non-STG arcade games EDIT: RECOMMEND PLZ

[KAI]

no love for Spica Adventure?

[emphatic]

Argus No Senshi (Japanese version of Rygar)
Black Tiger
Solomon's Key
Psychic 5
Three Wonders (Play Midnight Wonderers)
Psy-Conics OSCAR

[louisg]

Here are some favorites that don't get nearly enough attention:

- Speed Buggy / Buggy Boy -- arcade racing plus obstacle course, very hard, and has a nice amount of replayability. The C64, ST and Amiga versions are all really good, too.
- Lock-On -- futuristic combat sim, recently emulated
- Turbo Outrun
- Splendor Blast -- racing + combat. I think I stumbled upon this one via emulation, but it's pretty neat! It plays well, IIRC, and is fairly unique.
- RadMobile. I think it's still fairly unplayable in MAME, but it's like an arcade Test Drive. Very nice. Don't bother with the Saturn port.
- Rampart -- the original tower defense
- Bonanza Bros. Pretty original game kind of like a deeper arcade-style Keystone Kapers.
- Grobda -- one of the better tank games
- Quartet -- good 4p Gauntlet-like side scroller
- Night Striker. Even with how easy the Saturn port is, I keep coming back to it. It's just so entertaining. Also check out Burning Force, which is quite good but didn't grab me as much for some reason.

If you liked Rainbow Islands, maybe you should check out Snow Bros, Pang (Buster Bros), and Rodland.

Seconding...:
- Gunbuster (totally seconded-- FPS deathmatching with mouse-style controls several years before it came to the PC)
- RoadBlasters -- everything Spy Hunter 2 should've been
- Midnight Resistance. I think it's better than Heavy Barrel.
- Liquid Kids -- it's like Taito's single-screen games except it scrolls
- Wonderboy and PacLand -- both very nice SMB-style games. I think PacLand pre-dates SMB, too.
- Black Tiger and its PC-Engine cousin Son-Son 2

I'm assuming you're interested in late 80s arcade games? There are a ton of great pre-NES arcade games; probably too many to list. Also, lots of great 32-bit-era-and-up games that I'm sure everyone already has played to death.

[wiNteR]

So here's a list that I made up for myself. For the most part, it is based on impressions of few minutes, or sometimes, few or more credits of play.

I made it as a future reference for myself. Might as well post it here for benefit of others. It isn't meant to be exhaustive by any means though.

Platform:
Astynax
Bionic Commando
Caveman Ninja
Charlie Ninja
Contra
Demon's World
Ganryu
Ghosts N Goblins
Ghouls N Ghosts
Hammerin' Harry
J.J. Squawkers
Kid Niki Radical Ninja
M.I.A. Missing in Action
Magician Lord
Marvel Land
Mega Twins
Mirai Ninja
NewZealand Story
Ninja Spirit
Ninja Warriors
Rush and Attack
Rygar
Strider
Super Contra
Thunderfox
Tiger Road
Toki
Trojan
Willow
Wonder Boy
Wonder Boy 3 Monster Lair
Wonder Boy in Monster Land

Single Screen:
Bomb Jack Twin
Bubble Bobble 2
Diet Go Go
Fancy World - Earth of Crisis
Funky Jet
Joe and Mac Returns
Rod Land

Puzzle:
Boxy Box
Gunbarich
Logic Pro 1, 2
Lode Runner The Dig Fight
Pang / Super Pang / Pang 3 / Mighty Pang
Puzz Loop 2
UO Poko

Some more puzzle games but not sure how good these ones are, because I added them quite some time ago and don't remember much about them. Best to try for yourself. Might be a few single-screen style games in there too.

Baku Baku
Cachat
Cross Pang
Magical Drop 3
Panic Street
Penguin Brothers
Pipeline
Pop'n Pop
Pushman
Sen Know
Twin Qix
Zupapa

Beat'em ups:
Age of Heroes 2
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Captain Commando
Denjin Makai Guardians
Dungeons and Dragons Shadow Over Mystara
Sengoku 3

Others (mostly overhead games):
Don't remember much about these games specifically either. But they had a good enough first impression (or perhaps novelty) to be added.

Bang Bead
Desert Breaker
Drift Out
Magic Crystals
Masked Riders Club Battle Race
Mercs
Metro Cross
Nitro Ball
Out Zone
Over Top
Shock Troopers
Shock Troopers 2 (best play with overclock)
Valkyrie No Densetsu

[emphatic]

Oh, and Ninja Kid 2. It's AWESOME.

[trap15]

I also liked stuff like Strider and Cannon Dancer.

They have a unique feel/style that I haven't found in other games (including Strider 2).

Just wait until my latest project is finished

[emphatic]

I also liked stuff like Strider and Cannon Dancer.

They have a unique feel/style that I haven't found in other games (including Strider 2).

Just wait until my latest project is finished

Oh, you big tease.

[shmuppyLove]

(checks favourites in MAME)

Ganryu
Three Wonders

I should probably try and find a Ganryu MVS cart one of these days ... it's a fun game, with two playable characters and multiple paths. Pretty deep for an arcade platformer.

[Obiwanshinobi]

no love for Spica Adventure?

Is the Spanish word for love commonly abused in that language too? Serious question. I wonder what people who spam on words "love" and "hate" like that say while referring to genuine love and hate. I'm searchig for a language of refuge.

[KAI]

No, "love" has a deeper and stronger meaning, most of the people don't use that word so freely, there are hundred of synonyms for the word "like".

[Obiwanshinobi]

Cool, I should learn Spanish anyway to read some comic books...

[gameoverDude]

Quartet - Seconding on this one.
Spica Adventure
Burning Force
Kaiser Knuckle/Global Champion - An underrated 2D fighting game by Taito.
Alien Syndrome
Last Survivor
Rolling Thunder 2

[Despatche]

tetris the grand master

I'm searchig for a language of refuge.

latin

edit: oh hey i found this topic and wow i posted here but PANG IS A SHMUP

[ratikal]

WINDJAMMERS

[Drum]

If you want I can just copy-paste a txt file of my MAME faves. It is pretty big though!

[Hagane]

Puzzle Bobble was fun when I was younger, but I'm not always in the mood for slow games like that.

If you want a fast paced puzzle game, you might like Magical Drop 3

[TLB]

I haven't actually had a chance to play any of these games yet, but lots of them look totally rad. Thanks!

Drum, I think we'd all like to see your list. Whip it out, if you please.