8 of the Best Ever Arcade Games in Gaming History

What are the best-ever arcade games? Overall, the best arcade games have come from the likes of SEGA, Capcom, and Namco, who always seem to have some of the most prominent arcade games. However, there have also been some other notable arcade games from other companies. These are some of the best ever arcade games.

Pac-Man

The Guinness World Records puts Pac-Man as the top coin-op game. As such, Pac-Man was one of the best arcade games. Before Pac-Man, Space Invaders was dominant, but then Pac-Man emerged in the 1980s and soon eclipsed it. Pac-Man soon had many sequels in the arcades and then games ported onto game consoles, such as the Commodore, Atari 2600, and NES.

Pac-Man remains Namco’s finest, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020. With more recent games such as Pac-Man Deluxe, few can doubt the impact of the Pac-Man arcade game. As such, it must be considered one of the best ever arcade games.

Space Invaders

Space Invaders was the best arcade game in the 1970s and helped the rise of arcade gaming. It was one of the first shooting games whereby the approaching extra-terrestrials were shot at and cleared. When ported to the Atari 2600, it was also one of the first arcade games licensed to a console. It’s hard to ignore the impact and legacy of Space Invaders in the gaming industry.

Asteroids

Asteroids was another of Atari’s biggest hits from the golden age of arcade games. Atari released Asteroids in 1979 after Space Invaders. It had a similar spaceship-shooting theme to Space Invaders, but introduced groundbreaking game mechanics that elevated its gameplay. Asteroids included a spaceship that players could rotate and more fully control to dodge and blast away asteroids. That unique rotational mechanic, combined with the game’s innovative physics and movement momentum, made Space Invaders one of the most popular and best ever arcade games.

Donkey Kong

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Donkey Kong was one of Nintendo’s great early platform games. It was the first game to feature Donkey Kong and Mario, who jumped the barrels en route to saving Princess Peach. The game was a big hit in the United States and has considerable historical significance.

Street Fighter 2

In the early 1990s, Street Fighter 2 was the sequel to the original Street Fighter game. It wholly overshadowed it with this much-enhanced sequel. This beat ’em up game had eight combatants, each of whom had a variety of unique special moves. It emerged as the top coin-op game in the early 1990s with numerous sequels, such as Super Street Fighter 2, which had up to 16 combatants and a variety of tournament modes.

The gaming edition of the Guinness Book of Records includes Street Fighter 2 three times: The most cloned combat game, the first combat game to use combos, and the biggest-selling coin-operated fighting game. Today, Street Fighter games remain prominent arcade games with the likes of Street Fighter IV, which is another decent addition to the Street Fighter game series. So, Street Fighter has been one of the top arcade games.

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat was Midway’s answer to Street Fighter 2 that became one of the most popular arcade games in history. Although Mortal Kombat couldn’t quite topple Street Fighter 2 as the king of the arcade beat ’em ups during the 1990s, it certainly offered a great, gory alternative. Players loved the blood-fest combat MK offered, especially the “Finish Him!” fatality moves for executing defeated opponents. It was also among the first games of its era to feature more realistic digitized graphics with acted footage.

If anything, Mortal Kombat has had more cultural impact than Street Fighter 2. It started a craze for more gory games that led to the introduction of age ratings for them. Mortal Kombat was also more effectively converted to film than Street Fighter 2, as there have been three live-action movies based on the game. A new Mortal Kombat II film is also set for a October 24, 2025, cinema release.

Daytona (USA)

Daytona (USA) was an enthralling NASCAR racing simulator SEGA unleashed in the arcades during 1993. SEGA was a name in the console industry during the 1990s but remained more renowned for its coin-op classics, and Daytona was one of the best of them. Daytona’s pulsating racing action, groovy soundtrack, compelling multiplayer modes, and fun physics made it one of the best arcade racers in gaming history.

Virtua Fighter

Sega’s Virtua Fighter was one of the early 3D combat games. It is most probably Sega’s best arcade game, included in the Guinness World Record as the first 3D fighting game and the first polygon-based fighting game. Like Street Fighter, this arcade game series remains prominent today with Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown among the top arcade game titles.

Those are eight of the best-ever arcade games from the last century. They include Pac-Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Mortal Kombat, Virtua Fighter, Daytona, and Pac-Man. Such arcade games set new records and had a notable impact.