believe it or not these games were
absolutely mind-blowing back in the day
and have since helped to find video
games in the public eye welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re kicking
off our new series on the top 10 arcade
games per decade with our picks for the
top ten arcade games of the 1970s for
this list we’re looking at the best
games released – and played in arcades
between 1970 and 1979 these are the
games that made a significant impact on
popular culture and the video gaming
medium helping to influence bigger
better games of the future
number 10 death race a game about
running down gremlins in your car death
race was revolutionary at the time due
to its steering wheel and acceleration
pedal that are used to control the car
rather than the typical joystick and
buttons the game was extremely
controversial upon its release with many
groups lobbying against it and worrying
about the possible psychological impact
that could result from the gameplay at
least one thing in gaming has stayed
constant number 9 tank while the games
may have been revolutionary the titles
could have used some work tank was a
two-player game where friend’s battled
each other avoiding mines and a maze
while trying to shoot the other player
the joystick controls were considered
realistic and engrossing for the time
even being used six years later for the
arcade game battlezone it was so popular
that the game was ported to the Atari
2600 with the name Kombat number 8c wolf
known for its large periscope attachment
Seawolf had players looking through said
periscope in order to blast enemy ships
in underwater mines which were used as
an obstruction sea wolf is notable for
being one of the first games with the
high-score challenge an aspect which
would be prevalent in most arcade games
in subsequent years it would also come
to serve as one of video gaming x’ most
well known features number 7 lunar
lander
this game sees the player attempting to
pilot the titular Lander onto the
surface of the Moon while the game
wasn’t wildly popular it did introduce a
few new features such as the insertion
of more coins in order to continue
playing a mainstay of arcade games ever
since the vector graphics were also the
catalyst for asteroids which well we’ll
get to that later proving the influence
that this one had on the medium
number six breakout designed by Apple
Steve Wozniak you could say that this
game was the breakout star of his career
no no all right the player controls a
paddle at the bottom of the screen
attempting to keep a ball bouncing two
hit bricks at the top if this sounds
familiar that’s because the game is
still being played today as it has
spawned many copycats including the
fantastic arkanoid it also served as the
inspiration for the Apple 2 computer
proving its enormous influence number
five computer space officially released
in November of 1971 computer space is
universally recognized as the world’s
first commercial coin-operated video
game
the player controls a rocket ship and
must use thrusters and rotational
buttons in order to avoid fire from
attacking flying saucers
game was not a success at the time due
to its steep learning curve but the fact
that this is the world’s first arcade
game is enough to warrant it a spot in
history
number four Galaxian hey look color
finally one of the most important video
games ever Galaxian set the groundwork
for many of the succeeding decades most
popular games like space invaders the
player controls the spaceship battling
aliens who are shooting from above but
with the added twist of various kamikaze
enemies not only was this the first game
to feature enemies with distinct
personalities but it also revolutionized
color graphics added the lives remaining
feature and included more pronounced
background music than any game before it
to say Galaxian was influential would be
a massive understatement
number three asteroids won in video
games most popular titles asteroids was
a true pop-culture phenomenon using
hardware previously seen in lunar lander
the object of the game was to control
your spaceship and shoot oncoming
asteroids while trying to avoid the
resultant debris the game was immensely
popular upon release earning arcade
operators roughly 500 million dollars
and some even had to install larger coin
boxes in order to accommodate the game’s
demand
asteroids was praised for its graphics
and gameplay and many consider it one of
the finest arcade titles number two pong
– some of our younger viewers we can see
why you might wonder how this game did
well however in November of 1972 this
little game changed the world often
considered to be the first commercially
successful video game pong premise is
simple in that two players compete
against each other in a simulated table
tennis match the game inspired many
other companies to take notice and
create pong clones which in turn forced
Atari to begin creating bigger better
games effectively beginning the video
game industry say what you will but
without pong there would arguably be no
video games today number one space
invaders space invaders almost
single-handedly launched the video game
industry from a niche entertainment
product to a worldwide phenomenon
the player controls the spaceship as it
shoots attacking alien ships from above
and the simple concept changed the
industry forever
the aliens have since become synonymous
with video gaming in general and it soon
became the highest-grossing
entertainment product of its time
roughly the equivalent of Grand Theft
Auto 5 today suffice it to say that
space invaders helped secure video
gaming as a global industry and change
the world forever do you agree with our
list I must go back what arcade games
from the 70s do you consider to be the
best for more influential top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
absolutely mind-blowing back in the day
and have since helped to find video
games in the public eye welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re kicking
off our new series on the top 10 arcade
games per decade with our picks for the
top ten arcade games of the 1970s for
this list we’re looking at the best
games released – and played in arcades
between 1970 and 1979 these are the
games that made a significant impact on
popular culture and the video gaming
medium helping to influence bigger
better games of the future
number 10 death race a game about
running down gremlins in your car death
race was revolutionary at the time due
to its steering wheel and acceleration
pedal that are used to control the car
rather than the typical joystick and
buttons the game was extremely
controversial upon its release with many
groups lobbying against it and worrying
about the possible psychological impact
that could result from the gameplay at
least one thing in gaming has stayed
constant number 9 tank while the games
may have been revolutionary the titles
could have used some work tank was a
two-player game where friend’s battled
each other avoiding mines and a maze
while trying to shoot the other player
the joystick controls were considered
realistic and engrossing for the time
even being used six years later for the
arcade game battlezone it was so popular
that the game was ported to the Atari
2600 with the name Kombat number 8c wolf
known for its large periscope attachment
Seawolf had players looking through said
periscope in order to blast enemy ships
in underwater mines which were used as
an obstruction sea wolf is notable for
being one of the first games with the
high-score challenge an aspect which
would be prevalent in most arcade games
in subsequent years it would also come
to serve as one of video gaming x’ most
well known features number 7 lunar
lander
this game sees the player attempting to
pilot the titular Lander onto the
surface of the Moon while the game
wasn’t wildly popular it did introduce a
few new features such as the insertion
of more coins in order to continue
playing a mainstay of arcade games ever
since the vector graphics were also the
catalyst for asteroids which well we’ll
get to that later proving the influence
that this one had on the medium
number six breakout designed by Apple
Steve Wozniak you could say that this
game was the breakout star of his career
no no all right the player controls a
paddle at the bottom of the screen
attempting to keep a ball bouncing two
hit bricks at the top if this sounds
familiar that’s because the game is
still being played today as it has
spawned many copycats including the
fantastic arkanoid it also served as the
inspiration for the Apple 2 computer
proving its enormous influence number
five computer space officially released
in November of 1971 computer space is
universally recognized as the world’s
first commercial coin-operated video
game
the player controls a rocket ship and
must use thrusters and rotational
buttons in order to avoid fire from
attacking flying saucers
game was not a success at the time due
to its steep learning curve but the fact
that this is the world’s first arcade
game is enough to warrant it a spot in
history
number four Galaxian hey look color
finally one of the most important video
games ever Galaxian set the groundwork
for many of the succeeding decades most
popular games like space invaders the
player controls the spaceship battling
aliens who are shooting from above but
with the added twist of various kamikaze
enemies not only was this the first game
to feature enemies with distinct
personalities but it also revolutionized
color graphics added the lives remaining
feature and included more pronounced
background music than any game before it
to say Galaxian was influential would be
a massive understatement
number three asteroids won in video
games most popular titles asteroids was
a true pop-culture phenomenon using
hardware previously seen in lunar lander
the object of the game was to control
your spaceship and shoot oncoming
asteroids while trying to avoid the
resultant debris the game was immensely
popular upon release earning arcade
operators roughly 500 million dollars
and some even had to install larger coin
boxes in order to accommodate the game’s
demand
asteroids was praised for its graphics
and gameplay and many consider it one of
the finest arcade titles number two pong
– some of our younger viewers we can see
why you might wonder how this game did
well however in November of 1972 this
little game changed the world often
considered to be the first commercially
successful video game pong premise is
simple in that two players compete
against each other in a simulated table
tennis match the game inspired many
other companies to take notice and
create pong clones which in turn forced
Atari to begin creating bigger better
games effectively beginning the video
game industry say what you will but
without pong there would arguably be no
video games today number one space
invaders space invaders almost
single-handedly launched the video game
industry from a niche entertainment
product to a worldwide phenomenon
the player controls the spaceship as it
shoots attacking alien ships from above
and the simple concept changed the
industry forever
the aliens have since become synonymous
with video gaming in general and it soon
became the highest-grossing
entertainment product of its time
roughly the equivalent of Grand Theft
Auto 5 today suffice it to say that
space invaders helped secure video
gaming as a global industry and change
the world forever do you agree with our
list I must go back what arcade games
from the 70s do you consider to be the
best for more influential top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
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