Technology

The 5 best arcade games of the 80s

I remember as a kid I wanted to go to the local store to play the latest arcade games from the 1980s. My friends and I dug up as many coins as we could find and spent countless hours playing these innovative games. The late 70s and early 80s were known as the “golden age” of the arcade game industry. These games became very popular during this time, in part due to new types of gameplay involving hand-eye coordination, skill, timing, and shooting things as fast as possible. The arcade games industry peaked in 1982 generating $ 8 billion in quarters, equivalent to $ 18.5 billion in 2011! These are our top 5.

5. Defender

I remember this was an extremely difficult game, yet very challenging and entertaining to play. The objective of the game is to fight off waves of invading aliens while protecting the astronauts on an alien planet. Astronauts captured by aliens return as mutants to attack you. If you didn’t protect the astronauts, the planet would explode and fill with mutants. Defender garnered high praise for its audio and video and was listed as the sixth arcade game for technical, creative and cultural impact by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008. It is considered one of the most difficult games in the industry. , using a joystick and five other buttons to play. Defender sold 60,000 units of hardware and generated gross revenue of $ 1 billion through 2002.

4. Ms. Pac-Man

At number 4 is the girlfriend of the original Pac-Man with 125,000 units of hardware sold. Although she never got her man, she managed to entertain millions of people around the world. She was also a television star, appearing on the animated television series Pac-Man where she played Pepper, Pac-Man’s wife. The objective of the game was to eat all the balls and prevent the ghosts from scoring as many points as possible. Eating certain power granules allowed him to eat the ghosts and there were also fruit bonuses that, when consumed, increased the value in points. As you reach higher levels, the ghosts move faster and the energy balls change to the ghosts for less time. Ms. Pac-Man wears a small red bow and scenes from her relationship with Pac-Man are shown during intermissions between levels. Another notable feature that differs from the original Pac-Man game is that the orange ghost is named Sue, rather than Clyde. The game is said to have 256 levels, but I’ve obviously never gotten this far!

3. Donkey Kong

This was one of my favorites to play with as a kid. The game was groundbreaking for its time and featured an ape, a damsel in distress, and an Italian plumber performing a crazy story. Mario, a carpenter, climbs platforms and climbs stairs at a construction site while the ape named Donkey Kong throws barrels at him. Mario must also dodge fire and other obstacles to reach the top of the platforms and rescue the damsel who is holding the grumpy Donkey Kong. Mario became Nintendo’s flagship character and spawned several different game sequels. Nintendo originally wanted to make a Popeye comic book game, but was unable to obtain a license for it. They decided to develop their own characters and created a love triangle between an ape, a carpenter, and a girlfriend, which was similar to the love triangle between Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl. Donkey Kong was created in 1981 and sold 132,000 units of hardware and generated 280 million dollars until 1982.

2. Space Invaders

This is probably one of the most addictive games I have ever played. When it finally came out on the Atari 2600, my friends and I played it for hours on end. The game consists of a laser cannon at the bottom of the screen that moves from side to side as you shoot the waves of approaching alien invaders. After shooting the first wave of aliens, the remaining ones begin to approach much faster. Soon the aliens start shooting and there are bunkers under which you can move to avoid their fire. Eventually the bunkers are destroyed by the aliens shooting at them, making the game even more challenging. The sound effects are hauntingly exciting as you play. Although this game was released in 1978, we decided to include it on this list due to its impact on the video game industry. It was so advanced for its time and was almost solely responsible for expanding the video game industry from a novelty to a global industry. It sold 360,000 units of hardware and generated $ 2.7 billion in gross revenue.

1. Pac-Man

This was everyone’s grandfather! What made Pac-Man so popular was its appeal to both genders. While many of the early games involved space and aliens, Pac-Man was a game that almost anyone could enjoy regardless of their interests. It was basically the same concept as Ms. Pac-Man, except it was released before her. The goal was to eat all the marbles and prevent the ghosts from scoring as many points as possible. The ghost’s movements are preset and given its own personality to help keep the game interesting. The red ghost chases Pac-Man and the pink and blue ghosts try to get in front of Pac-Man. The orange ghost, Clyde, chases after Pac-Man but moves to the lower left corner of the screen when he gets too close to him. The game has 255 levels, but a bug in the programming prevents you from going beyond that. Pac-Man is one of the highest grossing games of all time. It has 400,000 units of hardware sold with gross revenue of $ 3.5 billion!