I grew up a bit late for the Pac-Man/Centipede class games. My favorite "old" titles are Lady Bug and ChaseHQ.
Of course, nothing beats the original version of Hard Drivin'. I can't believe what crap the Amiga/PC conversions were! It took the split-track design of Outrun and gave you the choice between a race track and a stunt course. How can you beat that? :-)
Were there any other "realistic" racing games in the arcades? Modern "lightweight" racers like Daytona USA 2 give me hives.
