Castle in So-cal. Huge 3 level castle chock full of games. Nothing tops it. The arcade in Disneyland was fun too, I remember playing Star Fire there all the time. Good times.

 

Present day, there is a little mini golf place with 15 or so games, mainly newer stuff.

 

And of course, my living room's newly built MAME cab...

[BeerGnome]

I kinda alluded to this in a previous thread about riding bikes... but..

I really didn't have a local arcade as such.. I basicly.. had a bunch of places that had games with in reasonable proximity for a kid and a bike..

the bowling ally was good.. I learned how to play pool there as well as to bowl and smack the hell out of pacman! tht was a ten minute ride..

super amrio brothers was in the safeway, that wasn't so far.. but elevator action was resting in a gas station across from golden skateworld.. long since gone to make way for a couple of nondiscript suburban office towers..

golden skateworld.. lord have mercy.. the skating rink.. with the pederass DJ playing the latests top forty piece of crap song out there.. then I will say.. My love of electrofunk took root in the roller rink.. but theres too much electrobombastic, and not enough nueclous.. and I think the people know what I'm talkin about.. word...

but you had a huge rink, with all the wings and cheap ass snack bar aff to the side.. the only time these poor people made any money was when they booked a cheap ass birthday party..

eeh.. it was an arcade with a cover charge.. the litle kids night club.. yer parants would drop you off with expectations of saftey and wholesome experience.. and in reality.. I smoked my first joint there and got a blow job..

But! there were games!!! oh hail yeah.. thre were games. pinballs, and foosballs, quater pool tables, and all types of video games.. hell the only time you hit the dance floor was to re-stradegise yer fuck up in mr. do! other than that..the place was monopolized by crazy people skating backwards to the rythem of sister sledge..

blacklights, neon .. disco balls and spots.. and the promis of free skate when Mrs. packman has turned you down for another "ride" around the maze.. thus negating couples skate.

other than that.. mr mother was a floor manager at thalhiemers.. one of the anchor stores at Regency square.... to keep me off the street.. she brought me to work.. and let me go with $5 cash into the mall..

I usually ended up in sears.. onthe second floor.. ina room that led to the sears employee lounge..

it was thier arcade.. and well.. as I'm remembering right now.. virtually all the games were vector.. and every thing was early.. I remember getting up there and playing starwars for hours.. and then chilling and playing berzerk.. berzerk was so easy back then..

hell so was star wars!.. what happened to me?

[8th lutz]

Mine was Time out I think. It had great arcade games like x-men,Galaga,soulblade

in the mail. It was good in most of the 90's.

Edited December 19, 2005 by 8th lutz

[Smiley]

anything retro from the 80's-early 90's....

I've been palying a crap load on mame recently.

[dr. kwack]

I'm hip with the sorry skating rink... We had "The Skate Place". Same deal- mom & dad dropped you off on a Saturday afternoon or Friday night.

 

I would get skates but would spend most of my time at the machines. This is where I played most of my stuff...

 

Tron

Popeye

Crazy Climber

Mappy

Robotron: 2084

Donkey Kong Junior

Sub-Roc 3D

Centipede to name a few

 

I saw my first Pac-Man machine there. The kids were lined up to play!

 

 

My all time favorite: Dragon's Lair- I remember hearing an ad on the local radio station that they had it!

 

Later... TMNT, Heavy Barrel, Arkanoid, Commando, Double Dragon

 

Man that was a great place for cheap hot dogs and video games...

 

In nearby department stores there was... Amidar, Donkey Kong, Front Line, Time Pilot, Tempest was down the street at a convenience store.

 

Surprising how many classics I got to play.

 

Dragon's Lair is still my fave though.

[galaxy warrior]

oh my god my favorite arcade games hmmm.

 

 

renegade!

 

double dragon with three players.....anyone have the rom for this?)

 

do run run

 

cloak&dagger

 

pot of gold

 

galaga

 

dream shopper

 

tmnt

 

street fighter

 

metal slug (all of them)

 

karnov

 

magic sword

 

man my list could keep going but i should stop now.

[Adam Ant]

Growing up in Queens there weren't any real arcades around although it did seem like every 7-11, bodega, laundromat, etc. had at least one or two machines. However, nearly every weekend in the early '80's we used to visit my cousin out in Levittown, Long Island which had two great arcades. Don't remember much about either other than being mesmerized by Star Wars and awed by Dragon's Lair when it first came out. After blowing all the money our parents gave us, we'd go back home and play Atari 2600 and 5200 all night. Great times.

 

In the early 90's I used to go to the arcade in Penn Station (forgot the name, but it was the only one still around at the time) which was really cool. Open 24/7, had great games and was just a bit dangerous. Saw at least one fight break out there cos some guy was allegedly being "cheesy" (was that the word?) in Street Fighter II. Also would sometimes go to the Broadway Arcade which was about a block from the Letterman theatre. Sadly, neither are still around.

[Inky]

Tempest.

 

Followed by Star Wars and I, Robot

[Foxsolo2000]

A small arcade called Coinsville in Skegness, East Coast of England. Spent many a happy hour there playing Mr Do, Pacland, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Wardener, Golden Axe and Time Cris 1 & 2

Edited January 17, 2006 by Foxsolo2000

[telengard]

Hmm,

 

For me it would have to be "Dream Machine" in the Methuen Mall, Methuen MA. I spent most of my childhood in that place. 2nd place would go to Alladin's Castle in Danvers, MA. Awesome arcades. I now go to Funspot in NH which is very cool.

 

~telengard

[galaxy warrior]

my favorite arcade was playland in manhattan. we used to all skip school and meet there. the younger kids used to get busted and taken back to school next best arcade famous chicken in chinatown. you want fighter comp. you go there every kid there was a master. and they always had the newest games before everyone else

[NovaXpress]

Those of you who were arcade deprived, are you under 30? Those of us over that mark had to have run across many arcades in the hot spell from 1978-1983. I'm sure I've visited over a hundred just travelling around back then.

 

For awhile arcades were as common as Starbucks. There were the mall-style family arcades then there were the dar and dangerous drug dens. Going to a dedicated arcade was like going to a rave. The first drug deal I ever saw occurred while I was 10 and playing Asteroids for the first time. Church groups and politicians were trying to ban them. it was crazy, but it was making too much money to stop.

 

Hmm, I may be onto a new thery about the game crash. Could the real killer of arcades have been expiring leases for the shady venues?

[BeerGnome]

Those of you who were arcade deprived, are you under 30? Those of us over that mark had to have run across many arcades in the hot spell from 1978-1983. I'm sure I've visited over a hundred just travelling around back then.

 

For awhile arcades were as common as Starbucks. There were the mall-style family arcades then there were the dar and dangerous drug dens. Going to a dedicated arcade was like going to a rave. The first drug deal I ever saw occurred while I was 10 and playing Asteroids for the first time. Church groups and politicians were trying to ban them. it was crazy, but it was making too much money to stop.

 

Hmm, I may be onto a new thery about the game crash. Could the real killer of arcades have been expiring leases for the shady venues?

1002669[/snapback]

 

well.. lets put it this way.. the roller rink I mentioned earlier..

its a banking office now..

 

the arcade inthe back of sears? long gone.. swallowed up by the barkaloungers..

 

come to think of it.. the antique store my wife PT's at?

about 25 years ago.. it was an arcade.. started out as a sandwich shop.. the propriter figured it was less overhead and more profit.. tore out the sandwich shop.. put up more games...

 

back in the seedier days of carytown.. wich is now upscale boutique shopping.. this place was a seedy little den.. then land lord killed the guys lease midstream.. pretty illeagal by landlord tennat laws actually but the land lord locked the doors on the buisness owner and told him to get the hell out..

 

 

ahh...gentrification..

 

when larry got the place afterwords.. he and his new bride lived in the apartment upstairs and larrty sold his vintage stuff downstairs..

 

25 years later the Luxor is still running.. and thier eldests daughter now lives in the apartment upstairs

[fabventure2600]

My Favorites:

 

Tokio Scramble Formation

 

Black Tiger/or Black Dragon

 

Rygar the legendary warrior

 

Phoenix

 

Commando

 

1943

 

City Connection

[Frostbite]

So many to pick from but I'd have to say my best arcade experience was 4-player Gauntlet. When you were playing with 3 friends that thing was like a quarter vaccum.

 

"Warrior is about to die....."

 

Stupid elf taking all the food.

 

Ahh the memories.

[ali_fighter]

Please help. I cant remember one of the first racing game i've played in the arcades. I really need to know its name because i am going crazy and i want to see at least the picture of it.

 

Game description: The game is in a birds eye view. It is similar basis to pacman. The point of the game is to collect flags layed on the road. However, in the first level roughly two cars chases you (in the further levels these cars will increase by numbers). If they touch my car, i will explode resulting in 'GAME OVER'. If I press fire, my fuel will decreases but it creates white stuff (just like smoke) on the road, which stops the enemy cars for at least 3-4 seconds. There are also fuel flags on the road for my car to top up with fuel.

 

 

Thanks in advance!

[atarilovesyou]

Please help. I cant remember one of the first racing game i've played in the arcades. I really need to know its name because i am going crazy and i want to see at least the picture of it.

 

Game description: The game is in a birds eye view. It is similar basis to pacman. The point of the game is to collect flags layed on the road. However, in the first level roughly two cars chases you (in the further levels these cars will increase by numbers). If they touch my car, i will explode resulting in 'GAME OVER'. If I press fire, my fuel will decreases but it creates white stuff (just like smoke) on the road, which stops the enemy cars for at least 3-4 seconds. There are also fuel flags on the road for my car to top up with fuel.

 

 

Thanks in advance!

1003543[/snapback]

 

 

...easy!..it's Rally X, you'll find it on the Namco Museum for mulitple systems.

[ali_fighter]

...easy!..it's Rally X, you'll find it on the Namco Museum for mulitple systems.

1004754[/snapback]

 

 

Thanks, the exact one. I love this forum, people are very helpful. Thanks again!

[iguana]

When I was young, growing up in Jersey, my father used to give me a couple of bucks to ride my bike to the 7-11 to get him a pack of smokes.  From the late 70's to the mid 80's the 7/11 always had one or two machines.  I can remember them having Space Invaders, Asteroids, Defender and Donkey Kong at one time or another.  Next door at the Cumberland Farms, they had Centipede.  Next to the Cumberland Farms there was a pizza place that always had a cocktail machine, though I don't recall what game it was.

 

Also walking distance from my house was the Ocean County Mall.  They had "The Game Room".  Another one of those dark arcades lined with pinballs and arcade machines. 

 

When I got a little older, 13 to 18, I spent alot of time in Seaside Heights.  They had/have a mile or two long boardwark full of arcade machines.  The arcades are still there, but alas, most of the classic games are gone.

 

Bill

953658[/snapback]

 

THe arcade in the Carousel building In seaside still has a fairly large classics section. I am usually there once or twice a year for a day and make sure I hit it.

 

One of my Favs when I was young was Blue Star Skating ring. It had a ring downstairs and an Arcade upstairs. Best part was my Dad managed it, SO I would skate and play all day long like every other weekend or so!

Edited February 6, 2006 by iguana

[Bill Lange]

I was in Toms River over Thanksgiving weekend. One night, Fri or Sat we were hanging out at the Sawmill at the south end of the boardwalk. Three of us walked over to the Carousel building to play some of those oldies ... alas, everything on the boardwalk was closed at that hour in Nov ... next time.

 

Bill

[TheBman80]

I had a few places to go when I was younger Aladdin’s Castle was in the Granite Run Mall in PA that place had everything me and my brother use to drag my dad out most Saturdays to play for a few hours. They eventually folded I'm not exactly sure when but they were selling cocaine or something like that out of the back room. Come to think of it me and my brother had birthdays there when we were little and I remember asking my day why so many people were going in and out of the back office. Man if it was that obvious to a 9 year old that something was up they really deserved to be caught. Now it’s a book store there is another arcade there way back on the lower level of the mall but they have nothing good at all like one or 2 Street Fighter games and some other stuff not worth playing.

 

I also use to have birthdays at Circus Town that was neat from what I can vaguely remember and Celebration Station now a Chuckey Cheese which really doesn’t deserve to exist because Chuckey Cheese has nothing and the other place was 10,000 times better. Times change I guess now I hit up the arcades at the NJ shore one on the Avalon boardwalk has some stuff not too much any more. I only went because it’s like 3 blocks from my house down there. I hit up Ocean City arcades sometimes you can find a few good games there sometimes. The Wildwood Boardwalk has like nothing but those casino type token redemption games and a few Mrs. Pac Mans.

 

I have gone to Dave & Busters in Philly but it sucks the only thing they have there is shooting and driving games I think they had one Donkey Kong and a multi game that had like Joust and Defender in it with a few others.

 

Now I’m collecting arcade games most of my family thinks I’m nuts but I like having my own arcade its more cost effective.

[SHAGOHOD X99]

Well the best days for me in the arcade was at a place called Diamond J's Gameroom from about 1985 until 1992 in the Westlakes Mall here in SATX (San Antonio, Texas) when that mall was thriving. That place had it all back in the day. Used to spend hours in there playing: Rastan Saga, Thunerblade, Street Fighter, Bottom of the 9th, Battlefield of the Wolf II: MERCS, Final Fight, Play Choice 10, Pit Fighter, Gauntlet, Xybots, NARC, Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja, Top Gunner, Punch Out, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Gladiator, Super Contra, Operation Wolf and that's all that I remember but there were about 13 or more other uprights in that place, and that's not counting the 3 different times new games came in and some left. Even had one of those TV things that showcased one of the games so that ppl walking in the mall could be enticed to go in and play. Final Fight was showcased the longest. For me those were the days. I'd spend $5.00 for 30 Tokens at least once a week after school.