
1 PLAYER = 1 COIN
2 PLAYERS = 2 COINS
Arcade games go back a LONG way. The roots of the arcade are the midways, dime museums, and amusements parlors of the 19th Century (which often had visible arches supporting their roofs, and recessed arches for the attractions, hence the name). There, patrons could spend their dimes and quarters on kinetoscopes and phonographs, allowing the then-miraculous experience of listening to recorded sounds and watching moving images. When the novelty of those devices wore off, establishment owners repurposed them with lower-priced attractions for a wider crowd — workers and tourists would spend pennies on coin-operated shooting galleries, peep shows, fortune tellers, strength testers, candy dispensers, and even slot machines.
In 1931, David Gottliebs Baffle Ball introduced "pin games" to arcades and kick-started an industry. The games soon surged in popularity as designers added flippers and bumpers, even as some parents and legislators associated them with gambling, organized crime, and delinquency, and moved to have them banned. Even so, arcade owners replaced their novelty machines with pinball machines and electromechanical baseball, horse racing, and bowling games.
By the time municipal bans on pinball machines ended in the mid-70s, they were already fairly ubiquitous devices, filling up bowling alleys, laundromats, shops, and bars. Furthermore, pinball didn't dominate the space alone — they were joined by the electromechanical predecessors of Video Games, such as Chicago Coins Speedway (1969) and Motorcycle (1970). These machines used belt-driven discs and projector screens to simulate various thrills and activities.
This was the market that arcade video games would step into.
The first coin-operated video game was Galaxy Game, a version of Space War. One machine was produced and installed at Stanford University in September 1971. Two months later, Computer Space, a one-player multi-directional Shoot 'em Up based loosely on Space War, became the first commercially-available coin-operated arcade game. It was created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who would found Atari the following year. Computer Space wasn't a success, as gameplay was too complicated. So Bushnell created the much simpler Pong, the first successful coin-op arcade game.
Even with the popularity of Pong, arcade games didn't have dedicated venues, but instead stood in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and gas stations. That changed with the 1978 release of Space Invaders, which launched video games into the mainstream, causing a national coin shortage in its native Japan and influencing pop culture around the world. It was soon followed by similarly successful shooters such as Galaxian and Asteroids the following year. By the end of 1979, video arcades were appearing across North America, Japan, and Europe. The Golden Age of Video Games had begun.
1980 saw a wave of classic games, most notably Pac-Man, as well as Defender, Centipede, Missile Command, and Rally-X. Arcades sprang up all over the place, and crowds of kids flocked in. More great games came in 1981-83, like Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man, Frogger, Galaga, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Zaxxon, Joust, Q*bert, and Dragon's Lair. But a bad case of Follow the Leader meant that the arcade market was also saturated with imitations. The Great Video Game Crash of 1983 happened gradually from 1983-85; while it had a much bigger impact on video game consoles, arcades were also affected by it to a lesser extent.
After 1985 in North America, things weren't quite the same for years. Arcades had a resurgence in the early to mid '90s, when the widespread success of Street Fighter led to the rising popularity of Fighting Games and eventually 3D games, but began declining again with the rise of arcade-quality consoles (the final nail could be said to have come from the Sega Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur, which actually surpassed the arcade version in quality). Arcade games returned to where they were from 1972-78 an extra source of revenue for restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping centers, or part of a larger gaming venue like Chuck E. Cheese or Dave & Busters.
Outside of those applications though, starting around The New '10s there has been a small resurgence in retro arcades that intentionally try to recreate the look and feel of the Video Arcade of years gone by. These target both old and new arcade fans that want to enjoy an otherwise now-unusually seen entertainment venue, and experience the games the way they originally became popular. This also provides an accessible way to enjoy games that since haven't seen much attention and/or have never gotten a proper Arcade-Perfect Port at home, and in some cases never can (such as sit-down racing games or light gun games). These arcades most frequently follow the business model of having an upfront fee to get in but have all games set on free play, but others may have a smaller upfront fee with all games requiring only one quarter or no upfront fee and games having a higher cost to play. While they still are nowhere near as omnipresent as they were before 1985, this will likely be the closest the arcade game ever sees a comeback and many metropolitan areas in the United States have at least one, such as The Galloping Ghost in Chicago and Bishop Cidercade in Dallas.
In the United Kingdom, arcades were popular at seaside resorts until the mid-1990s, when the leap to 3D graphics meant higher prices than kids could pay.
In Japan, arcades (known as game centers) remained popular, and as with consoles, development moved over there. The Japanese created or codified new genres, such as the Fighting Game, Cute 'em Up, and Bullet Hell. They also standardized arcade hardware: Data East released the first general-purpose arcade board in 1980, and the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association (JAMMA) introduced the eventual world standard for arcade cabinet wiring in 1985. To this day, the biggest franchises in the aforementioned genres usually get an arcade version of each new installment- if it doesn't debut in arcades first. Starting in The New '10s, Japanese arcade games started implementing a revenue-share model: the arcade doesn't buy the cabinet, they simply rent it out and the publisher takes a share of the revenue. This often results in the game implementing online-requiring DRM in order to ensure that the game can only be run by authorized arcades. This unfortunately makes it harder to import cabinets from outside of Japan and other authorized countries.
The term "arcade game" was also used more generically, especially in the 1980s, for games created for consoles and/or computers that imitated the fast-paced action of real arcade games. This usage of "arcade" has largely faded away, though sometimes its use on old game boxes and such still causes confusion.
In late 2014, the Internet Archive created the Internet Arcade, an archive of over 900 classic arcade games playable in-browser, in an attempt to spark interest in older arcade games.
CREDITS: 1
Let's begin...
Arcade Pinball Games
Arcade Video Games of the 1970s
- Anti Aircraft
- Asteroids
- Basketball
- Blockade
- Breakout
- Carrier Airwing
- Circus
- Computer Space
- Cops N' Robbers (Atari)
- Crash 'N Score
- EVR Race
- Galaxian
- Gotcha
- Galaxy Game
- Gran Trak 10
- Head On
- Hi Way
- Jet Fighter
- Lunar Lander
- Monaco GP
- Night Driver
- Pong
- Pursuit
- Quadrapong
- Atari Qwak 1974
- Rebound
- Shark Jaws
- Sheriff
- Space Invaders
- Space Race
- Speed Race
- Sprint 2
- Starship 1
- Steeplechase
- Tank
- Touch Me
- Video Pinball
Arcade Video Games of the 1980s
- 1942
- The Adventures of Robby Roto
- After Burner
- Altered Beast
- Alien Syndrome
- Amidar
- Arkanoid
- Arm Wrestling
- Asteroids Deluxe
- Astro Blaster
- Astyanax
- Athena
- Atomic Runner Chelnov
- Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja
- Bank Panic
- Battlezone
- Berzerk
- Bionic Commando
- Blaster
- Blue Print
- Bomb Jack
- Bosconian
- Bravoman
- Bubble Bobble
- Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
- Bump 'n' Jump
- BurgerTime
- Cabal
- Cadash
- Cameltry
- Captain Silver
- Carnival
- Centipede
- Chinese Hero
- Circus Charlie
- Commando
- Congo Bongo
- Contra
- Cosmic Avenger
- Crazy Climber
- Crime Fighters
- Crystal Castles
- Dangar UFO Robo
- Darius
- D. D. Crew
- Defender
- Denjin Makai
- Dig Dug
- Donkey Kong
- Double Dragon
- Double Dragon
- Double Dragon II: The Revenge
- Dragon's Lair
- Dynamite Dux
- Enduro Racer
- ESWAT: Cyber Police
- The Fairyland Story
- Fantastic Night Dreams Cotton
- Fantasy Zone
- Final Fight
- Flicky
- Forgotten Worlds
- Frogger
- Gain Ground
- Galaga
- Galaxy Force
- Gauntlet
- Genpei Touma Den
- Ghosts 'n Goblins
- Gladiator
- Golden Axe
- Golden Tee Golf
- Gorf
- Gradius
- Guerrilla War
- Gunsmoke
- Guzzler
- Gyruss
- Hang-On
- Hard Drivin'
- Haunted Castle
- Heavy Barrel
- Hero Of Robots
- Hokuha Syourin Hiryū no Ken (aka Shanghai Kid)
- Hyper Dyne Side Arms
- Ikari Warriors
- Iron Commando
- I, Robot
- Jackal (aka Top Gunner)
- Joust
- Jungle Hunt
- Kangaroo
- Karnov
- Kickle Cubicle
- Kid Niki: Radical Ninja
- Kiki Kai Kai
- Kiratto Pri☆Chan
- Klax
- Kung Fu Master
- Kuri Kinton
- Lady Bug
- Landing Series
- Last Duel
- Legendary Wings
- The Legend of Kage
- Leprechaun 1982
- Libble Rabble
- Lode Runner (series by Irem based on the computer game)
- Mappy
- Marble Madness
- Mario Bros.
- Marvel Land
- Midnight Resistance
- Missile Command
- Momoko 120%
- Monster Bash (1982)
- Mr. Do!
- Mr. Goemon
- Moon Patrol
- Mouse Trap
- NARC
- The New Zealand Story
- Night Striker
- Ninja Gaiden (Arcade)
- Ninja Hayate
- Ninja Spirit
- The Ninja Warriors
- Omega Race
- Operation Wolf
- OutRun
- Pac-Man
- Pang
- Paperboy
- Pengo
- Phozon
- Pole Position
- Polybius (fictitious)
- Ponpoko
- Popeye
- Power Drift
- Psycho Soldier
- Punch-Out!!
- Q*bert
- Qix
- Rabio Lepus
- Rally-X
- Rampage
- The Real Ghostbusters
- Road Blaster
- Road Runner
- Robotron: 2084
- Rolling Thunder
- R-Type
- Rygar
- Scramble
- Seishun Scandal
- Shinobi (1987)
- Sky Kid
- The Simpsons
- Sinistar
- Sly Spy
- Solar Fox
- Solomon's Key
- Space Ace
- Space Duel
- Space Fury
- Space Harrier
- Space Panic
- Spelunker (another computer-to-arcade port)
- Splatterhouse
- Spy Hunter
- Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
- Star Wars (1983)
- Street Fighter
- Strider
- Super Dodge Ball
- Super Real Mahjong
- Tapper
- Tecmo Knight
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game
- Tempest
- Terra Cresta
- Tetris (one by Atari, several by Sega and Jaleco)
- Thunder Blade
- Tiger Road
- Timber!
- Time Gal
- Time Pilot
- Toki
- The Tower of Druaga
- Thunder Cross
- Track & Field
- Trio the Punch
- TRON
- Turbo
- Tutankham
- Twinbee
- Twin Cobra
- U.N. Squadron
- Vanguard
- Venture
- Vigilante
- Wardner
- Warlords
- Wizard of Wor
- Wonder Boy
- Wonder Momo
- WWF Superstars
- Xenophobe
- Xevious
- Yie Ar Kung Fu
- Zaxxon
- Zero Wing
- Zoo Keeper
Arcade Video Games of the 1990s
- 8th Man
- Aggressors of Dark Kombat
- Alien Challenge
- Alien Storm
- Alien 3: The Gun
- Alien vs. Predator (Capcom)
- Arabian Fight - Dueling Works with the one below.
- Arabian Magic - Dueling Works with the one above.
- Area 51
- Armed Police Batrider
- Armored Warriors
- Asterix
- Astra Superstars
- Asura Series
- Avenging Spirit
- Battle Circuit
- Battle Garegga
- Battle K-Road
- Battletoads (different from all the console games)
- beatmania
- Big Fight
- Bio Ship Paladin
- Blandia
- Blazing Tornado
- Blood Bros
- BloodStorm
- Blood Warrior
- Bloody Roar
- Bomber Man (arcade adaptation; also known as Atomic Punk)
- Bonanza Bros.
- Bonk's Adventure (arcade adaptation; also known as Kyuukyoku!! PC Genjin)
- Brave Firefighters
- Breakers
- Buriki One
- Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
- Cannon Dancer
- Captain America and the Avengers
- Captain Commando
- CarnEvil
- Caveman Ninja
- Charlie Ninja
- Chimera Beast (unreleased)
- Crazy Taxi
- Crossed Swords series
- Crude Buster (also known as Two Crude)
- Crypt Killer
- Cyberbots
- DanceDanceRevolution
- Dangun Feveron
- Daraku Tenshi: The Fallen Angels
- Darkstalkers
- Dark Seal
- Daytona USA
- Dead or Alive
- Detana!! Twinbee
- Dino Rex
- DoDonPachi series
- Dogyuun
- Dottori-Kun
- Dragon Ball Z Arcade
- Dragon Master
- Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
- Dynamite Cop
- Ehrgeiz
- ESP Ra.De.
- Evil Night
- Fighter's History
- Fighter's History Dynamite (aka Karnov's Revenge)
- Fighting Layer
- Fighting Vipers
- Fire Shark
- The First Funky Fighter
- Fixeight
- Gaia Crusaders
- Gaiapolis
- Garou: Mark of the Wolves
- G.I. Joe
- Ghoul Panic
- Giga Wing
- Gourmet Sentai Barayaro
- Grind Stormer / V-V
- Growl
- Guilty Gear
- Gunblade N.Y./L.A. Machineguns
- Gun Master
- Guwange
- Hammerin' Harry
- House of the Dead
- Hydro Thunder
- In the Hunt
- Irritating Maze
- Jurassic Park (Arcade)
- Kamen Rider
- Killer Instinct
- The King of Dragons
- The King of Fighters
- Knights of the Round
- Laser Ghost
- Le Mans 24
- Lethal Enforcers
- Lethal Thunder
- Magical Drop
- Magical Truck Adventure
- Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy
- Mahou Daisakusen (aka Sorcer Striker)
- Shippu Mahou Daisakusen (aka Kingdom Grandprix)
- Marvel vs. Capcom
- Mega Man (Classic)
- Metal Black
- Metamorphic Force
- Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
- Mortal Kombat
- Mr. Driller
- Mutation Nation
- Mystic Warriors
- Mystical Fighter
- NAM-1975
- NBA Jam
- NFL Blitz (original, 99, and 2000 Gold Edition)
- Night Slashers
- Ninja Baseball Bat Man
- Ninja Clowns
- Ninja Combat
- The Ninja Kids
- Numan Athletics
- The Ocean Hunter
- Oriental Legend
- Out Zone
- Parodius Da!
- Pilot Kids
- Pit-Fighter
- Point Blank
- pop'n music
- Power Instinct
- Power Stone
- Primal Rage
- Prop Cycle
- Psychic Force
- Puchi Carat
- Pu·Li·Ru·La
- Pump It Up
- The Punisher (Capcom)
- Puyo Puyo (1992)
- Quiz Nanairo DREAMS
- Rad Mobile
- Radiant Silvergun
- Rage Ofthe Dragons
- Raiden
- RAY Series
- Red Earth
- Revolution X
- Ridge Racer
- Rival Schools
- Robo Army
- Rod Land
- Saboten Bombers
- Sailor Moon Arcade
- Saturday Night Slam Masters
- Sengoku Ace series
- Sega Rally Championship
- SegaSonic the Hedgehog
- Battle Gear (aka Side by Side)
- Silent Scope
- Smash TV
- Snow Bros
- Sol Divide
- Sonic Blast Man
- Sonic the Fighters
- Soul Series
- Soul Edge
- Soul Calibur
- Soukyugurentai
- Space Bomber
- Space Gun
- Star Wars Trilogy Arcade
- Steel Gunner (First game in 1991, second in 1992)
- Street Fighter II
- Street Fighter: The Movie
- Street Fighter Alpha
- Street Fighter EX
- Street Fighter III
- Street Slam
- Strikers 1945
- Strider 2
- Sunset Riders
- Super Gem Fighter
- Survival Arts
- Tattoo Assassins (unreleased)
- Tech Romancer
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
- Teki Paki
- Tekken
- Tetris: The Grand Master
- The Out Foxies
- Three Wonders
- Thunder & Lightning
- Thunder Cross II
- Thunder Force AC (arcade port of a console game {Thunder Force III specifically}, unusually for its time)
- Time Killers
- Time Traveler
- Tokimeki Memorial: Oshiete Your Heart
- Tokimeki Memorial Taisen Puzzle Dama
- Total Carnage
- Total Vice
- Tube-It
- TumblePop
- Twin Cobra II
- Ultra Toukon Densetsu
- Ultra X Weapons
- Undercover Cops
- Violent Storm
- Virtua Cop
- Virtua Fighter
- Virtua Racing
- Virtual-ON
- War Gods
- Warriors Of Fate
- Wild CA Ts 1995
- Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
- World Heroes
- Zero Team
- Zombie Revenge
- Zyconix
Arcade Video Games of the 2000s
- Animal Kaiser
- Akatsuki Blitzkampf
- Arcana Heart
- Battle Fantasia
- BattleTech Firestorm (based on MechWarrior 4)
- Blade Of Honor
- BlazBlue
- Boong-Ga Boong-Ga
- Border Down
- Cannon Spike
- Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
- Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium
- Castle of Shikigami
- Chaos Field
- Cho Chabudai Gaeshi
- Confidential Mission
- The Crystal Of Kings
- Death Smiles
- DeathSmiles II
- Demolish Fist
- Dinosaur King
- DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm==
- DoDonPachi: DaiOuJou
- DoDonPachi: DaiFukkatsu
- Espgaluda series
- Ex Zeus (the first game)
- Fist of the North Star: Twin Blue Stars of Judgment
- Flywrench
- GHOST Squad
- Great Mahou Daisakusen (aka Dimahoo)
- The Gladiator
- Guilty Gear X
- Guilty Gear XX
- Haunted Museum
- Ibara
- The Idolmaster
- Ikaruga
- Initial D Arcade Stage
- In the Groove
- Jurassic Park III
- Karous
- Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi
- Kouchuu Ouja Mushiking
- Let's Go Jungle!
- Manic Panic Ghosts
- Mario Kart Arcade GP
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
- The Maze Of The Kings
- Monster Eye
- Muchi Muchi Pork
- Mushihime Sama series
- NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
- Ninja Assault
- Otomedius
- Para Para Paradise
- Pretty Cure
- Progear
- Puyo Puyo Fever
- Razing Storm
- Rhythm Tengoku (based on the original GBA game)
- The Rumble Fish
- Senko no Ronde
- Senko no Ronde NEW Ver.
- Senko no Ronde SP
- Shining Series
- Shining Force Cross
- Shining Force Cross Raid
- Shining Force Cross Illusion
- Shmups Skill Test
- Soul Calibur II-IV
- The Speed Rumbler
- Street Fighter IV
- Super Monkey Ball
- Taiko no Tatsujin
- Target Terror
- Time Crisis
- Too Spicy
- Triggerheart Exelica
- Trouble Witches AC
- Under Defeat
- Vampire Night
- Virtual-ON Force
- Wangan Midnight
Arcade Video Games of the 2010s
- The Act
- Aikatsu!
- Aka to Blue Type-R
- Akai Katana
- Aquapazza
- BeatStream
- Bombergirl
- Border Break
- Caladrius AC
- Chaos Code
- Chunithm
- Crimzon Clover for NESiCAxLive
- crossbeats REV.
- Crossy Road
- DoDonPachi: DaiFukkatsu BLACK Label
- Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade
- Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
- Dream Festival! (arcade port of the mobile game)
- Fate/Grand Order Arcade (Japan-only)
- Fruit Ninja FX
- Grand Piano Keys
- Groove Coaster (arcade port of the iOS original)
- Hero Bank: Arcade (Japan-only)
- The King of Fighters XIII
- K-On!
- K-ON! Houkago Rhythm Time. (Japan-only)
- K-ON! Houkago Rhythm Selection. (Japan-only)
- Magical Slot Mahō Shōjo Tai Arusu (Japan-only)
- Lost Land Adventure
- maimai
- MÚSECA
- Nostalgia
- O.N.G.E.K.I.
- Pokkén Tournament
- Pretty Series (all Japan-only)
- Reflec Beat
- Sailor Zombie
- Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
- Shining Force Cross Raid
- Sound Voltex
- Super Sentai Battle Dice O
- Terminator: Salvation
- Trouble Witches AC for NESiCAxLive
CREDITS: 2