Any Game List Ideas? [Done]

[dgame]

EDIT2: Final lists posted here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129295.msg1327639.html#msg1327639


Hi,

I'm getting ready to make some Mala game lists using the excellent RomLister.
The idea is to be able to find a game by a clue.
For example if someone wants to play Donkey Kong it will be on the All Playable, Nintendo, Platform / Run Jump, and 1980s lists.
The category lists (maze, sports, etc.) do not overlap.

I know where my favorites are and this is for the guests and browsing.

Here are the game lists I am considering:

All Playable

1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s

Atari
Capcom
Cave
Data East
Konami
Midway
Namco
Neo Geo
Nintendo
Sega
Taito
Tecmo
Williams

Ball & Paddle
Breakout
Breakout *Mature
Casino
Casino *Mature*
Climbing
Driving
Driving / Race
Driving / Race (chase view)
Driving / Race (chase view) Bike
Driving / Race Bike
Driving / Race Track
Fighter / 2D
Fighter / 2.5D
Fighter / Versus
Fighter / Vertical
Maze
Maze *Mature*
Maze / Digging
Maze / Driving
Maze / Fighter
Maze / Outline
Maze / Shooter Small
Maze / Shooter Large
Misc.
Misc. *Mature*
Multiplay
Multiplay *Mature*
Pinball
Pinball *Mature*
Platform / Fighter
Platform / Fighter Scrolling
Platform / Run Jump
Platform / Run Jump *Mature*
Platform / Run Jump Scrolling
Platform / Shooter
Platform / Shooter Scrolling
Puzzle
Puzzle *Mature*
Puzzle / Cards *Mature*
Puzzle / Drop
Puzzle / Drop *Mature*
Puzzle / Match
Puzzle / Match *Mature*
Puzzle / Maze
Puzzle / Outline
Puzzle / Outline *Mature*
Puzzle / Sliding
Puzzle / Sliding *Mature*
Puzzle / Toss
Puzzle / Toss *Mature*
Quiz / English
Quiz / English *Mature
Quiz / Music English
Shooter / 3rd Person
Shooter / Driving (chase view)
Shooter / Field
Shooter / Field *Mature*
Shooter / Flying
Shooter / Flying (chase view)
Shooter / Flying 1st Person
Shooter / Flying Horizontal
Shooter / Flying Vertical
Shooter / Flying Vertical *Mature*
Shooter / Gallery
Shooter / Gallery *Mature*
Shooter / Gun
Shooter / Walking
Shooter / Versus
Sports
Sports / Baseball
Sports / Basketball
Sports / Bowling
Sports / Boxing
Sports / Darts
Sports / Football
Sports / Golf
Sports / Hockey
Sports / Horse Racing
Sports / Pool
Sports / Pool *Mature*
Sports / Soccer
Sports / Wrestling

Ninja
Tank

Trackball
Two Players
Two Sticks

Most Played



I know it is a lot of lists but with so many games I want to break it down somehow.

I may remove the *Mature* lists or roll them into the corresponding regular list.

Ninja and Tank are keyword lists, I will add Battle Zone to Tank list.

I want to filter out all clones and put back in the 'notable clones' like pacman.

I also will be removing all 4 player games that have 2 player versions (tmnt, gauntlet, etc.)


I am open to suggestions.

[paigeoliver]

The more lists you have the more time your guests will spend scrolling through endless lists and the less time they will spend playing. In fact, the shorter the gamelist the more time your guests will spend playing.

Trying to find a game by decade runs into the serious problem that both major bursts of arcade hits both happened right on the cusps of decades roughly 1980 and roughly 1990. This will cause a lot of people to pick the wrong decades.

Most people outside of arcade gamers won't have any idea what company made most games and even if they do they will be fooled because half the titles they played were developed by a different company than the one that released the game in the United States.

The extensive number of category lists and the fact that they don't overlap actually makes them far less useful for finding a specific title as the player is highly likely to choose the incorrect category unless it is a sports title.

[dgame]

Thanks Paige,

That's the kind of feedback I am looking for.

I suppose I could make a single simple list with the popular classics of my youth (Street Fighters, Pacmen, Galaga, Gyruss, Mat Mania, Robotron, Battlezone, P.O.W., Side Arms, etc.) and hide the big list.

Or should I make simple lists by category (sports, fighters, driving, shooters, etc?)

[BadMouth]

I keep the main list on the old x-arcade setup that my guests use limited to 200 games total.
If they ask for something, I go to the all games list and add it.

My new cab has:

Classics (to mid 80's)
Shmups
Fighters
Beat 'em Ups
Run 'n Gun
Puzzle
Platform
Sports
New School ('95 & up)

I was torn on whether to make a Hack and Slash category, but gameplay is the same as Beat 'em Ups and there weren't that many, so I left them with Beat 'em Ups.
The few driving games that are playable with a joystick are under Sports.

Once I got rid of mahjong, gambling, mature, & games I don't have controls for, then hid the clones, I was only left with around 2200 games to sort.
I stayed up late one night and sorted them manually while scrolling through the all games list and watching video snaps. 
Just kept telling myself that I'd do one more letter...then one more....until it was done.
Then I re-enabled the clones in the All Games list.

[wp34]

I like BadMouth's lists.  Mine are somewhat similar but I now see I need to condense.  Moving the driving games to Sports is a good idea.  Puzzle is also good.

I was also thinking of having a 2-Player list for games like Joust,  Xybots and Commando that can be played by two players at the same time.

[paigeoliver]

Commando is alternating play.

A list of 2 player simultaneous games would be ridiculous huge. Klov lists 1400 of them and that doesn't count the 3 or 4 player titles.

I like BadMouth's lists.  Mine are somewhat similar but I now see I need to condense.  Moving the driving games to Sports is a good idea.  Puzzle is also good.

I was also thinking of having a 2-Player list for games like Joust,  Xybots and Commando that can be played by two players at the same time.

[leapinlew]

Commando is alternating play.

A list of 2 player simultaneous games would be ridiculous huge. Klov lists 1400 of them and that doesn't count the 3 or 4 player titles.

I like BadMouth's lists.  Mine are somewhat similar but I now see I need to condense.  Moving the driving games to Sports is a good idea.  Puzzle is also good.

I was also thinking of having a 2-Player list for games like Joust,  Xybots and Commando that can be played by two players at the same time.

1,400 games to play simultaneously? Awesome. Sounds like a great list to explore. Remove fighting games from the list maybe? 2-player co-op.

[paigeoliver]

If you really want a good gamelist for parties and visitors then it should be hand picked somewhere between 100 and 200 titles. Short enough that the players can scan the whole list pretty quickly, but long enough that they will never run out of things to play.

A small handpicked list has so much more to offer than any way of sorting the thousands of available mame titles or tens of thousands of emulated console titles.

When you hand pick your list you can ensure that every title is great and plays great on the controls that you have. Mame is 70 percent crap, 20 percent decent and 10 percent brilliant. A hand picked list would ignore the crap altogether, hit the brilliants hard and dip into the more popular decent titles (like Tron a collector favorite and constant request, despite the fact that most arcade gamers agree that it isn't that great of a game).

When you hand pick your list then it is small enough that you can tune the dip switch settings for the gaming environment that you want to have.

When you hand pick your list then you can specially map the controls for EVERY GAME ON THE LIST.

Take Galaga on your average machine the player would need to select the correct joystick and only one of the buttons would fire. However there is no decent reason not to map every button to shoot and you may want to even map every player position as able to control the game. Say you have a game with punch, kick and jump and you have a six button panel. On a hand picked list you can map both rows of buttons.

I am pretty big on the whole no dead buttons thing, it really helps keep novice players from getting lost.

[yotsuya]

I am pretty big on the whole no dead buttons thing, it really helps keep novice players from getting lost.

This is where LED Blinky and LED-Wiz come in super handy...

[paigeoliver]

Yes, those are awesome options indeed. However they aren't cheap and I certainly couldn't swing refitting my existing machine right now. In fact, I am pretty sure I could come up with another machine for what it would cost me to refit with an led-wiz and lit buttons ($100ish).

I am pretty big on the whole no dead buttons thing, it really helps keep novice players from getting lost.

This is where LED Blinky and LED-Wiz come in super handy...

[jkonami]

Here's mine, still a WIP:

Classics - Games everyone expects - Pacman, Galaga, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Berzerk, Burgertime, etc.
Classics 2 - Sequels to classic games like Galaga 88, Gaplus, Donkey Kong 3, Frenzy, Stargate (to keep original classics very condensed)
Shooters (Shmups)
Beat em Ups (Just 2P ones)
Run & Gun (Metal Slug et al)
Capcom Vs Fighters
SNK Vs Fighters
Other Vs Fighters (Mortal Kombat, Galaxy Fight)
Puzzle
Pinball (I love video pinball games)
Sports
Driving
3 Player games
4 Player games (no matter what genre, so you can quickly find a game that supports 3 or 4 people)
Twin Stick games
Action & Adventure - I am least in love with this one but it's my generic catch all for games that don't fit everywhere else.  Cadash is one of my top favorite arcade games and I had to put it here, because I refuse to make an action RPG genre or similar.

I know it's a lot, I'm always open to suggestions.

I'm also trying to pare mine down to a few hundred games, just my favorites - but I have a lot of faves.  I remember what a chore it was sifting through mame unfiltered though.  I will of course add all of my faves and new ones as I discover them, and I also put my friends and families favorite games in there.  My sister liked Legend of Kage when we were kids, so I put that in there, likewise Sol Divide for a buddy of mine.  I don't really care for either game much but I love sharing the nostalgia.

The 3/4 player ones are the biggies though, it's for a 4 player cab.  There's a surprising amount of 4 player games, more than you'd think.

[paigeoliver]

I have found if you have SF 2 Champion Edition and MK 1 or 2 installed then you basically have that entire genre covered. Once you get away from those the chances that you will have more than one guest who knows how to play the game in question quickly drops towards zero. Even if you do manage to come up with 2 guests who know how to play Samurai Shodown 2 (not knocking it, I own a dedicated one) it still won't end up getting played because the other 10 guests will still want MK or SF II.

[jkonami]

I have found if you have SF 2 Champion Edition and MK 1 or 2 installed then you basically have that entire genre covered. Once you get away from those the chances that you will have more than one guest who knows how to play the game in question quickly drops towards zero. Even if you do manage to come up with 2 guests who know how to play Samurai Shodown 2 (not knocking it, I own a dedicated one) it still won't end up getting played because the other 10 guests will still want MK or SF II.

Fighting games aren't even my favorite genre, but I like a comprehensive list because I get bored playing SF2 and MK.  I am considering condensing them into one list but I feel like it will have too many games in one category.

I don't mind having a lot of games so long as I can find them - I think the trouble comes from sorting through clones, mahjong, slots, broken titles... once you clear away that it's not really so bad.  And the nice thing about including all Capcom and SNK fighting games is that they all play the same, basically.  If you know Street Fighter, you can play Marvel Super Heroes.  Or Darkstalkers.  You just get a bunch of new characters to play with.  If you know King of Fighters, you know Fatal Fury, or Last Blade.

I'm not overly concerned with overwhelming guests, I'll be there 99% of the time to make suggestions and I'll probably be playing too.  The cab is mostly for me.

[wp34]

Commando is alternating play.

A list of 2 player simultaneous games would be ridiculous huge. Klov lists 1400 of them and that doesn't count the 3 or 4 player titles.

You are correct.  I was thinking of the sequel Mercs which is 3-player simultaneous. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

A small handpicked list has so much more to offer than any way of sorting the thousands of available mame titles or tens of thousands of emulated console titles.

When you hand pick your list then you can specially map the controls for EVERY GAME ON THE LIST.

+ 1
My first MAME cab had EVERY working game listed.  Which was very overwhelming for guests (and sometimes for me when they chose a game I was not familiar with and I needed to remap the controls).  But on future builds, I would hand pick a list of games and configure them one by one ahead of time.  If the rare occasion came that someone wanted to play a game not listed, I simply added it on the fly to the list.   

D

[wp34]

That's my plan as well.  I've actually built my lists in Excel (with a column for each list) and am adding games manually to the spreadsheet in the appropriate column as I find them. 

Any thoughts on having a "public" list and an "super user" list?  I've thought about having a separate front-end for myself and a "simple" version for guests and family.   Anybody done something similar? 

A small handpicked list has so much more to offer than any way of sorting the thousands of available mame titles or tens of thousands of emulated console titles.

When you hand pick your list then you can specially map the controls for EVERY GAME ON THE LIST.

+ 1
My first MAME cab had EVERY working game listed.  Which was very overwhelming for guests (and sometimes for me when they chose a game I was not familiar with and I needed to remap the controls).  But on future builds, I would hand pick a list of games and configure them one by one ahead of time.  If the rare occasion came that someone wanted to play a game not listed, I simply added it on the fly to the list.   

D

[PL1]

Any thoughts on having a "public" list and an "super user" list?

"Super user" list password suggestion:
     


Scott

[dgame]

Thanks for the feedback.

I am going to go with the hand picked list idea. The full list can be hidden so in case someone wants to play something not on my list I can add it.

I give preference to the classics and two player co-operative games as I don't go easy on the newbies in Vs. Games.

I think I will limit the list to 100 games.

This is what I have so far:

1942
Alien vs. Predator
Altered Beast
Bad Dudes
Berzerk
Black Tiger
Bubble Bobble
Burger Time
Captain American and the Avengers
Combatribes
Commando
Contra
Crime Fighters (2 player)
Dig Dug
DoDonPachi
Double Dragon
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom
Final Fight
Frogger
Galaga
Gauntlet (2 player)
Gauntlet II (2 player)
Golden Axe
Gyruss
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct 2
Kung-Fu Master
Magical Drop III
Mat Mania
Metal Slug
Metal Slug  X
Moon Patrol
Moonwalker (2 Player)
Mortal Kombat
Mr. Do!
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man (fast)
NBA Jam TE (2 Player)
Neo Drift Out
Neo Turf Masters
Ninja Gaiden
Pac-Man
Pac-Man (fast)
Raiden
Rastan
Robocop
Robotron
R-Type
R-Type 2
Shinobi
Side Arms
Simpsons (2 player)
Smash TV
Soccer Brawl
Space Harrier
Street Fighter Alpha II
Street Fighter II CE
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Strider
Sunset Riders (2 player)
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Tetris
TMNT - Turtles in Time(2 player)
TMNT (2 player)
Two Crude Dudes
Vendetta (2 player)
Windjammers
WWF WrestleFest (2 player)
X-Men (2 player)

I have 30 spots left. I'll probably add some more of those bullet hell shooters.

Still open to suggestions and continuing the discussion.

Thanks!

[leapinlew]

I use a handpicked list, but I love the idea of a simultaneous 2 player co-op game list to explore with my nephew and nieces.

[dgame]

This thread has good information on setting up the 2 Player co-op games:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98775.0


That thread was the basis of the 2 Player Management Wiki Page here:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/2Player_Management

[Haze]

Couple of comments...

Sunset Riders, popular title, but the emulation can STILL freak out sometimes at times (the protection is very subtle and annoying, or the original game is just buggy in certain situations) if you're aiming for rock solid it isn't one to include IMHO

Tetris.. I don't think any of the early versions have aged at all well "Tetris the Absolute The Grand Master 2 Plus" makes for a better game all round.

Neo Drift Out..  it just seems like a cheap imitation of Kaneko's far better Great 1000 Miles Rally (evolution model) to me?

those are just opinions of course.


Boogie Wings, Magical Crystals, Joe & Mac Returns and "Fantasy Zone II - The Tears of Opa-Opa (System 16C version)" (the version Sega remade in 2008) are all games I'd consider absolute essentials for any cab.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Tetris (Atari) is the best version IMHO. It's the one where the guy dances in the middle.

[jkonami]

Re: Tetris

My favorite is actually NES tetris, the nintendo one (not Tengen)

But strictly arcade, have you tried Blockout?  It's a 3D tetris and one of my favorites.

You might also check out Quarth (aka blockhole) for an interesting sorta/kinda related title with great music by Konami.

[wp34]

I use a handpicked list, but I love the idea of a simultaneous 2 player co-op game list to explore with my nephew and nieces.

I'm thinking my kids will want to play simultaneous 2 player co-op games when they have their friends over.  I want to make it as easy as possible for them to have fun.

[harveybirdman]

You have some great beat em ups there, I think you want to keep this a mainstream but if It were me my "guest" list would have to have Sengoku 3.  Beat em ups don't get much better...

[edekoning]

Maybe its just me, but I don't like the concept of 'pre-configured game lists' at all. I think it would be much better to have dynamically generated lists based on configurable labels (kinda like gmail labels vs outlook folders). Each game can have any number of labels associated with it. In the front-end the user just select a bunch of labels, which causes a traditional game list to be generated, containing all games having all selected labels. Labels can be added/removed to games from within the front end, and can be pre-configured. A label can be anything, but to give some examples: favorites, co-op, classic, mature, shooter, vertical, versus, 2-player, etc.

Labels should be configurable manually or semi-automatically, where the manual ones overwrite the generated ones.

Manual:
<label>: <[-]rom1>, <[-]rom2>, ..., <[-]romn>, where the optional minus means that this label should be removed instead of added

classic: pacman, tetris
coop: ffight, avsp
versus: sf2ce, -xmen

Semi automatic based on the mame.xml/nplayers.ini/controls.xml/catver.ini, where you specify an XML/ini path and matching value:
<label>: <file>|[path]<value>, where [path] is optional as nplayers/catver only have one value per rom, and where value can be a regex or some other type of expression to allow thing like: year<1990

4-way: mame|control/ways=4
2-player: nplayers|2P Sim


Is there any front-end that is somewhat like this? Anyway I hope to have some spare time during the coming 2 weeks. If so I'll experiment with the above idea, through a python script that lists matching roms based on path-value pairs (the semi-automated labels).

[BadMouth]

Maybe its just me, but I don't like the concept of 'pre-configured game lists' at all. I think it would be much better to have dynamically generated lists based on configurable labels (kinda like gmail labels vs outlook folders). Each game can have any number of labels associated with it. In the front-end the user just select a bunch of labels, which causes a traditional game list to be generated, containing all games having all selected labels. Labels can be added/removed to games from within the front end, and can be pre-configured. A label can be anything, but to give some examples: favorites, co-op, classic, mature, shooter, vertical, versus, 2-player, etc.

Labels should be configurable manually or semi-automatically, where the manual ones overwrite the generated ones.

Manual:
<label>: <[-]rom1>, <[-]rom2>, ..., <[-]romn>, where the optional minus means that this label should be removed instead of added

classic: pacman, tetris
coop: ffight, avsp
versus: sf2ce, -xmen

Semi automatic based on the mame.xml/nplayers.ini/controls.xml/catver.ini, where you specify an XML/ini path and matching value:
<label>: <file>|[path]<value>, where [path] is optional as nplayers/catver only have one value per rom, and where value can be a regex or some other type of expression to allow thing like: year<1990

4-way: mame|control/ways=4
2-player: nplayers|2P Sim


Is there any front-end that is somewhat like this? Anyway I hope to have some spare time during the coming 2 weeks. If so I'll experiment with the above idea, through a python script that lists matching roms based on path-value pairs (the semi-automated labels).

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,128966.msg1317952.html#msg1317952

[brad808]

If you have a hand selected list make sure you can quickly jump back to a complete list with games you didn't include.

My friends and I probably have more fun playing the random never heard of games  then anything else. Always makes for even matches. Even if the game sucks sometimes it's fun just laughing at the cheese factor.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

[paigeoliver]

That is even a further step towards making sure your players spend 90 percent of their time in the front end.

Maybe its just me, but I don't like the concept of 'pre-configured game lists' at all. I think it would be much better to have dynamically generated lists based on configurable labels (kinda like gmail labels vs outlook folders). Each game can have any number of labels associated with it. In the front-end the user just select a bunch of labels, which causes a traditional game list to be generated, containing all games having all selected labels. Labels can be added/removed to games from within the front end, and can be pre-configured. A label can be anything, but to give some examples: favorites, co-op, classic, mature, shooter, vertical, versus, 2-player, etc.

Labels should be configurable manually or semi-automatically, where the manual ones overwrite the generated ones.

Manual:
<label>: <[-]rom1>, <[-]rom2>, ..., <[-]romn>, where the optional minus means that this label should be removed instead of added

classic: pacman, tetris
coop: ffight, avsp
versus: sf2ce, -xmen

Semi automatic based on the mame.xml/nplayers.ini/controls.xml/catver.ini, where you specify an XML/ini path and matching value:
<label>: <file>|[path]<value>, where [path] is optional as nplayers/catver only have one value per rom, and where value can be a regex or some other type of expression to allow thing like: year<1990

4-way: mame|control/ways=4
2-player: nplayers|2P Sim


Is there any front-end that is somewhat like this? Anyway I hope to have some spare time during the coming 2 weeks. If so I'll experiment with the above idea, through a python script that lists matching roms based on path-value pairs (the semi-automated labels).

[dgame]

Thanks for the insight and advice everyone. I added most of your two player suggestions.

I searched this and a bunch of other forums for ‘best games’ lists and added a few more co-ops, vs. fighters, and bullet hell games. 

Some of the classics included are alternating play.

I upped the list to a maximum of 200 games as suggested. 

It is nice to be able to google every game and see pictures and videos and read the reviews etc.

It is like I am building a super arcade and picking the machines that go in it.

Here is my current list of 194/200 games:
1941: Counter Attack
1942 (Revision B)
1943: The Battle of Midway
1944: The Loop Master
19XX: The War Against Destiny
After Burner
Alien Syndrome
Alien vs. Predator
Aliens
Altered Beast
Arabian Fight (2 player)
Arabian Magic
Armored Warriors (2 player)
B. Rap Boys (2 player)
Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
Battle Circuit
Battle Toads
Battle Zone
Berzerk
Black Tiger
Blades of Steel
Blazing Star
Boogie Wings
Bubble Bobble
Bucky O'Hare (2 player)
Burger Time
Buster Bros.
Cadilacs and Dinosaurs (2 player)
Captain American and the Avengers
Captain Commando
Caveman Ninja
Commando
Contra
Crime Fighters (2 player)
Cyberball 2072 (2 player)
Cyber-Lip
Deathsmiles
Desert Breaker (2 player)
Dig Dug
DoDonPachi
DonPachi
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II - The Revenge
Dungeon Magic
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom
Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
E-Swat - Cyber Police
Fatal Fury Special
Final Fight
Frogger
Galaga
Garou - Mark of the Wolves
Gauntlet (2 player)
Gauntlet II (2 player)
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II (Mega Play)
Gyruss
Hang-On
In The Hunt
Joe and Mac Returns
Joust
Joust 2 - Survival of the Fittest
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct 2
Knights of the Round (2 player)
Kung-Fu Master
M.I.A. - Missing in Action
Magical Crystals
Magical Drop II
Magical Drop III
Mania Challenge
Mario Bros.
Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 New Age of Heroes
Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Mat Mania
Mercs (2 Player)
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug X
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (2 Player)
Midnight Resistance
Moon Patrol
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Mr. Do!
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man (fast)
Mutation Nation
Narc
NBA Jam TE (2 Player)
Neo Bomberman
Neo Drift Out
Neo Mr. Do!
Neo Turf Masters
Ninja Clowns
Ninja Combat
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Warriors
Out Run
P.O.W. - Prisoners of War
Pac-Man
Pac-Man (fast)
Pink Sweets
Powered Gear: Strategic Variant Armor Equipment
Prehistoric Isle in 1930
Progear
Pulstar
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move (Neo-Geo)
Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust-A-Move Again (Neo-Geo)
Q*Bert
Quartet 2
Raiden
Rampage
Rastan
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Ring King
Robocop
Robocop 2
Robotron
R-Type
R-Type 2
R-Type Leo (2 player)
Rygar
Samurai Aces
Samurai Showdown
Samurai Showdown 2
Sengoku 3
Shadow Dancer
Shadow Force
Shinobi
Side Arms
Silent Dragon
Silk Worm
Smash TV
Snow Bros. - Nick & Tom
Snow Bros. 2 - With New Elves / Otenki Paradise
Soccer Brawl
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Mega Play)
Space Harrier
Space Invaders
Space Invaders '95: The Attack Of Lunar Loonies
Spin Master / Miracle Adventure
Street Fighter Alpha II
Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future
Streets of Rage II (Mega Play)
Strider
Super Burger Time
Super Contra
Super Hang-On
Super Street Fighter II
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Tank Force
Tetris (Atari)
Tetris the Absolute The Grand Master 2 Plus
The Combatribes
The King of Dragons (2 player)
The King of Fighters '98 - The Slugfest
The Punisher
The Real Ghostbusters
The Return of Ishtar
The Simpsons (2 player)
Three Wonders
Thunder Fox
Thunder Zone
Time Pilot
TMNT - Turtles in Time(2 player)
TMNT (2 player)
Toobin'
Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy
Toypop
Trog
Twinkle Star Sprites
Two Crude
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Undercover Cops (Japan)
Vendetta (2 player)
Viewpoint
Violent Storm
Vs. Excitebike
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
Warriors of Fate (2 player)
Willow
Windjammers / Flying Power Disc
Wizard Fire
WWF Superstars
WWF WrestleFest (2 player)
WWF: Wrestlemania
Xevious
X-Men (2 player)

The cool thing is I have never played many of these games so I don’t have an advantage over the guests.

Thanks for suggestions and continuing the discussion.

[BadMouth]

Looks pretty comprehensive. 

After Burner, Outrun, Hang On, Space Harrier need analog controls to play right.
Midnight Resistance requires rotary joysticks.

[harveybirdman]

If you don't have Rotary, replace Midnight Resistance with Gunforce or Gunforce 2

If you want some Joystick racing there are a cople of Neo Geo car games that are fun

Neo Drift Out and Thrash Rally come to mind (I see you already had Neo Drift Out  )

Also to repalce Hang on you could go with Neo Geo's Riding Hero.

Oh and Galactic Storm is kind of a mix of Afterburner and Space Harrier

[BadMouth]

Neo Drift Out and Thrash Rally come to mind (I see you already had Neo Drift Out  )

As Haze mentioned above....... Great 1000 Miles Rally

[harveybirdman]

Neo Drift Out and Thrash Rally come to mind (I see you already had Neo Drift Out  )

As Haze mentioned above....... Great 1000 Miles Rally

lawyerd 

And they would be right, that game is tits.

[dgame]

Thanks for the great advice.

I am using two U360s in analog mode with six buttons each.

Removed Midnight Resistance and added Gunforce - Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island.

Not really looking for more single player games or racing games, but Neo Drift Out is one of my favorites so I added Great 1000 Miles Rally. 

The List:
1941: Counter Attack
1942 (Revision B)
1943: The Battle of Midway
1944: The Loop Master
19XX: The War Against Destiny
After Burner
Alien Syndrome
Alien vs. Predator
Aliens
Altered Beast
Arabian Fight (2 player)
Arabian Magic
Armored Warriors (2 player)
B. Rap Boys (2 player)
Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
Battle Circuit
Battle Toads
Battle Zone
Berzerk
Black Tiger
Blades of Steel
Blazing Star
Boogie Wings
Bubble Bobble
Bucky O'Hare (2 player)
Burger Time
Buster Bros.
Cadilacs and Dinosaurs (2 player)
Captain American and the Avengers
Captain Commando
Caveman Ninja
Commando
Contra
Crime Fighters (2 player)
Cyberball 2072 (2 player)
Cyber-Lip
Deathsmiles
Desert Breaker (2 player)
Dig Dug
DoDonPachi
DonPachi
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II - The Revenge
Dungeon Magic
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom
Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
E-Swat - Cyber Police
Fatal Fury Special
Final Fight
Frogger
Galaga
Garou - Mark of the Wolves
Gauntlet (2 player)
Gauntlet II (2 player)
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II (Mega Play)
Great 1000 Miles Rally
Gunforce - Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island
Gyruss
Hang-On
In The Hunt
Joe and Mac Returns
Joust
Joust 2 - Survival of the Fittest
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct 2
Knights of the Round (2 player)
Kung-Fu Master
M.I.A. - Missing in Action
Magical Crystals
Magical Drop II
Magical Drop III
Mania Challenge
Mario Bros.
Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 New Age of Heroes
Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Mat Mania
Mercs (2 Player)
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug X
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (2 Player)
Moon Patrol
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Mr. Do!
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man (fast)
Mutation Nation
Narc
NBA Jam TE (2 Player)
Neo Bomberman
Neo Drift Out
Neo Mr. Do!
Neo Turf Masters
Ninja Clowns
Ninja Combat
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Warriors
Out Run
P.O.W. - Prisoners of War
Pac-Man
Pac-Man (fast)
Pink Sweets
Powered Gear: Strategic Variant Armor Equipment
Prehistoric Isle in 1930
Progear
Pulstar
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move (Neo-Geo)
Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust-A-Move Again (Neo-Geo)
Q*Bert
Quartet 2
Raiden
Rampage
Rastan
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Ring King
Robocop
Robocop 2
Robotron
R-Type
R-Type 2
R-Type Leo (2 player)
Rygar
Samurai Aces
Samurai Showdown
Samurai Showdown 2
Sengoku 3
Shadow Dancer
Shadow Force
Shinobi
Side Arms
Silent Dragon
Silk Worm
Smash TV
Snow Bros. - Nick & Tom
Snow Bros. 2 - With New Elves / Otenki Paradise
Soccer Brawl
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Mega Play)
Space Harrier
Space Invaders
Space Invaders '95: The Attack Of Lunar Loonies
Spin Master / Miracle Adventure
Street Fighter Alpha II
Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future
Streets of Rage II (Mega Play)
Strider
Super Burger Time
Super Contra
Super Hang-On
Super Street Fighter II
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Tank Force
Tetris (Atari)
Tetris the Absolute The Grand Master 2 Plus
The Combatribes
The King of Dragons (2 player)
The King of Fighters '98 - The Slugfest
The Punisher
The Real Ghostbusters
The Return of Ishtar
The Simpsons (2 player)
Three Wonders
Thunder Fox
Thunder Zone
Time Pilot
TMNT - Turtles in Time(2 player)
TMNT (2 player)
Toobin'
Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy
Toypop
Trog
Twinkle Star Sprites
Two Crude
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Undercover Cops (Japan)
Vendetta (2 player)
Viewpoint
Violent Storm
Vs. Excitebike
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
Warriors of Fate (2 player)
Willow
Windjammers / Flying Power Disc
Wizard Fire
WWF Superstars
WWF WrestleFest (2 player)
WWF: Wrestlemania
Xevious
X-Men (2 player)


Only five spots left. Thanks for the help.

[CoryBee]

No love for "Hat Trick"?

[brad808]

I would swap out super street fighter II for street fighter alpha 3. You already have super turbo on the list, super is the same just slower and crappier without super meter. Alpha 3 is a badass game and you have nothing from the alpha series on there. If you do add alpha 3 make sure you use the pheonixed rom. It has the blue title screen unlocked (a time release unlock) that opens up more characters and play modes.

Pigskin 621 A.D. gets a lot of two player love at my place. It's a football/ rugby type game with weapons and stuff. "Bring out the Troll!"

Another fighting game I would add is The King of Fighters 10th Anniversary 2005 Unique. Balance smalance its got like 100 50 ish selectable characters and people love it.

[harveybirdman]

I'd ditch the Mega play Golden Axe Two and put in Revenge of Death Adder, since it was a proper arcade game.  Of course I noticed you have Streets of Rage in there so maybe you're a huge genesis fan.

Is Marvel vs Capcom 2 even working in mame?  If so then I gotta get that added to mine.

[dgame]

Definitely a Genesis fan but removed Golden Axe II (Mega Play) and added Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder.

Removed Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 New Age of Heroes (preliminary driver)

Removed Super Street Fighter II.

Added Hat Trick , Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Phoenix Edition) and Pigskin 621AD.

Thanks!

The List:
1941: Counter Attack
1942 (Revision B)
1943: The Battle of Midway
1944: The Loop Master
19XX: The War Against Destiny
After Burner
Alien Syndrome
Alien vs. Predator
Aliens
Altered Beast
Arabian Fight (2 player)
Arabian Magic
Armored Warriors (2 player)
B. Rap Boys (2 player)
Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
Battle Circuit
Battle Toads
Battle Zone
Berzerk
Black Tiger
Blades of Steel
Blazing Star
Boogie Wings
Bubble Bobble
Bucky O'Hare (2 player)
Burger Time
Buster Bros.
Cadilacs and Dinosaurs (2 player)
Captain American and the Avengers
Captain Commando
Caveman Ninja
Commando
Contra
Crime Fighters (2 player)
Cyberball 2072 (2 player)
Cyber-Lip
Deathsmiles
Desert Breaker (2 player)
Dig Dug
DoDonPachi
DonPachi
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II - The Revenge
Dungeon Magic
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom
Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
E-Swat - Cyber Police
Fatal Fury Special
Final Fight
Frogger
Galaga
Garou - Mark of the Wolves
Gauntlet (2 player)
Gauntlet II (2 player)
Golden Axe
Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder
Great 1000 Miles Rally
Gunforce - Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island
Gyruss
Hang-On
Hat Trick
In The Hunt
Joe and Mac Returns
Joust
Joust 2 - Survival of the Fittest
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct 2
Knights of the Round (2 player)
Kung-Fu Master
M.I.A. - Missing in Action
Magical Crystals
Magical Drop II
Magical Drop III
Mania Challenge
Mario Bros.
Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter
Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Mat Mania
Mercs (2 Player)
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug X
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (2 Player)
Moon Patrol
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Mr. Do!
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man (fast)
Mutation Nation
Narc
NBA Jam TE (2 Player)
Neo Bomberman
Neo Drift Out
Neo Mr. Do!
Neo Turf Masters
Ninja Clowns
Ninja Combat
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Warriors
Out Run
P.O.W. - Prisoners of War
Pac-Man
Pac-Man (fast)
Pigskin 621AD
Pink Sweets
Powered Gear: Strategic Variant Armor Equipment
Prehistoric Isle in 1930
Progear
Pulstar
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-A-Move (Neo-Geo)
Puzzle Bobble 2 / Bust-A-Move Again (Neo-Geo)
Q*Bert
Quartet 2
Raiden
Rampage
Rastan
Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
Ring King
Robocop
Robocop 2
Robotron
R-Type
R-Type 2
R-Type Leo (2 player)
Rygar
Samurai Aces
Samurai Showdown
Samurai Showdown 2
Sengoku 3
Shadow Dancer
Shadow Force
Shinobi
Side Arms
Silent Dragon
Silk Worm
Smash TV
Snow Bros. - Nick & Tom
Snow Bros. 2 - With New Elves / Otenki Paradise
Soccer Brawl
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Mega Play)
Space Harrier
Space Invaders
Space Invaders '95: The Attack Of Lunar Loonies
Spin Master / Miracle Adventure
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Phoenix Edition)
Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future
Streets of Rage II (Mega Play)
Strider
Super Burger Time
Super Contra
Super Hang-On
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Tank Force
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtles in Time (2 player)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2 player)
Tetris (Atari)
Tetris the Absolute The Grand Master 2 Plus
The Combatribes
The King of Dragons (2 player)
The King of Fighters 10th Anniversary 2005 Unique
The King of Fighters '98 - The Slugfest
The Punisher
The Real Ghostbusters
The Return of Ishtar
The Simpsons (2 player)
Three Wonders
Thunder Fox
Thunder Zone
Time Pilot
Toobin'
Top Hunter - Roddy & Cathy
Toypop
Trog
Twinkle Star Sprites
Two Crude
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Undercover Cops (Japan)
Vendetta (2 player)
Viewpoint
Violent Storm
Vs. Excitebike
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
Warriors of Fate (2 player)
Willow
Windjammers / Flying Power Disc
Wizard Fire
WWF Superstars
WWF WrestleFest (2 player)
WWF: Wrestlemania
Xevious
X-Men (2 player)


Three spots left. Thanks for the help.

[CoryBee]

Was also going to suggest "knights of the round"...but you have that already! Loving the list, will you be sharing the gamelist with us?