Lucky and WIld, otherwise known as the greatest arcade game ever!

Time Crisis whatever, the number doesn't really matter, the third one is depicted here.

And one of these bad boys:

with metal slug 3, sengoku, king of fighters '98 and puzzle bobble 2/bust-a-move again

King of Fighters 97, Mario Kart, Marvel vs Street Fighter , Jurassic Park and the King Metal Slug 3

This is tough.
1)Mario Kart (Rush 2049 came close as did Outrun 2, Hydro Thunder and Arctic Thunder)
2)Marvel vs Capcom 2 (Best arcade fighter ever)
3)Ghost Squad

That should cover the bases: racing, fighting, shooting.

If it was for me personally and I didn't care as much for multiplayer in a public setting, I'd definitely have Star Wars Battle Pod on the top of my list.

Slugfest, the baseball pinball game. My favorite arcade game ever. Very fun, very casual friendly. Takes care of the pinball fix plus there is a sport and competitive tie in.

Daytona USA. An eight player setup would take too much space, I guess we'd settle for a four player setup.

Pac-Man. Can't have arcade games without Pac-Man.

If Daytona wouldn't work logistically, I'd replace it with Marvel vs Capcom 1, the last really great fighter Capcom made imho.

What if you could only choose three?

Maybe I should have done a thread about dream arcade...  

Street Fighter II!!

i Tried but ... its so hard choose only three.

I know... I know...  I thought about the purest fun and still had trouble.  I'm starting to think I should replace Xmen with Mariokart

I'd have an SNK arcade:
Metal Slug 3
Strikers 1945 Plus
Samurai Shodown II

To make money:

Tekken 3, Daytona USA, Metal Slug 3.

Quality and variety:

AD&D: Shadow over Mystara, Super Street Fighter II, Snow Bros.