Hey there guys this is Richard your host arcades are where it all began the birthplace of gaming culture and competition it’s much like go-karting for somebody who wants to grow up to be a Formula 1 racer players of all ages and from all places play with or against
Each other and establish a sense of Brotherhood in the process great Innovation happens in arcades not just in terms of the technical side of gaming but also the business aspect of gaming the Art and Science of earning millions of dollars by creating a fun and captivating game that cultural impact
Aside arcades did not go extinct when home consoles came into the four just like books didn’t disappear with the Advent of video or the Kindle there’s been a recent Resurgence of arcade gaming especially because of the speedrunning community and the satisfying sense of fraternity involved in it all in this marvelous video we
Look at the top 50 arcade games of all time let’s Go Mortal Kombat 1992 Mortal Kombat is a legendary fighting game that was developed to compete with the immense popularity of Street Fighter 2 at the arcades the plot of the game is centered on a Martial Arts Tournament where participants fight each other one-on-one in timed rounds wherein the first one to
Get to two victories wins the match the game brought a good amount of innovation to the fighting genre so as juggling an opponent which means to strike them into the air and hit them while they’re airborne and defenseless also introduced was the concept of the fatality which is
Generally a stylish finishing move to put a final ENT to things there are several types of matches characters bosses as well as mini games to keep the player occupied in the longer term upon release at the arcades Mortal Kombat proved to be immensely popular topping the charts in 1992 and 1993 the home
Versions of the game also sold immensely well in this period with arcade and home sales overall grossing more money than mainstream Hollywood movies at the time the graphics of the game received praise for being sharp and crisp with the overall gameplay action as well as controls being quite fluid for its time
Comparing favorably to other popular contemporary fighting and action games such as Street Fighter 2 and fatal Fury 2 Mortal Kombat however generated some controversy due to its inherently violent nature many debates were held regarding this issue some of them headed even by senators in the US serving as an
Important Catalyst to the development of the ESRB entertainment software rating board Pac-Man 1980 Pac-Man is an all-time classic known to the most casual of Gamers for its Simplicity charm and addictiveness the original intent behind the game was to create something that had appeal to both women as well as men
And not be based on either sports or combat Pac-Man takes place inside a maze wherein the player is chased by ghosts and must eat all the dots present in the maze in order to advance forward what makes the game more interesting is that each ghost has a unique personality that
The player must contend with and strategize against when Pac-Man eats a power pallet he becomes very temporarily Invincible the difficulty of the game keeps on increasing until the player reaches the 256th level which loads improperly due to a bug making it impossible to complete upon release Pac-Man had a modest start but surged
Through in popularity to become the highest growting arcade game of 1980 in Japan and 1981 in the US eventually becoming the bestselling arcade game of all time along with Space Invaders the simple Graphics catchy sounds as well as intelligent enemy Behavior made Pac-Man a game one could spend countless was Playing Street Fighter 2 1991 Street Fighter 2 is an immensely popular fighting game released during the Golden Age of arcade gaming that revolutionized the fighting genre it’s a marked improvement over its predecessor being the first one-on-one fighting game to give the player a chance to select among a variety of playable characters each
With their unique style and combo moves players fight one-on-one in close quarters and a number number of timed rounds many of the conventions established in this game became the golden standard for future fighting games when it released in Japan Street Fighter 2 wasn’t immediately a super hit
Because people were playing it solo but as multiplayer picked up the game became the highest grossing arcade game from 1991 to 1993 in Japan as well as among the top three in the US this momentum continued for a long time and Street Fighter 2 became the third highest
Selling arcade game of all time the controls and playability received a lot of Praise as did the character animation the game is credited with bringing about arcade Renaissance after the Golden Age of arcade gaming of the late 1970s and early 1980s following which the video game industry crashed from 1983 to 1985 Contra 1987 Contra is a super hit running gun Tye video game that quickly Rose through the ranks to become one of the highest grossing arcade games of 1987 the player finds him or herself in the distant future trying to infiltrate an alien Island attempting to uncover
The Mysteries behind it the first stage is sides scrolling but later levels also have 3D View and vertical scrolling curiously when the player jumps he or she actually curls unlike other action games and can even shoot while conducting the jump the ammo is infinite and the player can shoot in multiple
Directions sometimes up to eight the arcade version of Contra originally consisted of seven stages the simultaneous two-player version is what became most popular among players Contra became both Ally and commercially loved upon its release with critics and players praising its Graphics controls and two-player mode some argued correctly in retrospect that it would
Become a standard against which all future Shooters would be judged moreover the success of the game led to several sequels in the Future Double Dragon 1987 Double Dragon is a blockbuster beat him up video game that was originally supposed to be a spiritual successor to the arcade game Renegade released in 1986 but It ultimately turned out to be a completely separate game and in turn franchise the game introduces several Innovations to
The beat him up formula of the previous Renegade such as the usage of cutscenes giving the game a cinematic feel continuous sides scroll and Cooperative game playay the name of the game is an homage to Bruce Lee’s Epic film Enter the Dragon in fact its art style was
Influenced by several sources such as the manga called The Fist of the Northstar as well as the Mad Max films Double Dragon became quite successful in Japan before reaching top status in America for the years 1988 1989 the extreme popularity of the game made it difficult for players due to crowding at
Arcades praise was almost Universal critics and players noting that the game required the Dual use of technical skill as well as raw Courage the graphics were well accepted and the sound effects received props making the game overall quite addictive Double Dragon received several Awards and generated many
Sequels def Defender 1981 Defender is a horizontally scrolling arcade shooter wherein the player must ward off waves of invading aliens while defending some astronauts being inspired by the mega hit game Space Invaders as well as asteroids it’s considered one of the most significant games of the golden age
Of arcade video games that lasted from the late 1970s to the early 1980s although it wasn’t the first horizontal scroller it’s credited with establishing the genre who purely horizontally scrolling shootter UPS Defender is also a notoriously difficult game to play with many players exploiting software bugs and in order to extend their play
Time this difficulty is primarily due to having to attack and rescue at the same time Defender became popular at a slow but steady rate possibly due to its complexity But ultimately picks up pace and is now one of the highest grossing arcade games of all time although being
More popular in the west than in Japan most of the focus of the legacy of the game is on its difficulty and on the fact that it created a new type of branching genre a remake of the game was released with 3D Graphics in 2002 Donkey Kong 1981 Donkey Kong is a hugely culturally significant game here the player takes on the role of Mario climbing jumping from platform to platform and avoiding barrels thrown at them by a giant gorilla AKA Donkey Kong all the while trying to rescue a female character named Pauline hm sounds all
Too familiar there are many power-ups in the game that allow Mario to get rid of the obstacles entirely instead of just jumping over them there are also conveyor belts and elevators involved as the player progresses each level increases the difficulty till the player gets to level 130 which is a kill screen
Because a programming era kills Mario automatically after a few seconds Donkey Kong upon release was considered quite positively bizarre and exciting with the game being compared to Pac-Man and Frogger it was the highest grossing game of 1981 and the winner of several industry Awards Not only was it a huge
Seller selling over 4.4 billion dollars across all platforms it became a cultural phenomenon and an ultra competitive scene with players like the infamous Billy Mitchell Steve weeby Hank Shen and others anyone interested in Donkey Kong and its ensuing Legacy should watch the 2007 documentary titled the king of Kong a fist full of
Quarters Miss Pac-Man 1982 Miss Pac-Man was released 2 years after the Original Pac-Man wearing players control Pac-Man’s wife tasked with the same objectives as Pac-Man eat the dots collect powerups and defeat the good ghosts Miss Pac-Man introduced some key differences with the original these include redesigning the maze new
Power-ups and changing the personality of the ghosts apart from new music and sound effects the game wasn’t directly made by Namco Pac-Man’s original Studio thus as a result they were ownership issues so much so that there were no public comments about Miss Pac-Man by the original creator of Pac-Man toru
Uani his popularity however SED becoming the highest grossing arcade game of 1982 along with Donkey Kong Miss Pac-Man even won significant awards at the arcade Awards of 1983 Miss Pac-Man received accolades upon release with critics noting that the game aged better than the Original Pac-Man because of its Superior ghost AI well differentiated
Mazes and moving fruits it said that the game has the broadest appeal among children men as well as women the overall Simplicity charm and success of the game led to it being inducted to the world video game Hall of Fame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TMNT is a
Beat them up arcade game released post the popularity of the first animated series the game lets the player control the titular TMNT characters Leonardo Michelangelo Donatello and Raphael going through various levels in order to defeat formidable adversaries such as Shredder crang and the Foot Clan each TMNT has special abilities in the game
Based on range and speed of attack that the player must use strategic ically against these enemies at the arcades there was a dedicated four-player cabinet except in Japan and some other places where it was two-player the arcade game became hugely successful especially in parts of North America where the game Studio Konami struggled
To keep up with demand it became the highest grossing arcade game in the US in 1990 and was also popular in other places like Europe Australia and Japan the graphics and sound of the game received a lot of credit but it’s enemy AI drew some criticism overall the game
Especially due to its four player system steadily grew in popular lar and led to several future titles [Applause] 1 virt of fighter 1993 virt of fighter by Sega is the first arcade fighting game to introduce fully three-dimensional polygonal Graphics the game was highly praised for its detailed fighting engine that was three-dimensional apart from using real world fighting techniques making it a highly significant game in the evolution
Of the fighting genre and video games as a whole although virtu fighter takes place in a three-dimensional environment movement was restricted to 2D while the game used fewer controls when compared to contemporaries such as Mortal Kombat in Street Fighter 2 the development of the game was a particularly difficult
One due to the fast nature of long divisions needing to be performed in order to get the 3D polygonal part right the popularity of virtu a fighter surged with it quickly becoming Japan’s highest grossing arcade game for 1994 also reaching top five in the US and UK the
Adaptation of 3D polygonal Graphics was seen as a Game Changer being the harbinger for future fighting games to come even though there was some criticism for its excessively blocky polygonized characters the three-dimensional scrolling movement and animation were all deemed to be quite smooth and realistic the camera movement
Along the axes as well as the use of multiple Vantage points during instant replays received good amounts of praise the legacy of the game rests on its groundbreaking Innovation with 3D polygons as well as the sheer fun to play it Tron 1982 Tron is an interesting arcade
Game that was based on the successful movie of the same name which released in the same year as the game I.E 1982 the game is based on events and characters from the movie and is broken up into four sub games there were initial plans to make a vector graphics version of the
Game but was abandoned due to time constraints the game does support two players but one alternating with another there was a fifth subgame plan but due to time constraints it was reworked into a new arcade game called discs of Tron in 1983 which wasn’t as successful as
The original arade game albeit it used more advanced Hardware the concept of linking a game related directly with a movie or media release served well for Tron as the movie Universe expanded more Tron games came into the four each with different legacies Tron was a success upon release and is still considered
Quite formidable in its appeal the plot concerning the inner workings of a computer system as well as the impressive visuals and colors were captured by the game so well that it influenced several games of the future in its Art and Design its endurance and popularity especially for nostalgic
Purposes still makes Tron a title one can look back upon and enjoy Outstanding finish Mortal Kombat 2 1993 Mortal Combat 2 was the much awaited sequel to The highly successful arcade game Mortal Kombat it not only improved the gameplay in terms of moves and fatalities but also expanded the lore of the original game and introduced several new characters which have now become quite
Iconic gameplay features included crouching punches and roundhouse kicks aside from the concept of fatalities Babalities which is turning the opponent into a crying baby friendships as well as stage specific fatalities although they can’t be performed against bosses overall the game is darker than the original and that’s reflected in its use
Of art style and color dep Mortal Kombat 2 not only became a huge hit but also came to be known as a cultural phenomenon it became the highest grossing arcade game in the US in 1994 and was considered the arcade game of the year superseding its own prequel the
Game before its release had incredible hype surrounding it certainly lived up to it in the graphics violence and action department at the time it was considered one of the few true Rivals to Street Fighter 2 and that was quite an achievement since then Mortal Kombat has evolved into a premier franchise in its
Own right as far as fighting games are concerned Space Invaders 1978 Space Invaders is a Monumental game because it was the first proper fixed shooting game setting the standard for all future games in the genre and in the process it’s become one of the most influential
Games of all time the purpose of the game is to defend against successive waves of aliens using a horizontally moving laser as more and more aliens are defeated the game’s music and the aliens movement speeds up the multifaceted and purpose-based use of the game’s music has influenced the use of music and
Gaming in the years to come Space Invaders became the top arcade game from the very early ‘ 80s and since has grown to become well along with Pac-Man the highest grossing arcade game of all time upon release Space Invaders had a huge impact not just on gaming but on popular
Culture as well it’s considered simple but highly add icve attracting political controversy in Japan the UK and elsewhere the pixelated alien enemy has become so iconic that it’s become a pop culture symbol for video gaming as a whole being one of the most influential games of all time it’s said to have
Begun along with other titles the Golden Age of arcade video gaming Grant tiing NBA Jam 1993 NBA Jam is a hugely popular basketball arcade game that was based on the previously released and relatively successful Arch Rivals that debuted in 1989 although it was NBA Jam who brought the basketball genre into
The mainstream the game was known for its fast and action-packed gameplay along with some exaggerated realism NBA Jam features NBA licensed team and players with the exception of Michael Jordan who all could perform at a level that mostly defied the laws of physics it’s also filled with Easter eggs and
Special features such as super clean floors that causes players to fall if they move too quickly or change Direction abruptly among the unlockable players include the likes of US President Bill Clinton and an assaultman of others upon release NBA Jam became exceptionally popular exceeding revenues of most Hollywood movies at that time
Becoming the highest grossing arcade game of 1993 in the US critics arein that the gameplay was easy to pick up and fun for even nons Sports enthusiasts many popular phrases in basketball pop culture also came from this game making it iconic in an also mainstream sense overall this momentum led to widespread
Acclaim as well as several sequels in the future all right now Play The Simpsons 1991 The Simpsons is a beom up arcade game which was the first to be based on the mega popular The Simpsons franchise where the player controls different members of the Simpson family in order to rescue the kidnapped Maggie from Smithers and ultimately Mr Burns arcades for the game
Came in two and four play modes with each character having distinct attack Styles the original cast of the Animated Series reprised their roles for the voices of their respective characters giving it a very familiar feeling to American audiences the Japanese version of the game included many tweaks but
Became quite popular there as well ranking within the top 12 for popularity the American version soared much more becoming one of the top three bestselling arcade Machines of 1991 upon release the game became quite popular becoming heavily praised for its faithful adaptation of the Animated Series the graphics were deemed
Appealing as was the sound and the overall animations and gameplay have led it to being called the best cartoon-based game at the time the presence of other familiar characters in the form of Easter eggs and cameos also leads to a lot of nostalgia overall the popularity of the game led to several
Sequels on other Ports The House of the Dead 1996 The House of the dead is a light gun arcade shooter based on a horror backdrop where the player takes on a seemingly innumerable number of Undead creatures that have been created by a mad scientist it’s been credited with popularizing the zombie video game genre
Along with games such as Resident Evil even partially contributing to the Renaissance of zombie films during the early 2000s the game doesn’t follow a strictly linear perspective moreover it holds host to a number of formidable bosses the last of whom the magician is notoriously difficult to beat the game
Also features multiple endings at least three with more part branches being planned but later abandoned due to a lack of time The House of the Dead was very successful becoming the highest grossing Japanese arcade game of 1998 the story and its branching levels received praise as did the creature
Design and overall Graphics one feature that was particularly appreciated was the use of fast-moving zombies as opposed to the cliched and classic slow zombie coming to eat your brain the game was initially criticized by some quarters as quite violent but it was later agreed that stylish killing of
Zombies severing of Limbs and a whole lot of blood being splattered all of these were were decidedly cartoonish and wouldn’t qualify as obscene be that as it may the game endured in its popularity so much so that a remake was released in 2002 asteroids 1979 asteroids is a multi-directional arcade shoo based in
Space wearing the player in his triangular ship has to avoid colliding into asteroids all the while eliminating flying sources the game is based on a vector display with artistic and Technical elements being inspired from similar games of the past such as Space Invaders computer space and space War
Released during the Golden Age of arcade games from the late ’70s into early ‘ 80s it was one of the first significant hits during this period not only to Gamers asteroids influenced future game developers leading directly to games such as Defender and gravitar the game became immensely popular so much so that
Players began to come up with interesting exploits and strategies forcing the studio to patch these issues and prevent such occurrences in the future immediately upon its release asteroid became extremely popular even to an extent displacing the Blockbuster hit Space Invaders the game became the highest grossing arcade game of 198 in
The US although its popularity didn’t reach as much of a peak in Japan Europe and Asia critics and players praised the complexity of positioning speed and direction at the same time overall lording the control Dynamics some of the ports of the game did receive some criticism but the arcade version remains
An all-time classic leading to a direct arcade sequel called asteroids Deluxe in 1981 Gallagher 1981 Gallagher is a fixed shooter arcade game that serves as a sequel to the 1979 game galaxian a game that did quite well and was positioned as a competitor to Space Invaders while
The player controls a spaceship he or she is tasked with destroying enemy forces all the while avoid getting hit Gallagher is regarded as a significant title during the Golden Age of arcade video games lasting from the late ’70s to the early ‘ 80s building on top of galaxian Galaga introduces several
Gameplay Innovations and makes the game as a whole much more addictive one element that the developers included was the enemy capture of the player ships using a tractor beam whereby forcing the player to rescue it otherwise costing the player a life The Addictive nature of Gallagher let to several accolades
Both fans and critics commented favorably on the improvements to its predecessor both in the US and Japan Gallagher became one of the most popular and highest grossing arcades of the time the colorful Graphics of the game its balance in difficulty as well as its dual fighter mechanic also earned all
Round praise Gallagher has often been cited as one of the best fixed shooters ever and among the greatest games ever for its time the fact that there were still sequels to the game as late as 2016 suggest that Gallagher is here to stay Mario bruss 1983 Mario bruss is an epic game and there are no two ways about it what’s even more epic is it sequel Super Mario bruss which is perhaps the most famous video game of all time however some of the seeds characters and gameplay elements of this future success
Lie in the original game two plumber Brothers Mario and Luigi have to jump and run through platform like Ames with a series of wraparound pipes at the corner of the stages unlike Super Mario bruss though enemies can’t be jumped on or squashed nor used as a projectile unless the enemies are already flipped
On their back which can be accompanied by hitting the platforms directly under the enemies there’s also a pow button which when hit flips all enemies allowing the player much more leeway to get to the objective initially mariio Bross was only a modest success but quickly gained traction and became one
Of the highest grossing arcade games in 1983 despite the video game crash that happened in that year ports to the consoles of Mario bruss also FedEd quite well given the time and circumstances overall Mario Bross cemented Mario is a significant figure in pop culture that would only Skyrocket with the release of
Super Mario bruss laying much of the groundwork for its spectacular Success Tetris 1980 Tetris is a massively popular and relevant game and has been in the news recently because its kill screen was finally reached by a young boy after all these years it’s a puzzle video game created by a Soviet software engineer wherein players have to form complete lines while moving and
Placing differently shaped and oriented pieces the player has to keep clearing lines until the uncleared lines reach the top of the screen and then it’s game over Tetris has not only influenced video gaming but it’s deeply rooted in culture where it influenced art architecture and even music the game
Became so influential and addictive that it led to the tetris effect wherein players begin to pattern their behavior thoughts and dreams based solely on the game Tetris is known as one of the most addictive video games of all time while some joking that the game was a Russian
Ploy to keep Americans busy and distracted the Strategic gameplay and reflexes needed to excel at the game received a lot of Praise from Gamers and critics alike it was easy to play but notoriously hard to make significant progress at the arcade version of the game became the highest grossing game of
1989 in Japan with women forming a significant player base something that was unusual for games at the time some Publications have named Tetris to be the greatest arcade video game ever although that can be disputed there’s no denying the impact that this game has had on popular culture and the gaming psyche as
A Whole Sega Riley Championship 1994 this fun arcade game simulates driving on a varied number of surfaces with different amounts of traction meaning the car’s handling changes drastically based on the terrain Sega Rally Championship was in fact the first racing game to incorporate this real world handling and
Physics it also has elements of rally racing in it as well as Cooperative gameplay aside from multiplayer which grew to be very competitive there are three Chief terrains the desert forest and Mountain but there are very few casts featured in the game linking together arcade cabinets the game can
Support up to four players Sega Rally Championship was a lot of fun to play and uh this is reflected in its sales it became the second highest grossing arcade game in Japan for the year 1995 some criticism was levered at the car’s indestructibility as well as some of the
Controls despite these criticisms much praise was heaped upon the realism of the gameplay and cars as well as the handling apart from some inspired track design the impact of the game has been such that it led to the creation of the Sega rally series which has gone on to
Influence Future car games such as Colin McCrae Rally Mega Man the power battle 1995 this was one of the two Mega Man arcade games to ever exist allowing the player to choose between the three playable characters of Mega Man protoman and bass there’s a simultaneous two-player mode available most of the game follows the rock paper scissors style as in most
Mega Man games on other consoles however instead of facing the boss at the end the player faces it immediately Mega Man or Rockman as is known in Japan by this time had established itself as a platforming franchise and this new arcade experience was interesting for both seasoned and newer players upon
Release at somewhat expected Mega Man the power battle gained popularity it colorful graphics and 8-bit music much like the consoles received a lot of praise for their consistency vibrancy and Nostalgia there was some criticism leved at the game for its repetitive nature duration of gameplay time as well
As the lack of the amount of platforming elements present in the consoles overall the arcade game was successful enough to secure a sequel Mega Man 2 the Power Fighters which was released in 1996 Golden Axe 1989 Golden Axe is a classic sidescrolling hack and slash type arcade video game taking place in a Fantastical Medieval World highly reminiscent of Conan the Barbarian apart from using traditional weapons players can also cast spells depending upon how much blue magic potion they’ve acquired the player
Can choose between three characters each with their special actions and magical abilities The Narrative of the game changes based upon which character is selected there are also dragons in the game which can be used as steeds shooting fireballs and helping the player on their Journey the game’s quite
Intuitive in nature but parts of it can be very challenging depending upon the skill level of the player golden ax gained popularity quickly becoming the highest grossing arcade game in the US during the early part of 1990 the detailed visuals smooth animation and Cooperative gameplay Dre praise from
Both critics and Gamers as did the realistic sound effects the overall gameplay was quite refined at the time and there was a lot of value in replayability although the short length of the game received some criticism golden ax influenced the future gaming scene and was considered one of the most
Successful titles after the video game Crash of 1983 Kung Fu Master 1984 Kung Fu Master also known as Spartan X in Japan is a sidescrolling beat him up game that was inspired by the Jackie Chan film wheels on meals also released in 1984 as well as the Bruce Lee film Game of Death
Released in 1972 the player fights his or her way through the devil’s temple in order to rescue his girlfriend from The Crime Boss Mr X as the player makes his or her way through the temple they encounter innumerable enemies as well as five end level bosses Kung Fu Master is
Regarded as the first beat him up brawler type of game and became one of the first sides scrolling action games a convention that became widespread in the late 80s Kung Fu Master started well at the arcades becoming a major hit not just in Japan and America but in Europe
As well in 1985 it was the second highest grossing arcade game in in the US critics praise the fast and fluid action of the game describing the protagonist as a jumping kicking and whirling fighting machine the controls of the game aside from the cartoonish yet lifelike graphics and catchy music
Received positive accolades as well Kung Fu Master also became popular among game developers inspiring parts of games such as Street Fighter the endurance of the game led to the 1991 sequel Spartan X2 while also having spiritual successes in the form of the games Trojan and vigilante released in 1986 and 1988
Respectively Punch Out 1984 punch out was a globally successful arcade game wherein the player takes the role of an unnamed boxer who’s made up of a wireframe structure so that the opponent can be seen through him with the camera angle being behind the player the player must accurately time his or her punches
Blocks and Dodges the opponent’s moves have an element of prediction about them in the form of subtle eye changes the player’s performance fills up a KO meter which when full allows the player to perform some knockout moves a fun feature of the game is that iconic characters such as Mario Luigi and
Donkey Kong can be seen in the audience cheering the player on Punch Out took the arcade World by storm both in Japan and the us becoming the top performing arcade game for the year 1984 in the US Mike Tyson’s name got attached to it in the US the graphics of the game were
Praised as being quite good although cartoon-like with the action being relatively fluid as well overall it was described as a knockout game which upon continuous play could become quite addictive the Home console versions of punch out also became popular for Speed running such was the success of the
Arcade game itself that a sequel Super Punch chat was released in the same year with fewer but tougher boxes to Fight rype 1987 rype is a sidescrolling shooter the first of the franchise where the player finds him or herself controlling a Starship in their effort to eradicate a powerful alien race that’s held bent on wiping out all of humanity it was inspired by legendary Gamers of of the past such as gradius
And Aliens as well as the works of the great artist HR Giga the pace of the game is slower than contemporary Shooters and there’s an emphasis on pattern recognition not just sheer speed there’s also an element in the game called the force which enables the
Player to use it in a wide number of situations this added a whole layer of strategic depth to the game increasing its replayability AR type was hugely successful becoming Japan’s highest grossing arcade game in the year 1987 the game became Infamous for its notorious difficulty which counterintuitively added to its
Popularity the level design of the game also received praise overall it’s considered one of the best shoot them up video games of the time and uh perhaps of all time a three-dimensional version of the game was released in 2009 with a new title already commissioned for 2024 centipede 1981 centipede was a fixed
Shooter arcade game where the player controls a small insect likee creature known as bug Blaster firing darts at a segmented centipede that travels from the top of the screen traversing a field of mushrooms apart from the centipede there are enemies like fleas spiders and scorpions all of whom the player must
Deal with in order to reach the desired objectives centipede was programmed among others by Donna Bailey who was at the time one of the few female programmers in the gaming industry thus the intention of the game was to attract an equal number of female players since its design wasn’t sexually biased like
In fighting and sports games centipede did quite well at the arcades behind only Pac-Man for the most part it was like planned one of the first arcade games that had a significant female player base with some estimating half of the players at the arcade playing this game were female critic orine that the
Concept of the game was quite cool and accessible and especially praised the track ball control centipede was the sort of game that would be enjoyed by both casual gamers and seasoned veterans that added with the female element made the game one of the most widely played on arcades the enduring Legacy of the
Game led to its induction to the world video game Hall of Fame Spy Hunter 1985 four Spy Hunter is a vertically scrolling vehicle-based Combat Action arcade game that draws inspiration from the James Bond movies the goal of the game is to control a technologically advanced Supercar while
Trying to destroy enemy vehicles with a variety of weapons as they try to destroy the play car or force it off the road the arcade version consisted of a futuristic steering wheel a pedal for acceleration and a stick for engaging in high and low gears there are several
Terrain and weather conditions as well as special weapons such as oil slicks missiles and smoke screens at certain points during the game players have the the option to turn the car into a speedboat as well the success of Spy Hunter led to it topping the arcade charts for several months in 1984 it
Placed among the top five grossing arcade games of 1984 in the US and was deemed the most played arcade game there in the year 1985 critics and players praised the game’s fluid controls music and overall gameplay the success of the game led to an arcade sequel in 1987
Called Spy Hunter 2 with reboots at least three separate times in the successive decades action Time Crisis 1995 Time Crisis was quite different from contemporary like gun shooters incorporating new mechanics like being able to duck in order to dodge attacks while reloading using a foot pedal like its name the game forces
The player to compete each level within a given amount of time the arcade version of the game features a two-player Cooperative mode apart from there being additional weapons the terrain of fighting is usually in a danger dangerous setting such as a steadily capsizing ship or a train
Dangling off a damaged Bridge the light guns of the arcade cabinet also have a blowback option simulating the real life recoil of a gun Time Crisis did really well upon release at the arcades out competing games like virtue of Cop 2 especially due to its foot pedal action
There was some criticism leveled at the game including the somewhat inaccuracy of light gun as well as the game being a little too simplistic not discounting its Technical Innovations the lack of a proper multiplayer mode also received criticism from players and critics alike despite these short comings Time Crisis
Proved to be one of the better light gun games with its Graphics sound effects and various forms of play winning the hearts of Gamers far and wide froger 1981 froger is a very interesting arcade game wherein the objective is to lead Five Frogs to their respective homes by
Dodging traffic on a very busy road and then crossing a river by hopping on floatable logs as well as on the backs of alligators and turtles players must avoid snakes OTS as well as the open mouths of alligators in the process froger has the weird title of being an
Arcade game with arguably the most Ways to Die be it from collision with vehicles or at the hands of the above mentioned creatures this game wasn’t easy to Green Light because Executives thought it would merely be a women and kids game but the example and huge success of the similarly intentioned
Pac-Man LED them to change their minds Frogger appeal was thought to transcend age or sex at the time a lot of the arcade games were space themed so this was a breath of fresh air for players and critics alike it drew favorable parallels to the Maze and climbing
Themes of immensely popular games such as Donkey Kong and Pac-Man the cute graphics and crisp sound effect of the game as well as the responsive controls make Frogger an alltime classic there have been many pop culture references to it a famous one being on an episode of Seinfeld Rampage 1986 Rampage is a
Unique sort of game inspired by monster movies where the player takes control of a Triad of gigantic monsters trying to survive the the attack of military forces these monsters were originally human but become this way due to experimental mishaps the job of the monsters now is to destroy buildings
Avoid damage and eat humans the monsters in the game are based on a king konges gorilla a huge reptile and a bipedal wolf all sorts of military machines attack the player including tanks helicopters boats and so on the player must strategize their way into surviving the 128 days across which the game spans
The objective of the player is to completely annihilate an entire city and then move on to the next level Rampage did well at the arcade and was in fact one of the last successes of its Studio it was a pretty good game for its time and its popularity led to several ports
Critics praised the destruction system of the game but complained that there was lack of newer objectives the enduring popularity of the game led to five sequels as well as the 2018 film of the same name starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson popey 1982 Popeye is a nostalgic platforming arcade game based on the
Immensely popular character Popeye where the player as Popeye must collect hearts that are being thrown by olive oil from the top part of the screen all the while getting chased by popey’s Arch Enemy bruus the game is unusual in the sense that popey here can’t jump as in the
Cartoons popey here relies on his spinach fueled punch in order to destroy objects that might otherwise cause him damage other characters in the game are the legendary ones like wimpy as the game progresses Brutus becomes more and more familiar the comparison with Donkey Kong and other cartoonish games was
Expected but the nuances and Nostalgia were enough to make popey AE at the arcades in its own right interestingly enough legendary Shigeru mamoto had hoped to use the characters of popey for Donkey Kong but was denied a license and the rest is history pong 1972 pong is
Perhaps the most legendary of them all it began as a simple game of table tennis assigned as a training exercise but the quality of the work was so good that the game had to be sold to the market pong was quite possibly the first commercially successful video game
Helping establish what we know now and love is the video game industry the game is essentially a two-dimensional screen where each player uses a paddle to hit a ball back and forth 11 points needed to win each point accumulating when the opponent misses this though deceptively
Simple was genius and laid the seed to the ever complex and magically lifelike video games we play today pong was so successful at the arcades that at the time it was earning four times the revenue of other coin operated machines one problem that arose was the rise of
CopyCat which was hard to deal with at the time since all this was very new pong was noted by critics and players to be highly simplistic but in a good way and highly addictive it was in a sense the proof of concept that video games could actually work as a commercially
Viable product in the worldwide Marketplace pong thus occupies a Mount Rushmore status in the video gaming Community as well as industry and since then several variants and sequels have been developed joust 1982 joust is special because it was one of the first games ever to present a popular and Polished version of two-player
Cooperative game play players are given the role of knights wherein player One Rides an ostrich while player two rides on a St defeating enemy Knights flying around riding buzzards which is another type of bird each of the players are also armed with lances which they can use to unseat enemy Knights provided
That the player’s Lance is at a higher vertical level this pixelated game is one of the more significant titles created during the Golden Age of arcade video gaming the name of the game derives from when Knights would just with each other using lances to see who
Would come out on top there are also formidable characters like the lava Troll and at least one pterodactyle both of whom the player must definitely avoid or kill joust was hiled for its technical creative and cultural impacts it reached top 15 in the US but that number doesn’t fully capture its impact
In the video gaming world this was one of the first truly fun multiplayer games being weird stupid wonderful and amazing at the same time to the same players an arcade sequel J 2 survival of the fittest was released in 1986 incorporating many of the elements of its original classic a mobile phone
Version of joust was released in 2005 jst’s Legacy has impacted several future game designers who would be inspired by elements of it to create such legendary games as Mario bruss and balloon fight Donkey Kong Jr 1982 Donkey Kong Jr is a platforming arcade game serving as the sequel to the trail blazingly
Popular Donkey Kong in this game however the roles are revered Mario here is the antagonist while Donkey Kong Jr is on his quest to save his imprisoned father the team that created this game including sharu mamoto would go on to develop the mythical Mario Series in the
Future when it comes to Donkey Kong junr the player has to grab on S Vines ropes and chains in order to climb higher jumping from platform to platform in order to rescue his dad from the clutches of Mario the reaction to Donkey Kong junor was overwhelmingly positive players enjoying the gimmick of roll
Reversal the slightly updated Graphics new sorts of enemies as well as challenges all of these received heavy praise because the expectations from the game was frankly too much and it lived up to it to this day the game inspires serious competitive play with Gamers spending hours upon hours to practice in
A race to the very [Applause] top 1943 the Battle of Midway 1987 this is a curiously funny game because although it was developed by Japanese game designers the objective of the player is to control American pilots and course Havoc among the Japanese air fleet clearly this was one of the first
Japanese games to be made keeping the an audience in mind one fun feature of the game is that there are many cheat codes the combat is mainly set during World War II off the coast of Midway atal where the Imperial Japanese Air Forces and the United States Air Force Collide
1943 the Battle of Midway is the sequel to The hugely popular game simply titled 1942 which is still remembered for its combat and Graphics in Japan the game rolls quickly through the ranks to occupy second spot for several weeks ultimately becoming the second highest grossing arcade game of 1987 while also
Doing extremely well in 198 88 apart from the fast-paced graphics the sound effects also garnered praise and the game was overall noted for its replayability and addictiveness to achieving a high score final fight 1989 final fight originally began as a sequel to the original Street Fighter but soon
Switched its genre from a purely fighting game to a game of the beat them up genre combat consists of fighting successive waves of enemies till a final boss is reached overall gameplay is quite simple with specific focus on combo moves and attacks as well as M combat enemies can be grabbed and
Literally tossed final fight consists of six rounds not counting the two bonus rounds the game attracted some controversy due to its unique and risque continuous screen final fight brought the fight to the arcade Marketplace becoming Japan’s highest grossing game of 1990 and coming second in 1991 it was
Also a blockbuster hit in the US becoming one of the highest grossing arcade games there in in 1990 other ports of the game were equally as successful critics and players praised the superb graphics and solid fighting action the popularity of the game guaranteed future sequels in the coming Years Darius 1987 Darius is a horizontally scrolling shooting arcade game being notable for its upbeat soundtrack cute anime likee Graphics as well as a unique three-screen panoramic display Darius is known for its multiple level structure unique power-ups and intricacies in enemy design the boss battles in the game have also been
Deemed quite difficult and epic Cooperative gameplay being present also makes the game a whole lot more fun since the screen is three times as big as it used to be it takes a while to get used to but it’s an important innovation in the video game industry Darius is
Known to be notoriously difficult and also has multiple endings Darius became quite popular especially in Japan where it became a top grossing arcade game Darius is remembered for pushing the boundaries of innovation and establishing technical significance in the video game industry its success also managed to develop a properly successful
Franchise whose last release was as late as 2019 having been able to churn out some successful games in the Interim ghosts and goblins 1985 this game holds the distinction of being one of the toughest games of all time as well as one of the best of its era the player is in control of a knight s arur who must defeat demons Spirits Giants zombies and a whole host of enemies in
Order to escape the princess who’s been kidnapped by the devil there’s a vast range of weapons and armor that the player has to cleverly employ in the defeat of bosses such as Cyclops dragons and Powerful demons the so-called satans the difficulty of the game lies in the
Fact that besides there being a short time limit the player can only be hit two times and then he or she has to start from a far away checkpoint or the beginning of the level altogether Japan proved to be a major hit for Ghosts and Goblins coming in the top 10 highest
Grossing arcade games in 1986 in the same year it reached the top 10 in the US as well the UK had a much slower start but things began to pick up once they did especially in pubs and clubs the ports of the game were successful as well with critics and players commenting
On the sheer appeal and enjoyment they could get from the game although there were some criticisms towards the platforming aspects again the difficulty of the game was so much that some reviewers even went so far as to call it a waste of time but those who persevered enjoyed the game thoroughly Altered Beast 1988 Altered Beast delves into Greek mythology where Zeus has chosen the player to rescue his daughter from the Demonic rule of the underworld no not Hades but some guy called nef H the player has the ability to transform him or herself into various magical
Beasts including a dragon a tiger a bear a wolf and a golden wolf one of the purposes of the game was to show off the then Cutting Edge 16bit arcade board due to that the game’s Graphics were quite good and well animated expanding on much of the Greek World in great detail the
Audio of the game became popular too chiefly due to its mythological nature and tone reviews of the game were not as clearcut positive from the start because of the somewhat repetitive plot although the graphics weren’t deemed terribly good game was thought to be very clever in its use of it some disagreed with
That opinion and thought that the graphics were quite Nifty and befitting the gameplay overall was thought to be much more compelling the success of Altered Beast led to two sequels one of them is latest 2005 overall Altered Beast has become a cultural Mainstay being occasionally referenced in popular media asteroids Deluxe 1981 asteroids
Deluxe is a multi-directional shooting arcade game where in the goal like in the original asteroids is to destroy as many asteroids and flying sources as possible asteroid Deluxe brings in some new features the hyperspace feature is replaced with shields that deplete with use there’s also the killer satellite a
Cluster of ships that break apart and Chase down the player ship another pretty significant change is that flying sources can now Target the players ship and shoot across the boundary of the screen making these shots much much more deadly another motivation behind releasing this version was to make the
Game easier overall so a lot more players would have accessibility to it critics and players welcom the new gameplay mechanics in asteroids Deluxe whilst appreciating that the fundamentals were not tampered with the game sold well although not as much as the original asteroids did the strategy element that the game brought with it
Along with those pesky killer satellites brought about a new dimension to the game the success of both asteroids and asteroids Deluxe led to the development and release of the game Space duel in 1982 and and more directly blasteroids in [Applause] 1987 Jurassic Park the Lost World 1997 this one is a light gun arcade game based on the Epic film of the same name Jurassic Park the Lost World managed to successfully create a three-dimensional world with believable graphics and lifelike quality some of the more famous dinosaurs in pop culture have actually
Been rendered in great detail the audio of the game is quite good given that we don’t know what dinosaurs actually sounded like the thrilling score especially during tense moments was unbelievably good Cooperative players available if you are a marvelous viewer and your friend want to be frightened together while playing the game the
In-depth arcade experience of Jurassic Park the Lost World impressed players and critics alike The story-driven Narrative based on the actual movie was praised as was the Cooperative gameplay the controls were deemed to be nimble and good overall while the adrenaline was set to the max All Things Considered
Jurassic Park the Lost World is a must playay game if one has liked the Movie bubble bubble 1986 bubble bubble is a platform arcade game where players are in control of two dragons who set out to rescue their girlfriends players kill enemies by trapping them into bubbles and popping them bubble bubble was made specifically to be played in two player Cooperative mode as the game
Studio thought that it was an element girls would enjoy the versatility of the use of the bubble was very impressive for players the visual imagery was quite vibrant and the music pretty catchy overall it was a cheerful game to play When the mood needed lifting up bubble
Bubble started very well off in Japan being among the top five highest grossing arcade games in 1987 it fared fairly well in the UK as well topping the charts in early 1987 The Challenge and addictiveness of the game was highlighted in most of the reviews by critics and players alike other ports of
Bubble bubble also became quite successful breaking in Revenue overall the longlasting appeal multiplayer and charm of bubble bubble ultimately won people Over Dynamite Duke 1989 9 Dynamite Duke is a mixture of a shooter and a beat them up trying to come up with something new when everybody was making space shooters or the like a scientist in the game creates a formula making mutants to rule over the entire world Dynamite Duke
Is a cyborg who sent to stop him being the Duke of action and the Duke of Destruction Duke’s one hand is mechanical being able to deliver an extremely enhanced punch the boss battles in the game are said to be quite complex challenging as well as engaging
The extra focus on melee combat is also there in the game which was quite new for its time Dynamite Duke received Praise on many sectors the fluid animation was praised not just for Duke but for enemies as well the novelty of shooting at enemies at a distance then
Fighting them hand to hand really hyped up the word of mouth for the game high scores were being set and broken all the time in the early ’90s fans of fighting games will love it especially the melee Portions gradius 1985 being the first game in a long-standing series gradius puts the player in the place of a pilot who must defend him or herself from hordes of aliens sounds like the usual story however what differentiates gradius from games of similar types is its power meter which can be filled up
Picking up enemy capsules this allows the players to be able to purchase upgrades of various sorts of upgrades and tailor it to situations in which they might need them creating extreme versatility there’s a catchphrase that has become synonymous with the game especially among 80s enthusiasts destroy the core this came about because some
Bosses and gradius had a vulnerable core despite all their high-tech external form there are some very interesting boss fights with large enemies called Big cores who despite having weak spots are quite powerful gradius enjoyed great popularity in Japan featuring in the top five highest grossing arcade games
Believe it or not it was the highest grossing arcade game in the UK for the year 1986 critics and player gave it positive reviews the game was praised for its level design and won some industry Awards and came quite close to winning some very prestigious ones crus
Has led several sequels to freu I the first of which was the game salamander in 1986 and the last of which released in 2008 the Innovative design work and eye candy Graphics will always remain a legacy of this classic game rosten 1987 Ron is a horizontally scrolling hack and slash type arcade
Game which became a commercial and critical success at the arcades leading to it being ported to various other platforms Ron is different because it’s both medieval and Fantastical mythological yet rooted in realism having to fight mythical creatures to save a kingdom Roston has to square off against mythical beings such as chimeras
And half bird and half humans otherwise known as harpies there are six bosses that Roston has to slay giving the game a very hercu and feel rtin received a deluge of praise for its beautifully drawn and strikingly realistic Graphics quick paced action and fairly addictive gameplay the hacking and slashing
Portion of the game received fairly good reviews as well Ron’s drawn favorable comparison to the character con and the Barbarian as well as the game’s Green Beret in ghosts and goblins Ron’s popularity led to two sequels one in 1988 and another in 1991 Dragon Spirit 1987 Dragon Spirit is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade game where the player controls the dragon AMU in his effort to rescue the princess from a serpent demon amol can move in up to eight directions and has two M weapons a special kind of bombb or
A flame projectile the challenges in the game include not just obstacles but riddles as well amul was once an average fellow who’s now a symbol responsible for restoring peace in a world filled with evil and Chaos the Fantastical World created by the designers makes it a sheer joy to proceed in this journey
Of Hope courage and fire dragon Spirits certainly lived up to its name becoming the fourth highest grossing arcade game in Japan for the year 1987 the graphics the music the dinosaur setting all of these made Dragon Spirit stand out from similar games at the time the gorgeous colorful graphics and pleasant
Soundtrack made the game quite addictive apart from The Addictive nature of the gameplay itself the game gained in popularity and critical Acclaim leading to a sequel in 1989 known as Dragon Spirit The New Legend a second sequel known as Dragon saber was released for the arcades in 1990 as
Well twin Cobra 1987 twin Cobra is a sequel to the popular vertically scrolling shooter known as tiger heli the player is in command of an attack helicopter and must fend off seemingly endless waves of military vehicles of all kinds whilst dodging their projectiles there are standard helicopter shots and then there are
Bombs that can obliterate anything in the blast radius the adrenaline of breaking through the enemy ranks with epic music in the background is what led to the appeal of twin Cobra there are also multiple power-ups in the game that appear via enemy carriers after the game’s done with it begins again with
Greater difficulty and with enemies firing much denser bullet patterns twin Cobra did very well at the arcades in Japan becoming one of the highest grossing arcade games in the year 1988 the cool visuals were praised but some criticized it as being a bit repetitive while other ports took a hit in the
Graphics Department the arcade version more or less Shone through the game is quite difficult to play and the addition of a beginner mode at least on some ports offered players some reprieve the enduring popularity of the title led to a direct sequel twin Cobra 2 in 1995 Iari Warriors 1986 iari Warriors is a vertically scrolling Run and Gun type video game that wanted to distinguish itself from the Commando games at the time by using rotary joysticks and involving two player Cooperative modes the game became immensely popular in Japan and out of all places London
Players take on the role of two Commandos who are on a mission to reach the village of iari having to face the entire Wrath of the army there from tanks to Foot Soldiers to helicopters the different Terrain in the game includes jungles Rivers as well as fortresses through which the player must
Traverse while strategizing and keeping their objectives in mind and exploiting the power-ups that they can find iari Warriors exploded onto the scene becoming the most in demand arcade game just mere days after its release this momentum continued throughout the year making iari Warriors the second highest
Grossing arcade game of 1986 even in the UK especially in London it reached top three status the legacy of iari Warriors rests on the Brotherhood of Cooperative gameplay a concept that became so popular it spawned several sequels clones and other inspired works of classic video Games Strider 1989 Strider is a hack and/ platforming arcade that’s set in a dystopian future where the player is a ninja with a plasma sword this Ninja’s capable of Performing numerous acrobatic Feats sliding under obstacles dangerously latching onto platforms as well as climbing across walls and ceilings using a metal hook given enough
Momentum the player is also able to perform a cartwheel under the right circumstances there are several power-ups in the game that include Health extension range extensions extra lives and so on players also have robotic companions to fight alongside them this includes mushroom like droids a robot Hawk as well as a saber-tooth
Robotic tiger Strider takes place across vast terrain from St Petersburg to the Amazonian jungle from an aerial Battleship to the Siberian Wilderness Strider gained a lot of critical Acclaim for its Graphics gameplay and choice of Music the fluid movement of the characters along with old school action
With an unusual but good soundtrack made the experience quite enjoyable for critics and players alike even the designing of the Sprites received praise from several quarters Strider was ported into several consoles and some of them even won game of the year award and were included in prestigious lists such as
101 video games you must play before you die a much awaited sequel Strider 2 was released in 2000 for the PlayStation as well as the Arcades Marvelous verdict our humble marvelous verdict is that arcades are not going to go away arcades are where Gamers take their baby steps try out different things and find out what they like and don’t like a kid in an arcade store is much like a kid in a candy shop the
Element of discovery that happens while searching for the right game is one of the purest chys of life and we at marvelous certainly understand and respect it that’s it for our list of the 50 best arcade games of all time we hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we did
Making it till next time guys and girls you you Win
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