Essentially a game of Pong against yourself, growing more difficult as you destroy blocks from an enormous wall, Breakout is different every time you play, which is perfect for long sessions if you buy a cabinet for your home. Simple in premise but brutally difficult, these elements have kept Breakout just as playable now as it was at launch. Asteroids is one of the 12 games in Arcade1Up's Atari Legacy cabinet. Physics force you to use your thrusters for a boost in any direction as you blast the rocks you can't dodge, and just like Star Wars, the smart use of blank space has made it age gracefully. Asteroids AsteroidsĪ unique take on the shooter that isn't filled with deadly enemies vying to destroy you, Asteroids is instead focused on a single spaceship trying to avoid the titular asteroids constantly floating through the void. If you want to play Galaxian today, we'd highly recommend Numskull's Quarter Arcade cabinet. Is Galaga better? Undoubtedly, but before you run, you have to walk. Namco's shooter featured noticeably better graphics than Space Invaders, some of the most memorable sound effects of its time, and just enough challenge to keep players stuck to the control deck as their ships exploded in a mess of pixels.

Its sequel is better known-and rightfully so-but Galaxian is no slouch in its own right. While Arcade1Up's Space Invaders cabinet is no longer available at retail stores, you can get this tiny Space Invaders cabinet with a backlit marquee. With iconic enemy designs and ships despite the downright archaic technology, it's no wonder it's still a common reference point for classic arcade games today.

One of the most iconic video games of all time, Space Invaders wasn't the best of the classic arcade fixed-shooter games, but it set a standard that all others had to match. And because they're such classics, you'll definitely want to.

Many of these can be played on alternative platforms today, ranging from home arcade cabinets from Arcade1Up and iiRcade to console ports on Switch, PC, and more. They're inseparable from the story of video games as a whole, and we've rounded up the very best from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Not only were some of the biggest video game franchises of all time birthed in the arcade, but these enormous wooden cabinets kept the medium afloat after systems like the Atari 2600, Intellivision, and ColecoVision went belly-up in the early '80s.Īrcade games offered a sense of community, competition, and intense excitement. The arcade may be nearly a complete relic of the past in 2022-especially post-COVID-but if you play video games, you owe it a debt of gratitude.

Galaxian tabletop arcade game art profile