Growing up in the 1990s, many of us were alive in the era of arcade gaming. Whether it was at a local mall, skating rink, movie theater, or its own standalone arcade…we played some of the best games ever. Many of those arcade games have since been ported out to several video game consoles. Yet before the major console era, arcades were packed with people wanting to enjoy the best arcade games of our time. In fact, before Nintendo and Atari really pushed games out onto their now infamous early consoles, a lot of games were tested out in arcades.
It was much cheaper to do because you could see how people were reacting to a smaller version of a game. Plus, you only had to make a select few arcade machines versus the thousands of game copies that may or may not sell. This led to several now-iconic characters starting out in the arcade, making us love to spend all of our allowance playing them. Some games never left the arcade and can still be played in some arcades around the United States and Japan to this very day. This list will involve the best arcade games ever, and we’ll even let you know if these games can still be found. Enjoy!
![Best Arcade Games That 1990s Kids Remember Playing](https://cdn.sciencesensei.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/nfl-blitz.jpeg)
NFL Blitz
- Debut: 1997
NFL Blitz was developed by Midway Games, and initially debuted in 1997 in the arcade world. It would soon move to things like the Gameboy, Nintendo 64, and original Playstation by 1998 though. While this game did have a lot of the current players from the NFL’s 1997-1998 teams, it was not designed to be an accurate simulation of a real football game. It was made to be over the top and crazy, allowing it to stand out from Madden and other football games of the time. In the arcade, one usually was able to play at least one game against either another player or the computer. Today, arcade machines with the original NFL Blitz on them can sell for up to $5,000!! That is no surprise since it is one of the best arcade games of the 1990s.