Top Five Arcade Games of All Time

In the 1980s, video arcades were a major part of the existence of teens and preteens. Many a weekly allowance would be converted to quarters and fed into machines in order to play the latest game. Although business has slowed for arcades in recent years, the effect of arcades on the video game industry still can't be ignored. The following is a list of the top five arcade games of all time in chronological order.

Pong - 1972
Pong is arguably the first arcade game of all time. Although it was simple in both game play and graphics, it proved to be an addictive first step in gaming. Using controllers called 'paddles,' players would maneuver a bar along the side of the screen that would prevent a white ball from leaving their area. Pong was essentially a Ping Pong inspired video game that turned the game of table tennis into something played on a television. Popularity for this game boomed, and so started the idea of arcade games as we know it.

Pac Man - 1980
Who knew that guiding a little yellow man shaped like a pie missing a piece around a board could be so addictive? Pac Man, which came out in 1980, was an immediate success in video arcades. Players maneuvered the character Pac Man around a maze, eating dots and avoiding ghosts. To complete a level, the Pac Man would have to eat all of the dots from that level. Difficulty would increase with each level gained. Although Pong hasn't had much staying power for newer generations, kids of today can still find value and fun game play in Pac Man. This says a lot seeing as it was released more than 25 years ago.

Donkey Kong - 1981
This game inspired several game franchises that became huge successes. Donkey Kong is an ape who's holding a princess captive. You, as the player, need to move up platforms and ladders while avoiding barrels that the ape throws your way. The player plays as Jump Man, an early name for Mario. Spun off from this game was a large host of Mario-centric series as well as series centered on Donkey Kong himself. Not only was this game popular at the time, but we wouldn't have Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong Country without it.

Street Fighter - 1987
Most of the arcade games that were popular in the first decade of video arcades were puzzle based. Toward the late 1980s, however, 2D fighting games began to gain popularity. One of the more noted games in this genre is Street Fighter. The player can pick who they'll fight as among a list of characters, and use their moves to fight against others. Friends can even fight against each other with this arcade game style. Street Fighter was so popular that it developed into many spin offs and sequels, moving their popularity into the 1990s.

Dance Dance Revolution - 1998
Video arcades began to lose popularity in the '90s when the games began to lose quality and the price to play each game skyrocketed. Many of the arcades we grew up with were closing due to loss of revenue. In 1998, Konami released Dance Dance Revolution, a new kind of arcade game focused on physical dance moves. Players stand on a four button pad and step on the different buttons as arrows move up on a screen. With this game, there was a resurgence in arcade attendance. For video arcades to stay open, they needed to have a Dance Dance Revolution arcade machine. The popularity of this game swept the nation and became a regular topic of newspaper articles and news show spots.

Even with the help of Dance Dance Revolution, arcades aren't what they used to be. They are much more expensive and don't carry nearly as popular games as they did in the '80s. These top five arcade games were not only fun to play, but had a tremendous impact on arcades and video games as we know them.