So Arcades are mainly a thing of the past now although there are still a few dotted around they are nothing like what they used to be and I feel bad for new generations never knowing that feeling of putting 10p or 20p coins into these wonderful machines and having the time of your life well the time of my life.
This list is devoted to games that I feel is a must to be played at least once in your lifetime. Like an arcade gaming rite of passage so do your research and track down these machines and experience them for yourself.
I also know there are many games not on the list that need to be checked out, some absolute classics that no doubt people will scream at me for not listing, but this list is filled with games that are a joy to play and at the time were incredible feats of gaming and intuitive Hydraulic engineering.
As technology, has moved on and advanced you can obviously get immersive gaming experiences in your living rooms but back in the 80s and 90s arcades were the only place to get that!
Even things like just having a steering wheel to use was an experience to cherish and one I couldn’t get at home. This list in no particular order just games that you NEED to experience!
In Thunder Blade, you’re given the control over a helicopter in the third person and you have to destroy enemy vehicles. My favourite version of this was the cockpit seat version which moved in tandem with the joystick and you controlled your speed with a throttle. This led to a great experience and added an extra dimension to the game and made it more immersive. Once you are ready to go you have to make your way through four stages fighting hordes of enemy choppers, tanks, boats, planes etc. In every mission, you have to deal with the dual threat of enemies from the land and air through different zones. Sometimes you look down on the chopper in a birds-eye view other times you are behind it, this does add a different element to the play and mixes it up brilliantly.
9. WWF Wrestlefest
This for me is the perfect wrestling game the brilliance of it is in its simplicity with no stupid overly long button combinations to pull off moves just pure button-bashing fun. It helped that it was also around for me when I was heavily invested in wrestling. But the pure joy I got from watching the ultimate warrior smash everyone around the ring or the enlisting help from a family member in tag team matches were just golden moments. The sounds and colours used were vivid and only added to the experience especially when you felt like a wrestling god when you successfully climbed to the top ropes and executed a successful move of destruction on your foe. This version added a new Royal Rumble mode and in the Saturday night main event mode, you and a friend or you and the computer formed a tag team duo to go through a series of matches for a shot of the title with a match against the legion of doom!
8. Track & Field
The ultimate button basher and family destroyer well in my family anyway! I’m sure many machines and hands were broken due to this game. You make your way through six athletics events, 100 metres dash, Long jump, Javelin throw, 110 Metres Hurdles, Hammer throw and finally High Jump. You hammer away at two buttons to pick up speed then use a third to either jump a hurdle or throw a javelin etc. What I loved most about this game was it brought out the competitive side in everyone even my mum and dad had a go at this to prove who was the ultimate button-bashing endurance competitor. If you were blessed by the gaming gods and managed to finish all six events you got to start again but with harder qualifying times and distances.
The ultimate arcade multiplayer for me. Yes, there can be many arguments made for other games but this is what I had the most fun on. I actually completed it in Skegness arcades many moons ago with my brother and two random kids it was and still is my personal gaming highlight. You basically choose a Character from the Simpsons and spend the entire game trying to get Maggie back as she’s been kidnapped by Mr Burns and Smithers as Maggie’s pacifier was swapped for a diamond. During this side-scrolling Beat ‘em up you make your way through 8 levels and eventually reclaim Maggie who swaps the diamond for her pacifier and Homer then throws the Diamond away! Doh! You had two buttons jump and attack. If you played with someone else you could launch a combined attack. There are plenty of items that you can use to restore health or items you can use to cause damage such as a wooden mallet. One thing I loved about this game was the minigames between certain levels which required you to demonstrate your button bashing prowess by filling a balloon with air the quickest. This was great fun competing against the computer or other players to prove you are the ultimate button basher!
6. Time crisis 3
Again there are arguments for other arcade shooters to be here instead of Time Crisis 3 such as Point Blank, Operation Wolf and Mad Dog McCree or even other Time Crisis games but ultimately this was my favourite shooter and another game I managed to complete with my friends this time in Coral Island at Blackpool. What I loved about Time Crisis 3 was that for the first time it allowed players to change between weapons. You could change between a handgun, fully automatic machine gun, shotgun and grenade launcher. You had to be wary though as the handgun was the only weapon with unlimited ammo. You gained extra ammo for the other weapons by shooting certain enemies. The life-threatening shots were actually more vivid in this game which meant it was easier to take that foot off the pedal and dodge them.
5. After Burner
Man where to start with this beauty! This gave you an actual cockpit to get into with joystick and throttle and the absolute best bit of the game was when you turned left or right the seat went left or right with you! If you went up or down the entire machine tilted up or down with you. You really did feel like you were an actual fighter pilot or Tom Cruise in Top Gun when playing this majestic hydraulic masterpiece! The value of the experience you got for a couple of silver coins was nothing short of astonishing. After Burner sees you take control of an American F-14 Tomcat fighter. You have to clear 18 stages with your machine gun and a limited amount of heat-seeking missiles.
4. Street Fighter
This was my favourite fighting game to play in the arcade, it is probably helped by the fact that it was also one of my first. Certain versions of the arcade machine had two mechatronic pads which meant the harder you hit the pad the harder your onscreen character hit the opponent. No doubt due to this a lot of machines were damaged and hands were broken. These were replaced with six attack button versions to what we all recognise in Street Fighter games. It had 3 punches and 3 kicks consisting of light, medium and heavy speed and strength. Players competed in one on one matches either against another player or a computer-controlled opponent. Each match consisted of up to 3 rounds in a best of 3. If no fighter was knocked out before the time ran out the winner was the fighter with the least amount of damage taken. Another highlight of this game was it was the first of its kind to use special attacks such as the Hadoken which could be used by inputting instructions via the joysticks and buttons in a specific way. There are 8 fighters to compete against initially and two bonus stages which I love. The brick-breaking stages and the wooden board breaking stages. If you are successful you will then move on to Thailand to fight the last two opponents. I just fell in love with how fluid and engrossing the whole process was to become the ultimate street fighter.
One of the OG’s of the arcade and a must for everyone to play as you control your little spaceship and fire missile after missile at alien invaders. The beauty of this game is in its simplicity but it is crazy addictive. Countless hours and coins have been spent on this game and numerous versions have been created year after year. Space Invaders was the first fixed shooter and is the trailblazer that laid the foundations for the shoot 'em up genre. It’s hard not to become enthralled in this simple but addictive shoot em up as you attempt to destroy wave after wave of those pesky alien invaders. As fun as it is, it is equally stressful especially on harder rounds as you get down to one alien and it becomes increasingly difficult to take him out as he increases his speed across the screen all the while moving closer to you and your impending doom
2. Fighting Mania: Fist of the North Star
Fighting Mania is a game released by Konami in 2000 based on the manga series Fist of the North Star. I have played other fighting punched based games in the arcade but this is my favourite followed closely by Sonic Blast man. At the games start you get to choose your course and story arc which is basically the difficulty setting but these story arcs are based on stories you find in the manga series. When playing and an enemy attacks you one of the 6 punch pads will swing out and LED lights will come on. The pads remain lit for a short time and then the pad will return back to its resting place. As the player, you need to hit the pad while the LED's are still lit. Punching power is not a factor in this game, unlike the street fighter pads, strength of impact does not matter this is all about timing. If you successfully hit a pad when it is fully extended and the lights are still lit you will block the incoming attack and the enemy will receive damage from a counter-attack. If you manage to hit the pad too early or too late a few things happen either you block the attack without any counter attack damage to your opponent or your timing will be so off that you will receive some damage from the attack. If you miss hitting the pad completely before it goes back you will receive all the damage from the attack against you. As the strength of your opponents improves the faster the pads move and the more complex their patterns are. There are also dummy pads which are when a pad comes out but with no lights on these pads should not be hit. As well as having a life meter you also have a special move tech metre which is seven stars. As you successfully land and deflect attacks you start to fill the metre and once full the game automatically unleashes your special move. What move you do depends on which character you chose. The game also gives you a grade on how well you have done.
1. Sega Rally 
This for me was the ultimate arcade driving game whether you preferred automatic or manual transmission sitting in the cab and following the verbal instructions of a long easy left or short hard right this was as close to real rally driving as I could get as a young lad and I loved it! I even enjoyed it just using a pad on the Sega Saturn but playing it in the arcade literately sat in the driver’s seat was gaming greatness. You enter a world championship mode which is made up of three stages desert, forest and mountain. You start the first race in last place and where you finish in the race is your starting position for the next race. Obviously to progress you need to have completed the track within the time limit. If by the end of the third race you finish in first place you get the chance to play the fourth circuit. You get the choice of two cars initially, the Toyota Celica GT-Four and Lancia Delta HF Integrale a third car was the awesome Lancia Stratos HF which can also be unlocked. What set Sega rally apart was that it was the first to incorporate different friction properties on different driving surfaces which changed the cars handling on each of the tracks. With four cabinets linked up together playing this with your friends or family was and still is a great experience.
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