Top Classic Arcade Games

I’ve been playing video games for over thirty years and remember a time when we used to visit my relatives and stop along the way for a food break – begging my father for a ten pence piece, my brother and I used to run over to the Pong game; it was the first arcade game I played and remains the most nostalgic.

I’m not sure what the appeal was, maybe something about the mechanical ‘beep’ or the ability to control something on the TV, but whatever it was I was hooked – these early classic games were strangely addictive, and even today, with classic online games popping up on flash websites all over the web, I still find them appealing.

Without these games, I would not be the enthusiast that I am today, and therefore I have decided to share with you my personal favorites.

They always say that you remember your first….video game that is! The first game I played for Pong, and even today I enjoy a good old nostalgic bash at this fun old game; there are updated versions of it around which are great, but the original still remains the best.

Origins: Based on a game ‘Tennis for Two’ that simulated a game of tennis on an oscilloscope, Pong became the first electronic game to use a graphical display. It was designed by physicist William Higinbotham.

The Game: Based on table tennis or tennis, each player has a bat (or paddle) that can be moved vertically – a ball bounces of the bat, and the sides of the screen – the idea being that each player must stop the ball getting past him or her, otherwise they lose a point. Players can use their skill to change the angle of the ball, or send the ball in different directions.

Game play: I know, boring? Strangely enough the game is addicting, and while it is easy to play, and the graphics are poor, it can be challenging especially when playing good players.

Nostalgia: There’s no doubt that without this game I probably wouldn’t be working (and playing) with computers – the idea of being able to manipulate a TV screen has always intrigued me, and the ability to gain entertainment from it is amazing.

This was another early game that I soon became addicted to - the sound was better, and the graphics much improved, but it was the excitement that made it so good.

Origins: Developed by Konami in 1981, this game introduced a new style of game, and also introduced the name of Sega that would become synonymous with classic video games.

The Game: Essentially you simply have to walk your frog from one side of the road to the other. However, you first have to cross that busy road avoiding the cars – some slow and some fast; then there’s a river full of logs that must be crossed – careful though, some logs sink, while other are crocodiles! Moving your frog in four directions, you have to navigate the obstacles and get your frog safely to their ‘home’.

Game Play: This is another really addictive game – even though each level is similar, with the main changes being faster cars, shorter logs etc, it really is a game that keeps you thinking and requires great timing as you move you frog in and out of traffic.

Nostalgia: I love this game for many reasons. I’ve played it on and off for 30 years, and it is one of the games that I became very good at, although not an expert! It is also the first game I was able to program myself on a home computer.

Origins: This game was heavily inspired by Star Wars and War of the Worlds; it became the first ‘shooting’ video games, and spawned a whole new Genre. It was designed by Tomohiro Nishikada.

The Game: Invaders from space (DOH) are attempting to take over the world. You, the sole guardian of the earth, must use your trust ‘tank’ to destroy all of the aliens. Moving left and right, hiding behind protective ‘barriers’ you must shoot the aliens while dodging their bombs. They come at you in waves, and you must clear each wave – however, they are relentless and become more and more difficult to destroy.

Game Play: While repetitive, the only main difference between each level being the closeness of the aliens, and the speed they move, the game is amazingly addictive. With elements of strategy combining with decent hand eye co-ordination, this challenging game set the standard for ‘high score’ competition!

Nostalgia: I’ve seen this game change over time, from the original ‘green’ invaders, to the multi-colored versions (using colored strips on the screen) down to the modern version that have amazing graphics and sound. The game play hasn’t really changed, and somehow this game for me was one of the first to perhaps have a ‘real’ feel to it – moving frogs was fun, but defending the Earth was important!

Origins: Designed by Eugen Jarvis, Sam Dicker, Paul Dussault and Larry DeMar in 1980, this game used a complex controller combining five buttons and a joystick. Initially not popular due to its difficulty, it slowly grew an audience and today remains popular.

The Game: This game took the shoot-em-up concept and turned it on its side. As usual, aliens are intent on invading, but this time are attempting to kidnap 10 humans walking the planet. You are the defender and must move along your planet killing the aliens before they kidnap your humans. The game introduced different types of aliens that made the game very difficult to play.

Game play: While very easy to play, it became very difficult to master, especially if you want the bonuses (you get a bonus if you shoot an alien that is carrying a human and the catch the human before he/she hits the ground.). Expert players would wait until all humans were in the ‘air’ and then zoom along catching them all to gain maximum bonuses.

Nostalgia: I went to a ‘camp’ with a friend and we spent the whole week playing this game and pole position!

Origins: Galaxians took the concept of Space Invaders further. Not only were the graphics and sound much improved, but the aliens also swooped down to attack – it was one of the first games to have multi-colored sprites.

The Game: The concept is the same as space invaders – defend your planet from invading aliens; however, this time the aliens are sneaker – not only do they come at you in waves, but they also swoop down at you.

Game play:  This game has a similar feel to it as Space Invaders; the added element of swooping aliens makes it more challenging at times, but also gives you bonuses should you shoot these swooping aliens. It is a challenging game, but once you get used to the patterns it does become easier.

Nostalgia: Over the years I’ve played many classic video games on a computer – this was the first one that was almost identical to the arcade version even down to the sound – I spent many hours playing this game on my Acorn Electron – and to this day, the Acorn Electron version was one of the best!

Origins:  Atari, perhaps one of the most famous classic arcade designers, revolutionized the arcade game in 1980. Dispensing the joystick, they introduced this classic game with a ‘ball’ to control the movement of an on screen cursor.

The Game: Those aliens are at it again, however they’ve changed their strategy. Rather than waste alien lives in waves of alien ships, they simply decided to bombard five major cities with missiles. You, as the guardian of the Earth again, must stop those missiles from hitting your cities. Using the ‘tracker’ ball to guide a cursor, you are able to fire ‘missiles’ ahead of their bombs, causing them to explode, and then hopefully cause a chain reaction by exploding other bombs.

Game play: This game took strategy to the next level, as you had to plan your ‘bombs’ to have the most effect and cause the best chain reaction – it is a difficult game especially when the bombs start moving a lot faster – you really have to plan ahead!

Nostalgia: This was the first ‘table top’ game I played – it allowed you to sit down and view the game from above – table top games  were popular in some clubs, but never really caught on.

Origin: Atari introduced Pong in 1976, taking the Pong concept one step further. Even today there are new clones appearing periodically. Even the Apple II computer was inspired by this game!

The Game: Unlike Pong, this game is played vertically with one player. The player has a paddle at the bottom of the screen and must bounce a ball into bricks at the top of the screen – the idea being to break all the bricks and move to the next level. As the game developed over time, certain bricks revealed ‘add-ons’ that helped the player – but even after 30 years, the concept is still the same.

Game play: This can be a frustrating and difficult game to play as the ball speed increases and the bricks get lower and lower. Strangely though it’s the type of game that keeps you coming back for more to try and reach that next level, or beat that high score.

Nostalgia: I used to play this game in my father’s study as he studied – we didn’t talk, and I turned the sound off, but it was a form of male bonding!

Origin: In 1985 Sega developed one of the first 3D racing games. What was more amazing about this was that the game featured a replica bike that enhanced the game and featured a speedometer, brakes and a throttle as well as handle bars.

The Game: You, a motorcycle racer, have to race against several opponents around a three dimensional race track and reach check points within a time limit – the game feature different places and conditions such as night riding.

Game play: This game was very easy to play – but with the other riders being a constant danger and slowing you down (by crashing or simply being in the way) the game was difficult – especially with the time constraints. With the great graphics and the interesting controls it was a compelling game.

Nostalgia: I always loved racing games, and this one was especially fun as you almost felt like you were riding a real motorcycle. It’s one of the games that I was actually very good at!

I was driving in Pennsylvania last weekend and they have ‘dots’ on the road that allow you to judge a safe distance between cars – I felt like I was playing pacman!

Origin: Designed and developed by Toru Iwatani and Hideyuki Moakajima San, this game was introduced in 1980 and became a huge success. The name is taken from the sound a mouth makes when it opens and closes.

The Game: You are Pacman and you live in a maze; the maze is full of ‘yummy’ dots and you have to move around the maze to eat them. However, look out, there are some ghosts who are also hungry – but hungry for you – they’ll chase you around the maze. You can turn the tables by eating a special dot and send them back to their ‘prison’ if you catch them!

Game play:  The game is very simple but with the fun sound, and the challenge of avoiding the ghosts, is one of the best classic video games of all time. Once you get to know the patterns the ghosts follow the game does become easier. It’s one of those games that makes you come back again, even after thirty years!

Nostalgia: This was one of the first games I became truly addicted to – it was such a great game that I was constantly challenging myself to beat the game.

Origin: Asteroids was the first game to use real life physics and vector graphics. Designed by Atari in 1979 it became one of the most popular games of the early 80s.

The Game: Your spaceship has got lost and found itself in the middle of an asteroid belt. With your trusty canon, you have to destroy all of the asteroids. As you hit a large asteroid, it will split and split again, with the smaller asteroids moving faster. Your space craft can move in any direction, and will continue to move with the inertia. You have to use your controls and thruster well in order to avoid colliding with the asteroids.

Game play: The combination of the inertia, thruster and controls make this quite a difficult game to master - additionally, as the asteroids will break into smaller more numerous asteroids, strategy is very important in this game. It is one of the best games from the 80s and still is a decent game even by today's standards.

Nostalgia: This game is one of the first that I became any good at - it required skill as well as a little luck and even today I still play it occasionally.

As online video games continue to grow in popularity you'll find that all of the classics above are available online. What is cool is that free classic games are available, and while they may not be perfect they still manage to have the feel and the look of the original video game.