The 10 best Arcade Archives games on modern consoles – Reader’s Feature

A reader discusses some of his favourite arcade games, from Scramble to Ridge Racer, and how you can play them for cheap on any current format.

If you’re a certain age (or even if you’re not), now and again you might get a pang (pun intended) for the old arcade scene from the heyday of the 80s and 90s. Whilst it’s difficult to replicate the sticky carpets, shifty looking customers, and visual and audio overload of walking through an arcade from that era, you can easily curate your own pseudo arcade in your own home.

I’ve found the Arcade Archives (ACA, published by Hamster) collection on all the store fronts invaluable to scratch that nostalgia itch, so below I’ve highlighted 10 of my favourite video games from the golden era of arcades.

Even if none of these tickle your fancy, I reckon there’s over 500 titles to choose from, if you’re after a quick fix.

Bomb Jack

A single screen affair where you simply diffuse the bombs before they go off, whilst avoiding the enemies and collecting the bonus items. The flying/floating mechanic makes this just the right side of addictive vs. frustrating.

Rainbow Islands

The follow on from Bubble Bobble (which is also available) keeps the cutesy platform aesthetic but is no longer restricted to a single screen; now you scroll upwards towards your goal on a journey of rainbows and smiles. Fiendishly addictive, with an ace tune to boot.

Track & Field

The OG joystick killer on 8-bit micros, this was multiplayer heaven as you either went head to head with your mate or the computer to try and get personal bests in several events. The definitive one more go title that’ll get you looking up new techniques online, to see how to improve on your javelin.

Ridge Racer

Fast paced racing, this is definitely no sim, where ridiculous but spectacular drifting is not only allowed but encouraged to get the faster times. Courses are limited, but this isn’t aimed at someone who wants to spend a couple of hours honing their skills, it’s very much a quick blast type of game.

Big Tournament Golf

I think this has gone through various naming conversations and I just know it as that Neo Geo golf game [Neo Turf Masters is its more common name – GC]. What it lacks in sophistication it makes up for in playability, albeit in a very simple way. However, that doesn’t make it easy, and it’s suitably challenging to keep you interested.

Contra

Talking of genre defining titles, this side-scrolling run ‘n’ gun started a franchise that probably peaked with the SNES version of Contra 3 (bizarrely called Super Probotector in the UK). The series was known for its difficulty and the game that it started it all is no different.

Ikari Warriors

A slightly better Commando, this vertically scrolling run ‘n’ gun game gets the basics right. Action packed all the way; this won’t disappoint if you’re after a quick blast of a genre sadly lacking in recent times.

Scramble

Probably the earliest game on this list, this horizontal shmup was understandably groundbreaking in its time. Allowing the player to combat both airborne and ground attacks gave another dimension to the gameplay and although it now looks a little simplistic (unsurprising given it’s over 40 years old; actually it’s 45, having just checked) it still has its charm.

Double Dragon

One of the grandfathers of the scrolling beat ‘em up games, this still packs a punch. Maybe a little simplistic by today’s standards but still extremely fun; you could argue the likes of Streets Of Rage perfected the formula, but Double Dragon walked so that Streets Of Rage could run.

Yie Ar Kung-Fu

Preceding Street Fighter 2 by seven years, this one-on-one fighter introduced the concept of increasingly difficult opponents, each with their own techniques, strengths and weaknesses. This was one of the first arcade cabinets where a small audience would gather around a good player to watch their technique as they played through each level.

By reader TheTruthSoul (PSN ID)

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