The Games You Were Surprised You Enjoyed

Ladybug. I played it when I was 8 or so and thought it was hard, played it again 40 years later and I actually like it. You have to use a 4 way joystick though.

Another one is Rally-X, I like it more now but it still generates a lot anxiety when I play it…

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Pengo. Looks kind of childish, but is a blast too play.

Third on Pengo. Everyone should spend time with that game. More than just trying it once, really get into it. It's worth the investment.

As for others, I've come to love Sente games. Gimme a Break is one of my faves. It's another game that seems simple on the surface, but is done so well you can get pretty deep into it.

The whole Sente collection is one of the most underrated things in this hobby, that I wish more people knew about. Everyone should have one Sente cab. (As when you have one, you basically have the ability to convert it to any other Sente game.)
 
I've had a love-hate with Pengo since it came out. I will always play it though. Really tough game as those Sno-Bees are infuriating. But figure out your quickest path to aligning the star blocks off of the walls to get that nice 10k and realize quickly when it just makes sense to squash the bastards as quickly as possible. The point rack up quickly if you are squishing multiples. I think I've topped out at 110,000.
 
Pooyan. I completely disregarded that for years based on the name and the cutesy animal theme but it is a seriously fun and challenging game. Definitely a solid on.

+1 on Pooyan. I don't recall playing it growing up, but found it in mame a long time ago. It's one of my go-to's when I play my mame cab. Super fun game. It's one of those games that's deceptively hard. So they did a really good job of combining hard plus fun. I'd love to own one one day.
 
I actually like Amidar. I thought it was a throw-away game included on the 60-1 board and it ended up being one of the few games I played over and over.
 
Atari Assault. At first glance it seems almost generic with the usual tank control scheme, but once you start to integrate the rolling to the side mechanic into your play style, with the long range mortar shots, it becomes such a smooth play experience. There's almost a rhythm to the game as you're playing it, much like games like Robotron.
 
Actually have had a few games like that. One being Astro Fighter. I picked that one up because it was pretty cheap but only had just a youtube video of some game play to get an idea of the game. Wound up really enjoying it. Then another one was Raiden II which I picked up just out of nostalgia of seeing a machine at the local Little King sub shop when I was younger (but I don't remember ever playing it) and then not really a real arcade machine but the Pop-a-Ball machine I picked up is kind of the same thing. I remember playing it when I was really young at a local arcade but since I was too young to know how to play poker I usually didn't get anything and since that game was pretty stingy on tickets I never played it since it never paid out. Then found one at a garage sale for a price I couldn't resist (the offer of 10 dollar delivery to my house was too good to pass up) so now that one is among the games in the basement and actually quite fun for a redemption game
 
Robby Roto for sure
Ozma Wars is really good
Really love Hole Land
 
Chicken Shift. Thought it looked dumb/goofy at CAX. Played it, got hooked, and then spent a couple years piecing one together.
I thought the same. It's an awesome game, who knew a game with only two buttons could be so good. I was hooked playing it at @DLP's place.
Third on Pengo. Everyone should spend time with that game. More than just trying it once, really get into it. It's worth the investment.
Man, I have played a bunch of pengo. I like the popcorn music, but it is still definitely not a winner for me. I just can't get it.
 
Teddy Boy Blues just recently became supported on BitKit2. I'd heard of it before but never played it until now. Very interesting game with two separate bonus level tracks based on which one you select at the beginning. One is a target shooting style bonus level - the other is more of a treasure hunt with prizes increasing in value as you find more.
 
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