Skip to Content
Tier
Tier Your gaming journal
Get
Best games

Best Arcade games of 2006

The 11 best Arcade games released in 2006, ranked from 2,275 critic and player ratings.

The best Arcade game of 2006 is Guitar Hero II, with a critic score of 92/100 — updated November 2026.

How this ranking is built
  • Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
  • A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
  • Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
  • Release window covered: 2006.
  • 11 games are listed on this page, carrying 2,275 ratings between them.
  • Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 13 November 2026.

Top 11

Played them? Give your tier with the + next to each game. No account needed to try — create one to keep your tiers.

01 Guitar Hero II Guitar Hero II 2006 · 176 ratings Unleash your inner rock star! Unlock new songs and venues to become the ultimate rock star in Career mode, jump right in and play any song you've unlocked in Quickplay, or play with or against friends in Multiplayer, all right from your living room! 92 /100
02 New Super Mario Bros. A New Super Mario Bros. 2006 · 417 ratings · 1 Tier vote New Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling 2.5D action-adventure platformer game for the Nintendo DS, starring Mario and Luigi. The game features a solo story mode with Mario or Luigi, a two-player wireless game Mario Vs. Luigi, as well as a minigame mode for up to four players. The gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. is very much like that of the classic 2D platformers, mostly Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, and substantially builds upon them to create gameplay both classic and contemporary. As the game is on DS, the touch screen allows players to store an additional power-up and view the distance still to go in a level. 89 /100
03 WarioWare: Smooth Moves WarioWare: Smooth Moves 2006 · 100 ratings Wario and his pals learn fun, wacky moves after discovering a strange book and a mystical device called the Form Baton. Familiar characters from the WarioWare universe will return to this installment and some new ones will appear. Players must clear fast-paced sets of microgames, changing the way they hold the Wii Remote each time. 83 /100
04 FlatOut 2 FlatOut 2 2006 · 311 ratings · finished by 23% · 12 h to beat Experience the drive of your life as you throw yourself around on and off the track causing fences to shatter, tyre walls explode, water tanks and barrels fly across the track into other cars. And if anyone, including you, gets caught up in a big smash sit back and watch as the driver gets catapulted through the windscreen in spectacular effect. With over 5000 destructible objects on each track and 40 deformable pieces on every car sparks are guaranteed to fly increasing the mayhem with every lap! Featuring an enhanced version of the original's lauded physics engine and even faster driving track designs, FlatOut 2 also boasts a plethora of improvements, enhancements and additions to make this the definitive FlatOut experience. Twice as many vehicles, a more sophisticated career mode, additional race environments, double the number of tracks; twice as many mini-games along with many multiplayer modes (via LAN only) are just some of the exhaustive features that are included in FlatOut 2. - 34 vehicles to wreck, 12 rag-doll mini games, 60 track combinations, and thousands and thousands of destructible objects. - Enjoy the mayhem while listening to a slamming soundtrack from artists including Rob Zombie, Papa Roach, Fall Out Boy, Nickelback, Wolfmother and more! - Race hard and collide with up to 6 of your friends online in the souped up car of your dreams. 82 /100
05 Test Drive Unlimited S Test Drive Unlimited 2006 · 111 ratings · 1 Tier vote Test Drive Unlimited is the ultimate automotive experience for car and bike enthusiasts alike. Visit the most sophisticated car and bike dealers to purchase new vehicles or simply take them for a spin. Collect and trade rare performance parts and customize each vehicle to make it one-of-a-kind. Test Drive Unlimited challenges players online to experience the most exotic and fastest vehicles on more than 1000 miles of diverse Hawaiian roads. Gamers win races, challenges, missions and tournaments to earn credits and purchase new cars, bikes, rare performance parts, clothes, apparel, homes and garages. 80 /100
06 Need for Speed: Carbon Need for Speed: Carbon 2006 · 571 ratings · finished by 64% Need for Speed: Carbon, also known as NFS Carbon or NFSC, is an Electronic Arts video game in the Need for Speed series. It is the tenth installment and was the first game in the series to gain the PEGI rating of 12+. The game is a sequel to 2005's Need for Speed: Most Wanted. 77 /100
07 flOw flOw 2006 · 91 ratings flOw is a game about piloting an aquatic organism through a surreal biosphere where players consume other organisms, evolve, and dive into the abyss. With an embedded design of DDA (dynamic difficulty adjustment), players with differing skill levels can intuitively customize their game experience and enjoy the game at their own pace. You can play as one of 5 creatures, each in a unique environment. Lose yourself in the crisp “deep blue” in full HD at 1080p and 5.1 Surround Sound. Use the SIXAXIS motion sensors on the DUALSHOCK wireless controllers for an organic experience that will allow you to glide, flit, and flOw through the universe. 75 /100
08 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Mortal Kombat: Armageddon 2006 · 128 ratings Mortal Kombat: Armageddon brags a roster of 62 characters and sees the return of classic ones from the original Mortal Kombat, such as Reptile, Shang Tsung and Goro. The enhanced Konquest mode (story/adventure mode) improves over the preceding versions, but has a shorter length. There are now 64 arenas (including revamped versions of classic environments) which each have their own tweaks, such as the ridiculous amount of stage fatalities (fatalities are a fancy way of killing your opponent, including classic techniques such as the "spine-rip" or "arm-break"). 73 /100
09 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2006 · 176 ratings Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an action role playing game set within the fictional Marvel Universe. It features many of the superheroes, supervillains, and supporting characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. 72 /100
10 Sonic Riders Sonic Riders 2006 · 91 ratings Sonic Riders is the fourth racing game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, preceded by Sonic Drift, Sonic Drift 2 and Sonic R. The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. For a short while, the Microsoft Xbox version of the game was released with a free Sonic X DVD. This game introduces five new playable characters, the Babylon Rogues and the E-10000 series. A sequel to Sonic Riders, entitled Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, was released in 2008 for the Wii and PlayStation 2, followed by the Kinect-required game Sonic Free Riders for the Xbox 360 in 2010. This was the last Sonic the Hedgehog game for the GameCube and Microsoft Xbox. 66 /100
11 Wii Play Wii Play 2006 · 103 ratings 58 /100
Browse all Arcade games

Other years

Best Arcade games of 2022Best Arcade games of 2020Best Arcade games of 2019Best Arcade games of 2018Best Arcade games of 2017Best Arcade games of 2016Best Arcade games of 2015Best Arcade games of 2014Best Arcade games of 2013Best Arcade games of 2012Best Arcade games of 2011Best Arcade games of 2010

Same year, other platforms

Best PC games of 2006Best Xbox 360 games of 2006Best PlayStation 2 games of 2006Best Nintendo DS games of 2006Best PSP games of 2006Best PlayStation 3 games of 2006Best Mac games of 2006Best Wii games of 2006Best Xbox games of 2006

Nearby rankings

Best Arcade games of 2005Best Arcade games of 2007Best Action games of 2006Best Adventure games of 2006Best Strategy games of 2006

Catalog statistics

Most abandoned gamesMost completed games

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Arcade game of 2006?

Guitar Hero II currently tops the ranking with a score of 92/100 across 176 ratings. Ranking updated November 2026.

How is this ranking built?

Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.