Top Ten Plus Seven Equals Top Seventeen Favorite Arcade Games

Playing video games in the arcade was a childhood moment. Playing arcade games on video game consoles was a childhood moment. The pure arcades are rare today. Computers, emulators, consoles, internet, and cell phones make playing classic arcade games accessible.

I was a below average arcade player. I can say I completed Blood Brothers and Area 51 in one coin without continuing. Moreover, Area 51 was the arcade game I played when I attended San Jose State University. Many of the seventeen arcade games relate to a life memory. Blood Brothers is number five. Area 51 is number two.

I recognize Ghost Squad as a favorite arcade game released in 2004. Ghost Squad was my first game I played at the Golfland weekend opening morning unlimited arcade game play. I'm one of the few players who prefer the shotgun. I also recognize Metal Slug 2 as a favorite arcade game released in 1998. The victory music at the end of every mission is great. Eri was my character.

Here are my top ten plus seven equals top seventeen favorite arcade games. These favorites are from my childhood to my young adult years attending San Jose State University.

*17. Super Pac Man. I watched the game for the first timing confused when Pac Man became big he didn't chomp the ghosts. The first time I played I made it to level 3 without dying.

*16. Super Mario Brothers. I played the game on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I didn't play the game at the arcade. I include the game because I completed the game without warping and without getting additional lives at World 3-1.

*15. Rygar. I dedicate number fifteen to Arthur who was a friend to my brother and I. He always died at the last level.

*14. 1943. A high school friend and I always died at the last level. No continues allowed. All strategies were used such as changing from Auto to 3-Way. Unsuccessful.

*13. X-Men vs. Street Fighter. I was terrible at fighting games. It was entertaining watching people play. I played the game on a modified Sega Saturn. Cammy and Chun-Li were my fighters.

*12. Street Fighter 2. Another fighting game I was terrible. My cousin introduced the game to my brother and I.

*11. Frogger. I played the game at Marie Callender's restaurant in sixth grade. I continued completing level after level after level attracting a crowd.

*10. Raiden 2. Use the cluster bombs for defense.

*9. Time Pilot. I was the only student in my fifth grade class who made it to World War II when my class took a lunch field trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

*8. Time Crisis 2. The only arcade game I played at anime conventions decades ago even though Time Crisis 2 was released in 1997.

*7. Ikari Warriors. The first video game I played with the 360 degree knob on top of the joystick to rotate the character to shoot in eight directions. One of two video games defined my youth at arcades.

*6. Twin Cobra. If the helicopter could fly faster and fewer power ups required for full firepower, then the game is a top three favorite. I used the colors of the helicopters red and blue and the word cobra as nicknames in high school: red cobra and blue cobra. I remember playing the game at Great America amusement park with the background music Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison for the eighth grade graduation party.

*5. Blood Brothers. I can win the game on one coin.

*4. Midnight Resistance. Fire is the gun and nitro is the secondary weapon.

*3. Cyberball 2072. The game is optimized for running plays. No passing plays.

*2. Area 51. I mastered the video game in Fall Semester 1996 at San Jose State University. I admit I needed a partner; in particular, an art major I partnered multiple times. We never knew our names. We never talked afterwards. We never became friends. One game we thanked each other.

Honorable mentions: Aero Fighters 2, Dragon Spirit, Gauntlet, and Magic Sword.

*1. Gauntlet 2. The second of the two video games defined my youth at arcades. The game was popular and was unpopular. The popular times the arcade set 1,000 health for one coin. The unpopular times the arcade set a multiplier when four coins were deposited at the same time for bonus health.