Golden Age and Classic Arcade Games

The period from the appearance of Space Invaders in 1978 through The Great Video Game Crash of 1983 is often known as the Golden Age of Arcade Games. In Japan, this time period, give or take a few years, was known as the Invader Boom, when 8-bit Arcade Video Games emerged to rule popular culture.

Classic Arcade Games

 

Name	Year	Manufacturer	Game Descriptions
Space Invaders	1978	Taito (Japan) / Midway (U.S.)	Considered the game that revolutionized the video game industry.[99] The first blockbuster video game,[100] it established the shoot 'em up genre,[101] and has influenced most shooter games since.[102]
Galaxian	1979	Namco (Japan) / Midway (U.S.)	Created to compete with Space Invaders. One of the earliest games using multi-color sprites.[103] Aliens move in a swooping formation and attack by dive bombing the player's ship.
Lunar Lander	1979	Atari	Arcade version of an earlier minicomputer game concept. First Atari coin-op to use vector graphics.
Asteroids	1979	Atari	Atari's most successful coin-operated game. It is one of the first to allow players to enter their initials for a high score.
Battlezone	1980	Atari	Custom cabinet with novel dual-joystick controls, using two 2-way joysticks for movement, and periscope-like viewer.[104] Early use of first-person pseudo 3-D vector graphics. It is widely considered the first virtual reality arcade game.[105] Also used as the basis for a military simulator.[106]
Berzerk	1980	Stern Electronics	Early use of speech synthesis was also translated into other languages in Europe. Indestructible adversary appears in order to eliminate lingering players. This became an oft-employed device (e.g. Hallmonsters in Venture) to increase challenge and limit play duration of arcade games.
Centipede	1980	Atari	Co-created by programmer Dona Bailey.
Missile Command	1980	Atari	Theme of the game was influenced by the Cold War era.
Pac-Man	1980	Namco (Japan) / Midway (U.S.)	One of the most popular and influential games, it had the first gaming mascot, established maze chase genre, opened gaming to female audiences,[107] and introduced power-ups[108] and cutscenes.[109]
Phoenix	1980	Amstar Electronics / Centuri (U.S.) / Taito(Japan)	One of the first games to feature a boss battle.
Rally-X	1980	Namco	Driving game with overhead, scrolling maze. First game to feature a bonus round, background music,[110] and a radar.[51] When released, was predicted to outsell two other new releases: Pac-Man and Defender.
Star Castle	1980	Cinematronics	The colors of the rings and screen are provided by a transparent plastic screen overlay
Wizard of Wor	1980	Midway	Game featured maze-like dungeons infested with monsters and aliens. Allowed two-person competitive play, but uniquely also offered two-people cooperative play.
Defender	1981	Williams Electronics	Horizontal scrolling space shooting game that was praised for its audio-visuals and gameplay. Was predicted to be outsold by Rally-X, but Defender trounced it, going on to sell 60,000 units.
Tempest	1981	Atari	One of the first games to use a color vector display
Donkey Kong	1981	Nintendo	Laid foundations for platform game genre as well as visual storytelling in video games,[60] and introduced a carpenter protagonist named Jumpman, a character who would evolve into Nintendo's mascot, Mario in subsequent games.
Frogger	1981	Konami (Japan) / Sega-Gremlin (North America)	Novel gameplay notable for being free of fighting and shooting
Scramble	1981	Konami (Japan) / Stern (North America)	First scrolling shooter game, featuring forced horizontal scrolling motion
Galaga	1981	Namco (Japan) / Midway (North America)	Space shooting game that leapfrogged its predecessor, Galaxian, in popularity.
Gorf	1981	Midway	Multiple-mission fixed shooter game. Some of the levels were clones of other popular games. Notable for featuring robotic synthesized speech.
Ms. Pac-Man	1981	Midway (North America) / Namco	One of the most popular of all time, this game was created from a bootlegged hack of Pac-Man. It featured different mazes, increasing speed, and rewards (fruit) that required chasing.
Qix	1981	Taito	The objective is to fence off a supermajority of the play area. Unique gameplay that didn't have shooting, racing, or mazes.
Vanguard	1981	SNK (Japan) / Centuri (US)	Early scrolling shooter that scrolls in multiple directions, and allows shooting in four directions,[111][112] using four direction buttons, similar to dual-stick controls.[113] Along with Fantasy, Super Cobra and Bosconian, is significant as being among the first video games with a continue screen[114]
BurgerTime	1982	Data East (Japan) / Bally Midway (US)	Platform game where the protagonist builds hamburgers while being pursued by food. Original title changed from Hamburger when brought to the U.S. from Japan.
Dig Dug	1982	Namco (Japan) / Atari (North America)	Novel gameplay where underground adversaries were defeated by inflating them or dropping rocks on them. Rated the sixth most popular coin-operated video game of all time[115]
Donkey Kong Junior	1982	Nintendo	Jumpman was renamed Mario in this sequel. This was the only time Nintendo's mascot was featured as an antagonist in any of their games.
Front Line	1982	Taito	While up to this point, military themed games featured vehicular combat such as ships, aircraft or tanks, this is one of the first of many 80s games to feature commando-style infantry ground combat (guns, grenades and tanks) as the theme.
Joust	1982	Williams Electronics	Allowed two-player cooperative or competitive play.
Jungle King	1982	Taito	An early side-scrolling (and diagonal-scrolling) platformer, featuring vine-swinging mechanics, run & jump sequences, climbing hills, and swimming. Almost immediately re-released as Jungle Hunt due to a lawsuit from the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate claiming character copyright infringement on the character of Tarzan. This version changed the Tarzan character to a pith helmet-wearing white explorer.[116]
Kangaroo	1982	Atari	Unusual for a platform game, there is no jump button. Instead, the player pushes up—or up and diagonally—to jump.
Moon Patrol	1982	Irem (Japan) / Williams Electronics(U.S.)	The first arcade game to feature parallax scrolling.[117]
Pengo	1982	Sega	A maze game set in an environment full of ice blocks, which can be used by the player's penguin, who can slide them to attack enemies.[118]
Pole Position	1982	Namco (Japan) / Atari (U.S.)	After Sega's Turbo revolutionized sprite scaling with their third-person cockpit racer, Namco brought 16-bit graphics to the arcade, dropped the player's perspective closer to being directly behind the car, and added dramatic curves to the track. The game also incorporated product placements for companies (including licensee Atari) on passing billboards.
Popeye	1982	Nintendo	Nintendo used higher resolution foreground sprites displayed over lower resolution backgrounds achieving comparable visuals to select games in the Midway Card Rack (MCR) system[119]. This display method was previously used on Nintendo's Sky Skipper, from which many Popeye cabinets were converted. Donkey Kong was originally intended to be made with Popeye characters, but at the time, Nintendo was unsuccessful at securing the licensing from King Features Syndicate. [120]
Q*bert	1982	Gottlieb	Became one of the most merchandised arcade games behind Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.[121][122]
Robotron 2084	1982	Williams Electronics	Featured novel dual joystick gameplay which popularized the twin joystick control scheme
Gravitar	1982	Atari	Not popular in the arcades due to its difficulty, but the gameplay inspired many clones like Thrust and Oids.
Time Pilot	1982	Konami (Japan) / Centuri (U.S.)	Time travel themed aerial combat game with free-roaming gameplay in open air space that scrolls indefinitely in all directions, with player's plane always remaining centered.[123][124][125]
Tron	1982	Bally Midway	Earned more than the film it was based on[126] Featured four subgames based on the film.
Xevious	1982	Namco (Japan) / Atari (U.S.)	The first arcade video game to have a TV commercial.[127] It was also responsible for popularizing vertical scrolling shooters.[55]
Zaxxon	1982	Sega	First game to employ isometric axonometric projection, which the game was named after
Crystal Castles	1983	Atari	Among the first arcade games which do not loop back to earlier stages as the player progresses, but instead offers a defined ending.[128]
Dragon's Lair	1983	Cinematronics(U.S.) / Atari(Europe) / Sidam (Italy)	An early laserdisc video game, which allowed film-quality animation. The first arcade video game in the United States to charge two quarters per play.[129] It was also the first video game to employ what would become known as the quick time event. This game is one of three arcade games that are part of the Smithsonian's permanent collection, along with Pac-Man and Pong.
Elevator Action	1983	Taito	An action game that is a mix of platformer, puzzle and shooter genres.
Gyruss	1983	Konami (Japan) / Centuri (U.S.)	Often remembered for its musical score that plays throughout the game, Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor"[130]
Mappy	1983	Namco (Japan) / Bally Midway (U.S.)	Featured early side-scrolling platforming action
Mario Bros.	1983	Nintendo	A game featuring simultaneous play with Mario and his brother Luigi as Italian-American plumbers in pest-inhabited sewers.
Sinistar	1983	Williams Electronics	First game to use stereo sound. It was also the first to use the 49-way, custom-designed optical joystick that Williams had produced specifically for this game. Notable for appearance of menacing villain.
Spy Hunter	1983	Bally Midway	Overhead view, vehicular combat game that is memorable for its music, "The Peter Gunn Theme", that plays throughout the game
Star Trek	1983	Sega	Space combat sim featuring five different controls, six different enemies, and 40 different simulation levels. Features voice of Spock and Scotty. One of the most elaborate vector games released.[131]
Star Wars	1983	Atari	Features several digitized samples of actors' voices from the movie
Tapper	1983	Bally Midway	Originally aligned with American beer Budweiser, was revamped as Root Beer Tapper, so as not to be construed as attempting to peddle alcohol to minors
Track & Field	1983	Konami (Japan) / Centuri (North America)	The first Olympic-themed sports game.
1942	1984	Capcom	Capcom's first arcade hit featuring Pacific aerial combat with a Xevious-inspired design. Standardized the template for aerial shoot 'em ups featuring vertical scrolling.
Karate Champ	1984	Technōs Japan/ Data East (US)	The first popular player vs. player fighting game for arcades.[132] Featured a pair of four-way dual joystick controls for simultaneous play.
Kung-Fu Master	1984	Irem (Japan) / Data East (US)	The first side-scrolling beat-em-up arcade game.[133]
Paperboy	1984	Atari	Novel controls and high resolution display
Punch-Out!!	1984	Nintendo	A boxing fighting game featuring digitized voices, dual monitors, and a third-person perspective.