Share Your Favorite, Lesser-known Arcade Gems
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Purpose: I'd like to start a thread to discuss/suggest lesser-known arcade gems. Obviously, this is all subjective, and some of us will have more experience than others. I thought there was a thread like this once, but I'd like this one to focus on arcade titles. I think we can all name 50 titles that are almost always associated with retro-gaming. I'd like to keep these suggestions to games that are playable with MAME or FBA (ideally, lr-mame2003) and ones that not everyone knows about. It might help others to include the emulator you use.
With that, I will get us started with a couple of titles that I have found to fit this description:
Stone Ball (lr-mame2003)
This is a cleverly-drawn cave man football game with funny 4-player team action.
Vindicators (lr-mame2003, <CODE_NOT> tankstick input mapping to single joysticks)
Does everyone know about this one? Nobody really discusses it. This is a two-player co-op tank battle. You steer your tank(s) up a vertical scrolling battleground. After the first level, you can turn your gun turret. Careful mapping of controls lets you play this with a single joystick and 4 buttons. There is also a sequel.
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Bell's and Whistles
The name of TwinBee for arcade outside of Japan. A great cute-em-up!
The Cliffhanger Edward Randy
Ever wanted to play an overthetop action movie? This game is just AWESOME! Video says it all...
Ninja Baseball Bat Man
What the hell am i playing and why is it so dang awesome!
Vector Artist, Designer and Maker of Stuff: Laser Cut Atari / Pixel Theme Bartop
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@Capeman These look pretty good. The Cliffhanger Edward Randy looks like I am watching action sequences from an Indiana Jones film!
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I got a couple more
JJ Squakers
You play as a bird on an acid trip... at least that's what i took from it. Really fun game!
GROWL
You play as yet another indiana jones style character beating up poachers!
Vector Artist, Designer and Maker of Stuff: Laser Cut Atari / Pixel Theme Bartop
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J.J. Squawkers. Probably the most fit-inducing psychedelic platformer you will ever play. The first level seems fairly normal...
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@Capeman Hahahah, we posted JJ Squawkers at the same time! Psych!
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@AlexMurphy It's that damn good!
Vector Artist, Designer and Maker of Stuff: Laser Cut Atari / Pixel Theme Bartop
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@Capeman @AlexMurphy I've to download that now
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@Capeman It is! After I recovered from the epilepsy..
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@AlexMurphy lmao
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Already some really good titles here. I'll add:
The Outfoxies
One of the earliest arena fighting games that would ultimately give way to Nintendo's 'Super Smash Brothers'.
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@mediamogul I like The Outfoxies, but are you able to get sound?
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I haven't tried it in a while, but I know that one of the RetroPie Mame options I've used in the past does support the audio.
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@caver01 said in Share Your Favorite, Lesser-known Arcade Gems:
I like The Outfoxies, but are you able to get sound?
No sound here either, ive experimented with a few different emulators
Vector Artist, Designer and Maker of Stuff: Laser Cut Atari / Pixel Theme Bartop
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Makes me wonder if it wasn't lr-mame2010, which is currently out of commission.
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Not sure if this counts as "lesser-known" or not, maybe "under-appreciated". Moonwalker is a fantastic arcade beat/dance'emup. I just don't see it mentioned a lot.
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'Moonwalker' is one of the titles I make double sure is running on any emulation setup I have. It's a guilty pleasure due to it's main hero, but the game plays very well and the music adaptations are top notch. I can never get 'Smooth Criminal' out of my head for days after playing.
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@mediamogul I understand MJ is out of favour... That has nothing to do with the game. It's a thoroughly enjoyable and infinitely playable game and more fun than it needs to be! And the music is great. I still snicker when he rescues the kids...
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@AlexMurphy said in Share Your Favorite, Lesser-known Arcade Gems:
I still snicker when he rescues the kids...
Ha! It is pretty funny. It's a rare game that can be enjoyed both ironically and as a genuinely satisfying gaming experience.
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@AlexMurphy Moonwalker definitely qualifies! Thanks for the reminder. I have never played it, but I see it mentioned occasionally.
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