Trackball games for the entertainer

[eds1275]

I had guests all last weekend. I live on an island so people just loooooove coming out to visit me. We ate good food, drank a bunch and played the arcade games. They had been out before, back in the "x-arcade hooked up to the television" gateway period many of us have had. But due to rising ferry costs, recession, life getting in the way, etc etc I have not seen them for a long time - since my wedding summer before last. And of course we didn't play the arcade during that. Well they got hooked instantly. Using the U-360s and trackball opened up a world of fun. We played through a bunch of beat em ups and some shmups but the real icing on the cake was the trackball. Lots of world class bowling, golden tee, shuuz and Shuffle Shot. Shuffle shot is probably my favourite since it requires the most skill. With 3+ players it can get really competitive, and having the board full of pucks makes it even more satisfying when you are losing so all you can do is screw over everyone else.

Golden Tee on Skins mode is also awesome. I love playing the normal way, but Skins really cuts down on the time it takes to play a full 18 holes. And with wads of cash comes bragging rights. I can hardly wait for the xmas season, I am probably going to have free flowing beer and house full of rotating people starting on the 14th and ending on the 27th. My niece and I are already dubbed the A-Team when we have big groups of more than 4 and need to make up teams. I really wish PGA Tour or Golden Tee Fore were mamed! Are there any other great multiplayer trackball games I should know about?

I just wanted to share.

[thatpurplestuff]

Shuffleshot and Shuuz were probably the most popular games on my cab... they definitely make for great party games and even people that wouldn't typically be attracted to an arcade end up joining the fun.  I ended up dismantling my half built arcade for parts a year or so ago, but you're making me want to hurry up on the rebuild to play those games again!

[harveybirdman]

There are some good dart games methinks.

Course if it were me  I'd just make em watch me play Quantum and Missile Command.

EDIT:  AmeriDarts is the one I was thinking of.

[ABACABB]

I really wish PGA Tour or Golden Tee Fore were mamed!

I hear you there.  Not sure which version of MAME you're running but Golden Tee Fore did show up around version 0.149 I believe.  It is not playable yet but at least a little work was done to the iteagle driver and the roms seem to be dumped.  I have been keeping my fingers crossed on this one for a while.  Maybe Santa could make something happen.  I have been a really good boy this year.   

[Brian74]

I lucked out getting a silver strike bowling game really cheap. I also picked up a bag toss arcade cab. Space being limited, I run the bag toss in the ssb cab too. Still working out sharing the controls between them. Ssb gets lots of playtime.

[WindDrake]

The Irritating Maze gets a lot of play here.

[eds1275]

Not sure which version of MAME you're running but Golden Tee Fore did show up around version 0.149 I believe.

I'm still rocking either 0.139 or .143, can't remember which. I got it all working and I'm happy, so until golden tee fore shows up as playable, I doubt I'll be upgrading.

I will take a peek at some dart games tomorrow morning, another bunch of guests "fresh off the boat" arriving tomorrow afternoon!

[tron84]

Simpsons Bowling is a great party game. It can do up to 4 players.
If you have not launched Simpsons Bowling before you have to hold in the F2 key for 10 sec. to write the EEPROM at launch up of the game. That only has to be done the fist time to get it working.

[DarthMarino]

Krazy Bowl is also a fun bowling game.  We play World Class Bowling a little more but both are worth checking out.