Quarters Only! Arcade Throwback Thread--Dig it, Matcho Man!

[packerbacker180]

"Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind
Memories, sweetened thru the ages just like wine."

We were taking about NES games over in one of BrandonDaCollector's cool threads, and it got me thinking about old arcade games, about all the times I walked to a Putt-Putt near my grandma's house with $5 to spend (that would get you 20 plays back then), or a Pizza Hutt, or back in the day when 7-11 had an arcade machine or two. So I thought maybe I'd start a thread and see if it drummed up any interest. You don't see too many old school arcades anymore. Sure, there's places like Chuck E Cheese, but it isn't the same, and there most of the games are for tickets so you can save up to spend 1,000 tickets on a Blow-Pop. There was something fun about walking around an arcade, all the sounds and flashing colors enveloping your senses in an electronic wonderland. Hovering patiently near a game waiting for that other kid to finish up After Burner already. He has another quarter? Damn, looks like I'll play Rampage until he's done.



I might do a game once in a while but I'd encourage others to do so. I won't be going anywhere near in-depth as the cartoon and sitcom threads as those were very time consuming, so maybe a couple images, a video, a brief synopsis, etc. Who knows. Let's see how it goes. 70s....80s....90s....modern games that have graphics nobody dreamed of in 1986. Post anything arcade related. Pinball counts, too, Tommy.


One game I remember playing a lot at Putt-Putt was Bionic Commando. They eventually released a version of it for the Nintendo, but it wasn't nearly as good. I owned it, and was kind of disappointed in it compared to the arcade version.





Super Joe is on the go!!!

[BrandonDaCollector]

Gosh, great new topic and story there PB. I got some stories, some I already told but I could incorporate them here plus new ones. Also, since there there is a lot of talk of consoles, can I spinoff a console topic from My own

[packerbacker180]

Yeah, go ahead! Make all the threads you want! Consoles would be a good spinoff since many of the arcade games wound up on a console of some sort eventually.

I was just doing the math and it's crazy to think Bionic Commando came out in 1987, which would've made me 9. And back then my grandma was like, you want to walk four blocks away to the Putt-Putt on an extremely busy thoroughfare (it had seven lanes of traffic, but I didn't have to cross the street)? Sure! Go ahead! Just be back by dark.

I've said it before, it's a wonder I never wound up on a milk carton as a kid. But the world wasn't as sick a place as it is now, or maybe it was, it just wasn't so much out of the shadows. I'm leery about letting my kids play out in front of the house unsupervised, back then it was, go wherever you want, just be home by dark.

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK great, I'll reply to you here detail and stuff later, gonna spinoff that VIdeo game Console Topic

[packerbacker180]

You know me, always talking old TV shows, so of course I'd be down for spinoffs!

[packerbacker180]

I never said this was a one a day thread so I'm going to toss another game out there I mentioned elsewhere. Emphasis on toss, because that was the whole point of this 80s gem.

Paperboy



It's pretty simple, the worse of a paperboy you are, the more points you get. Well, sort of, you still had to deliver the paper on to porches of subscribers. But if they weren't a subscriber you throw to break windows, hit little old ladies, dudes fighting in the driveway, robbers breaking into side windows, break-dancers, and kids on Big Wheels. Ride across lawns and run over the petunias, dodge that dog and look both ways before crossing big streets. Make it through the block and you got to run an obstacle course for bonus points!

I really loved this game as a kid. I only made it through a couple levels at best, but I wasn't even 10 yet so....



They made an NES version that was pretty accurate, except it didn't have the handlebars to steer with, which added to the fun.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Gosh, Paper Boy! I loved that game but I never bought it, sine you saw My NES collection, you might be surprised at to what ones I don't have, I am Myself.

OK, to quote to from My main topic...

Ah, I loved the Pizza Hut by my grandma's house. It was next door to a 7-11 and both were within walking distance. The two games I remember playing the most at a Pizza Hut were Ring King and Yie Ar Kung Fu. Sadly, the 7-11 became a bakery about a decade ago and the Pizza Hut became a dentist's office long before that. Sigh. We should start an arcade game thread. After Burner, Paper Boy. The Museum of Play is in Rochester, NY, about an hour from me. We've taken the kids there several times over the years and they have an old school arcade setup, and a setup old school pinball room. It brings back a lot of memories.
https://www.museumofplay.org/collections/icheg/

Sounds like you had good times with your Grandma I never play them games before to be honest, can't say much about'em. I have had My fair share of arcade games believe you Me, this topic is gonna be sweet Oh but I have a similar one about Pizza Hut and it's funny I was thinking about talking about in My main topic a whole back here here we are. The PH that we always went to was great. They had 2 Arcade games right by the exist door. They had a cool pizza dude that delivered all the time with long brown hair and a mustache with a cool 57 Chevy, kinda like the one i showcased in My M.A.S.K. showcase, it was pristine. We talked to all the time while we were there. This was during 1989 - 1990 (90 is when they had the special TMNT coming out if their Shells Special) and I went there all the time because My school used the Book It program, remember that? I wrote stories and everything and got stars on the hologram buttons and once you do you get a FREE PERSONAL PAN PIZZA! This was really cool back then and I miss this time...here is the commercial

Book It!



So, many times when I get rewarded I would play FINAL FIGHT! This is one of my all-time fave fighting games. I know your not too familiar with Street Fighter, we'll get into that later. This was actually the first in the series that I played and yes, it's all in the same universe! I would play and play and play it till either the pizza was done or when Me & the Family would go I would wanna play it non-stop till the food was ready and after! I put a ton of quarters in that one. I have most them versions on My systems. Here is the actual arcade version!

Final Fight



That Pizza Hut has been gone for over well over 20 years now, replaced by some foreign restaurant. Lost contact with the cool dude too but I'm very glad to have experienced it So, that's My first little bit here, I gotta lot more to talk about soon. Hope you liked that one Your turn next PB

Great beginning to this topic by the way

[packerbacker180]

Hmmm, that one doesn't seem familiar to me. Looks like a SEGA Genesis game. It reminds me of Karate Master which was another game I played quite a bit. I think it even had an NES version. I think by then I wasn't going to arcades as much, I was a little older and the NES sufficed. I think my aracde wheelhouse would be like 85-88, in 88 we moved and my parents had a mortgage for the first time so we didn't really go out as much.



Ring King was kind of fun. It was obviously boxing in what felt like a ginormous ring. You could do hooks and jabs, and uppercuts. If you backed away and then tried a quick punch you could send the opponent flying, either up in the air, or flying against the ropes, or spinning like a top depending on which style punch you hit them with it.



I know the graphics are simple, but it always made us laugh when you landed a punch and their hair would spike out and their face would smoosh in. Simple joys!



And of course, as we got a little older the time in between rounds where you could raise your "stamina" became much more funny visually lol...



Tug it, coach! Wait! What are you doing? Giggle. I was never sure how that helped rebuild your energy though I guess it would give you a rise of sorts. Giggidy giggidy.



The NES version was a real faithful translation, which didn't always happen in those days (see Bionic Commando). I was never a fan of the sport of boxing, but Ring King and (Mike Tyson's) Punch Out were great games. Punch Out had a better story and characters but Ring King felt more like boxing since you weren't stationary and could move around the ring.

[AcidDragon]

Yi Ar Kung Fu was so advanced for its time. I loved that game. It was like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat before those games.

[packerbacker180]

I guess it was a precursor to Mortal Kombat and such. I never got in to later fighting games, though I did play the early Mortal Kombat games. Never really anything I liked. Not sure I ever got past Swords playing Yei Ar, but to be far, I would've been somewhere between 7-9 at the time.