It's Critter Time!

Here's a fun game. You got to pick 7 games to make an arcade and, for fun, you also got one Neo-Geo MVS with four slots to fill. What's your ideal arcade?

Mine:

• Point Blank
• Bank Panic
• Karate Champ
• Boogie Wings
• Elevator Action Returns
• Mr. Driller 2
• Track and Field
• Neo-Geo MVS: Garou: Mark of the Wolves | Neo Turf Masters | Twinkle Star Sprites | The Last Blade 2

Tricky to pick since I'm not an especially big arcade fan. Compilations are proooobably not in the spirit of things but if I had an actual physical arcade I would definitely want the ability to play Dig Dug Arrangement in there, and that's where you get that. I have thought about something sort of adjacent to this before, where thanks to the Arcade Archives games on Switch you actually can effectively build out a (legal) virtual arcade with games of your choice, and do have to think about it and make choices assuming you don't want to just blow a bunch of money on games you won't play much.

Anyway, the seven:

• Libble Rabble
• Rampart
• Gauntlet II
• Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 (or Galaga Arrangement)
• Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 (or Dig Dug Arrangement)
• Qix
• Probably a newer Dance Dance Revolution machine, like DDR WORLD

Neo Geo - I really don't know this library very well but I'd want some puzzle games and I'm familiar with the Genesis port of Viewpoint.

• Puzzle Bobble
• Magical Drop II
• Viewpoint
• Neo Bomberman

There's a lot of arcade games that are really easy to emulate or are available to purchase via Arcade Archives so it's a little difficult to pick but I have some ideas.

• Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram
• Outrun 2 SP
• House of the Dead 2
• SoulCalibur
• Die Hard
• Crazy Taxi
• Gauntlet: Dark Legacy

If it's not obvious, there's a particular era of arcade game I particularly like. These ones weren't too hard to pick, mostly just games that you can play at home, but are really cool in their original environment. As for Neo Geo, it's a little harder.

• Garou: Mark of the Wolves
• Windjammers
• Breakers Revenge

Neo Geo I think needs to either be competitive or co-operative, and these ones are my favorites for that.

The Cabinets:

• Cadillacs & Dinosaurs
• Jubeat
• Outrun 2
• BlazBlue: Central Fiction
• Pang
• Point Blank
• Metamorphic Force

The Neo Geo:

• Magical Drop III
• Metal Slug X
• Garou: Mark of the Wolves
• Ninja Master's

Seven games, hm?

• Shark Attack by Pacific Novelty
• Super Hang-On with the motorcycle seat (Sega)
• X-Men six-player cabinet (Capcom)
• Galaxian3: Project Dragoon [Namco]
• Cosmo-Gang (electro-mechanical)
• Sega R360 with GUN-LOC
• Brave Firefighters (Sega)

The Neo-Geo has Prehistoric Island, Samurai Showdown 2, Metal Slug X, and Neo Turf Masters

easy picks for me:

• Time Crisis 2
• The House of the Dead
• Area 51: Site 4
• The House of the Dead 4
• Ghost Squad
• Jurassic Park: The Lost World
• The Simpsons

sorry i am a lightgun game pervert and i'll make a beeline for those if i see them. if thats too many (somehow) i'll knock one off and put S.T.U.N. Runner in

i don't know enough about neogeo games so i'll substitute it with a couple of pinball games because i just swing that way. its probably about as expensive as neogeo stuff anyway

• The Addams Family
• Theatre of Magic

I suppose my ideal arcade would be mostly nostalgic, since I haven't... really been to an arcade in a while.

- Time Crisis 2
- Zero Gunner
- Cruisin' World
- Hydro Thunder
- Dance Dance Revolution
- that one Indiana Jones pinball that I really enjoy
- Frogger cocktail table!

derby owner's club
dungeons & dragons: shadow over mystara
f-zero AX
house of the dead 2
mazan flash of the blade
time crisis 3
2 spicy (i only saw this game once so i don't remember it all that well, but i think about it a lot. it's time crisis as a vs game)

metal slug (don't know enough about the series to have an opinion about which one :v)
neo turf masters (i don't actually know that much about it, but the sprites are nice)
twinkle star sprites
windjammers

other games that i thought of but decided didn't make the cut:
crimzon clover (technically this was a pc game first so i decided it didn't count :v)
gauntlet dark legacy (the brain cells have decided this was a ps2 game, actually)
melty blood current code
time crisis 2 (i decided i like the extra weapons, even though i remember the stages from 2 better)
house of the dead 1/3/4
some flavor of galaga (is it lame that i do feel the pull for the huge screen pacman/galaga machines when i see them?)
initial d (i'm a sucker for card saves)
battletech (this was the pods dave and busterses used to have, right? played it once, it was cool)
virtual on (i've only played this in yakuza 2...)
star wars trilogy
star wars episode 1 racer (was this game good or did it just have a fun cabinet? i don't remember any more)

The First Funky Fighter
House of the Dead
Sega Rally
Mushihimesama
Taiko no Tatsujin (One of them, unsure which release)
Batsugun
Ikaruga

Neo Geo:
Blazing Star
Pulstar
KoF2002
Metal Slug X

I had a post ready and then closed the tab on accident :( Some of these ideas are stolen but I could not think of these frame 1

So many of these are so split that I genuinely can't decide some of these, at least not right now. I put some potential sets near the bottom.

• beatmania IIDX (latest version, live service)
• Another live service rhythm game (SDVX, DDR, StepmaniaX, or maimai DX)
• A fighting game in Japanese cabs (MvC2, CvS2, 3rd Strike, or MBAACC if I could get people to play it)
• A bullet hell (NOISZ Arc:Coda or Mushihimesama Futari)
• Tetris TGM3 (alternatively, either TGM2TAP+ or Tetris Dekaris. WMMT from the grab bag would also fit here)
• Another live service title (KR Ganba Legends, SDBH, Pokemon Mezastar, Derby Owner's Club, WMMT, Killer Queen, or Red Earth. WCCF Footista could also be fun, but is a dead game. I'd also fuck with a straight up racing sim there as opposed to WMMT but WMMT is just as interesting in a different way)
• Tempest (alternatively, Ms. Pacman or a game from the grab bag)

If I had to choose a set right now (THIS IS MY DEFINITIVE ANSWER): IIDX, maimai DX, MBAACC, NOISZ, TGM3, WMMT/racing sim, Tempest
If I expected to be playing a lot of games with guests: IIDX, StepmaniaX, CvS2, NOISZ, WMMT, Killer Queen, Tempest
If friends from the tourney community are coming over: IIDX, DDR, MvC2, Mushihimesama, WMMT, Ganba Legends, Red Earth

I don't know NeoGeo very well, if at all, but I do know a King of Fighters title will be there for sure.

I'm not gonna name specific games, but my ideal arcade functions as a relaxed social space for people to gather and a sort-of interactive history lesson in how arcade games have advanced over time. A healthy mixture of games from all eras, plenty of space to just socialise and chill, and all the games on Free Play by default.

I feel like I've just described Arcains in Liverpool. XD

Very tough to narrow it down, but it probably shakes out to something like this...

• Ghouls 'n Ghosts - the coolest sidescroller
• Final Fight - the coolest beat-em-up
• Alien vs. Predator
• Ketsui - this and the below are the coolest shmups
• Battle Garegga
• Crazy Taxi
• Tetris: The Grand Master - may change later but I'm still working on this before I look at 2 or 3

And the Neo-Geo stuff...

• Metal Slug - hard to pick my individual favorite in the series
• Metal Slug X
• Shock Troopers
• Neo Turf Masters - actually have not played this extensively but what I have played rules

Very tough, and there are a lot of games that have to be left on the table - the first Ghosts 'n Goblins, Elevator Action Returns, Ninja Spirit, Espgaluda, Gradius. Tempted to include Outrun 2 SP and F-Zero AX just for the sake of having some deluxe cabinets (especially for F-Zero, where I've only played the Gamecube version) but I'd probably rather stick to the meatiest games possible for a list like this. Fighting games ended up getting left off too but definitely Super Turbo and MvC2 are the frontrunners there...

Enbyeon wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2025 9:36 am [*]Metamorphic Force

Very good pick haha. One of my favorite beat-em-ups too, with totally awesome sprite work and theming. I love how much it feels like a licensed game based on a contemporary cartoon even though it's all original.

Ooooo my own arcade, fun!

The seven standalones:

• Gradius
• 1942
• House Of The Dead 2
• Time Crisis
• Darkstalkers 3
• Soul Calibur
• Daytona

Neo Geo MVS:

• Fatal Fury Special
• King of Fighters '94
• Metal Slug 3
• Ikari Warriors

A number of these are favourites of mine (Gradius was my first shoot-em-up as a kid and got me hooked), while some of them I think are just straight-up fun. Only one here I haven't actually played is Ikari Warriors but since I like twin-stick shooters and already filled in my seven, I thought why not?

this was hard!!! there are so many good ones! here's my list...

* ESCHATOS -- i know it technically wasn't released in an arcade, but it is designed exactly like an arcade shmup and would work perfectly on a proper cabinet
* DDR Extreme - despite what people say, everyone truly knows in their hearts that this is the best DDR ever. those 60fps 480p menus, the huge song selection, the PlayStation memory card slots so you could keep a profile of your records... what an amazing machine.
* Time Crisis 3 - IMO this is the point where Time Crisis really found its place; they streamlined most of the issues with the previous titles and it's just a fun ass light gun shooter
* Star Wars Episode I Podracer - this game was SO FUN; the graphics are decent, it runs at a stable 60fps, the seat is good, the controls are well designed and responsive, and there's a giant blue light-up BOOST button WITH A SOLENOID BUILT IN, so it pops up when the boost is ready and it locks down in place after you press it! i've NEVER seen this type of solenoid-latching pushbutton on any other arcade cab and it's super creative and feels great to use
* Ms. Pac-Man Cocktail Cabinet - this one is a bit of a sentimental one, since it is my dad's favorite arcade game and one of the only ones he will still play. plus, it has several improvements over the standard Pac-Man cab variants
* Mario Bros. - the OG. this game is still so much fun to play with someone else; there are so many japes you can pull and it's just a great time.
* Addams Family Pinball - when i was a kid, my friend's dad had this pinball cab in his basement on free play, and i played it every time i was at their house. it's got excellent sound, and i just love pinball anyway; it's underrated in arcades these days IMO.