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Best Arcade games

The 39 best Arcade games, ranked from 11,518 critic and player ratings.

The best Arcade game right now is Super Mario World, with a critic score of 100/100 — updated augusti 2026.

01 Super Mario World Super Mario World 1990 · 1,964 ratings A 2D platformer and first entry on the SNES in the Super Mario franchise, Super Mario World follows Mario as he attempts to defeat Bowser's underlings and rescue Princess Peach from his clutches. The game features a save system, a less linear world map, an expanded movement arsenal and numerous new items for Mario, alongside new approaches to level design and art direction. 100 /100 02 SoulCalibur II SoulCalibur II 2002 · 187 ratings SoulCalibur II is the third installment in the Soul series and continues the tradition of his predecessors with improved graphics, new characters and new levels. A majority of the action takes place in Weapon Master mode where you have to choose a character and travel a set map to fight the many other warriors through different levels and challenges. Console ports were released, including guest characters from other franchises. The Arcade version has a unique mode called "Conquest Mode". This mode, which uses a name and password system to save data, allows the player to select one army among four. The player then fights against enemies in a series of eight 1-round battles, win or lose (the first seven are based on the player's rank, and the eighth is chosen by the player – this can only be interrupted by a Versus challenger.) After each round, the player earns EXP and can be promoted, and the game also rates the player in four categories: Soul, Power, Wisdom and Skill. The game also keeps track of which moves the player knows and uses most often. After the eight battles, territory control is updated and the player has the option to fight a bonus round against their character played by the AI. 95 /100 03 Super Mario Bros. 3 Super Mario Bros. 3 1988 · 1,686 ratings Super Mario Bros. 3, the third entry in the Super Mario Bros. series and Super Mario franchise, sees Mario or Luigi navigate a nonlinear world map containing platforming levels and optional minigames and challenges. The game features more diverse movement options and new items alongside more complex level designs and boss battles. 89 /100
04 Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 · 620 ratings Sonic the Hedgehog is a 2D side-scrolling platformer developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Genesis/Mega Drive. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog, who can run at near supersonic speeds and sets out on a quest to defeat Dr. Robotnik, a scientist who has imprisoned animals in robots and seeks the powerful Chaos Emeralds. 85 /100 05 Tekken 3 Tekken 3 1997 · 553 ratings Tekken 3 is the third installment in the Tekken series. It maintains the same core fighting system as its predecessors but brings many improvements, such as significantly more detailed graphics and animations, fifteen new characters added to the game's roster, more modern music and faster gameplay. 84 /100 06 Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 1985 · 1,293 ratings A side scrolling 2D platformer and first entry in the Super Mario franchise, Super Mario Bros. follows Italian plumber Mario as he treks across many levels of platforming challenges featuring hostile enemies to rescue Princess Peach from the evil king Bowser. 84 /100 07 Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat 1992 · 291 ratings Mortal Kombat is a side-scrolling fighting game. Fighting is set as one-on-one combat, allowing each player to perform a variety of punches, kicks, and special moves in order to defeat their opponent. When the opponent faces their second round loss, the winner can perform a finishing move called a "Fatality" on the loser. The Fatality is a move unique to each fighter that graphically kills the loser in a blood-soaked finale. 83 /100 08 Street Fighter II B Street Fighter II 1991 · 373 ratings A sequel to Street Fighter, Street Fighter II improved upon the many concepts introduced in the first game, including the use of command-based special moves and a six-button configuration, while offering players a selection of multiple playable characters, each with their own unique fighting style and special moves. Street Fighter II is credited for starting the fighting game boom during the 1990s. Its success led to the production of several updated versions, each offering additional features and characters over previous versions, as well as many home versions. Some of the home versions of the Street Fighter II games have sold millions of copies, with the SNES port of the first Street Fighter II being Capcom's best-selling consumer game of all-time as of 2008. Street Fighter II follows several of the conventions and rules already established by its original 1987 predecessor. The player engages opponents in one-on-one close quarter combat in a series of best-two-out-of-three matches. The objective of each round is to deplete the opponent's vitality before the timer runs out. If both opponents knock each other out at the same time or the timer runs out with both fighters having an equal amount of vitality left, a "double KO" or "draw game" is declared and additional rounds will be played until sudden death. In the first Street Fighter II, a match could last up to ten rounds if there was no clear winner; this was reduced to four rounds in Champion Edition and onward. If there is no clear winner by the end of the final round, then either the computer-controlled opponent will win by default in a single-player match or both fighters will lose in a 2-player match. After every third match in the single player mode, the player will participate in a "bonus game" for additional points. The bonus games includes (in order) a car-breaking event; a barrel breaking bonus game where the barrels are dropped off from a conveyor belt above the player; and a drum-breaking bonus game where drums are flammable and piled over each other. The bonus games were removed from the arcade version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Like in the original, the game's controls uses a configuration of an eight-directional joystick and six attack buttons. The player uses the joystick to jump, crouch and move the character towards or away from the opponent, as well as to guard the character from an opponent's attacks. There are three punch buttons and three kick buttons of differing strength and speed (Light, Medium and Heavy). The player can perform a variety of basic moves in any position, including grabbing/throwing attacks, which were not featured in the original Street Fighter. Like in the original, the player can perform special moves by inputting a combination of directional and button-based commands. Street Fighter II differs from the original due to the selection of multiple playable characters, each with their distinct fighting styles and special moves. Additionally, the player can also "cancel" during animation by performing another move, allowing for a combination of several basic and special moves. Both of these features would be expanded upon in subsequent installments. 83 /100 09 Metal Slug 3 Metal Slug 3 2000 · 192 ratings “METAL SLUG 3”, the masterpiece in SNK’s emblematic 2D run & gun action shooting game series, still continues to fascinate millions of fans worldwide to this day for its intricate dot-pixel graphics, and simple and intuitive game controls! 82 /100 10 Rival Schools: United by Fate Rival Schools: United by Fate 1997 · 32 ratings The main fighting game is best described as a polygonal Marvel vs. Capcom game, with some notable differences. Control wise, the game varies from other Capcom fighting games by only having four buttons (two punches and two kicks, which is closer to the SNK game format) rather than the standard six. A player chooses a team of two characters, and fights against another two character team. The actual fights, however, are one-on-one fights, with the partner only participating by being called in when a player has enough 'vigor' for a Team Up attack, done by pressing a punch and kick button of the same pressure. The Team Ups would be some kind of double team attack by the character and partner, or (for most female characters' Team Ups) would heal the main character or give them more vigor. After the end of a round, a player (win or lose) has a choice to fight the next round with the partner from the previous round, or to keep their main character in play. The 'vigor' meter (essentially a super meter) could go up to 9 levels, with Team Ups costing two levels and super moves from a single person all costing one level of vigor. Much like the Marvel vs. Capcom games, launchers can be done that allow air combos to be performed, with all characters having universal low and high launchers. The game also had a few defensive techniques. Tardy Counters acted much like Alpha Counters from Street Fighter Alpha, allowing a player to immediately counter-attack from a blocking position. However, the restrictions on Tardy Counters are very lax; any hard normal, special or super attack can be used to Tardy counter (Alpha counters are only limited to certain special moves for each character), and Tardy Counters do not cost any extra vigor to perform (Alpha Counters required at least a level of Super Combo gauge to do). Attack Cancels allowed a player to cancel an incoming hit simply by timing their own hit with the attack, which would cancel out both attacks (though it does not nullify the remaining hits of a multi-hit move). Also, one additional level of vigor is awarded. 82 /100 11 Aero Fighters Aero Fighters 1992 · 34 ratings 81 /100 12 Arkanoid Arkanoid 1986 · 111 ratings 81 /100 13 Streets of Rage 2 Streets of Rage 2 1992 · 198 ratings 80 /100 14 Metal Slug X Metal Slug X 1999 · 140 ratings 80 /100 15 Garou: Mark of the Wolves Garou: Mark of the Wolves 1999 · 64 ratings 80 /100 16 Ultra Street Fighter IV Ultra Street Fighter IV 2014 · 111 ratings 79 /100 17 ActRaiser ActRaiser 1990 · 70 ratings 79 /100 18 Castlevania Castlevania 1986 · 339 ratings 79 /100 19 Race Driver: Grid Race Driver: Grid 2008 · 156 ratings 78 /100 20 Re-Volt Re-Volt 1999 · 107 ratings 78 /100 21 Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Persona 4 Arena Ultimax 2013 · 40 ratings 78 /100 22 Virtua Fighter 2 Virtua Fighter 2 1994 · 60 ratings 77 /100 23 Super Mario Bros. 2 Super Mario Bros. 2 1988 · 552 ratings 77 /100 24 Mortal Kombat II Mortal Kombat II 1994 · 327 ratings 76 /100 25 BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger 2008 · 54 ratings 73 /100 26 Dr. Mario Dr. Mario 1990 · 204 ratings 72 /100 27 Duck Hunt Duck Hunt 1984 · 236 ratings 72 /100 28 Excitebike Excitebike 1984 · 178 ratings 71 /100 29 THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97 THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97 1997 · 40 ratings 71 /100 30 Galaga Galaga 1981 · 119 ratings 70 /100 31 Fatal Fury Special Fatal Fury Special 1993 · 37 ratings 70 /100 32 Metal Slug 4 Metal Slug 4 2002 · 102 ratings 64 /100 33 Pac-Man Pac-Man 1980 · 310 ratings 62 /100 34 Metroid Metroid 1987 · 237 ratings 60 /100 35 SoulCalibur SoulCalibur 1998 · 128 ratings 60 /100 36 Guilty Gear X2 #Reload Guilty Gear X2 #Reload 2003 · 33 ratings 60 /100 37 Contra Contra 1987 · 264 ratings 50 /100 38 Sega Rally Championship Sega Rally Championship 1994 · 41 ratings 50 /100 39 Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R 2012 · 35 ratings 45 /100
FAQ
What is the best Arcade game?

Super Mario World currently tops the ranking with a score of 100/100 across 1,964 ratings. Ranking updated augusti 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.