Gauntlet Legends

Like the last post, this hearkens back to a simpler, and therefore much less convenient time.  Before Mass Multiplayer, there was direct connection to your friend's IP address.  Before that?  well, you actually had to go to someone's house and pick up a controller that was (god forbid) wired to the actual machine.

Getting to a friends house wasn't terrible, but it was pretty hard to find a good game where 3 or 4 people could play together.  Most of the consoles provided only 2 controllers, and when it jumped up to 4, the games were focused on competitive play.  As fun as it was to shoot your friends with a PP7, I yearned for a game that you could play WITH your friends and progress your characters together. 

The 4-player RPG was pretty much non-existent until Gauntlet Legends.  I had Gauntlet 2 on the NES which I would play with my cousin, but that game was a pretty bare bones action RPG that I only played once and a while.  When I saw Gauntlet legends at the arcade, I was blown away by how much action they packed into the game, and I had a blast plowing through the endless hordes of bad guys.  When I later rented it for my N64, Gauntlet Legends was absolutely one of the best all-night party games of the day and even now I'd be up for going to a friends to play this gem again.

Area 51 (Arcade)

I was really young when I used to go to the arcades. My mom brought me to the mall and I'd ask her if I could play at the arcades while she shopped. I was still only about 10 which sounds a bit young, but in hindsight it was probably pretty safe in that mall arcade. Because I was only about 10, I was not very good at arcade games in general. There were only a few exceptions, and one of them was Area 51. I almost exclusively played this game when I was at the arcade. The fighter games were crowded by the teenagers that would have creamed me, so I just got really good at Area 51. I forgot how I learned about the secret rooms, but I soon had those locked down. I got to the point where I'd make it a good 4 or 5 level screens in before losing another quarter.  This is of course miraculous stretch of time for a kid's budget circa 1996.