Who do you consider the best of the arcade giants of the 20th century? (2024)

I think an arcade industry without Sega would have collapsed a decade earlier. They pushed tech and genres in ways that kept arcades fascinating and relevant through the 90s, and in ways obviously followed in their wake by competitors. I also think there's a strong case for Capcom.

By like...sales VOLUME, the answer might end up being something goofy like Midway, but I feel like that's a different conversation.

Shaneus said:

Capcom has more votes because there's no links to arcade titles for other developers. I'll at least post one for Sega, seeing as that's who I voted for:

List of Sega arcade games - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And I could've listed three more significant games than those in the OP:

And that's just driving games.

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Whoops, I actually intended to remove that link.

Also the games in the OP are just ones I like is all.

I can't decide. Capcom, on one hand, made a lot of beat them up and it's a genre that I'm a fan of. Sega, on the other hand, made a lot of games in a lot of different genres, also pushed the 3D, and created the 3D fighters as we know it today, etc. Some other companies also made a lot of classics in the 80s. It's a really hard choice.

Objectively, I'd say.... Sega, but my heart prefers Capcom. Sega made Die Hard Arcade and Golden Axe: Revenge of Death Adder, and both are really good, but there's so much more of the same genre from Capcom, like the two D&D games or Alien vs Predator...

It's clearly Sega, but if you say Capcom that's acceptable too

everyone else is a distant third. Distant

I don't even want to answer.

I wanna get emotional and think about how f*cking spoiled we were to have so many giants putting out so many legendary franchises on an almost monthly basis due to the nature of game dev back then.

My first thought was Williams but only because of how they were all over my local arcades and pizza shops and bars and bowling alleys. Like Williams was arcades then.

But then I'm torn between Sega and Capcom.

But while I'm debating that, I remember SNK…

The issue is that i was born and raised in a place where arcades were pratically dead and i really only tried most games on PC or console and years after release where they could maybe show their age and lacking significant gimmicks.

Like Sega, people have stated a lot of classics...but i tried and didn't care for Outrun at all, Space Harrier was something i only played a few times without managing to get into it, Virtua Racing also just was there, they do have great games like Golden Axe:Revenge Of Death Adder but overall they really rely on their arcade cabinets...which is great for people who lived at that time or can be near arcades with them, but it leads to a diminished effect outside of them.

The others however tend to have this be way less of an issue, anyways, Capcom, they had a bit of everything i care for and i really like their beat'em ups.

Duxxy3 said:

I don't think younger people realize how big Sega was in the 90s. In the home market, but even moreso in arcades. Some of their machines were YEARS more advanced their competitors.

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it's crazy how true this is. Like if you compare the two winners of this poll, in 1985, Capcom had Ghosts 'n Goblins, but Sega had Space Harrier, a game that looks insane by comparison, with sh*t flying at you at high speed non stop and this dragon dancing around the screen in 3D

literally ahead of the competition by like a generation

ElFly said:

It's clearly Sega, but if you say Capcom that's acceptable too

everyone else is a distant third. Distant

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This

Sega by a landslide. They were the arcade. Their games left like they were generations ahead of the home console scene. The arcades were just magical for that feeling of glimpsing into the future.

Capcom and SNK for ubiquity. MVC was so f*ckin hype in the 90's. Jesus. Me and my friends would walk 20 minutes out to the local game shop just to pump quarters into the cab for like 20-30 minutes of a visual orgy. We'll never have that feeling of pure hype again I'm afraid

Marvel vs Capcom 2 is the holy game in this discussion

Capcom game

Sega board

year 2000, so still in the XX century

discussion ends

This was the hardest Era poll for me to answer; ever.

It came down to Capcom vs. Sega. My favorite genres in the golden age of arcades were beat 'em ups initially followed by fighters. With fighters Capcom wins easily in quantity, but from both companies I like the Virtua Fighter series the most as that got me into Tekken and Soul Calibur (I prefer 3D fighters).

Also, with beat 'em ups Capcom again dominates in quantity, and many of my all time top picks come from their studios. However, my #1 favorite arcade beat 'em up is Revenge of Death Adder, so Sega wins my poll choice.