• The Top 10 Arcade Games

  

  Written by Zeromage 28 Comments
  Last Updated:: October 12, 2008

  There was a time when mastering arcade games was more important than going to your brother’s wedding. Nowadays the majority of people play video games on their console or PC, but a long time ago the passionate game player was overjoyed when he knew that he would be spending the rest of his day in a large cavern filled with arcade games. At any moment he could choose between playing a one on one fighting game, a virtual simulated racing game, a traditional game like Pac-Man, or a co-op multiplayer like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where players would be popping in quarters until the last bit of Shredder was shredded.

  The diversity in games is what made the arcade stand out as one of the pinnacle forms of modern entertainment. It wasn’t fun and friendly all the time though. Sometimes gamers would become too passionate and talk down a stranger if they were getting beat in a game, especially in a game like Mortal Kombat. In rare cases, police would have to intervene when the simulated fighting of Street Fighter became a reality right next to the arcade game. What kind of arcade games could evoke this much passion? This is the theme of this next list which we spent sometime laboring over into the late hours of the night (only for the past week though. We really aren’t obsessed.) In this list, we highlight what we think are the 10 best arcade games of all time. We only wish we had the finances to be able to purchase all these coin-op games for ourselves.

  10. Burger Time

  Are you kidding? What the F is this? At first (and second, and third, and…) glance this looks like a recycled Donkey Kong background. Why is Mario white? Is he a chef? What the hell? Am I being chased by a fried egg and some pickles? What kind of power up is this? It looks like a giant Pepper Shaker! It seems I’ve stumbled upon the dumbest game ever. Then it hits you, you run over the top of a sesame seed bun and it falls onto a tomato, which falls onto some lettuce, which falls onto the bottom of the bun, which then falls onto the bottom of the screen. The pickle twins charge straight towards you and the egg is behind you…you hit all of the buttons in desperation and a spray of pepper freezes the pickles in their place. You run right through them and continue your sandwich construction. By level 4 you realize you have a limited amount of pepper and should conserve it wisely. You spend the next 6 hours in front of the T.V. playing an interactive fast food commercial, and the surgeon general wonders why the kids are morbidly obese. Man we love this game, and that’s coming from a staff with a vegetarian on it.

  9. NBA Jam

  NBA Jam was not only one of the best arcade games of all time, but also one of the best basketball games of all time. The sounds were massive, the players were massive, and the jams were even more massive. This was no bastketball game where you had to skillfully wait out a 2-3 defense in hopes of finding an open 3 point shot. This was a game where you took it to the hoop each time, dominating the other player with a massive dunk over him. Playing with Shaq was every child’s dream. There was no player who could dominate inside the paint more than Shaq. Its unfortunate that his legacy would forever be diminished in the video game world due to the abominable Shaq Fu (an entry in our top 20 worst video games of all time). Besides the aggrandized form of Shaq, there was a host of great players that the gamer could choose from. The true NBA Jam fanatic would only pick the players who had the most powerful dunks though, i.e. centers. When NBA Jam came to the home console, it retained its qualities in large smashfest fun, but it could never compare to the arcade version which had larger sounds and more pristine graphics, not to mention the 4-player availability in the coin-op edition. When thinking of sports games that were made for the arcade, NBA Jam is the clear winner. It’s loud, in your face and fun for 10 dollars worth of quarters.

  8. X-Men

  X-men was a massive arcade game. It was not only massive in gameplay, but also the actual size of the machine. The screen itself was a whooping 50 inches wide. You could play with up to six players. If there was ever a game that embodied camaraderie, it was X-men the arcade game. Many a nerd friendship would be created from the endless quarters being popped into this machine. Camaraderie would shine even when things got too crowded with six people all huddled around this beast. The game itself was filled with illustrious graphics, a perfectly moderate difficulty level, and the best characters. The player who was able to use Cyclops was always luckiest though, as Cyclops had the best power using his vision laser (unlike in the comic books where the guy is a tool). The avid arcade gamer was always excited when walking into an arcade and seeing the side of X-MEN with Wolverine crossing his arms. They knew that if the right game players were in the arcade at the moment, then they could conquer one of the best multi-player arcade games of all time. The actual X-men arcade game machine was one of the few machines that actually attracted the arcade gamer into playing it in the first place. It was welcoming when the game itself lived up to the color and size of the machine.
  7. Mortal Kombat 2

  Mortal Kombat 2 was a massive event for the arcade game world. There was never a game that was as Mortal Kombat 2. Lines of people would be waiting to play this game. Loads of people would be crowded around two players playing this game. When you went into an Arcade in the mid 90’s, the commotion was coming from the Mortal Kombat 2 game machine. What made Mortal Kombat 2 so addicting and entertaining? How about all the characters who embodied strengths reserved only to themselves. How about all the finishing moves that started a population in “toasty” mantras. This game embodied the best qualities of deadly fighting games. It was with Mortal Kombat 2 that Street Fighter saw its popularity diminish slightly. Street Fighter couldn’t compare with the sheer amount of personalized moves for each character, nor with the bloodlust enveloped throughout Mortal Kombat 2. Being uppercut onto spikes way below the fighting platform gave the game player a tingle of X rated fun not felt before Mortal Kombat 2. The fight between what the best arcade fighter game is will continually go on. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were the premiere fighting games for the coin-op industry. For a time though, the Mortal Kombat series would clearly be ahead of the Street Fighter series. This was most conspicuous with the arcade release of Mortal Kombat 2.

  6. Rampage

  Rampage is one of the most popular games in the coin-op industry. In this game you get to choose between a giant gorilla (George), a dinosaur (Lizzie) or werewolf (Ralph), and knock down buildings, and each other! Like all great fighting games, the option of throwing your ostensible partner in the river gives the game an always welcome tension with the 2nd player. I myself always geared the entire game towards knocking my partner off a building right when he thinks that I’m stopping the mayhem on him. The levels are numerous (North American cities) and so are the enemies. Tanks, Helicopters, Boats, Taxis, and even residents of buildings try to stop you from wreaking havoc on the innocent cities (although it’s a stretch that a dinosaur could be hurt by a coffee cup). When you are out of energy you turn into a little man wanting to escape the carnage, the perfect time for the 2nd player to eat you and gain some energy. All in all, this is an extremely fun game to play. Once again, this game shows that simplicity and playability always make for the best gaming experiences.

  5. Double Dragon

  Double Dragon was a firestorm for the arcade market. The side scrolling fighting game would see its popularity solely from the success of Double Dragon. The music was enchanting, the violence was overwhelming, and the characters were full of the personality embodied in the best video games. Even without speaking, Bolo would frighten all players into prudence when fighting him. Billy and Jimmy were the heroes with very simple moves to carry them throughout the game. They could punch, kick, punch and kick, and maybe even run away like little girls from the tough resistance. They needed to save the city and get back Marian. This is all they were concerned with. Along with the epic street story, there was some of the most exciting fighting to come from any arcade game to this day. The protagonists could use knives, bats, barrels and even firecrackers throughout the game. Mastering these weapons would be imperative if one wanted to move throughout the game, especially when the enemies would become noticeably more difficult. Having a second player at your side would make the game easier as one of you could take care of the front side of screen while the other took care of the back. Hitting your partner always proved to be fun side entertainment often making your partner physically punch you in the arm screaming at you to ’stop it’. The side scroller fighting game saw its birth with Double Dragon. Many arcade games afterwards would try to replicate its early success.

  4. Tetris

  Tetris is one of the most popular games of all time. It found its highest popularity in the arcade medium where countless players would face off against each other for Tetris supremacy. Sometimes it was just fun to watch a master of Tetris make his way through the endless levels as the blocks would fall down as increasing speeds. Sometimes it was just fun to listen to all the amazing Russian music signifying both despair and skill. Whatever the case, everyone loved Tetris. When Tetris found its way to the home consoles, everyone was able to enjoy this arcade classic, but it still lacked the excitement involved in playing it at an arcade. The feeling of preparing to go to the arcade to master a game better than someone else built up a suspense not grasped in the home console medium. When going into a video game nerds home, one usually finds an actual arcade game or two sitting in a recreational room or even a kitchen. Tetris along with Pacman are usually the arcade games you will find in a nerds home. There’s just something about fitting blocks into other blocks that works perfect with the coin-op design. You can stand there for hours trying to get to the last of the never-ending levels without ever getting tired.

  3. Street Fighter 2

  From behind the jet fighter hanger on an air force base, to the streets of China town, this bad ass circle of fighters could be found pummeling each others faces and bodies…For the second time. Matching up against each other for no apparent reason other than to fight bare-fisted, fueled the anger within these timeless characters. Executing power moves derived from their background and heritage, these characters represent intense and mystical fighting in the most entertaining of fashions. Simply put, Street Fighter 2 was a game made for competition. It encouraged two players to battle it out against one another in a one on one death match, fighting each other for pride, bragging rights and more importantly control of the machine. This is perhaps the best fighting game to ever be released on any gaming platform. It also established many genre gameplay standards that persist even to this day: two-in-one combos, quarter-circle-forward and charge motions, along with many others that are still the foundation of many of today’s fighting games. With a simple premise and subtly deep design, Street Fighter 2 established itself as a cultural icon for the youth of the time and easily deserves a spot on this list.

  2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (and Turtles in Time)

  Okay, so the number 2 entry in our list is actually 2 games.  Work with me here, it’s my list and I can do whatever the hell I want.  The two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle arcade games (from 1989 and 1992 respectively) were played by anyone and everyone who frequented an arcade during the late 80s and early 90s.  You’d often see 2, 3 or even 4 friends battling the forces of Shredder and the Foot clan…well, for at least as long as their quarters held out.  The up to 4-player co-op system and tie-in to the mega-popular cartoon, made the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle games some of the most popular arcade games ever created.  It didn’t hurt that they were a hell of a lot of fun to play either. While later TMNT games would bring along technological advances, none were ever as popular as the two original arcade games.  Kowabunga, dudes!

  1. Pac-Man

  Over the course of my quasi-centurion life I have dabbled with various substances to no true good effect. My brain being semi-addled as it is, it still doesn’t help me answer the question: “What the hell is Pac-man?” Off the bat you are playing as a 2-D profile of the Wal-Mart smiley, traveling through a darkened labyrinth consuming balls while being chased by four coloured specters. As if that wasn’t trippy enough the specters each have different names. Despite the flashback-inducing imagery, the game is highly addictive. There is a certain thrill in evading ghosts and a merciless retribution found when it comes to eating them. Hours can be spent challenging yourself to attain high scores and greater level achievements. Can you pass though the ghosts around this corner? Can you evade the Blinky and Pinky trap?

  While there is no background story or disernable plot, woven into the game is a complicated philosophy. The four villanious cast members: Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde share a commonality: They are united kinsmen who have placed a jihad on Pac-man. Aside from the ghost’s differences in naming, they maintain a unified front once they emerge from their crypt to chase Pac-man. Together they stand. Clyde, with his uncharacteristic name is held in the same esteem by the other ghosts. Pinky, questionably a female, is given the same voting rights as the rest. Together they stand, divided they fall. The lesson learned is that you should be accepting of differences when you are united with a common goal, even if you’re named Clyde, who made me wet the bed at night as a child. Pac-man: The most basic arcade game out there, revered by the adults that suckled on its tender joystick in their youth, yet all the while teaching us a lesson that can change the world, if we all just learned to accept Clyde.

  Next Sunday (June 29th, 2008): Top 5 Video Game Makers

28 Comments

1. #1 Linklock says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 6:50 pm

   Awsome list! Mortal Kombat was much better than Street Fighter though.
2. #2 Josh_B says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 7:17 pm

   Ms. Pac Man is way better than Pac Man. It should be Ms. Pac Man #1, Pac Man #2, Galaga #3. All the others are definitely great. Some memories on a few of them:

   1. I was vacationing at this lake when I was a kid and the place where we were staying had Double Dragon. My cousin would switch the game off and tell the worker it messed up so we’d get free games.

   2. I was at an amusement park watching some guys play X-Men. They were toward the end, and when they finally beat it one of the guys pushed a button so they didn’t see it. Another guy was pretty pissed because he’d been playing that game forever to try and see the ending.

   3. I played Street Fighter II for the first time at a water park when I was in third or fourth grade. Everyone thought Blanka was the coolest but I was really into wrestling so I liked Zangief. There was this guy playing it (as Blanka) who was beating everyone who went up against him. When it was finally my turn, I picked Zangief and I beat him. My first time playing the game! And I was only like 8!

   4. One great thing about Mortal Kombat II was all of the rumors around it. This guy I went to school with said he was playing it at the arcade and pushed random buttons to make Jaxx rip off the opponents head and shove it up their butt for a fatality. He was a pathological liar.
3. #3 Phil says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 7:33 pm

   Awesome list. The blurb about Pac-Man was hilarious.

   I agree with the above poster about Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga though.
4. #4 Slacker and The Man says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 7:53 pm

   Outstanding list.

   I probably could have bought both machines for the amount of quarters I pumped into X-Men and TMNT.

   And watch out, I have a feeling this list will show up in episode 20 of our show, with proper credit give to you all of course.
5. #5 old-wizard.com says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 8:01 pm

   Awesome, and thanks. We’ll definitely link to it.
6. #6 Roger_W. says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 8:26 pm

   This is the first list you guys have made that is worth reading.
7. #7 Felix the Furry Tree says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 9:11 pm

   Xmen was my favorite out of all of those games. 6 players at one time. So key.
8. #8 Helequin says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 8:38 am

   good list And Street fighter beats MK anyday
9. #9 eb7ate9 says:
   March 18th, 2010 at 8:52 pm

   No Bubble Bobble?
10. #10 Bug says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    “suckled on its tender joystick in their youth” amazing.
11. #11 Tristan says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 8:27 pm

    I would have to include the Simpsons beat-’em-up. It never got a decent (any?) console port, so it’s a total arcade classic.
12. #12 Me says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    No Simpsons?
13. #13 Eddie says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 3:07 pm

    I actually somewhat agree with this list. I agree with every entry being top 10 except one…SIMPSONS! X-Men and TMNT along with the Simpsons were the best arcade games. Jam was awesome and Double Dragon rocks too. I would of liked to see Sunset Riders on here.
14. #14 DM says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 1:48 pm

    Bubble Bobble was better on the NES than in the arcade…the game play was 1000% better. I love that game too, but my wife and I took a pilgrimage to FunSpot (see “King of Kong”) and when I played it I was totally disappointed.
15. #15 alan says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    great article!
16. #16 alex says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 1:56 pm

    ms. pac-man > pac-man
17. #17 SaiyanFury says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 11:18 am

    TMNT ruled. I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t see some of the major SEGA games here, like Space Harrier 2, but overall, a great list. Good job, boys.
18. #18 Osama says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    Wow, an actually good list! Way to go
19. #19 bob says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    Good stuff, but I can’t believe you forgot the four player simpsons arcade game…that was classic!
20. #20 Alexx says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 6:11 am

    Wrestlefest, Simpsons and Marvel vs Capcom 2 were good
21. #21 Zeonic Freak says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 12:56 am

    Huh, i dont see Initial D up there…
22. #22 7up says:
    March 18th, 2010 at 8:58 pm

    Hey , Nice list ! well i believe games like “Golden Axe and” Wonder boy ” should be on this list but all other games mentioned are great also !

    i also would love to see Metal slug