List of 80s arcade games

[Keatah]

Well hell! I might as well say I was right there besides Rudolf Heinrich Baer himself!

 

I got into this stuff early and had plenty of Pong, Sports, Shooting, and Tank "fixed-function" systems. I was only behind in that I didn't get an early Channel-F. First cartridge-based system I owned was the introductory Heavy Sixer VCS from Atari. It was so new that the smell of California dust was fresh upon opening!

 

Starting there and through the 80's I was up-to-date on getting all the popular consoles and home computers. If it was "home" something or other I had it. Eventually it became untenable. Cost. Space. Time. Many factors. Not the least was supporting bad teenage habits.

 

And of course paralleling all that were the actual arcades themselves. Loads of fun. In many ways. What made it 2x fun was that Pin Pan Alley was right next to Data Domain. Go play at the arcade and wrap up the afternoon with a saunter through the computer store.

 

Data Domain was cool. Hobbyshop-like atmosphere. Counters in the center. Periphery walls adorned with racks of bagged software. What we didn't know at the time was how the computer shops of the day created contrast against the arcades. Here were these stores selling $2,000 and up computers that couldn't come close to any arcade game in terms of technical fidelity. And we longed for the day when we could play a real arcade at home. It would happen but not till the 1990's.

 

MAME and emulation came on the scene. And being at that forefront was just as exciting and thrilling as playing what we had in the 70's. Different, however, because this time it was about nostalgia and seeing stuff we thought we'd never see again.

 

The late 90's was exciting with MAME because it was like collecting cartridges. Every couple weeks a new release came out, supporting more and more games. And focus was naturally on the early simpler games. Think 1988 and prior. And a mad scramble ensued to collect the necessary files to make it all come together.

[+x=usr(1536)]

3 hours ago, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

I've been retro gaming since 1988 or earlier. * 1983.

I understand the point that you're making, but can it really be considered retrogaming if you're doing it while the systems are still current?

3 hours ago, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

The knack of the 'got everything' is, knowing your games. Know the good ones. Play the good ones. Worst case you can just ignore the crap ones.

One man's crap game is another man's delight.  I have a thing for arcade oddities and bootlegs.  The Crazy Kong set added to MAME where Kong is turquoise and everything else about it is janky as crap because it's running on Scramble hardware is still one of my favourite things that I've found.  Ditto just about anything released by Taito do Brasil, Falcon, EPOS/Magic/Glak (etc.), or that was really obviously bootlegged.  I do draw the line at Kyle Hodgetts' games, however.

 

Anyway, there's no point in caring about whether or not someone has / wants full sets or just partial ones.  It's solely down to their interests, which really can't impinge on whatever anyone else is doing in this case.

[Keatah]

13 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Anyway, there's no point in caring about whether or not someone has / wants full sets or just partial ones.  It's solely down to their interests, which really can't impinge on whatever anyone else is doing in this case.

Yes. I try to remember to be cognizant of that. And still continue to fail. Some day..

[Guest]

2 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

I understand the point that you're making, but can it really be considered retrogaming if you're doing it while the systems are still current?

That was my whole point, they were not current when I got to them. They were aging systems by then.  Of course it is Retro Gaming, if you're looking back. 

 

Retro

adjective
 
imitative of a style or fashion from the recent past.
 
--
I was Retro Gaming before it existed. Which is cool.

 

2 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Anyway, there's no point in caring about whether or not someone has / wants full sets or just partial ones.  It's solely down to their interests, which really can't impinge on whatever anyone else is doing in this case.

I don't think you've read what anyone has put correctly. No one is moaning about if people have or don't have full sets.

I was talking about me, others them. No one has, as far as I have seen, had a go because someone does or doesn't have a complete set? besides a 'complete' set would be impossible for anyone as not all games can be emulated.

 

Funny @x=usr(1536) , you castigate my opinion of ' Retro Gaming ' but say that everyone's own opinions should remain their own. You're shooting yourself down with a defective gun you built yourself!

 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Keatah said:

Well hell! I might as well say I was right there besides Rudolf Heinrich Baer himself!

Missed the boat, by a mile. If you had been playing older games when all the new ones were coming out, and that was all you could afford. When in 30+ years you look back and remember that every system you had was pretty much obsolete when you had them, you understand.

[+x=usr(1536)]

5 hours ago, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

That was my whole point, they were not current when I got to them. They were aging systems by then.  Of course it is Retro Gaming, if you're looking back. 

 

Retro

adjective
 
imitative of a style or fashion from the recent past.

 

Had you been doing a better job of making your point in the first place, the response that I gave would have been considerably different.

 

6 hours ago, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

I don't think you've read what anyone has put correctly. No one is moaning about if people have or don't have full sets.

 

I was talking about me, others them. No one has, as far as I have seen, had a go because someone does or doesn't have a complete set? besides a 'complete' set would be impossible for anyone as not all games can be emulate

See my above point.  What you were getting at was not terribly clear.  If you'd prefer to not be misinterpreted, write more accurately.

6 hours ago, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

Funny @x=usr(1536) , you castigate my opinion of ' Retro Gaming ' but say that everyone's own opinions should remain their own. You're shooting yourself down with a defective gun you built yourself!

Hate to tell you this, but opinions aren't sacrosanct.  Anyone can hold an opinion regarding another's opinion.  Doesn't change anything either way.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

 

Had you been doing a better job of making your point in the first place, the response that I gave would have been considerably different.

Fair play.

8 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

See my above point.  What you were getting at was not terribly clear.  If you'd prefer to not be misinterpreted, write more accurately.

Again fine.

8 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Hate to tell you this, but opinions aren't sacrosanct.  Anyone can hold an opinion regarding another's opinion.  Doesn't change anything either way.

Of course, and rightly so. We all are entitled to our opinions, each equally as valid, even if we do not agree with each other. Not sure what that smiley face is, but smiley face grin here.

[Guest]

One of my favourites is Flicky.

A simple but fiendishly addictive little game, soon ramps up the difficulty and has the unique (as far as I know) quirk of a wrap around play area. I don't know if that was an error that crept in during coding, and when testing they though it added something, but it makes the game all the more interesting as a result.

 

And the beautiful thing about the 80s Sega Arcade Hardware was that it enabled some brilliant conversions to their consoles later on and some had very similar hardware, so the conversions of the games from those boards were pretty much spot on.

 

Might be an oldie, but you can lose hours at a time with it!

[Mik's Arcade]

I need to go over this big list and chime in at some point.

 

For now, I'll add just one that I was playing the other day.  There are so many hidden gems to go the classics

 

The Pit...1982 AW Electronics

 

This game was an inspiration for the classic Bolderdash series.

 

It was nice to see Solar Warrior (Xain'd Sleena) get some love.  The only time I ever saw that game was in our college game room. I got a job there, and after I would close for the night, I would play it.  Eventually, I could run the game on 1 quarter.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Mik's Arcade

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 3/30/2021 at 3:38 PM, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

A simple but fiendishly addictive little game, soon ramps up the difficulty and has the unique (as far as I know) quirk of a wrap around play area.

Quick footnote to this: Teddy Boy Blues (which runs on the same hardware as Flicky) also does this, which leads me to believe that it was a deliberate design decision.  Both are fun in their own right and each puts a slightly different spin on the four-way infinite playfield idea.

[Jacpac00]

From the (I think) mid 80’s, what was the arcade game that had rows of capsules at the top of the screen that rolled down when you bounced the ball off them, and you could catch certain ones to gain temporary powers for your paddle?

[Zoyous]

15 hours ago, Jacpac00 said:

From the (I think) mid 80’s, what was the arcade game that had rows of capsules at the top of the screen that rolled down when you bounced the ball off them, and you could catch certain ones to gain temporary powers for your paddle?

Sounds like Arkanoid by Taito.

[roadrunner]

OP didn't list Eyes (1982)  

great game

 

 

[Retrofairy74]

On 3/29/2021 at 3:48 PM, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

Hello everyone. I have been trying to figure out the name of the space game I used to go to the arcade and play in the mid 80's. 

I'm wondering if any of you would know? It was a game similar to Gyruss but you couldn't go around the whole screen in your space ship and every level you beat you go to the next planet. It would say Saturn, or Venus, Neptune, Uranus, you get bonus levels called challenge levels. I don't think it's galaga or galaxian because those level go by numbers not planet name. The aliens where pretty fast and they come on the screen in rows and swirl around. If anyone can remember or knows what arcade game it is, I would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance. ?

 

 

 

 

Well...

 

I've been retro gaming since 1988 or earlier. * 1983.

 

By the time I got to various systems, their golden days were gone so I was looking back the first time I played a game.

 

Mum used to get Nintendo Game and Watches on the secondary market through a guy who used to buy bankrupt stock. So I would play Mario in 1985-6, years after it had came out.

 

I got a Atari 2600 in 1988, which was a decade and a bit after it came out.

In 1990 I had my c64 which came out in 1982.

In 1992 I had my Amiga which came out in 1985.

 

I got my PS1 in 2001, My PS2 in 2006, My PS3 in 2013, My PS4 in ? not straight away. Hopefully I will get another PS3 at some point.

 

I remember when some of the failed systems came out, like the Jaguar (over-rated, over-priced, late to m

figure out the name of the space game I used to go to the arcade and play in the mid 80's. 

 

 

On 3/29/2021 at 3:48 PM, ∞ Vince ∞ said:

Well...

I've been retro gaming since 1988 or earlier. * 1983.

By the time I got to various systems, their golden days were gone so I was looking back the first time I played a game.

Mum used to get Nintendo Game and Watches on the secondary market through a guy who used to buy bankrupt stock. So I would play Mario in 1985-6, years after it had came out.

I got a Atari 2600 in 1988, which was a decade and a bit after it came out.

In 1990 I had my c64 which came out in 1982.

In 1992 I had my Amiga which came out in 1985.

I got my PS1 in 2001, My PS2 in 2006, My PS3 in 2013, My PS4 in ? not straight away. Hopefully I will get another PS3 at some point.

I remember when some of the failed systems came out, like the Jaguar (over-rated, over-priced, late to market) or the Amstrad GX4000 (8 bit in 16 bit generation and no games) I got, which was probably the only system I got in the same year it was released, only to find that by Christmas they had stopped making them and they had no games.
 

arket) or the Amstrad GX4000 (8 bit in 16 bit generation and no games) I got, which was probably the only system I got in the same year it was released, only to find that by Christmas they had stopped making them and they had no games.

I leave it now, even if I could afford one right out of the gate. Let them iron out issues first (red ring of death anyone), and wait for an established market and some good games first.

 

At every single step I have been Retro Gaming.

 

I couldn't afford new games, so I would buy cheap rereleases on cassette for £1.99, £2.99 and £3.99 for Hit Squad (Ocean) titles.

 

If you paid £1.99 it was probably an old game, 90% of the time. They discounted them. Some would sit on the shelves for years, but I didn't care. They were NEW to me!

 

I got them all the time because they were good games and it meant I could get two or maybe three if I asked my lovely dad, nicely.

 

This left me in a strange world where the games I was buying, a lot of the time had been reviewed in the mags years ago before I ever saw them. But I was getting mags all the time so wanting these news beautiful expensive games but only being able to afford the old ones.

 

This was actually a fantastic thing because when they were inevitably discounted and reissued on HS usually I could play them fresh and enjoy them more having only limited funds.

 

Amiga mags here used to have coverdisks with faithful reproductions of Arcade classics on them, like Pacman like Space Invaders.

 

I fell in love with SI, and I found it through a coverdisk with a really fantastic CLONE. **

 

** I wrote my own authentic Emu for SI. That Amiga game was right on the money, resolution aside.

 

My first experience of gaming was a Pong TV game. Which came out in the 70s but I was playing sometime in 1983.

 

I also saw a lot of knockoff handheld consoles, that looked like my Gameboy, but had one game and the display of the Games and Watches.

 

Anyway. When I first got the 'friendly internet', I downloaded my favourites. It was painstaking and quite arduous.

 

Then one day I got an archive for the c64, it was a CD retail release. Then I got the Spectrum one and the Amstrad CPC one.

 

Then in 2001, Retro Gamer UK came out for its first issue. This was early in the year and it came out 4 times that year I think.

 

Coverdisks full of Emulators and Remakes but no roms.

 

Once I had the Emus I sought out the games for them.

At some point I got broadband and downloaded a huge 40Gig archive of every system I ever wanted.

 

Anyway, then I built an upright arcade and put the computer into it.

I then got one made with a Pi running it.

 

I will get round to culling, the main issue is, the roms do not have the same name as the games themselves so it can be a seriously tedious endeavour let alone the possibility of losing games by accidently 'offing' one of your faves you thought wasn't named that.

The knack of the 'got everything' is, knowing your games. Know the good ones. Play the good ones. Worst case you can just ignore the crap ones.

 

[Kai1973a]

In the early 80s, loved this game, unfortunately I can’t remember the name. At bottom, you see, what looks like blueprints to build some kind gun/cannon. At the top, you see the girl being chased by bad guy. In between there are (what seems) houses. You have to look at all the houses to get the blueprint. If you catch a bomb, which you have to dispose of it, before exploding. During that the bad guy is getting closer to the girl. Once you get all the prints, build the gun/cannon, and start firing, and kill the bad guy. I can’t remember if you get different levels or just changes the time. Could I get some help, please

[+GoldLeader]

On 12/2/2023 at 8:29 PM, Kai1973a said:

In the early 80s, loved this game, unfortunately I can’t remember the name. At bottom, you see, what looks like blueprints to build some kind gun/cannon. At the top, you see the girl being chased by bad guy. In between there are (what seems) houses. You have to look at all the houses to get the blueprint. If you catch a bomb, which you have to dispose of it, before exploding. During that the bad guy is getting closer to the girl. Once you get all the prints, build the gun/cannon, and start firing, and kill the bad guy. I can’t remember if you get different levels or just changes the time. Could I get some help, please

Are you thinking of Blueprint?