In general I think console games are not a great fit for arcade controls or cabinet play, and the only emulator I install is MAME. That said, I do have a few NES games on my modern-retro machine, which is most often played seated (Punch Out, SMB for my niece, etc.).
Games from the NES/GB seem to map over well though, as would Atari stuff were there not original arcade versions of most of their best games.
Punch Out is originally an arcade game too!
Dunno about consoles, but a mate of mine had an Amiga. In the late 80's we were students, often poor and jobless, so played it a lot. In particular I loved playing
Paradroid, which translates well to a sturdy arcade joystick (the Amiga ones we had back then were always crap). Anyway, I worked out how to get WinUAE going just to play Paradroid on my arcade, and it was definitely worth the effort.
Controls are obviously a big issue. Older consoles with pad-type controllers work more intuitively with arcade, but later consoles with fancier stuff like hats are more difficult to translate to an 8-way.
Having said all that, there is nothing to stop you using a modern compatible wireless controller with your arcade cab. They are available.
For various reasons I get sore feet from prolonged standing, so have a few stools to use with my upright cabs. Also good for kids that can't reach the controls.
Sometime I'll go through the rest of my Amiga library. There definitely are some more original gems in there.