Your favorite 1980s arcade games?

[Gooch1034]

I had a couple favorites that I never got sick of playing through the 1980s. I owe my Dad probably $2,000 in quarters that my brother and I stole from him over the years so we could play the games in the Aladdin's Castle Arcade at the Indiana, Pennsylvania mall. Best birthday party I have ever been to was a elementary school friend who's parents were filthy rich and they rented the entire arcade for a couple hours. All the games were unlimited play so we didn't have to use tokens. I thought it was the coolest thing to get to play free games. It was like a casino for kids. Anyway......some of my favorite games were:

Spy Hunter(Steering "wheel" was super cool with triggers)

Punch Out(Damn you Piston Hurricane!)

Pole Position(Could never understand what the announcer lady was saying)

Galaga(Its was just simply fun!)

Paper Boy(A game with bike handle bars instead of a joystick? No Way!!!)

Double Dragon(Brother and I beat that game but he kicked my ass at the end and got the hot slutty babe)

Tag Team Wrestling(Weird Japanese game with sound effects I will never forget)

Gauntlet(4 people playing at once? AMAZING!!!)

Hogan's Alley/Duck Hunt(Wait, you shoot the screen and its like you are really shooting stuff? How can there be anything cooler than that?)

Star Wars(I was awful at it but it was before its time and had original music playing during gameplay)

Pac Man(Ms Pac Man was confusing to me because it was Pac Man with a bow and that's the only difference. WTF?)

Out Run(steering wheel shaking when you crash and flip was amazing to me)

There was this other Pac Man game that looked similar to the Pac Man cartoon. It was all buttons and no joystick so I wasn't very good but loved watching older kids play it. Cant remember that actual name of the game however.

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Battle Zone. I could even take out the super tanks and the dodger missiles.

 

[BeaverShaver]

Tron was rad

 

[Gooch1034]

Holy shit I forgot about Battle Zone and Tron! Both should be on my list as well. Battle Zone was similar to the Star Wars game but had 2 hand levers to control the tank maybe? I cant remember?

 

[Inquisitor95]

Tempest - no other game like it
Joust
Crystal Castles
Pac Man
Dragon's Lair
Missile Command
Defender

 

[Gooch1034]

Tempest - no other game like it
Joust
Crystal Castles
Pac Man
Dragon's Lair
Missile Command
Defender

Was Joust the skate board jousting like on Skate or Die?

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Battle Zone was the second video game installed in the student union when I was in college.

The first was Space Invaders (in which the "aliens" utilized a strategy that resembled close-order suicide...kinda like the Redcoats during the American Revolution).

A friend of mine, from Japan, couldn't quite get his brain wrapped around the idea that the critters were supposed to be aliens. He'd stand there, watching others play, and holler "KILL BUGS! KILL BUGS!"

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

Was Joust the skate board jousting like on Skate or Die?

No. The players rode on ostriches, if memory serves.

 

[Inquisitor95]

Was Joust the skate board jousting like on Skate or Die?

No it was your guy riding a winged mount that looked like an ostrich. You had to press the flap button and get higher than your opponents to unseat them. There were platforms at various levels you could land on.

 

[NorthCoastSteelersFan]

No it was your guy riding a winged mount that looked like an ostrich. You had to press the flap button and get higher than your opponents to unseat them. There were platforms at various levels you could land on.

Yeah, that's right...the irony being that real ostriches can't fly.

 

[Gooch1034]

No it was your guy riding a winged mount that looked like an ostrich. You had to press the flap button and get higher than your opponents to unseat them. There were platforms at various levels you could land on.

Ahhh ok I think I remember that now. I never played it but watched the older kids play it. There was lava at the bottom of every level if I remember right.

 

[Gooch1034]

Yeah, that's right...the irony being that real ostriches can't fly.

lol But it looked just like an ostrich and that helped me remember

 

[Inquisitor95]

Ahhh ok I think I remember that now. I never played it but watched the older kids play it. There was lava at the bottom of every level if I remember right.

 

[Gooch1034]

haha Lava and flying ostriches!! You guys are bringing back 30 yr old memories I would have never remembered on my own. Kids today will never understand how awesome arcades were back then. No clue when I was last in an arcade. I know there are some out there still.

 

[Inquisitor95]

Name this game:

Spoiler

Wizard of Wor

 

[da55bums]

Ivan Stewarts Super off road

 

[OutlawImmortal]

That's becayse it really was just Pac Man with a bow, Pac Man is transexual.

 

[PatsFan2003]

Tempest - no other game like it
Joust
Crystal Castles
Pac Man
Dragon's Lair
Missile Command
Defender

Definitely Missile command and Defender

 

[TxHeat]

The classics - Pac Man and Donkey Kong.

 

[whywork2]

Missile Command , I once played it the entire day for a quarter.