What Are the Best Arcade Games of All Time?

[MonsterSquad]

My picks are Dragons Lair, Pacman, and Rastan. LOL

[dave2236]

Tapper and Ms. Pac MAn

[nesman85]

super mario bros., snow bros., tetris, guantlet.

[Raedon]

Asteroids, Tempest, Donkey Kong, Centepede, Ms. Pac Man, Robotron 2084, Gauntlet 2, Marble Madness, Arkanoid, Rampage, SF II, Mortal Kombat.

[toddst]

Right now, my favorite is Sinistar eventhough I suck at this game.

-Todd
(A proud owner of one of the crappiest looking MAME cabinets)

[christianscott27]

once i was having this discussion with a coin op dealer who been in the biz since the 80s, he told me that, yeah, a lot of people like pac man, street fighter, golden tee and other mega hits but the one company that MADE the arcades back in the golden age was williams. he said that the williams line up of Joust, Robotron, Defender, Stargate, and Sinistar made casual gamers into serious players. each one of the games stands the test of time pretty well, no graphical updates required. so while i think its always kind of silly to have a top 100 countdown (like that silly G4 one) i gotta say those games belong on any list :)

[bargora]

Robotron: 2084

[Arcade Antics]

It is a scientific fact that Robotron: 2084 is the best. Game. Ever.

:)

[bargora]

It is a scientific fact that Robotron: 2084 is the best. Game. Evar!!1!
:)
True, true. Just as it is a medicinal fact that rum starts a man's heart in the morning!
:-D :drinking:

[NE146]

Once again, I will have to toss my vote for Robotron.... A minute to learn, a lifetime to master! (yeah I know a lot of you mastered it in a shorter time.. I haven't) :P

[Half Japanese]

Robotron, Ms. Pac Man, Joust


And now for some I can't quite remember the names of:

4 player X-Men beat-em-up
4 player Simpsons beat-em-up

[ubikuberalles]

So many good games out there to choose!
Let's see...
For me it would be(in random order): Joust, Defender, GORF and Wizard of Wor

[Achika]

Puzzle de Pon

oh, Tapper & Pac Man are cool too.

[autobotracing]

tapper rocks so does sinistar and all pac man games of course .



The main type of arcade games I like are the ones with hydros like g-loc and after burner

[Scoots]

I'd just like to echo Ms Pac-Man, Sinistar, Robotron, Tapper, and cast a vote for Paperboy and 720. I really enjoyed the detail and sense of humor of both of those games.

[RetroYoungen]

I've gotta say Tempest, Ms. Pac-Man, Missile Command, Sinistar, Tetris, Robotron 2084, Virutal ON, Dance Dance Revolution, Mr. Driller, Cliffhanger (I'm not a big Dragon's Lair person), Joust, and any of the various Metal Slug titles. I know there's at least one or two that I missed, but if I remember them I'll post them later.

[tynstar]

Ms Pac Man and Bubble Bobble

[NoahsMyBro]

Defender & Stargate
Missile Command
Berzerk
Joust
Spy Hunter
Xevious

Those are the faves I can think of off the top of my head. I wanted to add others that I personally liked a lot, like Gravitar, Star Castle, Bosconian, The Pit, Dig Dug, Peter Packrat, & Elevator Action, but I don't think they were nearly popular enough to rank.

[Abe Honorable]

Of the ones I've actually spent the most quarters on (as in, not MAME):
-Stargate
-Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat
-Bezerk (INTRUDER ALERT INTRUDER ALERT!-man that was soooooo cool)
-Tempest
-DKjr
-Tron
-Discs Of Tron
-Marble Madness
And ones that I would like to find as a coin-op thanks to playing them on MAME:
-Penguin Kun Wars
-Crazy Climber (this was never at my local arcade as a kid)
-Kickstart Wheelie King

[Kid Ice]

Robotron. It's just as pure as a game can be.

ICE

[The Unknown Gamer]

The Simpsons Arcade Game, Tempest, Zoo Keeper, Tron, Star Wars,
Rastan, and JR. Pac

[ubersaurus]

My favs gotta be Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, and mr. Driller.

[scooterb23]

1. Discs Of Tron
2. Zoo Keeper
3. Robotron
4. DDR
5. Bubbles
6. Street Fighter II
7. Black Tiger
8. Two Tigers
9. Operation Wolf
10. Rush 'N Attack

[Arqueologia_Digital]

mmm...there are a lot...
Bubble booble, Snow bros., Ms. Pac man, Cabal, Bubbles, Arkanoid, Donkey kong series, Area 51, Virtua cop and SF series

[captain nintendo]

in no particular order......
cyberball
snow bros
guantlet
ms. pac man

other classics i love are
joust
tapper
sinistar
donkey kong jr.
tron

[The Captain]

Star Wars, Gauntlet, Operation Wolf, Mortal Kombat 2, Ms. Pac Man & Double Dragon.

[jose.yoshitake]

Street Fighter 2

[Sanriostar]

Gotta go with the status quo on this one, with some personal tweaks:

Robotron, Tempest, Tron, Super Pac, Q*Bert, and there's just someting about a Cockpit Star Wars I love. Also Enjoy Marvin's Maze, Battle Balls (Which is STILL not MAME'd! ARGH!) and a cherry Pac-Man machine keeps its magic after 20+ years.

[grayejectbutton]

Rainbow Islands (no-one else has mentioned this classic)
Tron (crap film, great game)
Star Wars (awesome game, awesome cabinets)
After Burner (not really a classic but I have fond memories of it)
Outrun (can't beat the music)
Operation Wolf (again, not a classic but gotta love the gun)
Ghosts 'N Goblins (nothing special about the cabinet but great game)
Space Invaders ('nuff said)
Gauntlet (wonderful 4-player cabinet)
Thunderblade (nice sit-down cabinet with helicopter-like joystick)
Pole Position (nice sit-down cabinet)
Power Drift (had a cooool sit-down cabinet)

[Happy_Dude]

I,Robot is my vote for number one :) Shit this game is addictive

But realisticaly I'd say Space Invaders or Galaga, I easily spent over $1000 of my parents money playing these back in the day :D

[Dire 51]

My ten personal favorites:

10. Robocop
09. Kicker (aka Shao-lin's Road)
08. Star Wars (Atari)
07. Ms. Pac-Man
06. Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
05. Splatterhouse
04. Galaga
03. Outrun
02. Dig Dug
01. Time Pilot

[Jasoco]

My favorites are Nintendo oldies.

Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong

[atomicthumbs]

There are so many, and most have been listed already. Soooo I'll just list the one that for some strange reason, has always held a special place in my heart.

After Burner II (full cocpit version)

I always thought it was the coolest thing!

Here's an off track story about how my best friend became obnoxiously good at Mortal Kombat II. It was during our sophomore year of high school in 1994 and he was dating this girl named Mary. I guess she was addicted to the phone or something, and called him all the freaking time! For some reason instead of working it out, dumping her or smacking her around, he fled to the local arcade. He would pump quarter after quarter into MKII almost every day! I still remember watching him play. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

By the time he finally dumped her, he could kick most anybody's ass using any character (though his favorite was always Baraka).


Sorry to get off track..... I also loved Double Dragon!!!

[BIGMIKE]

i would have to say it was a track and field game that was at my local arcade. for the life of me, i can not remember the name of it. it was 4 players and it rocked. we would have daily contests at it, and of course, i was the greatest. one day i will own one if i could just remember the damn name of it.
other favs

out run
roadblasters

[WiseSalesman]

DDR. I've spent more money just playing the arcade version of this game (when I OWN several console versions) than I like to think about.

[evilmess]

My preference is for driving games so I pick Spy Hunter, Out Run (sit down version with hydrallics) and Virtua Racing. For non driving I'll pick Ikari Warriors. The rotating joy stick was cool. :D

[The Clonus Horror]

Xenephobe
Joust
Operation Wolf
Missile Command
Time Pilot
Super Dodgeball
Double Dragon 1 and 2
Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
That 4 Player X-Men Game
Virtua Fighter

Whether or not these were great games, these were the ones that I put the most money into as a child.

Oh, wait, there's The Main Event, Mat Mania, and WWF Royal Rumble, too. All great button-mashers!

[XpOsUrE]

The one I see as the best arcade game ever has to be sonic arcade game, and sadly it was never released for the home systems, heres hopeing mame or another arcade emulator emulates it soon.

[Jasoco]

More info on the Sonic Arcade game, please. How did this one elude me?

[kevates]

Gotta put my vote in for Gautlet Legends, Space Duel, and 4-Player Atari Football (X's & O's)

Kevin

[SFCfan]

Centipede
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Galaga
Joust
Mario bros.
Millipede
Ms. Pac Man
Playchoice 10 (if it counts)
Pong
Sherrif
Sinistar
Space Invaders DX (I think it's Japan only, but available for MAME)
Vs. Dr. Mario
Vs. Super Mario Bros.

[Balloon Fight]

GALAGA!!!




Xenephobe
Joust
Operation Wolf
Missile Command
Time Pilot
Super Dodgeball
Double Dragon 1 and 2
Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
That 4 Player X-Men Game
Virtua Fighter

I want to buy that X-men game so badly, but i dont know the name of it. One of the BEST beat 'em ups.


The one I see as the best arcade game ever has to be sonic arcade game, and sadly it was never released for the home systems, heres hopeing mame or another arcade emulator emulates it soon.

Are you talking about the Sonic fighting game?

[Marco]

Pengo, Lady Bug, MrDo!

Cheers,
Marco

[Kamisama]

Donpachi & Dodonpachi RULE!

[MikeyAlcatraz]

XENOPHOBE and MYSTIC MARATHON

[RoboticParanoia]

Galaga
Mario Bros.
Elevator Action
Dig Dug
Galaxian
The Simpsons Arcade Game
Street Fighter II
Pac Man
Ms. Pac Man
Video Hustler (I love this game when I had it on Mame. Damn hard drive crash)
Space Invaders
Super Mario Bros. VS.

That's all I can think of right now...at least for my favorites.

[Retsudo]

1. Defender Stargate
2. Star castle
3. Donkey Kong
4. Defender
5. Joust
5. Space Invaders
6. Eagle (Moon Cresta)

Ahhhhhhhhh the 80's, Drinking Old English and chillin wit my crew!!!!! 8-)

[yanclae]

Golden axe

[bigbacon]

S.T.U.N. Runner

Only arcade game I was actually good at.

[Gandhara]

Millipede
Paper Boy
Peter Pack Rat
Pacman Jr.
Omega Race
Demolition Derby
Berzerk
Frenzy
Rescue
Qbert

[Koa Zo]

everything mentioned already, but especially:
Daytona USA
Centipede
Assault
Asteroids
and the Capcom D&D games

[RoleyDre]

oh,galaga,easily,i loved gettin the double ships....took me forever to figure out you cud do that,aw dang,didnt see all the peeps put galaga in their lists sry

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I'll bet the Pong arcade unit was killer.

[Casati]

Asteroids (Atari 1979)
RBI Baseball (Atari 1987)
Battlezone (Atari 1980)
Berzerk (Stern Electronics 1980)
Boot Hill (Midway 1977)
Congo Bongo (Sega 1983)
Dig Dug (Atari 1982)
D&D Tower of Doom (Capcom 1993)
Elevator Action (Taito 1983)
Frogger (Sega/Gremlin 1981)
Front Line (Taito 1982)
Gravitar (Atari 1982)
Millipede (Atari 1982)
Mr. Do! (Universal 1982)
Omega Race (Midway 1981)
Out Run (Sega 1986)
Phoenix (Centuri 1980)
Pinbot (Williams pinball machine)
Q*Bert (Gottlieb 1982)
Qix (Taito 1981)
Rampart (Atari 1990)
Robotron 2084 (Williams 1982)
Side Pocket (Nihon Bussan 1986)
Solar Fox (Bally Midway 1981)
Space Invaders (Midway 1978)
Space War (Vectorbeam 1977)
Strategy X (Stern Electronics 1981)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Konami 1989)
Tron (Bally Midway 1982)
Xybots (Atari 1987)
Zaxxon (Sega/Gremlin 1982)

[Alexander]

Hmmm....good question.

1. Kung Fu Master
2. Street Fighter
3. DK Jr.
4. Wrestlefest
5. Double Dragon

[Ogreatgames]

One of the best for me was Pac-Man or Tetris.

[celerystalker]

Some of my favorites:

Black Tiger
Time Soldiers
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Centipede
Sunset Riders
Sengoku 3
Super Baseball 2020
Simpsons
WWF Wrestlefest
Nam '75
Windjammers
The Punisher

I could go on and on, but those are some that really stick out to me to the point where I picked up cabinets or tracked down compilations or pcbs to go back to time and again.

[stealthrush]

Metal Slug
Dig Dug
Virtual On: Cyber Troopers
Elevator Action
Top Skater
Defender
World Heroes 2
Dance Dance Revolution
Fantasy Zone
Power Stone

In no order from my childhood.

[Steve W]

My personal list, in no order:

Gauntlet
Splatterhouse
T-Mek
Starblade
Cybersled
Ajax
Avengers
Dig-Dug
SideArms
Area 51

There's some I'm blanking on, I'll add them in later.

[Flynn]

Hard to list the best arcade games.

Gauntlet
Pacman
Donkey Kong
Frogger
Mr. Do!
Dig Dug
Dodonpachi
Metal Slug
Q*Bert

and many other games !

[stlgamer75]

If I say any of the below I feel compelled to play:

Donkey Kong
Mario Bros.
Ms. Pac Man
Crystal Castles
Gauntlet
Double Dragon
Arkanoid
Galaga

[hackfly]

My guess are: Donkey Kong (1981), Golden Axe (1989) and Sunset Riders (1991) :rockets:

[gbpxl]

Track and Field
Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man
Galaga
OutRun

[Detonator]

1. Gravitar (Atari) Simply the best arcade game ever with incredible depth. 100% skill and tactics,
2. Xevious (Namco) Mother of all vertically scrolling shooter games.
3. Star Wars (Atari) (I actually played over 30 million in the arcade version. This game screams playability and requires actual pilot skills. It's much, much harder without the yoke but I've managed to play 2.9 mil with the mouse.)
4. Stargate (Williams) I prefer this over the original Defender.
5. Space Duel (This what Asteroids Deluxe should have been. 4 cool modes... I prefer the linked ship)
6. Tempest (Atari) I doubt this requires any explanation.
7. Empire Strikes Back (Atari) Hugely underrated sequel. Very addictive. Includes a similar buy-in that Tempest has... it's not actually buy-in but you need skills to advance in later levels.)
8. Pole Position (Namco) This is the only game of the mentioned that really shows its age.... but it's still the first ever decent driving arcade game. I remember how amazing it was when it first came out... the whole arcade just stared in in awe. Those were the days...
9. Space Ace (Cinematronics) Maybe not a great game but it deserves mention because it was actually a decent interactive adventure... MUCH better than Dragon's Lair actually... without those annoying black screen clicks... and back then this laserdisc system was sci-fi. I think DL and Space Ace were revolutionary because they put 2000's graphics to a 80's technology. Not sure if this is fully emulated in MAME though... but I have the original DVDs.
10.Raiden Fighters (Seibu Kaihatsu) This is probably the best modern shooter series... I absolutely love it... fast, furious... like Xevious on steroids.

Honorable mentions:

Track & Field, Battlezone, Defender, Robotron, Asteroids, Marble Madness, Bomb Jack, Mr Do, Mr Do's Castle, Zookeeper, Phozon, Puzzle Bobble, Money Puzzle Enchanger, Bal Cube, Indiana Jones, Galaga, Major Havoc, Quantum, I Robot, Black Widow, Centipede, Missile Command.

[Gandhara]

Pretty much every arcade game of the 70's, 80's and 90's rocks so all of those lol

I like the 70's for the multi player games, a lot of really fun stuff like Ace (the Bi-Plane duel game), Space War, Boot Hill & Gun Fight, various Tank games, Seawolf, Atari Sprint games, etc.. very simple yet really addictive if you have friends that will play them with you.

The 80's and 90's speak for themselves of course..

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Pac-Man, Pole Position, OutRun and Arkanoid come to mind.