Games everyone hated that you thought were awesome...

[poj]

Pretty much any laserdisc game.

 

[Pleiades10]

Warp Warp. It's very challenging to blast the enemies in like-colored groups of three in order to get the bonus monsters to come out. The bonus monsters are the ticket to high scores.

Not to mention the "maze world" screen is the predecessor to Bomberman.

Kyle

 

[DarrenF]

Bally/Midway Two Tigers (dedicated)
Sente Hat Trick
Nintendo Vs. Baseball

 

[p1899m]

super don quixote

 

[Black Matrix]

Pit Fighter for the win. Can't think of a more hated game possibly ever. But I loved it growing up. Still own a copy of the PCB.

 

[hsapinball]

In the arcade I was hanging out in during the 1980's the game that I loved was Elevator Action. Every time I was in the arcade I was the only person that seemed to have any interest in playing it.

 

[blinddog]

I like Stern's Turtles.

It doesn't seem to be a popular game but I'm not really sure what it's reputation is because I rarely hear it mentioned

 

[Area69]

Zaxxon and River Patrol. I think it was called River Patrol, anyway I played it because it was within walking distance from my house and grew to like it.

 

[Spunkmeyer]

Pretty much any laserdisc game.

I know it was definitely this way with M.A.C.H. 3 -- our local arcade had a sit-down version for a while back in the heyday, and it was never occupied. I loved to play it... still do.

 

[alejandromad]

'Munch Mobile' aka 'Joyful Road'

another one of those quirky Centuri games (like 'Swimmer')

 

[KidVidiot]

old school: crazy balloon - yeah it's ugly but i like the hell out of the game mechanics

newer: irritating maze - i even have the psx version, which isnt quite as fun

 

[jkoolpe]

Star Castle seemed to sit empty a lot, but I liked it. Make Trax, also. Now I think Make Trax sucks, but I would put a Star Castle in the game room if a nice one popped up.

I remember the opposite when SC first arrived on the scene...I couldn't get near the thing at my local arcade it was so busy. I then found one at a local 7/11 that at first was available, but it didn't take long until it, too, was discovered and also then just as busy.

But I do also remember that the excitement for the game died out very quickly versus some of the other games at the time...SCs seemed to disappear in just a few months thereafter for whatever reason. I didn't see another one again until I went to my first CA Extreme show in 1999...probably about an 18 year gap.

My favorite of the not-that-popular-but-was-still-beloved-by-me games would be Venture .

Jon

 

[InsaneDavid]

Klax, to be honest. Guess coin-op puzzle games are never huge though.

Hot Rod, I don't know how many times I used to come across the four player version and end up playing it alone. A damn shame.

StarBlade. I don't know what it is, maybe because it's essentially the "The Last Starfighter" game that we never got (yes, I know about the homebrew Starfighter game), but StarBlade just clicked with me. From the first time I saw a brand new off the line, shiny, perfect StarBlade machine at the local arcade - that was it. Favorite arcade game to this day but most people don't care for it at all.

 

[RColtrane]

Pit Fighter for the win. Can't think of a more hated game possibly ever. But I loved it growing up. Still own a copy of the PCB.

+2 on that! I love that game, no matter what people think about it

 

[Steve W]

Alpine Ski
Mystic Marathon
Pac-Land
Challenger
Hunchback

 

[Droler]

I enjoyed Capcom bowling, granted it's odd paying a quarter to a play a game in an establishment that offers the real thing for a few dollars. Not busting your balls I did the same thing.

That's funny - me and my son did exactly that in a bowling alley two weeks ago; one of our friends said "Hey - look behind you. Real bowling lanes."

Weird they still have a working Capcom bowling (cocktail even) - weirder even that it's not in the arcade but outside (outside) the bar in the bowling alley. And set for one quarter (the arcade only takes tokens).

But that always was a favorite of mine, and I also loved Star Castle - it along with Astron Belt and Kangaroo are on my "list of shame."

 

[dezbaz]

Another one for river patrol here, have the PCB.

 

[maskdbandt]

In the arcade I was hanging out in during the 1980's the game that I loved was Elevator Action. Every time I was in the arcade I was the only person that seemed to have any interest in playing it.

I remember the same thing actually. I just got one that I have to get setup and going. Can't wait!

 

[DLP]

I remember back in the day always playing a lot of Hyper Sports and Super Basketball, but no one else seemed to play those.

 

[eXidy]

...

Up until a few years back:

Wild Western
Frontline
Jungle King/Jungle Hunt
shit, all Taito games

All Exidy games
Jack and the Giant Killer
Forgotten Worlds
Gain Ground

Jon