The 9 best arcade games

Ranked by the scores that magazines gave these games when they came out. The list draws on 1,040 review scores of 677 arcade games; 95 of them have enough reviews to be ranked.

#	Game	Platform	Year	Score
1	Killer Instinct 2	Arcade	1996	93.7
2	Crude Buster	Arcade	1990	93.5
3	The Simpsons	Arcade	1991	91.7
4	Smash T.V.	Arcade	1990	91.5
5	Daiku no Gensan	Arcade	1990	90.7
6	R-Type II	Arcade	1990	90.6
7	Atomic Robo-Kid	Arcade	1988	90.2
8	Chase H.Q. II: Special Criminal Investigation	Arcade	1989	90
9	Alpine Racer	Arcade	1995	90

Highly rated, with fewer than 3 reviews

109 arcade games have a score of 90 or more, but from only one or two reviews, and no Metacritic score.

Game	Platform	Year	Score
Asteroids	Arcade	1979	100
Ataxx	Arcade	1990	100
Defender	Arcade	1980	100
Dig Dug	Arcade	1982	100
Donkey Kong	Arcade	1981	100
F-15 Strike Eagle	Arcade	1991	100
Frogger	Arcade	1981	100
Galaga	Arcade	1981	100
Indy 800	Arcade	1975	100
Phoenix	Arcade	1980	100
Robotron: 2084	Arcade	1982	100
Space Invaders	Arcade	1978	100
Tempest	Arcade	1981	100
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3	Arcade	1995	100
Wild Pilot	Arcade	1992	100
Winning Run	Arcade	1989	100
Virtua Fighter 3	Arcade	1996	98
Scud Race	Arcade	1996	97
Manx TT SuperBike DX	Arcade	1995	96
Daytona USA	Arcade	1993	96
G-Darius	Arcade	1997	96
The Lost World	Arcade	1997	96
Total Carnage	Arcade	1992	95.5
Viewpoint	Arcade	1992	95.5
Marvel Super Heroes	Arcade	1995	95
Rastan Saga	Arcade	1987	95
Exorex	Arcade	1991	95
Puzzle Bobble 3	Arcade	1996	95
Virtua Striker 2	Arcade	1997	95
X-Men: Children of the Atom	Arcade	1994	95
Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge	Arcade	1998	94
Harley Davidson & L.A. Riders	Arcade	1997	94
Racing Jam	Arcade	1998	94
Samba de Amigo	Arcade	1999	94
Virtua Striker	Arcade	1994	94
Cisco Heat	Arcade	1990	93.5
StarBlade	Arcade	1991	93.5
Fighting Vipers	Arcade	1995	93
Sega Rally 2 Championship	Arcade	1998	93
Soul Calibur	Arcade	1998	93
Cyber Cycles	Arcade	1995	93
Klax	Arcade	1990	93
Last Bronx	Arcade	1996	93
Mortal Kombat II	Arcade	1993	93
Sega Rally Championship	Arcade	1995	93
Street Fighter: The Movie	Arcade	1995	93
Time Crisis II	Arcade	1997	93
Virtua Fighter 2	Arcade	1994	93
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara	Arcade	1996	92.5
Alpine Racer 2	Arcade	1996	92
Dactyl Nightmare	Arcade	1991	92
Fighting Layer	Arcade	1998	92
Le Mans 24	Arcade	1997	92
RayStorm	Arcade	1996	92
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers	Arcade	1993	92
Tekken 3	Arcade	1997	92
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker	Arcade	1990	91
Tekken 2	Arcade	1995	91
Dancing Eyes	Arcade	1996	91
Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring	Arcade	1998	91
Raiden Fighters	Arcade	1996	91
Rapid River	Arcade	1997	91
Street Fighter Alpha 3	Arcade	1998	91
Three Wonders	Arcade	1991	91
Bomber Man World	Arcade	1992	90
Chase H.Q.	Arcade	1988	90
Discs of Tron	Arcade	1983	90
Double Dragon	Arcade	1987	90
Ghouls 'n Ghosts	Arcade	1988	90
Gradius	Arcade	1985	90
Out Run	Arcade	1986	90
Virtua Racing	Arcade	1992	90
Alpine Surfer	Arcade	1996	90
Area 51	Arcade	1995	90
Atari Football	Arcade	1978	90
Berzerk	Arcade	1980	90
Big Karnak	Arcade	1991	90
Crazy Climber	Arcade	1980	90
Cruis'n World	Arcade	1996	90
Crystal Castles	Arcade	1983	90
Cyber Commando	Arcade	1995	90
Cycle Warriors	Arcade	1991	90
Diet GoGo	Arcade	1992	90
Do! Run Run	Arcade	1984	90
Donkey Kong Jr.	Arcade	1982	90
Dynamite Dux	Arcade	1988	90
Fighting Soccer	Arcade	1988	90
Front Line	Arcade	1982	90
Gorf	Arcade	1981	90
Gun.Smoke	Arcade	1985	90
Heavyweight Champ	Arcade	1987	90
Iga Ninjutsu Den	Arcade	1988	90
Kangaroo	Arcade	1982	90
Last Duel: Inter Planet War 2012	Arcade	1988	90
Marvel Vs. Capcom - Clash of Super Heroes	Arcade	1998	90
NBA Jam	Arcade	1993	90
NFL Blitz	Arcade	1997	90
Operation Wolf	Arcade	1987	90
Phozon	Arcade	1983	90
Racing Jam - Chapter II	Arcade	1999	90
Road Runner	Arcade	1986	90
Samurai Shodown	Arcade	1993	90
Sega Ski Super G	Arcade	1996	90
Spikeout	Arcade	1998	90
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition	Arcade	1992	90
The House of the Dead	Arcade	1996	90
Top Skater	Arcade	1997	90
Wave Runner	Arcade	1996	90
Wizard of Wor	Arcade	1980	90

How the ranking works

The scores are the ones magazines gave when the games came out, all converted to a 0–100 scale. Only one review per magazine counts for a game: the most recent.
A game's score is half the average, half the median of its magazine reviews. A title opens the game's page on uvlist.net; a score opens the report with every review behind it.
A game needs at least 3 magazine reviews to be ranked. With equal scores, the game with more reviews comes first.
Metacritic already sums up many reviews, so it is never mixed with the magazines: it is used only for games with fewer than 3 magazine reviews, as their only score.
Each list shows every game with a score of 90 or more. Games with fewer than 3 reviews and no Metacritic score are shown apart: their score is promising, but rests on one or two opinions.

The lists are rebuilt each time reviews are added. To filter by genre, year, magazine or publisher, explore all the scores in the report.

More lists

All the lists