Arcade Gaming Passport
Time to earn your stamps.
Special thanks to Detchibe for helping find entries on the missing list.
What's here, what's not and why:
No prototypes, bootlegs or resurfaced games that were never commercially available. Mega Play and PlayChoice-10 titles are also absent. Releases overwhelmingly favor western/global releases, but suggestions for JP exclusive titles are welcome.
Games are selected as classics, hidden gems, influential and/or notable runner ups. An attempt has been made to not allow any one genre to dominate the listings, although there are still some that have much stronger representation due to their abundance. When it comes to fighting games, not all variations on a release will be listed in order to keep things reasonably balanced.
Overall, listings will heavily favor 1995 and prior. An effort has been made to flesh out the twilight era of the classic arcade, but a lack of personal experience with it has led to reliance on external guidance. Anything past 2005 has little chance of making it on to the list, as releases began to launch on consoles and the industry moved toward high-end bemani and redemption models.
On that note: no bemani. It is not a genre I am familiar enough with to make informed selections, and they likely deserve their own list that has more room for sequels and variants. I leave that to someone more qualified.
Similarly, 18+ and torture games such as Chiller have been omitted. Someone more qualified (and interested) can make a list for those.
Missing/Lacking Release Date:
Change Lanes (Taito, 1983)
Cool Riders (Sega, 1994)
Cop 01 (Nichibutsu, 1985)
Dr. Toppel's Adventure (Taito, 1987)
Eagle (1980)
F355 Challenge 2 - International Course Edition (Sega-AM2, 2000)
Finalizer - Super Transformation (Konami, 1985)
Horizon (Irem, 1985)
Hyperdrive (Midway, 1998)
Inferno (Williams, 1984)
Jackal (Konami, 1986)
Jumping Jack (Universal, 1984)
Konami GT (Konami, 1985)
Main Event (SNK, 1984)
Major League (Sega, 1985)
Midnight Run: Road Fighters 2 (Konami, 1995)
Mysterious Stones - Dr. John's Adventure (Technos, 1984)
NBA Play by Play (Konami, 1998)
Pro Bowling (Data East, 1983)
Pro Soccer (Data East, 1983)
Psychic 5 (Jaleco, 1987)
Puzzloop (Mitchell Corporation, 1998)
Shooting Master ()
Side by Side ()
Speed Up ()
Surf Planet ()
Tenkomori Shooting ()
World Grand Prix (Taito, 1989)
Special thanks to Detchibe for helping find entries on the missing list.
What's here, what's not and why:
No prototypes, bootlegs or resurfaced games that were never commercially available. Mega Play and PlayChoice-10 titles are also absent. Releases overwhelmingly favor western/global releases, but suggestions for JP exclusive titles are welcome.
Games are selected as classics, hidden gems, influential and/or notable runner ups. An attempt has been made to not allow any one genre to dominate the listings, although there are still some that have much stronger representation due to their abundance. When it comes to fighting games, not all variations on a release will be listed in order to keep things reasonably balanced.
Overall, listings will heavily favor 1995 and prior. An effort has been made to flesh out the twilight era of the classic arcade, but a lack of personal experience with it has led to reliance on external guidance. Anything past 2005 has little chance of making it on to the list, as releases began to launch on consoles and the industry moved toward high-end bemani and redemption models.
On that note: no bemani. It is not a genre I am familiar enough with to make informed selections, and they likely deserve their own list that has more room for sequels and variants. I leave that to someone more qualified.
Similarly, 18+ and torture games such as Chiller have been omitted. Someone more qualified (and interested) can make a list for those.
Missing/Lacking Release Date:
Change Lanes (Taito, 1983)
Cool Riders (Sega, 1994)
Cop 01 (Nichibutsu, 1985)
Dr. Toppel's Adventure (Taito, 1987)
Eagle (1980)
F355 Challenge 2 - International Course Edition (Sega-AM2, 2000)
Finalizer - Super Transformation (Konami, 1985)
Horizon (Irem, 1985)
Hyperdrive (Midway, 1998)
Inferno (Williams, 1984)
Jackal (Konami, 1986)
Jumping Jack (Universal, 1984)
Konami GT (Konami, 1985)
Main Event (SNK, 1984)
Major League (Sega, 1985)
Midnight Run: Road Fighters 2 (Konami, 1995)
Mysterious Stones - Dr. John's Adventure (Technos, 1984)
NBA Play by Play (Konami, 1998)
Pro Bowling (Data East, 1983)
Pro Soccer (Data East, 1983)
Psychic 5 (Jaleco, 1987)
Puzzloop (Mitchell Corporation, 1998)
Shooting Master ()
Side by Side ()
Speed Up ()
Surf Planet ()
Tenkomori Shooting ()
World Grand Prix (Taito, 1989)
869 Games
