This thread inspired be to play around & create a Top 100 playlist on my MAME cab this weekend. It was a lot harder making that list than I imagined.

With that said, these are the 5 games that get the most play on my cab in each genre...

Classic: Reactor, Donkey Kong, Crystal Castles, Robotron 2084, Burgertime
90's: Raiden II, Don Pachi, Elevator Action 2, Metal Slug X
Beat Em Up: TMNT: Turtles In Time, X-Men, The Punisher, Final Fight, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs
Shooter: Operation Wolf, Crossbow, Star Wars Trilogy, Time Crisis, Area 51
Fighting: Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Marvel vs Capcom
Sports: Track & Field, Punch-Out, Arm Wrestling, NBA Jam: TE, NFL Blitz 2000

I also can play steam games on my cab to some extent.... Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, Nidhogg, Cuphead, Pac-Man 256, etc. I'm just need to figure out how to dial in the controls for fighting games like Mortal Kombat XL, Street Fighter V, etc which can be quite frustrating.

Anyone can play the popular classic MAME games, but when I turn my cab on, I find myself always drawn to the rare titles I missed playing in arcades as a kid. Such as...

1) CROSSBOW: I remember playing this on Atari 2600, but the arcade version is outstanding. Plays great on MAME with a dialed-in trackball.

2) REACTOR: Most people think Q-Bert is Gotlieb's best arcade game. They'd be wrong. Reactor has intense science-based gameplay & a KILLER soundtrack.

3) KRULL: Another forgotten Gotlieb classic. 4 unique boards, KILLER sounds. The dodging rolling boulder board is worth the 25 cents alone.

4) CLOAK & DAGGER: So underrated. Get in & get out quick! Good story for an early 80's game. Enter Dr.Boom's evil bomb-making factory & retrieve the stolen plans from the basement, level by level before the bombs explode, then work your way back up to the surface. It's fricking impossible. Also love the elevator animations which gives you a couple seconds to breathe between levels.

5) ELEVATOR ACTION II: The original was one of my all-time favorite arcade games. This sequel far exceeds the original...in graphics, level design & challenge.

6) SATAN'S HOLLOW: Imagine playing Galaga in Hell....only with castles, fire, brimstone & floating Lucifer heads.

7) NBA HANGTIME: I was always an NBA Jam fan, until I played this. Plus you can create your own player & continue your progress by entering your birthday & PIN number. Genius!

8 ) WINDJAMMERS: Great two-player action. Basically a PONG clone, but with muscle-bound extreme Frisbee players. Don't knock it until you try it.

9) DO DON PACHI: Most people prefer side-scrolling beat-em-ups like X-Men, TMNT, Simpsons, etc. Those games bore the hell out of me after about 10 minutes. I prefer vertical scrolling bullet-hell games. This 90s Japanese classic is one of the best in the genre. Killer graphics & super intense action.

10) RAIDEN II or DX: Another 90's vertical scroller. Flip a coin between this & the game mentioned above. Can't go wrong with either. I can only imagine how many continue quarters were dumped into these insanely difficult games in the arcades.

I went this route, simply for the convenience. Pre-fab cabinets & drop-in controller setups. Tons of options. Pricey but worth it if you want something nice & don't want to do the cabinet work yourself. Built the computer myself & bought a TV for the monitor. I run it with Launchbox. I'm really happy with mine.

https://www.recroommasters.com/

I looked into Hyperspin but ended up going with Launchbox. Superior software & more straight forward IMO. Constantly updated with new releases. Lots of tutorials by the designers on YouTube.

That said I set it all up years ago & if I had to do it again I'd probably be lost. The ROM hunting is the biggest pain in the ass, as well as mapping the controls, running retroarch, etc. I still can't get my xtension controller mapped properly for some PC games, but I think it's more of a problem with certain PC fighting games than the controller itself. I get really lost when dealing with scripts, etc. I am not a programmer at all.

I play arcade classics 95% of the time anyway.