Best 1980s Video Games!

[@spiderman4x]

Pauline was just Pauline, not Peach. She appears in Super Mario Odyssey on the Switch. Great video still.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and helping out on that.

[@scottakanumba1heathen379]

Pauline also had a cameo in "Pinball" for NES by Nintendo during a bonus points area. She also had different colored hair.

[@csnide6702]

she was known as Peach and Princess peach in numerous games - that's why the announcer said it , I'm sure......

[@wendyokoopa7048]

@@RhettyforHistory I was about to comment same thing. Toadstool(aka Peach) is her own woman. Pauline is widely considered to be Mario's ex girlfriend.

[@wendyokoopa7048]

@@RhettyforHistory but I loved this video nonetheless.

[@KentKaliber]

Good gosh there will NEVER BE A DECADE as FUN as the 80's. I miss it so badly :(

[@kimmieh8419]

AGREED!!! 🤗

[@deborahchesser7375]

we would ride our bikes to my buddies parents store and got whatever we wanted then to the pool and swam most of the day, after that we’d go to Shakeys pizza and on the way home stop at the bowling alley to play some games. Or we’d go to Lawsons right by our house and play Robotron or whatever they had at the time, I would go back in a hot second.

[@riteshmishra3093]

90s was better than 80s

[@26snoopy82]

I agree I was born in the 80’s. I grew up with, Atari, NES, at swim meets I would hand out at the arcades as my brothers swam. I grew up playing with my brother’s toys he man, Transformers, go bots, Star war toys, thundercats, garbage patch kids. I wish the D&D did not have the bad news I want to play it. My parents do not wan5 me to play it.

[@jackson5116]

Do you really miss men/boys in short shorts like you see at 0:18? So many claim to miss them, but yet don't want to see that again- then you don't really miss them if you miss their fashion! ;)

[@mariacasillad7632]

I miss the 80s more than I can express, as a 16 yr old back than I wouldn't trade those awesome memories for anything 🦋💕

[@karlepaul6632]

Galaga was my all time favorite, especially when you doubled up on ships and shooting the bonus rounds!

[@Johnnywhamo]

It was an awesome game for sure!!!

[@DisparityOfBeliefAndTruth]

80s was an awesome decade to be a kid. I was born mid 70s so I got childhood and adolescence during that stretch. My parents used to forbid me from hanging out at the local arcade cuz they said that’s where the riff raff hung out. They were in denial, not realizing that I was part of the riff raff.

[@jarrysciligo5395]

😀 So true. You and me both, lol.

[@princessmarlena1359]

I wish I had been born 7 years earlier or so in order to have been old enough to have better appreciated the ‘80s.

[@bigballzmcdrawz2921]

Was born 1983 and remember going to some arcades during the late 80s (my older brother & I's birthday is the same day but we're 6 years apart) on birthdays. I didn't get to truly experience the arcade until the 90s.

[@mham1330]

🤣😅🤣

[@scottr5661]

My mom used to not want me to go to the arcade because they sold drugs there. Never saw that happen if it did. Still spent too much time and money at the arcade despite not being able to go. The joys of the 80s...no technology tracking your every move.

[@jmorgan5252]

I spent a lot of time and money in arcades back in the day, my favorite being Joust. Thanks for the memories Rhetty

[@RhettyforHistory]

Joust wad a great one! That is certainly one that could have been on this list. Thank you for watching!

[@ericteneyck8691]

Oh yeah, I loved Joust!

[@JTCT371]

@@ericteneyck8691 I started with Space Invaders, Asteroids games like that....but Pacman sent the masses to the arcades....made them "the place to be" lol.....Defender, Joust, Centipede, DigDug, Berzerk, Robotron....none of them could have done what PacMan did.

[@jamesbullock9209]

Joust is one of those games I mastered back in the day. I remember playing the one at the corner convenience store and the neighborhood kids would look at me playing and realize the game wouldn't be open for at least a couple of hours. I would love to have a full-sized arcade version of it now!

[@warface4881]

I loved Joust, unfortunately I sucked at it.

[@matthewclay6535]

I was 12 yrs. old in 1980... the perfect time for the video arcade craze that was just beginning to sweep the country. "Crazy Climber" was one of my favorites! Wish I had a time machine! Nice video by the way!! Thanks.

[@susanmenn5016]

YES!! That was one of my favorites, too. Was looking to see if someone else mentioned it.

[@cnfuzz]

Frontline , western sherrif , pleiads, qix , Astro blaster the list goes on , we witnessed the very birth of what was to come from electromechanical into digital 1975-1985

[@guslevy3506]

“Go for it!!”

[@IMRROcom]

1967 - perfect year for the entire 1980's We had it all.

[@billybarnett2846]

The 80s was decade where everything sort of came together for a lot of kids in America. I miss everything about it.

[@epcotman32]

Yes

[@matthewplatz4572]

The 90s werent so bad either.

[@northeastcorals]

@@matthewplatz4572 Then it started going down hill after that.

[@johnjeffreys6440]

That's because you were a teenager in the 80's. If you were 50 in the 80's, you wouldn't have enjoyed it the same way.

[@pamosborn1956]

My boyfriend & I spent rolls of quarters at a 7-11 playing GAUNTLET!!!! We Loved it!

[@Bacopa68]

"Elf is about to die!"

[@davidaustin4407]

No missle command? That was a classic

[@RhettyforHistory]

That was a great game to play! Thank you for watching!

[@joeheid4757]

I loved MC. When it finally got to Atari my late dad and I had some epic games.

[@alistairmcelwee7467]

Definitely Missile Command should be on this list.

[@catholic200747]

A couple of rare games, Gorf and Rally X.

[@catholic200747]

Another rare, late 80's one, Galaga 88.

[@bighuge1060]

I wish I were a youngster seeing this through fresh eyes and being entirely taken aback. As a 61 year old, I remember well when our mall got rid of an eatery/food court across from the theaters and the space gave way to a video arcade. It was an experience you can not recreate on a home videogame system by oneself.

[@lleblanc1969]

Moon Patrol and Ghosts and Goblins were my favorites.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and mentioning a couple of your favorites!

[@johnnyhartdawg6220]

@@RhettyforHistory asteroids and space invaders were my favorites

[@techmeout1362]

Great video. One of the most popular games of the 80s left off the list was Asteroids. GREAT game and even more popular than Pacman in it's time.

[@laureencriss8220]

Yes! I was looking for this comment. And Space Invaders, Burger Time.... 😊

[@GeorgeLennon100]

Wish I had all those quarters back today! Every weekend was spent at the arcade. I can still remember many rows of different games.

[@tempestfury8324]

Gauntlet with four players was extremely fun! I also loved Space Duel, a two player sequel to Asteroids; you could link the two ships together that would make movement a wacky and risky endeavor. The sit-inside version of Star Wars was incredible but usually cost 50¢, as did Dragon's Lair when it released. I also love another vector graphics game from Atari that is rarely mentioned....Major Havoc!

[@Caseytify]

Actually, Space Duel came well before Asteroids

[@tempestfury8324]

@@Caseytify : Asteroids came out in 1979. Space Duel came out in 1982.

[@jeffreysg]

I think my favorite Frogger TV reference was when George found a Frogger arcade and had to cross a busy street with it. They then filmed a top view of George crossing the street, Frogger style, avoiding cars to get to the other side. That’s gold, Jerry. Gold!

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and sharing a memory!

[@luisreyes1963]

Ah, a Seinfeld reference. 😁

[@francisdhomer5910]

I wish they had a LOL I would have pushed it multiple times. I never seen this episode but it had to have been hilarious.

[@DefextOfficial]

Love it!

[@Ozymandias1]

Some students also played real-life Frogger on highways. Sometimes with fatal results. Just don’t do this.

[@tonydavis8696]

I was born in 1968, and loved going to arcades in the 80s. One arcade near me had Pac Man Plus. I don't remember seeing that one around as much as regular Pac Man. Jr. Pac Man could be a real challenge.

[@robindew9072]

The 89s really was the best decade ever. Such fun. So many wonderful memories. The arcade was always so much fun.

[@backwoodsbully9841]

AGREED!

[@loishunt2347]

Oh wow. Thoroughly enjoyed this!! Galaga was my all time favorite. Had my initials at the top of the screen many times. Our arcade here in Logansport was Bally's Great Escape. No clock on the wall on purpose! Lol. Anyone remember Joust and Mappy? Loved those too!

[@richarda2248]

Thanks for the memories! I seem to recall a Star Wars game you could sit in. Being told that” the force is strong in this one “ is still a highlight of my arcade days!

[@mikehagmaier3949]

I remember that! That audio seemed to physically put me into the Star Wars galaxy. What a great memory - I can still feel that buzz from over 40 years ago!

[@danieldaniels7571]

That game with it's surround sound, actual samples from the film, 3-D vector graphics, and completely unique analog controller was probably the best ever.

[@STRANGExDAYSx]

The 80s...I miss sooo much 😞 damn....❤️ The 80s is just a era that will always stay relevant, there's still games, movies and other related things that have a 80s influence or concepts 👍

[@randysegar7722]

I feel your pain. The 80s will always hold a special place in my heart. As a drummer i saw most of the hair bands and a ton of metal shows too. I'll never forget any of them 🤘

[@SandraLily2]

The abundance of cocaine comes to mind...

[@STRANGExDAYSx]

@@SandraLily2 lol. Every era has it's issues, but at least coke is natural. It's better than all these tweakers running around like zombies stealing everything lol. Meth was around back then but it wasn't as relevant as it is in the modern day, but even if you find coke today, it definitely isn't what it used to be 😵‍💫

[@dreamguardian8320]

I miss the 80s too. I was lucky to be born during that time.

[@CaptainSkeleton2004]

Classic arcade games are one of my favorite to play, even though the graphics are outdated i still enjoy them.

[@RhettyforHistory]

I still enjoy them as well. They were simple to play and that still works for me. Thank you for watching!

[@mattm1686]

graphics are over rated!

[@markwebb1040]

2 games that immediately came to mind were Star Castle and Gorf. There was also Omega Race, Berzerk, Rally X. But one of my absolute favorites was Wizard of Wor. It's one of the earliest co-op games that I know of but you also had the challenge of not shooting your teammate. Great times. On a side note, once I made a slug out of melted solder and it actually worked.

[@kimmieh8419]

Lol, a slug! That’s funny!😆

[@francisdhomer5910]

If Omega Race is what I am thinking of I enjoyed it. It don't seem to have became as popular as others. Like I said if it's the one I'm thinking of my arcade had the sit down one. It was like being in the actual cockpit and people could watch you. Well designed as far as spectators goes

[@bprice6890]

Star Castle was awesome

[@johnarhodes3748]

This brings back memories. I spent the first two years of college in an arcade. I’ve remember and played most of the games that you mentioned.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and sharing your memories. It was certainly a great time period to experience!

[@tonyn3227]

Fantastic times in 1980 s, loved it

[@lindaball6714]

Hi Rhetty ! I was huge centipede fan. Used to go as a big group on Fridays and hang. Was really a great generation (Genx) we had all the cool shyt 😍😎

[@RhettyforHistory]

I loved centipede and some of those roller balls would get stiff if they didn't maintain them properly. That could really give you a workout if they let it go. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

[@X7393]

Yeah your right about that Linda👍🏻 but don’t forget about those Roller rinks especially as a kid to teenager👍🏻 oh 😧 those were the days👍🏻 the quarter cruncher generation 👍🏻

[@kimmieh8419]

@@RhettyforHistory It’s funny you say that about the roller balls! Golden Tee is a great example of how much punishment that roller would take! That and your hand if you tee off with gusto and smash it on the screen! 😬😳

[@rladen1]

Asteriods, Missile Command, Xevious, Gyruss, Joust, Burger Time just to name a few that were not on the list. The early 80's was a timeless, priceless era. Tons and tons of bands touring to choose from, along with arcades everywhere, so much to do as a teenager. Nothing compares.

[@Carolbearce]

I remember so many of these games. Awesome look back on them.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching Carol!

[@DSBac]

Dragon’s Lair was super popular at the pizza restaurant my family frequented back when it came out. The cabinet had such large crowds gathered around it, they eventually added a second monitor on top of the cabinet so people in the back of the crowd could see what was happening. I remember that game being incredibly hard to play. But those laser disc games were pretty awesome to look at back then!

[@peterbelanger4094]

There was a Dragon's Lair in the restaurant across the street from my school in 8th grade in 1983/4, It collected a LOT of quarters from us students. There was also a Star Wars game. The pizza place around the corner had Donkey Kong, I think.

[@DefextOfficial]

Cool story... bro. :)

[@danieldaniels7571]

So much fun to watch, but not all that fun to play.

[@danieldaniels7571]

@@peterbelanger4094 the Star Wars game was amazing, especially if you could find a sit down model with surround sound. As an old fart I'd be willing to drive long way to play that again.

[@dreamguardian8320]

Dragon's Lair and Space Ace were both fun games. Even tough I got killed and lost a lot of times, it was awesome to see a 2D animated game you could actually play. Don Bluth was a genius. If only we had more of his video games and movies around today.

[@appleforever6664]

Vanguard, Mr. Do, Lady Bug and Jungle Hunt were among my favorite.

[@RhettyforHistory]

I did play Jungle Hunt a lot. Thank you for watching and helping us to remember more!

[@h15c0r3r]

Mr Do was amazing and still holds up today.

[@zerohero187]

Pitfall was one of my favorites. It was released in 1982 on Atari.

[@mrzugzug]

I rarely see any of my favorites anymore. Asteroids, Star Castle, and Space Invaders were all staples of my childhood. Maybe I can one day play these again. Fingers crossed.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Those were all great ones! Thank you for watching!

[@AdmiralBison]

You can. Just download the entire rom set and play it on your phone.

[@mantbird]

and Pole Position

[@mattsergel5704]

That's where it all started space Invaders and Asteroids. That was the very first games that I remember back then. Me and my brother would walk to the arcade in 1978 and play space invaders and the following year asteroids. I will never forget those games, not to mention how hard it was to get on one back then.

[@Caseytify]

Agreed. About the only one you didn't mention was (IIRC) Battle Zone; tank on tank warfare.

[@stephen3164]

As a kid in the 80’s, the local arcade was such a magical place of wonder. Our town had 3 of them! I never had a roll of quarters - usually just $1-2 worth. Once I cashed in $5 and felt like a king! I could play so many games! The arcades were busy places, full of kids, though mostly teenagers. When you’re 8 years old, those 14 year old giants were intimidating. A bunch of time in the arcade was not spent playing the games, but instead watching others play. It was commonplace that if you walked by someone playing, and they were doing real good, you’d stay and watch. Not uncommon for crowds to form to watch. I can proudly (?) say there were some games I got pretty good at. Turning around after your game and seeing a bunch of strangers standing there and some commenting how good you were felt pretty great. Getting to put your initials, or 3 letter word in the high scores list was cool. I played the heck out of Track And Field - both the rollerball control version which pinched the hell out of your fingers, or the two buttons to run where you would quickly and loudly pound those buttons to run fast. I gravitated toward the driving games, so besides Pole Position, there were games like Spy Hunter, and a bunch of others that I thoroughly enjoyed. Cruising USA was late 80’s, but a lot of fun.

[@JeffCarrillo71801]

Wow! What a trip down memory lane! As an 80's kid, I dropped many, MANY quarters into Pac-Man, Galaga, Defender, and Star Wars! Those were good days and good times! Thanks for the great video!

[@RhettyforHistory]

You're welcome and thank you for watching!

[@john91z]

Some of my favorites that you missed: Asteroids,Missle Command,Joust,Frontline,Robotron,Burgertime,Xevious,Moon Patrol,Space Invaders,Spy Hunter,Popeye

[@joseleswopes1400]

I remember these and my kids wanting quarters constantly 😎

[@RhettyforHistory]

I'm sure lots of parents lost money over these places. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

[@cartman2847]

Great Video. Missing Night Driver, Star Castle, Asteroids and Missile Command

[@brandi8040]

An arcade recently opened up in my town. We had a birthday party there for my son & daughter. They had a great time, but I think my dad had the most fun. ❤️ Wonderful memories we made & revisited!

[@jonkaminsky8382]

When Q*Bert fell off the pyramid there was an electric “thumper” inside that would create a brief sound and a sensation throughout the wooden frame that made it seem as if Q*Bert had hit the bottom of the box inside. My favorite as a kid back then was “Battle Zone” - it was a three dimensional tank battle that you had to fight by out maneuvering the A.I. opponents. “Karate Champ” was another iconic game. Running out of quarters was awful … so to delay the inevitable you would just watch other people play. The Arcades always had the smell of warm T.V. tubes and circuit boards .. that warm electronics smell from all those machines being pushed to their graphical limits daily. Great memories from the 80’s !!

[@evazdivaz]

Going to the large arcades was like going to Disney land as a kid. But the best arcade games were in your local pizzeria :)

[@RhettyforHistory]

Those were both great places to play games! It's just not the same anymore. Thank you for watching Eva!

[@jackson5116]

Eh, I saw top arcade cabinets at laundromats in the 80's, so not every great arcade was at an eatery. It seemed like everyone, and I mean everyone was jumping on the arcade bandwagon at that point.

[@francisdhomer5910]

@@jackson5116 The best were the games at a bar. Especially at 1 am. I wouldn't play but more than happy to give a quarter for a drunk friend to play. It was funny when he would miss the button to shoot. How he missed I'm not sure, after all he had three to choose from lol

[@number9434]

Speaking of Disneyland, they had the best arcade I've ever been to. Starcade was the best.

[@senderxxiii2112]

@@jackson5116 I remember at least 7 spots in my (small) hometown where they had mostly one or two arcade machines. Bars, restaurants, movie theater, beachside etc... But the weirdest thing was at the funfair which happens once a year. Once they had a truck trailer that was basically modified to a mobile arcade. Now that was fun!

[@susieuramoto7491]

LOVE this!! That was me. Every weekend at the local arcade, Stargate. Wearing bright colored clothes and suspenders, playing Pac Man. Such a fun childhood!!

[@albertwaggoner3249]

Ahh the memories, Rhetty my friend you are still on top with your ideas, so enjoyable, keep up the great work.....thanks

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching Albert and I'm happy to hear you are enjoying the videos!

[@Rocker5005]

A lot of fun games and great memories from the 80's video games and music. They sure have changed over the years though, there weren't any games that you had to cut off heads, shoot people in the face or cut off arms either.

[@cris_261]

Bubble Bobble, Elevator Action, Space Gun, and The Legend of Kage, were some arcade favorites of mine.

[@radioactive9861]

I LOVED 'elevator action'...totally sucked at the game, but loved it nonetheless

[@meganc769]

Bubble Bobble was my favorite! I used to rent it all the time from my local video store for my Nintendo..also loved Contra.

[@justafanofnerdculture7602]

Growing up in the 80s was absolutely magical! The arcades/game consoles, toys, comic books, tv shows, pro wrestling, movies, malls, bikes, Saturday morning cartoons (cartoons in general) fast food restaurants...I could go on forever! Some of the very, very best times of my life took place during that insanely amazing decade. I miss it very, very much.

[@cryogeneric]

Still think Defender has some of the best sounds ever created for a video game.

[@eauhomme]

7:46 Dragon's Lair had such incredible graphics because it was recorded on a laser disc, the first ever game to do this. The game play was simplistic because the movement of the joystick or press of a button would determine which scene came up next in the laser disc, similar to a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book (another great 80's artifact).

[@jkxelor1295]

Awesome. Centipede ruled!

[@RhettyforHistory]

I always loved it! Thank you for watching!

[@Fireinthestubble]

Some of my fondest childhood memories come from Arcades. When I was 7 I played a pinball machine in a skating rink. For whatever reason I kept playing for about 45 minutes. I drew a small crowd and didn’t understand why. But I was happy and having fun. Great times. 😢

[@tbury2516]

Love your videos! Living in the arcades as a teen and young adult it brought me about 5 years ago to remodel my basement to put an arcade in it. Have 9 games and 3 pinball machines. The only bad thing is being so old now, you spend more time fixing them then playing them. ps props on the Micheal Anthony with Pac Man pic!

[@RhettyforHistory]

Wow! Sounds like you have an awesome basement! I'm jealous! Thank you for watching and sharing about what you have.

[@SquirrelDarling1]

My Dad loved playing Defender, he was good at it. Asteroids was another great game.

[@RedSiegfried]

I still hit up arcades whenever I can. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, a lot of arcades now charge the flat fee, and that's not so great if you only have a short time to drop in and play a few games. But it's good to see all the retro arcades doing pretty well these days, regardless of their business model. Favorite games of all time: Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, Terminator 2, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Though I do love me many of the "deep classics" you mentioned in the video.

[@RhettyforHistory]

You're right about these flat fees changing the enjoyment. If you are there on your lunch hour or just have a little time to waste its not quite as enjoyable. You definitely need more time to feel like you've gotten your money's worth. I do love seeing these making a come back though. Thank you for watching and sharing ones that you enjoyed!

[@John-vn1tv]

How much is the flat fee to play because that sucks 😔

[@kimmieh8419]

OMG MY STEPDAD WOULD NEVER BE HOME! Lol I posted about how his business was next to a variety store that had Q-Bert and he’d go after work. He’d have a roll of quarters on the top of the machine and wouldn’t leave till they were gone! He got so good that he’d be able to play on that first quarter forever! Mom finally put her foot down after he started missing dinner! She said, “Be home by 7pm and I don’t care if you still have $9.75 left!”😆😆

[@58jharris]

The days of dropping into an arcade on your lunch break are long gone. Retro arcades are something you spend at least a few hours at, hence the flat fee. If they still charged individual quarters they wouldn't be worth the cost for most people.

[@AbbyNormL]

I was totally addicted to Astroids in the early 80s. I could play for hours with just a few quarters. It was one of the first converted arcade games I played on my first PC around 1984.

[@jamesbullock9209]

Along with Joust, Robotron 2084, Time PIlot, and Gyruss were some of my favorites. I would spend hours trying to master each of these back then!

[@monolithgeometry3221]

Joust, yes. Hit them and they crap out the egg for you to collect

[@djh2633]

Robotron was awesome!

[@shawnpalencia1121]

A sense of nostalgic. Really missed those good old days.

[@windermere2330]

I loved playing Galaga & Donkey Kong. I could hardly ever get past the third set of elevators. I did maybe three times and I felt such a sense of accomplishment! I was so addicted to these games I would actually steal quarters from my parents! I wasn’t a bad kid really, I just needed my fix!

[@mbrown5494]

Ahhhh... memory lane. great years for me as a teen. I had forgotten a few of these games!

[@leonardcavaretta905]

I played and loved everyone of those games. 2 of my favorites that you didn't mention are Joust and Synastar.

[@RhettyforHistory]

I really loved playing Joust and almost put it in this video.

[@willhorting5317]

Loved both of those games.😎

[@milestardie7288]

Thanks for the memories...now I really feel OLD!!

[@awwrelic]

Oh, I remember the arcades back in the day. I was 18 in 1980 when I went to my first arcade, which was old enough to still have pinballs and pool tables. When video games really took off in the early 80s, I saw machines in grocery stores and even drug stores (the drug store in Ashville OH was where I first played Donkey Kong), and back then, some of the arcades, particularly the one I remember just inside of Circleville OH allowed smoking; not good when you could see some of those old machines with burn marks where people parked their cigarette while they played. Games I would suggest for a possible future installment would include Taito's Jungle Hunt, Midway's Sinistar (an early game that featured digitized speech ("RUN, COWARD!"), Berzerk (two people playing this one died during play!), Konami's Gyruss, Nintendo's Mario Bros (which introduced Luigi, though I don't think he was called that initially), Atari's Battlezone (a very early FPS that was used to train tank crews as the Bradley Trainer), Sega's Space Harrier and Afterburner, and I could go on but won't :)

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and sharing your memories. You certainly mentioned some good ones!

[@jonkaminsky8382]

I remember playing Battlezone as a kid .. the immersive sound and 3-D graphics were just incredible back then.

[@BippityBoppity99]

Major Havoc and Tailgunner. Could not get enough of those!

[@toddlenard7602]

I remember being 13 years old and my dad dropping me off at the mall. Of course I skipped the movie and went straight to the arcade and spent all my money there. When my dad pick me up later he picked me up on the other side of the mall where the arcade was. He says to me so you're telling me you spent all your money in that arcade and didn't even go see a movie and all those other kids leaving out of there spent all their money at the arcade as well. And I said begrudgingly yes. Thinking I was kind of in trouble within a couple of weeks my dad owned businesses at the front of our property and had a one right up front by the highway that was empty. Next thing I know the whole building is full of pool tables pinball machines and some of the first arcade games. He hands me the keys to the place that says make sure everybody has a good time and make sure they have plenty of change so they can spend their money. Man I was like a kid in a candy store even after closing I could play all the games I wanted for hours on end. We even had one pinball machine called Bigfoot. It was so large that it took two players most the time to play. Needless to say I had an awesome time and learned how to work and work with people. My dad made good money and also I got paid as well. Thanks Dad. I'm 55 years old and I will never forget it.

[@brianstratton8767]

Wow, your Dad was right on top of trend$. Mine was thinkin' of dragging me away from beloved TV into the Peace Corps but he died suddenly summer of '73. So I delivered papers for a couple years then worked at dairy farm across street. Father & son operation & way too religious for me but we did our jobs. Went to a scary foreclosure auction where everything ( livestock, machinery, buildings) was caked in manure:0. Then along came Darien Lake Fun* Country..but think it's time to play either Space Invaders on Game Boy or Triple Yahtzee on this way too smart phone. * our pavilion maintenance crew FuN was shoveling up after massive chicken BBQ's, oh yeah..

[@josephweaver9755]

Wow, you brought back so many memories. I’ve played every single one of those games and loved every minute of it.

[@sirellyn]

You rock! Please keep these "life in the 80s" videos going please!

[@PANTHALASSAfishing619]

Always check the coin return, loved it when you would find a quarter , it was like finding treasure.

[@jerricocke987]

I've actually played all of the games mentioned at one time or another. Although I think my absolute favorite was tempest. The glories of a misspent use.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and sharing your memories! That was certainly a great game to play!

[@rallypoint1]

Yes Tempest was one of the greatest for me!!! Played at a supermarket called “Market Basket”. Those were the days🥹

[@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063]

Misspent “youth”

[@jerricocke987]

@@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063 I am visually impaired so I use talk to text from messaging and sometimes spell check and what I say are two different things entirely I apologize for the incorrect you word usage.

[@travisanderson8305]

At the time, I remember pumpin a LOT of quarters into Gaunlet. Like Dragons Lair, a total cash grab

[@Riptide-hw9cy]

This video definitely brought some great arcade memories. Thank you for sharing

[@TammieR-B]

Shinobi and pole position for me!!! I had forgotten some of these I was really really bad at paperboy 🙄 awesome video 👍 thanks Rhetty ✌️💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@RhettyforHistory]

I do remember Shibobi. Thank you for watching Tammie!

[@b213videoz]

Saboteur (1) was better than Shinobi 🤪

[@trevagraham1605]

@Tammie R-B I think everyone was bad at Paperboy lol!

[@scringe1]

Shinobi 🥷 was one of my favorite games. The music was so memorable. The ending credits song sticks with me even though I haven't played it in 35 years.

[@STEPHANTODD]

No one remembers Galaga 88, but I loved it.

[@socalstangman4655]

Man I was so lucky to grow up in the 80's. There was nothing better than walking home from school (not even thinking about being kidnapped or shot) with friends and going to the arcade. I spent so many hours playing games its not even funny. I wish I could go back in time and just spend one week there just so I could appreciate it. Sadly, as kids we didn't know how goos it was...we didn't know these were the good times. We all wanted to grow up and be adults, now we all want to go back and be kids again...

[@norwaynorway2763]

THANKS a million for taking me back to MEMORY LN.. with this video. I actually remember PLAYING every single game that you mention in your video.

[@jeffgray7922]

Man this video just hit me hard with the nostalgia! I've played every game on this list. Donkey Kong was one of the first video games I ever played. There was a cabinet in our Holiday Inn that we were staying at and I'll never forget getting hooked on this game and video games in general because of it. I also played Pac Man all the time although I really enjoyed Ms. Pacman much more. I also spent a lot of time playing Dig Dug,Tempest, Tron and Q-bert. There are just so many games I used to play that it's hard to list them all. I do remember loving Crystal Caverns and dropped a lot of tokens in that one. Joust was another one I played a lot. I remember being blown away by Dragon's Lair when I first played it in a Crystal's pizza. The cartoon graphics were so far above anything else we had ever seen although the "gameplay" was limited to simple button clicks and joystick movements but it didn't matter to me because it was just so cool looking and exciting. By the time I played Super Mario Bros. at a Peter Piper pizza, the Nintendo Entertainment system was released and I was soon playing it at home. That was just the most amazing moment for me in playing video games, that I was playing an arcade game at home and it looked exactly like the arcade game, unlike Pac Man for the Atari 3600. I've been a gamer ever since. Great video!

[@RhettyforHistory]

I remember going to Peter Piper Pizza and they had a pretty good selection of video games to play for a smaller place. It was certainly a great place to go. My favorite was always Crystals because they had a large selection of games. I sure miss that place. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories of some long forgotten places!

[@me5768]

Dude I remember Peter Piper Pizza spending hours they’re using up all my paper route money!

[@midgardo4]

Oh man this makes me cry...I miss those times,.

[@night-x6793]

Nothing can really beat the 80's which was basically the last limited restriction era for kids where you can go basically anywhere without being questioned as long you don't piss off the wrong people.

[@BeyondDaX]

Pretty much, unless you are in maine or something.

[@night-x6793]

@@BeyondDaX That is the basic military family base rules which I understand is some of the worst things for kids because some rules are highly restricted from the stories I heard.

[@Grassman-me8qc]

Really great walk back in time. I loved all of these games. One more for the list is "Joust"

[@pinebarrenpatriot8289]

Atari had some of the best Arcade games in the 80's. Paperboy, Guantlet, and Star Wars just to name a few. Great times 👍

[@skunklepew6276]

My Favorites: Frogger, Centipede, Pole Position, Star Wars... and the Pinball Machines!

[@JTCT371]

I remember when PacMan machines were lined up like that in the arcades...It was a phenomenon.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Yes it was! Thank you for watching!

[@JTCT371]

@@RhettyforHistory without Pacman, I dont think the industry would have been what it is today. Very important game.

[@JTCT371]

Subscribed.

[@RhettyforHistory]

You're right about Pac-Man and thank you for subscribing.

[@d.vaughn8990]

I remember people lining up to play Pac-Man, two years after it hit the arcades! Phenomenon may be an understatement! I think a lot of people forget just how popular it was!

[@JasperJokerII]

What a time to be alive! If we could just go back for one day...

[@laustcawz2089]

My two biggest favorites that you didn't mention are Robotron 2084 & Marble Madness.

[@RhettyforHistory]

I do remember both of them. Thank you for watching and sharing some more memories!

[@Tubes12AX7k]

@@RhettyforHistory Marble Madness was kind of hard, but it was such a unique game.

[@samanthadrennan]

Marbe madness was so hard but cool

[@dannyyang1202]

Bring so much memories of being a kid .. All of these games I actually played . I missed being a kid again

[@dreamguardian8320]

Me too.

[@FightCollective]

Best gaming era ever... we went from zero to 60mph in the blink of an eye. There was nothing (apart from pinball and a few shooting cabinets) then there was everything.

[@ericad8616]

I grew up in the 70s and 80s and the school I attended during the early/mid 80s was right across the street from a popular mall that a great video game arcade, so almost everyday during lunch or after school, I'd go and play in my favorite games. I tried most of the games on this list at least once, but some I played over and over again. My favorite back then was Ms., Pacman. I remember liking Q-Bert even though I was really bad at it. I'd tried my best but I'd always wind up sending poor little Q-bert flying backwards off the steps. Sigh...good times.

[@RhettyforHistory]

It was a challenging game that was really different. Sounds like you had a great place with that mall being right there. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!

[@kenb2671]

I loved growing up in the 80s and the arcades where one of the best parts. I remember getting dropped off at the local mall which at the time had the only arcade. It was huge and had all of the games listed in this video. All of my friends and I would play for hours with rolls of quarters. My favorites were Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, and Centipede. Plus the sit down game Pole Position. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.😊👍🏾

[@jetsteeltherealdeal7827]

I loved Moon Cresta…I played it at my local Bowling alley every chance I got

[@glentanner4770]

Brings back tons of good memories!

[@dreamguardian8320]

Indeed.

[@renlessard]

Brought back a lot of memories. Spend the allowance and then watch others for hours lol

[@janetslicer3637]

This is going to sound bizarre but I never played any video games EVER! I played pin ball and that was it. I was a geology nerd and loved my rocks! Sorry to disappoint Rhett!

[@RhettyforHistory]

Funny you say that I was in Geology class and club in High School. I never went any further with it than that but I still keep my eyes on the ground for fossils and rocks. Many of them I find are around the house outside. I also loved the old pinball machines and still enjoy playing them. Thank you fo4 watching Janet!

[@roccomitchell-wo9qi]

Looking at this has officially made me feel so old right now lol 😆 I miss the 80s so much 😢

[@bubberiffic]

I know this is a 1979 game, but anyone know Lunar Lander? That game is amazing.

[@cnfuzz]

Sure , one of the first , i remember it had colored bands over the display as it was black and white , the docking idea was taken over by many games including moon cresta

[@Spookje09]

I turned 10 in September of 1980. My life could not have been timed better! Now I have many of these games in my home.

[@Francois_L_7933]

Dragon's Lair and Space ace were technically one of a kind as they both used regular animation on a Laserdisk that would be selected by the joystick input at certain key points in the game. Space Invaders was also technically impressive as it used a two way mirror to overlay the animation on the background. The arcade games achieved great performance because most of them used multiple processors for audio and video, something that wasn't the case for home computers and consoles. As for me, the best game was Space Harrier. If there was still an arcade opened around here, I'd still pop-in some tokens just to play this on the big motion-controlled cabinet that they had.

[@RhettyforHistory]

Thank you for watching and giving us a little more insight into these games. It was a great time period to experience.

[@Francois_L_7933]

@@RhettyforHistory Going to the arcade was definitely fun.

[@chad017]

One of my favorites as a kid was *Gorf.* I was never a fan of *Missile Command* but it’s definitely worth mentioning when talking about classic arcade games. This video brings back a lot of great memories as a kid in the 80’s hanging out in arcades. However, we didn’t carry around rolls of quarters as mentioned in this video, we used the dollar changers. Some changed dollars into *tokens* which could only be spent in the arcade.

[@putzengiler]

Cool to see cameos of Michael Anthony of Van Halen and John Cougar Mellencamp 11:56. hangin' at the video arcade ..in the 80's..

[@Grandizer8989]

80s was a great decade to be a kid. We got cable tv, movie channels, great movies, music, the vcr, and best sports moments. 90s weren’t bad either.

[@a.mathis9454]

In Zaxxon, you also had to avoid the force fields. Played them all, except paper boy.

[@forrestwinkle1896]

I feel very lucky i got to be a kid in the 80's. I love these videos.

[@FuzzeeDee]

Oh man, the hours I spent playing those games! Two of my favourites you didn’t mention were GYRUS and The Mr. Do series, in particular Mr. Do’s Wild Ride. Eventually I got to a point on GYRUS I would typically get about an hour’s fun on one quarter. What a blast from the past this was. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

[@linasbutcher1914]

Yes, yes, yes! These video games were such a blast to play back then. It’s a shame their still not around. Among the many classics listed my favorites were Mario Bros. and Paper Boy that was also made for Game Boys back then. 😊

[@aromad5557]

Awesome list of games. I have some great memories of my local arcade as a kid.

[@dreamguardian8320]

So do I.