With a new year upon us, you are likely to come across an anniversary or two out there in relation to some of your favorite video games. Since we cover arcades here, we’re going to look at the games that were released 50, 40, 25, and 10 years ago – guaranteed to make you feel old!
1975
Since 2022, we’ve been able to add 50 onto these counts, although chances are that some of these will be a bit obscure to most gamers/collectors out there.
Hamanoya Annex Daiichi Hotel, Japan, 1975 (Source: yomogi2017.xyz)
Notable games turning 50:
- Anti-Aircraft II (Atari) – A break from the typical Pong game, blast planes out of the sky. This had a hardware-activated Easter Egg that by making an adjustment to the board, turned the planes into UFOs – this being the first real Easter Eggs I know of in an arcade game, quite some time before Atari’s Adventure had such a thing.
- Avenger (Electra Games) – The earliest example I know of, of what could be considered a vertical scrolling shoot ’em up. It was also the first game to offer a “Bonus Buy-in” of 3 players for 2 quarters, something done frequently in pinball.
- Bullet Mark (Sega) – One of the earliest light-gun games, although not the first, coming in a deluxe cabinet and featuring realistic, mounted Tommy Guns.
- Crash ‘N Score (Atari) – Kind of a demolition derby game, drive into pylons for points
- Destruction Derby (Exidy) – Released the same month as Atari’s Crash ‘N Score, this came with more of an attitude as you would crash cars, not numbered pylons. It even had a stick shift. This would serve as the basis for Exidy’s wildly popular Death Race, released only months later in ’76.
- Drop Zone 4 (Meadows) – A predecessor to Atari’s Canyon Bomber, but would reward you with a free game if you didn’t hit anything.
- F-114 (Allied Leisure) – While not technically a video game, the cabinet looks like it fell out of the ’90s. This was a popular EM racing game that used a motion seat and it did have visuals…just not digitally created ones. It was the industry’s first real motion simulator.
- Gun Fight (Taito/Midway) – First widespread game to use a CPU, and it was a grandfather to the “twin stick shooter”, with one stick for movement, another for shooting. It was also the first Japanese video game licensed in the US.
- Hi-Way (Atari) – This was the first sit-down video racer and the last fiberglass cabinet to come out of Atari.
- Indy 800 (Atari/Kee Games) – The first 8-player video game, and first game to break the $5000 cost barrier. It also had a color monitor, which wasn’t a first, but very rare at the time.
- Maneater (Project Support Engineering) – An unforgettable game cabinet from a forgettable company, this attempt to cash-in on Jaws had a model that used a molded Great White Shark head for it’s cabinet.
- PT-109 (Mirco Games) – Basically Atari’s Tank, but with boats. This also could be considered the “first” arcade game to use a CPU like Gun Fight did, but it was a flop, so few people knew what it was.
- Shark JAWS (Atari) – One of a few different games attempting to capitalize on the JAWS hype.
- Shooting Trainer (Nintendo) – The only arcade game that Nintendo would release this year is not a video game in the same sense as these others (it was more of an EM game).
- Ski (Allied Leisure) – Way ahead of its time from a hardware perspective, the first skiing arcade game also used a swivel foot controller, 20 years before Namco would do so with their own skier video game.
- Steeplechase (Atari) – The first horse racing video game, supporting up to six players who only had one button for a controller
- Super Flipper (Chicago Coin) – Licensed from an Italian company (and considered to be Italy’s first original video game), this was also the first digital pinball game put into a pinball cabinet
1985
I wasn’t around for the ’70s games, but I was up and about for 1985 – although I don’t recall visiting an arcade for the first time until a few years later. 1985 is generally seen as the year that Nintendo saved the industry from the doldrums it had been experiencing throughout 1983 & 1984. Sure, they do deserve a lot of credit, but not all of it – especially not in arcades, as there were other influential games which landed in that space which did just as much, if not more, to bring people’s interest in video games back.
Funland, Toronto, 1985 (Source: City of Toronto Archives)
As you’ll notice from the list below, it was the output from Japanese game studios that really started to turn things around in North America. Japan didn’t quite suffer from the crash like we did, although certain anxieties about inbound legislation changes on arcades in Japan motivated Sega and Nintendo to get into consoles – the latter eventually leaving coin-op altogether. But the NES wouldn’t have had a lot of its memorable arcade ports without some of these titles:
- Armored Scrum Object (ASO) (SNK) – An early SNK shoot ’em up that came with Xevious vibes
- Baraduke (Namco) – An action platformer that will make you think of Metroid
- Choplifter (Sega) – A Sega conversion from a popular PC game, with entirely new graphics and enhanced gameplay with new levels
- Commando (Capcom) – Vertical scrolling run’n gun in the vein of Front Line. This would influence the likes of Ikari Warriors, which would come along the next year. Capcom licensed this to Data East for the US release.
- Crack Shot (Exidy) – A shooting gallery light-gun game that would be overshadowed
- Dig Dug II (Namco) – The wildly different sequel to the influential digging game, somewhat obscure as it wasn’t a hit.
- Dragon Buster (Namco) – A side-scrolling RPG that could be seen as influential to games like Zelda II. Namco’s first game with a life bar.
- Exed Exes (Capcom) – Vertical scrolling shoot ’em up with an alien bee theme
- Field Combat Jaleco – Obscure game that is a shoot ’em up, but it had an early RTS element of allowing you to manage and send out units.
- Flashgal (Sega) – This action platformer by Sega was a little bit of a super hero meets super spy game, with beat ’em up and shoot ’em up elements wrapped into one.
- Galactic Warriors (Konami) – Obscure, but it was a 1v1 fighter that built upon their own Yie Ar Kung-Fu, adding more elements (selectable characters, move sets) that would influence the genre, 2 years before Street Fighter came along.
- Gauntlet (Atari Games) – Brought RPG-like, multiplayer adventure to the scene; highly influential with iconic voice overs such as “Red Warrior needs food, badly”.
- Ghosts ‘N Goblins (Capcom) – A tough-as-nails, but influential, action platformer with a spooky medieval theme.
- Gradius (Konami) – Influential scrolling shoot ’em up that evolved Konami’s idea behind Scramble, giving the world the Vic Viper and complex power-up systems.
- Green Beret/Rush’n Attack (Konami) – Side-scrolling action platformer, in the vein of Commando, just sideways.
- Gun Smoke (Capcom) – Like Commando, but set in the Old West with cowboys, rangers, and bandits.
- Hang-On (Sega) – Sega’s way of saying “we’re back”, that also showed why arcades were still superior. One model for this was shaped like a bike, with a swivel seat; both that and the game itself influenced both racing and motorcycle games into perpetuity.
- Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom (Atari Games) – Isometric platforming and the only video arcade game to come from this franchise (it’s seen more action in pinball).
- Metro-Cross (Namco) – A unique game that has you running through a futuristic obstacle course across 32 levels.
- Ninja Princess (Sega) – One of many games that would play into the interest behind ninjas that became a big pop cultural fad in the ’80s.
- Nintendo Vs. System – While not a game, and the not the first time a home console powered an arcade unit, this became a staple of the late 80’s arcade scene and helped promote the NES & its games to consumers (along with the Playchoice-10). VS games were more difficult than their NES counterparts.
- Paperboy (Atari Games) – One of the bigger game names of the ’80s, putting you in the role of a newspaper delivery boy. Used bicycle handlebars to control and a lot of humor was packed into this one.
- Ring King (Nihon Bussan) – Punch-Out!! couldn’t be the only boxing game out there, so Nihon Bussan came up with this different take on the sport.
- Sarge (Bally Midway) – Designed by Brian Colin, this single-screen war game could be considered an early RTS, with players needing to use as much strategy as they do brute force to gain victory.
- Space Harrier (Sega) – Like Hang-On, everything about this showed the world that arcades still could do amazing games that home stuff couldn’t. Not just graphics wise, but cabinets with motion and unique controls. I’d argue that games like this and Hang-On were just as important to restoring interest in games as the NES & SMB was.
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Atari Games) – Released as a conversion kit, this would be the last vector arcade game release.
- Terra Cresta (Nichibutsu) – A sequel to the popular Moon Cresta, combining elements of that game with influences from other shooters that had been released in-between the two.
- The Fairyland Story (Taito) – A very cute game that would practice some ideas that next year’s Bubble Bobble would polish.
- The Legend of Kage (Taito) – Another ninja platformer, this would fail to capture the same sort of interest that Sega’s Shinobi would soon grab, but it was still part of the “ninja brigade” of games at the time.
- Tiger-Heli (Toaplan/Taito) – Vertical scrolling shoot ’em up that starred a helicopter and used a blast radius bomb that so many other games in the genre would later employ.
- World Series: The Season (Cinematronics) – Obscure now, but this was a big hit for Cinematronics, and became influential among the many baseball video games that would soon flood the home/NES market.
- Wyvern F-0 (Taito) – Another vertical shmup, but this one did something unusual with the hardware – it used two monitors, overlaying air objects over the ground ones to create a 3D effect.
- Yie Ar Kung-Fu (Konami) – Released months before their own Galactic Warriors, this was a more popular (and sensible) 1v1 game that seemed to be a natural evolution of games like Karate Champ.
2000
Why 25 years ago and not 30? Well, it seems people are attached more towards that metric than 30 or 20 when it comes to anniversaries, so we’ll just go with it. 1995 was covered back in 2020 if you care to revisit some of the hits from 30 years ago. Frankly, 2005 wasn’t a very impressive year for arcades, so we’ll leave it for now.
Funland, London Trocadero, 2000 (Source: Proun)
2000 of course was an interesting time to be alive, aside from it being a 1,000 year mark in history. It was also a little surreal for some of us, given that I graduated high school that year… what were the chances, haha. The world didn’t end and the so-called “Y2K Virus” was forgotten quickly, probably because the enormous amount of manufactured hype and panic that had caused was embarrassing for many to think about. I knew that the date setting being wrong wouldn’t amount to much of anything. The internet was still an infant, but many of us, myself included, were logging onto it every day. You still had dial-up a lot of the time, so it wasn’t fancy, but there was still some things to do.
The arcade scene was struggling by this point, unfortunately. Depending on where you live, there are various, complicated reasons for that, besides the obvious (and overplayed) one that home consoles and PCs had matched or surpassed the graphical prowess of arcade machines in many instances, so many game makers started to move away from joystick games and towards simulator style designs. Still, 2000 saw a very interesting variety of titles, as the industry hadn’t leaned all into drivers & gun games just yet:
- 1944: The Loop Master (Raizing/Capcom) – A great entry into the 194X series, running on Capcom’s CPS-2 hardware. This was the last time that the series got an arcade release.
- Battle Gear 2 (Taito) – Taito isn’t the first name that comes to mind with arcade racers, but the Battle Gear series is where they made some fun entries.
- BEMANI Games (Konami) – Konami went wild in 2000 with their rhythm game releases, to the point that it’s a challenge to figure out which game to focus on here (the point isn’t to mention every game released in a given year). Whether it was Beatmania IIDX 4th Mix, Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix, Dance Maniax, DrumMania 3rd Mix, Guitar Freaks 4th Mix, ParaParaParadise or Pop ‘N Music 5, Bemani players had a lot of great games to enjoy.
- Big Buck Hunter (Play Mechanix/Incredible Technologies) – The most popular hunting game in history was birthed 25 years ago, and it’s come a long way since. I wonder if there will be a new BBH this year to celebrate…
- Brave Blade (Raizing) – A vertically scrolling shoot ’em up with 3D graphics that was Raizing’s last game, unfortunately.
- Cannon Spike/Gunspike (Capcom) – An overhead 3D action where you play as different Capcom characters while blasting bad guys across various stages.
- Capcom Vs. SNK: Millennium Fight (SNK) – What better way to celebrate two fighter genre giants than by pitting characters from both brands into one game?
- Cart Fury (Midway) – No cute characters here, this was more serious racing. This is one of the last F-1 style racers released to arcades, not counting PC games put onto pro simulators with slight modifications (and we can’t forget the more recent Racecraft).
- Confidential Mission (Sega) – A light-gun game with a strong James Bond feel & theme to it, since you play as secret agents with a bevy of cool gadgets, and you hve a license to kill.
- Cruis’n Exotica (Midway) – The 3rd entry into the Cruis’n series threw in some fantasy locations into the mix, and came in an enhanced cabinet over its predecessors. Was eventually succeeded by Cruis’n Blast.
- Dark Silhouette: Silent Scope 2 (Konami) – Despite getting a lot of traction out of their Bemani games, Konami had other aces up their sleeve, like Silent Scope, which offered a style of light-gun game that only works exceptionally well in the arcade format.
- Dead or Alive 2 Millennium (Tecmo) – This would be the last time that the DOA series would grace arcades until DOA5 Arcade would come along in 2013, although the latter would only see a coin-op release in Japan.
- Dragon Blaze (Psikyo) – This one was like a spiritual successor to Namco’s Dragon Spirit. It was naturally enhanced with graphics of the era, and Psikyo elements like multiple characters.
- Deer Hunting USA (Sammy) – Before Big Buck Hunter became the de facto hunting video game, Sammy had a few hunting games like this and Turkey Hunting that tried to carve out their own space on the market.
- Gauntlet Dark Legacy (Atari/Midway) – The final time that Gauntlet would grace arcades, this was an upgrade to Gauntlet Legends that added a lot more content and characters. I’ve had one of these since I opened my arcade in 2008.
- Gigawing 2 (Capcom) – A fun and well-designed shoot ’em up with 3D graphics.
- Golgo 13 – Kiseki no Dandou (Namco/Eighting/Raizing) – This Japan-only take on the sniper light-gun game is based on the titular manga/anime series.
- Guilty Gear X (Sammy) – While the Guilty Gear series doesn’t have the same level of recognition as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, it is just a tier below those perhaps, offering compelling characters & gameplay that has built up a loyal fanbase.
- Mars Matrix (Capcom) – One of the first games I had at my own arcade, this was among Capcom’s last US arcade releases. A fun shoot ’em up that is based on a war between Earth and Mars.
- Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 – New Age of Heroes (Capcom) – A successful and popular follow-up to Capcom’s other mash-up of heroic characters. I’ve had an MvC2 for years…
- Metal Slug 3 (SNK) – Arguably the best entry into the Metal Slug series, this defined and influenced run’n gun games in such a way that even MS sequels have always been compared to how they stack up against MS3.
- Mission Craft (Sun) – Notable as a weird (and unlicensed) shoot ’em up game, using hacked elements from several games to give the world a kind of scrolling Starcraft shooter.
- Mr. Driller 2 (Namco) – A 2-Player sequel to Namco’s other digging game.
- NASCAR Arcade (Sega) – NASCAR finally came to arcades, although this failed to capture the same kind of energy as Daytona USA had some years prior.
- Ninja Assault (Namco) – A light-gun game with a ninja theme. This isn’t one I’ve comes across often in the States.
- Power Stone 2 (Capcom) – This is kind of a Smash Bros. style game, but instead of having a 2D plane you’re locked to, it’s 3D and overhead like Soul Calibur or Tekken.
- Psyvariar – Medium Unit (Success) – The first entry into the popular vertically scrolling shoot ’em up that did well in Japan.
- Ridge Racer V – Arcade Battle (Namco) – The last time that Ridge Racer would grace arcades was with this game, although after that Namco turned focus to Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune, so it wasn’t all bad.
- Sega Strike Fighter (Sega) – It had been some time since Sega had done a flight combat game, so this filled that role, although you can’t approach it expecting it to be a 3D After Burner.
- Skins Game (Midway) – I’m not knocking on Golden Tee here, although it’s nice to see that there was a time when you could find another golf game out there.
- Star Wars Racer Arcade (Sega) – As riveting as trade and tax politics were in Star Wars Episode I, what people really wanted to do in the movie was either hold a dual-bladed lightsaber battle or pod race. This let you do the latter.
- The Grid (Midway) – A 3rd person arena duel game that tapped into the many arena style games that were then popular on PC (Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, among others). Had a lot of Smash TV energy to it and you could play as Scorpion, Sub Zero, and Noob Saibot from MK.
- The King of Fighters 2000 (SNK) – While KOF’98 gets a lot of love, I have a lot of customers who ask for this one over other iterations.
- The Typing of the Dead (Sega) – Released as one of the very first games of the new millennium, this unusual entry in the HotD series used a real keyboard as a controller.
- Virtua On Oratorio Tangram (Sega) – The 3rd iteration of Sega’s awesome 3D mecha battle game, although it’s hard to find games from this series in the States, with all its entries after the 1996 original not being distributed by Sega officially in arcades. This one did come over in a very limited capacity though, gracing certain GameWorks locations and of course through those who accomodate grey imports.
- World Kicks (Namco) – A 3D soccer game that used actual soccer balls as the foot controllers for kicking.
What are your favorite arcade games out of this big bunch?
