ARCADE Games You Were Playing in 1981

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  • Опубликовано: 3 авг 2024
  • We saw some of the best arcade games in 1981, along with a few classics and even some games that totally ripped off other popular titles. Here's a look at just some of the arcade games you were playing back in 1981.
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Комментарии • 219

  • @JohnRiggs
    @JohnRiggs  2 года назад +18

    CLICK - ruclips.net/video/xhB4T4teYY4/видео.html
    Arcade games from 1983.

  • @kevinroberts1888
    @kevinroberts1888 2 года назад +7

    Enjoyed the video. Late '81 was when I became a gamer. My mother was taking my sister and I to the Dairy Queen and they had just got an arcade of Pac-Man. Up to this point, the only video games I knew were Pong clones and Breakout. It seems funny now, but I was absolutely blown away by the idea of being able to move a character around the screen in four directions instead of just two.

  • @kenwheeler3637
    @kenwheeler3637 2 года назад +5

    I love these lists. They always bring back such awesome memories. It was so exciting going to all of the local arcades, bowling alleys and convenience stores in search of new games.

  • @RockHarding
    @RockHarding 2 года назад +3

    "....which, by the way, Woodpecker is a double-phallic name..." 😅😂

  • @scottg7660
    @scottg7660 2 года назад +4

    I was 1, but I still played these bad boys!

  • @DoubleDguitar
    @DoubleDguitar 2 года назад +1

    Pleiads I always figured was play on the Pleiades constellation, was a the little local pizza shop for years along with Phoenix. What an era.

  • @KlingonCaptain
    @KlingonCaptain 2 года назад +5

    Most of these games were still in the arcade by the time I was playing at Chuck E. Cheese in the mid-late 80s.

    • @patsfan4life
      @patsfan4life 2 года назад +2

      Yeah because they were mostly great

  • @MontviewBlvdBabiez
    @MontviewBlvdBabiez 2 года назад +12

    A little before my time and never even heard of most of these games but they look like a lot of fun though, I do love me some Galaga! Thanks for the vid John! Peace, Love, and video games... ☮💙🕹

    • @broncosbreaks
      @broncosbreaks 2 года назад +1

      Goooo, Broncos!!!

    • @MontviewBlvdBabiez
      @MontviewBlvdBabiez 2 года назад +1

      @@broncosbreaks Let's gooo!! We're going to have an exciting season! 🍊💪🏽

  • @stevethomas5978
    @stevethomas5978 2 года назад +5

    I was 12 in '81. I remember fondly riding my bmx to the corner majik Mart to play galaga, donkey Kong, joust, tempest and can't forget that kiss pinball machine. A roll of quarters, a mountain dew and some pop rocks. Good times! Still gaming and collecting today strong as ever.

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      I was 4 in 81. Oh yeah a bmx bike. Those were popular back then. So you born in the 60's growing up in the 70's. Wow you had it tougher than me even.

    • @patsfan4life
      @patsfan4life 2 года назад +2

      @@tonyp9313 nah, he was in a good spot

    • @stevethomas5978
      @stevethomas5978 2 года назад +1

      @@tonyp9313 Not tough at all actually. I was born in 69. The 70s was awesome as a kid. The best toys ever! The six million dollar man, evil kenieval, G I Joe's, space 1999, star wars, dungeons and dragons. And by '78 asteroids came into the picture then a few years later the Atari.

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      @@stevethomas5978 Atari was out in North America in 1977. The year I was born. I grew up in the 80's & that was a terrible time. Before the 80's that even worse.
      Those things you mentioned only became popular or iconic status in the 80's. Gi Joe was in the 80's.
      I don't even know if you had a color tv in the 70's. Most people had a black & white tv with 6 channels at most and like 3 of them snowy reception. What about Rotary phones? That even exist in the 70's?
      A lot mom & pop shops. So it's not like going to Walmart. We're talking small. VCR's little to none. If there was no cable I doubt you had a VCR growing up in the 70's.
      It's just a lot of things in your time that wasn't even invented yet.

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      @@patsfan4life He grew up in the 70's. So a lot of things that you have today & are obsolete now didn't even exist when he was growing up.

  • @kjhoskins
    @kjhoskins 2 года назад +6

    Wow, I haven't heard of a good chunk of these games and I was always in the arcade when I was a kid. Thanks for the video, John.

  • @WizardClipAudio
    @WizardClipAudio 2 года назад +1

    Why no Bosconian Star Destroyer? That's gotta be among the most under-rated game of that era. It was quite sophisticated, and ahead of it's time, in terms of graphics, audio, and gameplay. I think it's my all-time favorite arcade game ever made, but dang, it's so overlooked and under-appreciated, widely.

  • @danestegman155
    @danestegman155 2 года назад +6

    Good video! Brings back some memories of playing these arcade games!

  • @ladyjaye27
    @ladyjaye27 2 года назад +1

    Super Cobra IS the sequel to Scramble. BTW, if you play Gradius Galaxies (aka Gradius Advance in Europe) on the GBA, the attract screen has a series timeline, which does include Scramble (but not Super Cobra, for some reason). Turns out that Gradius was originally meant to be another sequel to Scramble before becoming its own thing.

  • @jeffdavis6657
    @jeffdavis6657 2 года назад +3

    If I remember correctly, Stargate is an official sequel to Defender, and Frenzy is a sequel to Bezerk

    • @ladyjaye27
      @ladyjaye27 2 года назад +1

      That is correct. Stargate is also known as Defender II.

  • @DeathMetalDerf
    @DeathMetalDerf 2 года назад +1

    Sometimes I thought the clone games were better than some of the more popular and well-known arcade titles. Especially when they come up with Atari 2600 or 5200 clone games for home. Ahhhhh the memories!

  • @FatNorthernBigot
    @FatNorthernBigot 2 года назад +1

    Ten-year-old me, two cokes down and twin guns on Galaga… that’s the best life.👍

  • @MrChezaj
    @MrChezaj 2 года назад +1

    With Stargate you could shoot all the humanoids and then see if you can survive the next stages where the mutants chase you up to stage 6 if you're lucky! Loved this on the Atari 2600!

  • @BBfanfun
    @BBfanfun 2 года назад +4

    nice to see you cover more than the "Greatest Hits";
    i remember most of these games from the ColecoVision ('82)

  • @markula_4040
    @markula_4040 2 года назад +3

    I was only 4 in 1981 so I didn't play any of these in that year but I did get to them eventually.

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      You're the same age as me. Man I feel really bad for us because we had it rough compared to the 4 year olds now with little to nothing existing back in 1981.

  • @atariboy9084
    @atariboy9084 2 года назад +1

    The number one arcade I played the most in 1981 that was Donkey Kong.

  • @EightPieceBox
    @EightPieceBox 2 года назад +1

    I was 6 in 1981, so all I had played was PacMan at the neighborhood 7-11, but this video makes me nostalgic for the early days of MAME and other arcade emulators around in the late 90s. They all started with this era.

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      I was 4. 1981 is still a stone age year.

  • @megadan2988
    @megadan2988 2 года назад +1

    galaga came out in 1991 wow thats crazy 02:30 😂😂 good video riggs

  • @nintendoneil
    @nintendoneil 2 года назад +2

    Nice! This year marks the first I had ever went to an arcade. I was 6 years old and I can still remember it vividly… It was an arcade in a local mall called Pirates Den. I still recall the dark atmosphere and demo music competing with each other to capture the attention of my 6 year old self. I don’t think the arcade had half of these but it did have the popular ones like donkey kong, ms. Pac-Man, and Frogger. So it’s nice to see some of the lesser known games in this video I’ve never seen before. The arcade back then was a great babysitter for my parents back then. They would do their shopping and leave me there for about an hour with a couple dollars in quarters. (It was a different time back then) What was really cool though was it would be on a Saturday afternoon when the arcade wasn’t busy so I pretty much had the whole arcade to myself. If I could go back in time, the Pirates Den arcade would be the first place I’d visit. Magical time. Thank you for posting this!!

  • @Starscreamlive
    @Starscreamlive 2 года назад +3

    The last game Pliades is pronounced plee-uh-deez, and you got it right, it's a star cluster.
    Loved the video and love the series as a whole too! Thanks Riggs!

  • @VRLunatic
    @VRLunatic 2 года назад +1

    Love your videos, man! This is my favorite of your sequential history of things, as classic arcade games are so underrated! There are so many arcade gems to dig up.

  • @thrasher3222
    @thrasher3222 2 года назад +2

    Awesome stuff John. I feel really bad for anyone who wasn't a teen in the 80's!!

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      don't lol I feel bad for you lol i was a kid in the 80's so I also feel bad for myself.

  • @TheStuffMade
    @TheStuffMade 2 года назад

    Nice, I think I played about half of these back in the 80s, never had a big arcade nearby back then, it was only bars, sports clubs and fast food places.

  • @mikemc7901
    @mikemc7901 2 года назад +1

    I remember playing DONKEY KONG in the USA as a kid when it came out. It 100% called him JUMP MAN on the printed instructions by the control panel.

  • @samschan
    @samschan 2 года назад +1

    Thank you, brings back so much memories!

  • @TheMultiGunMan
    @TheMultiGunMan 2 года назад +2

    There was some cool looking games back in '81.

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      I like them because I grew up with them. If you introduce anyone who hasn't, they won't like them.

  • @randomizzer2389
    @randomizzer2389 2 года назад

    You want a laugh, my dad took me to one of those shady bars. I’m glad he did. It had Super Mario Bros. I played that game for the next hour like it was a newborn puppy! Now at 47, I’m still content with that epic moment in time.

  • @SophiaNyx
    @SophiaNyx 2 года назад +1

    John! i was born in 83 but i was definitely playing them soon after :)

  • @lynnwarburton2417
    @lynnwarburton2417 Год назад

    Most arcades were not very wheelchair friendly so my playing arcade type games started with an atari and i got my fix later on with a commodore 64. My favourite games was graphically simple and i live in hope for a remake ... that game being Jack Attack ... a cartridge game sent FREE and i was an immediate addict!!! Love the nostalgia of your videos take care ❤💙💜

  • @RichardDubya
    @RichardDubya 2 года назад +1

    True story, my dad used to own mrs Pacman and the lady responsible for the bow of Mrs Pacman is one of the vampire lady's from spectre files: deathstalker

  • @jayhouston7054
    @jayhouston7054 2 года назад +3

    Sweet video, been a long time ive seen some of these(and some i dont member).

  • @SilentQix
    @SilentQix 2 года назад +3

    Two other Good Arcade Games from 81 would be Amidar & Bosconian.

  • @NesrocksGamingVideos
    @NesrocksGamingVideos 2 года назад +2

    Turtles is famous at least in the Odyssey 2 community since it received a port of it.

    • @JohnRiggs
      @JohnRiggs  2 года назад +1

      someone made an NES homebrew, too. Tortoises

  • @alancheatley4378
    @alancheatley4378 2 года назад

    We had a Scramble cocktail arcade in our house that took old UK 10p coins back in the early 80s, we got it from the arcade repair shop at the end of our road, remember being so good at it that we didn't use the bombs so much but very low flying, we could just shoot most stuff

  • @jackeldogo3952
    @jackeldogo3952 2 года назад

    I forgot about Armored Car, used to play that at the mega-arcade/bowling alley near me back in the early 80s.

  • @animemaster4861
    @animemaster4861 2 года назад +3

    I guess I hadn't really ever heard that technically Miss Pac-Man is like a rom hack. does that make it the most successful rom hack of all time then must be

  • @jackgoff2072
    @jackgoff2072 Год назад

    The early 80's were great. So many cool games like Sinistar,Tron,Joust,Time Pilot,Elevator Action.

  • @Hurry_Revive_Me
    @Hurry_Revive_Me 2 года назад +4

    Hey John, you would be an awesome addition should someone make an arcade years for the 90s! Heck, where were you for the arcade years season 1?! Haha

  • @josephkarl2061
    @josephkarl2061 2 года назад +1

    This was the year I really got into video games. I don't even want to remember how many 20 cent (New Zealand) pieces I put into the games you've highlighted here...... 😆🤣🤣

  • @StevieDrawStuff
    @StevieDrawStuff 2 года назад +1

    This reminds me of sneaking and walking to the arcade in Houston when I was 8, or playing Gorf and Defender at the 711 .

  • @andrewdolby178
    @andrewdolby178 2 года назад +1

    I love this style of video. Good stuff kind sir. More, more

  • @YaBoyNoob
    @YaBoyNoob 2 года назад +1

    "arcade games you were playing in 1981" I was born in 2003, missed it by a few years

  • @wiseguynwc
    @wiseguynwc 2 года назад +2

    Ladybug is a favorite. Super fun game.

  • @timecapsule5604
    @timecapsule5604 2 года назад +1

    I was a big Atari 2600 kid parents had bought me the atari vcs heavy sixer for Xmas 1977 i was 8 at the time had maybe 5 games only but built a good library of games until 1982 when Colecovision came out,skipped Intellevision since a friend had it but hated the controller pad but I would say around 1980 I was always in the arcade and in 81' I think I had the most fun playing ms pacman and DK alot and Qbert too

  • @gregkilby7043
    @gregkilby7043 2 года назад

    John, are you sure you're old enough to remember 1981? I had forgotten how good the scrolling was in these games. And how colourful they are! (Sorry for English spelling, across the Pond, don't you know). The ten year old me says thanks for reminding him of the games he played in 1981...

  • @hectormontalvo5565
    @hectormontalvo5565 2 года назад +1

    In 1981 I still didn't know about arcades or maybe video games. It wasn't until 1982 when we relocated to NY that I knew what video games were. The first ones I saw were Ms.Pac-Man, Tron and Qix. I played them once in a while but I bearly knew what I was doing but had a lot of fun. I think I played a videogames system previously but I can't remember well. Crush Roller was known in some places as Make Traxx and I played it quite a bit. Great showing good reviews and cool video John!👍

  • @briannielsen2529
    @briannielsen2529 2 года назад +1

    I was born in 1981, so playing these in the arcade wasn't a possibility. But I remember my grandpa having Donkey Kong, Ladybug and Cosmic Avenger on ColecoVision. Such fun games.

  • @Shadowdread1981
    @Shadowdread1981 2 года назад +1

    ty for the share John Riggs

  • @Wheels8504
    @Wheels8504 2 года назад

    My favorite series of videos along with Open Cart Surgery

  • @rjhikups78
    @rjhikups78 2 года назад +1

    Played a lot of these games around 83 , 84. I was 5

  • @rons3634
    @rons3634 2 года назад

    Sadly, my arcade days were in the 1970s so I missed a lot of these. Bars back in the 1980s had many of the more popular ones shown early in the video and I played those.

  • @NickEnlowe
    @NickEnlowe 2 года назад +1

    GORF was the first game ever with a final boss. It's too bad you didn't make it to the fourth stage. :)

  • @thatwasprettyneat
    @thatwasprettyneat 2 года назад +1

    Wow, I forgot about Ladybug. These games seemed so magical and unattainable when I was a little kid. Probably because my brother played them and I was slightly too young to really understand how.

    • @jackofallgamesTV
      @jackofallgamesTV 2 года назад +1

      I remember Lady Bug for the Colecovision. Only imperefections were no angel wings flying at death, and gave you a vegetable garden bonus round instead of a free credit for SPECIAL.

  • @bleirdo_dude
    @bleirdo_dude 2 года назад +1

    So many treasured memories.
    There's even some I never heard of before.

  • @MotiviqueStudio
    @MotiviqueStudio 2 года назад

    Man. I had completely forgotten Ladybug. That was a fun game.

  • @nathanwallace3337
    @nathanwallace3337 2 года назад +1

    I grew up with Cosmic Avenger and GORF on the Colecovision

  • @owlbelieveit6811
    @owlbelieveit6811 2 года назад +2

    Surprised you didn't bring up Bosconian, I believe it was the first to have a continue feature or I read that somewhere. I think its an amazing game that doesn't get enough attention.

    • @charlesn898
      @charlesn898 2 года назад +1

      I think that you're right about Bosconian being the first (production) game with a continue option. It along with Rally X and Super Pac Man are Namco arcade games that never got the respect that they deserved.

    • @treyslay753
      @treyslay753 2 года назад

      Bosconian > Galaga

  • @stephens9772
    @stephens9772 2 года назад +1

    Galaga was my favorite arcade game of that era. Still love it.

  • @thantisman
    @thantisman 2 года назад +3

    Galiga came out in 1991, I remember that way different. Mandela effect!

    • @JohnRiggs
      @JohnRiggs  2 года назад +2

      haha, wrong year. oh well, it stays.

    • @thantisman
      @thantisman 2 года назад +1

      @@JohnRiggs just giving a little crap, thank you for the vids! Love the trip back to memory lane. We got to grow up in a truly wonderous time.

  • @Mar_Gaming_World
    @Mar_Gaming_World 2 года назад

    I love these type of videos, I'm watching it later but the video's probably great👍

  • @DanPantzig
    @DanPantzig 2 года назад

    The year I was born! Some of my favorite classics were released then, pretty amazing.

  • @glenhayman8722
    @glenhayman8722 2 года назад +2

    Nice Matt Tracker shirt

  • @jamesdevey2633
    @jamesdevey2633 2 года назад +2

    Love the arcade memories and seeing the very rare game I have not seen this time it was Turtles.
    Would love to see hidden arcade gems that use a trackball. We all know the usual centipede, crystal castles, world cup 86 football/soccer. But I don't really know of many as the arcades didn't like them as they were constantly going wrong. So a video by you would be great.
    Keep up the awesome work

    • @jacobprice8048
      @jacobprice8048 2 года назад

      Don't forget Q-Bert

    • @jacobprice8048
      @jacobprice8048 2 года назад

      And Marble Madness

    • @jamesdevey2633
      @jamesdevey2633 2 года назад +1

      @@jacobprice8048 I know those. I would like to see a list of the hidden gems that use the trackball like Combat School

    • @jamesdevey2633
      @jamesdevey2633 2 года назад

      I also seem to remember (but it could be my memory playing tricks on me) that Sega did a Sonic the Hedgehog game but saying that no one else seems to remember it.

  • @taipion64
    @taipion64 2 года назад +2

    It’s like if someone made a hack of a random game and called it Super Mario Bros. 2

    • @valley_robot
      @valley_robot 2 года назад

      Me and the other guy can not be the only one that got that reference

  • @BoomGiggity
    @BoomGiggity 2 года назад

    When I found out about the Galaga glitch, I was able to play for a really long time on one quarter.

  • @hiddentrack1701
    @hiddentrack1701 2 года назад +2

    Sweet M.A.S.K. shirt, Riggs.

  • @RyanBoehm85
    @RyanBoehm85 2 года назад +1

    I have the Odyssey 2 version of Turtles and it's great! Plays almost exactly like the arcade version except the graphics are a little simpler

  • @NateB1976
    @NateB1976 2 года назад

    I had completely forgotten about ladybug and scramble but I do remember playing them both. Usually found them at some arcade out of town when we were on vacation or traveling. I was the same way when it came to trying to play games that would last a while with one quarter. So I played a lot of Frogger and Galaga too. Had Frogger on the 2600 as well.

  • @Ripplin
    @Ripplin 2 года назад +1

    I was 4 years old at the time, so...yeah. ;) Would've been great, though!

    • @tonyp9313
      @tonyp9313 2 года назад

      Same age lol. I feel for you. I know what you went through with things being non existant to like this didn't exist back in my day.

  • @ultramaximusreviews
    @ultramaximusreviews 10 месяцев назад

    Bringing back memories here

  • @JGKingCrusher
    @JGKingCrusher Месяц назад

    That was a good year for arcade games!

  • @holddamayo7474
    @holddamayo7474 2 года назад

    Never has there been a more fitting hat for a man

  • @boomerdadplays
    @boomerdadplays Год назад

    Where's 1982? That was a GREAT one!

  • @jhighturntup5558
    @jhighturntup5558 2 года назад

    I'llll patiently be waiting for 1988 all the way through 1998... 🐥🔨

  • @forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499
    @forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499 2 года назад +1

    Galaga is my spirit animal.

  • @andrewgypsy4582
    @andrewgypsy4582 2 года назад +2

    Thanks

  • @robf228
    @robf228 2 года назад

    I didn't realize all of these were on miSTer. Thanks!

  • @nynick716
    @nynick716 2 года назад +2

    Good stuff

  • @64-Bit-Gamer
    @64-Bit-Gamer 2 года назад

    What a great video 🕹️ I was 4.

  • @jupitermenace9920
    @jupitermenace9920 2 года назад +1

    I heard Vanguard was the first game to have a continue.

  • @Tigerhawk1981
    @Tigerhawk1981 2 года назад +1

    i didn't play any games in 1981, i was born that year :P

  • @jwigley3835
    @jwigley3835 2 года назад +2

    You said that Galaga came out in 1991!

  • @hfield07
    @hfield07 2 года назад +1

    please do more years for arcade!!!

  • @themadatheist1976
    @themadatheist1976 2 года назад

    Was 6-ish back then, too young to remember what I played.

  • @fredclark3819
    @fredclark3819 2 года назад +1

    i was not playing any game in 1981 thats the year i was born lol

  • @tonystout1545
    @tonystout1545 2 года назад +1

    You looked to be around 6 or 7 in your picture. I was 15. The arcade I frequented was token based. They gave 8 tokens (plays) for $1. Unbeatable deal. Crush Roller was also released by Williams stateside as Make Trax. A favorite of mine, I only wish someone would port it to the Atari 5200. Frenzy was, in fact, a sequel to Berzerk, released by Stern. Colony 7 was ripped off heavily by Imagic on their Atlantis game for consoles. I always hated GORF and played the games it ripped off instead. Bally/Midway got Namco to license Pac Man to them. They subsequently developed and released Ms. Pac Man. Namco was hot, and in turn never licensed their titles to Bally/Midway again.

  • @isaacriggs4656
    @isaacriggs4656 2 года назад +1

    I wasn't playing any of these games because I was born in 1996.

  • @joeyfarris2543
    @joeyfarris2543 2 года назад +3

    I was born in 1981😎

  • @darthdome2
    @darthdome2 2 года назад +2

    1981 i'm 1 yearold

  • @GAMECLOSET
    @GAMECLOSET 2 года назад +1

    Frogger is still fantastic today. Sure I can play Galaga a lot today too, but I have much more fun with Frogger. I loved Scramble on Colecovision! OMG! Never heard of Black Hole. It looks like a rip-off of Phoenix (which was a rip-offs of other games- so Black Hole is super-diluted hahaha!).
    I think I liked Cosmic Avenger better than Scramble on Colecovision. Similar, yes, but I think it was slightly better.

  • @peterbumper2769
    @peterbumper2769 2 года назад +1

    Nah, was still playing pinball in 1981 (the golden year for Bally)

  • @camautobot
    @camautobot 2 года назад +1

    The year I was born!

  • @jackofallgamesTV
    @jackofallgamesTV 2 года назад +1

    How about Games for the 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision, Astrocade, Odyssey, 5200 and Vectrex by year?

  • @RaymondKarlVeasey75
    @RaymondKarlVeasey75 Год назад

    Yep, 1981 Is The Year I Truly Became A Gamer.

  • @hhvictor2462
    @hhvictor2462 Год назад

    Video arcades was the social media of its day.

  • @scottg7660
    @scottg7660 2 года назад +2

    Hahahahahaha nice hat!