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[Herman Cain]

*Note Arcade games look better in motion than stills so please exercise caution when dealing with computers or browsers that can't handle gifs of the first post.

This thread is dedicated to the amazing arcade games that made us say "WOW" the first time we saw their *technical graphics.. So many developer delivered some truly innovative, and sometimes, graphical powerhouse experiences.

In 1983, I spotted this gem of a game by Atari, made by the man who also created Missile Command and Tempest. The game, called I,Robot, is a 3D game with shading, camera control, shooting, and is a platformer-Q*bert like game.

It will be another 6+ years before other games start even coming close to this games technical achievements. Way too far ahead of it's time, way to expensive, resulting in low shipments of the arcade game. But man was it amazing.

Another great game, by Taito, Chase H.Q. in 1988, one of the establishments has special ordered the arcade machine after he went on a trip (or so he says) this game was amazing, the high speed chase after your target, crashing through obstacles, impressive visuals.

In 1989, I was once again amazed by Stun Runner by Atari, an arcade driving games with really impressive graphics, sense of speed, tight controls, and great audio. I spend much money on this game, and so did other people.

Then to not make the list long, I will Conclude with Neo Bomberman from Hudson 1997, this game was amazing and is still technically not ported anywhere so the only non-arcade way to obtain it is if you happen to have a Neo-Geo, there may be other ways but I don't know what those are as far as I know.

Anyway, the game is top notch, when it was put out there it was a great fun action packed single and multiplayer fun house. Clean crisp graphics with some pre-renderd 3D throw in nicely matching the setting as opposed to the hack of it, tight controls, tons of abilities, and great music audio.

So what arcades used to wow you when you saw/played them?

*added.

 

[georly]

For me it was initially mortal kombat, followed by killer instinct. I was also fascinated with the dismemberment in time killers.

Also, when I finally saw one, the sega hologram one, time traveler

Oh, and actually seeing Ryu fight Wolverine in the first X-men vs street fighter was the first time that the idea of a crossover ever occurred to me. It was pretty unbelievable. Not so much the graphics, just the concept that 2 unrelated universes (both of which I was a huge fan of) could collide and be in one game. And being able to pick TWO fighters per round and switch out whenever you wanted.

Also, it seems incredibly lame now, but for some reason, the spider-man arcade game has a moment when it zooms out and the gameplay changes a bit (from melee combat to projectiles) blew me away and made me want to play it more.

 

[Subaru]

Sega Super GT/Scud Racer:

I still think this game is beaaaautiful!

Virtua Fighter 3

 

[Sectorseven]

Mortal Kombat and then Mortal Kombat 4 (wowed by how shitty it was).

 

[Ganondorfo]

I dont know if there are arcade games like this one that uses awesome arcade backgrounds.

 

[OCD Guy]

For me it was pretty much all the SEGA arcade games, house of the dead, virtua cop, virtua fighter, virtua striker 2, Daytona USA, Sega rally and many many more.

And that moment when I picked up a console and could experience all those games in my own home.....

 

[Mihos]

Pit Fighter and the first Mortal Kombat blew my mind at the time. It was just the first time I saw digitized characters.

I also played some red baron type VR game in the early 90s at a mall and it wasn't until the last year that I experienced anything like it.

 

[Crankshaft]

Golden Axe

Seeing those big gorgeous spells take up the whole screen blew my mind as a child.

Those big clouds of fiery death swirling around and getting closer to the screen.....so good (back in the day)

 

[Silver Arrows]

Le Mans 24. Still my favorite gaming iteration of the greatest race in the world.

 

[CaptNink]

I was a kid when I first saw this in the arcade. It blew my mind --- hell, it blew everyone's mind at the time....until you actually tried to play it.

 

[AgeEighty]

The first one to truly blow me away would have been Dragon's Lair. It looked impossible. How could a fully animated cartoon react to your input?

Then there was Paperboy. I was so used to games about space ships, fantasy and goofy cartoon characters, and then along comes this game about something so mundane. And all the different characters doing their unique, neighborhood-y things, just happening to create challenging obstacles for you yet completely oblivious to your existence. And the game actually SPOKE! And those bike handlebar controls! I was floored by and completely enamored with it.

The next one after that was Street Fighter II. The graphics, the incredible detail in the characters and backgrounds, the little touches like the "beat-up" portraits and the gleam in their eye if you put in a quarter to continue... and it just brought a sense of directness and immediacy to the concept of one-on-one player-versus-player arcade play that no other game had achieved. It was one of the most incredible gaming experiences I'd ever had.

I miss the days when games still had that power over me.

 

[georly]

I was a kid when I first saw this in the arcade. It blew my mind --- hell, it blew everyone's mind at the time....until you actually tried to play it.

Yeah, this and mad doc McCree.

Then you try to put a quarter in to play but it only has a thing to insert dollar bills and you go 'nope' (at least the ones I tried to play in the early 90s, i'm too young to have played them when they came out.)

 

[mclem]

Another great game, by Taito, Chase H.Q. in 1988, one of the establishments has special ordered the arcade machine after he went on a trip (or so he says) this game was amazing, the high speed chase after your target, crashing through obstacles, impressive visuals.

I've said before: I'd love Taito to have a word with M2 sometime about a 3D Classics line.

 

[Glix]

TMNT blew my fucking mind as a child. The graphics were sooooooo sweet. I would do whatever it took to get to the mall and play that shit.

The SEGA hologram game blew my mind as well, even though it was shitty. The holograms were mad cool.

Edit - Race Drivin made me flip my shit as well.

 

[Shifty1897]

Time Crisis 2, Hydro Thunder, and Xmen vs. Street Fighter consumed all my quarters as a kid/teenager.

 

[jon bones]

the intro animation to SFII at the local pizza place legit changed my life

 

[c0de]

The first one to truly blow me away would have been Dragon's Lair. It looked impossible. How could a fully animated cartoon react to your input?

And then you figured out it can't...

 

[endtropy]

I'm lazy so no pics from me but basically anything in the Virtual On series ever..
On a similar tip, Namco's Cyber Sled.

These were the kind of experiences you just could not get at home at the time.. not even in watered down versions. If you wanted to have a 3d tank fight or 3d mecha fight you had to drop some quarters and grab some sticks. It was really these types of experiences that I looked forward to when I could beg for enough quarters and to get dropped off on a Saturday afternoon.

second edit - just looked up the cabinets on the arcade museum and this may be the most bad ass quote ever in regards to old gaming arcade cabs

"Because of the large number of polygons in the game and the processing power required, the game also requires cooling fans to blow across the game boards. Without these, the game will freeze up, or cease functioning completely. Although the dedicated game ships with two fans per boardset, the game seems to function okay with only one."

yes, the massive number of polygons and literally insane amount of processing power haha.. man I'm getting old.

 

[Soltype]

Virtua Fighter 3

Played the deluxe cab back in 97, and it was incredible.

Here's some footage running on real hardware.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXXmWRLmJ4

 

[Glix]

Played the deluxe cab back in 97, and it was incredible.

Here's some footage running on real hardware.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXXmWRLmJ4

I remember when this launched. Holy shit it was CRAZY. We had just become accustom to polygons but never had we seen something like this.

ALL of the model 3 stuff was crazy advanced for the time. Was the Jurassic Park light gun game Model 3? That game made me flip my shit.

This is shameful.... but the graphics in Pit Fighter blew my mind too, I thought it was just the coolest thing ever. Even back then I knew the gameplay was shit tho.

 

[entremet]

VF2 was amazing in the arcades. 60FPS polygons were so pretty.

 

[BNGames]

Third Strike continues to blow my mind on a daily basis

 

[DrFunk]

Any Sega arcade game

also, the first time I saw Street Fighter 3: New Generation, my jaw dropped

 

[Tensketch]

STAR. WARS. TRILOGY. ARCADE.

Oh my god this game was in my local bowling alley and I only got to play it once because at the time I didnt have any arcade money and we never had time for me to play it, but I loved it so much, especially facing down against Vader with the arcade stick as a lightsaber.

I would love to play it again, but I've never found a machine since, makes me really sad.

 

[Sectorseven]

Street Fighter 3 was actually rather disappointing to me upon release. The music and characters were very different from 2, and it was a difficult game to get the hang of as a casual.

I think the cabinet at my arcade had a marquee that just said "three" in fancy text and at first I didn't even realize it was the sequel to Street Fighter.

 

[Mengy]

For me, the first arcade game to truly blow my mind was the original Star Wars arcade game:

Flying that trench run was heaven on Earth, so much damn fun with the movie soundbites and that awesome controller!

 

[Synth]

Definitely Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter 3.

Virtua Fighter 3 especially seemed like such impossible BS at the time.

Virtua Fighter 3

Wait... where is this shot from, and why do the characters appear to be running in Model 2 mode?

 

[icecold1983]

San francisco rush
Top skater
Hydro thunder

 

[Deadpool_X]

I was absolutely blown away the first time I played the Deluxe version of Time Crisis 2. I had played tons of lightgun shooters in the past, but the moment I fired that first round and felt the slide kick on the gun, I was instantly immersed into the world. Combine that with the cover mechanic and I was sold on the franchise.

 

[Herman Cain]

Any Sega arcade game

also, the first time I saw Street Fighter 3: New Generation, my jaw dropped

Did you ever play 2nd impact?

 

[kunonabi]

X-Men vs Street Fighter

I had no clue the game even existed since I don't remember any of the game magazines talking about it so when I walked into the arcade and it was just sitting there I was blown away. Ended up being one of my favorite fighting games to this day.

 

[suntoryTime]

Definitely Daytona USA.

I had played Virtua Racing by that time so true 3D racing games weren't a novel idea. But textured polygons and 60 fps completely blew my mind.

 

[Stevey]

For me it was initially mortal kombat,

This.
I couldnt believe what I was seeing.

 

[FriedConsole]

For me, the first arcade game to truly blow my mind was the original Star Wars arcade game:

Beat me to this. The other one was Hard Driving. I thought this is what driving is truely like. Realized as an adult, driving is nothing like the game.

 

[liquidtmd]

Definitely Daytona USA.

I had played Virtua Racing by that time so true 3D racing games weren't a novel idea. But textured polygons and 60 fps completely blew my mind.

.

I watched the attract sequence over and over again in our local arcade...to soak it in before I put my money in

 

[ThatStupidLion]

that xmen game and the one where you're on a snowboard or skis and immersed. those blew my 8 year old brain.

 

[smurfx]

i remember being blown away by robocop and ninja gaiden. xmen children of the atom and street fighter alpha also blew my mind.

 

[GDGF]

Already listed, but when I first saw Dragons Lair and Virtua Fighter I couldn't help but scream "COOL!". It was like a reflex response.

 

[anotherVegan]

Killer Instict.

Later F Zero AX with its rotating driver's seat.

 

[Seven Force]

Daytona USA. Sega stuff in general always seemed way ahead of the pack, but Daytona in particular was one of those "This is the future, wow" moments for me.

 

[Business]

Vigilante is the first I can remember.

Hang on as well.

Then it was stuff on the NeoGeo, like Super Sidekicks.

Later it was the Sega 3D games. From Daytona USA to Sega Rally to The House of the Dead 2.

 

[Xamtheking]

Midnight Wanderers here

 

[Herman Cain]

Beat me to this. The other one was Hard Driving. I thought this is what driving is truely like. Realized as an adult, driving is nothing like the game.

Atari through out some monster games, to bad arcades aren't really a thing. I suppose it would be super expensive to have arcades now rival graphics of Killzone or Ryse. On proprietary hardware.

 

[shimrra]

When I first saw Asteriods in the arcade this just blew my mind, damn I feel old.

 

[low-G]

Most everything on Sega Model 2 & 3

Technically the most far ahead technology in arcades, ever. Model 3 was 1 million dollar (licensed to military) hardware initially sold at $20,000 (still a lot).

Blew my mind

 

[DrFunk]

Did you ever play 2nd impact?

played it on dreamcast, never saw it in arcades though

 

[Devilgunman]

It's a fcking Gundam cockpit, people.

 

[Gusy]

Being used to NES visuals.. I was also blown away by TNMT. It was my first window to 16 bit visuals before the 16 bit generation even started (Where I live).

But nothing touches the Model 2 games from Sega. Seeing 3d visuals at that framerate blew my mind. I think all of those titles still hold up.. Love the way they look. I blame Sega for making me a framerate nut job.

 

[DirtyLary]

Atari Space Lords.

In 1992 it hit the arcade with the first "lan party" multiplayer experience.

You could link 8 cabinets having 8 pilots with 8 co-pilot gunners shooting it out in 3d space arena.

It was mind blowing for the times and a hint of what was to come with online gaming.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNftDrEzj10

 

[Pro]

Greatest Arcade of all time.