I've been impressed with graphics over the years plenty of times but nothing 'blew my mind' the way Daytona did when I first saw it in the arcades. I was a 12 year old Amiga fanboy and had been partially following that scene back then so was used to seeing things like Zool, Cannon Fodder and Frontier Elite etc.  Sprites and vector graphics.  I was with my mates when they went into the arcades to pour money into the fruit machines.  I had no interest in them and would always wander away on my own to play the games and they'd come through in a bit when they'd run out of cash.  Until I walked into the room and saw it on the screen, I had no idea what Daytona USA was.  It hadn't appeared in any magazine I'd read. I was stunned.  I absolutely couldn't believe what I was seeing.  I was used to playing Mario Kart or F-Zero on my mates SNES.  This shit was like witchcraft.  I really wish I could go back and see the look on my face.  God knows how long I stood there in fucking awe of this thing with my jaw dropped. Weird how such an insignificant event can stick with you.  That was 23 years ago for fuck's sake.  Funny thing is that I've never been a fan of racing games and Daytona was no different.  I got bored after a couple of laps.  But I still get goosebumps when I hear that music.

JonB wrote:

I was amazed the first time I saw Dragon's Lair in an arcade, before I knew what it was. Rise of the Robots certainly had a lot of hype about its graphics pre-release, but the finished game in motion wasn't particularly impressive, even before you played it.