Over the last decade, arcades have been on the decline. That's not to say that they're gone, but the pure arcade was pushed aside for larger chains and "barcades." Gamers are more likely to find a novelty store with pinball machines than a arcade. Yet the arcade still lingers in the public consciousness.
Despite its heyday being too far in the past for younger gamers to remember, the classics still are known. Some titles are so iconic that their legacy persists today. Gamers playing the largest new release can still recognize Pac-Man. But this raises a question: Which classic arcade game is the best?
Centipede
Released in 1981 by Atari, Centipede is one of many iconic shooting games from the 1980s. A trackball was used to control a bug at the bottom of the screen. The goal was to fire darts and destroy a large centipede that would make its way toward the player. The game had lots in common with Space Invaders, and was partially inspired by the the Pretenders song about it. (per Vice).
Centipede's largest legacy was undoubtedly its female player base (per High Scoore Esports). It's cited as being one of the first games with a large female audience, and the developer team of Dona Bailey and Ed Logg described it as "unbiased by gender." Some have owed this to the game's premise or its pastel palette. Either way, Centipede was a success for Atari and was followed up by a sequel and tons of unlicensed clones.
Mortal Kombat II
Much like Street Fighter, this fighting franchise's biggest hit was its second entry. Unlike Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat II was a refinement of the previous entry. It added more gory fatalities and new features like friendship. It also added to the series' mythology, adding new characters and lore, which other serialized game franchises would mimic.
But undoubtedly Mortal Kombat's legacy was that of its violence. Despite reviewing well, concern over the console ports of the game lead to a U.S. congressional investigation into violence in video games. This resulted in the creation of the ESRB and regulation of video game purchase. While regulation had to come for gaming eventually, it's odd to look back at early Mortal Kombat games as they often aren't as violent as their modern equivalents.
Asteroids
One of the first hits of the Golden Age of Arcade Games, Asteroids was another space shooter from the era. Released in 1979, it was created using vector graphics that gave it a unique look. It also featured a wrap-around map and two different threat types; asteroids and flying saucers.
It was inspired by one of the first video games, Spacewar. The developers describe its success as owing to mixing concepts from it and Space Invaders. Actually, Asteroids went on to outsell Invaders in the west and became Atari's No. 1 hit. It was followed by two sequels: Asteroids Deluxe two years later, and Blasteroids in 1987, which used raster graphics instead.
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is the first appearance of Nintendo's iconic Mario. While not paid as much tribute as Super Mario Bros. when it comes to Nintendo's modern titles, it's arguably their most important game. The construction-site-themed hit inspired the platformer genre, perhaps the most iconic video game genre. This isn't even mentioning Mario's debut.
The game was originally pitched as a Popeye licensed game (per Everything 80s Podcast), but the license couldn't be secured. The Popeye inspiration influenced Mario's direction as a franchise. The character is often recast in different roles. Mario has plenty of great non-platformer games, after all. But Donkey Kong was the foundation that an industry juggernaut was built on.
Virtua Fighter
Another fighting game of the mid-90's, Virtua Fighter is perhaps Sega's biggest arcade hit. That's impressive, given Sega's impressive lineup of games and franchises. Created by Yu Suzuki, considered Sega's Miyamoto, Virtua Fighter was the first 3D fighter. While the models look primitive today, the kind of wireframes used to create the fighters was impressive.
Another thing that made Virtua Fighter great was its inspiration from real-world martial arts. Unlike Street Fighter, which claims characters fight with real-world styles, the Virtua Fighter cast used motion capture. This was Suzuki's vision for a simulation of true fighting, and informed how 3D fighters would play today. Unfortunately, despite the recent Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, Virtua Fighter seems destined to remain in Tekken's shadow.
Defender
Defender's not everyone's first thought when it comes to arcade classics, but it's one of gaming's unsung heroes. Released in 1981 by Williams Electronics and developed by pinball engineer Eugene Jarvis. Despite being his first game, he took inspiration from other space shooter hits, according to Game Developer. Despite not being the first horizontal scrolling game, it standardized that technology.
Despite prevalence of games like Galaga, if gamers think of a classic shooter, they'll think of the side-scrollers. This is Defender's influence. It's considered tough, and was the subject of Twin Galaxies' first contest. Twin Galaxies is known for being the birthplace of video game records, preceding today's speedruns. Defender has had wide-reaching effect.
NBA Jam
The second game from Midway on this list, NBA Jam is perhaps the most iconic sports game. Despite the modern deluge of simulator titles, NBA Jam's charm still shines through. Playing NBA Jam today reminds us of a forgotten age of sports gaming franchises. Both the arcade original and console ports are looked back on fondly.
Jam's catchphrases like "He's on fire!" are still iconic today. The console ports also updated the team's rosters, which is now standard. When compared to today's sports game output, people want to return to games like NBA Jam. It represented something exciting for sports which has slipped through the cracks over time.
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter's history has been fraught. It's debut was a clone of Kung Fu, and the recent Street Fighter V didn't have the greatest launch. Fans have different characters and editions that they think play best. But none of that could've happened without Street Fighter II creating the fighting genre.
Street Fighter II and its editions are hard to overstate the influence of. The ensemble cast and combos inspired games from League of Legends to God of War. Not to mention that the competitive scene for it was the predecessor to modern competitive gaming. Call of Duty and Starcraft tournaments owe their structure to Street Fighter II. The game was a juggernaut that would never go away, and gamers will probably see Ryu crossing over into plenty more games in the future.
Ms. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man is possibly the best game sequel ever. While not reaching the original's sales, in critical reception and legacy she's even better than her husband. Ms. Pac-Man's tweaks on the original made it more compelling. Specifically, ghost behavior was been tweaked and new maps were added. These tweaks are folded into modern games in the Pac-Man series as standard nowadays.
Interestingly, it's life started as a knockoff. The developer General Computer Corporation would acquire Pac-Man cabinets. Then they would modify them into a game called Crazy Otto which had the tweaks. Through licensing with Namco, eventually it would become the Ms. Pac-Man players know today. In a way, that makes Ms. Pac-Man the first ever endorsed mod of a game.
Space Invaders
Gamers have heard countless times here that "they took inspiration from Space Invaders." The reason is because Space Invaders epitomizes depth from simplicity. This DNA of a player's avatar hiding behind cover and firing at an enemy can be found in almost every game. Taito's 1978 quarter muncher was one the first games to have contests ran about it, and ports of it were in demand everywhere.
Invaders has simple appeal. It invented the difficulty curve, which has been integral to gaming since. Most games before Invaders were static, but the invaders increasing speed brought new dynamics. While initially a technical limitation, this curve indirectly inspire modern games like Dark Souls. Space Invaders is also easy to just pick up and understand even today. That's what makes it the best arcade classic, transcendent for all time.