Memories of where and when you first played/saw this game

[retrorussell]

Here's one that wasn't seen much in US arcades..

NINJA

also known as SEGA NINJA or NINJA PRINCESS

Stupid marquee but really a pretty good scrolling ninja shooter, with a female ninja protagonist!

Move up the screen chucking ninja stars at your opponents, while avoiding their stars and sword slashes. Get power-ups to make your stars stronger, and use magic to disappear and reappear. Secret bonuses for throwing a minimum of stars or uncovering hidden statues.

I think I saw this at Sea-Tac Mall in the Seattle/Tacoma metro area.

[Syzygy1]

Going back to games I loved, there was Sigma/Gottlieb's New York! New York!, released in 1980. It was essentially a Galaxian clone, where the player got to shoot down aliens in New York City. Bonus points for me ​actually first playing this game in NYC. Strawberry Shortcake would have been proud.

[retrorussell]

Never saw New York New York in an arcade.. but the Japanese version is based on Arcadia Of My Youth, an anime based on characters from Galaxy Express 999 by Leiji Matsumoto. Captain Harlock is the statue instead of The Statue Of Liberty!

[Syzygy1]

Never saw New York New York in an arcade.. but the Japanese version is based on Arcadia Of My Youth, an anime based on characters from Galaxy Express 999 by Leiji Matsumoto. Captain Harlock is the statue instead of The Statue Of Liberty!

 

OH MY GAAAAAAWD

[7800Lover]

Rolling Thunder was a lot of fun. But I hated the life meter which was expended quickly if you got hit by an enemy!

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

I miss the arcades in Put-In-Bay, (South Bass Island) Ohio back in the late 90's/2000's.

There used to be one on the main strip (which is now a clothing store) and they had a few classics like Pole Position, Hard Drivin', etc.. along with new games. However, my favorite 'arcade' was the one that used to be inside the Beer Barrel Saloon (World's Longest Bar), which had old arcade and pinball machines all along the 3 walls in the back. It's the first time I got to play top-tier pinball machines like The Getaway and Twilight Zone, along with plenty of old ones. There were games like Battlezone, Pac-Man, Galaga and a few others I can't remember the name of. They had more pinball than anything but it was fun being a kid back then, dumping quarters into these machines while my uncle was getting hammered at the bar.. Lol. Last time I went there (about 2 years ago), IIRC there were only a couple pinball and arcade machines left unfortunately. Good times and memories there...still my favorite summer vacation spot.

Edited September 30, 2015 by SiLic0ne t0aD85

[7800Lover]

I 2nd that, Silicone. I can't believe all the good arcades that closed down in the 1990s and 2000s. Nowadays, the only places we see video arcades are places with guaranteed foot traffic like beachside boardwalks, theme parks, and so on. They are much rarer now in malls than they were ages ago.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Here is my favorite arcade joint.

 

B&I Marketplace in Tacoma, WA had a fantastic lineup of classic arcades to the early 90's at the time I moved from the area in 1994. It was called "Mikey's Funland". 1987 is the first time I went thete on my sixth birthday during that Summer. It had 200 arcades cabs, a good dozen pinball machines, foosball, skee ball, billiards, a carousel, and mini golf. It was a child's dream and I had so many unforgettable memories. It sadly closed in July 2013. I lived by a cpuple in the Philly outskirts in Southeast, PA. Billiard City and The Fun Zone which was like a Chuck E Cheese. Lots and lots of arcade games plus a ball pit and tunnel mazes. They had pizza as well. Around the late 90's is when all the great arcade joints started boarding up and shutting their doors. All I see now Is some barcades but nothing like the huge arcade joints from way back then. Miss these days and they leave a lasting impression on me.

 

[retrorussell]

Oh man.. a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor in Beaverton, OR had that exact same "Love Machine" thing with the grip handle. I used to play it to see how high I could rate. I think I got "Hot Stuff" once.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Oh man.. a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor in Beaverton, OR had that exact same "Love Machine" thing with the grip handle. I used to play it to see how high I could rate. I think I got "Hot Stuff" once.

Ahhhh man I miss Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor! I had suchbthe funnest time there and went there for my birthday a few times in the late 80's. Love the early 1900's atmosphere, the menus designed like newspapers, and the "pig trouph". I wish they were still around

[retrorussell]

^ There are plans to bring back Farrell's to the Northwest. For right now there are multiple California locations and a Hawaii one.

http://farrellsusa.com/locations-and-menus.shtml

 

Next game:

TIME PILOT '84

Noisy sequel to Time Pilot. Sure, it's not as good as TP but it's a good deal easier. And there's some nice hidden bonuses. Kind of stupid that there doesn't seem to be any real time travel this time around. I first saw this at Aladdin's Castle in Vancouver, WA. The deafening noise drew me to it.

This made an appearance in the stupid film MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, in a scene where a guy gets electrocuted by the machine!

[+thegoldenband]

A few I remember:

 

Vs. Tennis - I was probably 7 years old when they added this Nintendo machine to an arcade a couple towns over from where I lived. I put in a quarter, served 4 double-faults, got a GAME OVER, and felt utterly ripped off. I've never really forgiven it for that -- it nearly put me off the sport completely, both in video game form and in reality!

 

Hard Drivin' - they had this at the Computer Museum in Boston, and I think it was in free play mode. Not sure what year it was, but I know I was extremely impressed by the quality of the visuals, and had that "Whoa, the future is here" feeling. I'm not sure I realized it was an actual arcade game -- I may have thought it was some sort of simulator unique to the museum.

 

Street Fighter II - went to a sub shop with a friend and a frenemy, and they had a SFII machine. I'd never heard of it, and wasn't particularly impressed; I played a game or two and didn't know any of the special moves, so it was pretty underwhelming.

 

Mortal Kombat - on a class trip we stopped at an arcade for some reason (maybe it was just a pizza place), and seeing MK -- with the violence, the digitized sprites, and Scorpion's shout of "Get over here!" -- pretty much stopped me in my tracks.

 

Of course there are a bunch I've encountered more recently: Fire Truck at Funspot, Timber at an arcade/bar, etc. But those are the main ones I can remember from BITD.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

 

Hard Drivin' - they had this at the Computer Museum in Boston, and I think it was in free play mode. Not sure what year it was, but I know I was extremely impressed by the quality of the visuals, and had that "Whoa, the future is here" feeling. I'm not sure I realized it was an actual arcade game -- I may ave thought it was some sort of simulator unique to the museum.

Hard Drivin' rocks!! That is one of my favorite arcade driving games. I first played it in 1990. And I was 9 at the time. I was truly blown away at the realism and driving in a first person view. Race Drivin' is my favorite as you get the Hard Drivin' track along with the Autocross and Super Stunt tracks. I finally beat the Super Stunt track and won the championship lap in 1997. I always used the Speedster car. The yellow one with the flame design and is my favorite. And was one of my best arcade accomplishments. I credit these games on learning to drive a stick.

[retrorussell]

Hard Drivin'.. I first saw that one at the Washington Square theater (now defunct) in Tigard, OR. I remember being excited when I got the Genesis version.. utter pig crap.

 

Street Fighter II I first saw at an oceanside arcade in Seaside, OR. The arcade is still there. I was really impressed with the graphics but didn't know any moves (I used Guile).

 

Mortal Kombat I think I first saw at Sea-Tac Lanes..? I was really impressed with the digital recreation of human likenesses.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

The Genesis version of Hard Drivin' is awful, no question about it. If you have never played the SNES port of Race Drivin'. It is absolute torture and be thankful you haven't. The best port of it is from the Sega Saturn. The only thing is it's released in Japan and you have to get the Action Replay 4M cart to play it.

[7800Lover]

I got one - Buster Bros. from Capcom, 1989 (also called "Pang")

 

 

This game is one or two player and involves you popping balloons to save the world...okay...

 

Anyway, you pop balloons with a harpoon gun but you can also get a double harpoon, a grappling hook and a rapid fire gun. You could also get other power-ups like a force field and a clock that froze all the balloons. Every time you popped a big balloon, it would split into smaller ones which had to be destroyed.

 

I encountered this one in a roller rink in rural North Carolina in the early 1990s and again in Italy during the mid-1990s. The offbeat (and surreal) concept really made this game fun though it was embarrassing to be killed by a balloon.

[retrorussell]

^ I think I may have seen Buster Bros. at a nickel arcade in the early 90s. Strange but fun game-- though I hate the dynamite (fills the screen with small but still deadly balloons) and the long grappling hook that disappears only when a balloon touches it (until then, you are defenseless!). The game cut scenes make me think someone ripped off Dragon Ball Z!

[Retroman85]

Looping is a pretty interesting, difficult game. When I went to ACAM this summer, I saw someone put a credit on game but left without staring the game, so I played it. Sky Bumper is bit more complex.

[retrorussell]

Looping is a pretty interesting, difficult game. When I went to ACAM this summer, I saw someone put a credit on game but left without staring the game, so I played it. Sky Bumper is bit more complex.

God, those pipes are a bitch. And if you crash ANYWHERE on the level you have to start it ALL OVER!

[schuwalker]

I may be one of the few that loves Looping.

 

Has anybody ever seen Sky Bumper in the arcades bitd? I never it's existence till MAME.

[retrorussell]

^ I've never seen SKY BUMPER in the arcades either. Odd little take on LOOPING. Kind of nice that you don't have to open the gate with tricky shooting like in the first game. I also like that only the green girders and destructible yellow squares (and enemies) can kill you by collision.

 

Another weirdo game:

 

RADICAL RADIAL (Nichibutsu U.S.A., 1982)

Really weird premise.. you are a tire shooting flying enemies and jumping over rock walls until you reach a traffic section, where you avoid odd-shaped cars and ambulances. Then you face a bonus stage where you just try to collect bonus items until you reach the end.

I think I only saw this once, at a Rico's Red Lion Pizza And Ice Cream Parlor restaurant (the ones that didn't turn into another business entirely are now Round Table Pizza restaurants) in Portland, OR. The Red Lions almost always had a Plush Pippin bakery next door.

[7800Lover]

You gotta wonder what substance the programmers were smoking or shooting up when they thought Radical Radial up.

[7800Lover]

Thought I'd get this thread going again. So without further delay...

 

 

Nekketsu Koha Kunio-Kun (Technos, 1986) is the ancestor of Double Dragon & other beat'em ups. Starring Kunio Kun (of "Super Dodge Ball" and "River City Ransom"), you fight various thugs who are bullying your friend Hiroshi. Each stage starts with Hiroshi getting beaten up one of four gangs and then Kunio going to avenge him. You face a rival school in the first stage, bosozoku (bikers) in the second stage, a female gang in the third stage and in the final stage, Yakuza.

 

You fought the mooks until you were down to around 3 of them; the boss would then join in the fight. This was a tricky game because unlike other beat'em up games, you had no dropped weapons to pick up, no items to throw or no obstacles to knock down for power-up food or 1-Ups. In spite of this, I still liked Kunio-Kun.

 

If you lived here in the Western world, you probably got the game Renegade which was a localization of Kunio-Kun.

 

 

Basically, the game was redesigned to give you a generic Western brawler (named "Mr. K") in the NES and Sega ports, with a kidnapped girl replacing Hiroshi and Americanized ruffians replacing the Japanese themed ones.

 

I played Kunio-Kun on an emulator; Renegade was quite popular in the arcades but I never could beat the game.

 

Anyone else ever play this?

[Nebulon]

Hey all.

Just thought it might be interesting to take one game a week, and test everyone's memory as to where they first saw it/played it/had the best memories of it. Maybe one game every Monday? Starting today, obviously. I'll throw out the first game, and people can suggest others as the week progresses:

 

Mappy (1983), Bally/Midway (licensed by Namco)

 

 

I first saw that at a rather huge arcade. I recall being blown away by the music. It turned out to be a really fun game and one that was easy to quickly figure out (one of the tests of good game design, back in the day).

[retrorussell]

Renegade in the arcades was brutally hard; I had to give up quickly. On later playings in MAME I cannot beat the 3rd level.. ever. The boss is unbelievably unfair. I first saw it at a nickel arcade called "Wunderland" in Beaverton, OR (a couple miles from my house; that location is gone now).