Throughout the years, there have been various video game cabinets that make us want to get out of bed and head on over to the local arcade. After all, these titles just weren’t released for home consoles quite yet. For a time, arcade games would often have better graphics than what was available for consoles.
Some games became so big that they got expanded with ports and spinoffs. While some of these entries would capture the magic of the arcade classic, others would take some time before they could arrive to home consoles in all their glory. So, which games escaped the confines of the arcade center?
10Pac Man
Ghosts Chase You Even At Home
Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Fever, you name it. Gamers just couldn’t get enough of eating pac pellets while being chased by ghosts. Just don’t forget to grab the fruit when it appears. Pac-Man received plenty of ports from GameBoy cartridges, home console games, and even plug-and-play devices.
Eventually, the Pac-Man name grew even larger with full-on platformers and party games. Pac-Man himself even got added to Smash Bros, which is a testament to the character’s popularity. One way or another, Pac-Man is breaking into your home.
9Frogger
Look Both Ways Before Crossing The Road
Frogger is an instant classic. At first, getting the frog across the street and hopping over the floating logs is simple enough. However, you are eventually met with pesky crocodiles, slithering snakes, and speeding cars that just don’t care much for a simple frog like you.
Frogger has seen plenty of home releases on consoles such as the PC-6001 andthe Nintendo GameBoy. Not only that, but there have been multiple sequels and spinoffs that take the roadkill frog into the third dimension. Now we know why the frog crossed the road.
8Mortal Kombat
Finish Him At Home
Blood, gore, and guts are just a few ways to describe Mortal Kombat in arcades. If you didn’t know any better, the gruesome finishing moves would catch you by surprise, much to the distress of many parents out there.
Of course, Mortal Kombat couldn’t stay in arcades forever. The series evolved with ports for the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. While the violence would be nerfed for those first few wonky ports, the series eventually embraced its roots with later installments.
7The House Of The Dead
One Of The Most Nostalgic Zombie Arcade Games
The House of The Deadis a series of light gun shooters, with the first title taking you through an outbreak inside a mansion housing vicious experiments. This two-player game received multiple sequels that take players from the chaotic streets of Venice to the futuristic year of 2019.
From the Sega Dreamcast to the Xbox, The House of the Dead series leaped from the arcades to home systems. One of the best ports is The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return for the Nintendo Wii, which has some of the most responsive light gun controls.
6Gauntlet Legends
Red Warrior Has Gained A Level
With unending mobs, fearsome bosses, and magical worlds that each look distinct from one another, Gauntlet Legends was the perfect machine to spend all your quarters on. Withfour-player co-op, this game lived up to its name as a legend.
While not the first Gauntlet game to hit arcades, Gauntlet Legends has some of the more interesting ports. One of the better ones is Gauntlet: Dark Legacy for the GameCube, which added new worlds, unlockable characters, and a secret final boss. Hacking and slashing in the Gauntlet series peaked here.
5Monkey Ball
Grab That Banana
Monkey Ball is an instantly recognizable arcade game due to its unique banana-shaped stick. Using the controls, players would need to reach a goal across a series of floating stages. With monkeys inside balls, rolling them around could prove quite challenging, requiring peak precision.
Monkey Ball would later get ported to the GameCube, GameBoy Advance, and other consoles. As the series evolved in arcades, the games also experimented with exclusive titles for home consoles such as Banana Blitz and Banana Mania.
4Street Fighter 2 Turbo
The Best Fighting Game Of All Time
Street Fighter 2 is the pinnacle of the arcade experience. In fact, some would even consider Street Fighter 2 to be the greatest fighting game of all time. Unlike other arcade games, getting the perfect port can mean upgrades, updates, compromises, and more.
Street Fighter 2 has many ports from the earlier days of the 3DO to being part of a compilation of different classics on the Switch. There are turbo versions and HD remixes that add characters, challenges, and online capabilities.
3Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Leaving Gamers Shell Shocked
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is a classic that ranks up there with the likes of the Simpsons arcade game. This beat-em-up lets you and your friends control all four turtles as you fight your way through the Foot Clan.
While the NES port drastically took away from the experience, the game has been ported a few other times to add in some missing features. PC versions also went under the title Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Coin Op. The game was also featured as an unlockable in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus.
2Mario Bros
Clean Up The Sewers
The original Mario Bros. game didn’t have Mario on his quest to fight Bowser. In fact, they really are just plumbers trying to unclog the sewers from the many creatures that come out of the pipes. Smack your enemies from underneath to flip them over, then kick them away to finish the job.
This Mario Bros. classic’s most notable ports are the ones featured in each Super Mario Advance title for the GameBoy Advance. This game always came bundled with each port as a second mode. It featured an updated soundtrack, graphics, four-player co-op, and animations.
1Rampage
Crush Em, Eat Em, Bash Em
There’s nothing like running through town as a giant monster and crushing everything in sight. Rampage offers classic monster mayhem as you punch holes through buildings until they collapse. Watch out, the police and the military will come by and try to stop you.
Rampage bursts through the arcade cabinet and into your home with ports on the NES, Sega Master System, the Commodore 64, and more. There are even spinoffs like Rampage: Total Destruction that compile the original game and sequels as bonus modes.
