Roger's Arcade Games
A place to share arcade game scores...
(Roger's background, which you can skip if you're tired of my ramblings.)
Much to my father's chagrin, I developed a love for arcade games in the mid- to late '70s, when they were first being introduced to the general public. However, unlike most teens, I already had a job, and my father allowed me to spend a certain percentage of my pay on whatever I wanted (after I put the majority of my pay into savings and other accounts he felt developed good saving habits). That meant that I was limited on how I spent my "arcade money." Therefore, I tended to only play games at which I felt I quickly became good enough to justify my spending. This eventually extended into time I spent with my then girlfriend/now wife, where I found myself consistently getting destroyed by her in Joust and Phoenix. Fast forward to the late '90s and MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) was introduced, which provided a way to emulate these wonderful, old arcade games on my Mac computers. Now, I could not only play games that I loved, I could explore games that I never played because (a) these games weren't available in the arcades I frequented, or (b) I felt the game required too much of a financial investment to get good enough to make my cut. A few years ago, I purchased a virtual pinball machine, as pinball machines were also a weakness of mine when I frequented arcades (eventually, I'll add a pinball page to this website). However, the virtual pinball machine also offered an opportunity to add emulation and quality game controllers, so now I can play arcade games anytime I want on a screen that is often larger than the game's original screen. Now that I am retired, you can bet that I spend a fair amount of time playing old arcade games.
To be honest, I like playing a variety of games, so my scores don't tend to be as high as someone who focuses on just one game. Plus, I'm not that good. The list below is sorted by how regularly I play the game. If you also play arcade games, feel free to visit this page to compare your high scores with mine. NOTE: When I moved to Florida, I obviously had to unplug my machine and, unfortunately, this wiped out all my old high scores. Therefore, I will slowly be working to get my scores back up to where they were.
If there is anyone interested, I would like to set up a friendly competition but it would be based on playing multiple arcade games, as I know I will not be competitive against people who just focus on one or two games. The general idea is to create a league of players who compete across a minimum of 10-20 games (agreed to by the players) and track scores generated by how well you play all games combined. You could submit your scores at any time to work your way up the rankings, so this would not require a great deal of time on your part, nor would there be scheduling conflicts. You could participate whenever you wanted. If you are interested, send me an email, and I will share my ideas on how to set this up. If you don't have access to old arcade games, I'd be happy to share the basics of how to set up MAME on your computer. Since I own a Mac, I can provide more details for that operating system but setting up MAME is not difficult, so you should be able to do this using resources already available online for any operating system.
Below is a list of the games I regularly play, along with the year it was released, a linked picture (for identifying less-known games) and my current top 2 scores. To see all my top scores on one page, go here.
Loderunner (1984)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 94,720 & 70,000 = 164,720 on 10/25/24)
This is a platform game I didn't play until MAME was introduced. It has multiple levels, joined by ladders. Your player can avoid the bad guys by utilizing the ladders or by creating holes (in which the bad guys get temporarily trapped OR you can use to fall to the next level down) to your left or right using the A & B buttons. You must gather all the money bags on each level before the final escape ladder appears. You must go to the top of the escape ladder to advance to the next level.
Jungle King (AKA Jungle Hunt)(1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 7,800 & 7,600 = 15,400 on 10/25/24)
I don't remember when or where I discovered this but it must have been in Bloomington because I remember my wife and I playing this, and this was one of the few games I was able to beat her, although not consistently. This is a timing game where you must advance your "Tarzan" (or "Explorer" if you are playing Jungle Hunt) through each level of swinging on vines, swimming alligator-infested waters, running through flaming boulders and avoiding head hunters. If you get past that last level, the levels repeat but they are more challenging.
Phoenix (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 7,640 & 2,860 = 10,500 on 10/25/24)
I was first introduced to this game at the former Red Chair Bakery on South College Ave in Bloomington in the early '80s. I played this game with my then girlfriend/now wife, and it took both of us a while to figure out how to get past each level. (Was that last statement an analogy to our relationship? Maybe) This is a space shooter game where you control a ship at the bottom of the screen, moving left and right while firing at dropping bad guys, while accessing a "shield" if your death is imminent. There are five levels of difficulty, with the fifth level being a "boss" alien ship.
Zaxxon (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 8,900 & 6,050 = 14,950 on 10/26/24)
This was one of those games that I discovered shortly after it was released that I absolutely loved from the beginning because it created an illusion of depth that I hadn't seen before on arcade video games. You shoot targets with your spaceship that has a "shadow" that helps define how high or low you are on a level. This is important because very quickly you will need to go over and under obstacles. Most people find this game very challenging when you first begin, as did I, but it offered one of the best challenges that I found I could master early in my arcade experience.
Galaga (1981)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 24,310 & 18,890 = 44,200 on 10/26/24)
This is one I occasionally played as a teen but didn't really appreciate until I started using MAME and was able to figure out how to get through the levels.s
Frogger (1981)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 5,390 & 4,850 = 10,240 on 10/26/24)
Donkey Kong (1981)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 12,000 & 10,900 = 22,900 on 10/26/24)
Dig Dug (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 8,680 & 6,700 = 15,380 on 10/28/24)
Camel Try (1989)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 94,390 & 54,350 = 148,740 on 10/28/24)
Moon Patrol (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 13,040 & 7,800 = 20,840 on 10/25/24)
Pac-Man (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 19,230 & 6,300 = 25,530 on 10/28/24)
Track & Field (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 22,340 & 15,340 = 37,680 on 11/06/24)
Marble Madness (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 15,830 & 15,750 = 31,580 on 11/06/24)
Joust (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 16,750 & 9,250 = 26,000 on 10/25/24)
Centipede (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 17,069 & 8,855 = 25,924 on 11/07/24)
BurgerTime (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 9,550 & 8,150 = 17,700 on 11/07/24)
Mr. Do's Wild Ride (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 15,142 & 14,303 = 29,445 on 11/07/24)
Ms. Pac-Man (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Q*bert (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Root Beer Tapper (AKA Tapper) (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Asteroids (1979)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Bump 'n' Jump (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
City Connection (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Championship Sprint (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Galaxian (1979)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Elevator Action (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Mario Bros. (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Pole Position (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Shuffleshot (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Space Invaders (1978)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Outrun (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Tempest (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Battlezone (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
1000 Mile Rally (AKA Great 1000 Mile Rally) (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Super Off Road (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
The Simpsons (1991)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Spy Hunter (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
1942 (1984)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Arkanoid (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Rampage (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Gauntlet (1985)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Metal Slug (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Star Wars (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Vs. Super Mario Bros. (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Tetris (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Golden Axe (1989)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Mr. Do! (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Bubble Bobble (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Contra (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Much to my father's chagrin, I developed a love for arcade games in the mid- to late '70s, when they were first being introduced to the general public. However, unlike most teens, I already had a job, and my father allowed me to spend a certain percentage of my pay on whatever I wanted (after I put the majority of my pay into savings and other accounts he felt developed good saving habits). That meant that I was limited on how I spent my "arcade money." Therefore, I tended to only play games at which I felt I quickly became good enough to justify my spending. This eventually extended into time I spent with my then girlfriend/now wife, where I found myself consistently getting destroyed by her in Joust and Phoenix. Fast forward to the late '90s and MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) was introduced, which provided a way to emulate these wonderful, old arcade games on my Mac computers. Now, I could not only play games that I loved, I could explore games that I never played because (a) these games weren't available in the arcades I frequented, or (b) I felt the game required too much of a financial investment to get good enough to make my cut. A few years ago, I purchased a virtual pinball machine, as pinball machines were also a weakness of mine when I frequented arcades (eventually, I'll add a pinball page to this website). However, the virtual pinball machine also offered an opportunity to add emulation and quality game controllers, so now I can play arcade games anytime I want on a screen that is often larger than the game's original screen. Now that I am retired, you can bet that I spend a fair amount of time playing old arcade games.
To be honest, I like playing a variety of games, so my scores don't tend to be as high as someone who focuses on just one game. Plus, I'm not that good. The list below is sorted by how regularly I play the game. If you also play arcade games, feel free to visit this page to compare your high scores with mine. NOTE: When I moved to Florida, I obviously had to unplug my machine and, unfortunately, this wiped out all my old high scores. Therefore, I will slowly be working to get my scores back up to where they were.
If there is anyone interested, I would like to set up a friendly competition but it would be based on playing multiple arcade games, as I know I will not be competitive against people who just focus on one or two games. The general idea is to create a league of players who compete across a minimum of 10-20 games (agreed to by the players) and track scores generated by how well you play all games combined. You could submit your scores at any time to work your way up the rankings, so this would not require a great deal of time on your part, nor would there be scheduling conflicts. You could participate whenever you wanted. If you are interested, send me an email, and I will share my ideas on how to set this up. If you don't have access to old arcade games, I'd be happy to share the basics of how to set up MAME on your computer. Since I own a Mac, I can provide more details for that operating system but setting up MAME is not difficult, so you should be able to do this using resources already available online for any operating system.
Below is a list of the games I regularly play, along with the year it was released, a linked picture (for identifying less-known games) and my current top 2 scores. To see all my top scores on one page, go here.
Loderunner (1984)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 94,720 & 70,000 = 164,720 on 10/25/24)
This is a platform game I didn't play until MAME was introduced. It has multiple levels, joined by ladders. Your player can avoid the bad guys by utilizing the ladders or by creating holes (in which the bad guys get temporarily trapped OR you can use to fall to the next level down) to your left or right using the A & B buttons. You must gather all the money bags on each level before the final escape ladder appears. You must go to the top of the escape ladder to advance to the next level.
Jungle King (AKA Jungle Hunt)(1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 7,800 & 7,600 = 15,400 on 10/25/24)
I don't remember when or where I discovered this but it must have been in Bloomington because I remember my wife and I playing this, and this was one of the few games I was able to beat her, although not consistently. This is a timing game where you must advance your "Tarzan" (or "Explorer" if you are playing Jungle Hunt) through each level of swinging on vines, swimming alligator-infested waters, running through flaming boulders and avoiding head hunters. If you get past that last level, the levels repeat but they are more challenging.
Phoenix (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 7,640 & 2,860 = 10,500 on 10/25/24)
I was first introduced to this game at the former Red Chair Bakery on South College Ave in Bloomington in the early '80s. I played this game with my then girlfriend/now wife, and it took both of us a while to figure out how to get past each level. (Was that last statement an analogy to our relationship? Maybe) This is a space shooter game where you control a ship at the bottom of the screen, moving left and right while firing at dropping bad guys, while accessing a "shield" if your death is imminent. There are five levels of difficulty, with the fifth level being a "boss" alien ship.
Zaxxon (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 8,900 & 6,050 = 14,950 on 10/26/24)
This was one of those games that I discovered shortly after it was released that I absolutely loved from the beginning because it created an illusion of depth that I hadn't seen before on arcade video games. You shoot targets with your spaceship that has a "shadow" that helps define how high or low you are on a level. This is important because very quickly you will need to go over and under obstacles. Most people find this game very challenging when you first begin, as did I, but it offered one of the best challenges that I found I could master early in my arcade experience.
Galaga (1981)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 24,310 & 18,890 = 44,200 on 10/26/24)
This is one I occasionally played as a teen but didn't really appreciate until I started using MAME and was able to figure out how to get through the levels.s
Frogger (1981)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 5,390 & 4,850 = 10,240 on 10/26/24)
Donkey Kong (1981)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 12,000 & 10,900 = 22,900 on 10/26/24)
Dig Dug (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 8,680 & 6,700 = 15,380 on 10/28/24)
Camel Try (1989)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 94,390 & 54,350 = 148,740 on 10/28/24)
Moon Patrol (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 13,040 & 7,800 = 20,840 on 10/25/24)
Pac-Man (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 19,230 & 6,300 = 25,530 on 10/28/24)
Track & Field (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 22,340 & 15,340 = 37,680 on 11/06/24)
Marble Madness (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 15,830 & 15,750 = 31,580 on 11/06/24)
Joust (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 16,750 & 9,250 = 26,000 on 10/25/24)
Centipede (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 17,069 & 8,855 = 25,924 on 11/07/24)
BurgerTime (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 9,550 & 8,150 = 17,700 on 11/07/24)
Mr. Do's Wild Ride (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 15,142 & 14,303 = 29,445 on 11/07/24)
Ms. Pac-Man (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Q*bert (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Root Beer Tapper (AKA Tapper) (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Asteroids (1979)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Bump 'n' Jump (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
City Connection (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Championship Sprint (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Galaxian (1979)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Elevator Action (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Mario Bros. (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Pole Position (1982)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Shuffleshot (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Space Invaders (1978)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Outrun (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Tempest (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Battlezone (1980)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
1000 Mile Rally (AKA Great 1000 Mile Rally) (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Super Off Road (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
The Simpsons (1991)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Spy Hunter (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
1942 (1984)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Arkanoid (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Rampage (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Gauntlet (1985)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Metal Slug (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Star Wars (1983)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Vs. Super Mario Bros. (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Tetris (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Golden Axe (1989)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Mr. Do! (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Bubble Bobble (1986)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)
Contra (19xx)(screenshot)(Top Scores: 0 & 0 = 0 on xx/xx/xx)