The Best Arcade Games of the 90s

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In America, more than 210 million people play video games.

While most of these people play video games on their phones, a lot of people still enjoy playing classic arcade games.

While it’s hard to beat the top arcade games of the 80s, the 90s brought with it some incredibly fun games. Discover the best arcade games of the 90s here.

1. Smash TV

This game was released in 1990, and it was one of the most popular action games.

This top-down action shooter game had mid-80s style graphics and a Motley Crue tour bus. However, this may have made the game even more fun.

In this game, the state becomes all-encompassing and oversees everything, and it’s up for you to defeat them.

2. Sunset Riders

This run and gun game came out in 1991 and was a depiction of what the American Wild West may have been like.

While the Native Americans were left out, you can still run around, shoot people, and dodge bullets in the game.

3. Primal Rage

Atari was one of the big names in video games, and this arcade fighting game was a spin-off from the traditional fighting game.

The objective of this game was to defeat your opponent’s health bar, but instead of defeating them, you had to add different features to your character to match it.

There would be different things in the game to help restore your health or to deplete your others. For example, there was a worshipper that could wander into the battle arena and heal someone.

This game takes place on a planet named Urth, which was the name of Earth after a meteor shower wiped out all of the humans.

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After that, seven gods awoke, and then the remaining humans were left to separate into tribes and worship these.

4. X-Men

X-Men is still a beloved comic and movie series, but it was also a classic 1992 arcade game.

This Beat em up game had two versions that you could play.

There was a four-player cabinet and one that had a six-player stand up. The six-player one was always the most popular one.

You could play as Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawlers, or Dazzler. The possibilities were endless.

If you want to play games like this and more, you can always check out this arcade.

5. Virtua Fighter

Virtua Fighter was the first in the series of other games. It was developed by Sega-AM2 and released in 1993.

This game has a lasting legacy and many people who were familiar with the video game community are familiar with it.

This game incorporated a 3D engine, which was revolutionary at the time. However, it added more points to this fighting game than any other fighting game out there.

In fact, this game was awarded the “First Polygon-Based Game,” “First Fighting Game for a 32-bit Console,” and “First 3D Fighting Game” by the Guinness World Record in 2008.

6. Area 51

In 1995, another shooting game was released. Area 51 has all of the explosions and aliens packed into a video game that you could ever want.

You can use your light gun and blast aliens in Area 51, and the game just sucks you in.

The graphics aren’t the best, but if you find this game in a bar, you just have to sit down and play it.

7. Daytona USA

This list wouldn’t be complete without at least one good racing game on here. In 1993, Daytona USA was released.

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This racing game was best enjoyed with a group of friends, and you could all gather in the plastic cars and race side by side.

The only downside of this game was that it didn’t take quarters, only dollar bills.

8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

This game was released in 1991 as a sequel to the 1989 TMNT film.

This has a two-player and a four-player version. In this game, you can choose which turtle you want to play as, and then you go through a plot, completing quests and beating up bad guys.

April O’Neil is covering a story about the Statue of Liberty, and then Krang swoops down and steals the actual statue.

After that, Shredder calls for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they continue on their journey through time and space to get the statue back. Once they steal the statue, they have to get rid of the villain for good.

9. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade

In 1998, one of the first Star Wars games were released. The Star Wars Trilogy arcade game was a shooting game, and you could battle on some of your favorite planets like the Death Star, Endor, and Hoth.

You could even use all kinds of different weapons from blasters to lightsabers.

If you were a huge Star Wars fan, this game would definitely pique your interest.

10. Tekken 3

One of the best fighting games was released in the late ’90s, and that game was Tekken 3.

This is a classic fighter style, similar to something you might find in Mortal Kombat today.

You could battle as Eddy Gordo and memorize special moves to take down your opponents. However, button-mashing became a popular way to win these games.