What are YOUR top 5 favorite games?

30FathomDave

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I'm sure this has been done (and probably more than once), but I used the search function and couldn't find squat, so I guess I'll risk being that guy. It's slow today anyway. I found lots of threads with lists on other websites/youtube, lots of threads about your favorite games in particular categories (B&W, vector, vertical, horizontal, jamma, laserdisc, etc.), threads about your favorite characters and sounds, yadda yadda yadda, but I want to know your overall favorite games, regardless of category.

Here's my top 5 as of right.... now:

#5. Warlords (cocktail) - A total party game, and an absolute blast in four-player mode. It's like the Doritos of arcade games- you can't play just one game. One game turns into two, turns into ten. etc. It's even more fun if you're drinking or playing for money (preferably both).

#4. Mad Planets - This one may very well jump into my top 3 by the end of the year. I played it for the first time at CAX, and it was love at first sight. Then I played it at aesop's house in October and decided that I had to have one for my game room. I just bought one from a fellow KLOVer, and I hope to have it in a week or so. Love the theme, the music, and the gameplay. It's nerveracking and challenging, and a very underrated game.

#3. Tron - I know lots of people hate this game, but I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you hate Tron, you probably suck at it. Think it's boring? Think the controls are lacking? Think the mini-games blow? Ask yourself honestly if you suck at it, and chances are you'll have to say yes. :) I love Tron, and after you near 100K, it gets ridiculously hard and demands your total concentration. KingOfTron and I got our Tron machines around the same time, and we used to text each other new high scores constantly. It was cool having constant pressure on me to get better. Good times.

#2. Major Havoc - Another one that I hear a fair share of guff about. Major Havoc kicks copious amounts of ass. The graphics are cool, the music is great, the gravity effect is awesome, and it's brutally difficult. I converted mine from Tempest and added the roller control (which makes the game so much better IMO) and This Old Game's custom artwork. Love it!

#1. Berzerk - Nostalgia ultimately trumps all for me, and this is THE game of my childhood. Is it my favorite in terms of gameplay? Nah. Would it be my favorite game if I didn't play it as a kid? Nah. But whenever I think back on my childhood and playing video games, this is the one. This is the game that started it all for me. I wouldn't be in this hobby had it not been for Berzerk.
 
1 Defender... The original ass-whipper. So fun to watch someone try it for the first time. Equally cool to watch someone good at it. Seeing a really good Defender player navigate the mayhem is almost hypnotic.

2 Robotron... Ass-whipper number 2. Eugene Jarvis rules.

3 Xevious... rather polarizing pick, but I loved this one from the first time I saw it. First time I ever saw convincing looking metallic objects.

4 Moon Patrol... This one kind of weaseled its way onto the list. It was the machine next to Xevious in the arcade. My buddy and I got so good at Xevious that it got tedious waiting for your turn. We alternated a single player Moon Patrol game between turns at Xevious. I ended up loving this game in its own right (honorable mention to Pleiads, the game on the other side of Xevious that we also wound up getting good at).

5 Donkey Kong... Its almost cliche to love this game now, but I still play it whenever I'm in the gameroom. It holds up!

Had a very tough time not slotting Gyruss on this list. Its neck-and-neck with DK.

My plan is to eventually get all of these in dedicated form. Held over with MAME for now, but I'm glad all of my Grails are attainable machines.
 
I love threads like this. Here is my top five:

5. Bosconian - While this one was overshadowed by Galaga, I think it is actually much more fun. It has all the joy of blastic alien scum with the freedom of travelling in 8 different directions. Plus, destroying those green alien space stations in order to advance to the next stage is awesome. It takes a lot of skill to have your laser hit the eye as it opens for a few seconds.

4. Centipede - This one is a true classic. What's not to love? The graphics are fun and colorful, and the gameplay is awesomely frantic. Centipede is a game you cannot easily walk away from. There is some serious competition in this one when it is played in 2-player mode as well.

3. Moon Patrol - While not as fast-paced as Centipede, this one is another game that has a lot of appeal. I find Moon Patrol relaxing to play, actually. The top-notch bass riff adds to the enjoyment. And while the game is relaxing, it is one that requires a handy amount of multitasking. Enemies and traps are on all sides! Plus, the graphics are very creative. A bad-ass pink moon buggy! Who would have guessed?

2. Gravitar - Ah, Gravitar. This game is about as complex and mentally-straining as it gets. If you look away from the screen for just a second, you will lose a life. Not only do you have to shoot every bunker in each stage, but you have to do this while fighting the pull of gravity. Not to mention the flying alien ships overhead, and your limited fuel tank. This game requires impeccably precise control over your ship, so it is not for the weak of heart. But this game is one of the best out there once you get into it after a bit of practice.

1. Major Havoc- The best arcade game of all time. No, there is no room for discussion on this one. Here is why Major Havoc beats all others: First, it has one of the coolest cabinets every built. The funky, futuristic shape and cabinet artwork match the game perfectly. It also has one of the coolest controllers of all time: a back-lit roller. Simply amazing. And, the game is a color vector. Next, the gameplay is nothing less than spectacular. You get to blast aliens and their ships straight outta space from a cool 3-d perspective, play a breakout cameo, dock your ship lunar-lander style, and then play a platformer as your character runs to activate a detonator in the center of the planet. Just too cool. You really have to play this one to see how fun it is. And it absolutely HAS to be in the dedicated cabinet, or at least a Space Duel/Tempest conversion WITH a proper roller.

Oddly enough, I currently don't own any of these games. :(
 
1. Star Wars/ Empire Strikes Back
2. Juno First
3. Mario Bros.
4. Gyruss
5. Super Street Fighter 2
 
In no order...

Tempest. For all the same reasons everyone else loves it.

Rolling Thunder. I'm pretty darn good at it now & remember it being such a cool/different looking game when it was new.

Crystal Castles. I actually never saw this one in an arcade, but after playing one a year or so ago I was hooked.

Battle Zone. Probably in the top 3 of games I've played the most... though I don't own one. Yet.

Smash TV. My best friends and I would live to play this one BITD.
 
Vs. Castlevania - My first love. Probably the game that I am the best at.

Black Tiger - Such a fun game for me. Played at a Pizza Parlor when I was at a birthday party in elementary school.

Aliens - First played at the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. Put $5.25 in the machine to beat it. Now I put it on Free Play.

Arkanoid - The game always changes. So much fun.

Donkey Kong - It's so frustrating that I have to play it again.
 
1. Space Invaders - nostagia
2. Road Blasters
3. Centipede
Tie: Area 51/Rampage/Smash TV/Bust a Move (stupid, stupid 90's fun)
 
1. Defender - first game I ever got hooked on

2. Space-Duel - second game to get me hooked, still love the color vector graphics

3. Lunar Lander - Played this one in the local airport bitd

4. Star Castle - played this more than any other classic seems ops didn't convert them!

5. Scramble - I loved Scramble and Super Cobra bitd always looked for it in the Arcade

Honorable mention - Dragons Lair - our local Arcade charged a buck a game, I now own this machine from that Arcade!
 
I always want to throw some kind of 'condition' on it... What are my top 5 favorite games I OWN... Or something to that effect.

Just top 5?

Erk.
  1. Well... Space Wars would have to be in that list. I love it to death, it's super old, (1977) and it's pretty much Asteroids 2-player.
  2. I, too, enjoy the Warlords cocktail.
  3. Donkey Kong. It was my first "always wanted to play it, wherever I saw it" game.
  4. SF RUSH. One of the best driving games, ever. Ever. I know it's newer-school, but damn if it isn't just "built right"...
  5. Joust or Dig Dug. I guess 'more' Joust, since I own one. But they are both games I can play a considerable amount of time on 'for a quarter'...
This list could change at any given moment, though...
 
well, i don't have an order in which is my favorite to least out of the top 5, so here it goes...

1. tempest - it's just awesome, the vectorness and gameplay both rocks.
2. robotron - it's very intense, gameplay is awesome, and it's one of those games that keeps you coming back, and i just can't stop playing it.
3. sea wolf - the cabinet is huge and has great art, and the game is fun. the timer makes the game more fun, as you have to just go for broke to get a high score.
4. pacman - common, but it was my first, the one that started it all. i think i'll always have one in my game room.
5. satan's hollow - joysticks got me started on this. it's a ton of fun to play, and the vertical shooter aspect makes it almost like playing galaga/galaxian. and, you have to kill the devil. so what's not to like.
 
5. Alpine Ski - I used to throw away my mom's coupons from the other supermarkets so that she had to go to the one that had Alpine Ski inside. (Remember when supermarkets had video games...sigh)

4. Cliff Hanger - I remember when my local arcade brought it out. My brother came home telling me he saw a new game that was like Dragon's Lair but with spies or something.

3. Elevator Action - I used to play this at the local bowling alley, such an amazingly crafted game

2. Zoo Keeper - Used to play this on the boardwalk arcade in Asbury Park, NJ. You could smell the ocean while you played and there was sand all over the floor, it was awesome.

1. Berzerk - My all time favorite game and always will be.
 
#5 Star Wars- The theme goes without saying, great cabinet artwork, and this game is still a total challenge for me. I think I've reached Wave 9 maybe once. I also never tire of the attract mode music chiming in.

#4 S.T.U.N. Runner- One of two games that I can remember just losing myself to. I think it may have had something to do with an obsession with roller coasters while simultaneously being afraid of them as a kid. It was like riding one without actually getting on one. Just wish it was more common in an upright now.

#3 Warlords- I have zero nostalgic attachment to this game as I only played it for the first time fairly recently. With that said, no game comes close when it comes to head to head ( to head to head) simultaneous combat. I love playing this game against 3 of my best friends.

#2 Mad Planets- I don't know how else to explain the fun factor I experience while playing this game other than just pure satisfaction. The concept of planets themselves being the enemy is just pure fun. The added element of the stranded astronauts makes it even more fun. I'm very happy that I'll have access to this game nearby soon.

#1 Tron- This has nothing to do with the fact that the movie just came out, or that it was talked about to death recently, but because I truly feel that this game is nothing short of an arcade game masterpiece. I have a ton of great memories playing it at the SuperBear Arcade in Big Bear and at Disneyland, but it wasn't until I brought one home that I was able to really get into the gameplay and really improve my skill. I hear a lot of gripes about repetitive gameplay, same 4 levels over and over. What game doesn't follow this pattern? Just about every arcade game repeats the same level over and over while increasing in difficulty, so why the hate here?
 
top 5

Favorite 5 in no particular order. They are my Favorites because of childhood memories of playing them.

Robotron
Gyruss
Looping
Kick Man
Tempest
 
No real particular order here but...

House of the Dead 2 - I remember when this game came out, I pumped so much money into it, that the owner set it on free play for me for a couple hours one day.

Tetris - I can sit and play this game for hours. Amazingly additing and simple gameplay.

Tron - Like others, I feel this is just a great game all around. One of my personal grails...one day I'll get one.

Gauntlet - Amazing 4 player game play. Great game...I remember also getting this on Genesis when it came out and playing it with my dad all the time.

Pong - Yes, yes it's not really a favorite among most people, but for me, it's been one of my most wanted machines of all time, so when I finally got one I was exstatic. It's just amazing having a piece of history such as it, and a great conversation piece.

And finally, an honorable mention...

DDR - I love what Dance Dance Revolution did for the music gaming genre. I loved it so much that I built my own. (Its since been demolished, but one day I'll buy a real one)
 
In no order,

Sea Wolf - freakin awesome game. The sounds, the look, the game play..

Donkey Kong- love it that it has several screens and not the same one over and over.

Star Wars- The attract mode alone rocks. The sounds are great, the cabinet is one of the best looking ever and on an Amplifone it just plain looks awesome.

Berzerk- very under rated game. Coin detected in pocket... nuff said.

Tie between Space Invaders and Asteroids- both are repetetive but still fun and very iconic. Hard to pick one over the other, maybe a slight edge to Space Invaders because of the mirror effect and black lights.
 
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