The first commercially successful arcade video game established the coin-op industry and proved that video games could be a viable consumer product.
2
Space Invaders (1978)
Taito's shooter created the template for progressive difficulty, high-score competition, and the shoot-'em-up genre — and single-handedly caused a coin shortage in Japan.
3
Pac-Man (1980)
The first game with a recognisable mascot character and the first designed to appeal to women and non-gamers, expanding the arcade audience beyond young men.
4
Donkey Kong (1981)
Introduced narrative context, character personality, and multiple distinct screens into arcade game design, creating the blueprint for the platform genre.
5
Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Defined the side-scrolling platformer, revived the North American games industry after the 1983 crash, and established Nintendo's dominance for the following decade.
6
The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Invented the action-adventure genre's foundational vocabulary: item-gated exploration, dungeon progression, and a persistent overworld rewarding curiosity.
7
Street Fighter II (1991)
Codified the competitive fighting game — six-button controls, character specialisation, and frame-precise inputs — spawning the genre's golden age and tournament culture.
8
Doom (1993)
Established the first-person shooter as a genre, pioneered networked multiplayer deathmatch, and created the shareware distribution model that shaped PC game publishing.
9
Super Mario 64 (1996)
Set the standard for 3D platformer design with analogue movement, camera control, and spatial exploration that every subsequent 3D game referenced as its benchmark.
10
Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Brought the JRPG to a mainstream Western audience and demonstrated that video games could sustain cinematic narrative ambitions, pre-rendered cinematics, and operatic emotional stakes.