jiraffejustin's Favorite Arcade Games of the 90s

[jiraffejustin]

By the time I was old enough to play video games the arcade boom of the 80s was at an end. I don't think I ever went to a proper arcade, but I've been to some laundromats and bowling alleys. I've spent plenty a quarter in these blessed machines. I've played Donkey Kong (I don't know that I've ever played it on an actual DK cabinet though,) I've played Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, I've played Galaga, and while those are all great, I don't really think I've played enough (70s and) 80s arcade games to really represent that era well. With that in my mind, welcome to the 90s in an arcade.

Disclaimer: Not all of these were played on an actual cabinet, some may or may not have been emulated.


The first entry:

NBA Jam (1993)

https://38.media.tumblr.com/f3e3468746bfc73cb049458a3d73b03f/tumblr_n1og6ar3Oi1r01oj1o1_500.gif


Not much basketball strategy is needed, and I don't even know if a love for the sport itself is needed. You just run up and down the court pushing people down and jumping really damn high and slam dunking the basketball. It's not a perfect game, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. For some reason Reggie Miller is a below average three point shooter with an excellent slam dunk rating? I don't get that one. I also don't get how when you are beating the CPU, Shaq all of a sudden develops three point range? Playing this game today, a bit of a novelty exists for me with the rosters. I have always been interested in the great players in basketball history, and the ones that weren't quite great but got close, and the role players that you don't hear about, and the bad players. Basically, I am just fascinated with the history of the sport. Playing as and against these guys now is a lot of fun for me. Whether it's as Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway, Drazen Petrovic, Kevin McHale!, Baby Shaq, Stockton and Malone, Charles Barkley, Dikembe Mutumbo, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, David Robinson, Detlef Schrempf, or Hakeem Olajuwon, there's a surprisingly large amount of interesting options for a nerd like me.


I've never had the opportunity to play a game with three other players, but I can imagine the fun there. You and a buddy versus two chumps. I wish a had a buddy and two chumps available. :(


https://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maybe5eMFW1qd37umo1_500.gif

[Camo]

Being from the UK i'd never find a basketball game in an arcade. Hardaway, Schrempf and Mutumbo relate to a very specific time period though, felt like I was there. How good is Chris Webber ;)

[jiraffejustin]

Being from the UK i'd never find a basketball game in an arcade. Hardaway, Schrempf and Mutumbo relate to a very specific time period though, felt like I was there. How good is Chris Webber ;)

I never got to play as Chris Webber, I think he was only ever on the Sega CD port of the game. Instead I got to play as the glorious Chris Mullin.

[Nemanja]

Street Hoop

http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/SNK_Neo_Geo_CD/Box/big/Street_Hoop_-_1994_-_SNK_Corporation.jpg

http://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/28595/large.jpg

[jiraffejustin]

Street Hoop



Never heard of it actually. I take it you're a fan?

[Iroquois]

Metal Slug or GTFO.

[honeykid]

I loved playing NBA Jam. I had it on the SNES, too, and I played the hell out of it.

[jiraffejustin]

Samurai Shodown (1993)
http://www.techmynd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/samurai-shodown-5.jpg

Tournament Fighters were all the rage in arcades in the early to mid 90s, thanks to Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, but Samurai Shodown did things a little differently. Whereas Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were pretty fast-paced, combo-centric fighters, Shodown was a slower-paced, reactionary weapon based fighter. It called for more patience and counter-strikes, if you timed it correctly you could land a massively powerful slashing attack to an opponent who just missed his/her own poorly timed attempt at the gusto. Each character had their own unique moveset (except for Galford and Hanzo, an American ninja and a Japanese ninja) and their own unique style. Part of the fun of the game was mastering each character, so that you would know how to defensively deal with them when the time came to play against them. My favorite character is probably Hattori Hanzo, if only because he is the first one I chose. His triangle jump into a throw and the slinky snake-run-Zangief powerbomb are my favorite cheap tactics.

http://www.fightersgeneration.com/games/ss1-kurokoclap.gif

[honeykid]

I don't think I even saw Samurai Shodown, let alone played it.

[jiraffejustin]

I don't think it got the same push as the other fighters, but it did spawn several sequels.

[rauldc14]

This is an insanely awesome thread idea. I really want to play video games today!

[jiraffejustin]

This is an insanely awesome thread idea. I really want to play video games today!

Grab some quarters and try to find an arcade!

[rauldc14]

Grab some quarters and try to find an arcade!

That would be awesome, I haven't been to one in about 7 years.

[seanc]

I was never as big into video games as most guys my age but I did have my moments. I also grew up during the time when arcades were everywhere, even worked at one in high school. NBA Jam and Samurai Showdown were two of my favorites. We have NBA Jam at the house but my boys don't love it nearly as much as I did. Those games are never as much fun on consoles either.

[jiraffejustin]

Yeah, I agree about the arcade ports to consoles not usually hitting the spot. I think it might have had something to do with the technical capabilities of the arcade being much better than home consoles making everything look and sound better, and standing right next to the person you are playing against. Punching distance basically.

[honeykid]

This was one of my favourites. Sadly you had to travel about 30 miles in any direction before you managed to get to a place which had an arcade, so I didn't play it too often and then one day you'd turn up and it'd be gone. Never to be seen again. :( Mr. Perfect and Ted DiBiase was my preferred tag team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkRRy2gcjjU

[Nemanja]

Never heard of it actually. I take it you're a fan?
Oh yahah! + best music on the game.:cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HrwLAkviF5w

[jiraffejustin]

That game looks insane. I think I'd enjoy it, I'll try to play it on MAME. Is it weird that the first thing I noticed that really made me want to play it was the form on the jump shot?

[jiraffejustin]

DoDonPachi

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/images/thumb/c/c8/DoDonPachi_flyer.jpg/360px-DoDonPachi_flyer.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EMThDqkRfcU/T37eLDUXJ6I/AAAAAAAACDU/sPAaz3sRrhw/s1600/dodonpachi_10.gif

http://i554.photobucket.com/albums/jj426/angelnegro193/Mame/DoDonPachi.gif

Never played this one on an actual cabinet on account of never going to Japan, but luckily emulation exists. I haven't played that many shmups (shoot-em ups) to really know how the difficulty level of DoDonPachi compares, but damn this game is hard. I know the reputation of the genre is that they are difficult games, but they are fast-paced and exciting. The frenetic pace of the game combined with the difficulty makes achieving something dope feel like the coolest thing in the world. My Tiger Woods fist pump game is on point when I avoid a crazy bullet pattern.

Plus the art of this game is fantastic. On the screen at any given time is a ridiculous amount of colors and dots and ships and everything else, and it always looks amazing.


http://38.media.tumblr.com/b7e48e651170783ac9f2be7a79bbd1fe/tumblr_inline_mgqvmhlC5K1re1l96.gif
The first boss (this is sped up a bit, it's not that fast.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZYZHUKUklY

[90sAce]

https://2pwins.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sunset_riders_01.png

[rauldc14]

Bump (feeling retro these days)

[jiraffejustin]

Bump (feeling retro these days)

I'll try to get something up by the end of the week. I don't know which game to include though, so many good ones.

[The Gunslinger45]

How the hell did I miss this thread?!!?!?!?

[doubledenim]

You were probably too busy keeping up with Slob's vg thread. :nope:

[jiraffejustin]

http://www.arcade-museum.com/images/118/11812421703.png

SMASH TV

The game is as simple as it gets. The left joystick lets you move in any direction, the right joystick lets you shoot in any direction. Simple doesn't mean easy though, Smash TV will gleefully gobble your quarters. With so many enemies on screen at one time and so many deaths from those enemies, you get a real sense of accomplishment when you clear a room without taking a hit. And when you get a power-up, you can really feel it's power. It seems like you mow the enemies down at twice the previous rate, it feels good. The problem: the only thing with a shorter lifespan than your character is the powerup. The game makes sure to provide you with enough of them to keep the game fun, and you decide not to tip the cabinet over because of it.

Presentation is probably where the game is most memorable though. It's like The Running Man and RoboCop had a baby. The game basically adapts The Running Man, and a famous quote from RoboCop is said on many occasions. You get the feeling that you are controlling a cheesy, muscled-up, sci-fi movie from the 1980s.

[cricket]

I've never played many video games, but I used to be addicted to Ms. Pac-Man. I used to travel with my mother very frequently all around the country by Greyhound bus, and I'd play at all the stations. I got really good at it. After not playing for a few years, I saw a stripper playing it in a suburb of Toronto. Of course I challenged her to a game for a drink, and I kicked her ass. She was quite displeased when I collected on my bet, but I knew I still had it.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Mspacmancabinet.png/999px-Mspacmancabinet.png

[doubledenim]

Loved Smash TV. I remember it from Aladdin's Castle and I had the NES port. The NES version paled in comparison, but it was just as fun.

I seem to remember this and NARC as the first "risque" games.

[honeykid]

I seem to remember this and NARC as the first "risque" games.
The first like that that I can remember is Death Wish 3 for the Spectrum. That was 1987, but I doubt it was the first like that over here. I loved this, though and played for hours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT7PwlPcfXA

[The Gunslinger45]

I remember Smash TV. Good choice.