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If you could have only 1 Atari Aracde Machine in your home...


Clint Thompson

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Atari X/O's Football and I have 3 of them.(2 x 2-player and 1 4-player model)

 

I played this game as a kid and rubbed my hands raw playing it. My brother and I would play it in Alladins Castle while our mom and grandma shopped in the mall. Some of my best memories are from that game room!

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I've thought about this before, and I'd probably have to flip a coin to decide between Robotron and Donkey Kong. It pains me to mention the latter due to it being such a mundane, cliched answer, but what can I say.. the game is fun.

Wow, I completely missed the word "Atari" in the subject line.

 

I'll go with Missile Command, then.

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Gauntlet Legends.

 

Of course, if it had to be something from Atari's early days, I'd say Tempest. An Asteroids Deluxe table top would be nice as well.

 

I've got an Asteroids Deluxe cocktail and it is pretty awesome. They aren't very hard to find, you should push yourself to get one. With all your pinball stuff, I imagine you'd be up for any repairs or maintenance. However, I've been told that Tempest is a little on the unreliable side. I've still seen those for under $700 in my area.

 

For me, since I already have Asteroids, it would be the Star Wars cockpit. In fact, I would trade my Asteroids plus extra cash to get one.

 

Edit: Why SW? Mostly nostalgia. I remember playing it in the Norfolk VA airport when I was very young and it just really grabbed me. The voice, the cockpit, the "realism." I felt like the galaxy was counting on me to defeat the death star and Obi Wan was urging me on. The gameplay is also pretty robust. I don't have an XY yoke on my MAME setup, but I sometimes play with the trackball, and it is still entertaining to try and play on Hard mode. It breaks down to memorization like most arcade games, but I'm willing to put up with that in bursts.

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I've got an Asteroids Deluxe cocktail and it is pretty awesome. They aren't very hard to find, you should push yourself to get one. With all your pinball stuff, I imagine you'd be up for any repairs or maintenance. However, I've been told that Tempest is a little on the unreliable side. I've still seen those for under $700 in my area.

 

Yeah, a Tempest would be a no-go right now, there's no way I'd be up for carrying another arcade machine up my stairs (pinball machines get a pass because they fold down and aren't that hard to move up and down stairs). I'd love to own one though!

 

A table top of some kind though is totally doable and I have considered it, especially since something like Asteroids seems to go relatively cheap (a couple hundred bucks in full working condition). When my roommate moves out next month I may consider rearranging the living room. If that's the case, I may need a coffee table in the center of it. I'm sure an Asteroids table top could fit the bill. ;)

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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

 

Absolutely love the arcade game and my love for the franchise (Scratch one Crystal Skull) just fortifies that choice. The console and computer ports always fell vastly short of the original Arcade's magnificence. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge and the 'have to' rescue all the children feeling I get while playing. The mine cart ride scene nicely transitions into a completely different type of game and challenge.

 

Of course, the capture the stone and facing Mola Ram also adds another layer to the game's variety, as does the Challenge round when able to make it that far.

 

Hearing the (movie) theme music and game's sound effects are a blast (Thanks to POKEY and the YM2151), as is the ability to start Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty level, per your preference. So even off the bat, the game is as 'easy' or as 'hard' as you want it to be.

 

I don't believe it was ever bundled with any of those 'classic compilations' either. It's truly one of those titles that you just can't play a great version of outside of being in the Arcade (or MAME of course).

 

Then again, there is Major Havoc....Yeah, scratch that....Major Havoc first - Since it's a vector game, plays amazingly, provides multiple game-type styles, and the fact that absolutely zero home ports exist. After Havoc, then it's Indy for me.

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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

I've always said this is one of those rare instances where the movie came first but the game is actually better.

 

Hearing the (movie) theme music and game's sound effects are a blast (Thanks to POKEY and the YM2151)...

 

Atari was very generous with their arcade games during this time. If you didn't have a quarter, you could just hit the 1P button, then hold the joystick down to listen to as much of the theme music as you wanted. I did this quite often at the mall arcade when my money was gone but Mom hadn't yet finished her shopping. They put great speakers in those cabinets too.

 

Road Runner had something similar, only it would randomly pick from most of the tunes in the game, including a couple of tunes you could only hear during demo mode. That and memories of dropping mountains of quarters in that game after school at the corner 7-11 -- not to mention the fact it's a simply a great game that also is hard to find anywhere outside of MAME these days -- is why I'd be happy to have that one.

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