Back during the early days of the video game industry, arcades were a big deal when it came to driving sales since consoles weren’t really bridging the gap when it came to how much profit the companies were generating. Around the late '90s, arcades fell out of favor to pave the way for consoles that featured far more content and offered portability.
Despite the impending transition, some arcade games just fell into obscurity because they never received any console ports, whilst others just received a dedicated sequel instead. Unfortunately, many video games simply went out of circulation despite how fun they were to play.
10 House Of The Dead: Scarlet Dawn
The fifth installment of Sega’s popular series the House of the Dead was a smash hit when it came out on arcades in Akihabara and soon found itself getting featured in arcades in the US but unfortunately, it never made it to home consoles.
This was partly due in part to all the bugs that popped up in the international version of the arcade game, and the lack of ingenuity when it came to the video game distinguishing itself from its prequel House of the Dead 4.
9 Virtua Cop 3
Despite the Virtua Cop series accumulating a ton of traction back in its heyday, the long-awaited sequel to Virtua Cop 2 never saw a launch on home consoles due to how costly it would be to port it.
Since the arcade game’s mechanics heavily relied on the use of a light gun, the developers could not afford to produce dedicated hardware for the game and thus the Xbox port for the game was ultimately scrapped. You can still play a modded version of the game, however, which added in some workarounds.
8 Daytona USA 2
Since making a home console port for arcade games costs significantly more, especially with all the licensing shenanigans that go into it, the ever-popular Daytona USA’s sequel never made its way to an Xbox or PlayStation 2.
Despite the clear demand, the sequel to Daytona USA 2 already exists on consoles and is now the only definitive way to enjoy this wacky series in all its glory at home. The game was revolutionary when it came out, allowing up to 16 players to link up arcade cabinets and race at a time.
7 Cadillacs And Dinosaurs
Although it’s fairly easy now to find an emulator that lets you play the game, Cadillacs And Dinosaurs was already considered a relic from the past that just wasn’t going to likely receive a console port anyhow because of how hard it would be to get the licensing for it.
Not only that, side-scrolling beat ‘em ups weren’t really that popular by the time the arcade machines started going extinct, and the market was already oversaturated with them. Despite featuring dinosaurs in-game, it just didn't age that well.
6 Blade Master
A visual masterpiece with some of the best graphics and combat of the time, Blade Master was a side-scrolling hack-and-slash game that felt fresh and mirrored the vibe Castlevania was going for. The soundtrack was engaging, and the gameplay was tough enough to make you break the bank in order to finish it.
The enemies and the bosses were unique for the time, and it’s a darn shame knowing it never got its fair share of love and attention on home consoles.
5 Best Bout Boxing
Best Bout Boxing was definitely ahead of its time but seemed to fit in perfectly with the rest of the retro arcade lineup at the time with its art and sound design. The superimposed photorealistic graphics for the sprites and the hype-generating seconds flashing at the top of the screen made it feel fresh.
This was what you’d consider the early Street Fighter of boxing games in arcades. The game was fairly easy to play and offered up a roster of seven diverse boxes, each with its own special punches. The audience members looked lively, and the backgrounds were absolutely gorgeous for the time.
4 X-Men
Despite having a ton of games on several different consoles, X-Men’s 1992 arcade masterpiece wasn’t ever ported over to a console until PSN came around. But, back in 2013, it was delisted due to some licensing issues.
The game was a four-player side-scrolling beat-em-up that featured a decent selection of the titular cast of heroes and pitted you against the forces of Magneto. Konami really outdid themselves with this one, even though the voice acting was fairly robotic.
3 Ninja Baseball Bat Man
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If you like obscure titles from Japan, then Ninja Baseball Bat Man was perhaps one of the most underrated arcade games out at the time despite its widespread success. Irem hit a home run with this side-scrolling beat-em-up featuring some stellar graphics and interesting progression.
A lot of love was poured into this project and it showed. The sound design was tight, and the main character was fairly easy to control with decent combat move sets. The bosses were fairly unique as well.
2 Star Wars Trilogy
What some consider to be the definitive way to enjoy Star Wars as a video game, this arcade masterpiece was absolutely stunning and featured a soundtrack that fits the vibe of the series. Sega, in collaboration with Lucas Arts, presented some of the most iconic moments from the trilogy in the best way possible.
Everything from the sound design to the transitions and level of difficulty came together to deliver a thrilling experience. If you played this in an arcade while you were a kid, you definitely felt like you were a part of the action playing as Luke.
1 Boogie Wings
Words can’t describe just how fun and all over the place Boogie Wings was as an arcade game, despite the goofy name. The game was a complex side-scrolling action shooter that kept you on your toes with how diverse the kind of gameplay presented on-screen was.
From shooting bullets while horseback at a carnival to a smooth transition into an armored vehicle capable of shooting deadly missiles, the game had it all, including ghosts and aliens. It had everything and more, it was definitely worth playing while it was available. It's an absolute gem filled to the brim with all sorts of fun locations and settings to interact with.