Favorite arcade games?

[nintendodork]

What are some of your favorite arcade games from back in the day? I'm getting a Supergun fairly soon, and looking on eBay, I'm surprised at how cheap some games are.  If you've got any recommendations or want to share a few of your favorites, post 'em here!  I posted my first PCB purchase in the Finds thread, which was the 4-player Konami Simpsons beat 'em up.

I feel so great finally owning this because not only is it my favorite Simpsons game, but also because there's no other way to play it! For whatever reason, this particular game, also the very first Simpsons game, was never released outside of arcades, and I think out of all the games the Simpsons franchise has under it's belt, it's surprising this one has never been released to home consoles (with the exception of the iPod game made to look like this one).  Not even a XBLA/PSN release!

[satoshi_matrix]

I'm preparing a top 25 arcade game list that should help you along nicely. stay tuned, should be finished soon-ish. that said, shumps, puzzlers, beat em ups and fighters are always good choices Start with the basics like Street Fighter II and Puzzle Bobble.

[nintendodork]

I plan on getting one variant of Puzzle Bobble sometime. They're fairly cheap and I believe I've seen both PCB and MVS versions.  Excited for that list though!

[son_ov_hades]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Turtles In Time
X-Men
Street Fighter II
Time Crisis
Pac-Man
Marvel vs Capcom 2

That's all I can think of.

[UglyJoe]

Galaga
Magic Sword
Knights of the Round

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Rastan (a classic among classics)
Strider
Double Dragon
Haunted Castle
Knights of the Round (deserves 2 mentions)
Cruis'n USA/World
Point Blank
Metal Slug
Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi (Last Blade)
Time Crisis II
Gauntlet Legends
Mario Party (even though the series ended for me at 4, I would still like to play this)

[petik1]

Ms. Pac-man and Galaga. My old elementary school had thse among others that I can't remember, and it was cool being able to go to school and play video games. I always judge my systems on whether they have Ms. Pac-man/ Galaga ports. It sucks that there aren't many arcades around, and the ones that are left have just the basics (Pac-man, Donkey Kong, etc.)

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Yeah, it's sad.

Arcade games just have that feel that home consoles don't. It's like going to movie theaters.

[nintendodork]

These lists are pretty awesome so far, and I'll definitely check the ones I haven't heard of out!  That Mario Party game is interesting too.  If you didn't like the series past a certain point, it looks like that arcade version is more or less a port of Mario Party 1.

[jpx72]

Numan Athletics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqf6-Ykcgik)

Street Fighter

Daytona USA

[shoggoth80]

Galaga, Defender, TMNT, Pac-Man, Gyruss, Final Fight, Golden Axe.
There are more of course. 
Galaga, and TMNT ate a LOT of my quarters/200 Lire when I was a kid.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Numan Athletics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqf6-Ykcgik)

I'm having fun just watching that playthrough.

[jpx72]

Yeah I have some great memories of the game, "missile toss" was my favourite sport

[punkr13]

that game looks sweet! I have never played it ... dang im missing out >.<

Ok so during my gaming years I have gone to many arcades and here's a short list off the bat.

Galaga
Donkey Kong
Dig Dug
sunset riders
simpsons
tmnt
king of fighters ( almost any ver' is great)
samurai showdown (the 1st one was great)
street fighter 2 and alpha 2
time crisis 1
x-men
operation wolf
ms pac man
akanoid ( with the nob )
metal slug
shinobi ( was sweet, the bonus lvls with you throwing ninja stars)
off road ( with the 3 steering wheels)
nfl blitz
super star strikers
ghouls and ghost
punchout ( with the 'gloves joy sticks)
pinup pix ( something like that lol, def adult game )
the punisher
the avengers
xmen vs street figher
San Fran RUSH (learning and finding short cuts was hard hehe)
final fight
fatal fury
ghost busters
indiana jones
silent scope

and theirs some others that I don't even know the names too...

[tonev]

Galaga
Galaxian