Gamers – check it out – are you ready to get your Donkey Kong on and roll a few barrels down arcade memory lane?
If you remember the 80s, you will definitely recall that arcade games were all the rage, and there was nothing quite like the thrill of stepping into some dark, cave-like room to escape sunlight and reality, dropping way too many coins into any one of your favorite games – just for the pleasure of total immersion in lights, sounds and silly video stories.
There once was a fellow named Pac
Who gobbled up dots with a knack
But Donkey Kong’s hold
On the barrels he rolled
Would give Pac Man a challenging smack
Who can forget classics like Pac-Man and Space Invaders, or beat ’em ups like Golden Axe and Street Fighter II? These games captured our hearts, our attention, and most of our money, and fueled our imaginations – or was that all the soda and sugary junk foods we were consuming.
Whatever it was, the adrenaline rush that you felt when you made it to that next level, defeated that final boss, or got to post your name on the high score board is something every teen should get to experience.
So grab a roll of quarters and get ready to relive some of the absolute best and most-loved classic arcade games of the 80s and 90s!
Our List of the 20 Most Popular Classic Arcade Games
- Pac-Man (1980)
Most famous yellow dot person of all time, players control Pac-Man as he navigates a maze and eats dots while avoiding ghosts. - Space Invaders (1978)
You better shoot down all those waves of descending aliens before they reach the bottom of the screen. - Donkey Kong (1981)
Big Monkey wants to crush Mario as he tries to rescue his girlfriend. Before Mario had a cart to race around in, he had to resort to jumping over obstacles and climbing ladders. - Galaga (1981)
This was a classic space shooter where you get to control a ship and must defeat waves of alien enemies while avoiding their attacks. Simple – just stop the aliens and don’t get blowed up. - Street Fighter II (1991)
This tough-guy fighting game pits you against another player in one-on-one battles. Learn all the fancy moves and score a knock-out! - Mortal Kombat (1992)
It sounds tough – and it is. Similar to Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat is a fighting game with brutal finishing moves, known as “fatalities.” - Frogger (1981)
Let’s move on from the ultraviolence of Mortal Kombat to something a little nicer. Frogger has you as the player where you control a frog as it attempts to cross a busy street and a river without getting hit by cars or drowning. So relaxing. - Golden Axe (1989)
James Bond only had to worry about a Gold Finger, but in Golden Axe, three characters must defeat tons of enemies using weapons and magic. - Tetris (1984)
Tetris – even the name sounds like Geometry class from high school but instead of finding right angles, you have to fit falling tetrominoes together to form complete lines without letting the blocks stack up to the top of the screen. - Asteroids (1979)
Asteroids was the ultimate space shooter for early arcade fans. You control a ship and must shoot asteroids while speeding across the screen and not colliding with their debris. Oh, and watch out for those little alien ships too. - Space Harrier (1985)
This game was a rail shooter where you get to wear a jetpack, and race through various fantasy landscapes while shooting down enemies. - Defender (1980)
The game is simple: fly your ship across the screen and defend humans from aliens who are trying to abduct them. - Gauntlet (1985)
You want a top-down dungeon crawler that lets players choose from four characters with different abilities as they fight their way through hordes of enemies? You get one with Gauntlet! - OutRun (1986)
Drive a sports car through various landscapes, trying to reach the end of the course before time runs out. If you like to get your pumped-up kicks on Route 66 then this game is for you. - Metal Slug (1996)
Metal Slug is a side-scrolling run-and-gun game where players control soldiers as they shoot their way through enemy territory. - Bubble Bobble (1986)
Bubble Bobble is bubbly and bobbly and lets you control two dinosaurs who must trap enemies in bubbles and then pop them to defeat them. Sounds like good, clean fun. - Q*bert (1982)
Meet Qbert – he’s friendly and all he wants to do is hop around a pyramid, changing the colors of the blocks as he lands on them. So friendly. So happy. So Qberty. - Dig Dug (1982)
Get ready to get dirty as you control a character named Dig Dug as he digs through the ground and inflates enemies until they pop. This is definitely a dirty job for you and Dig Dug. - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989)
This game lets you choose from one of four turtles as they fight their way through enemies to rescue April O’Neil (not that one – the other one). - Joust (1982)
Joust is not your typical arcade game. Imagine a knight riding on a flying ostrich, who must defeat other knights riding on their flying ostrich. You win the joust if you are above the other rider and send them to a flaming death in the lava pits at the bottom of the screen. Before Flappy Bird and Angry Birds, we had joust and a whole lot of Medieval combat fun.
