OpenTube

10 FORGOTTEN Arcade Games 80s Kids Remember (And Why They Disappeared)

Retro Reality Check

43,562 views

Discover forgotten 80s arcade games that players left behind. Explore rare coin-op classics, lost cabinets, and why these retro hits disappeared.

Step back into the smoky arcades of the 1980s, where quarters ruled and hardware innovation moved at lightning speed. While titles like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong became household legends, dozens of innovative coin-op games vanished from locations due to high maintenance costs, shifting consumer trends, or low production runs by manufacturers like Bally Midway and Atari.

Wondering why these classic arcade games disappeared? Many required bulky, expensive custom cabinets—such as rare vector monitor setups or complex LaserDisc hardware—that operators quickly phased out for easier machines. Others simply failed to secure home ports on the Nintendo Entertainment System or Atari platforms, leaving them stranded in arcade history as true lost media.

From unusual mechanical designs to forgotten platformers, we break down ten vintage titles that defined the Golden Age of Arcade Video Games yet rarely get mentioned today. Which of these rare gems did you pump quarters into back in the day? Let us know in the comments below!

00:00 Intro
00:47 Zaxxon
02:27 Gorf
04:00 Cliff hanger
05:44 Star wars
07:18 Track and field
08:52 Tapper
10:27 Journey
12:03 Discs of tron
13:42 I Robot
15:20 Dragon’s liar
17:13 Myth no. 1
18:19 Myth no. 2

Got a favorite obscure arcade cabinet you used to play at the local mall or pizza parlor? Drop its name in the comments, and subscribe for more deep dives into gaming history!

🎮 Watch Next: 10 Arcade Games Built To Steal Your Money ➡️ 10 Arcade Games Built To STEAL Your Money

#RetroGaming #ArcadeGames #80sNostalgia

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976

Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

All video clips, images, and music used in this video belong to their respective owners.

20 Comments

@zaghadka 13 days ago

Here is the thing almost no one remembers. EVERYONE WATCHING THIS VIDEO REMEMBERS.

@darkzak47 11 days ago

Finishing Dragons Lair was all about bragging rights. Plus, when you finally got to that last screen and saw Dirk climbing over mountains of golden treasure with the dragon in the room was something that pretty much stopped the entire arcade.

@BadDru 2 weeks ago

No one ever talks about Space Ace. It was on par with Cliff Hanger and Dragon's Lair. Maybe not as popular, but I remember watching someone complete it...once.

@dennisd4452 7 days ago

I saw the most of these and played them. Drangon's lair was so popular they had a TV on top of the cabinet. It was like nothing I've ever seen. Work of art.

@cheydrazaar 2 weeks ago

I was the first one in my hometown to get a "perfect score" on Dragon's Lair. I figured out that (and managed to finally perform) clearing the game up to the Dragon's Lair scene at the end flawlessly and then NOT pressing the final sword button at the end until your final life actually gave you the most points overall, beating the "flawless score" of never dying. The arcade would put certificates on top of each game with verified high scores along with the name of the player. Mine sat on top of Dragon's Lair until the arcade closed. As far as the sound(s)? Oh, man...I can still hear the room clear victory music, the resurrection music (after each death), the Lizard King's gibberish, and of course, Princess Daphne's speech.

@dallase1 2 weeks ago

Later onTrack & Field replaced the buttons with a trackball for running.

@ATW2k 2 weeks ago

Remember playing many of these as a kid, great times !

@matthewlane518 2 weeks ago

These games are not forgotten

@nottelling4828 9 days ago

My favorite arcade was Dig Dug. After that, I recall playing Q-Bert, Spy Hunter, Donkey Kong, Star Wars, and Dragon's Lair quite a bit (for the latter I would stand around and help other kids by calling out the moves ahead of time). Whenever a group of us would go to the arcade, we'd hit up Gauntlet and burn through our stash.
When Double Dragon eventually came out, it was game over. We'd spend our entire HS lunch period across the street at that machine.

@LethalWolf-99 2 weeks ago (edited)

6:45 you can see May the Force be with you, hidden on the Death Star details

@starfirescreamere5317 10 days ago

They actually had classes you could take at the nearby college to teach you how to beat Dragon’s Lair.

@The_Black_Knight 2 weeks ago

The first arcade title to charge 50 cents per game was a pinball machine, Black Hole (Gottlieb, 1981).

@darkehorse71 11 days ago

Tapper was a legit great game.

@london19657 2 weeks ago

Why not include some of those classic sounds that we've never forgotten? Sheesh.

@AntinyKoomia 9 days ago

Nobody forgot about any of these games.

@jimmyr2713 9 days ago

Played them all except for I, Robot. I don't think the games were forgotten. I also don't remember the crash. Arcades were still doing a bang up business well into the 90s

@DM_Prime_wut 2 weeks ago

I played Disks of Tron every chance I could when my parents took us to the mall in Longview, Texas back in the day. If I were to collect cabinet arcade games, that one would be in the top 3 on my list.

@seekerofarcades4634 10 days ago

😁❤nice channel and good material👍👍👍👍

@StonerJames 7 days ago

I've never seen a Track and Field game with run buttons. The Track and field they had at my local arcade back in the day had a track ball that you spun. The one with buttons sounds more like a torture device than something that's fun to do.

@JohnPates 4 days ago (edited)

I loved Discs of Tron. I only saw an environmental cabinet once or twice. With the sitdown Spyhunter was another rare one too. I loved that one. I couldn't deal with the isometric of Zaxxon, but Gorf being so varied was amazing. For the vector graphics games like Star Wars and Tempest, I never knew the monitors were so more expensive since some of the earliest home systems being the Vectrex. For Journey, another problem point was something you referenced about playing the music. It had a tape player that would play Separate Ways. I could only imagine the licensing headache that would become over time.

I had played them all except that anime-derived robbery cartoon LD game from Stern. Though for sounds... the swishing sound of the laser sticks in my head. Disc of Tron, the hunter seeker or making that swirly noise. And for Star Wars, the X-Wing's laser sounds with Darth Vader's taunting and Han/Obi Wan trench run statements