I played Smash TV on someone's free MAME system recently. I finished it in about 20minutes without starting over, just pumping credits. (In STV, you lose 0 progress when you continue with a new credit after falling. In fact, you get a brief invincibility bonus.)

It was surrreal. For one, a lot of the drama and challenged vanished. For two, it made me wonder how I sent god knows how many quarters as a kid.

Now I am playing Crystal Castles, where falling causes a partial start over (there are some warp/checkpoints later) and it is addicting me again, still fun.