Used to be there were many thousands of different arcade games that you could find nearly, in arcades, convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations and sometimes even just on a street corner. In the US (the country that originated arcade games somehow), those days have been gone for a long time, unless you count video poker machines as arcade games, and I don’t, as doing so would send me into a profound depression.
More than that, arcade games in the days of their ascendance had a breadth and variety that no other style of video game has ever had. Even home microcomputers, to my eyes, didn’t see games as ludicrously peculiar as arcade games could be, especially in their early days.
Somebody on Youtube with the user name GaryRetroGamer has made a three videos showing off obscure but interesting arcade games from the 80s, ranging in length from 20 to 25 minutes, 127 games from 1983-1984 (25 minutes):
133 from 1985-1986 (22 minutes):
and 100 from the late 80s:
To help you track down individual games, the ones in each video are presented here, in order. Please excuse errors, these lists were compiled with the aid of text processing tools. (For any bashheads out there, of particular use: cut, tr, wl-paste, wl-copy)
1983-4
Dr. Micro, Exerion, Guzzler, Harem, High Way Race, Hoccer, Hopper Robo, I Robot, Intrepid, Joinem, Joyful Road, Jump Coaster, Kick Boy, Lover Boy, Markham, Marvin’s Maze, Money Money, Mouser, Mr. TNT, New Sinbad, Nova 2001, Phozon, Popper, Raiders, Regulus, Roc’n’Rope, Saturn, Scrambled Egg, Senjyo, SF, Sinbad Mystery, Sky Lancer, Star Jacker, Stinger, Super Doubles Tennis, Super Glob, Tin Star, The, Traverse USA, Tropical Angel, Uncle Poo, Van, Vastar, Yamato, Acrobatic Dog Fight, Appoooh, BanBam, Bank Panic, Battle, Ben Bero Beh, Bull Fighter, Bullfight, B-Wings, Champion Boxing, Cheyenne, Chicken Shift, Chinese Hero, Circus Charlie, Complex X, Country Girl, Crater Raider, Crowns Golf, Cycle Mabou, D-Day, Demolition Derby, Do Run Run, Dragon Buster, Drakton, Driving Force, Eeekk!, Eight Ball Action, Equites, Field Day, Fighting Basketball, Fire Battle, Freeze, Future Spy, Gladiator 1984, Goalie Ghost, Great Swordsman, Grobda, Gyrodine, Hero, Hole Land, Hunchback Olympics, Imago, Itazura Tenshi, Jack Rabbit, Jumping Cross, Jumping Jack, Kamikaze Cabbie, Kick Rider, Kick Start, Liberation, Lode Runner, Mad Crasher, Mister Viking, Mr. Kougar, Mysterious Stones, Ninjakun Majou No Bouken, Off The Wall, Pandora’s Palace, Peter Pack Rat, Pinbo, Pirate Ship Higemaru, Progress, Revenger ’84, Roller Jammer, Rumba Lumber, Sea Fighter Poseidon, Seicross, Snacks’n’Jaxson, Snake Pit, Son Son, Spatter, Star Force, Super Bag Man, Super Basketball, SWAT, Three Stooges in Brides Is Brides, Timber, Tube Panic, Two Tigers, Wai Wai Jockey Gate, Wanted, Wily Tower, Zaviga, Zwackery
1985-6
4-D Warriors, Alien Sector, Arm Wrestling, Bogey Manor, Boulder Dash, Canvas Croquis, Cerberus, Chanbara, City Connection, Combat, Cop 01, Crazy Rally, Crowns Golf in Hawaii, Doki Doki Penguin Land, Field Combat, Finalizer, Flashgal, Galactic Warriors, Go Go Mr. Yamaguchi, HAL21, Heavy Metal, High Voltage, I’m Sorry, Ikki, Knuckle Joe, Lady Master of Kung Fu, Lizard Wizard, Lode Runner III, Lot Lot, Mat Mania, Mayhem 2002, Metal Clash, Mirax, Motos, N.Y. Captor, Penguin, Performan, Pinball Action, Pitfall 2, Porky, Powerplay, Raiders 5, Repulse, Samurai Nihon, Sarge, Scooter Shooter, Sega Ninja, Shanghai Kid, Shoot Out, Shot Rider, Sky Destroyer, Sky Kid, Special Forces, Spelunker, Splendor Blast, Street Heat, Submarine, Super Speed Race Junior, Tank Busters, Team Hat Trick, Teddy Boy Blues, The FairyLand Story, Typhoon Gal, Wink, Wiz, Wyvern F, Argus, Baluba, Battle Lane! Vol 5, Big Event Golf, Body Slam, Brain, Calorie Kun vs Moguranian, Chiller, Clash Road, Clay Pigeon, Competition Golf Final Round, Danger Zone, Darwin 4078, Empire City 1931, Fire Trap, Flower, Gardia, Genpei ToumaDen, Gigas, Gladiator, Guardian, Halley’s Comet, Hopping Mappy, Joust 2, Kiki KaiKai, Land Sea Air Squad, Legend, Lock, Lost Castle In Darkmist, The, Mania Challenge, Max RPM, Merlin’s Money Maze, Mighty Guy, Mission 660, Mr. Goemon, Night Stocker, Ninja Emaki, Noboranka, Omega, Power Drive, Prebillian, Rack + Roll, Rafflesia, Red Robin, Return of Ishar, The, Riddle of Pythagoras, Robo Wres 2001, Rock ‘n Rage, S.R.D Mission, Shackled, Sky Kids Deluxe, Slap Shooter, Soldier Girl Amazon, Space Position, Spiker, Stompin, Super Stingary, Thunder Ceptor, Tokio, Top Gunner, Top Secret, Toypop, Transformer, Ufo Robo Dangar, Up Scope, XX Mission, Youjyuden
Late 80s
Aaargh, Act Fancer, Bakutotsu Kijuutei, Battle Shark, Black Panther, Block Hole, Bonze Adventure, Buccaneers, Burning Force, Champion Wrestler, China Gate, Chopper, Chuka Taisen, Crazy Climber 2, Crime City, Crime Fighters, Cue Brick, Dead Angle, The Deep, Demon’s World Horror Story, Devastators, Devil World, Diamond Run, Don Doko Don, Dr. Topper’s Adventures, Dragon Punch, Dragon Unit Castle of Dragon, Dynamite Duke, Enforce, Extermination, Exterminator, Exzisus, Fast Lane, Final Round, The, Finest Hour, Gang Wars, Garyo Retsudent, Ginga NinkyouDen, Gold Medalist, Gondomania, Gorodki, Hachoo, Hard Head, Hippodrome, Hot Chase, Hyper Crash, InsectorX, Kabuk, Kageki, Kitten Kaboodle, Konek, Kozure Ookami, Kuri Kunton, Kyros, Legend of Hero Tonma, Legend of Makai, Legion, Mad Gear, The Main Event, Marchen Maze, Maze of Flott, Metal Freezer, Metal Hawk, Mirai Ninja, Mustache Boy, Mutant Night, Night Striker, Ninja Kazan, Ninja Kid II, Ninja Mission, Pig and Bombers, Plump Pop, Poker Ladies, Psychic 5, Psycho, Python, Rabbit Punch, Racing Hero, Raimais, Reikai Doushi, Rompers, Shingen Samurai, Skull & Crossbones, Sky Robo, Snezhnaja Koroleva, SOS, Spark Man, Special Project Y, Star Guards, Street Smart, Super Ranger, Shadowland, Tough Turf, Trick Trap, Tricky Doc, Trio The Punch, Ufo Senshi Yohko Chan, Viper, Wild Fang, Wit’s, Wonder Momo
