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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: scofthe7seas on June 20, 2011, 02:47:40 pm
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I'm sure this has been done before, but what do you all think are the best classic games ever? (pre 90s)
What is your opinion on the general consensus of what people think are the best?
And what is your personal list of bests?
Being a teen in the 90s, I never got a solid chance at classic games (save for nes ports)
I'm starting to really enjoy some of them (except for Donkey Kong Jr. You might as well just throw your damned money away.)
Try to limit them to 10 and under (Xiaou, I'm looking at you.)
My top 5 would be:
1: Robotron 2084
2: Berserk
3: Burger Time
4: Missile Command
5: Donkey Kong
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I'll list the top 5 I used to play as a kid in the 80s.
1. Rush N' Attack
2. Star Wars
3. Burger Time
4. Empire City
5. Ikari Warriors
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Not my top 5 to play, but ones I spent the most money on and therefore remember the best, in no particular order:
- Spy Hunter
- Gauntlet
- Elevator Action
- Pac Man
- Shinobi
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Like the OP, I wasn't old enough to frequent arcades until after the original classics had been largely rotated out in favor of the Double Dragons, Golden Axes, and TMNT's.
These days, I enjoy the original classics more than anything else. It's tough to choose just 5, but when I think "classic arcade", I think of:
Pac-Man (duh)
Space Invaders
Centipede
Frogger
Defender
Honorable mentions:
Missile Command
Q*Bert
Asteroids
Frogger is the only one of the above games that I remember playing on real cabinets BITD; the rest I learned to love exclusively via Atari 2600.
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Golden Age 80-83 (I was born in '75 and frequented a local arcade at the ripe ages of 7-9)
~Donkey Kong
~Super Pacman
A few years later at our pizza place it was...
~Tetris
~720
~Mario Bros
These are my top 5 from the day. Very limited small town arcade game selections. I still feel privileged to have had the opportunity to play them as it is probably some of the better memories of my childhood.
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Super Pacman? Really? With the keys and all? I never imagined that was something people played. In my mind it was a kind of rare cabinet that was quickly forgotten.
And Q-bert. I forgot about that, fine game. Very satisfying to give that snake the screwgy.
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....and Tron!
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I also grew up in the 90's but there are some wicked classics though...Except Donkey Kong I just can't get into it I think it sucks (sue me).
1) Robotron 2084 - This one is just king, so seemingly simple yet ever so frustrating
2) Zookeeper - Don't know why but this just keeps me going for hours sometimes
3) Bugertime - Just recently started playing it after skipping over it a bunch of times and I gotta say it's actually really fun
4) Chicken shift - Just incredibly hard after the first few levels (in a good way)
5) Bubble bobble - Really good game but I don't play it as often as I should because it won't save my score in mame
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Tempest
Gauntlet
And in no particular order....
Dig Dug
Ironman Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road (with friends though)
My wife likes Centipede.
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Hard to pick 5, combining nostalgia with games I still play here are mine.
Robotron 2084
Defender
Bomb Jack
Mr Do!
Ms Pacman
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It really is tough to pick only 5.
Tron
Tempest
Galaga
Ms Pac Man
Asteroids
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It really is tough to pick only 5.
Tron
Tempest
Galaga
Ms Pac Man
Asteroids
I see you only went with 1 fluffy game (ms pac), I figured that defender and robotron had more than enough testosterone to balance my 3 fluffies ;)
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Only the best!
1. Robotron 2084
2. Centipede
3. Ms Pac Man
4. Galaga
5. Juno First
Go figure I have them all. ;-)
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Not in order, but some of my favorite classics:
Berzerk
Nibbler
Mr Do! (though I didn't like it much back in the day)
Dig Dug (not as much into it anymore but played alot as a kid)
Moon Patrol (coolest video game music)
And one of my favorite games from back then was never in the arcades but it was inspired by one - Jumpman (commodore)
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Super Pacman? Really? With the keys and all? I never imagined that was something people played. In my mind it was a kind of rare cabinet that was quickly forgotten.
And Q-bert. I forgot about that, fine game. Very satisfying to give that snake the screwgy.
Remember I was only like 7-8 yrs old. It was hard to get on the Robotron machine, or even DK sometimes. Da big boys were on those hit titles. I friggin' loved Super Pacman. 4 times as big as regular pacman...eating all fruit and pies and the "Super Energizers" that made you invincible and 4 times as fast. There was one button for speedup, it sat left or right of the joystick for users option.
If that's not enough... :blah:
Every day was a high score competition at my local arcade. If you got a high score you would tape your initials to the machine...the high score standing at closing meant 4 quarters the next day for every machine! I dominated the Super Pacman Machine (maybe I was the only one playing?).
:lol
Fast forward 25 years...MAME. I often thought of Super pac over those 25 years (as well as many other titles), and thought I would never get to play them again, until I came across mame. Super Pacman is still a friggin blast at 36 years old. My kids love it as well. Back in 2006 when we were homeschooling our boys, Super Pacman comps were sometimes held for History class, thanks to mame's preservation.
:cheers:
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The one's I remember playing the most (in no particular order):
1) Asteroids
2) Targ
3) Spectar
4) Red Baron
5) Warlords
Definitely not best classics when looking back, but at the time, they rocked!
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Dudez. You guys know I totally said less than 10, right? :D There's no limit on 5, that's just what I put.
And Chicken Shift. Yes. Creepy moon thingy in hyperspin.
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Dudez. You guys know I totally said less than 10, right? :D There's no limit on 5, that's just what I put.
:cheers: Well, in that case:
1. Rush N' Attack
2. Star Wars
3. Burger Time
4. Empire City
5. Ikari Warriors
6. Karate Champ
7. Yie Ar Kung Fu
8. M.A.C.H. 3
9. Crazy Kong
10. Peter Pack Rat
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1) Galaga 88 (the best arcade feeling of all games ever IMO)
2) Pac-Man
3) 1944 (1942 to the max)
4) Darkstalkers (fighter that actually is some fun too)
5) Arkanoid (but even with the right spinner it is too hard to pass level 3)
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Galaga 88 is a cool game
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Dudez. You guys know I totally said less than 10, right?
Yeah, It was late. That's my excuse ;D
Ok, lessee
1) Asteroids
2) Targ
3) Spectar
4) Red Baron
5) Warlords
6) Black knight pinball (sorry, I had to throw one pin in, that was a great game)
7) Star castle
8) Sinistar
9) Berzerk
10) Hard drivin
and for the bonus
GTI Club+: Rally Côte d'Azur
I actually played this much more recently, maybe 10 years ago or so. Never found it again, at least not in arcade form. And Mame didn't support it the last time i looked. But it was a fun game.
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Donkey Kong
Defender
Pacman
Galaga
Robotron
Not necessarily in that order. Five is too few... I'd have to throw in Burgertime and Star Wars off the top of my head as I type this.
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Five is too few...
!!!!!
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Try to limit them to 5 and under (Xiaou, I'm winking at you.)
But but but ... !
That Osman is such a Strider rip off, but I love me some more Strider.
Funny that it's by Mitchell corp. They threatened to sue Popcap over the game Zuma, claiming it was ripping off their old game Puzzloop.
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Let's see:
1. Super Street Fighter II X
2. Raiden II
3. Super Hang-On
4. The King of Fighters 98
5. Ghosts n' Goblins
6. Twin Cobra
7. Final Fight
8. Superman
9. Magical Drop III
10. Time Crisis
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This was a very difficult cutting process.
Robotron
Mr Do
Spy Hunter
Two Tigers (Original Handle grip version, not spinner conversion)
Super Sprint / Championship Sprint
Hard Drivin / Race Drivin
Star Wars
TX-1
OutRun
Star Trek
Many good classics are fun on the 1st few levels, but games like Superpacman
and Sinistar eventually get unrealistically difficult and unplayable. (With mames cheats, one can see just how far things can go) One has to consider that when judging them as top classics.
Modern Classics:
Daytona USA
Killer instinct
Tekken3
Ridge Racer
Time Crisis
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Street Fighter II: Champion's Edition
Burger Time
The House of The Dead (not emulated yet, but it's great)
Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3)
The Punisher
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I like Xiaous idea of listing modern classics. Sega has a swathe of them. For me, it would include:
Crazy Taxi
House of the Dead
Daytona
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1. Star Castle
2. Star Wars
3. BattleZone
4. Gyruss
5. Galaga
6. Defender
7. Moon Patrol
hmmm...
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To me classic means (in no particular order):
Asteroids
Missile Command
Centipede
Tempest
Joust
Defender
Robotron
Pac-Man
Space Invaders
Galaxian
Several of which had improved (e.g. Galaga) or not so improved (e.g. Joust 2) versions come out later.
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1. Star Castle
2. Star Wars
3. BattleZone
4. Gyruss
5. Galaga
6. Defender
7. Moon Patrol
hmmm...
Wow one Gyruss in this thread? Gyruss FTW!
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Here's my list.
1. Vampire Savior
2. Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
3. San Francisco Rush
4. Soul Edge
5. Phoenix
6. Geometry Wars
7. Frogger
8. R-Type III: The Third Lightning
9. Gorf
10. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
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Like most folks, my list of favorites/best classic games involves way more than just these ten, but these would be at the very, very top for me:
Gravitar
Crazy Climber
I-Robot
Tempest
Robotron
Defender/Stargate
Tron
Scramble/Super Cobra
Elevator Action
Galaga
And if there's more than 1 person around:
Warlords
Mario Bros.
Joust
Space Duel
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Donkey Kong
Tempest
Gyruss
Hydro Thunder
Bust A Move
I think all of those were instant classics, so they all count. :)
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I didn't play games enough as a kid to really like that many games. Nowadays, I don't have any favorites, just quite a few I like a lot. (And I don't count anything past....mmmm....Mario Bros a classic.) Donkey Kong is the most played lately, a game I hated as a kid.
Kind of strange, just now on the net radio I'm playing, an ad for joystick.com came on.
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Try to limit them to 5 and under (Xiaou, I'm winking at you.)
But but but ... !
That Osman is such a Strider rip off, but I love me some more Strider.
Funny that it's by Mitchell corp. They threatened to sue Popcap over the game Zuma, claiming it was ripping off their old game Puzzloop.
It's the same lead developer/designer as Strider tho, so you can consider it a semi-sequel.
Strider
# Object designers : Shinji Sakashita (Sakashita Thing), Take Pong, Tisshu, Makizoe, Tery, Terabo, Hisabo, Kuribo, Komsan, Gin
#
# Scroll designers : Teiki, Rie.Poo, Ziggy, Rinma, Marilyn Higuchi, Morilyn, Kintaro
#
# Soft programmers : T. Maruchi, Tae 250r, Mikkun, Tadaken, Kanekon, Dorompa.E, Ka~kuny, Check.Masa
#
# Music by : Junko Tamiya
#
# Planning advisers : Tokuro Fujiwara (Arthur), Yossan
#
# Game planner : Hiroichi Yotsui (Isuke)
Osman
# Stage Design : Milk Tea, K.Nozawa, Stily-Stilie, Q.B.B.
#
# Object Design : Utata Kiyoshi, Ava, N.N, K.Tatsu, Otasuke-P, Tsukahira
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# Ryu, Mazin, Ojiji, Kuro
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# Sound Music : Tago Saku
#
# Voice : Fujii Masayo, Mr.Matsushita
#
# Program : Namcho, Br.Coin
#
# Game Design : Isuke
The Michell hardware* might have had a lower resolution and worse sound system, but given that the same guy designed the game, I don't think you can call it a rip-off.
* actually Data East hardware in this case, they had strong ties with both Capcom and Data East in terms of hardware use.
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My favorites...
1. Xevious
2. Spy Hunter
3. Twin Cobra
4. Ms Pacman
5. Commando
6. Ikari Warrior
7. Star Wars
8. Gyruss
9. Donkey Kong Jr.
10. Defender
I also liked Roc 'n Rope... but it wasn't one of the poplular ones.
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My list:
DigDug
Mr Do!
Star Wars
DOT
Space Ace
Asteroids
Space Fury
Tac Scan
Star Castle
Legend of Hero Tonma
Astro Blaster
Ms Pacman
DKong
Carnival
Out Run
Bump n Jump
Star Trek
Ikari Warriors
Mach 3
Moon Cresta
Space Firebird
Stargate
Phoenix
Star Fire
Pengo
Popeye
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1. Argus No Senshi/Rygar
2. Flying Shark/Sky Shark
3. Black Tiger/Black Dragon
4. Out Zone (I know, it's published in 1990)
5. Psychic 5
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+1 on Skyshark. great game
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When did this thread turn into a 'show your list of favorites'?
Swimmer.
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I'm sure this has been done before, but what do you all think are the best classic games ever? (pre 90s)
What is your opinion on the general consensus of what people think are the best?
And what is your personal list of bests?
Being a teen in the 90s, I never got a solid chance at classic games (save for nes ports)
I'm starting to really enjoy some of them (except for Donkey Kong Jr. You might as well just throw your damned money away.)
Try to limit them to 10 and under (Xiaou, I'm looking at you.)
My top 5 would be:
1: Robotron 2084
2: Berserk
3: Burger Time
4: Missile Command
5: Donkey Kong
I submit that these "Best Classic Games" lists really turn out to be "Favorite Classic Games" lists.
There really is no such thing as "best" since individual preferences come into play.
It's all arbitrary.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
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I submit that these "Best Classic Games" lists really turn out to be "Favorite Classic Games" lists.
There really is no such thing as "best" since individual preferences come into play.
It's all arbitrary.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Yeah, well that's just your opinion man. (Big Lebowski) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVCtkzIXYzQ#)
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I submit that these "Best Classic Games" lists really turn out to be "Favorite Classic Games" lists.
But a lot of those games are appearing on multiple lists, so that kind of unifies their status.
Maybe these lists should be tallied after there are enough of them to see what comes out on top?
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I assumed it was a favorites or top classics.
The thing is, everyone knows PacMan is an undisputed alltime classic. It defined the 80s. But really, there are far better Classic games out there. The same can be said about a bunch of the well known classics.
If we are talking merely 'well known' classics, or 'most innovative' for the time classics... the lists change. When I think 'Best' classics however, I have to try to weight each classics gameplay to decide on which ones Id rather play for long periods of time. Which is why knowing how well the games balance plays out deep into the game.. is kind of necessary.
Sinistar is one of my Favorites. Its arguably one of the more well known classics too. But gameplay wise.. its gets almost impossible at level 2, and then gets almost 2x more difficult by level 3. Basically, its nearly unplayable due to poor balance. This was of course due to the company forcing the games designers to tweak it at the last moment, in order to make more money for the ops.
Because of this flaw, I have to discount it from my lists of BEST... because other games like Robotron, are better balanced and still playable deep into the game. (if you are skilled enough & cna maintain the intensity and concentration)
Still, if we were to put a classics game compilation together.. Sinistar HAS to be on it. Its incredibly fun, challenging, and its atmosphere and level of Awesome, is just way up there. (sadly, without extreme alteration, Sinistar is unplayable on any compilation due to the controller itself. Similar for Spy Hunter)
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I submit that these "Best Classic Games" lists really turn out to be "Favorite Classic Games" lists.
There really is no such thing as "best" since individual preferences come into play.
It's all arbitrary.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Yeah, well that's just your opinion man. (Big Lebowski)
No, it's not just my opinion.
I submit that these "Best Classic Games" lists really turn out to be "Favorite Classic Games" lists.
But a lot of those games are appearing on multiple lists, so that kind of unifies their status.
Yeah. As favorite games.
Maybe these lists should be tallied after there are enough of them to see what comes out on top?
"Best games" still has to be defined.
The best games may be the games are most enjoyable.(which is difficult to quantify).
The best games may be the games that people are most familiar with.
The best games may be the games that were manufactured in the highest number.
The best game may be the games that made the ops the most money.
In other words, what makes a game one of the best games?
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
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punch out
galaga
popeye
turbo - the cockpit version had cool sound
centipede - i used to see it everywhere and would never play it because I sucked so bad at it. But now its great fun
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Even though I'm more of a 90s arcade junkie, there are a few 80s games I just cannot get my hands off of...
1) Joust
2) Galaga
3) Ms. Pacman
4) Ghosts n Goblins
5) Gradius
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Hmm, my Top Ten, okay... In no particular order:
Asteroids Deluxe
Galaga
Tempest
Astro Blaster
Missile Command
Joust
Pac-Man
Stargate
Moon Patrol
Tron
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Ok, so as was mentioned (by me), a tally should be taken for what people are saying to unify a solid list of best classic games:
Here are our lucky winners!
Tied for 1st place...
Galaga and Robotron
2nd place - Defender
Tied for 3rd place - PacMan and Tempest
Tied for 4th place - Burger Time, Centipede, and Ms. PacMan
Tied for 5th place - Missile Command, Donkey Kong, Star Wars, Asteroids, and Gyruss