Golden Age Arcade games are surprisingly good!

[Erik_Twice]

I have to say, I never expected them to hold so well. Before playing a bunch of them in a row and organizing a "King of the Arcade" tournament I thought they were going to feel shallow with perhaps Robotron or Donkey Kong as exceptions. But alas, it seems to me that almost every single of them remain great games to this day.

I thought Ms Pacman was going to be the first one to fall. After all, it's just outrunning ghots, isn't it? But theres so much strategy that only becomes apparent when you consider all the options that it surprises me. It's not just about how dodging a ghost, it's about how to dodge them all, preferably group them and then kill them with the power of drugs. The depth is impressive for such a simple premise.

Similarly and even tough I like the game a lot I thought that Elevator Action was going to feel mediocre and completely outclassed by other modern platformers. But the controlled risks of advancing and lowering each elevator produces very interesting gameplay results. It may not be the best game ever made but it's not as bad as I expected it to be, I expected it to be but a flash-like game, disponsable in 5 minutes.

There are dozen of examples out there. Anyone feel the same way? Or do you disagree?

[Gnashvar]

Bomberman came out in 1983 and if you describe the game it's extremely simple. Something you would expect to have died a while back. But the formula works, mutiplayer is epic fun. Everyone loves Bomberman or at least they should. Also maybe it's not Golden Age Arcade but I thought it would be good idea to include it.

[o.pwuaioc]

My top three would be something like Galaga, Centipede, and Digdug. I can play the old arcade games all day long without tiring.

[Gnashvar]

My top three would be something like Galaga, Centipede, and Digdug. I can play the old arcade games all day long without tiring.

Dig Dug is probably one of my favorites too.

[AgentBurnwood]

Galaga and Breakout are still great for single-player fun, and Pong and Warlords still provide some of the best multiplayer experiences of all time. I also heartily recommend trying out the Exidy game Death Race if you can find an actual machine- or simply play the ROM, especially if you enjoy the modern GTA series.

[fastbilly1]

I love old arcade games, but fixed shooters grow boring to me over time. Games like Joust however...I will play Joust until I die.

Warlords is the best party game ever, even more so than Bomberman.

[noiseredux]

Galaga is perfection.

[YoshiEgg25]

Donkey Kong Jr. is my fave.

Also up on the list are games like Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Q*Bert.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Personally, my favorites in order are:

Joust
Robotron
Ms. PacMan
Galaga
Dig Dug

[DinnerX]

Mr. Do
Pengo
Bank Panic
Pooyan
Shao-Lin's Road

No particular order.