Nintendo Arcade Games

In 1973, Nintendo entered the leisure and amusement arcade market as a natural offshoot of its successful playing card and toy businesses. Their first venture upscaled the light gun technology they used in their successful Kousenjuu SP toy range. Nintendo found some success in this market through the 1970s, eventually joining the microprocessor-based arcade game market in 1978.

In 1981, Nintendo landed their first international smash hit with Donkey Kong. They would go on to produce some of the biggest arcade hits of the early 1980s.

Electro-Mechanical Games

Games that combine electronics with physically moving components. Nintendo found early success in the leisure and amusements sector in the early 1970s with their light gun and projection technology.

Where these machines cannot be preserved digitally, many of them are now considered lost media.

Microprocessor Games

The idea to use computer chips to create interactive games had been successful in the U.S. for a few years. But the runaway success of Taito's Space Invaders in 1978 led to a Japanese arcade boom. Nintendo jumped on board, but it wasn't until 1981's smash hit Donkey Kong that Nintendo found real success.

Computer Othello

Nintendo Arcade, 1978
Block Fever

Nintendo Arcade, 1978
Space Fever & Color Space Fever

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
Monkey Magic

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
SF-HiSplitter

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
Sheriff

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
Space Launcher

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
Head On-N

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
Bomb Bee-N

Nintendo Arcade, 1979
Space Firebird

Nintendo Arcade, 1980
HeliFire

Nintendo Arcade, 1980
Radar Scope

Nintendo Arcade, 1980
Space Demon

Nintendo Arcade, 1980
Sky Skipper

Nintendo Arcade, 1981
Donkey Kong

Nintendo Arcade, 1981
Donkey Kong Junior

Nintendo Arcade, 1982
Popeye

Nintendo Arcade, 1982
Mario Bros.

Nintendo Arcade, 1983
Donkey Kong 3

Nintendo Arcade, 1983
Punch-Out!! & Super Punch-Out!!

Nintendo Arcade, 1984
Arm Wrestling

Nintendo Arcade, 1985
R-Type

Nintendo Arcade, October 1987 (U.S.A.)

Nintendo VS. System

The next generation of Nintendo arcade games were based on the architecture of the Famicom/NES. Many of the VS. games feature differences to their home counterparts.

Also see the Game & Watch Micro VS. Series.

VS. Mahjong

Nintendo Arcade, February 1984
VS. Tennis

Nintendo Arcade, February 1984
VS. Duck Hunt

Nintendo Arcade, April 1984
VS. Baseball

Nintendo Arcade, May 1984
VS. Stroke & Match Golf

Nintendo Arcade, August 1984
VS. Wrecking Crew

Nintendo Arcade, August 1984
VS. Balloon Fight

Nintendo Arcade, September 1984
VS. Ice Climber

Nintendo Arcade, October 1984
VS. Pinball

Nintendo Arcade, October 1984
VS. Clu Clu Land

Nintendo Arcade, December 1984
VS. Excitebike

Nintendo Arcade, December 1984
VS. Urban Champion

Nintendo Arcade, December 1984
VS. Wild Gunman

Nintendo Arcade, 1984
VS. Hogan's Alley

Nintendo Arcade, April 1985
VS. Raid on Bungeling Bay

Nintendo Arcade VS. System, 1985 (Japan)
VS. Mach Rider

Nintendo Arcade, August 1985
VS. Soccer

Nintendo Arcade, November 1985
VS. Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo Arcade, February 1986
VS. Gumshoe

Nintendo Arcade, May 1986
VS. Volleyball

Nintendo Arcade, December 1986
VS. Dr. Mario

Nintendo Arcade, 1990

Famicom and Super Famicom

When Nintendo moved to console development, they would still produce arcade machines to help promote their home games.

Famicom Box

Nintendo Arcade, 1986
Playchoice-10

Nintendo Arcade, 1986–1992
Nintendo Super System

Nintendo Arcade, 1991–1992
Super Famicom Box

Nintendo Arcade, 1994

Ultra 64

As Nintendo prepared to move into 3D games, they partnered with Western studios to develop games for their Ultra 64 arcade boards. In reality, the arcade hardware bore little resemblance to the final Nintendo 64 home console.

Cruis'n USA

Nintendo Arcade, 1994
Killer Instinct

Nintendo Arcade, 1994
Cruis'n World

Nintendo Arcade, 1996
Killer Instinct 2

Nintendo Arcade, 1996
Cruis'n Exotica

Nintendo Arcade, 1999

Post-2000

In 2003, Nintendo partnered with Sega and Namco to produce the Triforce arcade board, based on Nintendo Gamecube hardware. However, Nintendo licensed their games to other manufacturers and have not continued to produce arcade games themselves.

This era of arcade games requires more research.

Namco

Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005)
Mario Kart Arcade GP2 (2006)
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013)
Mario Kart Arcade GP VR (2017)

Sega

F-Zero AX (2003)
Rhythm Tengoku (2007)
Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Arcade Edition (2016)
Mario & Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Arcade Edition (2020)

Capcom

Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land (2003)
Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party (2004)
Donkey Kong: Jungle Fever (2005)
Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2 (2005)
Donkey Kong: Banana Kingdom (2006)
Luigi's Mansion Arcade (2015)

Raw Thrills

Cruis'n Blast (2017)