If you could only play 5 arcade games for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Also, assign each game a related dish. When you are done you will have five games and give dishes. For example, if Centipede is one of your games, maybe you would choose pizza with mushrooms.
Because there are mushrooms in Centipede.
No multicades, MAME cabinets, or buffets allowed.
5 Games / 5 Dishes
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Flack
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5 Games / 5 Dishes
"I failed a savings throw and now I am back."
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joltcountry
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Ah, a new opponent.If you could only play 5 arcade games for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Also, assign each game a related dish. When you are done you will have five games and give dishes. For example, if Centipede is one of your games, maybe you would choose pizza with mushrooms.
Because there are mushrooms in Centipede.
No multicades, MAME cabinets, or buffets allowed.
Well, five games for the rest of your life is a far different question than one's five favorite games. So with that in mind.........
1. Robotron / Oreo Cake Shaped Like a Tit
The hidden beauty of Robotron is not only that it is one of the best games of all-time, with no "filler" levels, but that knockout blonde who is known as "Mommy." At the same time, I had a scoop of salted Oreo ice cream the other day that I have not stopped thinking about. I have also never stopped thinking of the pretty milf in the pink dress. Oh how I wish to save her!
2. Defender / Grilled Squash
I will never master Defender because I hate the part of the game where the humanoids fall to their death. I mean, I hate that when I play they fall to their death. This time of year clarifies how much I like pumpkin and food with pumpkin. Pumpkin is close to squash, and that's what happens to all dem humanoids.
3. Asteroids / Ice Cream Cones cereal
Ah, Asteroids! First couple of screens are little more of a waste... but by the third screen it is too difficult for me. No game has done a better job of giving you a world to live in. I could play this for the rest of my life and not beat Ben's scores. Ice Cream Cones cereal was the best cereal ever made. It was crunchy. It was sweet. Of course, they stopped selling it because Americans make the worst food choices in the world.
4. Warlords / King Crab
I received a call from a friend who wants to take the Warlords restoration project after all. I also received a Buzzfeed note on an article that said that Red Lobster lost money during their 2003 "all you can eat crab legs" promotion once the third plate of crab legs was given. I cost them a lot of money that year.
5. Cyberball / Hat Made Out Of Melted Cheese
A two or four player sports game is kind of cheating. But I was able to play 20 seasons of FPS:FP98 with my brother and I am on year 7 of Diamond Mind Baseball.
I wish I could wear clothing on my head that was a nice baked brie, like the cheeseheads do that are Packers fans.
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Flack
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Those are great! Here are mine:
01. 720 / Ham and Cheese from Arby's.
I fell in love with 720 the first time I saw it and I still love it today. It's the most expensive game I ever bought, and when logic dictated that it was time to sell it, I gave life the big middle finger and stuck it in the corner of my garage instead. More than a skateboarding game, it's an entire world in which one can explore. There are times I feel like I've not seen every bit of it yet, and my score can always be improved.
Back in mid-high when I was heavy into my skateboarding phase I would come home from school, heat up a ham and cheese Hot Pocket, and then go skate. Hardee's had what I considered to be the best Ham and Cheese sandwich for a long time -- just one you can hold in one hand and chomp on while driving or skating or playing video games. There are no Hardee's left around here and the ones that are still around have screwed up the original hot ham n' cheese. Arby's makes a good one too though, and with a bit of Arby's sauce drizzled over each bite, it's damn near perfect.
02. Karate Champ / Pork Chops and Apple Sauce
Unlike the twitch fighting games of the 90s and beyond, I've always felt like Karate Champ was more of a chess match. It's not a matter of who can thrash their sticks faster. It's all about reacting to -- or better yet, anticipating -- your opponent's moves. Is your opponent one who favors the leg sweep over the spinning back kick? Does he know how to block? When he flips over you, will he back kick, reverse sweep, or panic in an attempt to flip back over you? It's not just a physical battle, it's a mental one. Plus maybe if I had the rest of my life to practice I could beat that bonus level with the flying flower pots one goddamn time.
With karate chops comes pork chops, served with apple sauce and mashed potatoes. My mom used to make pork chops when I was a kid and nobody does it better. Plus it would be great for every single visitor to repeat Peter Brady's Humphry Bogart impersonation by saying "pork chops and applesauce!" shortly before I swept the leg like Johnny from the Cobra Kai dojo for a full point and the victory.
03. Donkey Kong / Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
I feel like I could play Donkey Kong forever, mostly because every time I die I feel like I killed myself rather than the game killed me. Whether it's standing under a ladder and getting smashed by a barrel to chancing it by jumping over a flaming barrel, every time my game ends I feel like swearing at myself more than the machine. I don't have what it takes to be a top Donkey Kong contender, but I feel like I have room for improvement.
The Pie Factory level makes me think of pie, and my favorite pie is hot Apple Pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream plopped on top. There are desserts I like more than this one, but this seems like one I would never tire of.
04. Mat Mania / Grand Slam Breakfast
When I was a kid I thought I was really good at Mat Mania. Turns out, the game's just easy. What I both love and hate about it is, you can play it essentially forever until you make one teeny-tiny mistake and then your opponent will not let up for the remainder of the match, ending your game. Unlike games where you get multiple men, with Mat Mania you've got one shot. One single mistake can end your game. It's frustrating and challenging at the same time. It's a mindless game, but one I feel like I could play forever.
And, what goes better with a body slam than a grand slam? Unlike the one at Denny's, there's a Chinese diner (the "Chiner") near me that offers their own version of the Grand Slam. Essentially it's 2 of every breakfast item you can think of: two eggs, two bacon, two sausage, two pancakes, and two biscuits with gravy. You can substitute the biscuits and gravy with grits or oatmeal, which I sometimes do. I don't feel like I would ever get tired of this variety of breakfast food. I could order this every morning for the rest of my life and find something on the plate to eat. I wish they delivered.
05. Dig Dug / Mexican Flag
Like Donkey Kong, I feel like I haven't achieved my Dig Dug apex yet. When I see other people who have doubled or tripled my high score (roughly 85,000) it makes me want to play it again and again. Each time I play I build new patterns. Sometimes I feel like pumping and exploding the enemies is cheating and I try to kill them all with rocks. It's a game I feel like I completely understand.
Dig Dug takes place in the dirt, and when I think of dirt, I think of Mexico. (Not really but it's a funny segue.) And when I think of Mexico I think of Mexican food. My favorite Mexican plate is the Mexican Flag. A real Mexican Flag has three stripes: red, white, and green. Mexican Flag (the dish) comes with three enchiladas (chicken, beef, and cheese) covered in red chili, white sour cream sauce, and green chili. It's a genius masterpiece. Throw some beans and rice on the side along with some chips, cheese and salsa, and man, I feel like this is a lifetime's worth of dinners. Then I could skip the sopapillas at the end and have some Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream.
Honorable Mention: Shinobi
With only five missions and a game that I can beat in 15-20 minutes, it's hard to say I'd want to tie up one of my five slots with this one. It's a good game, maybe even a great one, but it's pattern based and I've memorized the patterns. (It's hard to fault the code; I've owned three different Shinobi arcade cabinets. I've played a lot of Shinobi.) I love the music, the graphics, the levels, and every part of Shinobi. But I loved it so much that I don't know that I could keep on loving it Shinobi.
Which is too bad because I really wanted to put sushi on my list -- specifically, Volcano Rolls. The closest sushi place to my house makes unbelievably delicious volcano rolls. I checked Google and the first five recipes I found for them listed five different types of ingredients. I think the place near me makes the crab and salmon type. They are the most delicious sushi rolls I've ever had. I have often thought that if I ever lost my arms and legs in an accident someone could just prop me up at the end of a sushi conveyor belt and pipe volcano rolls indefinitely into me. Okay actually I've never thought about that before in my life but it does sound like an okay way to live out your days if you lose all your limbs. I'll keep it on tap as a backup plan.
01. 720 / Ham and Cheese from Arby's.
I fell in love with 720 the first time I saw it and I still love it today. It's the most expensive game I ever bought, and when logic dictated that it was time to sell it, I gave life the big middle finger and stuck it in the corner of my garage instead. More than a skateboarding game, it's an entire world in which one can explore. There are times I feel like I've not seen every bit of it yet, and my score can always be improved.
Back in mid-high when I was heavy into my skateboarding phase I would come home from school, heat up a ham and cheese Hot Pocket, and then go skate. Hardee's had what I considered to be the best Ham and Cheese sandwich for a long time -- just one you can hold in one hand and chomp on while driving or skating or playing video games. There are no Hardee's left around here and the ones that are still around have screwed up the original hot ham n' cheese. Arby's makes a good one too though, and with a bit of Arby's sauce drizzled over each bite, it's damn near perfect.
02. Karate Champ / Pork Chops and Apple Sauce
Unlike the twitch fighting games of the 90s and beyond, I've always felt like Karate Champ was more of a chess match. It's not a matter of who can thrash their sticks faster. It's all about reacting to -- or better yet, anticipating -- your opponent's moves. Is your opponent one who favors the leg sweep over the spinning back kick? Does he know how to block? When he flips over you, will he back kick, reverse sweep, or panic in an attempt to flip back over you? It's not just a physical battle, it's a mental one. Plus maybe if I had the rest of my life to practice I could beat that bonus level with the flying flower pots one goddamn time.
With karate chops comes pork chops, served with apple sauce and mashed potatoes. My mom used to make pork chops when I was a kid and nobody does it better. Plus it would be great for every single visitor to repeat Peter Brady's Humphry Bogart impersonation by saying "pork chops and applesauce!" shortly before I swept the leg like Johnny from the Cobra Kai dojo for a full point and the victory.
03. Donkey Kong / Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
I feel like I could play Donkey Kong forever, mostly because every time I die I feel like I killed myself rather than the game killed me. Whether it's standing under a ladder and getting smashed by a barrel to chancing it by jumping over a flaming barrel, every time my game ends I feel like swearing at myself more than the machine. I don't have what it takes to be a top Donkey Kong contender, but I feel like I have room for improvement.
The Pie Factory level makes me think of pie, and my favorite pie is hot Apple Pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream plopped on top. There are desserts I like more than this one, but this seems like one I would never tire of.
04. Mat Mania / Grand Slam Breakfast
When I was a kid I thought I was really good at Mat Mania. Turns out, the game's just easy. What I both love and hate about it is, you can play it essentially forever until you make one teeny-tiny mistake and then your opponent will not let up for the remainder of the match, ending your game. Unlike games where you get multiple men, with Mat Mania you've got one shot. One single mistake can end your game. It's frustrating and challenging at the same time. It's a mindless game, but one I feel like I could play forever.
And, what goes better with a body slam than a grand slam? Unlike the one at Denny's, there's a Chinese diner (the "Chiner") near me that offers their own version of the Grand Slam. Essentially it's 2 of every breakfast item you can think of: two eggs, two bacon, two sausage, two pancakes, and two biscuits with gravy. You can substitute the biscuits and gravy with grits or oatmeal, which I sometimes do. I don't feel like I would ever get tired of this variety of breakfast food. I could order this every morning for the rest of my life and find something on the plate to eat. I wish they delivered.
05. Dig Dug / Mexican Flag
Like Donkey Kong, I feel like I haven't achieved my Dig Dug apex yet. When I see other people who have doubled or tripled my high score (roughly 85,000) it makes me want to play it again and again. Each time I play I build new patterns. Sometimes I feel like pumping and exploding the enemies is cheating and I try to kill them all with rocks. It's a game I feel like I completely understand.
Dig Dug takes place in the dirt, and when I think of dirt, I think of Mexico. (Not really but it's a funny segue.) And when I think of Mexico I think of Mexican food. My favorite Mexican plate is the Mexican Flag. A real Mexican Flag has three stripes: red, white, and green. Mexican Flag (the dish) comes with three enchiladas (chicken, beef, and cheese) covered in red chili, white sour cream sauce, and green chili. It's a genius masterpiece. Throw some beans and rice on the side along with some chips, cheese and salsa, and man, I feel like this is a lifetime's worth of dinners. Then I could skip the sopapillas at the end and have some Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream.
Honorable Mention: Shinobi
With only five missions and a game that I can beat in 15-20 minutes, it's hard to say I'd want to tie up one of my five slots with this one. It's a good game, maybe even a great one, but it's pattern based and I've memorized the patterns. (It's hard to fault the code; I've owned three different Shinobi arcade cabinets. I've played a lot of Shinobi.) I love the music, the graphics, the levels, and every part of Shinobi. But I loved it so much that I don't know that I could keep on loving it Shinobi.
Which is too bad because I really wanted to put sushi on my list -- specifically, Volcano Rolls. The closest sushi place to my house makes unbelievably delicious volcano rolls. I checked Google and the first five recipes I found for them listed five different types of ingredients. I think the place near me makes the crab and salmon type. They are the most delicious sushi rolls I've ever had. I have often thought that if I ever lost my arms and legs in an accident someone could just prop me up at the end of a sushi conveyor belt and pipe volcano rolls indefinitely into me. Okay actually I've never thought about that before in my life but it does sound like an okay way to live out your days if you lose all your limbs. I'll keep it on tap as a backup plan.
"I failed a savings throw and now I am back."
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Flack
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- Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 3:02 pm
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AArdvark
- Posts: 17953
- Joined: Tue May 14, 2002 6:12 pm
- Location: Rochester, NY
OK, edited for your pleasure.
#1
Elevator Action
This is the first arcade game I played that I realized I was good at. Or at least better than Galaxian and Space Invaders. Perhaps because it's spy themed rather than aliens themed. I always got into the whole James Bond vibe whenever I dropped quarters (err, tokens) into this.
Food pairings: Pizzeria Uno's Numero Uno deep dish pizza for one with a 28 oz. Sam Adams Oktoberfest draft on the side.
#2
Bosconian
This was always my favorite because it was sort of an underrated game. It never seemed to be a mainstream game like Galaga or Sinistar (I think the programmers of Sinistar used Bosconian as an inspiration). It was the first game I ever played that featured a playfield bigger than the monitor. You weren't limited to what you saw on the screen, you had to fly around all over the place looking for those creepy looking space stations. That alone was tremendous to me! And then there were all the other features! I mean, it had speech, it had aliens, it had strategy, it had aliens with strategy, what more could anyone ask for? A sit-down version? yeah, OK we got that too!
Food parings: Meatloaf...... I mean it, meatloaf. And maybe a good FInger Lakes merlot to go with it.
#3
Xevious
I have a love/hate relationship with this game. This is one of those easy to play but hard to master games. I didn't know it, but I invented this game in grade school with pencils and paper. Probably why I was attracted to it when it first came to Putt-Putt. Nah, it was the graphics. That and discovering that there was all this secret hidden stuff. You had to watch the targeting reticule and when it turned into a broken x-box 360 you launched a ground bomb and hidden stuff would blow up or come out of the ground and shoot back at you. I found all this out by watching experienced gamers play this. I could never get far enough to find any hidden stuff. All the normal enemies would kill me first. But it kept me coming back to it, dollar after dollar. Now I have it on my PS3 and can't stand it for more then fifteen seconds.
Food parings: Dinosaur BBQ and Sierra Nevada or Ommegang.
#4
Ms. Pac-Man
There's no need to explain this one. It's just good. The moving fruit, the change of levels, the music, everything. Everything you wanted regular Pac-Man to be. I never got past level 8 but who cares.
One other story about this game. My friend and I used to go to the local mini mart and play the cabaret version ( that means small size cabinet. I remember!) of this. When we ran out of quarters we discovered by trial and error that certain sized washers and conduit breaker punch out slugs worked as well as quarters. Who knew!
food parings: Steak, medium rare with Sam Adams Cherry wheat in the summer and Winter Lager in the winter. Longhorn has pretty good steaks if you don't feel like grilling them yourself
#5
Galaga
This game probably ate more of my money than any of the others. Mostly because it was in the bar of the restaurant where I used to bus tables when I was a teenager. So all my tip money would end up in there. We used to have competitions on Friday nights after the restaurant closed. I would never get very far but it was a fun thing to lose. Plus the bartender would let us sneak beers sometimes.
Food paring: jagerschnitzel mit zer gravy und spatzle, and a big huge cartoon size glass mug of Paulaner bier
THE
FIVE FOOD GROUPS
AARDVARK
#1
Elevator Action
This is the first arcade game I played that I realized I was good at. Or at least better than Galaxian and Space Invaders. Perhaps because it's spy themed rather than aliens themed. I always got into the whole James Bond vibe whenever I dropped quarters (err, tokens) into this.
Food pairings: Pizzeria Uno's Numero Uno deep dish pizza for one with a 28 oz. Sam Adams Oktoberfest draft on the side.
#2
Bosconian
This was always my favorite because it was sort of an underrated game. It never seemed to be a mainstream game like Galaga or Sinistar (I think the programmers of Sinistar used Bosconian as an inspiration). It was the first game I ever played that featured a playfield bigger than the monitor. You weren't limited to what you saw on the screen, you had to fly around all over the place looking for those creepy looking space stations. That alone was tremendous to me! And then there were all the other features! I mean, it had speech, it had aliens, it had strategy, it had aliens with strategy, what more could anyone ask for? A sit-down version? yeah, OK we got that too!
Food parings: Meatloaf...... I mean it, meatloaf. And maybe a good FInger Lakes merlot to go with it.
#3
Xevious
I have a love/hate relationship with this game. This is one of those easy to play but hard to master games. I didn't know it, but I invented this game in grade school with pencils and paper. Probably why I was attracted to it when it first came to Putt-Putt. Nah, it was the graphics. That and discovering that there was all this secret hidden stuff. You had to watch the targeting reticule and when it turned into a broken x-box 360 you launched a ground bomb and hidden stuff would blow up or come out of the ground and shoot back at you. I found all this out by watching experienced gamers play this. I could never get far enough to find any hidden stuff. All the normal enemies would kill me first. But it kept me coming back to it, dollar after dollar. Now I have it on my PS3 and can't stand it for more then fifteen seconds.
Food parings: Dinosaur BBQ and Sierra Nevada or Ommegang.
#4
Ms. Pac-Man
There's no need to explain this one. It's just good. The moving fruit, the change of levels, the music, everything. Everything you wanted regular Pac-Man to be. I never got past level 8 but who cares.
One other story about this game. My friend and I used to go to the local mini mart and play the cabaret version ( that means small size cabinet. I remember!) of this. When we ran out of quarters we discovered by trial and error that certain sized washers and conduit breaker punch out slugs worked as well as quarters. Who knew!
food parings: Steak, medium rare with Sam Adams Cherry wheat in the summer and Winter Lager in the winter. Longhorn has pretty good steaks if you don't feel like grilling them yourself
#5
Galaga
This game probably ate more of my money than any of the others. Mostly because it was in the bar of the restaurant where I used to bus tables when I was a teenager. So all my tip money would end up in there. We used to have competitions on Friday nights after the restaurant closed. I would never get very far but it was a fun thing to lose. Plus the bartender would let us sneak beers sometimes.
Food paring: jagerschnitzel mit zer gravy und spatzle, and a big huge cartoon size glass mug of Paulaner bier
THE
FIVE FOOD GROUPS
AARDVARK