TOP 100 MAME GAMES - GOLDEN AGE (1978-1984)

These 100 games were selected for their superb gameplay. They are simple, well designed, easy to learn, hard to master, rewarding, clean and clever games that represent the important innovation of the Golden Age of Arcade Games, and are crucial building blocks for nearly every video game that's come after them.
Special Thanks to Timecop 1983 for providing the music.
timecop1983.ban...
Please check out Timecop 1983 here: timecop1983.com/
Here are the Top 100 Mame Games of the Golden Age:
Arabian
Armored Car
Asteroids
Banbam
Bank Panic
Battlezone
Berzerk
Black Widow
Bubbles
Bullfight
Bump 'n' Jump
Burger Time
Car Jamboree
Centipede
Chinese Hero
Cloak & Dagger
Congo Bongo
Crystal Castles
Defender
Desert Dan
Dig Dug
Dingo
Discs Of Tron
Dock Man
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr
Dr Micro
Drakton
Elevator Action
Eyes
Flicky
Food Fight
Frogger
Galaga
Gravitar
Great Swordsman
Grobda
Hat Trick
Hoccer
I, Robot
Insector
Intrepid
Joust
Jumping Jack
Jungler
Juno First
Kaitei Takara Sagashi
Kung Fu Master
Libble Rabble
Lode Runner
Lost Tomb
Major Havoc
Mappy
Megadon
Minefield
Missile Command
Monster Bash
Moon Patrol
Mr Do!
Ms Pac-Man
Nibbler
Pac-Man
Pandora's Palace
Paperboy
Pengo
Phozon
Pirate Ship Higemaru
Pooyan
Popeye
Punch Out
QB-3
Qbert
QBert Qubes
Qix
Rally-X
Rescue
Robotron 2048
Roc'n Rope
Samurai
Satan's Hollow
Scramble
Sinistar
Snake Pit
Space Duel
Space Dungeon
Space Invaders
Spectar
Spiders
Spy Hunter
Star Trek
Star Wars
Tapper
Tempest
The Glob
The Pit
Time Pilot
Treasure Island
Tron
Up N' Down
Wild Western

[@gregorklingman6772]

Author Notes: Correction at 13:23 ( Change "Missile Command - 1980" to "Punch-Out!! - 1983) Correction at 9:10 (Spelling Error: Kaitei Takara Sagashi - 1980) Correction at 5:14 (Donkey Kong Junior is "1982") Too much gaming, not enough sleeping. ;p

[@Grillenheimer]

😜 yeah I saw the 19823 on DK JR. Funny. I was... and still am an avid old arcade gamer and saw some games I've never seen or heard! Nice finds! My top 25 (in no order) have to be Donkey Kong, DK JR, Q Bert, Tempest, Joust, Gauntlet, Rock n Rope, Journey, Venture, Pengo, Mappy, Super Pac Man, Mr Do, Pepper II, Out Run, Ghost n Goblins, Bionic Commando, Dig Dug, Burgertime, 1942, The Real Ghostbusters, TMNT Arcade, Frogger and Popeye. Some Sega claw game is using the Pooyan tune... maybe why Konami lost the tune when it came to the arcade thingy on the 360. Same with poor Frogger... the ONLY version of Frogger on a home system (pretty much arcade perfect) with the ORIGINAL music was on the Genesis... which plays wonderfully on the Nomad. But looks terrible on an actual TV screen from the Genesis oddly enough...

[@mournblade1066]

@@Grillenheimer Rock n Rope! Wow, talk about a really nice, obscure one. Mystic Marathon is another nice, obscure one.

[@michelelaraia7358]

Detto!

[@desolationangel5136]

The sound of 'Defender' has the ability to transport me back to a really happy time in my life. Right now, I wish I had a time machine.

[@gregorklingman6772]

Me too friend. Me too.

[@russellgentile4719]

Me too I tell ya! Those were the best times to be a kid. Best times actually probably ever.

[@GamingDreamer]

Same

[@barryschwarz]

The sound design on Defender was awesome, and totally unique. The bass pulses rocked!

[@robertraft]

me too, i played it at a norge town laundrymat in 1980.

[@sonicmania9993]

This is a great list of games, nice work. However, there were so many good arcade games during this Golden Age -- we could certainly come up with another 100 that are just as good or better to certain players. I especially miss my two favorite games from those years: Xevious and Gorf.

[@CmdrTomalak]

Oh man.... I miss these games. My faves back then were Berzerk, Mappy, Pengo, Joust and Spy Hunter. Pengo was probably the last one I ever played.

[@mitch4527]

I hear the Asteroids sound effect, I’m immediately transported back 40 years in time to the local candy store. I can smell the coffee and the cigarette smoke and old papers.

[@mwelle1]

Some crucial omissions: "Red Baron" (1980), "Gorf" (1981),"Turbo" (1981), "Lady Bug" (1981), "Venture" (1981),"Pole Position" (1982), "Zaxxon" (1982), "Mario Bros." (1983), and "Marble Madness" (1984).

[@elbitxo5945]

They are all great games, but I'm not a big fan of Turbo. Lady Bug is easily a Top25, one of the very best of the golden age.

[@theyamo7219]

According to Mobygames, Red Baron is from 1981, not 1980... www.mobygames.com/game/arcade/red-baron____

[@Railbugman]

This brought back some really good memories !!!

[@neilyaremchuk6798]

My neighbor ran an arcade out of his garage. He had 14 cabinet games which rotated and six pinball machines. He gave you five quarters for a dollar. You couldn’t beat it.

[@rcschmidt668]

Loved those pinball machines.

[@kirkyboy1793]

May I just say that nobody comes close to that analysis of top 100 Mame games. You are a true connoisseur. I would be at a loss trying to improve on this. Almost perfect. I hope you still get the chance to play the odd game here and there. All the best and thanks for your perceptive video.

[@gregorklingman6772]

this comment really made my day. Thank you! I thoroughly played everything I could find and put a lot of work into this selection, and I'm so glad that at least one person noticed. These aren't the most popular or even cult-popular games, but just the games that I felt had the best quality of gameplay for each type of game. Truly subjective, but still very useful for finding quality games people may not have heard of. I worry about these games disappearing, and I hope that anyone making a database or machine will add these titles to every collection.

[@kirkyboy1793]

@@gregorklingman6772 Sorry for the delay on this reply but I thought that you deserved one. I am happy that my feedback meant something to you but I lived the evolution of arcade games in that I always sought out new ones and tried them. I am 51 now but I was there when they introduced Space invaders and it had a button for left and right instead of a 🕹️. I assumed that you must be my age to have the insight that you showed. All the very best Gregor and thank you.

[@chrisnizer1885]

I've got just about every game on the list loaded onto a Super Retrocade. And hundreds of other classic games like Zaxxon, Pleiades, Phoenix, Tiger Heli, etc. It's like having a classic arcade in your living room without the huge electricity bill every month and the THOUSANDS of dollars it takes to purchase original arcade cabinet games. Many...MANY...thanks to the MAME community who helped make it possible. Great video, keep those classic games coming. Semper Fi!

[@joshbrekke6374]

So many great ones here I forgot but remember fondly back in many of the Arcades we rode our bikes to to spend our chore money. So many great memories, Thanks!!

[@andywilliams1160]

How cool is it that I'm able to play at least half of these on my coffee table at home? These are what I played when I was 10 - Why would I want a modern games console at 50?

[@danlivni2097]

So many amazing games were made during this time in late 70s till 84

[@mp3ste1]

absolutley loved my gaming days in the 80's apart from being very lucky to have been around to witness all the arcade years i also uswed to play at home playing the commodore 64 and commodore c 16 myself and a mate used to play the likes of ghosts n goblins , hyper sports, commando, yie ar kung -fu, winter olympics, gyruss, jet set willy ,auf weidersehen monty. great days and i am still playing now at 49 years old my choice of gaming these days is xbox one and iam currently playing cod ww2 ,gta 5.

[@anotherbobhead1]

Awesome stuff dude! I appreciate you splitting it into an era like this!

[@gregorklingman6772]

Thank you Jayson. Glad you enjoyed it. The Golden Age is such a sweet spot.

[@jamescooper3571]

It’s a good list, but they are his favorite 100, not necessarily the best or the most historically important. As others have pointed out, you can’t leave off games like Jungle Hunt, Crazy Climber, Zaxxon, Wizard of Wor, Lady Bug. His many obscure games obviously are not historically influential, and at least some of them are obscure because they just weren’t all that fun. I’d love to see a list of games that still hold up today. Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Burgertime, for example, remain immensely popular. But some of the classics have not aged as well.

[@stinkypinkeee5085]

No Zaxxon? What the...?!?

[@ndugu77]

Great video! Was hoping to see "Crazy Climber" on the list.

[@whiztler]

Great list. Brings back memories!!

[@DonGrose]

Thanks for the compilation, I was surprised by how many I'd never heard of. I don't think quite a few of those made it to the UK.

[@billkeithchannel]

It was sad to see it close, but in the 90's there was an arcade inside Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh that was packed full of 70's black & white games. It was the largest collection that I knew of. But alas they got rid of all those games when they expanded the park to add their 70mph coaster.

[@keetmadu1054]

I play this as my background music at work sometimes. Just feels right.

[@TheUncoolDigital]

Excellent list. Zoo Keeper is my all time favorite arcade game. Was hoping it made your list.

[@gregorklingman6772]

Thank's TUD. I'm sorry man, you know, It probably should be on there. This might be one of those times where my own personal bias got in the way, because I'm so truly terrible at Zoo Keeper. haha. It has a unique design, simple and clean play, easy to learn while hard to master, but I don't think I gave it enough of a chance because well... DAMN that game is hard. haha If I make an updated list in the future, I'll be sure to reconsider. Cheers!

[@TheUncoolDigital]

Gregor Klingman cool. Time to do a new video!

[@duffermod1]

Scramble and Defender where my favourites but didn't see Galixians . Good video brings back wonderful memories. Cheers

[@mournblade1066]

No GORF? And no Frontline? Granted, it's nearly impossible to lay on MAME, because of the unique controller. Also. . . Lode Runner was originally an arcade game? I had absolutely no idea. I always thought it was a Commodore 64 original.

[@8-bitsteve500]

Wonderful video!! Thank you.

[@DrWho2008t101]

thanks for the video.

[@noiselabproject9659]

Useful video thanks and plenty of great shoot em ups not on here too like : Space Firebird, Moon Cresta, UniwarS, Pleides, Astro Fantasia, Astro Fighter ..... etc

[@a2pha]

Fun Fact, "Cloak And Dagger" had their own live movie produced based upon finding secret information in the game.

[@jedigrandmaster6471]

just seeing tron on this list brings back memories

[@lauradunn1947]

those are some good games even know i don't know anything about those times

[@billkeithchannel]

Check out these classics too: Calypso, Eliminator, Gal's Panic, Megatack, Millipede, Mr. Do!'s Castle, Mr. Do!'s Wildride, Quantum, Super Pac-Man, Time Pilot '84, Warlords, Wizard of Wor

[@thenostalgicplayermtl1313]

Nice work 🙏

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very cool video. Thanks for posting and have a nice day too.

[@gregorklingman6772]

Thank you, Kurt! I hope you found some new golden age games to enjoy!

[@billkeithchannel]

It sucks that the sound chip is totally wrong for the MAME version of Centipede.

[@a2pha]

Robotron and Defender had great sound effects.

[@peterb.7471]

I remember racing the cars in Tron, was that just a stage in Tron 1982?

[@chrsn]

Yes, they were one of four sub-games within Tron 1982 (btw, they were Light Cycles, not cars).

[@peterb.7471]

@@chrsn Thanks for the reply. My favorite game from that time period was Battle Zone when you played it threw a periscope like a submarine.

[@valerierefresca7016]

Berzerk and mr do

[@michelelaraia7358]

Nice starting music

[@gregorklingman6772]

Timecop was nice enough to let me use it for the video. Check them out. They are amazing. timecop1983.bandcamp.com/track/come-with-me

[@michelelaraia7358]

@@gregorklingman6772 didn't thought I knew it.

[@isaiahharvin4451]

Ah yes my Friday night hitting up the arcade with quarters going with friends to the movies unlike today kids getting high pulling pranks and getting in trouble,,,,

[@rickriffel6246]

Spectar! That is one old game I want to see ported to Windows 10. A racecar maze shooter! Unique.

[@barryschwarz]

Sorry for the braggadacio, but I gotta see how many of these I played (and, obviously, leave a note about it - this was my childhood): Asteroids, Bank Panic (completely forgot this one), Battlezone, Berzerk, Bump 'n' Jump (forgotten for 40 years), Centipede, Defender (awesome sound design), Dig Dug, Discs of Tron, Donkey Kong, DK Junior, Elevator Action, Frogger, Galaga, Joust, Lost Tomb, Missile Command!!!, Moon Patrol, MC Pacman, Pacman, Pengo, Punchout, Qbert, Qix (OMG, forgot this awesome game!), Rally X (how many have I forgotten??!), Scramble (hours I spent), Space Invaders (one of the few games I clocked), Spy Hunter, Tempest!!, The Pit, Time Pilot.... that's it from this list. Many missing - Galaxian, Xevious, Pole Position, Dragon's Lair, Phoenix, Pole Position, Zaxxon, Turbo, Track and Field.

[@boggisthecat]

It might be good idea to add the publisher / game creator to the list. Note also that Lode Runner was first produced by Brøderbund for the Apple II and other 8-bit micro-computers. (I don't know who made the later arcade port.)

[@zobergwallace2492]

boggisthecat Irem made the arcade ports of Lode Runner and Spelunker

[@Rafa-mx4ep]

The real classics 😊

[@mechkia]

How is Life Force/Salamander not there?

[@brantnuttall]

Astro Blaster, Exed Exes, Galaxian, Gorf

[@josephnatana5305]

Far out! I've never seen that QB-3? I'm like 45. But nope.. never seen it. Till now. 👍

[@robertgodlewski8553]

Thank you!😀

[@RogerScully]

I missed Galaxian, Xevious, Zaxxon, Pole Position, Phoenix and Track and Field, but it's a nice list anyway.

[@michaeln.2383]

I really thought Gorf should have made the list.

[@armrmx2022]

Hi, What is the name of the song at the beginning of the video?

[@gregorklingman6772]

That song is called Come With Me, by the amazing Timecop 1983. here's a link! timecop1983.bandcamp.com/track/come-with-me

[@hotdoggington6962]

A lot of Golden Era console games really don't hold up imo, not nearly as well as NES/SMS onwards - they just suffer from too many limitations and performance issues to me. But these arcade games are timeless classics that I think any gamer with an open mind could easily have a blast with.

[@shyrodillasyo]

Who remembers crazy kong it was a donkey kong knockoff but still awesome 😁

[@martinevans1206]

Loved Space Invaders and Star Wars as a kid.

[@3622Dave]

I know lists like this are all down to personal opinion but I would have included: Bomb Jack, Hypersports, Circus Charlie, Mr Do's Castle and Mr Do's Wild Ride.

[@maransoftware]

No Track n Field? Good list though, well done.

[@alisojay]

Hi, I'm looking for a game I used to play in the early 80s, in bars and clubs . I even found it in Corfu around the same time. It was a table top game and similar to Galaxia but some of the attacking space ships used to drop down and get you from behind. I thought maybe I'd see it on here but I might have blinked and missed it. Any ideas please?

[@gregorklingman6772]

Hi. That could be any number of galaxian-like games often refereed to as Shoot em ups, shmups, shooters, and vertical shooters. There were many galaxian clones, but I'm betting your referring to Galaga or Bosconian, as much of their gameplay is spent dodging enemies from behind you, and they were also early 80s arcade games. Not as many games had cocktail table versions, but Galaga and Bosconian were popular enough. I've linked them below. Cheers :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpikhZuPZZmigqM kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHjWnatubLeKf6M

[@xules2139]

My first guess would be Phoenix. Enemies would fly below you and wait there a bit.

[@alisojay]

Gregor Klingman hi thanks for the reply. I checked both of them and they are similar but not the one I was looking for.

[@alisojay]

Xules thank you, again it’s similar but not the same one. Are there different versions?

[@alisojay]

I think Galaga is the closest to it but they don’t seem to attack from underneath.

[@speedvr829]

What about Gorf?

[@Sweetestsadist]

13:23 I guess I never reached that level in Missile Command.

[@godot996]

I imagined Max saying that

[@Grillenheimer]

Oh and if everyone hasn't seen Video Games Live concert of the 'Classic' games.... check it out! It's awesome. And starts with Pong!

[@Psychonaut-im3zz]

My favs of the golden age: challenge, break out, clowns, zap, senjyo, astro blaster, amidar, qix, karate champ, bosconian, moon cresta, galaga, mr do, mr do's castle, space panic, mach 3, lady bug, burning rubber, donkey kong, pacman, popeye, bagman, track & field, karate champ, buck rogers, yie ar kung fu, pengo, frogger, burger time

[@ubiased23]

Can someone explain to me of why the arcade versions of the game are always better? Is it due to the machine is dedicated to that game only? Thanks

[@jamescooper3571]

Partly because arcade game controls are almost always higher quality, more expensive, and in general better than controllers for the home. I’ve never seen a trak ball that matches arcade Missile Command.

[@michaelcraft2650]

Pit Fall?

[@Inaflap]

No Hunchback?

[@robo0052]

Armored car.gta 1981?

[@z0f0draz]

wat no Gyruss?

[@michelevitarelli]

Please copy the list into the comments.

[@chainsaw39573]

Here are the Top 100 Mame Games of the Golden Age: Arabian Armored Car Asteroids Banbam Bank Panic Battlezone Berzerk Black Widow Bubbles Bullfight Bump 'n' Jump Burger Time Car Jamboree Centipede Chinese Hero Cloak & Dagger Congo Bongo Crystal Castles Defender Desert Dan Dig Dug Dingo Discs Of Tron Dock Man Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Jr Dr Micro Drakton Elevator Action Eyes Flicky Food Fight Frogger Galaga Gravitar Great Swordsman Grobda Hat Trick Hoccer I, Robot Insector Intrepid Joust Jumping Jack Jungler Juno First Katei Takara Sagashi Kung Fu Master Libble Rabble Lode Runner Lost Tomb Major Havoc Mappy Megadon Minefield Missile Command Monster Bash Moon Patrol Mr Do! Ms Pac-Man Nibbler Pac-Man Pandora's Palace Paperboy Pengo Phozon Pirate Ship Higemaru Pooyan Popeye Punch Out QB-3 Qbert QBert Qubes Qix Rally-X Rescue Robotron 2048 Roc'n Rope Samurai Satan's Hollow Scramble Sinistar Snake Pit Space Duel Space Dungeon Space Invaders Spectar Spiders Spy Hunter Star Trek Star Wars Tapper Tempest The Glob The Pit Time Pilot Treasure Island Tron Up N' Down Wild Western

[@OfficialTruDru]

I was starting to think civilization didn't start until 1985 lmao that's the only year folks seen to remember.

[@EDWINSarcade]

Classics 👌😎

[@hjimenezs2801]

Me transporto a la niñez

[@AloanMoreira1]

some strong 8bit games here, like kung fu master, an example!

[@kdwrghtsr]

You forgot Circus with the yellow ducks;;and the see- saw circus with the flying trapeze man and balloons; and kangaroo

[@PeBoVision]

notable omission: Bosconian.

[@brunokaiser5417]

Lo mejor de nuestros dias actuales fueron en los años 80' y 90's le duela a quien le duela. Peliculas,musica,deportistas,VIDEO JUEGOS etc etc....

[@ravenwoodgames1826]

WOW where is Vanguard

[@gregorklingman6772]

Where is Vanguard? It's on YOUR list ;) To minimize repetition in types of gameplay, certain good games did not make the cut, but are represented by others that are similar but designed better. Side-scrolling shooters are represented by games like scramble. Enjoy!

[@ravenwoodgames1826]

lol i played all the games on here. I'm 52 I love all games

[@gregorklingman6772]

AWESOME!

[@ataris-worst-nightmare]

84 and 83 ruined it all. Man how I hate those 16-bits shits.

[@miguelangelug2393]

PLeaiads- game NOt !! Great game..80s

[@scottbreon9448]

It should read top 100 ARCADE games. There is literally no such thing as a "MAME" game. That would be like saying Top 100 "Insert emulator name here" games for other platforms

[@ocsrc]

What about King and Ballon ??!! Help , Help, Help, Bye Bye !.

[@Chronobus]

Wow! I never knew Donkey Kong Jr. was released in the year 19812. I can't believe it took Nintendo 18000 years to make a sequel to Donkey Kong

[@Tbass-yy8uc]

It's amazing if you take maybe five of the classic originals like space Invaders asteroids defender missile command donkey kong. Then look at all the other games and how they are just rip off copies of them. Good thing the same company probably owned all of them or there would be lawsuits all over the place

[@rcschmidt668]

The block style of Treasure Island @ 18:22 looked a lot like Congo Bongo... and maybe QBert.

[@StillNobodyYT]

No Xevious, not happy.

[@retroarcadefan]

Pretty poor list tbh. You should drop 1984 from this and add in the Cinematronics and other early games that used overlays to 'add color'.

[@cheliu564]

No Xevious? This post is dead.

[@gregorklingman6772]

Those games are good, but there are too many vertical shooters to include them all, so only a specific few that I thought were the best, made the list. -Galaga -Juno First -Major Havoc -Satan's Hollow -Space Invaders -Spiders These cover the very best that Golden Age Vertical Shooters have to offer, Not too mention all the other kinds of shooters on this list. Galaxian (which you deleted from your comment) and Xevious would have been redundant and not as unique, even thought they are great games. Thank you for watching!

[@theyamo7219]

@@gregorklingman6772 Yes, but none of those were vertical SCROLLING shooters like Xevious was. All the games you listed are single screen stationary shooters

[@BryanJohnson1969]

Dragon's lair Pole position Turbo Snake pit Mario Brothers Kangaroo Journey Domino man Wizard of Wor Star Castle Robbie Roto Gorf Lunar lander Galaxian Gyruss Zaxxon Devious Cosmic chasm Mad planets Tutankhamun Frenzy Jungle Hunt Buck Rogers Space fury Looping Thief Cosmic avenger Time pilot 2084 Rampage Super Pac-Man Reactor Eliminator Stargate