Updated the OP, added a few games. No offense to your banners, oracrest, I just like scanlines!
I should probably, you know, talk about the games a little!
I remember playing the NES version of Bubble Bobble as a kid, but it wasn't until a year or so ago that I tried single credit clearing the original version of the game. It was actually my girlfriend's idea, after telling her that the game's best ending is only seen with two players.
It's a great game. The way you get extends was always tense, as we'd either be fighting over letters or being extra careful not to pop letters we already had so the other could collect them. So much to take in! Learning what all the items did, learning what stages we could get away with huge combo bonuses in, learning roughly where we'd see those god damned umbrellas, learning what areas were crossfire for Blubbas, learning how to ride our own bubbles up to useful areas, learning how to fire lighting in that one level that amounts to a lightning shooting gallery.
And yet, despite all that, we haven't beaten stage 32. We're scrubs. Maybe some day!
Also, that theme song and that bubble shooting animation. Unbeatable.
I think Darius Gaiden was my first arcade shooter 1cc. If you took the easy route, the game didn't offer much resistance. And always with the shields. The game just wouldn't stop giving you shields. The difficulty branches get much harder than this, of course, and the amount of enemy fire matches the amount of shields you get pretty damn well. Very flashy midbosses (especially with the whole capture thing going on) and bosses, and some really cool looking backgrounds if you dig around the stage tree. And you'll never forget the first level's music.
Definitely a game I'd like to explore more.