|
Most Popular Video Arcade Games - Game Web |
|
 The Golden Age of Video Arcade Games was a peak era of video arcade game popularity, innovation, and earnings. It begins in the late 1970s, when color arcade games became more prevalent and video arcades themselves started appearing outside of their traditional bowling alley and bar locales, through to its ending in the mid-1980s.
The games below were some of the most popular and influential games of the era. All occupy a position in the KLOV's "Top 100 Videogames" list.
1978
Space Invaders - Space Invaders is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. It was originally manufactured by Taito and licensed for production in the U.S. by the Midway division of Bally. Initially released in its native Japan in 1978, it ranks as one of the most influential video games ever created. Though simplistic by today's standards, it was one of the forerunners of modern video gaming.
1979
Asteroids - Asteroids is a video arcade game released in 1979 by Atari Inc. It was one of the most popular and influential games of the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Asteroids uses vector graphics and a two-dimensional view that wraps around in both screen axes. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy asteroids and saucers while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire.
Galaxian - Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco and released by Midway Mfg. in the US. Galaxian expanded on the formula pioneered by Space Invaders. As in the earlier game, Galaxian featured a horde of attacking aliens that exchanged shots with the player. In contrast to Space Invaders, however, Galaxian added an element of drama by having the aliens periodically make kamikaze-like dives at the player's ship.
Lunar Lander - Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari in 1979, which uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. The object of the game is to pilot a lunar landing module to a safe touchdown on the moon. Approximately 4830 units were produced.
1980
Battlezone - Battlezone is an arcade game from Atari released in 1980. It displays a wireframe view (using vector graphics rather than raster graphics) on a horizontal black and white CRT (with green and red sectioned color overlay). Due to its novel gameplay and look, this game was very popular for many years.
Berzerk - Berzerk is a multi-directional shooter video game, released in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago. The player controls a green stick-figure, representing a "humanoid." Using a joystick (and a firing button to activate a laser-like weapon), the player navigates a maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the player character.
Centipede - Centipede is a vertically-oriented shoot'em up arcade game produced by Atari in 1980. It is regarded as the first arcade game created by a woman, Dona Bailey, who programmed the game along with Ed Logg. It was also the first arcade coin-operated game to have a significant female player base. The player defends against swarms of insects, completing a round after eliminating the centipede that winds down the playing field.
Defender - Defender is a horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game created by Williams Electronics in 1980. It was designed and programmed by Eugene Jarvis (who later formed Vid Kidz and made more of Williams' hits), Larry DeMar, Sam Dicker, and Paul Dussault. This game was slow to become a hit when it was released as many thought it was too difficult due to its control configuration of five buttons and a joystick. It ultimately gained many fans and remained popular throughout the 1980s. Defender has been described as "quite possibly, the hardest significant game there is".
Missile Command - Missile Command is a 1980 arcade game by Atari Inc. that was also licensed to Sega for European release. The plot of Missile Command is simple: the player's six cities are being attacked by an endless hail of ballistic missiles, some of them even splitting like multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), and in later levels smart bombs which can evade a less than perfectly targeted missile. As a regional commander of three anti-missile batteries, the player must defend six cities in their zone from being destroyed.
Pac-Man - Pac-Man is a Japanese arcade game developed by Namco (now Namco Bandai) and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is universally considered as one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture.
Phoenix - Phoenix is a popular shoot 'em up arcade game created and manufactured by Amstar Electronics (which was located in Phoenix, Arizona) in 1980, and licensed to Centuri for US distribution, and to Taito for Japanese distribution.
Star Castle - Star Castle is a 1980 vector arcade game by Cinematronics. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses circumferencing a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The game was designed by Tim Skelly, who also created a number of other Cinematronics titles, including Starhawk. As with many other titles by the company, Star Castle was ported to the Vectrex video game console in 1983.
Tempest - Tempest is an arcade game by Atari Inc., originally designed and programmed by David Theurer. Released in October, 1981, it was fairly popular and had several ports and sequels. The game is also notable for being the first video game with a selectable level of difficulty (determined by the initial starting level). The game is a tube shooter, a type of shoot 'em up where the environment is fixed, but is viewed from a three-dimensional perspective.
Warlords - Warlords is an arcade game released by Atari in 1980. The game resembles a combination of Breakout and Quadrapong (an early Atari arcade game) in the sense that not only could up to 4 players play the game at the same time, but also the "forts" in the four corners of the screen were brick walls that could be broken with a flaming ball. Warlords used spinner controllers for player control, and came in both an upright 2 player version and a 4 player cocktail version.
Wizard of Wor - Wizard of Wor is an arcade game from 1980, developed by Midway, and later ported to the Commodore 64 as well as the Atari 800, the Atari 2600 and the Bally Astrocade. The title of the game is often incorrectly spelled as "Wizard of War". The game was released as part of the compilation game Midway Arcade Treasures 2 in 2004.
1981
Donkey Kong - Donkey Kong is an arcade game that was released by Nintendo in 1981. The game is an early example of the platform genre as the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging obstacles. The storyline is thin but well-developed for its time. In it, Mario (originally called Jumpman) must rescue a damsel in distress, Pauline, from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape went on to become two of Nintendo's more popular characters.
Frogger - Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin, and developed by Konami. The game is regarded as a classic and was noted for its novel gameplay and theme. Frogger is still popular and versions can be found on many Internet game sites.
Scramble - Scramble is a 1981 horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up, arcade game. It was developed by Konami, and manufactured and distributed by Stern in North America. The player controls a spaceship referred to in the game as a 'Jet' and has to guide it across a scrolling terrain, battling obstacles along the way.
Galaga - Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game and the sequel to Galaxian. It was released by Namco in 1981; the US version was released the same year under license to Midway.
Ms. Pac-Man - Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licenser Namco as an official title. This game introduces a female protagonist, new maze designs, and several minor gameplay changes over the original game.
Qix - Qix is an arcade game, released by Taito America Corporation in 1981. The objective of Qix is to fence off, or "claim", a supermajority of the playfield. At the start of each level, the playing field is a large, empty rectangle, containing the Qix—a sticklike entity that performs graceful, but unpredictable motions within the confines of the rectangle.
Vanguard - Vanguard is a 1981 arcade game by SNK. The game is known as one of the first scrolling shooters ever made and is additionally notable by being the first shoot 'em up where a player can shoot in four directions. Unlike other comparable games at the time, Vanguard was unique in that the player must focus on avoiding obstacles while firing in order to survive; which makes this game a precursor to Konami's Gradius and Irem's R-type.
1982
Burgertime - Burgertime is a 1982 Japanese arcade game created by Data East Corporation for its DECO Cassette System. The game was originally titled Hamburger in Japan, but was renamed Burgertime before being introduced to the United States. A maze game, Burgertime puts the player in the role of a chef ("Peter Pepper") who must drop layers of a hamburger onto trays by walking over them while avoiding other food characters who chase him around the maze.
Dig Dug - Dig Dug is an arcade game released by Namco in 1982 to run on Namco Galaga hardware. A popular game based on a simple concept, it was also available as a home video game available on many consoles.
Joust - Joust is an arcade game produced by Williams Electronics in 1982. The player takes the role of a knight with a lance, mounted on either an ostrich (player 1) or a stork (player 2), battling waves of computer-controlled enemy knights. The enemy knights have three different speed and agility levels and are mounted on giant buzzards. The game screen is static; its only features are five platforms hanging in mid-air (some wrapping around the screen), the ground, and a pit of lava below.
Moon Patrol - Moon Patrol is a classic arcade game by Irem that was first released in 1982. It was licensed to Williams for United States of America (U.S.) distribution. The player controls a moon buggy, viewing it from the side, that travels over the moon's surface. While driving it, obstacles such as craters and mines must be avoided. The buggy is also attacked by UFOs from above and tanks on the ground. Moon Patrol was one of the earliest linear side-scrolling shoot'em ups and the first game to feature parallax scrolling.
Pole Position - Pole Position is a racing video game released in 1982 by Namco. In this game, the player has to complete a lap in a certain amount of time in order to qualify for an F1 race at the Fuji Racetrack. After qualifying, the player has to face other cars in a championship race.
Q*bert - Q*bert is a 1982 arcade game published by Gottlieb, created by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee. In Q*bert, the player maneuvers the eponymous character around an isometric pyramid-like structure of tri-colored cubes. Q*bert's purpose is to hop around the tops of these cubes, changing every square to a specific color (e.g., from blue to yellow).
Robotron 2084 - Robotron: 2084 (often called simply Robotron) is an arcade game created in 1982 by the company Vid Kidz (Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar) for Williams Electronics. It was unique at the time in that the controls were two 8-way joysticks (one for running, one for shooting) rather than the more typical single joystick and fire button.
Time Pilot - Time Pilot is a 1982 arcade game by Konami and distributed in the US by Centuri, designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. It is a flying themed game debuting in the Golden Age of Arcade Games. The player assumes the role of a pilot of a futuristic fighter jet, trying to rescue fellow pilots trapped in different time eras. The player must fight off hordes of enemy craft and defeat the mother ship (or "boss") present in every level.
Tron - Tron is a coin-operated arcade video game manufactured and distributed by Bally Midway in 1982. It is based on the Walt Disney Productions motion picture Tron released in the same year. Events from this science fiction film were the inspirations for four subgames of which the game consists. It features some characters and equipment known from the film, eg the Light Cycles, battle tanks, the Input/Output Tower. The game earned more than the film's initial release.
Xevious - Xevious is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game by Namco, released in 1983. It was designed by Masanobu Endoh. In the U.S., the game was manufactured and distributed by Atari. Xevious runs on Namco Galaga hardware.
Zaxxon - Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game developed by Ikegami Tsushinki and released by Sega. The game gives the player the experience of flying a fighter craft through a fortress while shooting at enemy entities (missiles, enemy gunfire, etc.). The object of the game is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down or running out of fuel, which can be replenished by shooting fuel drums.
1983
Dragon's Lair - Dragon's Lair was one of the first laserdisc video games, released in June 1983 by Cinematronics. It featured animation created by former Disney animator Don Bluth. Most other games of the era represented the character as a sprite, which consisted of a series of bitmaps animated by playing them in succession. However due to hardware limitations of the era, artists were greatly restricted in the detail they could achieve using that technique; the resolution, framerate and number of frames were severely constrained. Dragon's Lair overcame those limitations by tapping into the vast storage potential of laserdisc, but imposed other limitations on the actual gameplay.
Elevator Action - Elevator Action is a 1983 arcade game by Taito. It debuted during the "Golden Age of Arcade Games". Innovative in gameplay, this game was fairly popular for many years. The musician was Yoshino Imamura. The game was followed by a sequel, Elevator Action II (also known as Elevator Action Returns).
Gyruss - Gyruss is a shoot 'em up video arcade game developed by Konami, and released in 1983. It was designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, who had earlier created Time Pilot for Konami. Gyruss was licensed to Centuri in the United States, and was ported to numerous games consoles and home computers. It follows in the tradition of space war games such as Space Invaders and Galaga.
Mario Bros. - Mario Bros. is an arcade game made by Nintendo, released in 1983 and later ported to many home systems. It was a spin-off of the Donkey Kong series, and heavily influenced by Joust. It was the first game to feature Mario's name in the title. It was also the debut of Mario's brother, Luigi. Unlike Donkey Kong, where he was a carpenter, in this game Mario became a plumber, exterminating pests who exit from pipes.
Spy Hunter - Spy Hunter is a 1983 arcade game developed and released by Bally Midway. It was incredibly successful initially, and it has remained popular for many years. The game's novel gameplay and addictive theme music are largely responsible for its success. It has also been ported to various home computers and video game systems.
Star Wars - Star Wars is an arcade game produced by Atari and released in 1983. The game is a first person space simulator, based around Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. More specifically the game's action covers the final act of the movie: the attack on the Death Star. The game is composed of 3D color vector graphics.
Tapper - Tapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. The goal of the game is to serve beer and collect empty mugs and tips. Tapper puts the player in the shoes of a bartender. The player must serve eager, thirsty patrons before their patience expires.
|
|
Games
