Your Top 20 grails?

[Rossyra]

The trick is to time the firewall so it does max damage, more or less a one-shot yo

[Geist]

Metal Slug
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike
R-Type
Outrun 2 SP
Magical Drop 3
Dodonpachi DOJ Black Label
Sega Rally
House of the Dead 2
Tetris The Grandmaster
Taisen Puzzle-Dama
Muchi Muchi Pork
Alien vs Predator
Taisen Hot Gimmick
Ketsui
Aqua Rush
Pang
Raiden Fighters Jet
Quarth
Final Fight
Q*Bert

[Bababaloo]

- Daemon Bride
- Arcana Heart 3 Ver.3.01
- Shin Koihime Musou
- Melty Blood Actress Again
- Zero Gunner 2
- Game Tengoku
- ESP Ra.De.
- Wonder Boy (Sega)
- Wonder Boy II in Monster Land
- Uo Poko
- Super Street Fighter II New Challengers
- Tatsunoko vs Capcom
- Strider
- Logic Pro Adventure
- Tetris The Grand Master 3 Terror Instinct
- Elevator Action Returns
- The Outfoxies
- Super Dodge Ball
- Garou Mark of the Wolves
- The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match

[TadCool]

In the order they came to mind:

- shinobi
- street fighter 2
- gradius
- monster land
- fantasy zone
- battle garegga
- athena
- druaga no tou
- outzone
- shin samurai spirits
- dodonpachi
- final fight
- the king of fighters 96
- valkyrie no densetsu
- strider
- vigilante
- batsugun
- lost worlds
- twinbee
- shock troopers

Had to cut a bunch, twenty is not enough.

[CHALLENGER]

Street Fighter
Tekken
Mortal Kombat
Wizard of Wor
Berzerk
Sinistar
Boze
Final Fight
The Simpsons
Turtles
G&G / G&G
Samurai Showdown
Survival Arts
Virtua Fighters
Gorf
Killer Instinct
Rush N' Attack
NBA JAM
Terminator 2
Pole Position

[onyxx]

Ghouls'n Ghosts
Sunset Riders
Metal Slug X
Shock Troopers
Guwange

DonPachi
DoDonPachi
ESP Ra.De.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
The Punisher
Golden Axe
NBA Jam
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
The Last Blade
King of Fighters '98
Samurai Shodown II
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
Marvel vs Capcom 2

[marktheshark]

In no particular order:

House of the Dead 2
Final Fight
The first 3 Time Crisis games
G-Darius
KOF '97
Metal Slug
Metal Slug X
KOF XI
The Last Blade
Tekken 5
Elevator Action Returns
NARC
Hydro Thunder
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
Rampage: World Tour
Power Stone
Dodonpachi Dai-Ou-Jou
L.A Machineguns: Rage of the Machines

[famicom]

720° in dedicated upright
Arkanoid (Series)
Baseball Stars 2
Capcom Bowling
DoDonPachi 大往生
Galaga (Series)
Gundam Vs. (Series)
Final Fight
Initial D: Arcade Stage (Series)
Mahjong Fight Club (Series)
NBA Jam (Series)
Out Run
Shooting Love 200X: Skill Test
Space Harrier
Street Fighter Zero (Series)
Street Fighter II (Series)
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Street Fighter IV
Strider Hiryuu
Virtua Fighter (Series)

*"Series" just meaning the latest version in most cases, or just your favorite and/or version used in competitive scenes

This also isn't anywhere near my list if we are talking about dedicated cabinets. In that case it would be way more heavily weighted towards Atari Vectors / Nintendo dedicated and earlier uprights with unique cabinets/controls.

[jlizzard]

Some of my favorites in no order:

Robotron 2084
R-type
Dragon Breed
Outrunners
Space Harrier
Battle Garegga
TMNT TIT
WWF Wrestlefest
Virtual ON OT
Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter 3
Cybattler
Exerion
T-Mek
Joust
Star Wars
Batsugun
Missile Command
Marble Madness
Outfoxies

[SpenceIsGarbage]

- Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
- Vampire Savior
- Mortal Kombat 2
- Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
- Third Strike
- Donkey Kong
- Elevator Action Returns
- Windjammers
- Magical Drop 3
- Money Idol Exchanger
- Outrun 2 SP
- Initial D: Third Stage
- Killer Instinct
- NBA JAM: Tournament Edition
- Daytona USA
- Aero Fighters 2
- Daraku Tenshi: The Fallen Angels
- Sam Sho 5: Special
- Metal Slug 3
- Melty Blood: Actress Again

[gundarN]

Vampire Savior
Marvel Super Heroes
R-Type
Viper Phase-1
Splatterhouse
Strider
Metal Slug
Space Harrier (hydraulic)
Super Street Fighter II X
Dead or Alive 2 Millenium
Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned
Cotton 2
Esp.Ra.De
Garou Mark of the Wolves
Last Blade
Viewpoint
Namco Classic Collection Vol.2
Star Wars
Defender
Pac Man
Battle Bakraid

Yes, it's 21.
Sue me.
I also own most of them, which is nice.

[Milspex]

Mushihimesama Futari
Metal Slug X
Baseball Stars 2
Ghouls n Ghosts
Demon Front
Elevator Action Returns
Rolling Thunder
Samurai Shodown V
The Punisher CPS1
Guwange
DeathSmiles

[Nomax]

Alphabetical order:
- Blue's Journey
- Bubble Bobble
- Darius Burst Another Chronicle
- Dark Escape 4D
- Daytona USA
- Daytona USA 2 - Power Edition
- Elevator Action Returns
- Ghost Squad
- The House of The Dead 2
- The House of The Dead 4 Special
- Ikaruga
- Initial D 4
- Metal Slug 3
- Money Puzzle Exchanger
- OutRun 2 SP SDX
- Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
- Samurai Shodown IV
- Soul Calibur III Arcade Edition
- Virtua Tennis 2
- Windjammers

[grainflavour]

In no particular order

Final Fight
Mortal Kombat
Street Fighter 2
Rush N Attack
Flicky (currently playing on mame for highscore )
Virtua Tennis
Ikaruga
Pang
Outrun 2
F-Zero AX
Afterburner Climax
House of the Dead 2
Sega Rally
Galaga
Neo Turf Masters
Killer Instinct
Crazy Taxi
Bubble Bobble
Toki
Daaaaaayyyyyytttoooonnnnaaaaa

[monkeymagic]

Ghosts'n'Goblins *
Karnov *
Willow *
Wardner *
R-Type *
Shinobi *
Toki *
TNZS *
Bubble Bobble
Spiderman *
Power Drift
Virtua Fighter
Exerion
Midnight Resistance
Outzone *
Tempest
Star Wars
Defender
Xybots
Super Punch Out

Want to squeeze APB in there, but wouldn't know what to drop... and then I remembered Pacland as well... I've asterisked the ones I'm fortunate enough to own.

[pubjoe]

Favourites that I actually played the most in the arcade...

Street Fighter variations.
Space Harrier
R-Type
Donkey Kong
Pac Land
Wonderboy
Point Blank
Toki
Snow Bros
Mortal Kombat 2
Track n Field
Bubble Bobble.
Robocop.
Super Sprint. Nearly forgot this but it was great with it's stupidly spinny wheels. 3-player games would often go on for hours, with players swapping from time to time whether their credit ran out or not. Score board was topped with ridiculously high joint effort scores.

It's too difficult to amend the list to my current favourites. There's a lot that I'd want to add, a few that I'd take off. Some that should be on the list but I only played ports (GnG, TNZS, RI), and surely a lot that I'm forgetting.

[geotrig]

Super Sprint. Nearly forgot this but it was great with it's stupidly spinny wheels. 3-player games would often go on for hours, with players swapping from time to time whether their credit ran out or not. Score board was topped with ridiculously high joint effort scores.

its a very long time since i've seen a supersprint or even played it,i have a memory of it been a high enough steering wheel .. or else i was just younger than i think i was

i see your supersprint and raise you segas "hot rod" ....its everything supersprint was kinda and more.
4 player ,top down view, both game and cab .. spinny wheels , games could go on for what seemed like hrs as well, car mods tyres ,turbos ,fuel needed to be picked up..... various terrains

god id love one for at home ,too big though

id love to know what the Japanese cab looked like i reckon similar

[pubjoe]

Never played or seen hotrod.

Super Sprint was one of those oldies that was kept in the arcade for years. Another arcade had a Defender that they never let go. When you started super sprint, there was always someone nearby to sub in if you wanted to pop out for fags, play a fruit machine or take a ****. Spinning the wheel round and round doing donuts and funny little shortcut glitches, fag in mouth, was the coolest thing ever.

I felt like I'd made it when I got in the Super Sprint gang.

[geotrig]

sounds similar to hot rod gang

[pubjoe]

Except the Hot Rod gang are gaybangers.

Why that Hot Rod gang with their gelled hair and leathers. Thinking they're better than us. One of these days...