Name your first favorite

[Havok]

Phoenix and Asteroids. Been playing them since they were released, still play them. Ahhh.. the true classics.. Thank you MAME devs!

[Bones]

Not my favourite of all time, but the first one that got me really hooked was Moon Cresta followed closely behind by Galaxian.

[vib_ribbon]

But I just wish I was wearin' that damn t-shirt!

[greywolf22]

Battlezone had to be my very first favorite, followed closely by Phoenix...although if I really sit down and think about it, depending on my age, I probably could come up with a "first" favorite for every era..elementary school, jr. high, high school...etc. 

[Paradigm1969]

Great topic!

Like so many here, I played 'em all until I saw Defender.
That was where I found out this is serious business!!:)
I remember making my first million!
Then one day I saw a Stargate and was even more addicted!!!

I now own both as an adult and just looking at them brings sooo many memories!

Williams games are very challenging even today

[versapak]

Tough trying to remember the FIRST favorite.

Talking arcade games, my guess is that it was either Ms Pac-Man or 1942.

Both games that I recall spending lots of time playing in my youth, but heck if i can remember which of the 2 would have been first.


My first video game loves would have been Pitfall & Kaboom on the Atari 2600.

[nostrebor]

My first Favorite was Tempest.  I played a lot of Road Blasters too when it came out, so much so, I played it while I was on my honeymoon.  When my wife went to sleep each night, I would go down to the lobby in my robe and slippers and play for a while. 

Heh,

I found a Gyruss in the hotel on the second night of my honeymoon. My wife was less than pleased.

First arcade love =  Phoenix cocktail. I put the very first credit on that machine.

[kelemvor]

No sense letting a thread like this die...

First game I remember getting addicted to is Arkanoid.  We were at a skate place or an arcade or something when I stumbled on this game.  I just sat and played that game for an hour.  Then ever time after that I'd just keep going.  Always wanted to see what the next cool level woudl look like.

[melarky]

We had a weird little convenience store a few blocks from my house called "Skankies" when I was younger.  They had a Bubble Bobble and a Return of the Jedi arcade in there.  Bubble Bobble was my favorite of the 2, but I still played my fair share of RotJ.

Nothing makes me wax nostagic like booting up my mame cab to Bubble Bobble and eating some sour patch kids and swedish fish (Skankies used to sell them for a penny each).

[leapinlew]

Skankies? Really?

My first favorite is Galaga followed closely by Mario Bros. These were games that I were actually good at and didn't just pump quarters into.

My first favorite Pinball game is Firepower. Awesome Pin. I remember how surprised I was when I saw Multi-ball.

[shardian]

I spent alot of time at my mom's pizza hut, and they had a nintendo vs. tent machine, so the games that hooked me were excitebike, Super Mario Bros, amd Mach Rider. Other than that, I was pretty much in total awe of ANY arcade game I came across that was new. It is funny, because I have these awesome memories of games like Robocop, and Superman, etc. but when I play them in MAME, I wonder what I was thinking. 

[ahofle]

This is a hard one.  I have found memories of playing Space Invaders, Asteroids, Galaxians, and Crazy Climber.  But I'd have to say my all time favorite game is Toobin.  I played the living hell out of that game while in college in between classes at the arcade next to campus (Fun Factory).  I used to play for at least 30 minutes and get into the 5 million range (can barely break 3 million now, DOH).  I always thought that game had the best music and most original gameplay.  It also has hands down the best marquee EVER (toobin marquee).  My only regret in life is not getting that contest t-shirt before the 1988 expiration. 

[More Cowbell]

Battlezone was the first one I remember playing at the local pizza shop. I tried to make one out of cardboard but it just wasn't quite the same. I graduated on to Pac-Man, Donkey Kong,and finally Dragon's Lair which I became pretty good at. I never beat the whole thing but being able to play for 10 minutes or so could usually get a good crowd going.

[Donkey_Kong]

It has been like 18 months since dude started this poll...

Do I need to really even answer the question for you ALL to know the answer??
<<Hint<< ok


I was like 7 and I would beg my mom for quarters to go up to PARK ARCADE and play the sickest game out. Sometimes she would write me checks for like 50c or 75c to PARK ARCADE! (DAMN thats funny, poor ma) I think I was pretty good for being 7 years old. I remember big kids watching me play and saying how lucky I would be getting...Surely it WAS dumb luck most of the time. Barrels rolling just over head and not coming down the ladder...jumping fireballs succesfully. Next thing I know the game is gone...I probably only played the game a few dozen times and never seen it again for another 20 years...However, I believe Super Pacman came around that time or shortly therafter to PARK ARCADE. They would give 4 quarters eveyday to the high score from the previous day for EVERY machine. I usually mopped up on Super Pacman for my freebie quarters unless some teenager had no pity, would see my high chicken scratched onto the taped up piece of paper on the marquee and proceed to demolish my score while I was home sleeping.

Fast forward to about 3 months ago...Never thought that these games would be a part of my life ever again except for the FOND memories and modern day spin-offs...and along CAME MAME!! Now I'am friggin' swimming in classic arcade bliss and loving every minute of it! It is almost the same as it was back then...Thank you MAME creators. I owe you BIG!!

[monkeybomb]

It is funny, because I have these awesome memories of games like Robocop, and Superman, etc. but when I play them in MAME, I wonder what I was thinking. 

Double dragon fits that for me.  I still play a bit cause I remember loving it, but it really is one of the more repetative and boring games out there. 

[leapinlew]

It is funny, because I have these awesome memories of games like Robocop, and Superman, etc. but when I play them in MAME, I wonder what I was thinking. 

Double dragon fits that for me.  I still play a bit cause I remember loving it, but it really is one of the more repetative and boring games out there. 

Thats the thing... it brings you back to a time when things were more simple for you. Sometimes I feel kind of silly explaining to the "normies" (a.k.a. people who aren't in the arcade scene) my hobby, and to escape my embarassment I quickly play some Ms. Pacman.

[melarky]

I agree, there are quite a few games I remember with fondness from my childhood, but when I re-play them now, don't remember why I liked them, but there are some classics that really hold up (like bubble bobble!)

[melarky]

Yeah, it's real name was Skankies (that wasn't a nickname, but if it were, it would have fit).

It's been gone for a long time now, it's an apartment complex now, but every time I pass by I get a hankering for some penny candy, bubble bobble, and some of that stale gum from Garbage Pail Kids.

Skankies? Really?

My first favorite is Galaga followed closely by Mario Bros. These were games that I were actually good at and didn't just pump quarters into.

My first favorite Pinball game is Firepower. Awesome Pin. I remember how surprised I was when I saw Multi-ball.

[monkeybomb]

I get a hankering for some penny candy, bubble bobble, and some of that stale gum from Garbage Pail Kids.

I suggest you purchase a pack of first series on e-bay for 30 bucks and tell us if the gum still tastes the same.  I bet it does.

[Texasmame]

Hmm. . . I think the very first game I ever "needed" to play when I was little was "Invaders from Outerspace"

http://www.arcade-classics.com/gameroom_pix/invaders/

That and "Sea Devil"

http://www.marvin3m.com/arcade/sseadev.htm

Both electromechanical games. 

[rackoon]

SPACE INVADERS just happened to be the first video I had ever saw when I was seven.

[NoOne=NBA=]

My FIRST favorites were the electro-mechanical shooting games.
The two I remember most were one with all different animals on it, and another that was set in a graveyard.

[vizzinni]

Played lots of others before this one, but my first true love was Gyruss, played on a cocktail at a pizza place.  I was the only guy around that could make it to Earth regularly.   Really had to be in the zone for that one. 

Twenty years later and I can't even make it to Mars.    But I'm still tryin', thanks to MAME.

[cripto9t]

                                                                  Any Pinball Machine

I love playing pinball, any pinball. I can have as much fun playing a 50s model as a brand new machine.
Arcades were full of pinballs when I was a kid, now your lucky to find one. But the screen machines slowly took over. I didn't care to spend my money on the first ones because the tended to be the same ones I played on my Atari, the favorite at my house was Dragster.

My first favorite video arcade machine was

                                                                  Star Castle 

It was at the pool hall I hung out at when I was a kid. I got to the point where I  put a quarter in and played until I got tired and either let someone else take over or just abandon the game.  I haven't seen or played on since  .

[torez]

The first one Omega Race, but there were others I loved to play:  Missile Command, Juno First, Moon Patrol, Galaga, Scramble, Pole Position, Rampart.  I've seen Pong at a local coffee shop as a kid and that was really something, followed by Space Invaders at a local beer joint  .

The ones that I was really good at were Omega Race and Rampart, man there was noone who could beat me on these then.  I played Rampart at my University and there were many challengers, including some Taiwanese students, but I was unbeatable.  Good ole days.