soupbones wrote:Man... I have been sleeping on these AA releases!
Assault looks like a must have, and I think I need Hopping Mappy and Astyanax...
Any other gems you guys recommend? I pretty much like all generes...
My most current ACA recpost (for STGs). 
As for other genres, limiting to fifteen in alphabetical order (there's way,
wayyyy more worth the asking price, all of them to the same excellent standard, but I'd be here all night):
Easy Recommends:
ARGUS NO SENSHI aka RYGAR State-of-the-art sidescrolling action/platformer, with an instantly-arresting balance of extreme firepower, agility, and finesse to relentless 1HKO intensity. If you're into the classic examples that flourished on the NES - Castlevania, Ninja Gaiden, Shatterhand et al - this one's essential. (includes both JP + US sets)
BUBBLE BOBBLE Taito's immortal nexus of bubblewrap-satisfying immediacy and fathomless depths. When Sumez - a man who takes his Bubbling
deadly seriously - gave the ACA version his blessing, I knew I had to see what Hamster were up to.
CRIME FIGHTERS 2 aka VENDETTA Uncannily well-balanced brawling from Konami, pairing intuitively dominating movesets with a punishing intensity that'll put cocky players down hard. Smartly unifies the user-friendly refinements of Final Fight with Technos Japan's grittier, stagger-intensive beatdowns. Arcade beaters this perfectly-tempered are rare, and so are ones this wallopingly cathartic yet ruefully hilarious; truly Technos-sized personality. (includes JP/US 2P + JP/US 4P sets)
GREEN BERET aka RUSH N' ATTACK Like the following year's Rygar, a foundational sidescrolling action/platformer that any NES/FC aficionado will take to fast. Don't be fooled by the lack of pits! Aerial maneuvers and building-to-building leaps figure heavily. A marginally less twitchy, more tactical game, effectively the NES Castlevania to AC Rygar's NES Ninja Gaiden. If you can parse that lineage unaided, this is probably your jam.
(includes both JP+US sets)
METAL SLUG A ubiquitous favourite for good reason. Flawlessly streamlined gun/knife/grenade action with an immortally gratifying jolt of armoured vehicle carnage, wrapped up in pixel art unsurpassed to this day. While MSX and MS3 gain on intensity and inventiveness, by those same tokens, neither is as universally recommendable as this.
SAIGO NO NINDOU aka NINJA SPIRIT IREM's seamless fusion of The Legend of Kage, Contra, and Gradius. Soaring wuxia combat with monster guns and cunning Option tricks, suffused with the cutting-edge horror of R-Type, and boiling volatility rivalling fellow 1988 landmark Daimakaimura. A six-out-of-five star game, docked to a mere five by its obligatory,
quarter-munching caveat. Use my guide to restore justice.
NINJA RYUKENDEN aka NINJA GAIDEN 80s beltscrollers tend towards the gritty slugfests of their progenitor, Kunio-kun. This is a stark exception, with its sleek touch-of-death combos and deft somersault throw, paired with impressive (and combat-integral) scenery interaction/destruction. An underratedly funny game, as well, with its silly "ninja tourism" premise - never a bad thing in ultraviolent action affairs! (includes JP+US sets)
SHOCK TROOPERS For overall variety, accessibility, and consistency, this is possibly the finest topdown run/gun ever produced - and most definitely among the most readily-recommendable. Nails its base with impeccably smooth, efficient controls, then piles on a generous helping of diverse characters, freely mix-matchable routes, and an intriguing Team Battle system, topped off with wicked gory humour and a stomping OST. Even better in 2P!
SUNSET RIDERS OG mainman Hideyuki Tsujimoto presents the
other Contra III. Unites the FC ports' refined controls with the biblical bodycounts of their AC blueprints, also hewing nearer their run/gun rampage than Nobuya Nakazato's more setpiece-driven SFC entry. Like Metal Slug, this is true crossover material; a generous, easily-accessible crowd-pleaser, undergirded with thoroughbred quality that'll please even the most discerning aficionados. (includes JP/US 2P + JP/US 4P sets)
ZERO TEAM Like Crime Fighters 2, Seibu's brawler nails a rare balance of console generosity and arcade brutality, pitting powerful, intuitive movesets against coinop-relentless opposition. Control is exceptionally smooth, with an impressive range of offensive and evasive options neatly folded into its JAMMA setup, including some welcome innovations like recovery rolls and eight-way weapon throwing. Like CF2 and Ninja Gaiden, this is yet another smartly-refined, stingingly-violent brawler with a lovably goofy bent; make sure to stock up on TP! (includes Old and Newer sets; this is actually the first emulation, official or otherwise, of the original game, with MAME limited to its later New/2000/USA revisions)
Slightly more niche (but still good! I don't do bad games
):
BIG TOURNAMENT GOLF aka Neo Turf Masters, but only going by BTG on Arcade Archives, due to legal issues w/the Augusta Masters Tournament. If Augusta were smarter, they'd have struck an official licensing deal - this is one of those sports games that nails the tenets of arcade excellence - technique, focus, pressure - so squarely, even the most golf-indifferent may find themselves thoroughly won over. Nazca's customarily wonderful presentation certainly doesn't hurt the effect, although maybe the subtly goofy roster of golfbros insulted Augusta's people?
LIBBLE RABBLE Toru Iwatani's personal favourite of his legendary oeuvre, combining Qix's hectic field-fill action with
Wizardry-influenced secret-hunting. The dual-character controls are famously brain-teasing, but will be immediately compulsive to the right players. The ACA version even lets you rope in a second player, for marvelously tactical cooperative play.
MUTANT NIGHT Bizarrely minimalist/MAXIMALIST sidescrolling run-and-gun from lovable eccentrics UPL, starring what must be one of the late 80s' most unjustly forgotten player characters. The "air-walking" mechanic is truly strange, a sharp contrast to the simple-yet-deadly running and gunning; the result feels almost ROMhacky, like a glitch they knew was too good to throw out, subsequently enshrined at the heart of a full-blooded run/gun. Regularly punctuated by world-upending powerups and unbridled stampedes. A true one-off; not only do they not make games like this now, they really didn't make them back then!
NINJA-KUN II: ASHURA NO SHOU UPL combine Bubble Bobble's innately lovable little sprites with a sprawling, deceptively tough sidescrolling odyssey. The controls' deliberate heft won't be to everyone's liking, nor will the odd "bump-fu" combat that sees player and enemies collide violently, the victor leaving the target dizzied; even the basic weaponry is a little on the bent side. Rest assured it is every bit as tightly-designed around its eccentricities as more straitlaced affairs, however!
SABOTEN BOMBERS Bubble Bobble gone stark raving mad. Keeps the immediacy, dials up the careening carnage, with a willfully disaster-dicing kamikaze mechanic. Notably among these games, a riot in 2P cooperative (or even uncooperative) mode. Just like its Taito forerunner,
a game of many secrets! (ta again trap!).
)
— it seems so vivid in memory…quite possibly just playing and getting slaughtered by Assault. 
), but it's certainly a solid STG, easy pickup.