Best MAME games for kids aged 6 - 10

felleg

@gnome73
Outrun / Outrunners is an absolute must when discussing driving games.
(Super) Hang-On, good motorbike game

Other games I'd like to recommend:
Space Harrier
After Burner (if exploding planes are considered kid friendly)
Donkey Kong
Mario Bros. (original)
Frogger is a must for kids
Track and Field
1943 (if 2D explosions are kid friendly)
Road Fighter (really minimalist graphics, but one of my favorite arcade games ever)
Berzerk
Dig Dug
Pole Position
Time Pilot
Mappy
Arkanoid

backstander

@gnome73

To continue what @felleg said:
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong 3
Lode Runner I-IV
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
Ms. Pac-Man (I think this is the best Pac-Man game)
GP Rider (good Sega motorcycle game)
Racing Hero (another good Sega motorcycle game)
Riding Hero (good Neo-Geo motorcycle game)
Virtua Racing (classic Sega racing game)
1000 Miglia: Great 1000 Miles Rally (good racing game)

If you want puzzle games:
Tetris
Pipe Dream
Puyo Puyo 2

Ignus Fast

Do you have Virtua Racing working? I've tried both .94 and 1.4, and in both cases the cars just spin, and the ground won't render.

backstander

@Ignus-Fast
I actually haven't ever tried. I play Virtua Racing Deluxe on the Sega 32X instead.

Ignus Fast

Gotcha, thanks. Yeah, both the original Genesis and 32X versions work - I just understood that the arcade version works too, but I can't get it to do so. The player car renders fine, but is apparently rapidly spinning (along with all of the other cars). Just a few background assets render well.

No biggie - I just like to watch it, and the arcade version is higher resolution and has a higher polygon count.

Ditch123

@felleg
Can outrunners work on rpi3? Cant get it to work. Thanks

backstander

@Ditch123
I think OutRunners has speed and sound issues on the RPi.

BTW...here is the lr-mame2003 (MAME 0.78 Romset) Compatibility List feel free to contribute to the list if you want.

ohmycommodore

Great topic for me too, keep the ideas coming – my kids are 5 and 10.

Brought my Xmas present RetroPie along on a week away to introduce to the kids, and what do I find? The resort here finally overhauled their games room, replacing the 4-5 "single game" free-play cabinets they've had forever with 2 "Multi Arcade" free-play cabinets running an "iCade" system. Not sure what's cobbled together inside, but they have 10 screens x 9 games each. That's OK I still have way more games, and way more comfy seating :) Unsurprisingly, the sticks and buttons on these things are already feeling abused after what must be less than a year of use here.

Looking forward to lots of good ideas here I may have missed as I load games on my pi.

Lyle_JP

Pooyan is one of my little one's favorites, from the ease of the two-direction joystick to the little pigs theme.

blanka

Mr. Do
Space Invaders
Galaga 88
Centipede (they really love this!).

ohmycommodore

@Lyle_JP Pooyan, Pootan, all the poo-named games – loved by kids the world over!

ebtalk

@Lyle_JP thanks for this. Never heard of it. My nieces will love this.