Top 7 Best Arcade Games for Windows

Candy Smash Mania is a fun and addictive puzzle game with multiple levels and a host of features.

Gameplay

The gameplay is quite straightforward. You are expected to connect colourful and attractive lines of candies in order to solve the puzzles and proceed to subsequent levels. The objectives vary with the levels. But the basic plot is the same, which means you are not expected to learn and unlearn things with each level. The goals vary with the different levels, and the time and move modes change too. The easy gameplay should entice in most people in the house, making the game quite fun to play in groups. You can share your progression with friends and family and compete for fun within your circle.

Graphics and Animations

The game isn’t the most space- or resource-intensive. But the graphics and animations on offer are among the best around. And despite the different elements being quite minuscule, the attention to detail is praiseworthy. All of these aspects along with the fascinating gameplay has made this game a massive hit across the globe.The candies are shiny and look sweet. Moreover, there are quite a few pretty scenes too. These backdrops change across levels. For instance, you’ve got greenland, choco world, tropical word and snow world. As far as the OS requirements go, the game can be played on 64- and 86-bit architecture Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 devices.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a collection of three fun games that were originally released in the 90s for the PlayStation. This time around the games come with impressive updated graphics and plenty of humorous touches that are sure to capture the hearts of a new generation of gamers.

A New Lease of Life

The main aim in each of the games in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is basically to smash and dash through the landscape and cause as much havoc as possible. Crash Bandicoot is a very vibrant and endearing character who has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. In addition to running through the jungle and other detailed scenes, players will be able to pick up several skills along the way that will allow them to take out the bad guys by spinning, kicking and even flying.

Crash and Smash

With its wacky sense of humour and strong sense of adventure, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy perfectly proves that this collection of games has managed to withstand the tests of time. Anyone who remembers the games from their childhood is sure to have plenty of fun revisiting them, while first time players will be in for a wild ride.

Step into the World of Wreck-It Ralph

Anyone who has seen the popular Wreck-It Ralph films from Disney will remember that the title character was shown co-starring in a video game called Fix-It Felix Jr. With this free game, players will be able to play Fix-It Felix Jr. themselves. Ralph is smashing up an apartment block, and it is your job as Fix-It Felix Jr to dodge the falling bricks and repair the broken windows. The controls are simple, with left and right to hop from window to window, Z to jump, and X to repair window.

A throwback to 80s arcade classics

While based on the Wreck-It Ralph films, the game's true roots are in the world of 1980s arcade classics: players will recognize elements from Donkey Kong and Rampage. The graphics, sound effects, and music are all designed to replicate the feel of 8-bit games, just like Leps World and Mario Builder, while at the same time capturing the personality of the films. The movies themselves were homages to a bygone age of video games, and this tie-in game follows suit.

Simple but accessible

Some may find the game a little basic, but players who appreciate the classics should have fun with this title.

A treat for fans

Fans of the Wreck-It Ralph films and 1980s arcade games, should find something to enjoy in Fix-It Felix Jr. While the gameplay and graphics are simple, it does a good job of catching the spirit of both the films themselves and the games that influenced them.

SimCity 2000, created by Will Wright and Fred Haslam, is an open-ended city-building simulation video game. The game was released all the way back in 1993, succeeding SimCity Classic. As opposed to the first SimCity, which was played from a top-down perspective, SimCity 2000 is played from an isometric perspective, creating a three-dimensional effec). The goal of SimCity 2000 is to establish a town, develop residential and industrial areas, construct infrastructure, and collect taxes for the town's further growth.

How do you win in SimCity 2000?

SimCity 2000 places emphasis on improving the quality of life of the city, keeping a balance between the various industries, and controlling the environmental condition of the country. This is to keep the settlements going bankrupt or else the game will declare ‘game over.’ While SimCity Classic pioneered city-building games, SimCity 2000 would become the blueprint for current urban simulators for its vibrant and detailed graphics, improved control menu, gameplay, and music.

The game assigns you as the mayor of the town, but you actually have godlike control. You have complete access to all areas of your town at all times. It’s up to you to design a city that will thrive economically. To do this, you will need to strategically place the residential, commercial, and industrial areas, and provide your citizens with their essential needs (electricity, water, food, etc.). The more money is circulated in your city, the more likely it will improve. 

A bustling city can still attract criminals. To decrease crime rates, the game allows you to easily put up a police station in areas that need extra protection. What you can’t do is create subways and manage underground sewer systems. You won’t be able to work on rising hills or falling basins either, since landmasses have been completely flattened. In any case, you will need to be able to spot problem areas and resolve them as fast as possible. 

Create the ultimate city 

SimCity 2000 is an old but beloved game. While the graphics and interface are still reminiscent of the early 90s, the gameplay is still as engaging since its first release. You get to design your own ideal city and see how it thrives over time.  There are a few limitations to what you can create, but the large variety of structures you get to build more than makeup for it. If you haven’t played this game before, now is a good time to start. 

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a football arcade video game that lets you step into the soles of titular character Captain Tsubasa and his teammates as they aim for glory in the big leagues. Developed by Tamsoft and published by Bandai Namco, this video game adaptation of the 2018 Captain Tsubasa anime series is the first console title of the popular franchise released after ten years. 

Eyes on the goal

Captain Tsubasa is a Japanese manga series originally created by Yōichi Takahashi back in 1981. The series mainly revolved around the sport of association football and focused on the life of Tsubasa Oozora and his growth as a football player. Tsubasa starts as a talented grade-school player who dreams of winning the FIFA World Cup for Japan one day. 

The manga covers his relationship with his friends, teammates, rivals, and his gradual climb from top ace of Japan to one of the most prominent players in the international scene. Due to Captain Tsubasa’s popularity, it got adapted as an anime series and even spawned dozens of video games across various platforms. 

Since football games are a popular enough subcategory of sports games—the likes of which the FIFA and PES series capitalize on every year—Captain Tsubasa comes back to the stage to accompany the anime reboot of 2018 and introduce it to a new generation of fans. 

Get some moves

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is considered an “arcade football” game and offers an action system that allows anyone to enjoy the game’s football battles. In this title, you can easily make the super plays that Captain Tsubasa is known for with just simple controls. The usual core mechanics of football games are present in the controls, but Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions emphasizes on unique character actions called Spirit Gauge, Moves, and Special Skills. 

When you control a player on the field, they have their own Spirit Gauge that allows you to perform different Moves. Moves, on the other hand, are your core weapons. These can range from goal kicks to ball dribbles and will consume some of the Spirit Gauge to be executed. Unlike other football games, you can’t keep doing these tricks all willy-nilly. The Spirit Gauge is your player’s stamina and morale, and you need to use your Moves properly to avoid wasting Spirit. 

A popular feature of anime football is the existence of Special Skills, which are the characters’ signature moves—complete with their anime-style close-up cutscene—that can turn the tide of battle depending on the conditions needed to activate them. There are other necessary actions, as well, like dribbles, tackles, blocks, passes, shots—and a cool team-shared Spirit Gauge called the “V Zone” that can boost other gauge rates for a limited time.

Aim for the top

If you’re a fan of Captain Tsubasa and have been itching to live through it like how the anime series portrays it, then Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is the title for you. It’s available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, and even features an all-new upgraded animation that still displays the series’ classic cartoon-style shading. Not only that, but you can play as the rival teams of the series and get to know their members, too. 

Super Bomberman R is a remake of a classic game and many people are sure to remember fondly. While the game has managed to retain its classic feel, the enhanced graphics and a few additional features are intended to make the game appeal to a whole new generation.

Prepare to Get Blasting

Players of Super Bomberman R find themselves in a detailed maze and the main aim of the game is to run around the maze planting bombs to try and take out enemies. However, it is all too easy to blow yourself up with these bombs as well, which often happens with comic effect. the camera angle is mostly overhead, which provides a full view of the maze although often not the actual bombs, while the controls are very similar to those of the original game and are very easy to master.

Bombs Away

Anyone who remembers the original Bomberman game is sure to have a lot of fun playing Super Bomberman R. Although the weird camera angles can make keeping an eye on the action quite tricky from time to time, the addition of the multiplayer mode means that there is hours of fun just waiting to be had.

Tanuki Sunset is a third-person longboard skating game from an indie game developer, Squid Squad. In this game, you take control of a talented raccoon—tanuki in the Japanese language—as it stylishly skateboards downhill on a procedurally generated, synthwave-themed seaside road. Drift your way around narrow corners and avoid falling off the road. In this arcade game, the longer you stay on the road, the higher the points you get.

Not an ordinary tanuki

For a sports game, Tanuki Sunset’s concept is quite simple. You only need to control the raccoon and be as stylish as you can with your longboard. The longer you stay on the course, the more points you get. And while doing so, you also need to gather as many Tanuki Bits as you can. These bonus bits fill up you Bonus Roulette meter, which, in turn, gives you more points.

Skating downhill is hard, but don’t worry, the tanuki is more skillful than you’ve thought. It can pull off some insane drifts. It can even be brave enough to jump over the scariest raccoon shredder—cars. The game rewards you with extra points for every drift and airtime that you can perform.

Of course, while you show off your Tony Hawkesque skateboarding prowess, you need to stay alive. The longer you stay on the road, the more points you gather.

Simple controls, surprisingly challenging gameplay

Tanuki Sunset has simple game mechanics, but its simplicity does not end there. Controlling the raccoon is also very simple, allowing players to use either their Xbox controller or their keyboard. Controls using the keyboards only uses a few keys. There are corresponding keys for moving left or right, and there are also keys for increasing speed and performing 180 slides and drifts.

However, having simple controls doesn’t mean staying on the course is also simple. For a game with an easy-to-understand premise, doing well in the game is quite a hard task. For one, the pace in which the raccoon skateboards downhill is fast. Also, it is very sensitive to the controls that if you press a little longer to movement keys, the raccoon will veer off left or right so hard that it will fall off the cliffs.

It is also worth noting that aside from cars and the raccoon falling off the road, there are also boulders that will narrow down your course. Hitting them will get the raccoon instantly killed. There are also cases where the road narrows down without any boulders, so you’ll need to watch out for that. Surprisingly, near misses gives you extra points.

As with the name, Tanuki Sunset depicts a scene in which the raccoon skateboards on a seaside road during sunset. The game comes with a very cartoony animation in shades of pink, blue, and green. And while it is not in high-quality, its actually quite pleasing, aesthetic wise.

Let the raccoon skate

All in all, Tanuki Sunset is a great game to play for people who are looking to pass the time. The game is simple and straightforward and does not require any learning curve. Even better, it allows you to play with your keyboard or Xbox controller. However, there is no real reward for getting a high score other than the screen showing your highest recorded play every time the raccoon gets killed. But with addictive gameplay such as this, the entertainment and joy you get as you play is your reward.