Top 25 1980s Arcade Games

The 1980s was the height of the arcade gaming industry and featured some amazing games including Outrun, Bubble Bobble, Rampage any many more. Why not tell me your favourite arcade games in the comments section below and please like and subscribe as there will be plenty more gaming countdowns on the way.

[hoyit]

I was born in 1978. Discovering the world in the 80s is something I hold very close. These were the sounds of my childhood. The feeling of walking into an arcade, hearing the cacophony of all those great sound effects is something I’ll never forget. I miss it a lot. Those around my age know what I mean.

[mrmaverix]

i wish i could bring back the time when i was sitting on the floor playing my games on console and didnt care about anything

[c.m]

The nostalgia watching this truly warmed my heart, I was 10 in 1985 I'd go back to those times in a heartbeat

[johnwilks]

This is proper video gaming, best decade ever. Forget online gaming, if you lived to experience this like me then you're one of the lucky ones.

[wolfcry]

When you see things that you haven't seen or really even thought of in 30+ years and it immediately brings a smile to your face. That's when you know it's something special.

[ofSeptember]

What I remember most about arcade games in the 80s...
1. I never had enough quarters to finish the game.
2. There was always some toddler "playing" the game I wanted to play.
3. There was always some "expert" with unlimited quarters playing the game I wanted to play.
4. I always checked the coin return slots for unclaimed quarters.

[gogo]

Life was simpler and so were our beloved old games... such a soothing 20min video. Thank you for bringing us all back in time to happy memories.

[KShorses]

Thank you for the trip down memory lane. 80s and 90s were the best time to grow up in. Miss those days.

[whiteeyemovalik]

0:12 super hang on
0:58 Zaxxon
01:45 Paperboy
02:33 Fantasy Zone
03:22 Pole Postion
04:11 rampage
05:00 defender
05:31 rainbow islands: the story of bubble bobble 2
06:19 Donkey Kong
07:07 shadow dancer
08:01 teenage mutant ninja turtles
08:47 Space Harrier
09:36 double dragon
10:26 chase H.Q.
11:14 shinobi
12:01 galaga
12:50 golden axe
13:42 bubble bobble
14:37 Ghouls n Ghosts
15:28 Operation Wolf
16:15 outrun
17:05 R-type
17:56 strider
18:42 final fight
20:55 pacman

[standoughope]

25) 0:08 *Super Hang-on (1987)*
24) 0:55 *Zaxxon (1982)*
23) 1:43 *Paperboy (1984)*
22) 2:32 *Fantasy Zone (1985)*
21) 3:20 *Pole Position (1982)*
20) 4:08 *Rampage (1986)*
19) 4:56 *Defender (1980)*
18) 5:30 *Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987)*
17) 6:17 *Donkey Kong (1981)*
16) 7:05 *Shadow Dancer (1989)*
15) 7:59 *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989)*
14) 8:47 *Space Harrier (1985)*
13) 9:35 *Double Dragon (1987)*
12) 10:24 *Chase HQ (1988)*
11) 11:13 *Shinobi (1987)* [Thank you *ccentaur93* so much for providing the title... you're dope for helping!] 💗💗💗
10) 12:00 *Galaga (1981)*
9) 12:50 *Golden Axe (1989)*
8) 13:41 *Bubble Bobble (1986)*
7) 14:33 *Ghouls 'n Ghosts (1988)*
6) 15:27 *Operation Wolf (1987)*
5) 16:15 *Outrun (1986)*
4) 17:03 *R-Type (1987)*
3) 17:54 *Strider (1989)*
2) 18:42 *Final Fight (1989)*
19:31 "honorable mentions"... *Dig Dug, Rastan, Mario Bros, Dragon's Lair, Gauntlet, Altered Beast, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and Vigilante.*
1) 20:53 *Pacman (1980)*

Copy/Paste this *wizzgamer* to your description of this upload. =)
Dragon's Lair should have been more than a HM in my opinion.

[PassLeeDrivingSchool]

This brings back so many memories, those games were the start of my video gaming journey, almost 40 years later and I am still an avid video gamer, I am 50 years old and I have just spent the last 20 mins thinking to myself "omg the last time I saw that screen I was 12 years old!". Where has the time gone!

[Rob_Kates]

Tron, Star Wars, Crystal Castles, Galaga, Centipede, Joust, Moon Patrol and Dragon's Lair were some of my favorites.

[edwardvample]

How is it possible I can watched this video with the biggest smile on my face and still be depressed from it at the same time? 😀😔😢

[Craig_Gaitskell]

It was great standing around an arcade cabinet, watching one of your friends trying to get a top score. We’ll never get those days back again. I’m pretty sure I played a lot of Operation Wolf and Outrun was one of my favourites.

[ThehulkGreen]

I was lucky to be born in 1979, damn being a kid in the 80's was special.

[InevitableTruthTeller]

I was born in '69. We were the first generation to grow up on video games and Star Wars. What a great era. We still had tangible toys, and played outside, but also enjoyed our video games on rainy days. When gameplay and sound were of great importance. Let's not forget Robotron, Qix, Gun Smoke, Scramble & Joust. Oh, and TEMPEST! At home we had Commodore 64, a TRS80, Intellivision & the unique (and super cool) Vectrex.

[SDTEKKEN]

I was seriously hollering throughout the entire vid. I watched this with a big smile on my face. Thank you for putting this together. You unlocked so many childhood memories!!!

[depannist]

The sounds of Defender defined the ambient sound of a good arcade in the 80’s.

[mitch]

Outrun will always be #1 to me. I played it in the arcades in 1987 and played it on the PS2 with my son 20 years later.

[MrJonjoe]

Huge respect to the developers who created these games. Working with highly limited hardware, probably developing in assembler which is hard work and editing packages were presumably highly limited too. The games still looked awesome and were highly addictive. Bravo.