Iconic Games throughout the years...

[Oryk Zinyo]

Robot Bowl was awesome! In 1977 that is what I played quite frequently. Anyway, here is my list:

1976 Sea Wolf / Sprint 2
1977 Boot Hill / Circus
1978 Space Invaders / Atari Football
1979 Asteroids
1980 Battlezone
1981 Defender / Ms. Pac-Man
1982 Pole Position
1983 Spy Hunter / Track & Field

Sprint 2 I'll add, I have been thinking about Atari Football and Defender. Actually, I am surprised no one mentioned Defender before now.


Spy Hunter is easy for me to acquire, T&F not so much...

 

[Jojo With Tha Fl]

How bout T-Mek for 1994??

 

[Phetishboy]

How bout T-Mek for 1994??

I'm a going with Primal Rage for 1994.

 

[Oryk Zinyo]

How bout T-Mek for 1994??

I'm a going with Primal Rage for 1994.

Sorry guys, but in my experience racers ruled the school in 1994. Cruisin' USA and Daytona were both much more popular than any upright despite their additional cost...

 

[jow]

Nobody is saying Paperboy for '84?

 

[Jojo With Tha Fl]

I also think Karate Champ should at leaset get honorable mention for 1984. It was the first side by side fighting game. Spawned an entire generation of games

 

[playpin35]

Sorry guys, but in my experience racers ruled the school in 1994. Cruisin' USA and Daytona were both much more popular than any upright despite their additional cost...

I agree with Cruisin' USA, especially with the environmental version.

 

[Paul Olson]

1993 - Bust A Move

 

[JODY]

I would add Joust to 1982, Missile Command to 1980.

 

[mclemore]

There are some changes to make to the list (an updated version is coming soon), but I'd take a peak here:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/TOP100.php

 

[Oryk Zinyo]

There are some changes to make to the list (an updated version is coming soon), but I'd take a peak here:

http://www.arcade-museum.com/TOP100.php

See, this list has a lot of what I don't want... Uber rare games that no one outside the collector community cares about. Death Race is the first example counting from the top (ignoring Computer Space due to its alpha status). I really want to know the games the average joe loved back in the day.

 

[gozer5454]

I could think of about 50 games that should be the must haves.

 

[Zork2]

1996, SF Rush was the BOMB at the local arcade! They had 2 linked together, and a group of us used to play it EVERY day at lunch....It was mind blowing how realistic it was at the time.....

 

[kjeffery]

Im surprised no one has added Pong which was defiantly an iconic game

 

[Paul Olson]

See, this list has a lot of what I don't want... Uber rare games that no one outside the collector community cares about. Death Race is the first example counting from the top (ignoring Computer Space due to its alpha status). I really want to know the games the average joe loved back in the day.

That is the problem with ranking the 70s games. There weren't very many of them, and the arcades weren't as plentiful. People will remember the ones that they got the chance to play. Stunt Cycle is my favorite from '76, but I think the only other one I played back then was Sprint 2.

 

[Oryk Zinyo]

That is the problem with ranking the 70s games. There weren't very many of them, and the arcades weren't as plentiful. People will remember the ones that they got the chance to play. Stunt Cycle is my favorite from '76, but I think the only other one I played back then was Sprint 2.

That is why I asked for the list to start in 1978. I relaxed that request a bit in order to get everything everyone had to offer on the table.


By the way, I never intended for this to be a vid only list. I would love to hear about wall games, pins, and EMs that were popular...

 

[ELutz]

Atari Football and Fire Truck were pretty big in my neck of the woods.

Edward

 

[AtariShag]

I know this doesn't count for years past but for the very brief time the new Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition was arcade exclusive, it pulled in the crowds. We constantly had 20-30 people hanging around the game and managed to have about 60-70 people here to play the machine during its peak. That support mostly dried up earlier this month thanks to the console release but it shows that the right game with the right circumstances can bring the players in even in 2011.

Here's a picture from one of the tournaments held on the machine in May.

As for an iconic classic game, wouldn't Atari/Kee's TANK count?

 

[Necromancer]

See, this list has a lot of what I don't want... Uber rare games that no one outside the collector community cares about. Death Race is the first example counting from the top (ignoring Computer Space due to its alpha status). I really want to know the games the average joe loved back in the day.

The funny thing about Death Race is that it is was hugely popular when it was released. Death Race was my favorite game in 1976 and 1977 and I saw/played it at several locations. It was only after a lady complained about the game and the Associated Press wrote a negative story did it gain it's current reputation.

As for other games that were popular - mostly non-video:

1969 Chicago Coin Speedway
1970 Sega Gun Fight
1971 Midway Stunt Pilot
1972 Bally Fireball
1973 Pong / Pong Clones
1974 Midway Chopper
1976 Americoin Junkyard
1977 Americoin Dozer

 

[cleverlyj]

i would add tempest for '81 and defender for '80. what about mario bros or star wars for '83?