Dragon's Lair was absolutely groundbreaking. First "twitch" game I can remember playing as a kid, where it really mattered how quickly you could respond to a situation that popped up. It was so different than every other game out there. Basically a Choose Your Own Adventure book in video game form.
They eventually released a version (I had it on Playstation 3, but I'm sure it was probably in other formats as well) where you could just sit and WATCH the whole of Dragon's Lair without having to play it. Infinitely more satisfying! Loved the design of the game, hated playing it.
Yes, the graphics were always lagging just before key play points and that was the game's downfall. Was the other one Space Ranger or something?
What was the game where you flew through the air on some Everlasting Story type thing? It was a really novel game with great graphics. I would put it very late in the arcade game era.
I also LOVED the roll-the-ball football game. You would hit the screen pass and then roll that thing as hard as you could to make the guy run. Or track and field, slamming those buttons. I had a best friend who was a drummer, he didn't like most games but he rocked at track and field.
Yea, I bought this on Sega Cd a few years back. Had fun for the first minute, after that, had trouble getting anywhere... I'm sure if I spent some time with it, I could have gotten someplace, but it wasn't my idea of a fun time, or an action game. More like a memory and timing cartoon.