Originally Posted by
Detonator
1. Gravitar (Atari) Simply the best arcade game ever with incredible depth. 100% skill and tactics,
2. Xevious (Namco) Mother of all vertical shooter games.
3. Star Wars (Atari) (I actually played over 30 million in the arcade version. This game screams playability and requires actual pilot skills. It's much, much harder without the yoke but I've managed to play 2.9 mil with the mouse.)
4. Stargate (Williams) I prefer this over the original Defender.
5. Space Duel (This what Asteroids Deluxe should have been. 4 cool modes... I prefer the linked ship)
6. Battle Zone (Atari) I doubt this requires any explanation. A legend.
7. Empire Strikes Back (Atari) Hugely underrated sequel. Very addictive. Includes a similar buy-in that Tempest has... it's not actually buy-in but you need skills to advance in later levels.)
8. Pole Position (Namco) This is the only game of the mentioned that really shows its age.... but it's still the first ever decent driving arcade game. I remember how amazing it was when it first came out... the whole arcade just stared in in awe. Those were the days...
9. Space Ace (Cinematronics) Maybe not a great game but it deserves mention because it was actually a decent interactive adventure... MUCH better than Dragon's Lair actually... without those annoying black screen clicks... and back then this laserdisc system was sci-fi. I think DL and Space Ace were revolutionary because they put 2000's graphics to a 80's technology. Not sure if this is fully emulated in MAME though... but I have the original DVDs.
10.Raiden Fighters (Seibu Kaihatsu) This is probably the best modern shooter series... I absolutely love it... fast, furious... like Xevious on steroids.
Honorable mentions:
Tempest, Track & Field, Defender, Robotron, Asteroids, Marble Madness, Bomb Jack, Mr Do, Mr Do's Castle, Zookeeper, Phozon, Puzzle Bobble, Money Puzzle Enchanger, Bal Cube, Indiana Jones, Galaga, Major Havoc, Quantum, I Robot, Black Widow, Centipede, Wiz Warz, Liberator, Missile Command.