It’s so sad that the arcade culture is gone. The atmosphere was very special. Somewhat shady and sometimes even a bit hostile but this added to the experience. Also my mom never wanted me to play them as she treated arcades the same as slot machines. They felt like forbidden placed which made arcades the perfect recipe for young teen boy growing up. The arcades were very popular and jammed with teens and adults and it’s unbelievable that this culture died.
Speaking of shady, I had been pick pocketed for tokens at good ol' Friar Tucks in Cal City IL. That sucked but it was a cool place. There was a suit of armor in the corner to go with the medieval theme. I guess it could of been worse, a guy, somewhat famously, died after posting a high score in Berzerk. I believe someone also got stabbed after leaving there. Someone also stole my shitty CD walkman out of my shitty truck. It was hooked up via tape player attachment. Its long gone, theres some stupid nail place there now. It sucks that its gone, along with Wright's Barnyard(which was in Lansing IL right next to Cal City), Aladdin's Castle in my hometown of Hammond, IN (RIP Woodmar Mall), Times Square(which was also in the mall before Aladdin's Castle was)Woodmar Arcade across the street from the mall. At least there is Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookefield(Chicago), which I havent been to yet cuz I cant get anyone to go cuz they have "family" and "Kids" and "people who love them"...how terrible Lol.
Very good description of arcades. Definitely shady, with that dark, gloomy atmosphere and weird smells totally lit up by the amazing machines. I really miss them. Very lucky to have been there at the right time. They are making a comeback, but they are all in very family-friendly places.
I used to look for arcade games WHEREVER i went with my parents--the grocery store, the gas station, donut shop, movie theater, bowling alley, etc. And more often than not, i found something to play. Arcades and arcade machines were so much fun back then--a time period that will never come back, and that makes me feel sad for later generations who never got to experience it. I feel very lucky to have grown up during that era.
Very true. It was fuckin magical. Same with me. Loved my limited collection of console games but arcade games were mind blowing presentation wise , compared to console back then. Id rarely have coins to play anything but liked just seeing the shit. Occasionally Id have 20 bucks or go to a free play type night, but rare. Great to experience them now without limits on mame.
Same here. The arcade, or cabinets in other places, was the highlight for me of any trip out of the house. Family vacations for me were about arcades. Amusement parks? I'd be on the lookout for arcades. The cabinets were my favorite thing about going to the movies. I'm glad to know others had a similar experience.
@@ravagingwolverine Same here. Always loved video games since I got an Atari 2600 at 6. The console was 8 years old and NES was out but to me I didnt know anything different, so that was what games were. Two years later I got an NES, but the arcade games always blew me away. They were so far beyond the console games graphically. I may have even seen games like Double Dragon when I had only the atari but if not it was definately in my early days of the NES in 1988-1989.
Yes, same here, it was the graphics, noise, and the feeling that you couldn’t get on a home console...especially driving games sitting in cabinets and force feed steering wheels, the best days .
I think Japan may still have some of the 80s , 90s arcade culture intact. They seem to still have alot of arcades over there. I never see them in the US anymore, but I remember the excitement of seeing rediculous looking (graphically) and exclusive games that I couldnt play on atari 2600 and NES (and of course the systems that came after). Normally I had no money as a kid so I liked watching the machines, but sometimes Id get a few bucks or go to a free play type of thing where the machines were all set to free play for the night, or maybe have 20 bucks to spend. Emulation was amazing. I ended up getting to play all those games and really work on them through that.
@@theconsolekiller7113 yeah japan's arcade scene is strong. not sure why it survived in japan. here in Australia its dead ... super dead. i believe the US has some hobbyist's whom run game bars ect. there are some arcade channels on you tube that follow people whom collect and go to the cons. so its not entirely dead in the US which is nice.
@@theconsolekiller7113 yeah arcades are still popular here but ive noticed that a lot of arcades are putting more ticket winning style games in. we still have some awesome arcade places but its kinda sad to see some of the older ones remove classic games for ticket winning games.
I see them but they are more interactive games almost like how the xbox kinetic is not the standard what we are all use too, you know the joystick and action buttons Like riding on motorcycles,skateboards, shooting light guns, riding on boats, racing games and so on, i even seen a horse racing game and u actually ride on a fake horse. To tell u the truth these games just suck They need to bring back the real arcade machines that we all grew up with and remember
The people behind the MAME-platform should get an award for enabling the preservation of videogame culture. Firing up MAME and discovering new games really is the equivalent of going to a museum!
Great video. Picked up the NebulasRay PCB in 1996 for $50, it's a great shooter and one never converted to consoles and it's never been put on compilation packs.
My local walmart back in the day had RoBoCop and it was always Soooo loud it just grabbed my attention to a play through everyime lol!!....."DROP IT!"...so good.👊💥✌
Looking forward to this series. Robocop is a great game to kick it off. One of the few games I played enough to be able to 1cc it. Requires not only memorizing every enemy attack in all the levels, but getting perfect scores in all the bones stages, which gave you much needed life bar extensions.
Here in England you'd find games in chip shops, grocers, taxi ranks as well as the dedicated arcades in bowling alleys or shady back street buildings. The Robocop sounds are so evocative! When I visited Palace Park Arcade in Orange County CA as a kid in 1995 I was like an addict discovering the meth lab!
Kids nowadays don't know what they missed. The arcade was an experience. Just pure excitement. Whether at the mall or down the street from my house at the bowling ally.
I’m 34, I think my generation was the very last to have arcades around. I remember having one right by the movie theater at the mall, we use to play while waiting for a showtime, it was great.
Thank you, sir! I consider myself an aficionado of the more obscure arcade games that are MAME only but hidden gems, but you schooled me today with Slap Shot! I can't wait to fire it up, now!
I just bought one of those all in one arcade sticks that contains 5000+ games. So awesome to play marvel vs capcom to alien ve predator or baseball batman. So many beat em ups i missed out on.
Great video. Arcade games are some of my best memories as a kid. A gang of goonies flying around on our bmx bikes hunting down double dragon, rastan and shinobi.
Robocop the arcade game is based on the Amstrad CPC version of the game, which Ocean then ported back to the Amiga and Atari ST. But Ocean always owned the rights to the game, Data East had to sublet it from them.
The aliens game was based on the cancelled cartoon they were making to go with their new toyline. The toys exist the cartoon never made it out. You can tell because of the way Ripley looks. The toys even had crazy aliens like a giant facehugger Queen among other types.
The best arcade experience was Sega’s R-360 which, unfortunately, cannot be replicated on any form. The game itself was G-Loc, in essence Afterburner in first person with some early polygonal use. But the magic was in the simulator. Being strapped to that wheel shaped cabinet inside of that giant gyroscope, and then spinning 360 degrees in every direction in response to your flying in between a screen of missiles and planes flying everywhere, was both unique and interesting exhilarating. It was the closest to feeling like ‘Maverick’, specially when putting the cabinet fully upside down. You can play G-Loc on MAME, there was a version of the game for the Genesis, and a better version of the latter for the Sega CD (a sorta sequel called Afterburner III), but it was the combination of the game with the R-360 cabinet that made this one of those experiences you could only experience in the arcades.
Ninja Gaiden was a unique and fun beat-em up in the arcades, I played it a ton at a local variety store. I really dig the 2nd level where you cross the highway with all the cars passing by, very cool. Only thing that sucks about that game is that you don't continue where you left off, this makes boss fights a real pain. Thats when you gotta cheat using save states or press the 2nd player start before you die, or just be a real ninja and beat it without dying.
First time I completed Robocop, the guy that owned the chip shop it was in, gave me 20 pence to continue, cos he'd never seen anyone get so far! Thanks chip shop dude!
Arcades were 1/4 of going to the movies. The movie itself was 1/2 of it. Your Mom sneaking in candy in her purse and teaching us that some crime is ok was 3/4. Your shoes sticking to the floor was the completion of the experience.
One of my favorite games of all time is ThunderFox. Side-scrolling beat-em-ups at its finest. It's got its kinks, but exhilarating. It's also on the 1st Taito Legends compilation for XBOX and PS2.
@@Draconis422 I played the Genesis port, and at first I wasn't impressed with 2 player and the vehicle sequences cut, which were my favorite parts of the game. However, the exclusive bosses like the helicopter were an ok addition
The majority of the arcade games was colourful and bright. Today's games have this muddy palette that pisses me off. RoboCop was one of my favourites in the early 90's.
Right. PS2 and PS3 eras were the worst in this regard. Everything had to be brown/grey or pass trough a green/yellow filter. There are a lot of games I'm not giving a chance to because of the palette. I feel that today things are going a little better tho.
Robocop was one of the few arcade games I managed to get better at with practice just like Rastan Saga, challenging but not as quarter robbing as many other games. Splatterhouse was a rare treat since I didn't see it very often bitd. Same here, I experienced most of these in movie theater lobbies. MAME is a wonderful tool to have, there was so, so many arcade games I never saw in the flesh.
Ah, Robocop, Splatterhouse and Aliens...Used to play these like crazy at a laundromat near my grade school as a kid. Robocop in particular brings back great memories because I was the only one in the hood who could beat it with one quarter :)
I can remember Ninja Gaiden on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, but it was called Shadow Warrior. Wasn't until years later I realised they were the same game and from what I remember, it was pretty good.
Thank goodness for MAME. While it is indeed not the same as walking up to a machine with a full marquee, in many cases unique panel and that arcade CRT, it is very nice having instant access to a large majority of classic arcade games.
Boogie Wings was a real revelation to me. I discovered the game only very recently via a Pandora's Box gaming system and enjoyed every second. A game I wish I had discovered in the arcades when I was growing up.
Taito’s 1990 Space Gun was the best “Aliens” game without an official license. The game was intense, holding what looked like an approximation of the Aliens movie weapon on your hands was awesome (and the switching between the four special weapons was a great sensation), and playing it with someone else great fun.
Robocop remains one of my very favourite arcade games to this day... love it! One of the best and most faithful ports with regards to similar playability - believe it or not - is actually on the Gameboy.
I remember when I was 11/12 me and my best mate used to regularly go out to the nearby town and visit these little 'cafes' which were like mini arcades. Robocop, Final Fight, Crudebusters, Operation Wolf, Midnight resistance. God, those were good times....
@@SegaLordX Definitely. It is a time I sorely miss. I remember Robocop in particular blowing my mind. I only had a ZX Spectrum at the time so the graphics were amazing to me.
Loved that Ninja Gaiden arcade game, although the controls can be finicky, especially when trying to execute guillotine throws. It also had one of the best game over screens. Robocop is a classic. Data East had several classic games in the same vein, like Bad Dudes and Sly Spy.
awesome content, I remember being blown away by a few of these games back in the day at the local arcade, whether it was from the advanced graphics or the violence or the great licensed presentations, arcade games were like the pinnacle of video game entertainment back then! I need to fire up the ole MAME and revisit these titles
Man. How I wished Johnny Turbo or some company; was able to secure the rights for these games to release on the Switch. Would pay an increased price for movie tie in games like Robocop.
I played most of these in the arcades and loved every second of it... The rest I have tried in MAME and absolutely love MAME!!! If your feeling naughty try pugy's cheat file. It's like Game Genie on steroids but for arcade games. (useful if for nothing more than the infinite lives cheat so you don't have to keep pumping in "quarters")
So true about the lobby and a arcade games at the movie theater. As soon as you mentioned that it took me back to Loews cinema back where I grew up. We also had a standalone arcade at a mini golf and batting cage that's the one I played Street Fighter at all the time. Crazy how we grew up with the dope games at the arcades. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I feel like Splatterhouse just never got the appreciation it deserved. Maybe it will be competently reproduced and imagined one day, but I just loved it all the way back on the TG16. 🧠👁💀
@@ikenosis8160 Its an awesome game. I first experienced it on the Tg16, after owning and loving Splatterhouse 2 for genesis. I had no idea what part 1 even was until I saw it in a babbages in a mall. I believe it was cheaper, maybe 20-30 bucks. The tg16 is a great port. The best home port is on FM Towns Marty here ruclips.net/video/WTuHxRSpW6c/видео.html I played through that version recently. Its great to have access to all versions of these games through emulation these days.
@@Nov-5062 Definately a game that stood out in arcades. I dont think I ever saw a Chiller machine but played it on NES and Arcade through emulation. Amusing games. ha ha.
@@ikenosis8160 Bandai Namco did actually trademark Splatterhouse Encore a while back. While it hasn't been announced officially just yet, it's most likely going to be a remaster of sorts.
Arcade games imo, are video games in the purest artistic form. Especially ones from the 8-16 bit eras. And yet there are so many ppl who belittle the purity of arcade gaming. It's too bad that the industry began shaming 2D gaming in the mid 90s because it would have been awesome for many of these to come home on the Saturn or Playstation. Every game here is something that I need to check out. Thank you for bringing attention to these.
Omg i loved robocop the music gives me chills and strong af nostalgia of being a boy asking adults for 10p to play robocop it was so loud the machine amazing Sega nostalgia is real
The Philippines is one of the last few countries I can think of that still have arcades and still a big part of their modern culture. My wife is from the Philippines, when we go over there to visit her side of the family we go to the nearby malls. They have loads of malls and some of them are huge, and they always have an arcade (or two, or three) packed with working machines and there always packed.
Man those days were amazing. The quality of the games compared to the home consoles was insane. And that feeling I had when I found an ALIENS game. It blew me away!
Great video. I rehabbed an old arcade cabinet and installed a Pandora’s Box, new Sanwa sticks and buttons, new arcade monitor replacement (lcd but VGA and 4:3) and it is one of my favorite things in my collection!check out Metal Black, Rastan, Black Tiger, Red Earth, Elevator Action Returns just to name a few....
In a wild coincidence, as I was playing the video, I was finishing up reading about a specific game series. As you mentioned the Bonk arcade game, I was just about to start reading about the same game. I was just reminded about that game a couple of weeks ago and do need to give it a proper play through. Many of my favorite memories involve arcades, and I was always on the lookout for them. They were the highlight for me of every trip to the movies, to amusement parks, and every family vacation(I'd take the time in the arcades over the actual trips...travel is not my thing). I was just reminded of a time I went to see a movie I didn't like, but it was a great day because it was the first time I got to see Turtles in Time and Sega's Spider-Man. Sometimes I have no memory of what I saw, but will remember playing a certain game. I totally believe you about Slap Shot. I never heard of it, or forgot about it if I did, and it looks as good and fun as you say. I'll have to look into that one. Another great video here.
Remember seeing Splatterhouse for the first time and it imprinted on my brain immidiately. I was maybe 7-8 years old and I had never seen or heard anything so viceral and disturbing and cool at the same time.
"Easily capable of robbing you in mere seconds of your precious lives". Ah, but you don't have lives in RoboCop. You have a single life with a power bar. :) Great idea for a new series. Loved the video. Looking forward to more!
I guess I didn't catch this the first time I watched this video, but the Super Retro-Cade was where I first played "Boogie Wings." The Super Retro-Cade is a great little plug-and-play system, and still available to this day.
I'm from the uk and in 92 when I was 12 my family had a holiday to California. On our stay in Las Vegas I plowed 10 dollars into the Aliens to complete it. It was tucked away in the corner while everyone else was crowded around Street Fighter 2. I played T2 arcade after and a lad came up to me to see if I wanted to play 2 player. I was so shy I basically ran off, haha. I wish I'd taken him up on that offer.
Bro, I LOVE arcade related content! Was just thinking how I would love to see more after I went through some of your older videos recently. RoboCop has some very iconic music and sounds, I recall hearing the arcade machine play in the background at the arcade in the 90s. Few games I've never heard of here, especially that space shmup and the wind jammers like game. Literally thousands of arcade games to cover! I would love deeper dives on this subject.
Man I remember going to chuck e cheese and boomers to play arcade games! I remember playing jurassic Park for the first time and being amazed by the graphics and thinking how impressive the arcade games looked. I cherish that time since my family didn't have a lot of money but man when we did go out to the arcade I was blown away. O yeah the TMNT arcade game was fire too! Great review SLX!
One of the only things I miss from the 80s and 90s (apart from my youth and my gran) are the arcades. Every arcade was different and had new machines you had never seen before. Games could be mastered to the point were you could last hours on a single credit (10p here in the UK). Nice to be reminded of the golden era of arcade gaming
Robocop was developed by Ocean for the home computers first because they had the licence. Data East then bought the arcade licence from Ocean later based on the Ocean game. You can see that in opening credits. Basically, the Arcade wasn't the original version.
@@SegaLordX SpyHunter! You could hear that bass line miles away. I remember the bass being super loud in that game, but it doesn't sound very strong in emulation. I wonder if it was how the speaker cabinet affected it
I remember the really early games like Gorf and Tron as Gorf was the first talking game that I remember. I also remember Time Pilot, Yie Ar Kungfu and 4 player Gauntlet that are my quarters. Robotron, Joust, Digdug and Moon Patrol were also early favorites.
Another cool new series! Couple games that would be good to cover are the Willow arcade game from Capcom (It's basically Ghouls 'N Ghosts 1.5!) and, Ninja Baseball Batman (A bonkers and great Beat 'Em Up!) from Irem. Both are games that many more people should be aware of and get the opportunity to play. Great work as always SLX!
Never heard of Blade Master. It looks awesome. Great art, perspective use, detail, rotoscoping and walk angles, matching level of quality between backgrounds and characters. Even seems like the sense of hit planes and impact is better than almost everything in the genre wtf
Holy shit! You said Charlottesville Va! I grew up in lake Monticello and would go to Fashion Square Mall every weekend to play arcade games next to JCPennys. Great times! Sears also had a Neo Geo in the back!
Just one thing...RoboCop arcade is based on the home computer port (by ocean) not the other way around. Ocean picked up the license for RoboCop dirt cheap because no one thought the movie would be a success.
Loved going into the movie theater early before the movie started, and playing arcade games. Or going to the local pizza joint and doing the same and grabbing some pie.
I love this series idea and am really excited to see what else you have for us. I pretty much either already love or had never heard of the games on this list, and I'm especially grateful for the new discoveries you've given me. I'm not actually a big fan of the Robocop game. When you play the Game Boy game especially, which is quite a good port, you can then go back to the arcade version and see how boringly repetitive the enemies & stages were.
It’s so sad that the arcade culture is gone. The atmosphere was very special. Somewhat shady and sometimes even a bit hostile but this added to the experience. Also my mom never wanted me to play them as she treated arcades the same as slot machines. They felt like forbidden placed which made arcades the perfect recipe for young teen boy growing up. The arcades were very popular and jammed with teens and adults and it’s unbelievable that this culture died.
Speaking of shady, I had been pick pocketed for tokens at good ol' Friar Tucks in Cal City IL. That sucked but it was a cool place. There was a suit of armor in the corner to go with the medieval theme. I guess it could of been worse, a guy, somewhat famously, died after posting a high score in Berzerk. I believe someone also got stabbed after leaving there. Someone also stole my shitty CD walkman out of my shitty truck. It was hooked up via tape player attachment. Its long gone, theres some stupid nail place there now. It sucks that its gone, along with Wright's Barnyard(which was in Lansing IL right next to Cal City), Aladdin's Castle in my hometown of Hammond, IN (RIP Woodmar Mall), Times Square(which was also in the mall before Aladdin's Castle was)Woodmar Arcade across the street from the mall. At least there is Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookefield(Chicago), which I havent been to yet cuz I cant get anyone to go cuz they have "family" and "Kids" and "people who love them"...how terrible Lol.
straight up some of these games helped to inspire other things such as succesful movie sequels
Yep you nailed it.
Very good description of arcades. Definitely shady, with that dark, gloomy atmosphere and weird smells totally lit up by the amazing machines. I really miss them. Very lucky to have been there at the right time. They are making a comeback, but they are all in very family-friendly places.
Only thing we’re getting in the future is virtual arcades. We can use haptic feedback suits to relive the times we got molested in the arcade.
I used to look for arcade games WHEREVER i went with my parents--the grocery store, the gas station, donut shop, movie theater, bowling alley, etc. And more often than not, i found something to play. Arcades and arcade machines were so much fun back then--a time period that will never come back, and that makes me feel sad for later generations who never got to experience it. I feel very lucky to have grown up during that era.
Very true. It was fuckin magical. Same with me. Loved my limited collection of console games but arcade games were mind blowing presentation wise , compared to console back then. Id rarely have coins to play anything but liked just seeing the shit. Occasionally Id have 20 bucks or go to a free play type night, but rare. Great to experience them now without limits on mame.
Same here. The arcade, or cabinets in other places, was the highlight for me of any trip out of the house. Family vacations for me were about arcades. Amusement parks? I'd be on the lookout for arcades. The cabinets were my favorite thing about going to the movies. I'm glad to know others had a similar experience.
@@ravagingwolverine Same here. Always loved video games since I got an Atari 2600 at 6. The console was 8 years old and NES was out but to me I didnt know anything different, so that was what games were. Two years later I got an NES, but the arcade games always blew me away. They were so far beyond the console games graphically. I may have even seen games like Double Dragon when I had only the atari but if not it was definately in my early days of the NES in 1988-1989.
Yes, same here, it was the graphics, noise, and the feeling that you couldn’t get on a home console...especially driving games sitting in cabinets and force feed steering wheels, the best days .
@@heartwilson.8943 True. It definately left an impression as a very unique era and experience.
I wish arcades would make a comeback ... i miss the days when every corner store or fish n chips shop had an arcade machine or pinball.
I miss those days too. The last arcade board that impressed me was Sega's Naomi.
I think Japan may still have some of the 80s , 90s arcade culture intact. They seem to still have alot of arcades over there. I never see them in the US anymore, but I remember the excitement of seeing rediculous looking (graphically) and exclusive games that I couldnt play on atari 2600 and NES (and of course the systems that came after). Normally I had no money as a kid so I liked watching the machines, but sometimes Id get a few bucks or go to a free play type of thing where the machines were all set to free play for the night, or maybe have 20 bucks to spend. Emulation was amazing. I ended up getting to play all those games and really work on them through that.
@@theconsolekiller7113 yeah japan's arcade scene is strong. not sure why it survived in japan. here in Australia its dead ... super dead. i believe the US has some hobbyist's whom run game bars ect. there are some arcade channels on you tube that follow people whom collect and go to the cons. so its not entirely dead in the US which is nice.
@@theconsolekiller7113 yeah arcades are still popular here but ive noticed that a lot of arcades are putting more ticket winning style games in. we still have some awesome arcade places but its kinda sad to see some of the older ones remove classic games for ticket winning games.
I see them but they are more interactive games almost like how the xbox kinetic is not the standard what we are all use too, you know the joystick and action buttons
Like riding on motorcycles,skateboards, shooting light guns, riding on boats, racing games and so on, i even seen a horse racing game and u actually ride on a fake horse.
To tell u the truth these games just suck
They need to bring back the real arcade machines that we all grew up with and remember
The people behind the MAME-platform should get an award for enabling the preservation of videogame culture. Firing up MAME and discovering new games really is the equivalent of going to a museum!
Robocop was an amazing arcade game back in the day, great list SLX.
Yeah, I was always a fan of Robocop. It was hard but it captured the feel of the movie so well.
An arcade unit used to be at a Hills department store back in the early 90's. Man, talk about nostalgia....
Great video. Picked up the NebulasRay PCB in 1996 for $50, it's a great shooter and one never converted to consoles and it's never been put on compilation packs.
So true. Born in 1970 , I have so many fond memories of seeing arcade games in Movies and going to the arcades.
My local walmart back in the day had RoBoCop and it was always Soooo loud it just grabbed my attention to a play through everyime lol!!....."DROP IT!"...so good.👊💥✌
Jeremy Bowers omg in England 🏴 it was in my local chip shop I asked my parents to go everytime
@@micowoods9534you guys call fries “chips,” so funny.
I used to love 3 hour lock-ins when I was a kid
Paying a flat rate to play arcade games, bumper cars, mini golf, sky cycles for 3 hours
Where was this?
@@pumpkinn_pie Milford Rec!!!!!
We had those at our local arcade here in Jersey, you could also rent out the big room or smaller room for birthdays.
Looking forward to this series. Robocop is a great game to kick it off. One of the few games I played enough to be able to 1cc it. Requires not only memorizing every enemy attack in all the levels, but getting perfect scores in all the bones stages, which gave you much needed life bar extensions.
Yeah, those bonus levels made a heck of a difference.
Here in England you'd find games in chip shops, grocers, taxi ranks as well as the dedicated arcades in bowling alleys or shady back street buildings. The Robocop sounds are so evocative! When I visited Palace Park Arcade in Orange County CA as a kid in 1995 I was like an addict discovering the meth lab!
My personal arcade treasure was "Punisher". Nothing will ever beat that for me!
Did you get the arcade 1 up of The Punisher over the holidays? I saw it on sale for $199 dollars at one point.
Nope...wish I knew
“Beat”? Interesting choice of words! 😂
?
For me Alien vs Predator and that XMen giant 6 man cab.
Kids nowadays don't know what they missed. The arcade was an experience. Just pure excitement. Whether at the mall or down the street from my house at the bowling ally.
I’m 34, I think my generation was the very last to have arcades around. I remember having one right by the movie theater at the mall, we use to play while waiting for a showtime, it was great.
That Bonk's Adventure game is incredibly rare. If you saw it in the wild back in the day you were VERY lucky.
I've seen it twice, actually. Though one was in a private collection.
Thank you, sir! I consider myself an aficionado of the more obscure arcade games that are MAME only but hidden gems, but you schooled me today with Slap Shot! I can't wait to fire it up, now!
It's a winner. I think you'll love it.
I loved NebulasRay, I always played with it at the local arcade waiting for school to reopen for the afternoon classes.
“ RoboCop had a pretty profound effect on the kids in the 1980s”
It still has brother!
I just bought one of those all in one arcade sticks that contains 5000+ games. So awesome to play marvel vs capcom to alien ve predator or baseball batman. So many beat em ups i missed out on.
Metamorphic force was my hidden gem. It's like X-Men arcade mixed with Altered Beast.
Good call! Really enjoyed that one - had it on a MAME bartop some years ago, great game to play multiplayer too 👍
@@Shadowbann3d I think a lot of people are sleep on that one.
Great video. Arcade games are some of my best memories as a kid. A gang of goonies flying around on our bmx bikes hunting down double dragon, rastan and shinobi.
Robocop the arcade game is based on the Amstrad CPC version of the game, which Ocean then ported back to the Amiga and Atari ST.
But Ocean always owned the rights to the game, Data East had to sublet it from them.
Got so many arcade games on switch between namco museum, arcade archives, konami collection, sega ages
I still have nightmares when I think about the Ninja Gaiden arcade continue screen.
The aliens game was based on the cancelled cartoon they were making to go with their new toyline. The toys exist the cartoon never made it out. You can tell because of the way Ripley looks. The toys even had crazy aliens like a giant facehugger Queen among other types.
I actually didn't know that. Thanks for the info.
The best arcade experience was Sega’s R-360 which, unfortunately, cannot be replicated on any form.
The game itself was G-Loc, in essence Afterburner in first person with some early polygonal use. But the magic was in the simulator. Being strapped to that wheel shaped cabinet inside of that giant gyroscope, and then spinning 360 degrees in every direction in response to your flying in between a screen of missiles and planes flying everywhere, was both unique and interesting exhilarating. It was the closest to feeling like ‘Maverick’, specially when putting the cabinet fully upside down.
You can play G-Loc on MAME, there was a version of the game for the Genesis, and a better version of the latter for the Sega CD (a sorta sequel called Afterburner III), but it was the combination of the game with the R-360 cabinet that made this one of those experiences you could only experience in the arcades.
Ninja Gaiden was a unique and fun beat-em up in the arcades, I played it a ton at a local variety store. I really dig the 2nd level where you cross the highway with all the cars passing by, very cool. Only thing that sucks about that game is that you don't continue where you left off, this makes boss fights a real pain. Thats when you gotta cheat using save states or press the 2nd player start before you die, or just be a real ninja and beat it without dying.
First time I completed Robocop, the guy that owned the chip shop it was in, gave me 20 pence to continue, cos he'd never seen anyone get so far! Thanks chip shop dude!
Arcades were 1/4 of going to the movies. The movie itself was 1/2 of it. Your Mom sneaking in candy in her purse and teaching us that some crime is ok was 3/4. Your shoes sticking to the floor was the completion of the experience.
One of my favorite games of all time is ThunderFox. Side-scrolling beat-em-ups at its finest. It's got its kinks, but exhilarating. It's also on the 1st Taito Legends compilation for XBOX and PS2.
Great game, plays like a mix of Green Beret and Ninja Warriors. There's a Mega Drive port as well, while not arcade perfect, but quite as fun.
@@Draconis422 I played the Genesis port, and at first I wasn't impressed with 2 player and the vehicle sequences cut, which were my favorite parts of the game. However, the exclusive bosses like the helicopter were an ok addition
Good news: M2 actually acquired the Boogie Wings licence (at least to some extent), which means a re-release should be coming.
That is good news. I'd love to see them do some arcade compilations of their own.
Wow that's great news would love you see it rereleased soon.
The majority of the arcade games was colourful and bright. Today's games have this muddy palette that pisses me off. RoboCop was one of my favourites in the early 90's.
Aliens was a prime example. Like bright neon primary colours. Loved that game, and still revisit it from time to time
Right. PS2 and PS3 eras were the worst in this regard. Everything had to be brown/grey or pass trough a green/yellow filter. There are a lot of games I'm not giving a chance to because of the palette. I feel that today things are going a little better tho.
That's a trend that started in the 2000s with game like Gears of War. Luckily colors are coming back.
Robocop was one of the few arcade games I managed to get better at with practice just like Rastan Saga, challenging but not as quarter robbing as many other games. Splatterhouse was a rare treat since I didn't see it very often bitd. Same here, I experienced most of these in movie theater lobbies. MAME is a wonderful tool to have, there was so, so many arcade games I never saw in the flesh.
Ah, Robocop, Splatterhouse and Aliens...Used to play these like crazy at a laundromat near my grade school as a kid. Robocop in particular brings back great memories because I was the only one in the hood who could beat it with one quarter :)
I can remember Ninja Gaiden on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, but it was called Shadow Warrior. Wasn't until years later I realised they were the same game and from what I remember, it was pretty good.
Aliens, Robocop, MK and Operation Wolf were my favourite arcade games back in the day. Hard to believe it's been nearly 30 years.
Thank goodness for MAME. While it is indeed not the same as walking up to a machine with a full marquee, in many cases unique panel and that arcade CRT, it is very nice having instant access to a large majority of classic arcade games.
Boogie Wings was a real revelation to me. I discovered the game only very recently via a Pandora's Box gaming system and enjoyed every second. A game I wish I had discovered in the arcades when I was growing up.
Taito’s 1990 Space Gun was the best “Aliens” game without an official license.
The game was intense, holding what looked like an approximation of the Aliens movie weapon on your hands was awesome (and the switching between the four special weapons was a great sensation), and playing it with someone else great fun.
Your commentary regarding Robocop and Aliens in relation to pop culture and home conversations at the time is absolutely spot-on. You're a gem, SLX
Robocop remains one of my very favourite arcade games to this day... love it!
One of the best and most faithful ports with regards to similar playability - believe it or not - is actually on the Gameboy.
gameboy robocop had the most a e s t h e t i c theme song in all of history
I remember when I was 11/12 me and my best mate used to regularly go out to the nearby town and visit these little 'cafes' which were like mini arcades. Robocop, Final Fight, Crudebusters, Operation Wolf, Midnight resistance. God, those were good times....
The best times. Gaming was new and exciting then. You were always impressed with each advancement. It was special.
@@SegaLordX Definitely. It is a time I sorely miss. I remember Robocop in particular blowing my mind. I only had a ZX Spectrum at the time so the graphics were amazing to me.
Loved that Ninja Gaiden arcade game, although the controls can be finicky, especially when trying to execute guillotine throws. It also had one of the best game over screens.
Robocop is a classic. Data East had several classic games in the same vein, like Bad Dudes and Sly Spy.
I LOVED doing that throw! It was especially fun to do it on the bosses.
awesome content, I remember being blown away by a few of these games back in the day at the local arcade, whether it was from the advanced graphics or the violence or the great licensed presentations, arcade games were like the pinnacle of video game entertainment back then! I need to fire up the ole MAME and revisit these titles
Man. How I wished Johnny Turbo or some company; was able to secure the rights for these games to release on the Switch. Would pay an increased price for movie tie in games like Robocop.
Here’s to every game ever being released on the Switch. 😂😉 One day.
They bought the entire data east library , I just got dark seal 1 and 2 for 5 dollars in december
Agreed
I played most of these in the arcades and loved every second of it... The rest I have tried in MAME and absolutely love MAME!!! If your feeling naughty try pugy's cheat file. It's like Game Genie on steroids but for arcade games. (useful if for nothing more than the infinite lives cheat so you don't have to keep pumping in "quarters")
I miss arcades. A period of history that will never be recreated.
Great list! A few on here I didn't have, love learning about the thousands of games that slipped me by over the years.
Alien looks like a lesser version of Alien Storm. Slapshot needs a new version, that game have the potential to take over the world!
So true about the lobby and a arcade games at the movie theater. As soon as you mentioned that it took me back to Loews cinema back where I grew up. We also had a standalone arcade at a mini golf and batting cage that's the one I played Street Fighter at all the time. Crazy how we grew up with the dope games at the arcades. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I still remember first time I saw robocop on the arcades.... Mind-blowing....
Our kids will never understand this.... 😔
Games like Chiller and Splatterhouse were way more violent than Mortal Kombat but didnt get any media criticism. Great video.
I feel like Splatterhouse just never got the appreciation it deserved. Maybe it will be competently reproduced and imagined one day, but I just loved it all the way back on the TG16. 🧠👁💀
@@ikenosis8160 Its an awesome game. I first experienced it on the Tg16, after owning and loving Splatterhouse 2 for genesis. I had no idea what part 1 even was until I saw it in a babbages in a mall. I believe it was cheaper, maybe 20-30 bucks. The tg16 is a great port. The best home port is on FM Towns Marty here
ruclips.net/video/WTuHxRSpW6c/видео.html
I played through that version recently. Its great to have access to all versions of these games through emulation these days.
Chiller was awesome.
@@Nov-5062 Definately a game that stood out in arcades. I dont think I ever saw a Chiller machine but played it on NES and Arcade through emulation. Amusing games. ha ha.
@@ikenosis8160 Bandai Namco did actually trademark Splatterhouse Encore a while back. While it hasn't been announced officially just yet, it's most likely going to be a remaster of sorts.
Arcade games imo, are video games in the purest artistic form. Especially ones from the 8-16 bit eras. And yet there are so many ppl who belittle the purity of arcade gaming. It's too bad that the industry began shaming 2D gaming in the mid 90s because it would have been awesome for many of these to come home on the Saturn or Playstation. Every game here is something that I need to check out. Thank you for bringing attention to these.
Omg i loved robocop the music gives me chills and strong af nostalgia of being a boy asking adults for 10p to play robocop it was so loud the machine amazing
Sega nostalgia is real
The Philippines is one of the last few countries I can think of that still have arcades and still a big part of their modern culture. My wife is from the Philippines, when we go over there to visit her side of the family we go to the nearby malls. They have loads of malls and some of them are huge, and they always have an arcade (or two, or three) packed with working machines and there always packed.
Man those days were amazing. The quality of the games compared to the home consoles was insane.
And that feeling I had when I found an ALIENS game. It blew me away!
Thank you! I'm so glad I finally decided to build a MAME cabinet, so many amazing games to experience!
Great video. I rehabbed an old arcade cabinet and installed a Pandora’s Box, new Sanwa sticks and buttons, new arcade monitor replacement (lcd but VGA and 4:3) and it is one of my favorite things in my collection!check out Metal Black, Rastan, Black Tiger, Red Earth, Elevator Action Returns just to name a few....
I'm a huge fan of retro arcade games. Please keep this series going!
In a wild coincidence, as I was playing the video, I was finishing up reading about a specific game series. As you mentioned the Bonk arcade game, I was just about to start reading about the same game. I was just reminded about that game a couple of weeks ago and do need to give it a proper play through.
Many of my favorite memories involve arcades, and I was always on the lookout for them. They were the highlight for me of every trip to the movies, to amusement parks, and every family vacation(I'd take the time in the arcades over the actual trips...travel is not my thing). I was just reminded of a time I went to see a movie I didn't like, but it was a great day because it was the first time I got to see Turtles in Time and Sega's Spider-Man. Sometimes I have no memory of what I saw, but will remember playing a certain game.
I totally believe you about Slap Shot. I never heard of it, or forgot about it if I did, and it looks as good and fun as you say. I'll have to look into that one. Another great video here.
Great new series, I will wait to seeing more content like this. Even today at my 37's I keep discovering new old games.
One of my commenters recommended your channel and I already dig it! Subbed!
The best Arcade games i‘ve ever played were nearly all games from SNK, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Killer Instinct 1 & 2 and Virtua Fighter.
Remember seeing Splatterhouse for the first time and it imprinted on my brain immidiately. I was maybe 7-8 years old and I had never seen or heard anything so viceral and disturbing and cool at the same time.
The C64 Aliens Game was pretty creepy and close to the original, too.
I actually bought the retrocade, and boogie wings was definitely one of my favorites with the collection, very unique gameplay.
"Easily capable of robbing you in mere seconds of your precious lives".
Ah, but you don't have lives in RoboCop. You have a single life with a power bar. :)
Great idea for a new series. Loved the video. Looking forward to more!
Haha, true, yet it could still rob that life in seconds. The game was hard!
Well, I got my bicycle stolen when I went to one of the arcade centers in my town to play Street Fighter II. So I was literally robbed.
Ninja Gaiden arcade was amazing. I think it was released digitally on the Wii
I'm liking this series, I'll be checking out Nebulasray later I think, looks awesome. Keep the videos coming.
I guess I didn't catch this the first time I watched this video, but the Super Retro-Cade was where I first played "Boogie Wings." The Super Retro-Cade is a great little plug-and-play system, and still available to this day.
I'm from the uk and in 92 when I was 12 my family had a holiday to California. On our stay in Las Vegas I plowed 10 dollars into the Aliens to complete it. It was tucked away in the corner while everyone else was crowded around Street Fighter 2. I played T2 arcade after and a lad came up to me to see if I wanted to play 2 player. I was so shy I basically ran off, haha. I wish I'd taken him up on that offer.
This does bring back memories. I played a lot of these games in the arcades.
Bro, I LOVE arcade related content! Was just thinking how I would love to see more after I went through some of your older videos recently.
RoboCop has some very iconic music and sounds, I recall hearing the arcade machine play in the background at the arcade in the 90s.
Few games I've never heard of here, especially that space shmup and the wind jammers like game. Literally thousands of arcade games to cover!
I would love deeper dives on this subject.
Kick ass stuff as usual, man some of these games are crazy!! Its criminal that home ports haven't been made yet.
I really, REALLY need to invest some time with MAME. Especially that Bonk title, I had no idea that even existed!
Most people don't. It's really rare.
Just got a new subscriber. Love the idea and channel.
The Arcade Club in Leeds UK has Aliens, Splatterhouse and Robocop. Also Pacman, Ms Pacman and the Beer game cocktail cabs from your intro
Man I remember going to chuck e cheese and boomers to play arcade games! I remember playing jurassic Park for the first time and being amazed by the graphics and thinking how impressive the arcade games looked. I cherish that time since my family didn't have a lot of money but man when we did go out to the arcade I was blown away. O yeah the TMNT arcade game was fire too! Great review SLX!
Operation Wolf - I used to see that everywhere as a kid!
Operation Thunderbolt was the sequel and it was two player. Or one nerd with two Uzis.
I loved Robocop as a kid. It was THE quarter muncher back in the days. My dad hated it because it would eat quarters just to get past each level.
One of the only things I miss from the 80s and 90s (apart from my youth and my gran) are the arcades. Every arcade was different and had new machines you had never seen before. Games could be mastered to the point were you could last hours on a single credit (10p here in the UK). Nice to be reminded of the golden era of arcade gaming
Robocop was developed by Ocean for the home computers first because they had the licence. Data East then bought the arcade licence from Ocean later based on the Ocean game. You can see that in opening credits. Basically, the Arcade wasn't the original version.
That's why Arcade 1up is so popular. The "feeling".
Another great work and great selection, dude.
Arcade1up has tapped the nostalgia of multiple generations of arcade fans. I hope they continue to improve their quality so they stick around awhile.
With me, it was going to the theater and HEARING Star Castle and Wizard of Wor in the arcade before I even got to it! Oh yeah, and Krull too!!
I can remember a fair number of cabinets that I heard before I actually saw them. Some games just commanded your attention.
@@SegaLordX SpyHunter! You could hear that bass line miles away. I remember the bass being super loud in that game, but it doesn't sound very strong in emulation. I wonder if it was how the speaker cabinet affected it
Bonk was a genius - he found a way to weaponise emojis _millennia_ before some bozo had the bright idea to make a movie about ’em!
Man... what a great collection of rare arcade gems indeed! Half of them I haven't even seen nor heard about. Thank you Sega Lord X!
Getting to play Aliens Arcade & seeing the badass Predator 2 in 1 night would be the best ever.
I remember the really early games like Gorf and Tron as Gorf was the first talking game that I remember. I also remember Time Pilot, Yie Ar Kungfu and 4 player Gauntlet that are my quarters. Robotron, Joust, Digdug and Moon Patrol were also early favorites.
Another cool new series! Couple games that would be good to cover are the Willow arcade game from Capcom (It's basically Ghouls 'N Ghosts 1.5!) and, Ninja Baseball Batman (A bonkers and great Beat 'Em Up!) from Irem. Both are games that many more people should be aware of and get the opportunity to play. Great work as always SLX!
This is awesome. Looking forward to more episodes to deck out my mame cab!
Check out Ghalloping Ghost in Brookfield IL
Fantastic video Dude! I’ve been subscribed for quite some time now. And I’m officially a devout fan. Excellent Job!
Honestly, you make gold content on RUclips. Don't ever stop!
Please much more of this format SLX.
Great new and exciting content of your channel. Fits perfect, too.
Good to hear. :)
Never heard of Blade Master. It looks awesome. Great art, perspective use, detail, rotoscoping and walk angles, matching level of quality between backgrounds and characters. Even seems like the sense of hit planes and impact is better than almost everything in the genre wtf
Holy shit! You said Charlottesville Va! I grew up in lake Monticello and would go to Fashion Square Mall every weekend to play arcade games next to JCPennys. Great times! Sears also had a Neo Geo in the back!
Building a RetroPie based arcade cabinet at the moment. Few titles here I've immediately made a note of to put on that machine :)
Just one thing...RoboCop arcade is based on the home computer port (by ocean) not the other way around. Ocean picked up the license for RoboCop dirt cheap because no one thought the movie would be a success.
I only ever saw and played the RoboCop cabinet at our local bowl America bowling alley
Loved going into the movie theater early before the movie started, and playing arcade games. Or going to the local pizza joint and doing the same and grabbing some pie.
I love this series idea and am really excited to see what else you have for us. I pretty much either already love or had never heard of the games on this list, and I'm especially grateful for the new discoveries you've given me.
I'm not actually a big fan of the Robocop game. When you play the Game Boy game especially, which is quite a good port, you can then go back to the arcade version and see how boringly repetitive the enemies & stages were.