Name your first favorite

[Gootfu]

However unoriginal this may seem, Pacman was my first favorite.  We had one in our local arcade and I would play it for hours at a time (now play it on my MAME) to me it was awesome.  I loved the graphics, gameplay, and the suspension of what intermision was going to come next (although there are only three, when you are young this is exciting.)  My personal favorite... Whats yours??

[tommy]

Street fighter 2 WW was what i mostly played in the arcades and fondly remember beating all the competition that walked up to player number two.

[dabone]

Omega Race sitdown.

I would park myself on that one for hours.


(Now if I could only afford to get a dedicated one up and running, %#$% batteries!)



Later,
dabone

[flampoo]

Super Spy for Neo Geo. General consensus says this game sucks, but for some reason I would dump quarter after quarter in to the machine. I simply loved the game but now it annoys me.

[Navmaxlp]

Tron. I loved the step inside cabinet thing they had going on.  Stepping into it felt cool. Especially since the arcade was always very dark for some reason and the blue hue of the controls made everything very sureal.

[AlanS17]

For me it was TMNT and Street Fighter 2.

[pcb]

The first video game I remember was at a Marie Callendars I worked at.  They had a B&W Breakout cocktail table in the waiting area.  I'd have to say it was my first favorite.

[vib_ribbon]

Super Spy for Neo Geo. General consensus says this game sucks, but for some reason I would dump quarter after quarter in to the machine. I simply loved the game but now it annoys me.

is that the one where your knife becomes less effective after you've stabbed a couple of guys cos it'd go rusty or something??

[CJK]

Atari Super Sprint. My buddy Bruce and I would spend HOURS playing on one or two quarters each. Missed a lot of classes due to that game.

-- Chris

[NIVO]

Space Invaders, I was 6 years old. Who couldnt walk by and be mesmerized and sucked in by the THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP?

Followed by a close second would be Galaxian. The ones at the arcade I played at were always cranked to the max, and ALWAYS drowned out Pac-Man! 

[IntruderAlert]

I was hooked from the start
So I suppose it was PONG

[Flinkly]

eh, i love metal slug (all of them).  the graphics and game play are incredibly, even after all these 3d video game console games.  sidescrolling rocks!

[Stobe]

I don't think I could ever name a first favorite.

[Luckydevil]

Rampage without a doubt. Still my all time favorite.

[skybluestav]

for me it would be track and field and elevator also rygar isnt too far behind

[EndTwist]

Hmm...

Crush Roller and Kangaroo, with Jungle King and Mario Bros coming in just behind 

[DreamWeb]

My first was a girl named Jessica who...

oh.. wait..

Gauntlet.

d.

[joshbr7257]

My favorite is also metal slug, all of them, ive spent so much money at the arcade just playing those games

[Veinman]

I remember being quite taken with Jungle King.

[AmericanDemon]

Mine was Double Dragon.   

[danny_galaga]

Galaxians. was the last old school game i played on a cocktail (about 1991 in trade school). and since my cocktail cab is the same type, it really hits the spot (",)

(incidentally, i dont remember galaga back in the day. and i admit it plays better. just doesnt evoke memories)

[monkeybomb]

I remember being quite taken with Jungle King.

Beat me to it.  Jungle king was the very best chuck E. cheese had to offer.  And my first arcade love.

But SF2 world warrior is my all time favorite.

[cdbrown]

The game I can remember quite well is Road Blasters.  When I was on holidays I played the upright version of this and got hooked.  I didn't enjoy the sit down version as much due to the way the screen tried to create a 3-d type image.

I also loved playing NARC.  Had to really hunt around to find an arcade that had that game.

[Tailgunner]

<-

[rackoon]

(Space invaders),
then (Pac-Man),
and finaly (Tempest).
 

[JB]

The game I can remember quite well is Road Blasters.  When I was on holidays I played the upright version of this and got hooked.  I didn't enjoy the sit down version as much due to the way the screen tried to create a 3-d type image.

I also loved playing NARC.  Had to really hunt around to find an arcade that had that game.

I second Roadblasters.

Had it at the local grocery store.
Every week I got a 1$ allowance(WHOO! BIG MONEY!).
Every week we went to buy groceries.
Every week I dumped a dollar into Roadblasters.
Untill one dark day they replaced their arcade machines with COKE MACHINES!

[RayB]

Believe it or not, my first addiction was to Kick-Man.
I'd steal pennies from my mom's penny jar--25 pennies at a time.

[cw]

Boot Hill.... the gun handles and back drop ....what a site....

[ArcadeMaze]

My first Favorite was Tempest.

[quarterback]

First favorite?   Probably Donkey Kong when it first came out.

I played Space Invaders when it was first out, and that that point I guess it was my "favorite" of all available games, but jeeze, what were my options?

I remember seeing Galaxian at Castle Golf and Games when it first came out and I was blown away by the looks of it.  I mean, dude, there were COLORS on that screen... and not the kind that come from translucent 'tape' on the glass!    But the gameplay bored me after a while, just like Space Invaders did.

But when Donkey Kong came out, I was hooked!  But man, 1981 was a good year for arcade games.  There were a bunch of good ones that came out that year.

[RetroBorg]

Space Invaders.

Before Space Invaders video games were just something that was interesting and new to play, then Space Invaders came along and it created an addiction. Arcades had huge banks of Space Invaders and would hold tournaments, I can't ever recall a Pong tournament.

[Apollo]

Space Invaders, I was 10. Then came Galaxian the next year, omg! colour! By the time Scramble turned up a couple of years later I was hooked for life. Good times.

[spidermonkey]

My first love was "Astro Invader" at "Lucky Leo's" arcade on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights N.J.

[Xiaou2]

 When I was 7 is about when i started to play... and wasnt that good.   I know I spent more time on Segas Turbo than anything else at that time.. but loved them all really.

 Later I got Hooked into Spy Hunter.   And Sill love the game.  Bought the real machine.

 Out Run is also a huge fav.  Fast, instense, and beautiful gfx.

 RoboTron 2084   was one that I couldnt get into as a kid - too hard, and gfx seemed too primitive, yet now, its a my top favorite game.   Nothing gives you such an all out primal adrenalin rush as that game!   

[Zero_Hour]

The first game I really remember being hooked on was Rip Off. It was the first vector game I had seen, and it was at the local Bar/Restaurant my parents went to every other week. Shame of it is, I never could play it well. But the losing was very cool. Huge vector starbursts that seemd bright enough to blind you.

My honorable mention would be Crazy Climber, stuck in a laundramat near my house. Probably played it every day for 3 months, and pretty regularly after that, till they got rid of it almost a year later. What college fund? 

[crsdawg]

in the mid/late 70's, i spent many friday/saturday nights at the local shaky's pizza with the family. i specifically remember playing games like sprint 2, stunt cycle, 2 player fire truck, but the game that got the most of my(parents)quarters was sea wolf. whenever i could find one, i continued to play that game all through the arcade days.

 

[Franco]

We didnt really have a dedicated arcade near us. The only chance I relly got to play on an arcade game was when I went to our local swimming pool as they usually had a couple upstairs on the viewing gallery. My favourites from there were probably Street Fighter 2 and Bucky O Hare. The one I probably spent the most money on though was at a holiday camp, called Caddilacs and Dinosaurs, the best scrolling beat-em-up ever IMHO, if you like this type of game and havent played it you have to give it a go!

[Kev-in DFW]

Oh my goodness, where to start.  Like everyone else, my firsts were not my fav's because they came out with bigger, better, brighter... faster than you could turn around in the early 80's.  We had a TV Pong (you know, the one with 2 paddles on the same small console) so I never played that at the arcade.  My first was Space Invaders at the local c-store.  My all time fav was Galaga.  Some of the most frequented were Robotron, Defender, Stargate, Kangaroo, and Moon Patrol.

Man, the parental cash I stole and pumped into vid's.  What a bad kid I was. 

Lord help me!

Kev~

[ras2a]

Track and Field

[dag2000]

Lunar Landar - I was in a bowling league in grammar school and I think I looked forward to the small arcade at the bowling alley more than bowling.  Lunar Landar was different from any other game.  I also remember Atari football and how we would pound that thing.