Most REPLAYABLE games- not a plain old top 10 list

AppleAmusements

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I'm not sure what most of the tired old "top 10" lists are based on but I would love to see a list (not necessarily 10) of games that you pros feel have the best longevity as far as ENTERTAINMENT VALUE over the course of years. For example Dragon's Lair, while a game I LOVE and would love to own seems to have very limited play value after you know the 200 or so moves in the game. I think Pinballs would be OK here too and why not open it up to any coin-op amusement. Here is my list - I think it is kinda in order but of course whatever mood you are in might change it around a bit.

The one criticism I have is that I can't really think of an arcade game I really want to play for more than 15 minutes at a pop. Unless maybe a head to head game. Just the nature of average human attention span I think. It's why games like Warcraft put a black eye on arcades I think.

Anyway I'd love to see what you guys think games with good replay value are. Forgive me if this has been done before ... if so let me know I will dig deeper for threads.


AGAIN BASED ON NOTHING BUT LONGEVITY OF GAMEPLAY not rarity, graphics (though this relates to gameplay) or anything else. Games that given the ultimate arcade with every game made and only 1 roll of quarters where you would spend your money.
And although I recognize the novelty of dance dance revolution, I do not need a cardio workout and digitized hopscotch. Yecccch.

Here is mine:

Adams Family Pinball
Toobin'
1942/1943
ALL TIED at spot 5 or 6 for me would be (Ms. Pac, Galaga, P.O.W., Donkey Kong, possibly Phoenix)
Mortal Kombat II, Marvel Vs. Capcom, your favorite Street fighter (all tied I think)
Star Wars
Crossbow/Cheyenne
Marble Madness/Crystal Castle
Arkanoid (or sequels... does it really matter?)


I need a driving game for the list- I think top honors needs to go with something that has manual shift options but Pole Position is pretty good considering the simplicity of it.



There are some games I just never enjoyed- great concepts but gameplay for me was tedious after 5 mins... Defender, Joust, Tron,Missile Command, Centipede, and Dig Dug.



I guess really I'd like to know which games you guys feel like you can play for hours a week for years on end... if any.
 
Pinball has a MUCH higher replay value than arcade games in my opinion, but even then some machines just get old after you've mastered most of the tricks. It's nice to have a variety and change it up once in a while so you don't get burned out on a game from playing it too much, like when you hear a song too many times and go from really loving it to not being able to listen to it anymore.

Example: I used to LOVE Medieval Madness but I've played the damn pin so many times at my local bowling alley that it's just not fun anymore. I want to play something different. Great machine, but I can't see how very many pay $10K for a machine that just gets old after a while. I'd rather own a machine that's much more challenging in it's shot, like Super Mario Bros. Something you really have to play to get good at. But that's just me.

If I had to choose for games I could really play for long lengths of time:

Discs of Tron
Ms. Pac-Man
Galaga
Star Wars (1979)
Defender
Tetris
Berzerk

Street Fighter III 3rd Strike would probably be my top-notch fighter for replayability. The game mechanics are excellent.

Those are some games I could really play for a long time and get sick of. Some classics I don't even like in the first place to be honest. Centipede, Missile Command, DK Jr., Frogger, and Dig Dug while viewed as classics I was never really a fan of those games.

Then there's Donkey Kong, Tempest, and TRON which are awesome but I don't think the gameplay has that lasting feel on it, plus they are extremely difficult. Always like to pop in a few quarters on these, but I couldn't play them for weeks on end.

If I had to choose one, Ms. Pac-Man would probably get the top spot. That I can dump a whole bunch of quarters into, especially if I'm trying to beat the machine high score for brownie points for myself ;). Great game overall though.
 
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Ms. Pac. Asteroids. Race Drivin'. Tempest. Joust.

Those would be my top five.
 
Yeah I have to agree with Ms. Pac Man on the odd once every 3 years i see it somewhere I'm good for a 10-15 minute game but if I had it in my house every day?


The more I think about this I think ultimate replayability would have to go to a 2P game, and probably a head to head vs. cooperative.

I'm glad I'm not alone with the Dig-Dug apathy.

I seem to remember on the simplistic side Kangaroo was actually fun


I need to add Ski-ball - A GOOD old fashioned one- and probably a really old skill crane with the small claw and erector-set type look to it to my list. I think that a really well done coin pusher would probably not be much in the way of hours a day, but I bet it would hold interest for years. Especially if you put something fun in there instead of coins like your wife's car keys.
 
Yeah I have to agree with Ms. Pac Man on the odd once every 3 years i see it somewhere I'm good for a 10-15 minute game but if I had it in my house every day?

I guess that's the ultimate question of having arcade machines. Will I get enough use out of this and play it often, or will it collect dust? Personally I think arcade games go best in groups so when you're done playing one thing you can move onto the next, like a real arcade, only with the games/pins you like to play the most. Now if only I had the room and the money...


I need to add Ski-ball - A GOOD old fashioned one- and probably a really old skill crane with the small claw and erector-set type look to it to my list. I think that a really well done coin pusher would probably not be much in the way of hours a day, but I bet it would hold interest for years. Especially if you put something fun in there instead of coins like your wife's car keys.

Skee-Ball is like bowling, it just never gets old. Something about trying to roll a ball down a lane and almost never being able to duplicate the same perfect shot over and over again makes for some of the best replay value of any sport or game out there really. Even the liking of the greatest arcade games will go, but Skee-Ball is timeless :D

Crane/Claw games are fun, but I can't really see owning something like that in my home, that's really something I would only play when I really wanted something out of the machine. Perhaps it's good for restraining yourself from all the junk food in the house, stick it all in the machine and make yourself work for it, no free play! ;)

Though the car keys thing could make for a HILARIOUS prank.
 
I guess that's the ultimate question of having arcade machines. Will I get enough use out of this and play it often, or will it collect dust?

For me, even when I haven't played a game in months, having a small collection is worth it. I think that's the difference between a collector and a player. I almost never play Star Wars, but I am glad I have it.
 
As far as pinball, any game with a complex rule set where you can decide to concentrate on certain strategies has lasting power. As far as video games, two player games have by far much more staying power no matter how simple (rip off), followed by games that never end but are played to increase high scores (centipede), or else end on an epic "kill screen" (donkey kong or pac man).
 
This is a good topic. Disclaimer - i am very fickle and short attention span, so it took herding through ALOT of games to get to the ones that i can play endlessly.

Star wars is A number 1 the best of the best. I can play that thing non stop. The challenge on hard, trying to near my HS, the rest of the game never gets old. And then, theres incredible nostalgia around it to.

Discs of Tron i started to play, i can see how that will be a staple, its challenging, the theme rules, etc. Time will tell.

Pinball has alot of replay value of course, due to its random nature and rulesets, but i've had many come and gone (TZ, TAF, AFM, etc). Again, if it doesnt have replay for me it doesnt stay. The best one for me, is Iron man. The game has an addictive quality, its perfect and begs for just one more game. Right now, its the longest lasting game in my lineup!
 
ms pac is definitely my #1. i have played the hell out of that game, and even though im pretty much a killscreen player, i go back time after time.

centipede would have to be a close second. i can play it for hours on end and still not get sick of it.
 
Can't believe you put Toobin on the list. Any game you can have on Free Play and just keep continuing to the end sucks as far as replayability (hello, Gauntlet).

Play a game that is both challenging, addictive, and ready to kick your ass at any given moment - like Robotron...
 
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Mod said it. Robotron.
I know multi-million point players that always seem ready to take it to a million, just because it's fun to play.

Most golden era stuff is challenging enough to not get old if you really want to get better at them. After 84', not so much.
 
1943
asteroids deluxe
bubbles
dodonpachi
gorf
gyruss
ms pac (speed up)
raiden
time pilot
tapper
 
I love Paperboy (the arcade version). Arkanoid has pretty much infinite replay value. There aren't many games that are different each time you play. I find Blaster to have good replay value just because of the amount of variety between levels. I've also been playing Bucky O'hare over and over because there's a good amount of variety unlike X-men, The Simpsons, etc. The same goes for Aliens, another great Konami shooter.

Star Castle is a pretty replayable arcade game even though it is the same thing each time. It just has so much challenge, and you feel so rewarded when you succeed, that it can keep you playing for a very long time.

Millipede keeps the play action pretty fresh, but it's also very challenging. I find games like Pac-man, Space Invaders, etc to have very little replay value as they have no variety in each play session.
 
Great topic. These are games I feel I could play over and over and not get tired of them. I own three on this list and I'll never let them go. :)

Classic:

Donkey Kong (Own)
Robotron 2084
Star Wars
Galaga (Regret selling this one :()
Zoo Keeper

JAMMA and on (head-to-head ups replay value ten fold):

Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move (Own)
Street Fighter II: HF (Own)
Street Fighter III: Third Strike
NBA Jam TE
Daytona USA Twin

Pinball (though most good pins have high replay value):

Taxi
Gorgar
Pinbot
Indiana Jones (Williams)
Star Wars: Episode I
 
Hmmmm....I love shooters!

Defender
Galaxian
Galaga
Raiden....all of them

and Daytona USA....still would like to have a dual sit down cab. I remember playing the one at Disney World. It was one of those 8 way sit downs and you could play for free. There was very few people on it so I played for ours. Some little girl kept kicking my butt. It might have been Danica Patrick in her early years.

:D
 
How bout party games like rampart and warlords?
 
I have had close to 50 games come through the garage now, and these are the ones that seem to make the cut to stay every time:
Donkey Kong
Tempest
Millipede
Hydro Thunder
Gyruss
High Speed pin

I think the rest of my top 10 would be filled with pins.
Pinbot
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Spiderman

Wow, I can't come up with a 10th one. I'm sure there are a few that would fit in there, none come to mind. I have played most of the top 50 pins, and these 4 are my favorites out of all of them. I am a crappy pin player though, so the deep rule sets don't sway me much.
 
My defense of TOOBIN' is that I never had the opportunity to freeplay it and going head to head with someone can be a LOT of fun. You can screw them into and out of all sorts of situations. Great soundtrack too in a "song stuck in your head" kind of way.

Also I am thinking Star Wars is getting mentioned a lot but continuous replay value I might have to take it off my list - Isn't just the same 3 boards over and over or did I just never get good enough to see more of it? The cockpit version always held a special place for me because it was the first cockpit game I ever saw that wasn't a driving game. And the flight yoke was cool too.
 
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