ARCADE
Arcade Games
Before home consoles caught up, the best games were found in arcades. Play classic coin-op arcade games free in your browser, from golden-age icons like Pac-Man and Galaga to Neo Geo favorites like Metal Slug and The King of Fighters '98. No quarters required.
DoDonPachi
Cave's 1997 arcade bullet hell shooter with a deep chain scoring system. Play free in your browser.
Arkanoid
Taito's 1986 brick-breaker, reviving Breakout with power-ups and 33 stages. Play free in your browser.
The King of Fighters ’95
SNK's 1995 KOF sequel, introducing the Rival Team and the start of the Orochi storyline. Play free in your browser.
Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone
Technos's 1990 arcade sequel, sending Billy and Jimmy Lee on a globe-trotting quest. Play free in your browser.
Elevator Action Returns
Taito's 1994 sequel to the 1983 original, with a full story, voiced cutscenes, and boss fights. Play free in your browser.
1943: The Battle of Midway
Capcom's 1987 vertical shooter, sequel to 1942, set at the WWII Battle of Midway. Play free in your browser.
Captain America and the Avengers
Data East's 1991 four-player arcade beat-'em-up starring Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Vision. Play free in your browser.
Dynasty Wars
Capcom's 1989 hack-and-slash, adapting the Three Kingdoms manga Tenchi wo Kurau. Play free in your browser.
Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy
Capcom's 1990 fantasy platform beat-'em-up, climbing 50 floors of the Dragon Tower. Play free in your browser.
Three Wonders
Capcom's July 1991 three-games-in-one cartridge, anchored by the hobbit-adventure platformer Midnight Wanderers. Play free in your browser.
Toki
TAD Corporation's Dec. 1989 run-and-gun platformer, starring an ape cursed by an evil wizard. Play free in your browser.
Dark Seal
Data East's 1990 isometric fantasy beat-'em-up, also known as Gate of Doom. Play free in your browser.
The Last Blade
SNK's 1997 weapon-based fighter with a dual Power/Speed stance system. Play free in your browser.
Metal Slug 4
SNK's 2002 run-and-gun, the first entry developed after the studio's 2001 reorganization. Play free in your browser.
Fatal Fury Special
SNK's 1993 update to Fatal Fury 2, a predecessor to the King of Fighters series. Play free in your browser.
Art of Fighting
SNK's 1992 fighter and Fatal Fury prequel, with a spirit-energy meter and zoom camera. Play free in your browser.
The King of Fighters ’97
SNK's eighth KOF entry, closing out the original Orochi storyline arc. Play free in your browser.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Capcom's 1996 fighter, the first entry in its long-running 'Vs.' crossover series. Play free in your browser.
Puzzle Bobble
Taito's 1994 bubble-shooter puzzle game starring the Bubble Bobble cast. Play free in your browser.
Power Instinct
Atlus's 1993 comedic fighting game, known for its elderly grandmother character Otane. Play free in your browser.
Samurai Shodown
SNK's 1993 weapon-based fighting game for Neo Geo, one of the genre's most influential. Play free in your browser.
Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams
Capcom's 1995 fighter, a prequel bridging Street Fighter and Street Fighter II. Play free in your browser.
Metal Slug 3
SNK's 2000 run-and-gun, widely regarded as the high point of the series' Neo Geo era. Play free in your browser.
Metal Slug X
SNK's 1999 rebalanced re-release of Metal Slug 2, fixing its slowdown issues. Play free in your browser.
Raiden II
Seibu Kaihatsu's 1993 sequel, refining the original Raiden's twin-fighter shoot-'em-up formula. Play free in your browser.
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
Capcom's 1993 D&D-licensed beat-'em-up, the predecessor to Shadow over Mystara. Play free in your browser.
Battle Circuit
Capcom's 1997 sci-fi beat-'em-up with a shopping-based upgrade system. Play free in your browser.
Raiden
Seibu Kaihatsu's 1990 vertical shoot-'em-up, a defining early bullet-hell-adjacent shooter. Play free in your browser.
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Capcom's 1996 D&D-licensed beat-'em-up with full RPG character classes and leveling. Play free in your browser.
Knights of the Round
Capcom's 1991 King Arthur beat-'em-up with an unusual experience-based leveling system. Play free in your browser.
1944: The Loop Master
Eighting's 2000 vertical shoot-'em-up, continuing Capcom's 19XX series after a near-decade gap. Play free in your browser.
The Punisher
Capcom's 1993 licensed beat-'em-up starring Frank Castle and Nick Fury. Play free in your browser.
Bubble Bobble
Taito's 1986 platformer starring bubble-blowing dragons Bub and Bob. Play free in your browser.
1942
Capcom's 1984 WWII vertical shoot-'em-up, the first entry in the '19XX' series. Play free in your browser.
Final Fight
Capcom's 1989 beat-'em-up starring Metro City mayor Mike Haggar, originally conceived as a Street Fighter sequel. Play free in your browser.
Double Dragon (Arcade)
Technos Japan's 1987 arcade original, one of the beat-'em-up genre's foundational titles. Play free in your browser.
Warriors of Fate
Capcom's 1992 beat-'em-up loosely based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Play free in your browser.
Pac-Man
Namco's 1980 maze-chase arcade game designed by Toru Iwatani, one of the best-selling arcade cabinets ever made. Play free in your browser.
Galaga
Namco's 1981 fixed shooter with a signature ship-capture-and-rescue mechanic. Play free in your browser.
Donkey Kong (Arcade)
Nintendo's 1981 arcade platformer directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, introducing Mario (as Jumpman). Play free in your browser.
Space Invaders
Tomohiro Nishikado's 1978 arcade shooter for Taito, credited with sparking the arcade industry's first boom. Play free in your browser.
Super Pac-Man
Namco's 1982 arcade sequel, swapping dot-eating mazes for a key-and-door structure. Play free in your browser.
Metal Slug
Nazca Corporation's 1996 run-and-gun on Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. Play free in your browser.
Metal Slug 2
SNK's 1998 run-and-gun sequel, adding new vehicles and stages to the Neo Geo original. Play free in your browser.
Captain Commando
Capcom's 1991 CPS-1 beat-'em-up starring a four-hero squad in a near-future crime city. Play free in your browser.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Capcom's 1993 beat-'em-up adapted from Mark Schultz's Xenozoic Tales comic. Play free in your browser.
The King of Fighters ’98
SNK's 1998 Neo Geo fighter, a roster-focused 'Slugfest' entry in the King of Fighters series. Play free in your browser.
About Arcade games
The arcade golden age began in the late 1970s with hits like Space Invaders in 1978 and Pac-Man in 1980, when coin-op cabinets were the most advanced gaming hardware money could buy. Games like Donkey Kong (Arcade) introduced characters who would go on to define entire companies.
Many genres that later moved to home consoles were born or perfected in the arcade. Capcom's Final Fight set the standard for beat-'em-ups, and its CPS boards later powered co-op brawlers like Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara. Vertical shooters evolved from 1942 into the bullet hell intensity of Cave's DoDonPachi. SNK's Neo Geo MVS hardware, launched in 1990, became home to fighting series like Samurai Shodown and The King of Fighters, along with the hand-drawn run-and-gun action of Metal Slug.
This hub covers original arcade releases rather than home ports, so you can play these games the way they first appeared in arcades. Pick a title below to start.