The 20 Greatest Arcade Games Of All-Time! 

Full Top 50 List: 50 - Defender 49 - Dig Dug 48 - Rolling Thunder 47 - Bomb Jack 46 - Gyruss 45 - Pac-Land 44 - Asteroids 43 - Paperboy 42 - Space Invaders 41 - Operation Wolf 40 - Daytona USA 39 - RoadBlasters 38 - Final Fight 37 - Alien Vs. Predator 36 - Galaxian 35 - BurgerTime 34 - Spy Hunter 33 - Phoenix 32 - Centipede 31 - Ghouls 'n' Ghosts 30 - Marvel Vs. Capcom 29 - Wonder Boy 28 - Joust 27 - Mr. Do! 26 - Time Crisis 25 - Pole Position 24 - WWF WrestleFest 23 - Gauntlet 22 - Dragon's Lair 21 - Mortal Kombat 20 - Frogger 19 - House of the Dead 18 - Shinobi 17 - Bubble Bobble 16 - Mortal Kombat 2 15 - Robotron 2084 14 - X-Men 13 - Golden Axe 12 - Donkey Kong 11 - The Simpsons 10 - Tempest 9 - Galaga 8 - Tron 7 - Ms. Pac-Man 6 - Street Fighter II 5 - Out Run 4 - Star Wars 3 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - Pac-Man 1 - Double Dragon

I’m older. Can’t believe the granddaddy space invaders didn’t make it. Also Summer Olympics, missile command, dig dug, so many more.

Snubbed. Asteroids, Defender, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Centipede, joust and breakout

Kicker, Ghosts´n Gobblins, Joust, Black Tiger, Tetris, Dangar, Elevator Action, Kung-Fu Master, Cabal, Darius... These are serious contenders that could be considered among the best 20 also. I would make another list with the top 30 or 50.

My parents owned an arcade so I had a blessed teen years :) My list top 10: 1. Space Invaders 2. Pac Man 3. Asteroids 4. Galaxian 5. Donkey Kong 6. Joust 7. Defender 8. Tempest 9. Tron 10. Dig Dug Some honorable mentions: Centipede, Bezerk, Marble Madness, Venture, Missle Command, Galaga, Q-bert, Crazy Climber, Scramble, Warlords, Pole Position, Star Wars, Star Trek, Robotron, Ms. Pacman, Gauntlet, Gorf, Wizard of Wor, Zaxxon, Pong, Breakout, Sea Wolf, Battlezone. All of these ate tremendous amounts of quarters!

The greatest thing I've ever seen in an arcade is 8 linked big screen Daytona USA cars with driver cameras in 1994. That thing still looks epic in 2024.

To be fair, these games were the times the arcade became popular and wide spread. Games in late 70's and early 80's there were longer lines to wait for your turn to play because it wasn't everywhere yet. Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Ms Pac-man were the longest lasting popularity before one on one fighting arcades came out.

For me Berserk has no equal. Hard to say why, but I’m just at total peace when playing, and could get very far on just one life from the first time I played as a kid. It surprised me to find such an easy game that was still fun. Then I watched it absolutely destroy other players and realized it’s not easy, I was just very good at it

Asteroids! I could flip the score numerous times on one quarter. I remember first seeing the cabinet, at a pizza place, down the street from our house. I was immediately in love with that game.

Definitely felt heavy on the Beat em' Ups which is no great surprise but the absence of Centipede was almost unimaginable to me. Small consolation that Tempest actually made the cut. I guess I'm more of an early 80s Arcade fan but you can't really moan about progress ;-) Great video and thanks for all the work to put this together :-)

My parents use to own a Tron arcade cabinet, which had a prominent place in our video store, shared with Donkey Kong Junior and Star Trek. I probably played DKJ more than the others, but Tron was always the most mesmerizing.

Outrun. To this day when I drive my car I hear the music of this game and remember the pure joy of it.

I was a kid of the late 80s and early 90s. I have distinct memories of crowds around Double Dragon, Final Fight, and Street Fighter 2. I also survived the Bit Wars of that era.

Oh man... Sooo much nostalgia from this list. Thank you making this video, and thank you to everyone who contributed with their votes. Lastly, since the X-Men arcade cabinet (I was lucky enough to have the six player version at my one neighborhood's arcade) didn't get any specific comments, I will leave one in the form of this quote: "X-MEN... WELCOME... TO DIE!"

I love these lists so much - I never agree with the placing of titles, but in a good and intrigued way! Great video.

As a kid in the 80's I must've spent a small fortune in quarters playing "JOUST", "STAR CASTLE", "CONTRA" and "GALAGA". Hanging out with the kids from school at the local "Video Arcade". They had a hamburger place next door and played great music like the Police, The Time and the B52's through a PA system. Those were the best of times and greatest parts of my childhood. RIP ATARI and INTELLIVISION..

No Defender? I guess this list of voters found it to be too difficult. Best game ever IMHO.

Gary Kitchen, famous Activision programmer, stated, without a moment’s hesitation, “Missile Command is the greatest arcade game of all time.” This was at a Classic Gaming Expo in Vegas.

Great video 😎 I think due to the impact made at the time Street fighter 2 should of been higher on the list, I can still remember the queues to play that game and the crowds of people that were watching. This game was huge!

I'm not a nostalgic person so when I play something, I play it because it is still a great game, and Galaga never disappoints. If I see it somewhere, I play it.

Pong, Pacman, astéroïde, donkeykong, galaga, Moon patrol, Defender, pole position, Daytona usa, scramble, track n field, Space invader, burger Time, out run, frogger, arkanoid, kung fu master, mortal combat

Where was R-Type Great trip down memory lane. Thanks.

Grew up in a seaside town in the 80s and was blessed to have around 10 different fantastic arcades with a huge variety of games. Dad use to give me a coupke of quid and leave me for an hour to play. Just got a retroid pocket 3 just to install these games and a load more for on the go fun

I miss the Good Ol'" Arcades Days.... played every game shown here. Im glad there's a huge community that still admire, collects, and plays these classics! I hope future generations will keep these games alive and the upcoming games that will become classics. Thanks for this!

Shocked terminator 2 did not make this list. I have a home arcade with 15 titles and people always gravitate to that one

No list is complete without the skateboarding game 720°, had the big boombox on top! Spent hours on that every week at the arcade in Sunrise Mall in Corpus Christi, Texas. Sunrise Mall was in the cult classic Legend of Billy Jean and is just now being torn down, an 80s time capsule.

Missing for me are Kung Fu Master, Paperboy, Space Harriet, Rush N Attack

so well said , for us born in the 80s Double Dragon was like god sent , you cant forget that music and those moves

What! No space invaders, asteroids, paperboy, or crazy climber

Glad to see Tempest represented. It was always the one I went to first in any arcade full of many games.

My personal top 10 favorites: Berzerk, Discs of Tron, Assault, Shinobi, Rolling Thunder, Street Fighter II Champion Edition, Elevator Action, Elevator Action Returns (yes, both of them), STUN Runner, and Bump ‘n Jump. Berzerk, Discs, and SFIICE would’ve gotten my 1st/2nd/3rd place votes. For some other genres that aren’t represented in my top ten: Favorite arcade racing game: Cruisin’ World. Favorite puzzle game: Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move. Favorite multiplayer brawler: King of Dragons. Favorite vector game: Omega Race. Favorite trackball game: Cabal. Favorite 1970s game: Sea Wolf. Favorite 2-player co-op game: Lucky & Wild (this one was perfect for me and one of my best arcade buddies because I was good at driving games and terrible at gun games and he was the exact opposite).

I wouldn't say it is objectively the best for everyone, but I pick Asteroids as my personal top arcade of all time. It pulled me into its world like no other arcade game has before or since. The loneliness and dread of the ufos and the speeding up music/beat...it drove me to try over and over again.

Double Dragon was the first game I discovered I could beat with one move, ie, the elbow punch. Sure, it’s cheap, but the bad guys can almost never counter it.

Wow! What an amazing trip down memory lane. Great video. My first major arcade influence was Kung-Fu Master. I was around 10 and I saw it at my local arcade back in '85. Thanks for the upload. Question for everyone... Does anyone else remember the Zoom button on Mrs. Pac-Man?

I never saw Double Dragon coming in first place, especially since all of the Konami beat em ups are far better (probably due to years of gameplay and hardware improvements). Made me think of a couple titles I haven't thought about in years. Very unique list. Good stuff!

Shinobi. Yes! Robotron is hands-down my all-time favorite. Still play it to this day. Never a dull moment with that game. Tempest was amazing but I could never master it. Star Wars, the sounds alone trigger some hardcore nostalgia. Great list. So many memories.

Shinobi was excellent, I remember learning to 1 CC it in the arcades and it saved your backup highest score like the NEO GEO games too.

This video brought back so many great memories.

Great video. I think a problem with a list made by a group of retro game people specifically is they had a community across all video games at the time. Over time, it got more diverse. Fighting game players had more than Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II during the peak of fighters. Music game players have their own community too. Outside of being great games, they all brought people together as communities to have fun, compete, make connections and have the same friends for decades because of those games. My top 20 is absolutely different but it's important to understand that there are elements which transcend the game itself which make them truly special. (Oh and beatmania is the best arcade game series of all time if you're wondering. 1997 to present and still going strong, even has a pro-league.)

Hey, thanks for using my comment in the video! You mentioned that OutRun is a personal favourite of yours, which has sparked my curiosity, so I have to ask - what are YOUR top 3 arcade games of all time?

As kid that grew up in the 80s and 90s, I think this list is pretty spot on. I'd give a shout out to Ye-ar Kung Fu as the only game that should also be recognized

I am thrilled that my comment made it into the video! You made my day! Keep up the excellent work! 👍🏾

Apologies to shotgunl and Tempest Fennac. Somehow I attributed the quotes about Mortal Kombat 2 and Double Dragon to Tempest Fennac when they were in fact stories from shotgunl. I had put the wrong name next to them in my database. Very sorry once again 😞

This is my list. No particular order. Donkey Kong, Street Fighter 2, Pac-Man, The Simpsons, X-Men, Metal Slug, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mortal Kombat 2, Time Crisis, Galaga, Daytona USA, OutRun, Rampage, Final Fight, Gauntlet, Afterburner, Centipede, Star Wars, NBA Jam, Pong.

I believe X-men Vs Street Fighter came out in 96 so I suppose it wouldn’t make this list. But when I first saw it at a bowling alley I was completely blown away as a kid. It was the first time I saw such fast paced super powered anime style combat. I only got to play it once or twice but I was obsessed. I now own one of the arcade 1 up machines and it’s an excellent addition to my video game collection. Also I believe Crazy Taxi came out in 99. I would say that’s probably my all time favorite arcade.

I spent a small fortune on: TMNT Rampage After Burner X-Men King of the Monsters Time Crisis Capcom vs. Marvel Simpsons Street Fighter 2 Cruisin' USA Samurai Shodown Games that got every last one of my quarters late 80's but mostly early to mid 90's before home systems made arcades obsolete. In no particular order. I just know I had so much fun playing. Some weren't even mentioned in the video.

I had Bomb Jack at the servo which became an obsession. Fast forward 40 years later and I'm still good at it. I can get 50k bonus in 5-6 rounds. Track & Field, Speed Spin, and Windjammers are a sports must. Other shooters that should be in the library are Moon Cresta and Gyruss. Wonderboy and Circus Charlie are 2 platformers that rarely get mentioned but are fun addiction A+ .

Moon Patrol not making the list is criminal.

Very cool format, not just with the voting, but also the voter's comments. This felt a lot more like a community list rather than a lot of the 'my personal fav' lists. Just the right amount of screen time for each game. Arcades forever!

For kids in the late 70s and early 80s, the arcade boom of that era was amazing. I'm amazed Pac-Man isn't in the top spot. Most iconic, important games during those early golden years: Space Invaders Pac-Man Donkey Kong Galaxian/Galaga Centipede

I'm shocked that the original Super Mario Brothers didn't make the cut. That was Nintendos flagship game for the original NES and everyone I knew was obsessed with it when it was in the arcade.

Double Dragon was so influential and a staple in arcades. You had to be there to truly understand. A few years ago, I tracked down an original cabinet and brought it home. I plan to play that game on that cabinet as long as it lasts. Hopefully another 30-40 years.

Back in those days games were more fun than Today. Now they make them better looking and less fun.

There is a bar called 8-bit that has about 80 arcade style cabinets all around the place and also old pinball games where you can play for free. It’s a great way to remember the old days. Cheers

sunset riders was one of my favorite games as a kid. I could beat it on about $1.50-$2.00 as a kid. which i liked most of the konami games

After Burner, Space Harrier, Out Run, Combat School, Gauntlet, Pac Man, Super Hang-On, Bubble Bobble, Double Dragon, and one obscure game that me and my mate loved to play in the local pub, Prehistoric Isle in 1930 would be my top ten (in no particular order).

TRON cabinet was really good and 4 bigger than mini games? However I Love Discs of Tron which came out a year later! 😎 Also one of my favorites of all Time from ‘89 is Tournament CyberBall 2072! 🤩 There’s so many 80s and 90s classics… Stryder, Marble Madness, T2 Judgement Day, S.T.U.N. Runner, Space Ace, Pole Position 1 and 2, Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe, SpyHunter, RoadBlasters, CrossBow, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, CyberSled, Smash TV, NARC, Golden Axe 1 and 2 and so many others! 😉😎

One of my favorites was a demolition derby arcade game with a horizontal screen. IIRC, there was room for 6 players, 3 on each side.

If nobody stood next to you and put their quarter on the machine or there wasn't a line behind you to play plus a bunch of spectators who ran out of money, then why is it on this list?

Karate Champ loved that game and completed it being given the end screen you are the champ! Exxerion a game I played for hours and managed to clock the score counter to reset it to zero.

The list reflects the age cohort of the respondents. Shinobi, Golden Axe, Simpsons and some others are really good games but I don’t think in the long run they will ever be looked back on as among the top twenty arcade games in history.

I agree with most of your list although I cannot believe R-Type wasn't in the top 10, let alone the top 50.

If I’d off had the chance to vote, my favourite arcade machine was Double Dragon 🐉 from 1987. Great game which I could do on one credit. The WWF Wrestlemania was great as well. Ahhh the memories 💭

Rolling thunder, road blasters, shinobi, 720, quartet, super sprint, wonder boy, gauntlet, outrun, space harrier, altered beast... but all the games mentioned are fond fond memories, Double Dragon in particular my brother's best mate who was 9 years older than me used to so into this game he'd take me down Cleethorpes to the Empire and put 15 quid of his wages into this machine with me as his partner in brawl! awesome memories!

Somewhere between Wolfenstein and Doom, Taito dropped Operation: Gunbuster in the arcade, an actual first person arena shooter. I would drop quarters into it to reach the end. Some other all-time favorites over the years: Reactor, Spy Hunter, Turbo, Steel Talons, Hippodrome, and Space Ace.

Great video - brought back lots of memories! I’d be curious how the list might change by adjusting the scoring as follows: 1st favorite - 5 points 2nd favorite - 3 points 3rd favorite - 1 point The thinking here is that even a second and third favorite vote would still not equal a 1st favorite vote. Therefore, added weight to everyone’s individual #1.

Super Metroid Arcade yup I saw it. !

u nailed it! double dragon (the arcade version specifically) is literally my favorite of all time. my time 5 arcade games r: 1) double dragon 2) super street fighter ii 3) nba jam 4) wwf wrestlefest and 5) teenage mutant ninja turtles: turtles in time

Killer Instinct 1 is the greatest arcade game of all time followed by WWF WrestleFest.

a few good ones i can think of that didnt make the top 50 list: asteroids deluxe, q-bert, karate champ, night driver, breakout and super breakout, and the especially cool PACMANIA. really surprised nba jam didnt make the list. my own favorites would be 4 similar games galaga, gyruss, galaxian, space invaders.

1- ghost goblins 2 - star force 3- commando 4- kun fu master 5- space invaders

My Top 10(combination of influential and favorite to me). 10:Cruisin USA 9: Beatmania 8: Area 51 7:Galaga 6: Simpsons 5: X-Men 4:Daytona USA 3:Street fighter 2 -2:Dance Dance Revolution- 1:Marvel Vs Capcom 2 Some of these aren’t even my favorites. But, games like Cruisn USA and Galaga were a staple and were there throughout much of my life, and I’d play them in all the many arcades I’d visit. So for that, they are very influential. I’m sure I’ll kick myself for forgetting other games that deserve to be in my top ten, but off the top of my head, these are the 10 that brings back great memories and nostalgia.

Nice to see a couple of my choices make it, even if Chase HQ didn't.

You missed Lunar Lander. LOVED that game! And Zaxxon, and Joust.

after burner, time crisis with the slide clicking pew pew made it 100x more fun, dragons lair, there was a 3d hologram gunslinger game, bionic commando, galaga, centipede and on and on. so many quarters.

When Street Fighter 2 first hit the scenes in 1991, there was a mob of people around the machine. People would stand on milk crates to see the action. And there was a line of quarters at the bottom of the screen for who was up next and you had to remember which one was yours. Great memories.

Always loved Pacman, Kung Fu Master, Out Run and Donkey Kong.

The one that stands out most to me from my childhood memories is Dragon's Lair. I know it didn't have the best gameplay or storyline but I just remember when it came out, it was so different than any other arcade game I'd ever seen or played that it just blew my mind. I remember there was always a crowd of ppl watching whenever you played. Kind of made you feel special lol

100% agree on Double Dragon being #1. This game was a big deal when it came out.

Very good selection, and about a quarter of these games I was actually playing back then. Good times.

Best stand up arcade games in my opinion… top 20-no specific order… 1- Karate Champ 2-Double dragon 3-shinobi 4-Spy Hunter 5-Paperboy 6-Tiger heli 7-Russian Attack 8-Stryder 9-Galaga game that you can keep adding ships, I forget the name of it. It was awesome… 10-off road 11-Virtual Fighter 12-operation wolf 13-tapper 14-Tekken 15-Xevious or whatever… 16-cruisin the world 17-teanage mutant ninja turtles multiplayer 18-Mrs Pac-Man 19-Galaga 20-dig dug I am missing a few other that I just can’t remember the names. But these games were awesome and a lot of fun. My favorite 3 would be -karate champ, -tapper -paper boy

Double dragon was a surprise at no1, but not a surprise that it is in the list, that was well deserved. I am somewhat perplexed how all those final fight clones made it but not the original I expected games like wonderboy in monsterland, ghosts & goblins, bombjack, 1942 and arkanoid For my personal list I would include xain d'sleena (soldier of light). I was obsessed with that one, even had dreams about it.

My favourites. Killer Instinct 2 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Ninja Baseball Bat Man Konami’s X-Men Street Fighter Alpha 3 King of Fighters 98 & 2002 Metal Slug X Marvel Vs Capcom 1 JoJo Heratige For the Future Capcom vs SNK 2

In terms of Arcade clout; Afterburner, Smash TV, Space Harrier, Robocop, Kung Fu Master, Tetris all probably deserve some place in the top 50

Great list, many great ones that belong. However Moon Patrol & Rastan should be involved as well. Moon Patrol with its revolutionary and new at the time backgrounds, Rastan with it’s great, loud soundtrack got gamers the hook well before Mortal Kombat 1 & 2. My Uncle who past away last week his funeral is today, he was basically my father after my father left my brother and I when I was 11. My uncle was a very great and positive influence in my life also. You have my deepest most heartfelt condolences. Nice list, I love the old arcade’s and love playing them when I can. Thanks!!

Games I don't see on this list which would have to be included: Punch Out, Crazy Climber, Bag Man, Indiana Jones, Moon Patrol

My list: TMNT, super off road, moonwalker, punch out, ms Pac-Man, kung fu, Daytona USA, the Simpsons, silent scope, virtua cop, terminator 2, high impact football, street fighter rainbow, wrestle mania arcade, killer instinct, shinobi, double dragon, bad dudes, marble madness, crusin USA, super Mario bros, house of the dead

Battle Zone was my all time favorite with Star Wars being a close second. I also loved Defender, Berzerk, and Wizard of Wor.

The Golden Era titles are truly the greatest of all time. From 1979 to 1983, arcades were THE place to be. After about 1984 or so, they began closing up. What those early games lacked in graphic sophistication, they made up for with creative gameplay. Space Invaders and Asteroid might seem old-fashioned now, but they can still humble all but the best players. In those days (I was "class of '84"), crowds would gather around watching a skilled Donkey Kong player in awe. Mathew Broderick played Galaga in the movie Wargames. Tron WAS a movie. And even girls played Centipede and Pac-Man! There was nothing like the Golden Era of video games, a unique time in history.

The OG Star wars game. That was my favorite as a kid. I also really like joust and defender. They just didn't give you much playing time if you didn't know what you were doing

I'd take Operation Wolf over House Of The Dead

All great games, some I remember more than others, but some of the games I spent hours on are lesser known games - Timber, Rally X, Dig Dug and Satan's Hollow were my go-to games as soon as we set foot into the arcade.

Mrs. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Street Fighter 2, Galaga and Double Dragon

I loved Double Dragon. That is my era of beat em up video games. I was around for Street Fighter 2 but was never hooked as I couldn’t quite figure out the joystick and button combos to do the special attacks.

Space Invaders and PAC Man still Rules

I remember when Tron came out there was always someone on it. My one friend used to play it exclusively, bought the cabinet when he got older.

Very happy to see DD at the number spot. ❤

Most memorable for me (80s player) - Asteroids, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Super Sprint, 720, Spy Hunter, Gauntlet, Ms Pac-Man, Galaga II, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Tron, Q*bert, 1942, Rampage, Paperboy, Arkanoid. Then there were many that I loved but only knew the console versions.

Space invaders, asteroids, scramble need to be in there

We had Gorf when I worked at a pizzeria, I could just play it non stop until I felt like just walking away :D I finished Dragon's Lair first in our hometown arcade, that was probably my "crowning achievement" ...good times.