Arcade games were once the pinnacle of computer entertainment. Those days are long gone and coin gaming has largely been supplanted by home consoles like the Xbox and Playstation.
Types of Arcade Games
While video arcades have all but disappeared, the industry in Japan is still thriving. Going into any Japanese arcade, you can probably find the following types of games:
- Driving is an arcade game in which the main emphasis is on driving a car. These can range from action games like Spy Hunter to games that look more like a driving simulator.
- Fights are games where the player chooses a character and then fights a number of opponents one-on-one. The most successful examples were the Street Fighter and Mortal Combat series.
- Time – the appropriate term for this type of game is unknown, so I just came up with my own. These are games that take time and reflexes like Pac-Man, Frogger and Donkey Kong.
- Flying is games where the player has to control an airplane or helicopter. Most flying games are more action oriented than realism oriented.
- Beat ‘em Up – While fighting games focus on single combat, in the Beat‘ em Up genre, players fight hordes of enemies. A classic example is the Double Dragon series.
- Light Pistol – Players go through a series of challenges by firing at on-screen targets with an attached light pistol. Examples include Time Crisis and House of the Dead.
- Music – games in which rhythm plays an important role. Examples include the arcade version of Guitar Hero, as well as other physics games such as Dance Dance Revolution.
Most Popular Arcade Games
While these names are no longer synonymous with the industry, there was a time when they dominated sales and created queues at slot machines. Of course, it is talking about the most popular arcade games of all time.
- Pac-Man – Players took control of a hungry yellow ball as it devoured dots and tried to stay one step ahead of the ghosts.
- Space Invaders – The goal of Space Invaders was to blast waves of aliens and get as many points as possible.
- Street Fighter II – Players can use traditional or combo moves against Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Gail, and more.
- Donkey Kong, the original version of the game, based on an industrial setting, pitted heroic Mario against a barrel-loving monkey.
- Ms. Pac-Man is essentially the same game as Pac-Man, although the protagonist had lipstick and a bow in his hair.
- Asteroids – A small ship was trying to survive when it was bombarded by asteroids and random alien ships.
- Defender – Alien invaders were the villains in this classic game, and players also had to defend a number of hapless astronauts.
- “Centipede” – the action takes place in a mushroom field. In Centipede, the player must quickly blow the centipede apart as it makes its way to the bottom of the screen.
- Galaxian – The player controlled a spaceship at the bottom of the screen, while relentless waves of an alien armada fired from above.
- Donkey Kong Jr. – this game was the only time that Mario played the villain. The hero of the game, a young monkey, had to go through several levels to save his father from the clutches of a devilish Italian plumber.
Arcade games are a distant memory, replaced by home consoles and the ability to play against opponents from all over the world (and tease them endlessly over an internet connection).
However, there wouldn’t be one without the other, which means that arcade games are a vital part of the video game revolution.
