# What is the best Pre 1985 Video Arcade game? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730 "2005-04-23T04:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [April 25, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/61 "2005-04-25T01:14:29Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Sinistar was also the first arcade game to feature stereo sound, if I remember right. (And it had an omnidirectional joystick, instead the standard 8-directional dealie.) > > The appearance of Sinistar was the only thing that made my knees shake the same way that damned pterodactyl in _Joust_ did. I thought that was a dragon in _Joust_. Anyway, [here’s a link to where you can play _Sinistar_ on-line.](http://www.shockwave.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=sinistar) (Although, you will have to watch a short ad first.) It’s an almost-exact duplicate of the arcade version right down to where you have to insert a “quarter” into a slot before playing. However, the small viewing screen is a bit of drawback. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/62 "2005-04-25T01:20:59Z")
> [@Leviosaurus](#): > > Sue me, I don’t have the specs in front of me and am too lazy to look them up. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just a few k, frankly. I’m sure I’ve written documents that were bigger than Pong. > > The OP excludes Pac Man on the grounds that he would crush all… but I’ll hold up Pong against Pac Man any day of the week. All that is good about Pac Man was learned from Pong. Actually, since we’re talking about arcade boxes, it’s worth pointing out that the Pong arcade game was not a computer program. Nolan Bushnell (from whose interview on an Atari Classics CD-ROM I own I am getting this info) said the full computers at the time were not up to the task of providing the gameplay he wanted. The earliest Atari consoles, Pong included, were all hardwired state machines. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/63 "2005-04-25T01:42:12Z")
> [@The Sonoran Lizard King](#): > > Does anyone remember a two joystick console called KARATE CHAMP? > > Best two player game ever. (I can say that, since I stopped playing video games about 1988.) I ruled on that game. It was awesome, and I still remember all the joystick combos. (Up-left joystick, Down-right joystick is front flip. UpL, RightR is jumping side kick, etc…) I was only in the fourth grade, but I used to play on it for a half an hour or more on one quarter and gather a crowd around me when I would play. Ah…the good old video game days when actually getting to a high level on an arcade machine would give you some notoriety in the neightborhood. 🙂 My old time favorites are Joust, Gauntlet, and Ms. Pac Man. Slightly missing the 1985 cutoff is the 1986 Sega classic, Out Run. It is still perhaps my favorite racing game of all time. I just never get sick of it. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/64 "2005-04-25T02:33:07Z")
Another vote for Space Invaders. Picked up a buddy on our day off-he had instructions to get the wash done. We stopped at the bar for a cold beer-just one. 😉 Fast forward 6 hours: I drop him off, the roll of guarters is spent on Space Invaders, and their dirty laundry is still in my trunk. I could hear his wife screaming from the second floor. :eek: No votes for DigDug? ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/65 "2005-04-25T02:51:36Z")
I’ll go along with _Zaxxon_ and _Battlezone_, but the very best in that time frame was [_Star Wars_](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=S&game_id=9773)(1983). Anybody else remember ‘using the Force’ in the trench section, weaving up and down and around the barriers? ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/66 "2005-04-25T03:48:57Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > Actually, since we’re talking about arcade boxes, it’s worth pointing out that the Pong arcade game was not a computer program. Nolan Bushnell (from whose interview on an Atari Classics CD-ROM I own I am getting this info) said the full computers at the time were not up to the task of providing the gameplay he wanted. The earliest Atari consoles, Pong included, were all hardwired state machines. I actually had one of the first home game systems, a [Sears Hockey/Pong](http://www.pong-story.com/pics/sears/hockpong.jpg). I recall it was hard wired as well. We never thought of it as anything but a computer game, and that’s how they were called back then. According to [this site](http://www.pong-story.com/atpong2.htm), people stood in line for hours to buy these sets. Interesting to think, after all these years, that they weren’t really computers at all. Maybe my “just a few K” comment doesn’t apply. (Also interesting to note that video games were originally conceived simply as a way to sell more television sets! :eek: ) Regardless, the OP specified “Video Games”, not computer games, so Pong still qualifies. I’m sticking with Pong. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/67 "2005-04-25T15:07:19Z")
Although many great ones are listed, I’ll put down two that I was best at: **Moon Patrol** - not a great game, but I could make it to the end of the first world no problem, which seemed to impress the kids watching me at the roller rink :eek: **Time Pilot** - was another one I enjoyed and could make it to the UFO levels. A shame the sequel was utter crap. **Zookeeper** - a third favorite that I wasn’t great at, but was unique and the varied levels made it very fun. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/68 "2005-04-25T17:24:32Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I thought that was a dragon in _Joust_. Nope. The attract mode features the line “Beware of the ‘Unbeatable?’ pterodactyl.” The reason “unbeatable” has a question mark after it is because the pterodactyl can be killed if you strike your lance into his open mouth. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/69 "2005-04-25T17:30:25Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Nope. The attract mode features the line “Beware of the ‘Unbeatable?’ pterodactyl.” The reason “unbeatable” has a question mark after it is because the pterodactyl can be killed if you strike your lance into his open mouth. And in early versions of Joust, all you had to do was stand in the lower-middle platform and the pterodactyl would just ram himself into your lance. Starting about level six, you could have the troll grab the last red bird, holding it, while you stand on that platform as pterodactyl after pterodactyl would rise up, impaling themselves. I broke a million points doing this once and that pretty much was that for me and the game. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/70 "2005-04-25T22:02:35Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > … it’s worth pointing out that the Pong arcade game was not a computer program. Nolan Bushnell … said the full computers at the time were not up to the task of providing the gameplay he wanted. The earliest Atari consoles, Pong included, were all hardwired state machines. This shatters the hopes of Linux fans everywhere who had already modded their [Xboxes](http://www.xbox-linux.org/), and were looking for new frontiers to conquer. No Linux-on-Pong. How sad. ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/71 "2005-04-26T02:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] Anyway, [here’s a link to where you can play _Sinistar_ on-line.](http://www.shockwave.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=sinistar) [QUOTE] I do remember that now. And I hated it as much then as I did playing it now. Sinistar is too hard to kill, and his minions too easy. You wouldn’t happen to know of an online vector graphics Star Wars, would you? Because that was awesome. As for the best, it’s either Star Wars, Galaxa, or Ms. Pac-Man, with the glitch fixed. It says something that you can still readily find all three of these in arcades today. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/72 "2005-04-26T02:51:15Z")
What was the Pac-Man version with the pinball machine in the cabinet? When you got a certain object or went out one of the tunnels (I don’t remember which), the ball dropped into the pinball chamber and you played down there until you lost it (and I think at that point your Pac-Man sprite emerged from the tunnel on the opposite side). ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/73 "2005-04-26T02:57:59Z")
[QUOTE=don Jaime] [QUOTE=NDP] Anyway, [here’s a link to where you can play _Sinistar_ on-line.](http://www.shockwave.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=sinistar) > [@](#): > > I do remember that now. And I hated it as much then as I did playing it now. Sinistar is too hard to kill, and his minions too easy. You wouldn’t happen to know of an online vector graphics Star Wars, would you? Because that was awesome. > > As for the best, it’s either Star Wars, Galaxa, or Ms. Pac-Man, with the glitch fixed. It says something that you can still readily find all three of these in arcades today. I never found Sinistar that hard to kill. Just make sure you’re loaded up with bombs before he comes to life. Also, let him get pretty close before dropping a bomb so that you’re sure it will hit him (that will slow him down for a sec, so you wait until he gets close again before you drop the next one). You just have to watch you don’t crash into an asteroid while he’s chasing you. And his minions get tougher to kill on later levels. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/74 "2005-04-26T03:01:17Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > What was the Pac-Man version with the pinball machine in the cabinet? When you got a certain object or went out one of the tunnels (I don’t remember which), the ball dropped into the pinball chamber and you played down there until you lost it (and I think at that point your Pac-Man sprite emerged from the tunnel on the opposite side). [Baby Pac Man](http://www.coinopdoc.com/images/Mach/vg-bpac.jpg). What a weird concept. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/75 "2005-04-26T03:40:31Z")
Anybody remember Super Pac Man? That was my favorite of the Pac line. I loved gulping the super pellet and crashing through the barriers. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/76 "2005-04-26T04:27:09Z")
Asteroids. I decided to go for the all time record once, at 3am after 7 hours of play I called it quits leaving somewhere in the hundreds of extra ships lined up across the top and into memory. I actually made some money on the deal. When kids came in wanting to play, I would let them play about 6 ships for a quarter. I think I made enough to buy a 7-Eleven burrito! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/77 "2005-04-26T05:07:25Z")
Screw Video! Pinball rules! Give me Black Knight! (got an original in my garage, just waiting for me to bring to life. sometimes I plug it in to hear it speak to me while i’m out there) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/78 "2005-04-26T06:58:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Baby Pac Man](http://www.coinopdoc.com/images/Mach/vg-bpac.jpg). What a weird concept. There was also [_Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man_](http://www.appolo.com/collection/pacmanpinball/pacpinball.htm) pinball, where the “maze” was a 5 x 5 grid of dots on the center of the playfield. You’d use one flipper button to choose a direction, and another flipper button to move Pac-Man thataway. Definitely lacked some visual pizazz, if ya asks me. 😉 > [@gatopescado](#): > > Screw Video! Pinball rules! Give me Black Knight! [**High Speed**](http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1176) forever, baby! _Steve Ritchie roolz!_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/79 "2005-04-26T14:03:13Z")
Tempest was great. Was it Robot Ron or Berzerk where the game had a synthesized voice? CHICKEN! FIGHT LIKE A ROBOT! Freaked me out the first time I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/80 "2005-04-26T14:06:02Z")
Defender, DEFENDER, _DEFENDER!_, (and Stargate). Ooo, also Missle Command. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730.md?page=5)