Hey!
Going to share with you some of my fave arcade games from the 1980’s, because of their popularity, many of these became pc or console games, but I fell in love with them at the arcade! I have so many faves that I can not name them all, send me yours and I will list them as well! These are in no particular order.
Frogger 1981
I spent many hours trying to move the frogs across the busy highway and across the river! One of those mindless games that is tons of fun and very addictive. Smoke Rating: Bomb
Joust 1982
Cool game that allowed two person simultaneous play. Using a joystick and button, you controlled your ostrich…yes ostrich, in full jousting combat in random environments. Smoke Rating: Bomb
Berzerk 1980
The object of the game was to get your humanoid through different maze rooms without being killed by the hordes of laser shooting robots. My favourite memory of this game was its synthesized voice shouting out through the arcade, “Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert!” Smoke Rating: Bomb
Centipede 1981
One of the most successful arcade games of the golden era. Using a large tracking ball and fire button, you need to exterminate a large segmented centipede as well as random spiders, fleas and scorpions to complete each level. Another very addictive game that I spent a lot of time mastering! Smoke Rating: Radical
Double Dragon 1987
First commercially successful brawler game and inspiration to years of brawler games to come. In this game you have to fight your way through gangs to save your love interest. Even though basic in today’s industry, it’s the cooperative two player action that was very cool! This game was also ported to just about every available platform. Smoke Rating: Radical
Dig Dug 1982
This addictive, but seemingly simple game, actually had a decent element of strategy. While moving through the play field, your character creates tunnels which could assist your enemies quickly get to you and cause rocks to cave in. The object is to kill your enemies, the Pookas and Fygars, green dragons that breathe fire. You do this by causing rocks to fall on their heads or pumping them full of air until they burst. Smoke Rating: Most Radical
Pole Position 1982
This race game was in arcades both as a stand up and a car cockpit model. It was the most successful game in 1983 and its success lead to many imitators and secured the longevity of the racing genre. Pole position is widely considered one of the most important games of the golden age, arguably the most important racing game ever and tons of fun!
Smoke Rating: Triumphant
Galaga 1981
This is another fixed shooter game that is considered one of the classics from the golden age! Pilot your space cruiser across the bottom of the screen, avoiding enemy fighters, while returning fire. Certain Boss ships have the ability to capture your ship with a tractor beam and if you are able to reclaim it, by shooting it down, you will have double fire power. Love the challenge levels!
Smoke Rating: Triumphant to the Max
Dragon’s Lair 1983
This was one of two games that in my opinion were way ahead of their time, the other, in ’91, a holographic arcade game called the time traveler. Both were developed by the same person/company and both used laser disk technology. This was a beautiful and exciting game to play! Smoke Rating: Righteous
Pac Man 1980
What can I say about Pac Man that you don’t already know? It is one of the longest lasting, highest grossing and highest unit-sold games of all time! This game has enjoyed a long life and has seen regular releases over the past 40 years! It has spun off over 70 games, over multiple platforms of home video consoles, personal computers, arcade, phones and other misc platforms. Pac Man remains one of the most recognizable video characters who has stared in multiple cartoons.
Smoke Rating: Whoa Dude!