Top 10 Arcades Games Every Year From 1980-1989 (100 Games)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ค. 2024
- We have combined all our lists to bring you the Top 10 Arcade games of every year 1980-1989
I made this video in the very beginning of my content creation journey but I hope you enjoy and thanks for all the support.
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I want to thank you guys for all your feedback. These videos were made a long time ago before I was an experienced TH-camr. This rankings also reflected my opinions at the time but I have also expanded my knowledge and taste since then. Maybe some 2.0 versions of these are due in the future.
Honestly, it is a good list. We all have our favs and reminisce about these and the great times we had. Keep it up, no apologies for your opinion necessary.
Ah, glad you put this comment! I was about to make a comment wondering where these rankings came from, since I am positive they were not the best selling machines, or machines that took in the most money. Some of them I have never even heard of. But it's just your opinion, so it's fine(although you really should have put that in the video or description). ;-)
Wizards of Wor, not War. Used to play that game as a tabletop outside the arcade at Frenchman's Reef in St. Thomas USVI, when they had it in a sitting area as a coffee table basically back in the early 1980s. Late 1980s I worked for the company that owned all the arcade and cigarette machines on the island, it was in disrepair in the warehouse. I tried to repair it, but they did not want to invest money in it. It was the only one out of the whole warehouse that I wanted to repair besides doing it as my job.
@@johnphantom I believe it was Wizard Of Wor; singular not plural.
It is a good list with games like Moon Patrol and Tron ... but vs. Super Mario Bros (1986), Jungle Hunt (1982), and Mr. Do need to be on the list!
The feeling of going to the arcade in the 80s was an awesome experience
It wasn’t just the arcade, it was the malls, restaurants, bowling alleys and even some regular stores (like Kmart) all had arcade games.
@@chicagodino Yeah now most are shut down because of all the thugs and parking lot hijackings.
Walking into the noisey, scintillating, crowded, dark cave with That odor of hot transistors and popcorn. It was another plane of existence. Walking back out into the boring real world was a downer.
The mall arcades around the Detroit area growing up, was the 80s Mecca.
Nothing beats the arcade experience. Not even online gaming 😢
Wow...Born in 66, saving Quarters every chance I could...Going to the mall on a Friday evening with mom..She went shopping, I went to the Arcade....Back in the day when you could leave your kid alone in the Mall, reasonably confident that they were safe and you knew where they were....Did I mention what visual and audio attack on the senses it was being there? Ten's of machines, blinking lights, the sound of joy sticks being "mashed", the silly music, kids carrying LARGE sodas, ......Total sensory overload....Miss those days.
Born in 67 had a paper route and spent all of it at the Gold Mine arcade in Newark Ca. Good times.
I lived in the arcade as a kid. To this day, there's nowhere else I'd rather play games. Nothing beats the feeling of playing fighting games in arcade with a crowd.
Arcade in my local bowling alley. I turned over Missile Command : )
Amen bro....me too and I have epilepsy....loved it and my player 1 up replicas in my man cave....blast on bro. 67 matt🤘🤘🤘🤘
'66 here too! Lived in the arcades back in the day. Damn, if I had all the money back I spent in the arcades I could retire early! ;-p
I started playing video games when the Atari 2600 came out in 1976, there or about. I was 27 back then. And at 72 years old (this year), I still play them and have since then.
That's awesome. I didn't have Atari until 1981, at 8 years of age, although we had a Pong machine before that. That must have been a very, very different experience for you, being an adult already when these things were coming out.
This video is a flashback to my childhood. Born in 71. I grew up as video games did. Still a gamer and almost 50. Thanks for the memory.
Me 2 😃
Me 3
Born in 76 and still a gamer. Nowadays I play Apex Legends. I don't get why some people are surprised that people our age are still into gaming -- they're oblivious about how far back gaming goes.
It was the best time to be a kid born in the 70's
Hubby born 70 me 72...both still gamers...im crap at them but doesn't stop me from playing 😅 our local fishnchip shop just put in 4 machines...defender, 1942, Galaga & Spaced invaders...we shot down half hour b4 shop closed, bought dinner and played til closing, fun times..oh & they're free to play.
As a teen in the 80s and as a person who worked for a coin-op arcade game company I can't say I remember these games as much as I feel them. Playing the games now is nothing like playing them at the time they came out, some things can't be experienced unless you were there.
I have to agree. It seems like the late 1980s games in particular were way too focused on being graphically impressive and fast-paced for the time, and are harder to pick up today. Pac-Man still holds up because it's just inherently fun, but so many of those titles were something you had to be there, in the era, to really appreciate. I'd compare it to the difference between the kind of stories that are ruined if you get a spoiler, and the kind that you can read over and over again and enjoy each time.
Being there was priceless. The pizza parlor after a big game, or a birthday party, or the mall... I wish I could go back and feel that magic again for just a few hours.
@@psterud Nostalgia is real. Our emotions had the most effect on us in our teens, regardless of when you lived, because your hormones ramp them up, but you haven't learned to control them yet. That's why our memories from that time of your life are so powerful.
@@psterud It was great. They went away because people got tired of being mugged or shot.
Every 7 11 and minimart had a couple arcades and you knew which ones to go to to play a particular game
And how did we or myself afford to dump a bunch of quarters into these things equivalent to almost a dollar nowadays
Wow - 1981 gave us Gorf, Frogger, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong?!? What a golden year!
The absolute best year. I still play ms pac man and galaga at a brewery in grand rapids Michigan that I frequent
I really think that not including JOUST is an oversight. Really unique game.
No joke! That's what I was looking for here. Can't believe it missed the 10 ten for 1982.
@@GrandmaEdwardo Agreed. The Atari 7800 version is so aces too.
Agreed and hard to learn 🤬
I'm shocked one of my favorite
More like a crime against humanity!
God, I was flashing back so hard watching this. Especially listening to the noise. I'm suddenly 12 again and watching my friends play these games and looking at the row of quarters lined up on the machine. I haven't thought of many of these games in decades. Where the HeII was Battlezone?
I didn’t see Bezerk. The immortal line “Chicken. Fight like a robot!”.
I was a kid of the 80s. Arcades was a special place. You can play the games now on emulators, but absolutely nothing beats an arcade joystick, the buttons, the cabinet, the atmosphere, the thrill of getting that high score, people watching you boss the game, even knowing you had to make that coin count made you try that bit harder. Impossible to re-create at home. Thanks for the memories! Subscribed
I remember the people lined up to play Dragons Lair around 1984.
That machine had to be emptied every two hours at that price
I played a lot of these back in the day but Robotron was my favorite. I got so good, I could play for hours on 1 quarter and was banned from several arcades because of that.
Nice. You must have spent a lot of money getting good at it. It is far from easy, but once you get it, it's on.
I was really surprised that battle zone ,star castle or berzerk didn’t show up in top ten for 1980
thumbs berzerk
I used to play the crap out of berzerk and frenzy
Agreed. Loved Berzerk - the game gets tough very soon, as the robots become exponentially fast & aggressive. Star Castle can linger on and put you to sleep with the rotational rings, then wham, a mine shoots from the center and you are toast. Miss those days.
Loved Star Castle. Game made me tense.
Star castle was great
love the "Budweiser" tapper, lol
So many great memories as a kid in the 80s playing so many of these games. Star Castle, Pac Man, Robotron, Zaxxon, Defender / Stargate, Millipede, Xevious, Dragon Spirit etc. So lucky and blessed to grow up then. Video games, bike shops, and sports. Simply the Best!!
Pole Position looked very impressive for its time.....
Great game. My first game I played constantly
Where was Zaxxon? That game was huge..
I was thinking the same thing...
I think Zaxxon was only for the Colecovision.
It was my fav for it tho.
@@clubredken13 zaxxon was in cabinets. Stand up and cocktail. Huge arcade game.
Zaxton two was terrible.
@@clubredken13
It was in arcades.
As a teen in the 1970's, just playing moon lander and asteroids was like entering the twilight zone for 25 cents.
Oh man, those were the days, I used to love playing Rampage in the arcade.
Just found this video. Really surprised Zaxxon, Joust or Road Blasters did not make the lists . . .
I'm sure some of those were just outside the top ten. There were a bunch of games I remember playing that didn't make it either: Jungle Hunt, Vanguard, Congo Bongo, Berserk, Popeye, Turbo...
Lots of great games in the 80s.
@@lazarushernandez5827 yeah but Joust and Zaxxon...
Mr. Do and Dig Dug too.
Zaxxon drove me insane. Sucked at it.
@@peterrevens8454 Dig Dug is in his list, and it is one of the top 10 for the year it came out.
Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision was one thing, and I played all 3 back then (82/83), but there was nothing like playing the real arcade machines. It was a real experience.
In a busy, noisy arcade
Totally agree. The sound alone was worth the price. The bass on the Space Invaders cabinet was intense. Some kids had the better consoles, but they still didn't have the good sound.
I haven't given them a single thought in 25+ years, and yet recognized almost all of them immediately. Thanks for the memories. Subscribed.
i startet collecting during(lauchbox, retroarch) the shutdowns. i had so much fun and good memories.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were building multi billion dollar companies... I was mastering Donkey Kong.
I hope you watched "King of Kong".
Actually, both guys were employees at Atari...
No kidding
Satisfactions 😊
I bet ya at the top of your game and you're score is untouchable.
Defender was always so hard. I remember barely lasting a minute playing that In the arcade. 😂
Missile Command was awesome in '80 & '81. Very underrated.
This is also my favorite game. And another my favorite Do Run Run, Turpin, Klax, etc ..
But so hard!
Dragon's Lair was just so groundbreaking. I would watch others play for hours because I wasn't any good at it.
I was one of those who you would watch. That was my game back in the day. It was so unique.
1st few minutes felt just like walking through Alladin’s Castle in 1983
When I was a kid, I didn't know Aladdin's Castle was a franchise. We had one at the Granite Run Mall outside of Philly. Those lights and sounds are my favorite 80s/childhood memory
We had one in Hanes Mall... Winston-Salem N.C. Man, what great times those were.
We had one in Seaview Square Mall in Ocean twp. NJ. Growing up in the 80's was the best.
Alladin's Castle Chicago Ill for me!!
There was an Alladin's Castle 🏰 near my high school when I was in my teens. Used to go there every other weekend or so! Good times...😊
Stargate (sequel to defender) was cool too!
Star Castle, BattleZone, Qix. Love those old vector graphics games.
Arcades were the only reason why Chuck E Cheeses was so successful back in the 80s. Every kid had their birthday party there. I was hooked on centipede, pac-man, space invaders, frogger, berserk, and asteroids. Good times.
I remember in our area before Chuck E. Cheese, it was Showbiz Pizza with several animal mascots and merchandise.
I was born in 84. The 80s was really a time of being alive.
Galaga, Moon Patrol, and Star Wars. I just loved these games. Always on top of the high score leaderboard. Spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars when those games were out.
Galaga #5 of 1981? Man, that game deserves te be on the top 5 of ALL TIMES
I could go on and on and on about how much fun these things were as a kid in the '80s. It was a tidal wave, along with all the great pop music, among other things, that was hitting us like a tsunami at the same time. A very great time to be alive.
It really was the peak of entertainment
Interesting how the earlier games were more unique because of the limits of technology. Later in the 80's so many games were just variations on the same theme.
The striking thing is how little the overall concepts evolved. But then, it may be that this is simply a poorly-curated compendium.The absence of Zaxxon, for example, is absurd.
Actually you can see different engine threads being picked up and put down in most of the games. Funny that I never noticed this growing up with the games, but I can see it now.
Yeah, there was repetition later, but there was certainly repetition earlier, too. The Space Invaders thing was ubiquitous in games early on, like Galaxian, Gorf, Phoenix, Pleiades, Satan's Hollow, Galaga, and so on.
I mean, after Space Invaders there was a crap load of "shoot the enemy coming from the top of the screen" games. A ton of Pac-Man wannabe's as well.
What a Shame!,you miss Mr.Do!,one of the best Arcade Games of all time and the best in 1982!
A friend and I got really good at Asteroids and played a 2-player game that lasted over 6 hours with each of us scoring over 1.4 million points. We had to quit because we had to go to work that morning. I'll never forget that night.
A friend and I did the same thing kinda. Played all night till sunrise.
Awesomeness 🎉
What a great memory. I had a friend who could play that game forever. I always sucked at it.
My best friend would rack up 99 ships and then sell them to someone.
@@robertpease9834 Ha! Awesome.
We loved space games in the 80s. I also loved the Marlboro add in Hang-On. You’ll never see that anymore.
Crashing into that looked like it hurt!?
Given the number of games included here that I've never even heard of, much less seen, I'm astounded at the number of timeless classics left out completely. After Burner (1987), Thunder Blade (1987), Assault (1988), Super Sprint (1986), Buggy Boy (1986), Enduro Racer (1986), Terra Cresta (1985), Power Drift (1988), Cabal (1988), Toki (1989). I'm sure there are many others from the same period that I've simply forgotten, but those are all ones I remember vividly. Out of that list, the ones I spent the most money on back in the day were Terra Cresta, Assault and particularly Thunder Blade.
Jungle King was great.
Super Sprint. Absolutely iconic. No Ikari Warriors either.
Those game were great, After Burner (1987), Thunder Blade (1987), Power Drift (1988), Super Sprint (1986).
@@deckard2665 The ports to Sega Genesis are what I remember
Mat Mania ("Exciting Hour" in Japan) is another one that was surprisingly left out.
Pretty decent list of games here. Certainly brings back some great memories spent at the arcade. A little surprised Zaxxon and Mr. DO! didn't make the cut.
Agree. I remember when Zaxxon came out, and it was a revolution. And Mr. Do! was so much fun, better than Dig Dug.
Yeah, I thought those two were a given. I didn't actually like Zaxxon. But Mr. DO! ..... awesome game. Shame not to see Bank Panic
and Xevious
Brilliant list but R-TYPE has to be there for 1987!!
For sure and outrun should be #1. Pacland and Kung Fu Master were always busy in the arcade I frequented.
This is their list, not yours.
@@Epic_Moist_Loaf and this is our list not "theirs". 🤣
R-TYPE was awesome! I the other one similar to R-TYPE was Lifeforce I believe...🤔
@@vistalite-ph4zw Or Salamander as it was known here in the UK. And there was no Gradius (Nemesis) either
Some great memories! Moon Patrol and Phoenix. Thank you for posting.
Did I miss it, or is Mr. Do! missing from this list? That would be unconscionable.
Well they had Dig Dug, which was very good too.
Mr Do! is my favourite arcade of all time. I was sure it was going to be in the no.1 spot for 1982. It is infinitely better than Dig Dug!
I was just about to say the exact same thing... put Mr. Do on the list!
@@3622Dave What!!! That game was / is major!!!
100% bro. Mr.do is hands down #1 of that year. Definitely top 10 of the 80's.
Man, Sinistar scared the crap out of me. Great memories of so many wasted hours and quarters!
A blast from the past. The good old days of the arcades
Some of the best!
I'm that old -> I know 90% of these and played 80% of them. Good old days ;)
Brings back great memories of hanging out at the local pizza joint. I can still remember the black lights, Tron, and a pocket full of quarters and the smell of freshly cooked pizza in the air.
Stay '80s my friends
I'm with you all the way !!! 👍🏻
Well done!
🤟
It’s not sinister...it’s Sinistar. Scared the crap out of me as a kid.
I blocked that from my mind I guess that face! I had an instant flashback.
Me too man. Still does to this day “run, run, run”
" I HUNGER !! "
@@qzwxecrv0192837465
"Run, coward! Run!!"
I was older. Thought it was hilarious.
a title error. The game is called "Wizard of Wor". Otherwise, cool video. Brought back a lot of memories.
Not to mention "Sinistar" , not "Sinister"...
"I am the Wizard of war... Da da da da" ;)
Wow, memories of old. Bubble Bobble was my personal favourite. :)
abs super... completed it with the help of my friend, the 'fox'... good memories of Moon Cresta and Missile Command... fairly addicted to 3 more that got no mention here... ❤
Thank you for this, some of these games I didn't even remember until now. Time Pilot was a real favourite, but my absolute favourite was Robotron. I actually played at a fully-operational console of Robotron a couple of years ago in a mall in Syracuse. What great memories of years bygone!
Robotron is still great and probably always will be.
I didn't have Robotron growing up, but I got to play it on PS3 and then on the real cabinet later. Absolute classic.
Galaga and Ms Pacman have withstood the test of time. Those cabinets always show up in any mini arcade at burger/pizza joints.
Pole position was well ahead of its time even looking at it now.
Although graphics and sounds got so much better in the late 80's, the games from 80-85 were still so much better!
There was an arcade brain drain in 1984 when the most creative programmers shifted to home consoles.
@@soulg1969 Interesting point!
@@soulg1969Follow the money...
Agree about 80-85 being best, but no game up to this day has beaten the sound of Robotron, and probably never will. It was the peak!
Where’s Joust ?!? That game was the best out of all of these
I never played it, but it's in a lot of arcade videos.
Goodness... the memories... the feels... I must've stopped going to the arcade around 1985 because most after that, I've never heard of.
Hours hanging out and finding new arcades was so awesome back in the 80's.
One of my favorites was Tron Deadly Discs. I loved that it was a full size arcade machine you stood inside.
The first time I laid eyes on Pac-Man, I thought, that’s really weird!! Most arcade games, in 1980, were some kind of space game. And guess what? That’s what I wanted to play: a space game - specifically Scramble. But for some unknown reason, I inserted one of my few, precious, quarters in Pac-Man. Talk about a life altering moment!
In 89-90, TMNT the arcade game was life...
Dragon’s Lair was not one coin.
And it was a sh*t game.
Disney, as usual
@@jamesgray7064 Don Bluth wasn't working for Disney at the time and it wasn't a bad game for its time, before quick time events out stayed their welcome.
def. 2 coins and def. not the greatest game play other than to drain your pockets, but it has to some credit for being one of the first fully animated (non-sprite or vector based) games, def. drew us kids with its fancy graphics :D
I think it was the first game that cost 50 cents if I remember
At a dollar a game I went no where near that game. I didn’t want to have any interest in it at all. My hard earned coin went to Galaga, Tempest, Joust, Dig dug and so many other quarter gulpers.
1980, what a year : Centipede, PAC-MAN, Tempest, Rally X, Defender. Always classics
yes, was a great year, but hard not to pick 1981 had two biggies: Ms Pac-man (which played better than pac man, although pac man was so novel) and Donkey King. A close 2nd grouping was Galaga, Frogger, and 3rd. grouping of Gorf, Galaxians,
Pac man is the King of 80s
Also Super Pac Man, but Pac Man Jr was not as fun. IMO
Time Pilot was good but Time Pilot 84 was exceptional as as a shoot em up. Also, for pure difficulty, how many of you can say they got to level 10 of Robotron? One of the hardest arcade games of all time. I still play it almost 40 years later. wow!
I remember playing all these games in the arcade during the 80's. Great memories!!
Karate Champ 🏆• "Aren't you a bit old to be playing video games?" 😂 classic!!
Just hearing those sounds takes me back to my days at the arcade, cruising on my PK Ripper, and all night skates !
Still love PK Rippers bro
@@bozboz4414 me too brother ! Keep the 80s and that old school bmx alive !
PKs are worth tons now. I had a Hutch trick star 2. Decked the f*** out. Skyway mags. The neighborhood loser stole it and sold it
80 -83 were the best years for me, then I went off to college. Surprised Battlezone wasn't on the list, but still a great compilation. Thanks for the memories!
I sure miss the days of going to the mall and hanging out in the Arcade and spending most of the day with just $5 in quarters. Poor kids nowadays will never know that gloriousness. Putting your quarter/token on the machine for the next game of Street Fighter 2, and then staying there for an hour on 25 cents taking on all challengers? That was the best.
This brings back so many fond memories of my childhood. The 80's rocked. My friends and I used to beg our parents for some quarters or allowance so we could go to the arcade. It was the place to be seen. As only the cool kids were there. Some of these I've never seen or get a chance to play. Thank you.
The invention of the life meter was a game-changer. No pun intended.
Me and my mates spent most of our youth playing DEFENDER at our local swimming baths strange but true , and completed it loads of times . There was a glitch on the final part go up , if you got in line in a certain position you didn't have to move the joy stick or fire it was like you was ghost mode . And OLYMPICS was another favourite but the game had to be on buttons and not on joy stick
18:15
RASTAN!!
Not only a great game but that first level music was so awesome it still gives me the chills today.
Defender. My personal arcade favourite of all time. All those buttons. The hyperspace 'panic' button was such a great addition.
sadly you couldn't have a long experience with the control deck. didn't take long for your credit to disappear.
I didn't see Defender II (a.k.a. Stargate). Not sure how popular that one was, but it's one I wish I got for the Atari 2600 in 1984.
The sound of this games is nostalgic Magic to my ears.
Great list. Two others that I thought were great: Battlezone (with the tank periscope), and Xevious.
Yes. Those were huge games. Battlezone was great because you had to look through that periscope thing, but it was tough as nails to play, and never lasted very long. Still that experience was like nothing else at the time. You put a quarter in and you felt like your life depended on you doing well. That immersion was intense. Xevious was just great all around. Easy to play, great graphics, cool sounds... You could spend some time on it with one quarter.
Disappointed to not see Xevious and Hogan's Alley not on the list, two of my all-time favorites. 1982 and 1983 had the best line-ups, in my opinion.
I have been trying to remember the name of "Super Cobra" for YEARS!!!! So glad I watched this.
Ah my childhood memories come rushing back. Glad I still play these 😎
So do I.
Same... I play Twin Cobra, Bubble Bobble and Shinobi all the time 🎉
Outrun , spyhunter & paerboy take me right back
What a memory. I am 51 now and remember many of it.
Back in the early 80's, my brother and I used to ride our bikes to the bowling alley and play video games all day
The game I spent all of my 14 yr old fortune on was space invaders.
In fact I remember mom gave me a talking to. She wanted me to think about my future.
But that one might have been a game from '79.
Loving how un-PC the old school games were...super interesting seeing the origins of all the genres still being used to this day
With occasional exceptions, I put a quarter into nearly every single machine in this presentation. With particularly strong memories of games from 80-85. My scholastic and sports training schedule was consuming more and more of my time starting about '85. Such good memories!
I was 12 at the dawn of the 80’s so remember these games well. I was never good. Didn’t have the patience. Was more of a pinball guy. There was a store a block away during our high school years that had a few pinball machines and a few arcade games. Was the perfect place to hang out all the time at,especially in the winter months. Great memories
1982 was the year buddy. All my favorites
I remember playing about 95% of these coin op games back in the late 80s and early 90s in NYC Chinatown Arcade. Word up.
Number of my favorites not showing up here were: Frontline, Ladybug, Pengo, Pooyan, Xevious, Zookeeper, NFL Football, and 4-player Tecmo Bowl. I only seen NFL Football in one arcade at a local mall in all of the places that ever had arcade games (arcades, liquor stores, Golf n' Stuff, etc.) Loved that game because it used actual footage from NFL games for whatever action you chose for your play. I also miss playing pinball machines too.
I am old as dirt. (maybe older) Born in '72 and first started out with Timex Sinclair and a tape drive to play Pong and Frogger. One of my favorite games from back in the day was Gyrus (on a Commodore 64) and it had a KILLER classical music soundtrack that almost 40 years later I don't remember just remember how much I loved it. Someday I will find that music and hear it again. 😁
Many of these games. Should. Be in the hall of.fame. for best memories.
Absolutely molested by the nostalgia in this video. And I loved it.
Thanks for the wayback machine! You made an old guy smile and reminisce on his youth.
There was this feeling of excitement and wonder when seeing a new arcade game. You would just watch the preview screens, try to figure out the story, and see if it was enticing enough to earn a quarter. I miss that feeling.
Oh this brings back so many memories of being in a loud dark arcade where parents were afraid to enter.
I remembered this as if it was yesterday. Thanks for the video!
Great post. I can smell the creosote on the boardwalk & breath the fresh salt air. Thank you for the memories! Nicely done. 👍👍👍
1983 has me misty eyed. I was 12 playing Spy Hunter, Elevator Action, Star Wars and banging the hell out of the buttons on Track and Field.
Did you ever use the comb trick on Track & Field? :)
Some really great games there - oh the memories... I miss going to the arcades 😔