100 Obscure Arcade Games – Late 80s Edition!
In this video, I’ve collected 100 arcade games which are obscure; maybe because they were never ported to home systems, or maybe they were exclusive to certain territories.
In recent years, you may have seen some of them in “retro compilations”, or even on the Wii Virtual Console. Some of these are more interesting or quirky than “fun” – but there are some real hidden gems in here as well.
In any case, to celebrate, here is a steam key! 9W0H4-QBCAY-WTIDC – as usual, if you claim it, please comment and let us know what it was!
001 – Aaargh – Arcadia – 1988
002 – Act Fancer – Cybernetick Hyper Weapon – Data East – 1989
003 – Bakutotsu Kijuutei – Namco – 1988
004 – Battle Shark – Taito – 1989
005 – Black Panther – Konami – 1987
006 – Block Hole – Konami – 1989
007 – Bonze Adventure – Taito – 1988
008 – Buccaneers – Duintronic – 1989
009 – Burning Force – Namco – 1989
010 – Champion Wrestler – Taito – 1989
011 – China Gate – Technos – 1988
012 – Chopper – SNK – 1988
013 – Chuka Taisen – Taito – 1988
014 – Crazy Climber 2 – Nichibutsu – 1988
015 – Crime City – Taito – 1989
016 – Crime Fighters – Konami – 1989
017 – Cue Brick – Konami – 1989
018 – Dead Angle – Seibu Kaihatsu – 1988
019 – Deep, The – Wood Place – 1987
020 – Demon’s World Horror Story – Toaplan – 1989
021 – Devastators – Konami – 1988
022 – Devil World – Konami – 1987
023 – Diamond Run – KH Video – 1989
024 – Don Doko Don – Taito – 1989
025 – Dr. Topper’s Adventures – Kaneko – 1987
026 – Dragon Punch – Dynax – 1989
027 – Dragon Unit Castle of Dragon – Seta – 1989
028 – Dynamite Duke – Seibu Kaihatsu – 1989
029 – Enforce – Taito – 1988
030 – Extermination – Taito – 1987
031 – Exterminator – Gottleib – 1989
031 – Exzisus – Taito – 1987
032 – Fast Lane – Konami – 1987
033 – Final Round, The – Konami – 1988
034 – Finest Hour – Namco – 1989
035 – Gang Wars – Alpha Denshi – 1989
036 – Garyo Retsudent – Data East Corporation – 1987
037 – Ginga NinkyouDen – Jaleco – 1987
038 – Gold Medalist – SNK – 1988
039 – Gondomania – Data East – 1987
040 – Gorodki – Terminal – 1988
041 – Hachoo – Jaleco – 1989
042 – Hard Head – Sun A – 1988
043 – Hippodrome – Data East – 1989
044 – Hot Chase – Konami – 1988
045 – Hyper Crash – Konami – 1987
046 – InsectorX – Taito – 1989
047 – Kabuk-Z – Taito – 1988
048 – Kageki – Kaneko – 1988
049 – Kitten Kaboodle – Konami – 1988
050 – Konek-Gorbunok – Terminal – 1988
051 – Kozure Ookami – Nichibutsu – 1987
052 – Kuri Kunton – Taito – 1988
053 – Kyros – Alpha Denshi – 1987
054 – Legend of Hero Tonma – Irem – 1989
055 – Legend of Makai – Jaleco – 1988
056 – Legion-Spinner-87 – Nichibutsu – 1987
057 – Mad Gear – Capcom – 1989
058 – Main Event, The – Konami – 1988
059 – Marchen Maze – Namco – 1988
060 – Maze of Flott – Taito – 1989
061 – Metal Freezer – Seibu Kaihatsu – 1989
062 – Metal Hawk – Namco – 1988
063 – Mirai Ninja – Namco – 1988
064 – Mustache Boy – Seibu Kaihatsu – 1987
065 – Mutant Night – UPL – 1987
066 – Night Striker – Taito – 1989
067 – Ninja Kazan – Jaleco – 1988
068 – Ninja Kid II – UPL – 1987
069 – Ninja Mission – Arcadia -1987
070 – Pig and Bombers – Jaleco – 1987
071 – Plump Pop – Taito – 1987
072 – Poker Ladies – Mitchell – 1989
073 – Psychic 5 – Jaleco – 1987
074 – Psycho-Nics Oscar – Data East – 1987
075 – Python
076 – Rabbit Punch – V-System – 1987
077 – Racing Hero – Sega – 1989
078 – Raimais – Taito – 1988
079 – Reikai Doushi – Home Data – 1988
080 – Rompers – Namco – 1989
081 – Shingen Samurai-Fighter – Jaleco – 1988
082 – Skull & Crossbones – Atari Games – 1989
083 – Sky Robo – Nichibutsu – 1989
084 – Snezhnaja Koroleva – Terminal – 1988
085 – SOS – Terminal – 1988
086 – Spark Man – SunA – 1989
087 – Special Project Y – Konami – 1989
088 – Star Guards – Bally Midway – 1987
089 – Street Smart – SNK – 1989
090 – Super Ranger – SunA – 1988
091 – Shadowland – Namco – 1987
092 – Tough Turf – Sega – 1989
093 – Trick Trap – Konami – 1987
094 – Tricky Doc – Tectri – 1987
095 – Trio The Punch – Never Forget Me… Data East – 1989
096 – Ufo Senshi Yohko Chan – Sega – 1988
097 – Viper – Leland – 1988
098 – Wild Fang – Tecmo Knight – Tecmo – 1989
099 – Wit’s – Athena – 1989
100 – Wonder Momo – Namco – 1987
cool video bro
Thanks, mate. Some of them I played when kid and I couldnt remember the name!
Hi Gary i'm looking for a vertical shooter, years within 87-90 about, i Remember First or second boss with a rhomboidal shape, maybe you can help me
Legend Of Hero Tonma OBSCURE?
Come on, man…
Great list! I seem to know and have played most of these games listed here.
8:30. PYA!! PYAA!!
Can anyone help? Trying to track down name of Robotron type game from 80’s where walls closed in on play area … cannot find anything on it..please help
does any one remember that game where are a red guy running and you shot monsters and umped on a dragons head
Maybe someone can help with this one. I can’t for the life of me remember the name of one particular arcade game. Late 80’s or early 90’s. It was a dungeon style game. As you progressed you upgraded your weapon and armour eventually achieving a fiery version of both. I will ant to say the weapon carried was an axe head attached to a chain. Really would like to find this game if possible.
People hardest find the reveal information about arcade game biographies wiki info, Yet still going around the rarest arcade game titles this year decades
Dude thank you!
3:03 The dude in Crime Fighters is getting the shit kicked out of him so bad its hilarious
Some of these look like a lot of fun
Great games! It has Bonze, Wonder Momo and Rabbit Punch but it does not have the shoot e'm up game I am searching for: "Bialik's Adventure"!
awesome video. all i play mostly is retro arcade games from the 80's early 90's. always looking for hidden gems and this will help. I just beat "bonze adventures" and i just saw it on ur list, lol. that game was killer.
how does "diamond run" have the same music as "ghosts n goblins"?? is that right??
i played an arcade game that you were flying in the air and you had to break away a mountain or something like that and every piece u broke away revealed a woman behind it. eventually when u break it all away it was a totally naked girl. wtf is the story behind that?? it was so bizarre.
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This video is one of the most precious and rare on youtube !
If you guys want to check out some cool really old school arcade retro games then come over and check them out.
There's a profound difference in the quality of the games between the first and second world, aren't there? The Russian games were audio-visual nightmares which looked like they fell from hardware a decade prior.
This video no doubt found me after AVGN's newest video where he covered a lot of these Taito games.
No love for "ThunderJaws" ?
Nice work
Getting crushed by that Are You Covered sign is the best way to die.
Main event was a quarter sucker
Taito uses the same text font as Namco and presumably Atari.
I love it.
glad u put a name to act fancer, a curious game i played when i was young. but there's another one not in here that should have been. a simple looking game where a man in space/scuba suit descended levels that were more and more packed with enemies that u had to shoot. Also it helped if u grab little one eyed friend floating aliens. played it a few about 30 years ago but can't remember the name.
Lots of games I have never seen but not the game I am looking for. A vertical scrolling shooter where you had 2 attack buttons, one for air targets and one for ground targets. The ship was black or grey jet I think, and it had a similar look to Terra cresta but from what I have looked up it is not a Nichibutsu game, I ASSUME this game would have come out around the same time.
Block Hole is Quarth, the European arcade version of this puzzle game which oddly enough never got a US release in arcades as did many of Konami's greatest late 80s arcade games.
Hard head sun a
iscritto! Tanti bei ricordi insieme !!
Been watching these videos on double speed trying to find an old game I barely remember, didn't find it anywhere though.
It was a top-down military shooter game. I believe it was 8-way screen scrolling. Biggest gameplay mechanic I remember was you could walk into a garage and come out driving a jeep.
Tried r/TipOfMyJoystick with no luck.
Loooooove the content 🤘🤘🍻
Dang, I never knew Atari games were THAT good! There is only one Atari game featured in this list, while the other publishers had 5 or more obscure games. They deserve some sort of reward for that!
"Block Hole" is the international name of "Quarth". Obscure for the arcades, indeed. "Battle Shark"? We actually had that in one of the local arcades. It was tough as nails. "Crime City" runs on the "Rolling Thunder" engine, that one was also a rare bird. "Mad Gear" could also be LED Storm?
"Night Striker" is at the bottom of the top ten most quarters spent in the arcades. The tech behind the game was impressive. The game itself? Tough as nails.
Trivia: "Dynamite Duke" did terrible in the arcades, however, Seibu Kaihatsu immediately turned their losses around with their subsequent offering "Raiden", despite using weaker hardware, and it would be the start of a classic series of games for them.
Strange how arcade games looked great in the late 80's, but lacked the pure gameplay of the games in the early 80's.
I think Metal Hawk is the most masculine sounding title Namco ever did. And I love it!!
Back then these games are very good and still in my opinion I'll enjoy them all which they need to come to consoles
Omg, some of those really brought me back. It's insane that somewhere in my brain that knowledge was still there, but hasn't been accessed in over 30 years. I expect my nose to bleed any second…
There’s one arcade game I’ve been trying to remember. I know you played a caveman, it had like a birds eye pov. I think you started throwing rocks but could upgrade to throwing torches, and you could find a dinosaur (triceratops?) to ride. And the board you could go all around, not just continuously forward but more like an open area.
it's so weird to me see names like Namco or Taito as "obscure arcade games" developers
hola gamers soy de colombia,hace años estoy buscando un juego de arcade de los 80 y 90 el cual trata de un guerrero con armadura el cual inicia con este llegando a una isla en una balsa,a medida que avanza nos toca combatir diferentes criaturas con nuestra espada tambien nos proporcionan tres poderes,una bola de cristal,un zafiro morado y un rayo estos tres poderes se pueden usar individual o combinados tambien recuerdo que el primer encuentro es con cuatro hechizeros y a medida que avanzamos podemos entrar a un pueblito a obtener mejoras y aumentar el nivel de vida esto lo hacia en la iglesia del pueblito,otra pista es que el personaje se ve desde arriba como el guerrero del juego out zone quisiera ser mas preciso pero es lo unico que recuerdo de este espectacular y dificil juego,pues ni yo ni los que lo jugamos pudimos terminarlo,espero que alguien me de el nombre para asi poder lograr terminar gracias
Thumbs up if you've never forgotten Trio the Punch
5:02 censor fail
Arcadia games Aargh! and Ninja Mission (they had futuristic racing battle pods one, too) were running on Commodore Amiga personal computer hardware!
Extermination
[8:01] Hey, you, get off of my cloud!
Rabbit Punch/Rabio Lepus is an all-time favorite for me, even though I never even made it to level 3
Japanese games in '80 = Europe games in '90
You weren't kidding about this list being obscure. I'm a gaming kid from the 70's and 80's and I only knew 3 games on this list.