Thanks for watching :) have a look at Arcade Decades here. Stretch goals have just been announced, including the AUDIOBOOK version! www.kickstarter.com/projects/tabletop-book/arcade-decades-80s-edition/
@@Kim_Justice I grew up in and around Skegness so in a radius of 20 miles there was easy 40 arcades and then all the pubs with kids rooms with video games in them. But the one thing that can never be repeated now is the feeling you got when you walked into an arcade with the sounds, the smell, the lights and all the people, the ones who were playing and then the ones who were waiting to get on that one game they had been waiting to play since there friend had been telling them about it since Easter and now it was the summer holidays and all the anticipation was right there in the 10p in there hand just waiting to put it in the coin slot and then press the 1 player button and you could see the excitement in there eyes and then see the crushing disappointment when they could not get past the first level. But then you saw them again a few days later and you could see the same excitement in them but not because it was the first time of playing but because the excitement was now because they could actually play the game and get to stage 4 and the excitement was they was hoping to get to the final stage and maybe complete it and so when they go back home they could tell there friend they had played the game and got so far or completed it. Those times in the 80's arcades can never be repeated and you cannot explain it to people who weren't there. For me living in and around Skegness I had a different experience to arcades to many as all my spare time was spent in the arcades from when the campsites opened just before Easter until they closed in late October early November. For me arcades was not a place where I only went on holiday they were a way of life so I didn't need to pick and choose the let's say fashionable games as I could play them anytime I could play the games that were hid away in the back of the arcade or in a corner and quite often they were the better games then the brand new one that everyone wanted to play.
7:12 I always thought the best Pang was Super Pang (The 2nd game), but it appears you are describing it Super Pang here since the original Pang doesn't have the Panic mode.
Backed this within 20 minutes of it going live. I can't wait to add this to my collection of arcade books. There is not enough of these out there. ✨️ stay well, Arcadians!
What an insane amount of memories here. Born in 1973 and these were the titles I played inarcades, at the fairgrounds. It's basically a "shoppinglist" of things I need attempt to find and emulate. Thanks again Kim
Highlight of my year was a seaside holiday or the fair coming to town with loads of games I'd never seen in the flesh. Kids don't appreciate how much better arcades were compared to home systems
@@1000sofusernames Exactly this. I loved the atmosphere. We had a large arcade as a neighbor to our favorite cinema. When the lads were going to a movie, we made sure to get there with plenty of time to spare so we could get in an hour or two prior to the movies. Good times. Such good times.
Sweet lord. Kim justice goes behind enemy lines and takes on another impossible mission to entertain the troops. Another video, stay a while, stay forever!!! Thanks Kim this is greatly appreciated.
The arcades blew my mind so profoundly, I can still feel the feelings i felt 35 years ago ...that feeling of pure excitement and joy 😊 great video kim and I'll be looking to get the book
its incredible how good the best of these still look on a big, high resolution monitor. paperboy could be released as a new game today with the graphics as-is and very little added and i honestly think it'd do extremely well in the casual market. such a pretty and well designed little game.
Hard disagree. Paperboy has no right to be mentioned among the Japanese greats; hell, among the American greats even. I always thought it was trash, and am genuinely surprised to see it's as beloved as it is.
Great video. Thank you for giving Kung Fu master a shout. I spent many hours playing that game in the early 80's. So many videos I watch of the greatest video games of the 80's don't even give it a mention, which makes me think I had a mis-spent youth. Now I know I spent it wisely.
When we were kids we used to go to this swimming pool, the way home always involved going for chips and this place had a kung fu master machine, that was all it had. And man did that get some playing! The flex at the time was to cross your arms and play joystick with your right hand and buttons with your left. Somehow asserting your superiority by doing so, haha.
A fantastic Top 50! Great to see some of these again after far too long. I grew up playing Space Harrier, Battlezone, Star Wars, Chase HQ, Spy Hunter, Temple of Doom, 1942, TRON and Kung Fu Master. 40 years later and Space Harrier is still my all-time favourite arcade machine
Space Harrier Rules. Its an intense game, with no way for you to take-a-break, or a second to pause. The novelty of going from stomping ground to blasting thru the air, at a moments notice, has never been lost on me. I loved it on my Atari ST - and now I love it on my MegaDrive ❤
And once again.... Best timing ever on the type of topic and video i love. This time no depression; just good ole bed time, so nice and snug and perfect to drift off after hot milk and a neogeo session. Chefs kiss Thank you!
No Defender, Stargate, R-Type or Asteroids?! They're iconic -in my view. I think for me it would be 1: Defender, 2: Tempest, 3: Galaga, 4: Mrs Pacman and 5: Donkey Kong. Missile Command would be in my top 10 though. Fun fact: "THE END" text in the explosion in Missile Command was a VERY last minute addition after someone else at Atari mentioned it would be "cool" to have it in there. So Dave added it :)
Exactly. Or Salamander, Phoenix or Moon Cresta. But to miss Defender! is practically a crime! Asteroids although very popular in the 80s was released in 79, so all depends on what you think "of the 1980s" means, but to me it should be in there as it was in arcades in the 80s and was incredibly popular.
30:00 That Star Wars game, led me to have 3 birthdays in a row, at a reserved (for 3 hours) arcade. It was a marvel then and holds endless nostalgia now. I actually thought so high of it, that I still have my Original MIB, childhood version!! It was one of only a hand-full that I did not include, in my trade-in for an NES!!
Ha! I'm old enough to remember a lot of these the first time around. I still play Mr Do! and Bubble Bobble today, both a work of genius if you ask me. Although I have never ever finished Bubble Bobble without cheating. I loved arcades as a kid, they were video game arcades and not full of ticket machines and other gambling type machines.
Great video kim, thank you. One of the things about all these games is i tend to remember where i was when first seeing/playing them. My family were big on the "trades fortnight british caravan parks" holidays, pretty much all the current haven-holidays spots. And my times there were largely spent in the arcades (though im sure we called them the amusements). My gran would come with us and she'd play the 2p OXO pull-handle machines while i played games. I'd be perfectly happy watching other people play once id spent all my money for the day. I tended to avoid the big machines (the big space harrier cabs or wec le mans cars) as they cost 50p and a normal game like side-arms was 20p... I remember watching some older kid play Double Dragon, first time i'd seen it. i was mesmerized. Then he turned and said he had to go and did i want to take over. You bet i did! He even had about 3 credits (must have been some rich kid with his fancy pound coin...) and i played that as if my life depended on it. Some memories make me laugh; the music from bubble bobble just permeating the whole arcade. no matter where you were you could hear that in the background. So many of the games in your video i can remember the holiday camp we were at, how i felt when first seeing it, hearing it. It all adds to the nostalgia and makes a video like this way more than just a series of games. They're way more than that! Thanks again, keep up the good work!
These games are a big part of what made the 80s my favourite decade. I was always pestering my dad on holiday to take me to the arcade mainly so I could play Gyruss. I later bought it for the Atari 2600 and, well that wasn't the same! You've got most of the bases covered in this video - I played Double Dragon, Out Run and Golden Axe to death - and I would have added 1942, Gradius and R-Type in your top 50. Turbo as well for the cabinet and sound effects. My birthday present is sorted for next year with your book, am asking my missus for the hard-cover!
Very interesting list with some true masterpieces on there. Space Harrier was mind-blowing when it came out. I don't think we really experience stupefying leaps forward in technology like that anymore.
Always love the look at so many games that shaped the gaming industry for such a long time along with building up my love of gaming as a child. Many an afternoon spent playing these titles, both at the arcade and the home versions.
We need to get KJ an Atari 5200 or 8-bit home computer, stacked with all the Golden Age arcade classics. We already have shared the love for C64 and Speccy, now it’s Atari’s turn, and it’s a perfect place to turn for 1989s arcade goodness.
The "Class of '81" games are your #2 & #3. Fantastic list. Flicky was a surprise, though. My favorite arcade game of the 80s is Wonderboy in Monsterland.
Awesome video 😃 while I may have started playing coin-ops in the ‘70s it wasn’t until ‘79 that we got a mega arcade locally but that led to a glorious 1979-1986 for me in the arcades. So happy you found joy in this glorious period of videogaming.
I appreciated seeing Alien Syndrome on the list, although I'm not sure I would consider it one of the "50 Best Games". Sega had a couple of other multi player games in that period that were amazing: Quartet, a 4 player competitive platform game, and Hot Rod, a 4 player top down racer, with strategic upgrades.
Good list. My order would be a bit different of course. The other thing I would mention is the control method for some of these games made them unique and added a lot to the gameplay.
Wow. You’ve put so many of my favorites on this list. Hard to believe that, when considering you disliked Hippodrome so much, and I still love it, lol.
Great list. Unfortunately I played the computer ports for most of these, and had pleasure to enjoy very few original arcade versions before I had a computer (Scramble, Gyruss, Time Pilot). But one game I enjoyed the most was Bosconian, which usually doesn't make it to any lists. Even if I ran out of coins I loved watching others play this game.
Yeah, a second for Bosconian. Also in the genre "any direction scrolling shoot-em-up" I would recommend William's Sinistar! Who can forget the classic voice: "I HUNGER!" and "RUN COWARD!"?
80's arcade junkie here. Any 'best of' list that features Paperboy or friggin' Crystal Castles but omits Xain'D SleenA, Gradius, R-Type, or After Burner is one I can't possibly take seriously. Your content is about as watchable as your taste in arcade games is debatable.
"De gustibus non est disputandum" (there's no point arguing about matters of taste) If that concept was understood back when Latin was the go-to language, it's a bit embarrassing that we seem to have forgotten it in the 21st Century.
Great video!!! There were so many awesome arcade games especially in the early 80s... my all time favorite is Galaxian, but Pac-man, Qbert and Bosconian are at the top of my list. Great job again!!
Long time fan kim, and just wanted to say Congrats on the book! I can't wait to pick one up as it genuinely looks absolutely amazing! This video definitely has got me excited about it. I always thought with your passion and dedication to gaming, that you'd make a perfect author for a book especially on a subject like 80's arcade games and scene. There's honestly really nothing like reading a book or watching a video made by someone who's not only knowledgeable but also truly passionate about the subject they're writing about! (Can't wait to put on my shelf right next to Ashen's and Nostalgia Nerd's books! After many thorough readings, of course!) Maybe for the next book you could maybe "tackle" (sorry for the bad pun!) the subject of 90's Japanese puroesu..? I can only imagine you'd knock it out of the park and there's really not that many books on the subject (at least not to my knowledge, though would love some recommendations if anyone has any!). But knowing how long and how much work you've put into this book, I can totally understand waiting a while (or longer!) until you take on such big project like that! (Just thinking about a great coffee table Puroresu book with good art and writing would be just plain awesome!) Keep up the awesome work! As long you keep making content I'll be happily watching/reading it and be a fan! Hope this books opens up to a whole new audience and more people discover your work,as you really deserve it!
As per usual, an excellent video. I don't agree with all of these choices (nobody's choices for best arcade games are going to _perfectly_ align), but it's a strong, solid list. The book that inspired this video is probably gonna be worth a look, too.
Mr Kim Justice, I couldn’t agree more when you said “when you play Galaga, you feel like you’re right next to the beating heart of what makes gaming great” What a wonderful compliment to what is the mighty Galaga. Love that game 👍
Love your list! I appreciate the commentary on Tapper - spot on! I see why you ranked Missile Command as #1 because you wanted a good ending to your video. ;-) Well played.
Very interesting list! It's impossible to make a Top 50 Arcade list without missing something. You can't possible know or have played all Arcade games from that era: Contra Ninja Spirit Pitfall Wonder Boy Pole Position Kiki KaiKai Qix Gradius Parodius R-Type Choplifter Spelunker Ninja Spirit Popeye Pengo The list is never ending. Therefore I am ending it.
I always like to see people's top games as everyones will be different and from one month to another it will be slightly different. And also seeing games I didn't know existed. For me some of my favourite games are not the greatest but I love them. Tecmo World Cup which is great when the trackball is working well. Combat School another great trackball game. Super Sprint which is a great 3 player game. Sky Kids which has one of the best sound tracks of the 80's arcade. Commando which has so much nostalgia for me as my parents had it there pub when I was a kid and I was awesome at it and the young adults in the pub would pay for me to play it and watch me as no one could beat my high score and they never believed it was my score. Quartet which I feel is a very underrated game. Popeye is just a great license and very replayable also Tron which for me is better with an original cabinet. 1942 a great shooter and great sound. Pac-Land is just fun. Ghouls n Ghosts or Ghosts n Goblins just so playable but so difficult. Atari 720 I was absolutely terrible at it but always had fun. But many of the games in your top 50 would have been in mine but my top 5 Kung Fu Master, Crystal Castles, Kick & Run (mainly because I liked the mechanic of the foot pedal to kick the ball and it was a fun 4 player football game), Phoenix & Donkey Kong. Also it would be good if someone did a video on the differences of arcade games in different countries perfect example is Donkey Kong and then different versions that were released with minor bugs fixed in games.
My dear KJ, please, do a C64 video - best/worst USGold, arcade conversions etc. you have a style, that is unmatched. I really like your videos, thank you!😊
Good list! I ought to show my mom & dad this video when I get the chance! ^^; P.S. my favorite level in the OG Donkey Kong is 50m, cuz it looks like a pie factory to me (I know it's a construction site, but the pans of cement that one shot you looks like pies to me).
Track and Field ❤. My father was not into videogames. But he gave me 6 finnish marks to but into this back in 1987 I think. I could waggle myself on third stage on my third and final try.
I'm currently having severe financial difficulties, so I can't back your book right now, but I hope I'll be able to afford it when it's released. I'm writing my own book about arcade games myself, but it's a book of short stories where every story involves an arcade or arcade game in one form or another.
1:00 As a Kid, my Brother and I traded Skate or Die (NES) to some kid on our street. The Dudes were okay but the game was too easy. Besides that, it was a lot of fun! Cheers.
These personal favourite lists are often fun. For me I'd have swapped out the likes of Alien Syndrome, Centipede, Flicky, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Elevator Action, Great Swordsman, Fantasy Zone, Trio the Punch, Crystal Castles, Scramble and Berzerk for games such as Defender, After Burner, Gradius, Moon Cresta, GORF, R-Type, Arkanoid, 1942, The NewZealand Story, Rampage, Commando, Operation Wolf, STUN Runner, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Super Sprint and Battlezone.
A great list that I overall agree on. There are some titles that I would like to have seen higher, but mostly because of my own personal nostalgia. Not that they are necessarily better games. (Original PacMan and Asteroids for example)
Jungler looks cool. I don't think I've seen it before. :) I love the Williams stuff and would have also added Bubbles to my own list. I made a variant and a sequel that swapped the theme with a space invasion... which I guess sort of misses half of what made Bubbles cool in the first place.
I feel sorry for kids that never got to experience the arcade era. Yeah you had c64 and spectrums and even later the Amiga and the 16 bit consoles but the real thrill of playing 'the arcade version ' was something else. Also expensive.
I'd argue Flicky was one of Sega's most loved games because it received more native ports to Sega home consoles than probably any other coin-op they produced. I can't think of another Sega title that even comes close to its ubiquity.
33:20 Cheers for that beautiful write up, for my favorite games of it's (& all) time. I must say though, it's one of the very rare exceptions, that can go in the category of average to awful NES ports. The best way to Play it, that I know of is naturally, the Colecoversion ;)
Obviosuly everyone is gonna have their fave arcade pics and a lot of that will be to do with what grabbed them when they were young. What matters, as ever, is the passion you put into this ... thoroughly enjoyed watching this, even if that passion should be reserved for the masterpiece that is Donkey Kong (kidding. Maybe). Though Outrun is my favourite game of all time ... and I haven't played nearly as much as you have, obviously!
Your work is underrated. Perhaps your veiw-count reflect your niche interests, but they don't do your quality any justice. Thanks for another interesting post :)
You can usually guess what the top 10 will be in videos like this, I thought I had an idea but I was nowhere near so kudos for not just blindly choosing the same games again and again. For me the best 80s games were from the mid to late 80s and would have been dominated by Sega, Data East, Taito, Capcom and Konami but that’s probably to do with my own personal nostalgia. However I will say, no Robocop WTF ?!?!!
16:00 Paperboy is great in the Arcades, NES(I had it growing up) and it's on almost every console. It would be interesting to see a comparison video. Does anyone know a quality one? Cheers.
In the 80s i was a kid i had an atari 2600 and then had a spectrum 48k then a 128k and i enjoyed them but when i went to the arcade and saw games how they were originally intended...got to be honest it really put me off the home systems no matter how good the ports were just seeing the original they could not compete 😅
The glorious power of 80s arcade games. My version of the list would include Tron. I never got tired of the tank game. That said, I'm not usually one to second guess one's list, especially something as subjective as the best games, but Trio The Punch being rated higher than freaking Bubble Bobble? Is there a gun to your head?
Mr. DO also has a super Coleco port. That's how I played it. Had to save quarters somewhere ;) QUESTION FOR BRITS. What is your equivalent, to the American/Canadian 0.25 cent piece, or quarter? Please let me know. You Guys Rock!!
Since this is a subjective list of personal favourites, nice, there are some bangers in there. But if one was to assemble a list of most influential '80s arcade games it would be quite different. Perhaps for a future video, but make it 100, 50 are way too few. Cheerio.
Hardly any of the best arcade games ever made it above 20. Pac Man should have been much higher and Space Invaders should have been on the list near the top. SI brought video games into the mainstream in Japan and Pac Man did it for the US.
@@bombjack1984 Yes, that's true. I'd temporarily forgotten that when I posted the comment. Still, the greats were ranked pretty low in this list. That's the problem with a reviewer having not be a game player at the time. IIRC, he said the first game he remembers ever playing was a late 80s game. My first game I ever played was electromechanical and then Pong and then Space Invaders. Also, BombJack is awesome. Love your handle and icon.
