In the 1980s and 1990s when arcade games were popular, a large number of classic games were produced. I believe all the players here can name dozens of them at once!
Such as: Street Fighter, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters, Comic Heroes VS Capcom, Three Miracles, Generals, Devouring Heaven and Earth, Fist of the Dragon and Tiger, Dragon Warrior, Knights of the Round Table, Punisher, Dinosaur Kombat, Hungry Wolf, and Teen Street Ba, Tigress Fighter, Dungeon Warrior, War of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, The Legend of Evil… there are just too many.
I guess everyone knows that which games can become popular in China depends entirely on pirates.
To put it bluntly, our generation’s entertainment resources are basically provided by piracy. Pirated games, pirated discs, pirated audio and video products, pirated books and periodicals… Actually there is nothing we can do about it!
In the 1980s and 1990s, people in most places just had to solve the problem of food and clothing, and did not have extra spare money to buy "boring" things. But even if the conditions are difficult, we still yearn for these entertainment resources. Even if video games are labeled as a social cancer, it cannot stop our enthusiasm.
The birth of electronic games was very much in line with the consumption philosophy of players at that time. You don't have to spend much money to experience a variety of games. Game arcade owners do not need to purchase any copyrights to make profits.
In those days, all game arcade owners who had evil intentions were made rich.
The relatively popular games in game arcades are cracked in a timely manner, and few game arcades have purchased genuine games. I remember that there was a large game arcade in our area and they purchased two genuine arcade game consoles of "Street Fighter 3.3", which caused a sensation at the time!
This kind of peak 2D picture quality is something we have never seen before. Many players even rode more than ten kilometers to come here just to experience the charm of this game and open their eyes.
Because many games are not cracked in time, players have not even heard of them. Among them is the CPS3 substrate launched in 1996. The games "Street Fighter 3", "Red Earth" and "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" are all top-notch! It is a pity that it is not well known by Chinese players.
After SNK's base board was cracked, all fighting games became very popular in China, and IPs such as "The King of Fighters", "Metal Slug" and "Samurai Shodown" became well-known in China and even lasted for many years.
At that time, SNK did not make a penny in China, but many years later, these game IPs were sold at sky-high prices in China. Various authorized mobile games were released overwhelmingly, and the quality was also uneven. The significance of krypton gold goes far beyond games. ontology.
On the other hand, "Street Fighter" has also licensed many mobile games in China, and it seems to be relatively conscientious.
It was precisely because of that environment that we were unable to keep up with the trend of international games for a long time. Many games that are not popular abroad are extremely popular in China. For example, "The King of Fighters 97", which has been popular for more than 20 years, may be just an ordinary fighting game in the eyes of foreign players, with almost no international competitions.
But after 2000, players' concepts began to change to a certain extent, because computer games beyond our knowledge began to become popular, and emulators even appeared on computers. The impact of computer games on arcades is not small. After all, this era is about to change.
At this time, players are faced with two choices: either stick to arcades or accept Internet cafes.
No one can stop the coming of a new era. Even if you insist on playing arcade games, this game will always be replaced.
Originally, arcade games could still survive, but with the promulgation of the "game ban", the arcade instantly collapsed under the double attack, and most arcades were closed directly.
Of course, in some places in the countryside, management is not so strong and they can continue to operate, and some loyal arcade fans just keep playing. (Twenty years later, we will still see some middle-aged people in video game malls who only play arcade games. They have never been to an Internet cafe. They seem to be unwilling to accept new things and always live in their own inner world.)
Players who choose to go to Internet cafes may not know that the real pinnacle works of arcade games were released after 2000.
So, what are the best games that have appeared in game arcades after 2000?
2000
"Three Kingdoms 2"
"Metal Slug 3"
"Dragon Knight"
"Blade Combat of Gale Magic and Great Courage"
"Legend of Heroes"
"spectrum"
"Blade of Courage"
"Blood Sword Dynasty"
""
"King of Fighters 2000"
2001
"King's Crystal"
"Star Wars"
"Basiara 2"
"Xingyiquan"
"Heritage of the Warring States Period"
"Silk Road"
"The Vacuum Cleaner Boy"
"Bee Storm"
2002
"Dragon Roar"
"The Demonic Front"
"Metal Slug 4"
"The Goxue Temple Clan Fighting Marriage"
"Thunder Wings"
2003
"Excalibur's Record of Conquering Demons"
《SVC》
"Metal Slug 5"
2004 "Insect Girl"
2005 "The Century of Holy Demons"
2008 "Journey to the West"
"turtledove"
2009 "Street Fighter 4"
2011 "Three Kingdoms 3"
2012 "The Angry Bee – The Biggest Rebirth"
After the decline of the arcade market, many classic game IPs have been reborn on other console platforms. For dedicated players, it is reasonable to buy a console in order to play this game.
The games that appeared in the later period are becoming more and more sophisticated, and the picture quality is getting better and better, but for our generation, these games no longer belong to our era. At most, we can only understand them, but there is not much emotion in them.
Those who are still interested in arcades today are the same players who were passionate about those days, and no more players will join in the future.
After years of vicissitudes, the players have all changed. The former friends have already started families and started businesses, and have the burden of life.
Only then did we realize that what we miss most is always the smoky arcade, because that’s where we have the memories of our youth.
Looking at the children today who can only play Honor of Kings with their mobile phones in their hands, I feel that our childhood has never been wasted
Note: The fan pictures in this article come from the Internet and may be deleted if infringed upon.