The 30 Best Arcade Games From the 80s - Ranked by the Internet

• 30: Track & Field

  
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  Button-mashing at its purest. If you didn't leave the arcade with a sore wrist and a broken button, were you even playing?

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• 29: Punch-Out!!

  
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  Before Mike Tyson was in your NES, he was towering over you in the arcade. Timing, reflexes, and a lot of quarters were mandatory.

• 28: Paperboy

  
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  Delivering newspapers has never been so deadly. Dogs, cars, breakdancers - basically everything in suburbia wanted you dead.

• 27: Rampage

  
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  Who didn't want to play as a giant ape or lizard smashing buildings? This was the closest we got to Godzilla vs. King Kong for years.

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• 26: Donkey Kong Jr.

  
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  Mario's the bad guy? Plot twist! Saving Dad (DK) by climbing vines and dodging traps was harder than it looked.

• 25: Star Wars

  
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  That vector graphics trench run was the moment every kid became Luke Skywalker. Even if your aim was terrible, the Force was with you.

• 24: Tempest

  
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  It was neon geometry, it was hypnotic, it was chaos - Tempest looked like math homework and played like a fever dream.

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• 23: Out Run

  
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  Cruising in a Ferrari with your date while blasting '80s tunes. This wasn't a racing game, it was a lifestyle.

• 22: Tron

  
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  Half game, half movie tie-in, all awesome. The light cycle sequence alone was worth the price of admission (which was a quarter).

• 21: Q*bert

  
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  Cursing in a made-up language while hopping on cubes? Relatable. This orange guy is still one of gaming's weirdest icons.

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• 20: 1942

  
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  The WWII shooter that turned every player into a one-plane air force. Just you, a joystick, and way too many enemy bullets.

• 19: Spy Hunter

  
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  Basically James Bond but with a car. Oil slicks, smoke screens, machine guns - the arcade cabinet was an action movie in itself.

• 18: Missile Command

  
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  Protecting cities by blowing up missiles sounds noble. Watching your last city burn while the screen screamed "THE END" was soul-crushing.

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• 17: Double Dragon

  
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  Side-scrolling, co-op, street-brawling perfection. And let's be honest - nobody actually wanted to fight their buddy at the end.

• 16: Galaxian

  
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  Before Galaga there was Galaxian, the OG alien shooter that paved the way for every space pew-pew game to come.

• 15: Gauntlet

  
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  "Wizard needs food, badly." Four-player chaos, infinite dungeons, and guaranteed fights over who got the turkey.

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• 14: Joust

  
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  Knights on flying ostriches. It sounds ridiculous because it was. Also, lava trolls. Because why not?

• 13: Tetris

  
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  The most addictive puzzle ever made. It didn't need fancy graphics - just falling blocks and the haunting feeling you'll never escape it.

• 12: Defender

  
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  This game moved so fast it was basically impossible. Saving humans while aliens swarmed was stressful in the best way.

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• 11: Pole Position

  
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  The game that made everyone a wannabe Formula 1 driver. Those bright tracks and tight corners felt revolutionary in 1982.

• 10: Centipede

  
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  Shoot the bug, shoot the mushroom, shoot everything. It was chaotic, colorful, and lowkey terrifying.

• 9: Dig Dug

  
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  You dig, you pump enemies full of air until they explode. It was cute, dark, and cathartic all at once.

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• 8: Super Mario Bros.

  
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  Mario's first big arcade outing. Not as polished as the NES version, but still - stomping Goombas never gets old.

• 7: Asteroids

  
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  Vector lines never looked so intense. Floating endlessly in space, smashing rocks - this one ate quarters like candy.

• 6: Ms. Pac-Man

  
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  She wasn't just Pac-Man in lipstick. She was faster, smarter, and frankly - better. Ms. Pac-Man > Pac-Man, fight me.

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• 5: Frogger

  
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  All you had to do was cross the street. Somehow it was the hardest thing in the world.

• 4: Space Invaders

  
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  The sound alone made your palms sweat. A relentless march downward that defined arcade anxiety.

• 3: Donkey Kong

  
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  The birth of Mario (well, Jumpman). Ladders, barrels, and the giant ape that started it all.

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• 2: Galaga

  
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  Fast, addictive, and still one of the best shooters ever made. Plus, the double-ship power-up was pure joy.

• 1: Pac-Man

  
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  The king of the arcade. Simple, iconic, and still unbeaten when it comes to pure pick-up-and-play perfection.

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