1980-1989... For me "1982" had the most amount of games I liked from this decade.

GunSmoke Guy

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1980-1989... For me "1982" had the most amount of games I liked from this decade.

I listed roughly around 150 titles between 1980-1989 that I enjoy playing. I probably missed a bunch, some I missed on purpose... Some of the most popular games I don't particularly even care for. Any ways, this list is solely based on my personal picks between "1980-1989" which I thought were the best titles from those years. Apparently for me "1982" seemed to have the most amount of games that I liked in this decade. What's your favorite year that had the most games you enjoyed from this decade ?

1980-
Crazy Climber
Defender
Galaxian
Missile Command
Pac-Man
Space Invaders Deluxe

1981-
Asteroids Deluxe
Centipede
Donkey Kong
Frogger
Galaga
Gorf
Lady Bug
Mouse Trap
Ms. Pac-Man
Qix
Rally-X
Tempest
Thief
Zaxxon

1982-
Alipine Ski
Bump N' Jump
Burger Time
Crystal Castles
Dig Dug
Domino Man
Donkey Kong Jr.
Eyes
Joust
Jungle Hunt
Jungle King
Millipede
Moon Patrol
Mr. Do!
Nibbler
Pac-Man Plus
Pengo
Pirate Pete
Pole Position
Pooyan
Popeye
Q*Bert
Quantum
Robotron: 2084
Swimmer
Time Pilot
Tron
Wild Western
Xevious
Zoo Keeper
Zzyzzyxx

1983-
Bubbles
Congo Bongo
Discs Of Tron
Donkey Kong 3
Dragon's Lair
Elevator Action
Food Fight
Gyruss
Hoccer
Journey
Kozmik Krooz'r
Krull
Mad Planets
Mappy
Mario Bros.
Roc'N Rope
Space Ace
Spy Hunter
Star Wars
Track & Field
Wacko

1984-
Bomb Jack
Chicken Shift
Circus Charlie
Empire Strikes Back
Gaplus
Hyper Sports
Kung Fu Master
Marble Madness
Off the Wall
Paper Boy
Punch-out!!
Rootbeer Tapper
Snake Pit
Tapper
Vs. system *various titles
Vulgus

1985-
1942
Commando
Ghosts 'N Goblins
Gun Smoke
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Section Z
Sente Mini Golf
Vs. System *various titles

1986-
720 Degrees
Alcon
Arkanoid
Bubble Bobble
Fire Trap
Hyperdyne Side Arms
Legendary Wings
Out Run
Playchoice 10
Rampage
Road Runner
Rygar
Vs. System *Various titles
Wonder Boy

1987-
1943:The Battle of Midway
Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh
Black Tiger
Contra
Double Dragon
Dragon Spirit
Free Kick
Gemini Wing
Gondomania
Pac-Mania
R-Type
Rastan
Road Blasters
Rolling Thunder
Sky Shark
Tournament Arkanoid
Twin Cobra
Vs. System *Various titles

1988-
Capcom Bowling
Galaga 88'
Ghouls 'N Ghosts
P.O.W. - Prisoners of War
Toobin'
Turtleship
Superman
Tetris

1989-
Buster Bros.
Golden Axe
Prehistoric Isle
Strider
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Willow
 
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That is arcade pornography right there.
 
My favorite year is 1987. But that is also when I also really started playing games.

Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh
Black Tiger
Contra
Vs. Castlevania
Tournament Arkanoid

I own them all.
 
For me it was the summer of '83...

1983 was the pinnacle for me, because all of the games from the previous few years were still around in the arcades. That summer was my favorite not only because of the game selection available, but also because it was the last summer before I started high school. I suppose that it was the last days of "innocence" for me. The world was such a better place back then...
 
My favorite year is 1987. But that is also when I also really started playing games.

Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh
Black Tiger
Contra
Vs. Castlevania
Tournament Arkanoid

I own them all.

Yeah nice I own an Arkanoid, Huge fan I'm still trying to break the million pt. barrier i got 917k. I feel that particular game is one of those MUST owns in any collection. Personally I like Akranoid and Tournament Akanoid, wasn't a huge fan of doh, however Revenge of Doh had way better artwork. I was thinking about slapping on Phets custom Bezel on my Ark.. And I thought Arkanoid Returns was utter shit.

1983 was the pinnacle for me, because all of the games from the previous few years were still around in the arcades. That summer was my favorite not only because of the game selection available, but also because it was the last summer before I started high school. I suppose that it was the last days of "innocence" for me. The world was such a better place back then...

Yeah 82'-83' contained over ⅓ of the games I liked in that decade.
 
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Yes, 1982 is the golden year.. But you left many classics off..
1982
black widow
bubbles
bump n jump
burgertime
defender
dig dug
donkey kong jr
frenzy
front line
gravitar
joust
jungle hunt
liberator
millipede
moon patrol
mr. do
pacman plus
pengo
pole position
popeye
q-bert
quantum
reactor
robotron
satans hollow
sinistar
space duel
star trek
super pacman
super zaxxon
swimmer
tac/scan
time pilot
tron
varkon
wild western
xevious
zaxxon
zektor
zoo keeper
 
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Yes, 1982 is the golden year.. But you left many classics off..

Look at his list again. He had them listed under the correct release year, you took many of the same titles and put them all under 1982.

I would also have to go with 82... Although my favorite game of all time was already out (Defender), the rest of the games I still love came out in 82. Xevious, Moon Patrol and Robotron (I also love Time Pilot, but never saw one in the wild until at least 84).

When we started playing Xevious, it felt like Moon Patrol had already been around for a while... Maybe my memory is off, maybe our arcade just got Xevious late. I started playing Moon Patrol because my buddy and I got so good at Xevious that we'd be waiting 20 minutes to half an hour between turns.

Another arcade we went to had Pleiades beside Xevious, and I played a lot of that for the same reason.
 
Look at his list again. He had them listed under the correct release year, you took many of the same titles and put them all under 1982.

I would also have to go with 82... Although my favorite game of all time was already out (Defender), the rest of the games I still love came out in 82. Xevious, Moon Patrol and Robotron (I also love Time Pilot, but never saw one in the wild until at least 84).

When we started playing Xevious, it felt like Moon Patrol had already been around for a while... Maybe my memory is off, maybe our arcade just got Xevious late. I started playing Moon Patrol because my buddy and I got so good at Xevious that we'd be waiting 20 minutes to half an hour between turns.

Another arcade we went to had Pleiades beside Xevious, and I played a lot of that for the same reason.


according to KLOV, his list is messed up.. Mine is correct for 1982..

A quick check shows:
his errors in 1981
------------
Asteroids deluxe is 1980
centipede is 1980
tempest is 1980
zaxxon is 1982

his errors in 1982
--------------
alpine ski is 1981.
crystal casltes is 1983
domino man is 1983
nibbler is 1983

his errors in 1983
-------------
bubbles is 1982
Kozmik Krooz'r is 1982
space ace is 1984
 
I think we need to give 1980 some love.

1980
Asteroids Deluxe
Battlezone
Bezerk
Centipede
Defender
Missle Command
Pac-Man
Phoenix
Star Castle
Tempest
Warlords
Wizard of War

From a nostalgic perspective, 1980 had it all. The first talking games like Berzerk and Wizard of Wor were quite a draw when they first came out. Not to mention the awesome Battlezone tank simulator. The attract mode of Tempest got your attention. And finally...Pac-Man.
 
I know your list is only to '89, but I played the most between '87 and the time arcades started dying out in the mid-90s.

Four of my games are from that era and were among my favorites:

Double Dragon
Willow
Street Fighter II
Neo Geo MVS (multiple titles)

If I had to choose one year and age was no factor, it would have to be 1981. You can't go wrong with DK, Tempest, Galaga and Ms. Pac.
 
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