10 of the Most Performed Arcade Games of All Time

Coin-operated arcade video games have been round since 1971, when Nutting Associates launched Computer Space. Over the following few many years, arcade video games grew to become infinitely extra advanced, permitting gamers to manage quite a lot of characters, ships, autos, and extra in battles for world domination and excessive scores. Throughout the Nineteen Eighties and effectively into the ‘90s, arcades were where people played games the most, and in that time, kids and adults fed billions of dollars’ price of quarters right into a plethora of in style cupboards. We’ve crunched the numbers, and these ten arcade video games consumed extra quarters than any others.

10) Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong was a extremely modern platformer when it was launched, introducing most of the style’s core parts. It was an enormous success for Nintendo, saving the corporate from monetary spoil whereas concurrently establishing the profession of one of many business’s finest and brightest, Shigeru Miyamoto. Nintendo offered round 132,000 cupboards to companies, primarily in North America, incomes an estimated $280 million in income by 1982. Adjusted for inflation to 2025, that determine rises to $942.4 million, or 235,606,217 particular person quarters. Of course, Nintendo didn’t cease with this one cupboard and has since expanded Donkey Kong right into a franchise price billions.

9) Mortal Kombat

It’s tough to convey how essential Mortal Kombat was to gaming on the whole, because it elevated the business from primarily specializing in youngsters to adult-oriented leisure. This prompted widespread issues with mother and father who decried the violent imagery, however nowadays, the unique MK is tame by comparability. Regardless, its notoriety solely boosted the sport’s recognition as youngsters rushed into arcades to provide it a try to rating a fatality over their associates. While Midway offered fewer cupboards than Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, with an estimated 24,000, it stopped promoting them in 2002, and the corporate made considerably extra money, totaling round $570 million. Adjusted, that’s $1.03 billion, or 257,276,264 quarters.

8) Mortal Kombat II

Unsurprisingly to anybody paying consideration on the time, Mortal Kombat II was much more in style than its predecessor, storming into arcades in 1993. Like the primary title within the franchise, individuals gathered across the cupboards, taking part in for so long as they may feed quarters into its slots. It additionally had a controversial and vital affect on in style tradition. Some of the controversy had died down after the second recreation, but it surely remained a goal for fogeys’ teams and politicians. Regardless, Mortal Kombat II outsold Mortal Kombat by greater than 3,000 cupboards, netting Midway one other $600 million by 2002. When adjusted, that comes out to $1.08 billion, or 270,817,120 quarters. 

7) Asteroids

By trendy requirements, Asteroids is an easy recreation that’s a bit repetitive, however when it was launched in 1979, it was an enormous hit. The recreation was one of many earliest upright cupboards offered to arcades. You might usually discover them for years after Asteroids’ launch, because it remained in style effectively into the early ’90s. It was additionally extremely influential on a mess of video games that adopted, and Atari offered round 100,000 cupboards in each upright and cocktail codecs. When gross sales ended years later, Atari had netted an estimated $800 million by 1991. That comes out to $1.9 billion in 2025, or a whopping 476,945,668 quarters.

6) Defender

Defender was launched in 1981, when the nascent idea of a scrolling shooter was sufficient to get individuals to stroll into arcades with full pockets, solely to go away empty-handed. The recreation is definitely some of the essential titles from the Golden Age of Arcade Games, promoting greater than 60,000 items. This made it Williams Electronics’ best-selling system and an enormous money-maker for the corporate. While it was launched within the early historical past of arcades, most stored Defender round for years, incomes Williams a cool $1 billion from gross sales by 1993. Adjusted, that quantities to $2.25 billion in 2025, or a literal truckload of quarters: 561,937,716.

5) NBA Jam

When Midway launched NBA Jam in 1993, it modified how individuals noticed sports activities video games. There had been many previous it, however NBA Jam upped the ante with far superior graphics, controls, sound, and extra. It popularized basketball video games, resulting in an inflow of them through the years, and had a big affect on the business as a complete. The recreation’s recognition stored gamers busy for prolonged intervals, usually leading to traces forming of individuals desirous to play. Midway offered round 20,000 cupboards to arcades, netting an estimated $1.1 billion by 1994, just one 12 months after its launch. When adjusted, that comes out to $2.4 billion, or 602,699,055 quarters.

4) Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man started life as a modification equipment for Pac-Man cupboards, and the video games are certainly fairly comparable. That stated, Ms. Pac-Man, launched in 1982, which was two years after its predecessor, options quite a few technical upgrades that make the sport more difficult. Players beloved this, and whereas many assume it was marketed to younger ladies, hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands of younger boys and grownup males performed it to no finish. It stays some of the essential video games of the period, and Bally Midway offered over 125,000 cupboards of assorted varieties. This resulted in a powerful $1.2 billion by 1987, or $3.43 billion. That comes out to 857,746,478 quarters.

3) Street Fighter II: Champion Edition

It’s unimaginable to think about trendy combating video games had Street Fighter II/Champion Edition not been launched in 1992. The new model of the sport is extra balanced, options 4 playable Grand Masters, and quite a few options widespread to the style immediately. It was some of the essential video games launched within the Nineties, and folks around the globe entered tournaments to change into world champions. Capcom offered round 140,000 Champion Edition cupboards, bringing in round $2.3 billion by 1995. Adjusted, that’s over $4.9 billion, or 1,231,853,018 quarters.

2) Space Invaders

Space Invaders is one other traditional recreation from the earliest days of arcades and the oldest on this listing, having been launched in 1978. It includes a difficult but comparatively easy gameplay fashion, the place gamers fireplace at invading aliens that get quicker the nearer they get to the bottom. This was the sport that influenced all mounted shooters, because it’s the OG. Games like Galaga most likely wouldn’t exist had been it not for Space Invaders, which stays in in style tradition practically half a century after its launch. Taito offered round 360,000 cupboards of assorted varieties, netting round $2.7 billion by 1982. That comes out to $9.09 billion, or 2,273,600,000 quarters.

1) Pac-Man

Of all of the coin-operated arcade video games launched through the years, the one to take advantage of cash is Pac-Man. The traditional recreation was an on the spot hit when Namco launched it in 1980. It not solely spawned a number of sequels and spin-offs, but additionally a cartoon, breakfast cereal, and far more. Having offered an estimated 400,000 Pac-Man cupboards, Namco made round $3.5 billion, or a great $10.57 billion when adjusted to 2025. That comes out to 2,641,263,940 quarters, which is lots. In truth, that many quarters would weigh 33,016,354 lbs., or 16,508 tons.

Did you feed an allowance-worth of quarters into any of those arcade video games? Leave a remark under and be a part of the dialog now within the ComicBook Forum!