10 Best Arcade Games of the 2000s, Ranked

Arcades were the biggest and best places to play new games throughout the 1980s, but by the late ‘90s, things began to change. Home game consoles had evolved significantly, offering more options, leading arcades to shift away from traditional video games toward more redemption-based machines. These offered players toys or tickets, leaving the video game arcade largely in the past. Despite the trend, arcade video games still exist, and the 2000s featured some impressive examples that kept things going with modern gameplay options, new mechanics, and plenty of LEDs to dazzle the eye. We looked at some of the best-performing arcade games of the 2000s and ranked them based on popularity, innovation, and sales.

10) Dance Dance Revolution (2000)

The first Dance Dance Revolution game hit arcades in Japan in 1998, before crossing the Pacific to North America the following year. By 2000, it was one of the most popular arcade video games worldwide. The game evolved throughout the decade to include more song choices, bigger, flashier screens, a ton of flashing lights, and massive speakers. This made it the centerpiece in many arcades as players lined up, waiting for their turn to dance around, stepping on the pad at the right moment to keep in time with the music. The franchise soon expanded to home consoles and included numerous cabinet styles.

9) Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005)

While Super Mario Kart premiered on the Super Nintendo in 1992, it remains popular to this day, and there’s an arcade version. This makes sense, seeing as some of the most popular modern arcade games are racers, which is what the Mario Kart franchise fundamentally is. There have been four arcade releases, including a 2017 VR version exclusive to Japan, but in the 2000s, if you wanted to play some competitive Mario Kart in an arcade, Mario Kart Arcade GP was the place to do it. They were much easier to find in Japanese arcades than in the U.S., but they made it overseas so players could enjoy them. The game is original and hasn’t been ported to any home consoles, so you’ll have to find one in the wild to play it.

8) The House of the Dead III (2002)

Like racers, lightgun games have continued to thrive in modern arcades, and there were some exceptional ones in the 2000s. The House of the Dead III came out in 2002, though it’s since been ported to various home consoles. The game picks up where its predecessor left off, adding several gameplay tweaks and innovations. The arcade cabinet came in several formats, each with its own light gun controller. It’s a bit different from the standard format, as reloading requires pumping the shotgun instead of the more typical “shoot off the screen” method. It’s a fun game, especially while playing with someone, and is well worth however many quarters you had to feed into it.

7) OutRun 2 SP (2004)

The OutRun franchise has long dominated arcades, and in 2003, Sega released OutRun 2. While that’s an exceptional arcade cabinet with great controls and plenty of entertaining content, the 2004 release of OutRun 2 SP only added to it. The updated cabinet added 15 new courses based on a New World theme, but that wasn’t all. The game also featured more music and additional game elements, which were later included in the home release. Sega updated it again in 2006 with OutRun 2 SP DXI/SDX, which offered higher resolution and improved multiplayer gameplay.

6) Metal Slug 4 (2002)

SNK featured several amazing franchises on its Neo Geo arcade cabinet, including Metal Slug. The fourth title in the series hit the arcade cabinet in 2002, and it wouldn’t arrive on home consoles for another two years. That meant players had to take their memory cards to their local arcade to play Metal Slug 4, another outstanding entry in the run-and-gun franchise. The game introduces a bonus system that rewards players for the number of enemies they kill within a specified time, and it also includes several new vehicles, weapons, bosses, and mobs.

5) Time Crisis 3 (2003)

The Time Crisis franchise is another outstanding shooter that’s been released for home consoles but dominates arcades. This is partly due to its cover mechanic, which requires pressing a floor pedal to move out and engage enemies as the narrative shifts from one area to another. The cabinets are also beautifully designed, featuring large screens for two players to face an onslaught of enemies with a variety of weapons and explosives. Like many shooters, it’s fun, challenging, and is easy to get lost in as you play, pumping in one quarter after another.

4) House of the Dead 4 (2006)

The House of the Dead franchise continued through the decade, releasing The House of the Dead 4 in 2009. Instead of taking place after its predecessor, the game’s plot falls between The House of the Dead 2 and The House of the Dead III, adding a new character. It features four possible endings and excellent graphics that completely draw the player in. The screen shakes when a whole army of zombies appears, and the cabinet employed several additional elements to raise the creep factor as high as was technologically possible at the time.

3) Tekken 5 (2004)

Tekken 5 arrived in arcades on the franchise’s tenth anniversary and is set just after the events of its predecessor. The game is a return to the franchise’s roots, eschewing several of the gameplay elements introduced in Tekken 4, which made plenty of players happy. It allows for character customization and features 32 fighters, five of which are new. The arcade game was updated in 2005 to Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, which was later ported to the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3, though other systems continued to feature the original version. Tekken 5 was a huge success, leading to a sequel, though that game didn’t fare as well in arcades.

2) Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000)

The Marvel vs. Capcom franchise launched in the 1990s, and in 2000, Capcom kept it going with Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. The game uses the same tag-team mechanics as Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, but with a few tweaks, including a character-assist system, 3v3 gameplay, and simpler controls. It’s the first game in the franchise with 2.5D graphics, blending 2D sprites with backgrounds rendered in 3D, and it features a great character roster, excellent gameplay, and beautiful visuals, ensuring it was incredibly popular in arcades for quite some time.

1) Street Fighter IV (2008)

When Street Fighter IV found its way into arcades in 2008, it was the first mainline title in the franchise since 1997’s Street Fighter III. This made it a pretty big deal, and the arcade cabinet, as well as future ports to home consoles, garnered universal acclaim from critics. The game’s graphics, settings, combos, controls, and everything else were praised for taking the franchise in a new direction. While most folks likely got their hands on copies at home, thanks to ports to PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, Street Fighter IV was nonetheless popular in arcades, helping to close out the decade with a killer fighting game.

What’s your favorite arcade game from the 2000s? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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