Arcade Experiences to be proud of...

[M.A.M.E Offender]

Some people would say that playing arcade games is a waste of time and money. I'll bet you the same people that cling onto these words are guilty of time wasting themselves. Darn hipocrites. The way I see it, arcade gaming, whether at an actual arcade, at an ice cream parlour, or even at the cozy confines of your own home, is pure entertainment, and can be very rewarding at times. Some games push you to the limit and demand extreme concentration and out right skill. An arcade game does more than accept your silver. It tests your eye-hand, it can keep you out of trouble, it can provide serious entertainment, and can even be considered educational!! Above all, an arcade game can give you memories that will last a lifetime.

 

So, tell me, what is so wrong with playing arcades if it has the potential to do so much for you?

 

I have some arcade memories that I am pretty proud of. I am going to share with you the 5 game experiences that stand out in my head.

 

1) Hands down my best accomplishment at the arcades. The beckers right down the street from me housed a shiny, new Carrier Air Wing machine. I had played this one before and wasn't too good at it. So I took this opportunity to hone my skills on this Capcom gem that was released in the early nineties. My old friend Kevin was very competitive, and he also took a liking to this game. It was a big competition between the two of us. One day, I got to the machine only to find this monstrous score at the top of the screen. My friend had beaten the game on one quarter!! After seeing this, I was absolutely determined to not only go through the game on one quarter, but also eclipse his score. It took try after try after try. Then finally one day, I did it! I beat her on one quarter, and managed to beat my buddy Kevin's score by a couple of thousand points!! What a thrill that was, I will never forget it!

 

2) An extremely popular game in the late eighties released by Sega, Golden Axe was a bundle of fun to play. You can play solo, or two players at the same time. You roam through 5 boards, and you confront the head antagonist Death Adder at the very end. I was ALWAYS the chick in this game mainly because of her super powerful magic she possessed. I was playing at an ice cream parlour in Windsor called "Sheps". I walked up to the machine one day and made all the right moves. Only one quarter left my pocket. I beat the Axe on one quarter!

 

3) Another Sega classic that will forever be remembered, Altered Beast. I beat this one at home on my X-Arcade during a HSC Tournament last year. I only died twice throughout the whole game.

 

4) Mercs was released in the early nineties and it made Konami's classic game Contra look like child's play. This game was also stationed at the Becker's down the street from me. Competing fiercely with the same dude as I was in Carrier Air Wing, I managed to kick the crap out of this one by completing the entire game with only one credit!! Awesome memories indeed!!

 

5) Finally, the last game I am going to talk about is called Fighting Hawk by Taito. I stumbled across this one at the ice cream parlour down the street from my parent's house. My accomplishment: I beat the game while only losing two ships!! I had 16 ships when the game had ended!!

 

So, as you can see, arcade games can really create some fond memories.

 

Enough about my experiences. Please respond to this article with a story or two of your own!

 

Looking forwar to hearing from you soon, fellow gamers!!

[Cynicaster]

Some people would say that playing arcade games is a waste of time and money. I'll bet you the same people that cling onto these words are guilty of time wasting themselves.

 

Tell me about it. You get people making comments about how playing retro games is geeky and a waste of time, but many of those same people see absolutely no problem with sitting on the couch for hours a week to watch brainless trash TV shows like American Idol and Cake Boss. Pretty funny how that works.

 

Wow dude, I didn't realize you had 1CC'ed so many different games on the original cabinets. I managed to 1CC WWF Superstars one day at Shep's, which is actually a pretty decent feat, and to marathon Exciting Hour a few times, but that's about it.

 

In retrospect, I played games back then more for quick bursts of action, not for scores or "bragging rights" accomplishments.

 

I kind of wish I did care about scores back then because I'm sure it would have urged me to not only try out more different games, but to try harder at them.

 

It's kind of funny, because in the meantime I've done a complete 180; the scores are now a mandatory ingredient for me to enjoy video games, which is why I spend so much time playing pre-1990 stuff and so little time playing my PS3.

[Dauber]

TWICE on AA in the past few months I told the story of how for a couple of brief hours I thought I set the world record for Jr. Pac-Man Turbo, only to get home and find out that ten days earlier someone had scored higher than I did (at the same arcade) and the owner just hadn't yet updated the in-house sign. Now I'm currently 4th. I actually went back today to try to do better but couldn't get higher than 220k.

 

The arcade in question is Underground Retrocade in East Dundee, IL..and I absolutely love that place. The owner tries to model his business practices after Galloping Ghost Arcade, one of the biggest around, but Underground, IMHO, is way better...and the family who runs it is just plain awesome....husband, wife, kids...they're great...

 

Anyhoo...something to be proud of...I figured, what the hey, I can probably break the house record on Ms. Pac-Man Turbo, which was 551,000. I figured if I were careful I might be able to do it...."only" got up to 456,000 and change, because of a stupid mistake. However, in doing that, I beat my own record by 156,000 points...which I achieved YESTERDAY.

[M.A.M.E Offender]

..something to be proud of...I figured, what the hey, I can probably break the house record on Ms. Pac-Man Turbo, which was 551,000. I figured if I were careful I might be able to do it...."only" got up to 456,000 and change, because of a stupid mistake. However, in doing that, I beat my own record by 156,000 points...which I achieved YESTERDAY.

Wow, that's quite a score for Jr.! Do the boards start repeating themselves eventually? If so, about when do they start repeating?

[Dauber]

The root beer board is the last one; after that, I think the last four repeat, maybe the last three.

 

Thing is, the "turbo" version actually makes it fairly easy for you to see all of the boards. And the large dots that result when the prize dances over them barely have any effect on Jr. at that speed.

 

One thing that helps you get a high score is that once you get to the root beer level, that's the only prize you ever see again. Keep grabbing the root beer and your score goes up pretty quickly.

[Kombalar]

I got 30 million points in Atari Star Wars until I got bored & too hungry.

 

When I played it in a local amusement park, a group of 10-15 Japanese tourists were once "oohing and aahing" when I was playing. I even handled the yoke with one hand and smoked a cigarette with the other. Then they clapped their hands when I completed the trenches in round 50 or so... my highest point of arcade gaming for sure.

 

Completing Xevious (area 16) was a big thing for me as well. I absolutely LOVE that game, even today.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Kombalar

[Cebus Capucinis]

My finest moment was beating the Twin Galaxies record on arcade 1942, I believe I beat the high score by around 100,000 points or so.......

 

Immediately followed by my worst moment, which was realizing I wasn't actually recording it at the time! D'oh!

[Kombalar]

Immediately followed by my worst moment, which was realizing I wasn't actually recording it at the time! D'oh!

 

Oops.

[RJ]

Completing Xevious....I absolutely LOVE that game, even today.

 

 

You & me both. Got the coin-op at home? I do.

[Kombalar]

You & me both. Got the coin-op at home? I do.

 

I wish I had.

 

If I lived in the States I would own several Atari arcade machines, but they're almost impossible to obtain here in Scandinavia. We had a rich arcade scene back in the 80's but for some reason there aren't any of those old games floating around.

[RJ]

I'll play a round for you then. I'm giving it up for Lent so it'll be lonely for awhile starting this Wed.

[NE146]

I don't know if I'm "proud" of it, but I'm very happy that I had the experiences of playing in arcades since the electromechanical days and seeing them evolve right before my eyes to introducing actual video games and beyond to the golden age. In other words I thank my mom for letting me run loose to the buildings next door while she washed clothes at the laundromat.

 

I guess I'm also glad I had the experience of visiting arcades in Japan throughout the early 80's. Sure everyone knows of Japan now, and of "Akihabara" etc,, but back then it was still largely an unknown to most people in the west. So visiting this gaming mecca wonderland was like finding hidden treasure that was hard to describe.

Edited February 11, 2013 by NE146

[racerx]

Here's one from today...I got to meet Daniel Pesina (Johnny Cage/Sub-Zero/Scorpion/etc) and John Parrish (Jax) at the Mortal Kombat tournament at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, Illinois. Really nice guys for people that have been dismembered a billion times over.

[Kombalar]

I guess I'm also glad I had the experience of visiting arcades in Japan throughout the early 80's. Sure everyone knows of Japan now, and of "Akihabara" etc,, but back then it was still largely an unknown to most people in the west. So visiting this gaming mecca wonderland was like finding hidden treasure that was hard to describe.

 

Did they have Atari games in Japan? Or was it all Namco/Konami/Sega over there?

[NE146]

Did they have Atari games in Japan? Or was it all Namco/Konami/Sega over there?

 

Yes there were, I guess you could call them "imports" I vividly remember a Starship 1 in a street corner arcade. They also had Asteroids, Night Driver cockpits and Lunar Landers here and there. Most arcade locations in Japan housed cocktails though so a lot of Taito games (Space Invaders, etc.) initially. Then later lots of Galaxians and variants (Nichibutsu Moon Crestas, etc.) . As far as home consoles I personally never saw home Atari games there, and certainly no Atari cartridges for the VCS. As far as stores go, the only "gaming" stuff I'd see were handheld electronic games (VFD/LED/LCD).. which actually were exactly what I was shopping for as a kid. Although my mom could only afford to buy me maybe 3-5 of them per vacation visit.

Edited February 17, 2013 by NE146

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Aside from the experiences of owning my own arcade, in terms of just playing:

 

It was at the arcade I learned how different of an experience it is from playing at home when I got really good at a game that I would actually end up entertaining other people. The first time this happened was at the first arcade I worked at. They had a star Wars Trilogy Arcade and I decided I was going to get good at it. So I played it on every break and eventually I learned everything I could about the game. I could shut the light saber off in between strikes just to show off and I filled the high score table (although I never managed to take out the top score, which another employee there had set and I missed it by 20k points or so). On Saturday on break I remember playing through the game on a 1cc run where I went through without getting hit as well. I should also mention that us employees set the game to the hardest difficulty settings to get the highest scores. I noticed at some point that a small crowd of people were standing around watching me play and instead of moving on, they stayed and at one point there was a decent crowd of about a dozen people watching. You just cannot get that same feeling at home, playing online or with friends. It was pretty cool and of course one in the crowd tried to play like I had after I was finished but they died fairly quickly.

 

I managed to do the same thing with Crisis Zone and SF Rush 2049, where on those games I set the top scores for every record possible. On Crisis zone I got good enough to beat the game in 12 min~, without getting hit. SF Rush racing with Extreme handling setting top scores. It was a lot of fun to do but in part because us employees would compete with each other. A lot of the time customers we not providing that level of challenge but we of course could get a lot more practice time.

 

I have to man the desk most of the time at the arcade now so playing when it is busy is usually not an option. But some months back I did something like this on Dariusburst Another Chronicle, a game that takes a lot of practice to get good at. There is a mode in the game where you have goals to go after such as beating whatever levels it throws at you on 1cc. There was one level in particular that took me five weeks of practice to get good enough at to clear and the time I did I had a little crowd watching too. Of course what I need to do now is record these feats. but a customer of mine did on this particular machine not long ago where he cleared the easy set of levels on 1cc with 1 life

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uro-hA3hbQc

[onmode-ky]

I have to man the desk most of the time at the arcade now so playing when it is busy is usually not an option. But some months back I did something like this on Dariusburst Another Chronicle, a game that takes a lot of practice to get good at. There is a mode in the game where you have goals to go after such as beating whatever levels it throws at you on 1cc. There was one level in particular that took me five weeks of practice to get good enough at to clear and the time I did I had a little crowd watching too. Of course what I need to do now is record these feats. but a customer of mine did on this particular machine not long ago where he cleared the easy set of levels on 1cc with 1 life

 

Damn you for once again bringing up the fact that you have easy access to a DBAC cab! A game that I have still never found in my area in the ~2 years it's been out! Actually, in all of the United States, yours is still the only one I know of. I don't think you'd be willing to fly me across the country to play it, though.

 

I don't really have any arcade experiences of my own to be proud of. I've never played any games often enough to really be good. Well, I've impressed people now and then with actually being able to aim in pinball, but those were people that had thought it was purely a game of chance anyway. Admittedly, though, it kind of blows their minds when they see it proven that they've been wrong all these years, and that's fun to do.

 

onmode-ky

[Unbeliever]

No real achievements at the arcade, but I was proud to be witness to the fact that one year my friend Kevin and I went into Putz Alley, and he promptly "beat" Dragon's Lair backward AND forward. No one up to that point had done that.

 

The arcades were just a great place to "hang out" with friends and brag about this or that. Perfect after-school activity for me to wind down and enjoy some of the classic games of the time. There's one spot near me (aptly named "Fun Spot") that has every single game preserved and they still all play. My wife went with me, and spent most of the day playing her favorite game, "Make Trax". She spent almost all her time on one quarter only, where I raced around and spent them all.

[Cynicaster]

No real achievements at the arcade, but I was proud to be witness to the fact that one year my friend Kevin and I went into Putz Alley, and he promptly "beat" Dragon's Lair backward AND forward. No one up to that point had done that.

 

The arcades were just a great place to "hang out" with friends and brag about this or that. Perfect after-school activity for me to wind down and enjoy some of the classic games of the time. There's one spot near me (aptly named "Fun Spot") that has every single game preserved and they still all play. My wife went with me, and spent most of the day playing her favorite game, "Make Trax". She spent almost all her time on one quarter only, where I raced around and spent them all.

 

When I was 12-13 years old, I'd take the $5 I got from cutting the lawn and head to the arcade. One thing I clearly remember is that ever-present nagging sense that "I'm going to run out of quarters soon", so I'd pace up and down the aisles of cabinets, trying to make every last quarter count. Now, as an adult, I could go to an arcade and play all day without worrying for a second about money, so I wonder what effect that would have on the experience. Hard for me to know, considering I haven't had an arcade in my city for ages.

 

 

 

 

[Unbeliever]

The "bang for the buck" (or quarter, in this case) experience seems to make the experience richer...at least it did for me as a kid. You want to make sure you get your money's worth out of every game you play. Now, it's easy to get the money for a game ($5.00 in quarters, for example) and play. However, as you said, Cynicaster, there hasn't been an arcade in my nearby town for well over 5 years, if not longer. My experiences now are limited to MAME and my Atari 2600.

[Cynicaster]

The "bang for the buck" (or quarter, in this case) experience seems to make the experience richer...at least it did for me as a kid. You want to make sure you get your money's worth out of every game you play. Now, it's easy to get the money for a game ($5.00 in quarters, for example) and play.

 

Definitely. Which is probably why the early 90's "pay to win" beat-em-up type games hold little to no entertainment value for me now, even though they are what I played more or less exclusively when arcades still existed and I frequented them. You'd think that, by all rights, those games would at the very least have nostalgia working in their favor--and to an extent they do--it's just not enough. With limitless continues and a bottomless pit of "credits" available to me there are no stakes, and with with no stakes there is no fun.

 

So, for whatever reason, my renewed interest in arcade games has taken the form of a fascination with the generation of games that was already "yesterday's news" by the time I was old enough to go to arcades without a parental chaperone. I'm not sure how to account for that; it's hard to call it nostalgia if I never played the games originally. I assume it's just that, as an adult with more discerning tastes in the things that interest me, after all these years I can finally appreciate the brilliance of games that transcend the constraints of the technology on which they are based, rather than relying on that technology to bail them out. Put simply, in the early 80's, you couldn't hide a shitty game behind good graphics like you can today--game designers had to dream up concepts and mechanics that were fun at the core.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Cynicaster

[Mxyzptlk]

The 1st time I was able to marathon Asteroids. Not a big accomplishment these days, but I was only 12 or 13 and it was a great feeling.