# Most difficult/easiest arcade video games (80s era) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685 "2002-07-25T02:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/41 "2002-07-26T00:17:41Z")
Hey, you were just having Galaga flashbacks and was hitting Submit like mad to keep your spaceship from being ganked. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/42 "2002-07-26T02:23:30Z")
Indiana Jones was the bombdiggity. I used to play that all the time. How many of you get to the bridge? That was intense. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/43 "2002-07-26T02:42:19Z")
**Cabala** and **Hippodrome** were the only games I was to master. The first was my favorite: with three lives, infinite ammo, and a trackball, destroy a small Central American nation. I loved that fact that _everything_ could be blown apart if you shot it enough. ---
**Author:** ![Cap\_n\_Crude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Cap\_n\_Crude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Crude)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/44 "2002-07-26T02:44:57Z")
**Games I was good at** , in no particular order: [ul] [li]Star Wars (the new version is pretty but I like the classic)[/li][li]Star Trek[/li][li]Tempest[/li][li]Berzerk[/li][li]Elevator Action (I miss this game)[/li][li]Heavy Barrel[/li][li]Golden Axe[/li][li]Kung-Fu Master (simple side-scrolling minion-punching game)[/li][li]Shinobi[/li][li]Toobin’[/li][li]Gauntlet[/li][li]Gyruss[/li][li]Gorf[/li][li]Frogger[/li][li]1942 (or was it 1943?)[/li][li]Pengo[/ul][/li]There was also a two-player cooperative game with helicopters; top-scrolling, 4 kinds of color-coded gun power-ups. I rocked at that game. **Games I suxx0r3d at:** Pretty much everything else, I guess. It’s been a long time since I gave this much thought. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/45 "2002-07-26T02:45:46Z")
Whoops, brain fart. **Cabal** , not **Cabala**. Cabala sounds like it could be fun, though. Re-arrange the letters of the Pentateuch with your M-16 to achieve enlightenment before the Demiurge comes and stomps your butt. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/46 "2002-07-26T02:53:58Z")
Bad at Defender, Asteroids, and Missile Command. Good at Tetris, Q-bert, Pengo, Columns, and stuff like that. Fairly good and and really enjoyed Gorf, Tempest, and Galaga. Does anyone remember the name of that game that had the ‘mystic’ line jumping around. You had to claim screen space to pen it into less than half of the screen to clear a level. But if it touched you while you were claiming space, you died. It had really hummy, droning music. There’s a Dragon’s Lair DVD out, now. Has anyone seen it? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/47 "2002-07-26T05:03:34Z")
That sounds like **Qix** which I described in an earlier post. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/48 "2002-07-26T05:45:38Z")
I absolutely kicked ass at **Phoenix**. I spent quite a few hours during the summer of '81 perfecting my skills at the local barbershop where my boyfriend hung out with his friends. I’d love to be able to play that game again. Sheri ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/49 "2002-07-26T05:52:04Z")
Anyone remember _Bank Panic_? I could get 4 million in that game, easy, playing with one hand. There was _Championship Baseball_, which I liked, but the damn game cheated. The game would end if the computer opponent ever racked up more runs than you, so it would toy with you for a few innings and then hit three of four doubles in a row and send you packing. ---
**Author:** ![Pink\_Pussycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Pink\_Pussycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pink_Pussycat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/50 "2002-07-26T06:54:08Z")
Gosh, you guys really know the games. I only remember playing that little table tennis game where the little line was your racket and it hit that really slow moving ball. Ha. Boy, I thought that was some big deal. That and that stupid Rubik’s cube. -p. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/51 "2002-07-26T12:02:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > \*\*Indiana Jones was the bombdiggity. I used to play that all the time. > > How many of you get to the bridge? That was intense. \*\* Me. I used to work in an arcade and we had one of these machines. I would play it all the time since there wasn’t much else to do. I ended up buying the machine so now I own it! 😃 Though right now the ex has it at her house. ☹ If you ever see one again do you know about the easter egg on the bridge? If you whip the woman at the end of the bridge you pull her close and kiss her. It’s been about a year since I’ve played it but I think you get an extra life. As for the games I was good at, none of them! And that’s working at an arcade! Well I was good at some of the games in the 90s but that’s not the OP. Hmmm… When did Pit Fighter come out I was pretty good at that. There was also one called Gladiator where you walked to the right and killed people with your sword, I was ok at that. I kinda liked stripping the woman, hey I was 10. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/52 "2002-07-26T13:14:48Z")
Nobody has mentioned karate champ. I freaking loved that game. I can still hear the judge’s voice on the wins, “fuhl poin” or “half poin”. Ah, memories. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/53 "2002-07-26T13:27:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarkWriter \* > **I absolutely kicked ass at Phoenix. I spent quite a few hours during the summer of '81 perfecting my skills at the local barbershop where my boyfriend hung out with his friends.** Oh, yes! I loved **Phoenix**. I remember hanging out at the roller skating rink playing this one as a kid. Didn’t it have some cool classical score as the fighting music? Also not mentioned, **TimePilot**. I could get to the spaceship level, but never past it. What came after that? ---
**Author:** ![MachV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@MachV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachV)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/54 "2002-07-26T14:02:35Z")
Holy crap. A couple of people mentioned **Gorf**. I had all but forgotten that nightmarishly hard game. Another game that no one’s mentioned yet - **Super Dodgeball**. Remember this one? My friends and I used to spend hours in front of this machine (even cut class to play it). Small learning curve, so you can say it was an easy game to pick up on. High satisfaction level, though. There was just something gratifying about smacking the hell out of your buddies with super-stretchy screaming volley ball. Good times, good times. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/55 "2002-07-26T18:02:59Z")
**Double Dribble** man I was good at that one- caused carpal tunnel though smashing all those buttons. Star Wars was pretty easy too "_Use the Force Luke!!_ " Remember the Football game that was set up as a table, with two track balls on each end, and the teams were X’s vs. O’s- man was THAT a work out spinning those giant track balls like crazy to make your players “run”. I must have worn some serious skin off of my hands with that one. Defender was bitch though- the controls were too twitchy for the finite control needed. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/56 "2002-07-26T22:20:17Z")
**Food Fight!** I remember only one arcade in my area had this, across the street from my college. Great fun! I do remember **Tron** , but how many remember **Disks of Tron**? This was basically you (Tron) vs. Sark throwing disks at each other while standing on energy rings. I did pretty good on this one. **Elevator Action** – I could make a quarter last fifteen, twenty minutes easy. In more modern times…my previous boss went on an eBay binge and bought a dozen old videogames and stashed them in an empty room at our company. He set them up for free play and let us play them on breaks and lunch. I got reacquainted with {b]Food Fight, Star Wars\*\* and **Centipede**. I impressed a lot of my coworkers with my skill at these “antique” machines. ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/57 "2002-07-27T00:04:24Z")
I was good at: Centipede. I recall the bruises on my fingertips from the pinchy rollerball. I sucked at but still played: Robotron. There was one big robot who didnt ever want to die when I shot him. I could never get the hang of: Galaga, Pac Man On the Atari home game…did anyone get ANYWHERE on Pitfall? I just ran to the left for hours. The I ran to the right for hours. fun game. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/58 "2002-07-27T00:20:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AzRaek \* > \*\*On the Atari home game…did anyone get ANYWHERE on Pitfall? I just ran to the left for hours. The I ran to the right for hours. fun game. \*\* Once, and only once, did I ever make it through the entire **Pitfall** course. Took me about twenty-five minutes, as I recall. My favorite Atari 2600 game was **River Raid**. Today, my cousin has that cartridge, and he still has the Atari 2600 I once owned stashed away somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/59 "2002-07-27T00:29:31Z")
I had a few obscure ones that I was great at, I could make a quarter last for over an hour. **Elevator Action** , **Time Pilot** and **Phoenix**. There were a couple of hard ones that I doggedly gained virtuoso skill at after endless hours of arcading… **Dig Dug** and **Xevious** Oddly, I always sucked at **Asteroids** , I was never even able to get one free ship on that game. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685/60 "2002-07-27T00:35:53Z")
divemaster, In Time Pilot, after the spaceships level, the game cycled over and started again in WW1 but with a higher difficulty (faster and more bad guys). I think my best was 4 or 5 times rolling it over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-difficult-easiest-arcade-video-games-80s-era/120685.md?page=4)