Have you ever played the 10 most popular arcade games?

How many of the most popular arcade machines of all time have you played?

 Have you ever wondered which are the most popular arcade games of all time? As with any form of entertainment, some are more beloved than others and become a lot more popular, to the point when many of them become so iconic they begin to symbolise the entire arcade game industry!

There are some classic arcade games which have, over the years, shown just how much they are loved by players - and that’s proven by the fact they’ve earned themselves a spot on the list of the top 10 arcade games of all time. These games are so popular they’ve been played and bought into more than any other in the world - and if you know how saturated the gaming market is, you’ll know what an amazing achievement that is!

Whether you’re a regular gamer or only know a small amount about arcade games, there are names of this list that you will definitely recognise, and we’d be surprised if the majority of you hadn’t played at least one of them at some point!

So without further ado, here are the 10 highest grossing, most popular arcades games of all time - can you guess what will be number one?....

An iconic gaming character and the first appearance of Super Mario in the world - of course good old Donkey Kong was going to claim a spot on the world’s most popular arcade games! 

The original Mortal Kombat was hounded by parental groups and politicians for being so violent and gory - which of course made it extremely popular with kids and teenagers upon its release!

It’s the golden rule of Hollywood that if a film is successful, a sequel should be in the works as soon as possible, and that rule clearly applies to arcade games too! In money terms, Mortal Kombat actually did a lot better than its predecessor, and it remains a firm favourite with fans of classic arcade machines.

A hugely innovative game when it arrived on the scene back in 1979, the new technology that was used in its design (at the time!) was popular enough to maintain a top 10 spot nearly 40 years later.

Sometimes the most simple things work the best, which is a large part of Defender’s success story; capitalising on the ever-popular ‘shooter’ style of game, this was one of the original arcade machines to find mass appeal, which clearly still resonates today.

When two American classics collide - arcade games and basketball - it’s a match made in heaven, and the enduring popularity of this sporting game is proof of how successful these kind of games can be.

Ms Pac-Man

Pac-Man got a lady friend back in the day (who looked suspiciously like Pac-Man himself, with a pink hair bow!). Their union was clearly a big hit with players of the game, and it remains one of the all time great cheesy classics of all time!

Street Fighter II

The smash hit of the 1990s, Street Fighter still II eclipsed the original to become the third most popular game of all time - it’s a true classic of the 90s gaming style.

Space Invaders

The first arcade game to take off on a massive scale and still one of the most beloved. Space Invaders has been entertaining us since the 1970s and shows no signs of being knocked from its place in our affections.

Pac-Man

Is is any surprise?! Even in modern society, where a new video game is released almost every week, Pac-Man remains one of the all time greats. He’s even recognised by people who’ve never picked up a game control in their lives - now that’s iconic.

Here at Games Room Company, vintage arcade games are our passion - so whether you’re looking for advice about these classic arcade games or you want to track down your own machine, contact us or pop into our showroom and we’ll share all our gaming wisdom! You'll find all of our retro games machines here...