The original "PAWGs"
'83
@Type Username Here touched on arcades. It's difficult to describe just how huge fighting games were in the early to mid 90s. The crowds around the machines and putting your quarter on the screen to say you got next. There was always one dude who was better than everyone else and would be taking on challengers for an hour before he'd lose.
SF2 and all its iterations were always a big draw. When Mortal Kombat dropped, no one knew what to make of it. Then the first time someone's head got ripped off with the spine dangling by Sub-Zero, everyone was hooked. The internet was still in its infancy too, so you couldn't just go home and look up the finishing moves. Almost nobody knew what the hell they were doing so everyone would be wiggling the joystick around and mashing buttons hoping something worked.
People wouldn't tell you finishing moves if they knew them either. Definitely a "the game is to be sold, not told" moment.
MK2 took it to another level because it was so much better than the original. Killer Instinct was the last one I remember being a monster draw.