Top 5 arcade machines you pumped most of your pocket change into?

[Mayhem]

Not necessary ItsThere, because most coin-ops before around Gradius/R-Type/Ghosts 'n Goblins era, didn't let you continue when you used another credit. So you started the game again from the beginning. I'm 40, and I was there for the golden age of arcades (1978-83), but you won't really find a lot of them mentioned as coin guzzlers. Partly due to the credit continue feature, and partly because they only cost 10p per credit back then!

So aside from SF2, like so many other people... hmm... what else? Smash TV, R-Type, Operation Wolf, Daytona, Galaga, Robotron, Tempest, Battlezone.

[S3M]

Good thread actually got people posting in this side of the forum for a change

Pumped an awful lot of money into arcades over the years but my top five from memory.

1. Space Invaders (Family member owned a cab)
2. Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
3. The Simpsons
4. Street Fighter II
5. Daytona USA

[Asura]

Yeah, admittedly the two Gundam games I mentioned got in my list because they were ?2.50 per go. That being said, both of them were the sorts of games where you put in your coin and you'll probably be there for 15-30 minutes, and there's a bit of gameplay in-between bouts, meaning you'll be there for over half an hour for a fiver.

[hudson]

?2.50 a go? Woah! 50p was my limit.

[nakamura]

I was lucky in that my mother worked in a convenience store that had a seedy arcade out the back. It was run by the 20 something sons of the owners.
Lots of gaming and life experience in there. They all smoked, drank and so on. I was about 8-11 as this went on and played tons of games on free play.

Tumble pop.
Pang.
WWF Superstars.
Aeroblasters.
Snow Bros.
Midnight Resistance.
Super Mario Bros.

Those were about the most popular games we played. Amazing times.

[dvdx2]

Narc
Gaultlet
Mach 3
Mr do (until i found out strimmer wire could be used to bump credits!)
Time pilot

I could name another 20 easily

How could i forget salamander!

[Asura]

?2.50 a go? Woah! 50p was my limit.

As I said, they weren't arcade games in the conventional sense - i.e. mainly flashy, shallow and short. They were long-term experiences, where each game lasted a much longer period than your typical arcade game.

[QualityChimp]

Shinobi - Las Vegas, Skegness
Wonderboy - The Mint, Rhyl
Rolling Thunder - Butlins, Minehead
Tekken 3 - Playland Amusements, Redcar
Splatterhouse - The Bright Spot, Rhyl
Aliens - Peter Pan's, Walsall
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Palace, Rhyl
Gang Wars - Peter Pan's, Walsall

Plus loads more. Ah, memory lane!

[Spooky Mulder]

I'm 40, and I was there for the golden age of arcades (1978-83)

Oh Hell, yeah! That was an incredible era for arcade gaming, during which Williams produced some of the greatest shooters of all time (Defender, Star Gate, Robotron 2084, Sinistar). You had to have really, really good hand/eye co-ordination to master those babies. Plus, numerous titles from other manufacturers eg: Donkey Kong, Centipede, Missile Command, Tempest, Asteroids, Phoenix, Galaxian, Pac Man, Scramble, etc... just seminal stuff

[importaku]

Barely played any arcades as a kid but when bemani came around i blew a crazy amount on the arcades.

DDR - Various locations around the UK, easily well over ?200 spent. I played the arcade version a lot back in the day.
Guitar freaks - Blackpool seafront, spent about ?20 learning to play while on a weeks holiday.
Para para paradise - Arcade down London. Played all day blew nearly ?30 in it just playing all the songs as im awesome on it lol.
Bomb Jack - Greasy spoon cafe in the middle of chapeltown in Leeds. Can't remember how much i spent but i remember it been 10p a go and playing a crzy amount of games on it.

That's pretty much it lol didn't even get to 5 arcades.

[will_d]

We had a few decent arcades over the years growing up in my home town - Larne, Northern Ireland - during the late 80's/early 90's.

Most of my 10p's went into:

Shinobi
Street Fighter 2
Terra Force
Pacland
Rastan

[endo]

All in our local videoshop, apart from one or two:

Street Fighter 2: remember time when you couldn't go anywhere without finding a cab?
Turtles
Final Fight
Outrun (full sit-in version): arcade in Southport, can't remember the name.
Pacland

Could easily name loads more, but they're the five I probably put the most into. Apart from Outrun 2, in the Namco in Luton. Me and my brother had the top two spots on it for ages from when it went in.

[pentarou]

Mostly played in various locations in the Peterborough area, so many arcade machines in the early 90s at the cinema / ice skating rink / bowling alley.

Street Fighter 2: World Warrior
Final Fight
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Simpsons
Aliens

Honourable mentions:
Sunset Riders
Alien Vs Predator
Knights of the Round
Tumble Pop
Metal Slug

[charlesr]

Ridge Racer, stand-up version. At least ?500.....

[Wools]

Arcades really bring out nostalgic memories in me. They were the place where you could witness state of the art graphics on machines that cost over ?20K, have experiences you never could at the home and the multiplayer has never been recaptured on home PC's or Consoles.

These would be my most played Arcade games, in order:

1: Ferrari F355 Challenge - Bournemouth Sega Park
2: Sega Rally - Swanage
3: Time Crisis - Every Arcade I've ever visited
4: Daytona USA - Portsmouth
5: Sega Rally 2 - Portsmouth

Managed to keep hold of a few photos of various Arcades I've been in, but most of them were taken recently. My favourite is the one of my Wife with my favourite Arcade cabinet of all time, F355 in its 3 screen set up. I've played that machine countless times with my brother, friends and now family. She was terrified (As the picture shows!) but slowly got the hang of it!

Sega Park in Bournemouth before it was closed and replaced, taken around 2003 when me and my Brother spent over ?80 on an all day Arcade marathon!


Daytona USA 4 cabinet set up in Portsmouth taken only last summer, notice the camcorder that film you as you play!


Mrs Wools being introduced to Sega's finest racing game last year in Bournemouth, not scared at all!