The Top 100 Golden Era Arcade Games, and a challenge

Golden Era Game of the Week
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BeeJay
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Post by BeeJay »

Weehawk wrote:BeeJay, I think you said the Large was too small, right? Well, I have a bonus for you. I think I still have your address.
Ahem, unfortunately yes I have too much good food in me to fit the Large size so unless they have changed in size recently I guess I'm still an XL boy. :(

.... but I'm working on losing some of the rotundness and have dropped from just over 100kg to a little over 93kg in the last few months. For the benefit of non-metric readers, thats from 220lb to 205lb. :)

Let me know if you need me to PM the mailing address.

Cheers,
BeeJay.
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Weehawk
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Post by Weehawk »

Weehawk wrote:And that will be the official GEGOTW-endorsed top 100. Until someone names a game not yet mentioned that I think should bump something.
Thought of one myself.

Eliminator is in.

Mystic Marathon is out.
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The TJT
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Post by The TJT »

Just few that spring to mind that any classic games list should have:
IN:
Pong
Breakout
Arkanoid
Space Invaders
Phoenix(Dear Lord, the essential shmup. it was everywhere)
Dragon's Lair
Gauntlet
Paperboy
Ladybug(many conversions to consoles tell the tale)
Sprint 1
Commando
Ghosts 'n Goblins(widespread and very popular)
Outrun
Time Pilot

Tetris
Afterburner

Lunar Lander!?
Firefox!?
Space Ace?
Indy?
Venture?
Return of the Jedi!?
Hypersports?


These should not be top 100 material in any classic game list.
OUT:
Alpine Ski
Arabian ?
Asteroids deluxe
Bubbles
Crystal Castles ?
Domino Man
Donkey Kong 3
Frenzy
Frontline
Food fight
Krull?
Kick Man ?
Looping
Lost Tomb
Monaco GP?
Mystic Marathon
New York, New York
PepperII ?
Red Baron ?
Rip Off
Roundup
Satan's Hollow ?
Slither ?
Snake Pit ?
Solar Quest ?
.
.
.
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The TJT
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Post by The TJT »

Rick, yeah, there must be something to Crystal Castles claim. I never saw a machine in Europe in the 80's, and I was in MANY arcades around Europe.
I'm not so convinced it was a big hit in the USA either, judging by message board lurking.

Then again I never saw or heard about Robotron or Sinistar back then either. I'm not sure if they did distribute those games in Europe. I agree 100% with Robotron having it's place in top100. Not sure about Sinistar, it lacks some serious fandom in the forums and for example...MARP.
One of the places to check out popularity is KLOV "scarcity-factor", although I would expect that too to be mostly US based.

[edit: This post was a reply to previous message of LN2, which seems to be vanished without any apparent reason. These kind of lists do not have much depth if the word is not free IMO)
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Post by mahlemiut »

The TJT wrote:Arkanoid
The TJT wrote:Gauntlet
The TJT wrote:Commando
Ghosts 'n Goblins(widespread and very popular)
Outrun
The TJT wrote:Tetris
Afterburner
All outside the "golden era" I believe.

On the other hand, I agree with you on Ladybug, Phoenix and Sprint.
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Post by Zhorik »

The TJT wrote:Just few that spring to mind that any classic games list should have:
IN:
Space Invaders
Phoenix(Dear Lord, the essential shmup. it was everywhere)
Time Pilot
Space Invaders is on Weehawk's list. Phoenix and Time Pilot Weehawk already admitted should been in his top 100 and he was removing other games to fit them in.
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Post by The TJT »

It's arguable what is "golden era" and what is "classic". There seems to be many kind of definitions floating around the interwebnet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Arcade_Games
Gauntlet and Pong feel pretty golden to me...
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Post by mahlemiut »

I'm sure as far as JTC is concerned, the "golden era" is up to and including 1984.

Besides, Pong feels more rusty than golden to me...
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Post by Weehawk »

It's official!

http://www.gegotw.net/top100.html

Reminder: Here at the Golden Era Game of the Week, for lack of a more objective definition, we consider the "Golden Era" of arcade games to have started in 1978 with the meteoric rise in popularity of Space Invaders, and ended in 1984 with the release of Kung Fu Master.

Gauntlet and Ghosts-n-Goblins were the first big games after the Golden Era had ended.

It should also be noted that this relates primarily to events in the United States. I don't doubt for a moment that circumstances were different in other countries.

New suggestions on games which might should be considered for inclusion in the list are welcome, but complaints about games included or already rejected are pointless, and any further debate of the definition of the "Golden Era" needs to be continued outside this forum.

Thanks.
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Post by Chufoglu »

78-84?

Pac-Land and Mario Bros, two essential platforms of all times.

Paperboy, the best graphics and sound of his era and original gameplay.

I-Robot, first 3-D of the historyand very good gameplay.

Peter Pack Rat, Atari in 80´s is my favourite.

Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out, the best boxing arcades of the history.
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Post by Weehawk »

Chufoglu wrote:78-84?
Not exactly what I said. Space Invaders to Kung Fu Master.
Chufoglu wrote:Pac-Land and Mario Bros, two essential platforms of all times.

Paperboy, the best graphics and sound of his era and original gameplay.

I-Robot, first 3-D of the historyand very good gameplay.

Peter Pack Rat, Atari in 80´s is my favourite.

Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out, the best boxing arcades of the history.
I, Robot failed miserably in the U.S.

Pac-Land I have no recollection of. Can't have been that essential.

Mario Bros. was indeed popular, but I would not replace anything on my list with it.

I believe Punch-Out and Paperboy both came out in late 1984, subsequent to Kung Fu Master.

Peter Packrat and Super Punch-Out were after 1984.
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Post by LordGaz »

Marble Madness isn't a Golden Era game, it is the one of the types of game that marked the end of the golden era. It is a short duration game that has an end and you can also continue the game by inserting more coins. These are not Golden Era games. Hang On is another example.

Another type of game that marked the end of the Golden Era was sideways scrolling platform games with predesigned levels like Mario. Can't see any on the list though.
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Post by Chufoglu »

I had thought that it was quality, not popularity. I don´t know the popularity of I, Robot and Pac-Land in USA, but the first 3-D and the best side-scrolling platform game previous to Super Mario Bros are very important.

Lunar Rescue
Space Panic
Hyper Sports
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Post by Zhorik »

LordGaz wrote:Marble Madness isn't a Golden Era game, it is the one of the types of game that marked the end of the golden era. It is a short duration game that has an end and you can also continue the game by inserting more coins. These are not Golden Era games. Hang On is another example.

Another type of game that marked the end of the Golden Era was sideways scrolling platform games with predesigned levels like Mario. Can't see any on the list though.
Pole Position is a short duration game that has an end, but is definitely Golden Era.

Moon Patrol allows continuing the game by inserting more coins. Again, definitely Golden Era.

Mario Bros. is not a sideways scrolling platform game. You're thinking of Super Mario Bros.
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Post by Weehawk »

LordGaz wrote:Marble Madness...is the one of the types of game that marked the end of the golden era.
I actually feel the same way, but this is more of a personal opinion. Given the timing of its release, and its popularity, I couldn't justify not including it.
LordGaz wrote:Another type of game that marked the end of the Golden Era was sideways scrolling platform games with predesigned levels like Mario. Can't see any on the list though.
Aren't you mixing two different categories here? Platform games and scrolling fighters?

Platform games, although not a favorite of mine, were common throughout the Golden Era. Agree completely on the scrollers, though. Hence my (partly) tongue-in-cheek vilification of Kung Fu Master.
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