Arkanoid is a 1986 block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball leave the bottom edge of the playfield. Some blocks contain power-ups that have various effects, such as increasing the length of the Vaus, creating several additional balls, or equipping the Vaus with cannons. Other blocks may be indestructible or require multiple hits to break.
Out Run is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and the hydraulic motion simulator deluxe arcade cabinet. The goal is to avoid traffic and reach one of five destinations.
1942 is a vertically scrolling shooter by Capcom that was released as an arcade video game in 1984. Designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, it was the first game in the 194X series, and was followed by 1943: The Battle of Midway.
Space Harrier is a third-person arcade rail shooter game developed by Sega and released in 1985. It was originally conceived as a realistic military-themed game played in the third-person perspective and featuring a player-controlled fighter jet, but technical and memory restrictions resulted in Sega developer Yu Suzuki redesigning it around a jet-propelled human character in a fantasy setting. The arcade game is controlled by an analog flight stick while the deluxe arcade cabinet is a cockpit-style linear actuator motion simulator cabinet that pitches and rolls during play, for which it is referred as a taikan (体感) or "body sensation" arcade game in Japan.
Gauntlet is a 1985 fantasy-themed hack-and-slash arcade game developed and released by Atari Games. It is noted as being one of the first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games. The core design of Gauntlet comes from 1983 Atari 8-bit dungeon crawl game Dandy, which resulted in a threat of legal action. It also bears striking similarities to the action-adventure maze game Time Bandit (1983).
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, known as Zoom 909 in Japan, is a pseudo-3D rail shooter released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1982. The player controls a spaceship in a third-person perspective, adapting the three-dimensional perspective of Sega's earlier racing game Turbo (1981) for the space shoot 'em up genre. It used the Buck Rogers license, referencing the space battles, though Buck himself is never seen.
Super Sprint is a racing video game released by Atari Games and Midway Games in 1986. Up to three players drive Formula One-like cars on a circuit that is viewed from above. The game is a successor to Gran Trak 10 and the Sprint series, which were black-and-white games from the 1970s. A sequel, Championship Sprint, was released later in the same year.
Ghosts 'n Goblins, known as Makaimura in Japan, is a platform video game developed by Capcom and released for arcades in 1985. It is the first game in the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise, and has since been ported to numerous home platforms.
Operation Wolf is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Taito and released in 1987. It was ported to many home systems.
Turbo OutRun (ターボアウトラン) is a 1989 arcade racing game released by Sega. A follow-up to 1986's Out Run, it was released as a dedicated game, as well as an upgrade kit for the original Out Run board.
Hang-On is an arcade racing game released by Sega in 1985 and later ported to the Master System. In the game, the player controls a motorcycle against time and other computer-controlled bikes. It was one of the first arcade games to use 16-bit graphics and uses the Super Scaler arcade system board, created with design input from Yu Suzuki, as technology to simulate 3D effects. The deluxe cabinet version also introduced a motion-controlled arcade cabinet, where the player's body movement on a large motorbike-shaped cabinet corresponds with the player character's movements on screen.
Super Hang-On is a motorcycle racing arcade video game released by Sega as the sequel to Hang-On. It uses a simulated motorcycle arcade cabinet, like the original game. An updated version was released in arcades 1991 as Limited Edition Hang-On.
TX-1 is an arcade racing simulation game developed by Tatsumi and released in 1983. It was licensed to Namco, who in turn licensed it to Atari, Inc. for release in the United States, thus the game is considered a successor to Pole Position and Pole Position II. It was also released in the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe via Atari Ireland.
Pole Position II is the sequel to racing simulation game Pole Position, released by Namco for arcades in 1983. As with its predecessor, Namco licensed this game to Atari, Inc. for US manufacture and distribution. Atari Corporation released a port as the pack-in game for its Atari 7800 ProSystem console launch in 1986. Pole Position arcade machines can be converted to Pole Position II by swapping several chips.
Special Criminal Investigation, also known as S.C.I. for short or as Chase HQ II: Special Criminal Investigation in some home versions, is vehicular combat racing game published by Taito for arcades in 1989. It is the sequel to the 1988 game Chase H.Q.
Hard Drivin' is a sim racing arcade video game developed by Atari Games in 1989. Players test drive a sports car on courses that emphasize stunts and speed. It features one of the first 3D polygon driving environments via a simulator cabinet with a haptic vibrating steering wheel and a custom rendering architecture.
Konami GT, originally known as Konami RF2 - Red Fighter, is a 1985 racing video game developed and released by Konami, using their GX400 arcade architecture. The player drives a sports car which must reach various checkpoints without running out of fuel. A turbo mode increases the car's speed but uses more fuel and puts the player at a higher risk of hitting an obstacle. Fuel power-ups can be found on the road which the player must pick up to make it to the final checkpoint.
Enduro Racer (エンデューロレーサー) is an arcade racing game from Sega. It was released in 1986 with two arcade cabinet versions, a stand-up cabinet with handlebars and a full-sized dirt bike cabinet. It is often seen as a dirt racing version of Hang-On, as it uses a similar engine and PCB. The game was later released for the Master System in 1987, the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1988, and the Amstrad CPC and Atari ST in 1989.
WEC Le Mans, known as WEC Le Mans 24 in Japan, is a racing simulation video game released in arcades by Konami in 1986. It was the first racing video game to depict the 24 Hours of Le Mans World Endurance Championship (WEC). The Lap of Le Mans is split up into three sections, during which the time of day changes from day to dusk, dusk to night, and night to dawn.
Tehkan World Cup, originally released as World Cup in Japan, is an association football video game released to arcades in 1985 by Tehkan, the former name of Tecmo. It features multiplayer gameplay and trackball controllers. It was released in both upright and table arcade cabinets, but was most commonly released in a cocktail cabinet form factor. Its arrival coincided with the buildup to the 1986 FIFA World Cup. It featured the then colors of several of the world's top teams such as West Germany, Argentina and Brazil, although it did not mention any team by name.
