The Arcade Experience at Home - Part 1

Here we go over the earliest days of my gaming memories. My introduction to arcade games and the home versions I had access to.
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Opening 3D Logo By:
Jan Neves
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Opening 2D Animation By:
Kevin Bhall
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Episode Notes:
1, Stella used for the 2600 captures and MAME used for the arcade.
2. I actually own original 2600 hardware and most of the games in this episode. Unfortunately it is not modified in any way for game capture.
3. I could not set Pole Position up properly in MAME. The control always felt wrong and made gameplay almost impossible. I used footage form the attract mode instead.
4. During my run with my fathers 2600 he purchased me an Odyssey 2. I would have included some thoughts about it, but I honestly don't remember much about it. I only owned a handful of games for it and didn't play it a lot.
5. I had to use the NES version of Donkey Kong in place of the arcade because I could not find a working ROM for my version of MAME. I genuinely don't have the patience to deal with such incompatibilities.
6. I virtually ignored console gaming from about 84 to 86. It was Nintendo that got me back into home gaming.
7. My father also loved Demon Attack, a game I admittedly thought was quite good as well. We played together often, one of my few happy memories I have of him.
8. The music during the arcade Zaxxon footage is from the SMS 3D version.
9. Part 2 will focus on my transition to the NES and popular arcade ports I loved there.

[@WarriorSmurf]

I miss video arcades sooooo much.

[@MasaCheez]

Sooooooooo much 😰

[@texastoast7514]

I guess Im lucky because we still have one left. Im gonna go today for yall that don't have one and because my daughter has never been to one. It's dark and dirty smells musty but that's part of the charm

[@temjin44]

I lived half my childhood I'm the arcades.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

My five year old self didn't care that Pac-Man wasn't as good as the arcade. It was Pac-Man, and I was playing it at home. Probably one of the most solid-playing arcade ports for me on the VCS was Centipede. The visuals took the usual hit, but man was that gameplay as fast as smooth as the arcade game.

[@wexenhex]

Berzerk is another great port, some actually prefer it!

[@Boswd]

Oh man 100% agree on that centipede port. That was my arcade game I loved loved loved it and I got it when it was released Ran home Pop that in Saw the pulsating Atari symbol with a floating centipede and the mushrooms on the side and when I hit start seeing the graphics I was like what the h ell. But once gameplay started man they captured it 100%. That controlled chaos of the game a color changes everything I still love that port today. And oddly enough I prefer using the joystick over the trackball from the arcade as I would always overshoot where I wanted to be I felt I had a little bit more control with the joystick. But man oh man I got early carpal tunnel syndrome from playing centipede back in the day I love the 2600 version

[@SomeOrangeCat]

@@Boswd An excellent early example of Gameplay > Graphics.

[@Boswd]

@@SomeOrangeCat And honestly that was a target in a nutshell I mean same thing with Ms Pac-Man other graphics weren't bad at all by any stretch It definitely wasn't any one-to-one port but the gameplay was just outstanding.

[@duhmez]

Spaci invaders on my Atari 2600 was fuckign magical. I culd not believe i was destorying the alien invasion on my TV.

[@thecunninlynguist]

For the most part I would swear the home ports I played were arcade perfect...despite not being true at all.

[@b.o.353]

Frogger especially.

[@Soulintent95]

Well, what really matters is the gameplay formula. The graphics are pretty much never going to be a good replica, at least not until the turbografx days.

[@MrMegaManFan]

Deacon the Villain, Kno or Natti?

[@stingyringpiece]

looking back on the genesis (megadrive) they were pretty close and better than the competition at the time.

[@thecunninlynguist]

@@MrMegaManFan all of the above, plus Tonedeff as honorary member

[@EliteGamersUnited]

arcades will never feel the way they did back in the 90s

[@TheSektorz]

no games will ever feel like they did in back their day for example I loved Sonic Adventure and it was amazing in the late 90s, but obviously today nobody can experience it with the same excitement because people are accustomed to much more advanced games now we have our memories but we'll never have those experiences again - and this applies even to the 10 year olds who are now experiencing the games they'll look back on with nostalgia in 30 years

[@alphawoolf5981]

Arcades will never feel the way they did back in the 70s :)

[@EliteGamersUnited]

@@alphawoolf5981 Unfortunately that's a feeling I could not fathom or grasp because I was not alive and I'm not going to pretend to know what it was feeling like but I'm sure it was awesome

[@orkoto6057]

Well they are safer now and smoke free.......

[@EliteGamersUnited]

@@orkoto6057 safe, i can care less about. I fear no humanbeing, and i am prepared to die at any moment. as for smoke free, im a 1.5pack a day smoker, it sucks we cant smoke in arcades anymore

[@HellTantrumbull]

Still remember my mother taking me to Chuck E. Cheese and playing games like Popeye, Moon Patrol, Burger Time and a other games at the time. a lot of those games I also played on the atari 2600. 5200 and colecovision before the nes came along. And yes, I still remember playing the bad ports of Pac-man, DK and DK JR on the 2600 along with playing games like Blue Print, Pole Position, Kangaroo, Frogger, Popeye, Space Invaders, Congo Bongo and many others on 2600 and later systems. goodness how so much time flew by since those early days of starting my gaming life.

[@remy333]

Great memories. 2600 Pole Position was my first game. So classic. Chuck E. Cheese was awesome. We had a cool spot here called Showbiz Pizza that was pretty much the same place.. played a ton of Gauntlet and the Ivan Stewart Off-Road game.

[@BeB02090]

Memory lane, man what a time. And what memories. I had Popeye and the first Mario Bros for the 5200. 👍🤗

[@FoxUnitNell]

Popeye is amazing. It's just a fun but challenging game too.

[@madyak6669]

Remember spending an entire day trying to find a copy of Defender for the Atari in every store I could think of as it had sold out everywhere. Finally got the last copy in a tiny shop at the end of the day

[@ultimateman55]

Very cool perspective and one that I was a bit too young for. I was born in '82 so my first gaming memories are of the Commodore 64, with the NES not far behind. I remember seeing Pacman at a local Pizza Hut and perhaps one or two other games of the same era. But the first arcade games to really wow me were the first TMNT and Altered Beast. It wasn't too long after that Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat hit the scene and I became a fighting game junkie. To see it from the perspective of someone just a bit older helps me understand this part of gaming history, that which just preceded my existence, just a little bit better.

[@b.o.353]

Q-Bert, Donkey Kong, Defender and Frogger were AWESOME on the VCS. Love hearing about you watching/playing at the gas station. People who aren’t from that era can’t understand how amazing it was.

[@TheGemini5]

Yea, the 2600 had a severe love/hate relationship with me! Honorable mentions were Q-Bert, Asteroids and Vanguard for me!

[@BeB02090]

Qbert! Goodness, that game's physics would get me every time and I always went back for more.

[@philmason9653]

You were relatively lucky! I didn't get my first console until I was 12, and it was a 2600...in 1988. I wanted an Amiga, but my family was way too broke for anything like that. I made the most out of it though, outside of Joust I think you touched on all of my favourites. I actually loved that Moon Patrol port, I'd never seen the arcade version and the tank tread animation coupled with the fact that it had music made it seem pretty deluxe among 2600 games. My friend would never let me borrow it for long though.

[@georgeweeman9057]

I was born in 1977, and the atari 2600 was my best friend! My top favorite games had to of been Yars Revenge, Infiltrate, and Berserk. Great times, and great memories!

[@personatodo]

Commodore 64 has some of the best arcade conversions during the 80s. Here's some of them I'd played: Ms. PacMan Salamander R-Type New Zealand Story Bubble Bobble PacMania Yie Ar Kungfu Slap Fight Terra Cresta 1942 Silkworm Dragon Ninja Arkanoid Buggy Boy Kung Fu Master

[@RetroGamingNook]

I was old enough to play when these ports came out. What a great topic! I specifically remember my dad carefully unwrapped Asteroids from under the Christmas tree, before Christmas, whenever my mom was out of the house for a few hours. That’s when I learned how to peak at gifts before Christmas Day.

[@martymartin2894]

Was a little sweet shop in my small country village in Ireland owned by a lovely old lady. It was a very small shop with 2 arcade machines in it. All the young of our village gatered there even though we all wouldn't have money to play each evening. Its there i began my love for games. Some of my best memories were wonder boy 1 and 2. Bobble Bobble. Golden axe. Space invaders . Outrun .double dragon street fighter 2. The old woman loved the company and often gave us free candy and oftimes coins to play with. The shop is now gone and so is the lovely old woman. Wow what great childhood memories.

[@danieldevries3230]

I loved how the early arcades it didn't matter what time of day you went because when you went inside it was night. Because it was DARK. and it was LOUD. and it was SMOKY. and it was the BEST.

[@Soulintent95]

Some of these were not new when i was young, but man, ill never forget the atari era arcade experience. Going into a place that had the actual cabinets, hearing the noises, looking at the cabinet and watching someone else playing and just thinking "damn i wish i could get a turn" ill also never forget my father showing me all of his atari games when i was super young. Im talking like 3 or 4. A memory thats hardly even present, but its one of my first ever experiences with playing games. Things were so much simpler back then...

[@chrisw8069]

4 player Warlords on 2600 in 1981. Can't top that imo. I was born in 1980 and was still playing it with friends in 1994 and brought it out a couple years ago. Still blows me away. The homebrew for 2600 is amazing too.

[@godashram]

While I did own a 2600 as a kid, my 1st memories of gaming were on the 5200. Only owned Galaxian and pac-man, but they were amazing and blew me away. As a matter of fact, this video was the 1st time I've seen 2600 Galaxian and wow, the 5200 was so much better. Too bad a hurricane destroyed my 5200 😢

[@thisisakodibox2635]

In a way im kind of grateful I didn't have much access to arcades. Only had a handful of standalones (Elevator Action and Moon Patrol) i had access to. It made the Ataris and the Colecos way more palatable and I filled in the missing pixels with imagination lol. All changed when the NES came home and we were swapping games like hustlers 😂

[@MrPoeGhost]

It's weirdly fascinating hearing about someone else's childhood gaming experience from a time long before I was even born. My earliest gaming memories are from the late 90s, so it's hard to imagine growing up with such a primitive console.

[@CiccioImberlicchio]

This video is extremely wholesome, i like hearing stories of times where i wasn't even born. I wish arcades didn't die off

[@noaht2005]

I'm here with you. I like SLX's videos because they transport me to a time when I wasn't alive

[@brettrudy2245]

My only disagreement would be Moon Patrol for the 2600. Loved that conversion. Also a damned shame the 5200 controller was botched so badly. That had some phenomenal versions.

[@ozzie.l.6035]

The Moon Patrol n the Pole Position for the Atari 2600 were good.

[@FLHilde]

my first arcade was space invaders, when I was 6 years old my older brother and my cousin took me with them to an arcade not far from home, but for me it seemed that we walked miles, it was there where I was amazed by the noise, the colored lights and the smell of cigarettes so characteristic of the arcades of the 80s ... I think it was the first time I saw so many people together in one place, shortly after I was able to play almost all the games you showed in the video on my atari 2600 darth vader. it's a pity that today's generations of glass would miss that experience, they would surely complain that joysticks and buttons hurt their fingers, at least we lived it and I don't think I'm wrong when I say that we will never forget that until the day we die.

[@BeB02090]

SLX! 👍 I can remember playing Dig Dug and Pac Man on the 5200 till my eyes couldn't see straight. But, nothing will ever replace those games in the arcade. The sights and sounds. What a time. 😊

[@cellgames808]

Back when your mom would leave you at the arcade then do her shopping on her own. Or was that just that me??

[@Siosal01]

Same here. My Mom would be gone for hours and I didn't even need money. I'd just watch everyone else playing.

[@danielzelpher7335]

For me it was the snes display kiosk

[@BeB02090]

@goggles789 I'm 😞 I wish we all could live in a safe place. Economic status aside, we all need a safe place to work, sleep, and play.

[@BeB02090]

@@Siosal01 of course we wanted to play, but if coins you did not have the sights and sounds did provide quite an experience.

[@Siosal01]

@@BeB02090 exactly

[@darkman4811]

I remember I used have an Atari 2600 growing up in the '80s. Space Invaders, Missile Command, and Breakout were my go to games to play on the system at the time. I remember I got really good at playing Space Invaders getting over a million points one time.

[@j.goggels9115]

I am a few years younger than you Sega Lord X. OutRun, Hang On, After Burner, Mad Dog McCree, Terminator 2 and Mortal Kombat burned my mind as a teen.

[@jong2359]

I can't even imagine being young and having no point of reference for what an Arcade game really means.

[@maxxdahl6062]

My brother said something similar about his kids growing up after the arcade business more or less died.

[@zintosion]

Your relationship with the 2600 reminds me of my parent's relationship, it started with such love and endearment but spiralling down into hate and contempt over the years. With both ended up with younger more modern models in the end XD. Feels bad man.

[@ignacio633]

I was born in the mid 70s and wasn’t introduced to video games till I was around 10 or 12 years old. And till this day I continue playing video games. Now and then I go back to old school gaming. One thing for sure…I love and miss the arcades. Thank you so much for this video. 👍👍

[@herpaderp2955]

13:17 My man gives some Intellivision love

[@aaronreid8375]

Born in '72, even as a kid I could forgive 2600 ports because I knew it couldn't be just like the arcade. But even then I knew Pac man on the 2600 sucked, and it should have been better.

[@SgtSega]

I played a knock off of it on the Mac. :D

[@58jharris]

I heard once that the game wasn't finished. The Atari execs were so eager to get it out to cash in on the popularity of Pac-Man that they basically released a prototype.

[@MarkTheMorose]

@@58jharris That's pretty much it; the programmer said he could have done a much better game given the time, and since he later created Yar's Revenge, I'm sure he was right.

[@aaronreid8375]

@@MarkTheMorose I hope the execs were happy for forcing that game out (it sold zillions so I'm sure they were) but it crushed a lot of kids dreams of Pac-man at home. For shame!

[@mortenera4423]

Imagine if Atari released Pac Man 8K back in the day, it would've sold even better

[@The90sGamingGuy]

Great topic for a video! The first arcade port i played on home console was likely Donkey Kong on NES in the early 90s at my cousins house. Second arcade port i played was Missile Command and Joust on my dads PC in the early 90s. I think its great that arcade game companies like SNK,Namco,Taito,Williams, Atari, and etc know that gaming fans want to experience these classic arcafe games at home, and have made these games available with each generation of home console for the past 40 years or so. Arcade 1up and AtGames and etc machines are furthering bringing the arcade experience home.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Great series start SLX, you had a lot of the same games I did at the time. In our neighborhood each of my friends had different consoles at the time; I had the 2600, the kids upstairs had the 5200, my niece who lived next door had the Colecovision, the neighbor across the street had an Atari 400, while a kid a block over had the Intellivision. It was a great time, and you could appreciate in some cases how they tried to bring some of those arcade experiences home.

[@Michael59197]

Oh, man you really took me back to simpler times. Thank you.

[@kenwheeler3637]

Being born in the 60's I recall playing the electro-mechanical game as well as the monochrome video games a bit before the huge video game explosion that came soon after. I became massively obsessed with gaming and thoroughly loved my Atari VCS I received for x-mas one year. Having a paper route and, at one point 3 of them at once, I was able to experience a wider variety of games by buying an Intellivision, Colecovision and Atari 5200 to feed my video gaming obsession. It's still something I have a great amount of love for today.

[@paulpederson1677]

Great video. Trip down memory lane. My family had every game you showcased except Zaxxon, which i owned as a Table Top. Asteroids really deserved a showcase spot as well imo. Top 5 Atari 2600 games played in my house... 1. Asteroids 2. Missile Command 3. Pac-Man 4. Kangaroo 5. Video Olympics You sir have one of the very best gaming channels period.

[@The90sGamingGuy]

My arcade experience was in the 90s with Frogger,Mortal Kombat 1,2 and 3, Crusin USA, Terminator 2, Out Run, After Burner, Street Fighter 2, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Primal Rage, Rampage. In late 90s early 2000s i got to play the following games in the arcade Paper Boy, Spy Hunter, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Timber, Galaga, 18 Wheeler, and Die Hard Arcade, Space Invaders. All of these arcade games i now play on home gaming consoles. Nothing beats playing these classic arcade titles that im very nostalgic for.

[@bigjplay]

One of the things I truly love about your channel is that you give us all a window into the way you experienced video games and what they meant to you and how they shaped you. Because we all have similar stories and memories your channel hits that nostalgic spot dead center for so many of us, and that's why we keep coming back!

[@leonkent1365]

I still remember playing Moon Patrol on the Apple II

[@texturem0nkey]

basically the only game I had for that thing! And I loved it so much, in all its monochrome green glory!

[@leonkent1365]

@@texturem0nkey agreed, it was great work!

[@jhoughjr1]

it was a unqiue time in history never to be repeated.

[@keness4768]

I can recall the first moment I realized the arcades were done for…. Playstation had a flawless conversion of street fighter alpha and darkstalkers. Once I played those, I knew arcade’s days were numbered.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

I got that feeling from the same system, but the game that convinced me was Cyber Sled. It was BETTER than the arcade version. Fully textured polygons vs the Flat Shaded ones of the arcade.

[@sonicmania9993]

My memory is that arcades were pretty much dead in the west, and even slowing down in Japan by the mid to late 90s. It wasn't the excellent 5th gen conversions of arcade games that did it (...and I'm not sure why you name PS conversions as "flawless" when I'd say Saturn conversions were even better). It was changing tastes in games. Even by 1994 or 1995, shmup developers were struggling because the demand for that style of game was waning (again, even in Japan). People were turning to home computer games, and SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine games that offered a much longer and deeper gameplay experience. Playstation keyed into that, offering some amazing games that would not be playable in arcades -- all the while keeping some good action games coming too. The reason why Saturn failed worldwide is because it was too much of an "arcade experience at home" machine (as I'm sure SLX will discuss later in this video series). By the late 90s, the demand for the "arcade experience at home" was disappearing, and SEGA did not pivot successfully enough to the new style of home gaming as Sony had.

[@imaxjunior6531]

You have to admit Stargate for the 2600 is one of 'thee' best arcade to home conversion for the 2600.

[@BeB02090]

Side note: My dad was straight up addicted to Pole Position. Just saying 😁

[@SgtSega]

Ever see the cartoon?

[@BeB02090]

@@SgtSega The Pac Man cartoon I've seen. Is this the one you reference?

[@BeB02090]

@@simppolice123 Thank the Lord, I still have my father here with me. Remembering him play that game, to see him actually enjoying himself brought a smile to my face and heart.

[@mikel6989]

My dad never got into the atari, but duckhunt on the nes was a different story. I'd get home from school and him and my uncle would be drinking beer playing duckhunt lol

[@BeB02090]

@@mikel6989 Mental image big time.😁 Man was that game/system all the hype! Did you get to play too?

[@SgtSega]

Missile Command I played on the Mac a lot and it used the mouse. I had to quickly point and click to stop the attacks.

[@sonicmario64]

With the exceptions of "Galaxian", "Moon Patrol", and "Zaxxon", my first time playing all the other arcade games in this video was also from the Atari 2600, which my parents had purchased from someone when I was in the first grade despite the 16-bit consoles already being out around that time. :)

[@TheRealSillyGooseGaming]

Wow what a great episode, I was born around the same time and you took me through a memory lane of my childhood too. Keep up the great work, so far my favorite video

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

The smartest thing they ever did was when they really differentiated games for home and games for arcade. It got pretty good during the Genesis though SNES too. Still it's a shame consoles weren't more powerful back in the day we would have gotten so much stuff.

[@AGL57]

Thank you for sharing your memories. The games may be familiar to most, but hearing your stories and angle to the games makes me eagerly wait for part 2!

[@chfgn]

Glad to see the 2600 port of Donkey Kong get some love. People act like it's a punchline, or repeat conspiracy theories that Coleco made it bad on purpose, but I just love it. One of the best games on the system as far as I'm concerned.

[@Asunox]

Had a 2600 and Colecovision growing up before I got an NES, loved all the arcade conversions. My current retro game collection has as many arcade compilations as I can find to buy. Arcade games and their home conversions make up a lot of my memories as a child. Great video, thanks for the nostalgia trip!

[@Sinn0100]

I can't believe I missed this when it aired. I loved getting your perspective especially as I wasn't really around for the very early stuff. I started in 1986 with the Nes and Master System. Before I got them I really didn't even know what a video game was technically. PS- The very first arcade game I lost my mind over was Zaxxon. I couldn't believe how cool it looked and even though I was terrible at it, I couldn't walk away. Addendum- I had a ton of medical problems growing up and my parents were trying to find anything to give me some semblance of a normal life. That Christmas Eve (Nes) and Christmas day (Master System) was like an eye opener. I was thrown in the deep end and from that point forward, I never wanted it to end.

[@fresnokila3]

The reason I enjoy this channel is because I grew up around the same time and share the same nostalgia.

[@eskimojoe6564]

Man i love this channel so much You explain things very well and your videos are just put together great.

[@pda1799]

Oh, man, this video is just so very awesome!!! Thank you very much for this, SLX. Can’t wait for the next part!

[@horsecorpse]

Gorf on the Atari 800 was incredible, it was missing one of the stages, but the stages it had looked and played amazingly.

[@sonicmania9993]

Good call! If I were making a video like this one, I would include Gorf as a personal favorite. It was the only arcade game I ever got good enough at, where I could hi-score any cab in town (as a middle schooler LOL) -- had some real out-of-body experiences at times while surviving through long games. The Atari 2600 was pretty good as you say, and I certainly played it a lot. I definitely missed the Galaxians level tho., and that distinctive alien sound when the ships fly down at you. Arcade Gorf's sounds were almost a 5-part symphony, in a way -- flowed so well together, and as I think about it they were a big part of the addictive quality that kept me coming back to play the game again and again.

[@horsecorpse]

@@sonicmania9993 Wow! Very well put. Same here actually, it's the only arcade game I actually got decent at.

[@Zafersan]

i feel this. born in 82, i played arcades in the 80s and kept going through the 90s to their death in the 2000s

[@ericchriste293]

Oh man. I had all the games on the 2600 in your video. I felt like a kid again watching. I don’t think I could play arcade Defender to this day. It looked like it had a thousand buttons! Great video!

[@starliteinn5397]

Really enjoy this style of video thanks SLX. The love of retro gaming is part about the games and part about the memries too

[@knightdriver3592]

2600’s Zaxxon port is totally underrated. I can see people giving it grief if they are holding it up to the arcade version, but on it’s own it’s a great little 2600 game.

[@jeffrokkz2k1]

Your videos always take me back. But holy crap this took me back to the mid 80s pretty hard. I look forward to this series of videos! Well done!

[@thunderwarrior1759]

A few arcade machines blew my mind as a kid when first seeing them. The main one is Space Harrier sit down moving seat cabinet. I’d catch the bus into Leicester and run to Thomas’s Arcade..another was Dragons Lair that was in a different arcade that was next to the bus station. Oh,wow,i can’t forget to mention Baby Pac-Man,that game had my high score the whole time it was in Thomas’s, my score board three even back then was Max after Mad Max which I’ve kept to this day

[@milkapeismilky5464]

Great memories, but I hear a lot of bitterness towards his dad. My family is wealthy and I got basically any consoles I wanted. My dad hated playing video games, but I vividly remember him trying his very best to play with me. Duck Hunt was our breakthrough!

[@jastiksk8crw]

I soon as I saw the title to this video I got excited. Here's to multiple parts! Great video, thanks for making this

[@jamiecampbell8855]

I was 10 years old when space invaders came out. I feel fortunate to have witnessed the evolution of gaming. As a 50 year old teacher in Australia, I'm always amused by my students being surprised that I'm a gamer. I'm like "Guy's I've been playing games almost since their beginning." Ah, the innocence of youth. That can't imagine video games before Fortnite.

[@bhasty1]

Man I really loved Dig Dug on the Mega Drive!

[@FoxUnitNell]

The sequel is pretty cool too and is vastly different but in the way Zelda one and 2 are different - same gameplay but some changes for perspective.

[@secretsofthemeatsack]

Not normally an era of games I would be interested in but your stories and memories made this a great watch 👏

[@mgsalmon79]

The idea behind this new series is great. Really looking forward to the rest of these episodes. 👍

[@dsgitlin]

This might be my favorite of your videos. Looking forward to part two!

[@Trusteft]

I (my family) didn't have a home console or even computer in the 70s or early 80s. My access to computers was from other people who had them, or from a programming school I was sent to as a kid. 99% of my gaming was done in the arcades. I did get to play some arcade ports before I bought my first computer in 87. From sources I already mentioned I played ports of Moon Patrol, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Kung-Fu Master and many others. I loved every one of them. The were either PC or CPC ports, with worse graphics and much worse sound, but they looked and played like perfection to me. When I got a computer in 87 (Atari ST), I slowly started having access to arcade ports, but they were limited in the number and quality. I was very disappointed there were no official ports of Pac-Man, Galaga, and others favorites of the time. There were eventually some good ones for me, like Robocop, Double Dragon, P-47, and others, but the more classic ones, basically games released in the arcades before 1986, were almost never found as ports on the ST. Didn't improve much later when I got an Amiga. Basically I had to wait till the days of Mame in the mid to late 90s to be able to play the arcades of old I wanted. I remember playing Pac-Man on a friend's VCS some time in around 1982-3 and liking it. I was already aware of the arcade version and I could see the huge difference, but I didn't mind. I thought it was fun.

[@Des_Zee]

The nostalgia is heavy with this one. Thnx Lord X👍💯

[@Shinobi6407]

This channel is part of the reason I got back into retro gaming. I love videos like this!

[@bartsimpson83]

I confess I actually kind of like Atari 2600 Pac-Man. It was the first video game I ever played as far as I can recall so I'll always have a soft spot for it.

[@SgtSega]

An old Mac computer, Sears Video Arcade, NES, and Sega Genesis. That was how i experienced arcade games as a kid.

[@biostemm]

I managed an arcade, and we would sometimes load up the machines with service credits for the employees after closing time and all the customers left...

[@mortenera4423]

I bet the manager used free play 😂

[@biostemm]

@@mortenera4423 the owners didn't mind as long as we used service credits instead of toggling the coin redemption switch, since they audited games to see which performed well...

[@edponpon]

I'm also a huge Sega fan - thanks for all your posts. Keep 'em coming!

[@kins749]

I had the same experience as you being a youngster during the late 70s/early 80s, too young to play the games in the arcade properly but in complete awe of them, what a time! I liked Moon Patrol and Pole Position on the VCS though, but hated Defender.

[@orkoto6057]

Venture, Asteroids and Berzerk are fun solid ports too. Please consider the vcs had only 128 bytes of ram (1/8 of 1K) being cheap hardware of 1977. Some games are truly a work of wonder, quick burts of fun on fixed screens.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

My Dad loved Pac Man too! I was lucky enough to grow up with a MS Pac Man, Defender and Xevious machine in our house.

[@kaikiske7436]

Nice video. My experience is pretty similar to yours. We're about the same age. Used to hang around the older cousins, watching them play arcade games, and also playing their consoles. They had the Atari 2600 and an Odyssey system. I started playing games on my own at the local pizza place, Gumba's in Sunnyvale CA, My parents would take us to dinner there about once every couple weeks. They had a Moon Cresta machine, I was hooked. They later got a Vanguard arcade machine. Played a ton of that too. I didn't get my 1st console until a couple years later, an Atari 2600 in 1983. I remember the year because Return of the Jedi had just come out, and I graduated 5th grade, so my parents got me the Atari and we saw the movie. Awesome times. Kids growing up now will never have it as good as we had it. Not possible. Been a lifelong gamer and "the SEGA kid" since, at least thru the 90s anyway. Keep up the good work!

[@Gaming_since_the_eighties]

The first arcade game i have ever played was Donkey Kong. This episode brought back so much memories.

[@arcadehispano877]

Awesome! Looking forward to watching part 2.

[@Harp00nX]

Even though I had a 2600JR in the 80's and played it a lot back then, I just cannot bring myself to play the games from that machine these days. To say they are primitive is being generous for the most part, definitely games of their time which for me at least are just going to remain memories in my head.

[@joesshows6793]

Back then games were good if they could be played. It didn’t matter what it was. Forgger was fantastic!

[@mCKENIC]

Moon Patrol! Aw man! Nothing like hearing that tune and jump sound fx blasting out of the cabinet!

[@eliadefilho]

Boy, did this video spark old memories... I remember my young 5 yo self playing these at home, or going to the local arcade with an uncle, except that here in Brazil back in the early 80's technology took way longer to arrive, so we didn't have a Nintendo to compare any of this to =)

[@dwightdixon8508]

I recall being dropped off at an arcade in a strip mall with $5 which converted to 25 tokens, pocket plumped I played Donkey Kong, Star Castles & Frogger for what seemed to be hours and hours. Friends had 2600 but we got ColecoVision, it was like arcade performance at home. Good times

[@MyBrothersKeeper101]

Spaceport at the Burlington center mall in Burlington New Jersey ate all my quarters!!!! Literally hours and hours and hundreds of dollars spent playing double dragon, pow, bad dudes, vendetta, crime fighters, vigilante, rastin etc etc. Thanks to Sony the PlayStation mini can emulate all of these almost perfect. My arcade game collection is now larger than my console game collection

[@chaospoet]

I'm a bit jealous you got to experience these games when they were new. I was born in 81 so my Dad didn't take me to an arcade until 86. The first new arcade game I experienced was Outrun. But that along with After Burner and Space Harrier were almost always swarmed with people (to this day I still haven't played Space Harrier in an arcade) so these games were the ones available. Donkey Kong and the original Mario Brothers were my go to games. Though I did try missile command and I have to agree it's hard when you're a little kid with tiny hands and no coordination.

[@llpBR]

I love 2600 sounds. The first time I played an arcade game I already had an atari 2600, a master system, a mega drive and a pretty nice 386. So I don't have any good experience on arcade games.

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

Some of these arcade games would get proper home ports on more recent systems, whether in compilations or updated re-releases by Hamster Co.

[@JasonMontell2501]

This is going to be an epic series. Thanks mel

[@JohnnyParrotJoe]

I had the Intellivision version of Burgertime when I was a child. That one was very close to the arcade. I loved it!

[@kahuna1247]

My favourite game back in the day in the arcade was Dig Dug. I was stoked with the 2600 port & played it to death as a kid. Good times!

[@REPVILE]

That was a decent port actually

[@blastedmcgraw152]

I loved this video, man. I’m your age, and can relate to so much of what you’re saying here. What a magical time to be alive it was. So grateful.

[@ag3ntorange164]

You are consistently my favourite KZbinr and I always look forward to your videos! Best at what you do!!!!

[@SegaLordX]

Wow, thank you! Glad you see your message.

[@melasn9836]

I saw someone (can't remember who) describe the 2600 port of Donkey Kong as "Mario in his long johns, rescuing Lisa Simpson from an angry gingerbread man", and that's a pretty accurate description. Also, that Burgertime port is a good example of what Mattel did to push their Intellivision - make the ports they had to make for competitors look WAY worse so people would consider getting their console & its superior version. Coleco did something similar with theirs. There was no such thing as a console exclusive back then, so that's how they tried to stay competitive. I don't really think it helped.

[@jamesstaggs4160]

I had a 2600 when I was 5 along with a bunch of games. I spent a lot of time with it but I always realized how limited the games were despite being so young. I knew there was no goal to them apart from just getting higher scores. The one exception was Pitfall, which I knew was special, even though I never got good enough at it to reach the end.

[@SpruceFilms]

I was a Colecovision kid. Never considered the differences much back then, especially with Expansion Module 1; but as an adult it’s night and day!