A well-rounded vertical pack should be organized by genre to make navigation easier: The Golden Age Classics : The foundation of any cabinet. Ms. Pac-Man Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Jr. Centipede / Shoot 'Em Ups (Shmups) : The main reason people build vertical cabs. Cave Classics DoDonPachi Mushihimesama Toaplan Legends Flying Shark Raiden Series Raiden Fighters JET 19XX Series 1941: Counter Attack Vertical Action & Platformers BurgerTime Ice Climber (Arcade version) 3. Recommended Software & Emulators
To make vertical games look better on standard horizontal screens (or to fit a rotated monitor), use bezel packs:
When you try to play DoDonPachi or Galaga on a standard horizontal monitor, you get two massive black bars on the sides (letterboxing) or a tiny, squished window. A solves this by curating games that were designed to fill a 9:16 or 3:4 aspect ratio.
| Genre | Example Games | |----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | 1942, 1943, Raiden, DonPachi, DoDonPachi, Strikers 1945, Gigawing | | Puzzle | Puzzle Bobble (Bust-A-Move), Magical Drop, Puyo Puyo, Money Puzzle Exchanger | | Platform | Donkey Kong, Mario Bros (original), BurgerTime, Frogger | | Maze | Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Mappy | | Sports | Track & Field, Hyper Sports | | Misc | Arkanoid (with spinner), Q bert, Popeye* |
The best vertical arcade experience is on a (e.g., Dell 2007FP) with MAME + HLSL (shaders for scanlines and CRT glow). Pair with a Sanwa JLF joystick and you'll have an authentic vertical arcade setup.