# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/101 "2005-04-27T00:24:28Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > Although you haven’tplayed pinball until you’ve played: The Addams Family Oh, hell, we could just toss out most of the Williams pin-catalog in here – **Terminator 2, Star Trek: TNG, PinBot, Funhouse** … > [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I’m of the old school of pinball. > > 8 Ball Deluxe for me. There was a computer port done by [Littlewing](http://www.littlewingpinball.com/contents/en/index.html) (buy their stuff!), but it’s no longer available from them for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/102 "2005-04-27T03:18:42Z")
**1942** **Galaga** **Wonder Boy** **Rally-X** **Elevator Action** Good times, good times… ---
**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 27, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/103 "2005-04-27T03:25:43Z")
If this is now the '90s pinball thread, then The Twilight Zone wins. That game was fun and flat-out weird. Fish Tales was pretty good too. And no Star Wars vector graphics in Shockwave or Java online? WAAAAAH!!! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/104 "2005-04-27T03:40:30Z")
Do Video and Pinball Arcades still exist? ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/105 "2005-04-27T05:51:52Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > This one will be easier b/c I remember one of the words - “Quest”. It was something like "Vision Quest or “Galaxy Quest” (You see my problem here? ;)). It was a very old game, with graphics similar to the arcade version of Asteroids. The cool thing was you each had a ASCII looking ship that you could thrust and shoot, and you chased each other around a star in the middle with slow gravity. The controls were rather accurate - slow moving ships that increased speed as they neared the star and did not stop on a dime. The bullets didn’t shoot super-fast either. > > The best part was that you could partially disable your opponent’s ship - the ship would appear damaged, and may be only able to fly in tight clockwise circles. But, you didn’t know if they could still thrust and / or shoot or not, so you had to be cautious as you approached to finish them off. Of course, your opponent didn’t know either (unless you didn’t notice him try those buttons or unless he did try them and exposed his still-funtioning ship). Sometimes both ships could no longer shoot, but you still had to time your thrusts to outlast getting sucked into the star. Great, great game. Dooku – are you sure you’re not thinking of [Space Wars](http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/screens/S/wSpace_Wars.png) ? I freakin’ loved that game. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/106 "2005-04-27T06:27:44Z")
Shoot – I just remembered. Maybe it was [Solar Quest](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9612) ? They had similar graphics and the same controls. But in Space Wars you battled another player, while in Solar Quest you battled alien ships and rescued survivors. Either way, both games rocked. My favorite arcade game of all time was [Xevious](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=10505) . I remember my 14 year old self being blown away by the graphics when I first played it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/107 "2005-04-27T06:57:24Z")
I liked **Joust** , and had friends who were **Tron** and **Defender** fans, but I spent my arcade time mostly on a thing called (if I remember correctly) **Quantum**. The only skill involved was being able to draw circles quickly using a ball controller, but I liked it anyway. I also enjoyed that it was next to the **Gauntlet** game, where four people could all argue at once about who accidentally let the monsters out of the corridor above them. That was entertaining too. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/108 "2005-04-27T14:14:26Z")
> [@Bottle of Smoke](#): > > My favorite arcade game of all time was [Xevious](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=10505). I loved that game also. I was going to mention it, but for some reason I kept thinking it was called Xerxes. And I just found an emulator of it. Sweet!!1! ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/109 "2005-04-27T14:37:23Z")
> [@Bottle of Smoke](#): > > My favorite arcade game of all time was [Xevious](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=10505) . I remember my 14 year old self being blown away by the graphics when I first played it. Then I’m sure you’ll have loved [Xenon 2: The Megablast](http://www.abandonia.com/games/42/Xenon_2_Megablast/Xenon2Megablast.htm) also … I still think that game is pretty today. (better looking graphics on the ST and Amiga versions than the PC version I linked to) Of the really old games, I loved the ingenuity of [Miner 2049er: Bounty Bob Strikes Back](http://www.bigfivesoftware.com/atari/BBSB/screens/screens.htm) - it has the best high-score screen in the history of video games, still. A noteworthy accomplishment is the STeem emulator, with which you can play Atari Games, among which Marble Madness. The Amiga version of that game was a lot better though - I finished the ST version in a day, and returned it to the shop. The Amiga version was equally short, but then restarted the levels with less time available each time you played through. The ST version just stopped. I exchanged it (and got money back on that too) for a game that lasted a bit longer: Gauntlett II (for which I soldered two extra Joysticks onto the STs Serial port to allow for the 4-player action. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/110 "2005-04-27T15:45:48Z")
1. Crystal Castles (“Get the gems, Bentley Bear!”) 2. Missile Command 3. Berzerk (I’d forgotten all about this one until people mentioned it in the thread!) Honorable mentions: Galaxian DigDug Anyone remember Strat-o-Vox? (At least, I think that’s what it was called.) You’d get points for your leftover lives or ammo or whatever at the end of each round, and the machine would go “Lucky, lucky, lucky…lucky, lucky” as it counted them off and added them to your score. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/111 "2005-04-27T16:09:26Z")
My vote’s for a somewhat obscure game called [**Star Rider**](http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/games/pages/sr.asp). It was one of the early laserdisc games and involved racing a futuristic motorcycle through a series of strange worlds. The visuals were amazing for the time period (early 80s, probably around '84) and I spent way too many quarters on it in my college video arcade. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730/112 "2005-04-27T19:02:47Z")
> [@Bottle of Smoke](#): > > Shoot – I just remembered. Maybe it was [Solar Quest](http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9612) ? > > They had similar graphics and the same controls. But in Space Wars you battled another player, while in Solar Quest you battled alien ships and rescued survivors. Either way, both games rocked. Well now I’m confused. I’m now positive it was called “Solar Quest” but you didn’t rescue anyone, you just battled another player. Also, the one in my local drugstore wasn’t the stand up model, but a larger table-top model where both players’ controls were on the same side of the table. It was most definitely not in color like the one in your link, so maybe it was an older version that later got spiffed up with a rescuing surviors feature after the success of Defender? Anyway, thanks for the reminder! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-pre-1985-video-arcade-game/300730.md?page=5)