The 5 Best Retro Video Games of All Time

Many people have similar memories of taking trips to the arcade with a group of friends, collecting coins and setting up in front of your favorite retro game like the Pac Man arcade machine on a heroic mission to beat the high score. These memories bring people back to the simplest, and most fun, times in their lives. To jog your memory further and instil a bit of nostalgia, here is a list of some of the most popular games from the golden age of arcades:

1. Space Invaders: This classic game was created in 1978 by Tomohiro Nishikado. Players are tasked with fending off extraterrestrial forces. As the player starts defeating more and more aliens, their movements and the video game music sped up. You can find various versions of this game online, and on smartphone apps.

2. Centipede: Known as one of the most commercially successful games during the golden age of arcade video games, Centipede was created by Atari in 1980. The goal of this game is to fight off centipedes, spiders, scorpions, and fleas. Like a Pac Man arcade machine, you can find Centipede machines for sale online for your own personal/commercial arcade.

3. Donkey Kong: Released in 1980 by Nintendo, Donkey Kong is one of the most popular video games of all time, with modern versions available across all Nintendo devices. In the original version, Mario (then known as Mr. Video/Jumpman) needed to rescue a “damsel in distress” from the antagonist Donkey Kong.

4. Defenders: This 1981 “shoot ‘em up” game was set on a mysterious planet. The player was required to defeat waves of aliens to protect astronauts from harm. Defenders got inspiration from Space Invaders, and was developed by a programmer who traditionally worked on pinball games.

5. Pac Man: Of course, the Pac Man arcade machine was one of the most popular games when it was released in 1980, and still is in modern arcades. It created a new video game genre in a marketplace filled with shooting games like Defenders, Centipede, and Space Invaders. It is one of the highest-grossing video games of all time. In the ‘90s, the game generated more than $2.5 billion in quarters.

Whether you and your friends found yourselves at the Donkey Kong, Defenders, Centipede, Space Invaders, or the Pac Man arcade machine for hours at a time, for many, they were some of the best hours in one’s childhood. You can find most of these games online, or you can find the machines on eBay for purchase if you are interested in a double dose of video game nostalgia.

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