Greatest Arcade Memory?

[Weekend_Warrior]

Walking into new arcades, watching a couple local dudes play Mortal Kombat, and then putting one of my quarters up on the plastic piece under the monitor. "I got winner!"

[Inazuma]

Powerstone was for the arcade? I remember playing that and its sequel for the Dreamcast and didn't both games come out for the PSP? I may have to go look for it.

Sure was. Power Stone 2 was the same way. I have seen a Power Stone 2 arcade as well, although I didn't play it because it is shit compared to the first one.

They run on the Naomi arcade hardware, which is very similar to the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast games are basically perfect ports.

Still, I would love to have a Power Stone arcade machine. If it was a Japanese style candy cab, that would be even better.

If anyone knows of a Power Stone arcade machine in SoCal, please tell me where it's at. I would love to go play it and challenge random people there.

[wip3outguy7]

I liked them so much I worked at one for 3 years.

I came really close to working at a couple of arcades. I really wish I had.

[itsmattxp]

Winning 1st place in an Initial D Version 2 tournament. Man I loved that game.

[the7k]

I actually just recounted some arcades of days gone by in a recent thread on SRK.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/the7k/IMG_20110714_164241.jpg
This is a picture of what used to be the Aladdin's Castle/Time Out at the main mall in my area. Used to have rows of fighting games. I remember playing KOF'98, Third Strike, Capcom vs SNK 2 and Marvel vs Capcom 2 here. Now, it's a damn family photography place.

We have a foodery that used to have some kick ass cabs as well, called Red Bone Alley. I remember playing Samurai Shodown 2, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Daytona USA and Battletoads vs Double Dragon here. Now, all they have is a basketball shooter and Deal or No Deal.

Had a movie theater that had incredible arcades. Darkstalkers and Killer Instinct were big here. Now, it's been torn down and is nothing but a brown spot in a parking lot.

All our Pizza Huts used to have arcades, including Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury 3, Magical Drop 2, Ms. Pac Man and Metal Slug 2. I actually managed to beat Metal Slug 2 on location without getting hit back in the day. Now, if our Pizza Huts have anything, it's just crane games.

All we got now is Chuck E Cheese (used to have KOFXI - beat the game with every team to see all the endings back when the only home option was the Japanese version), as well as a small arcade that rents out all of their machines. I go to this arcade to play Simpsons Pinball Party and Ms.Pac-Man/Galaga - everything else there is pretty much garbage.

While my town is pretty much barren, I do go out of town to play at some arcades - most notably, I take the 1.5 hour drive to go to Garden City. They have a LOT of old school arcade games there, although I honestly spend most of my money on pinball (Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings are SPECTACULAR), skeeball, Tekken 5 and OutRun 2. Also, I actually find the Fast & Furious games to be more fun than they initially looked.

Just wish they had some 2D fighters. Tekken 5 is all they have. At least that's more fighters than anything else within a 200 mile radius.

[Bikeage]

I'm lucky that the next town over has a decent arcade/mini golf place that has been in operation for 15+ years. The classics are represented (although i've yet to see Donkey Kong there) There is a noticeable majority of modern shooting, rhythm, and racing games, and a few oldies have been there forever.

Their pinball selection varies 12-15 tables, nothing before the early 90's. It's bad enough with the video games, but the pins suffer the worst lighting conditions, and are sadly positioned under paneled tube lights. The reflections and brightness kill the mood.

Which to stay on topic is cutting class at 9am and blowing up Twilight Zone while lighting up Lucky Strikes in a mall arcade lit only by CRT monitors. Back then the arcade was like a bar for teens. It was dark, you could smoke, and if you were cool about it bring a drink in.

[t0yrobo]

One of my favorite memories is also of the last arcade I really went to. Myself and a friend shared a character on the conquest mode of Soul Calibur 2 for a couple years. Every now and then each of us would stop in and play a bit, or remake the character if the machine got reset. Our guy was never top on the machine, but he was always up there. It was awesome to be in the arcade and see our Voldo beat strangers.
Since then that arcade has closed, and I've moved. I still hit arcades when I can, but without going regularly I have a hard time getting into the groove of things.

[AdamGomez1987]

I know there's a Kokomos where I live, I haven't been in there for like 10 years but I remember it had its fair share of stacked arcade games. Now I'm curious how it's looking like now as it's still open. I feel pretty sure that the games inside are dated like everything else but now i'm curious the next time I go back.

[Redifer]

My greatest arcade memories come not long after I purchased my first game console: The Sega Master System. I got used to a bunch of games on it and I would go to the arcades and see the arcade versions of these games. Oooooh man was it awesome. I'd play all day. I was completely able to beat games like Space Harrier. I'd often writ to Sega of America asking why the games were changed for the home versions. I specifically remember asking why there were flying fortresses to battle in the home port of After Burner but the arcade didn't have these. I also asked where all of the memory went (4 MEGA POWER) as I didn't see a lot of variety in the game. During this same time (which extended into the Genesis years) I would make sure to play all of the newest arcade games just in case they were translated to a home console so I could compare them. I was spoiled by the arcades.

[BoringSupreez]

My greatest arcade memories come not long after I purchased my first game console: The Sega Master System. I got used to a bunch of games on it and I would go to the arcades and see the arcade versions of these games. Oooooh man was it awesome. I'd play all day. I was completely able to beat games like Space Harrier. I'd often writ to Sega of America asking why the games were changed for the home versions. I specifically remember asking why there were flying fortresses to battle in the home port of After Burner but the arcade didn't have these. I also asked where all of the memory went (4 MEGA POWER) as I didn't see a lot of variety in the game. During this same time (which extended into the Genesis years) I would make sure to play all of the newest arcade games just in case they were translated to a home console so I could compare them. I was spoiled by the arcades.

Did Sega ever write you back?