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Pass The Controller > News > 10 Best Games That Revamp Arcade Classics
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10 Best Games That Revamp Arcade Classics

April 21, 2025 15 Min Read
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10 Best Games That Revamp Arcade Classics

Table of Contents

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  • 10 The Island of Garagan: Replimian Rising
    • Garaga is back
  • 9 Space Invaders are Extreme
    • OG Space Invaders, but better
  • 8 Tetris Effect: Connection
    • Tetris for friends
  • 7 Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+
    • Fantastic Pac-Man for Winning
  • 6 Toaster ball
    • Pon, but toaster feed
  • 5 Puzzle Bobble Everybubble!
    • Simple yet addictive
  • 4 The Way of Anger 4
    • Timeless 2D Beat M-Up
  • 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder Revenge
    • 2D Turtle Power
  • 2 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
    • You can’t make a mistake with Kong
  • 1 Mortal Kombat 11
    • The best arcade series ever

The golden age of arcade games may be long behind us, but those pixel-packed paradise legacy still lives on. From rethinking neon lighting for Pac-Man and Space Invaders to full-fledged spiritual successors, these games prove that there is still room for the arcade genre to grow.




Whether it’s a smooth puzzle game made from Tetris bones or a rhythm-based shooter inspired by Garaga There’s something so magical about seeing the old school game foundations rebuilt with today’s technology and modern design.

These games aren’t just retro throwbacks. They are love letters to the forgotten times of the game. With that in mind, here are some of the best modern games that will bring back, bring back, or even bring back the biggest hits of the past year.


10 The Island of Garagan: Replimian Rising

Garaga is back

Screenshots of Gallaghan's Island Replimian Rising gameplay

Developer

Skinny Jandez Studio

release date

June 12, 2015

Platform

PC

Genre

Space Shooter


Who remembers wasting hours and hours of childhood in front of the Galaga Arcade game? I vow that every time I pass through the arcade in public, a bright, electronic theme will still unfold in my heart.

This indie love letter to arcade shooters will satisfy even the most nostalgic gamers with catchy soundtracks, 80s-style neon graphics, and the developer’s own words. “Too clean you don’t want to destroy them” the formation of the ship.

A lot borrowing from the Arcade Classic Galaga of Garaga in Garaga, the Island of Garaga is a space shooter that focuses on reviving simple childhood classics rather than completely reinventing them.

You will face exponentially wild enemies waves, unlock special weapons, and consistently ride the line between unbearable bullet hell and Saturday morning cartoons. It doesn’t reinvent the wheels of a vertical shooter, but it does paint neon and gives it a modern transformation.


9 Space Invaders are Extreme

OG Space Invaders, but better

Space Invaders Extreme gameplay screenshots

Developer

Taito Corp.

release date

February 21, 2008

Platform

PC

Genre

Space Shooter

Space Invaders is another space shooter that could fall into the minds of many when most games had only a few buttons and had the tokens needed to operate.

Space Invaders Extreme is a modernized version of the game that keeps everything we know and love about the original, introducing current mechanics and graphics that will help you further enhance your experience.


It keeps the original Alien Blast gameplay mind intact, but stacks Chain combos, hidden bonuses, giant boss fights, hypnotic visual effects It actually requires you to enter a flow state.

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If you just want to turn off your brain after hours of overstimulation caused by a long day of customer service and career, it’s the perfect game to play. No matter what game you normally get interested in, you will never mistake the invader of space!

8 Tetris Effect: Connection

Tetris for friends

Connected Titrick Effect Multiplayer Fight

No matter what gaming era you came from, Tetris has somehow come close to your life. Whether it’s an arcade game that trips up in the Chuck E. Cheese aspiring games room or a free game on your phone, Tetris is one of the timeless classics that everyone has played at least once.


If you’ve always wanted to bend your friend’s Tetris skills and see your friendship die in real time, Get ready for a neon charging roller coaster That Tetris effect: The connection will take over you.

This game features everything you remember from your childhood beloved puzzle game, but also includes an insane single player mode, a local multiplayer mode, and an online competitive multiplayer mode that will compete against the best Tetris players in the country!

7 Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+

Fantastic Pac-Man for Winning

Classic level of Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

Developer

Mining Loader Software

release date

September 25, 2013

Platform

PC, Mobile, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Genre

Maze puzzle


Pac-Man is one of the easiest to recognize video games in the world and one of the most beloved classics of today’s generation.

Even if you first meet Pac-Man in an arcade filled with sticky toddlers, you won’t deny that Yellowto Chomer is one of the game’s most iconic faces with the strange plug-and-play joystick that mom spots at a garage sale. He has been running from ghosts for decades, but somehow he has never looked cooler on the Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+.

This modified version will be added Some new game modes, lots of new maze layouts, and lots of crazy in-game challenges This will test your chat skills. You can choose to take on only the Ghost Reservoir in Single Player Mode or show it to your friends in Local or Online Multiplayer Mode.

6 Toaster ball

Pon, but toaster feed

Toaster Ball Arcade Mode


Developer

Artisan

release date

January 15, 2020

Platform

PC, Nintendo Switch

Genre

Physics-based sports

Do you remember Pong? Well, this game is like that, but instead of two paddles exchanging the ball, It features two toasters stuffed with burnt bread. Yes, really. It may sound ridiculous, but it’s actually one of the funniest but simplest games I’ve played after a while.

Built on the bones of old school arcade games like Pong, Toasterball is a physics-based strategy game that involves hitting the ball desperately with your opponent. However, rather than using paddles or rackets, this game allows you to control the general toaster.


You can jump using the toaster to hit the ball directly. Alternatively, you can push down the plunger and suck hot bread on the target instead. Doing so will increase your chances of getting a fastball. This can be thrown at your opponent’s defense at speed.

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There are also multiple challenges, environments and modes that this game poses to you.

Toaster Ball is a game where you can get lost for hours just because you’re drunk with the feeling of your enemy’s toaster disappearing over and over again. You can choose to compete against annoying talented AI or your friends via local or online multiplayer. However, be careful. After this, you may not have any friends left.

5 Puzzle Bobble Everybubble!

Simple yet addictive

Stage 8 of Puzzle Bobble Everybubble!


Developer

skill

release date

May 23, 2023

Platform

Nintendo Switch

Genre

Puzzle Shooter

You’re probably familiar with games like this, from watching your mom lose her life with random Facebook games, or from the front page of your phone’s app store.

Puzzle Bobble Everybubble, and many other bubble popping puzzle games It’s an 80’s arcade game about shooting bubbles in a specific formation based on bubble bobble. If you match bubbles of the same color, they all pop, and the more bubbles you pop, the more you win! It’s also oddly satisfying to hear those little bubbles pop at once.

Puzzle Bobble Everybubble features the same color matching chaos from the original, but adds new challenging levels, adorable characters, story modes and even multiplayer modes so that up to four players can compete at once!


This game is one of the timeless, endless, replayable experiences perfect for all ages, whether you’re a newbie in the franchise or a bubble popping veteran looking to relive your childhood.

4 The Way of Anger 4

Timeless 2D Beat M-Up

Fighting in the City of Angry 4

The fourth installment of the highly popular Streets of Rage series, Beat ‘Em Up Action Games’ 90s series series, Streets of Rage 4 is perfect for gamers’ collections. It is timeless, addictive and hilariously self-aware. Few others can be asked in arcade games.

Streets of Rage 4 is the first article in a series in over 25 years, and humans won’t be disappointed.


This much-anticipated sequel holds and stacks everything fans loved about the original series (close combat, seemingly mysterious bosses, insanely catchy soundtrack) All-new latest mechanics including multiplayer modea unique electronic soundtrack and a deeper combat system that actually rewards clever play than desperate button mashing.

Of course, you can still throw enemies into each other, beat everything that moves, and heal by eating random food from the ground. Whether you’re loading on a Nostalgia trip or trying to get into a 2D knockout action, Rage 4’s Streets is a timeless classic that punches all the right buttons.

3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder Revenge

2D Turtle Power

Teen Mutant Ninja Turtles Shredder Revenge Shredder

Few things scream “childhood” louder than Saturday morning comics and arcade games, and this beautiful, unique title has both. Classic Arcade Beat M-Up and other classic TMNT Arcade Brollers, Teen Mutant Ninja Turtles: Revenge of Shredder is one of the best arcade style games on the market.

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Shredder Revenge is everything you remember about the classic tmnt beat-up: Side-scrolling chaos that sounds like they’re out of place elsewhere, absurd villains, a cheesy one-liner.

In addition to these, the title allows players to experience their favorite half-shell heroes in a whole new way with a new multiplayer mode that supports up to 7 playable characters, full-color pixel art graphics, and a new multiplayer mode that supports up to 6 people.

This game is like a revival of all the good parts of childhood. Literally, there’s nothing in your name, but aside from the NES and pile of game cartridges, you’re ready to play.

With callbacks in every corner, an original soundtrack that doesn’t stop slaps, and a strangely deep and familiar gameplay, Shredder’s Revenge is the perfect example of how to do the rights to a retro revival.

Fun Fact: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was made by Dothem, the same team behind Rage 4 Street!

2 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

You can’t make a mistake with Kong

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Spikes


There are few original Nintendo characters that are as easily recognizable as the Mario Brothers and Kirby, but Donkey Kong still hangs alongside the best.

Before he jumped through icy caves and blowing vines across the HD jungle landscape, Donkey Kong was a menacing barrel in the gaming industry’s favorite, horrifying plumber’s tie. I couldn’t step into one arcade in America without seeing at least one Donkey Kong game.

Tropical Freezing may alienate the world from their humble, pixelated beginnings, but its soul is the perfection of a pure old-school platform.

This modified masterpiece takes everything that made Donkey Kong Country a super Nintendo classic and cranks it to 11. Gorgeous and streamlined gameplay design, a new game mode called “Funky Mode” (I leave it in your imagination), and a very good soundtrack for it to honestly lead your own spots to the playlist.


and 4 playable characters and 2 player cooperative modeDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is perhaps one of the best additions to the franchise that we could ever request.

1 Mortal Kombat 11

The best arcade series ever

Sheeva and Robocop 11 in Mortal Kombat 11

Injuring kids in arcades everywhere since the early 90s, Mortal Kombat has always refused to draw punches in one or more ways. The original is a magnet of controversy, and parents are eager to be banned everywhere before corrupting the innocent heart of the child (spoiler alert: it didn’t work).

Needless to say, it’s not The game persecuted by parents in the 90s was pure gold.And somehow, the 11th installment of the series is even more bloody than its predecessor.


Mortal Kombat 11 takes that old-fashioned 1V1 arcade atrocities and injects it with modern graphics. This title not only adds to Mortal Kombat’s ever-evolving lore and storyline, but also offers players the goodness of shattering hours and hours of bloody skulls.

There is a seamless, smooth combo system, two time bending story campaigns (finals include a fighting game with a story actually An incredible roster of over 37 characters who have restarted combat styles you don’t want to miss (and want to finish it).

This golly love letter to 2D brawler is one of the most culturally important arcade series of all time and is the best choice for nostalgia seekers and beginners too.

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