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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is a 1989 beat ’em up arcade game released by Konami. It is based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, including the first animated series that began airing two years earlier. In the game, up to four players control the titular Ninja Turtles, fighting through various levels to defeat the turtles’ enemies, including the Shredder, Krang and the Foot Clan.

Karate Champ, known in Japan as Karate Dō (“The Way of the Empty Hand”), is a 1984 arcade fighting game developed by Technōs Japan for Data East. Karate Champ established and popularized the one-on-one fighting genre. A variety of moves can be performed using the dual-joystick controls using a best-of-three matches format like later fighting games.

A separate arcade game that allows two players the option to compete against each other was released in 1984 under the title Karate Champ — Player vs Player (“The Competitive Way of the Empty Hand: Pretty Maiden Edition”), a distinct video game featuring a multiplayer mode and more varied gameplay. It was released for the arcades shortly after the original during the same year, also published by Data East. This version would serve as the basis for the home ports of Karate Champ.

Donkey Kong is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. An early example of the platform game genre, the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Mario (originally named Mr. Video and then Jumpman) must rescue a damsel in distress named Pauline (originally named Lady), from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape later became two of Nintendo’s most popular and recognizable characters. Donkey Kong is one of the most important games from the golden age of arcade video games as well as one of the most popular and greatest arcade games of all time. The game was the latest in a series of efforts by Nintendo to break into the North American market. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo’s president at the time, assigned the project to a first-time video game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations, including Popeye, Beauty and the Beast, and King Kong, Miyamoto developed the scenario and designed the game alongside Nintendo’s chief engineer, Gunpei Yokoi. The two men broke new ground by using graphics as a means of characterization, including cutscenes to advance the game’s plot and integrating multiple stages into the gameplay.

Although Nintendo’s American staff was initially apprehensive, Donkey Kong succeeded commercially and critically in North America and Japan. Nintendo licensed the game to Coleco, who developed home console versions for numerous platforms. Other companies cloned Nintendo’s hit and avoided royalties altogether. Miyamoto’s characters appeared on cereal boxes, television cartoons, and dozens of other places. A lawsuit brought on by Universal City Studios (later Universal Studios), alleging Donkey Kong violated its trademark of King Kong, ultimately failed. The success of Donkey Kong and Nintendo’s victory in the courtroom helped to position the company for video game market dominance from its release in 1981 until the late 1990s.

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the sequel to Pac-Man (1980), and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the titular character, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing “Power Pellets” will cause the ghosts to turn blue and flee, which can be consumed for bonus points.

Bubbles is an arcade video game developed by Williams Electronics and released in 1982. It is an action game that features two-dimensional (2D) graphics. The player uses a joystick to control a bubble in a kitchen sink. The object is to progress through levels by cleaning the sink while avoiding enemies.

Development was handled by John Kotlarik and Python Anghelo. Kotlarik wanted to create a non-violent game inspired by Pac-Man. Anghelo designed the game’s artwork and scenario as well as a special plastic cabinet that saw limited use. The game was later released as a web-based version and on home consoles as part of arcade compilations.

Mario Bros. is a 1983 arcade game developed and published for arcades by Nintendo. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo’s chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away.

Dig Dug is a 1982 maze arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was distributed by Atari, Inc. in North America and Europe. Controlling the titular character, the player is tasked with defeating all of the enemies in each stage, done by either inflating them with air with a pump until they pop or crushing them underneath large rocks. It ran on the Namco Galaga arcade board.

Dig Dug was programmed by Shouichi Fukatani, who worked on many of Namco’s earlier arcade titles, and designed by junior colleagues of Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama. Music was composed by Yuriko Keino, becoming the first game she worked on for Namco — the short jingle made when the character moved was made when executives wanted a walking sound in the game. It was described as a “strategic digging game” by Namco for its large amount of strategy used to defeat enemies, which was heavily used in the game’s marketing.

Upon release, Dig Dug was well-received by critics for its addictive gameplay, cute characters and strategy, and was a popular title during the golden age of arcade video games. It was met with a long series of sequels and spin-offs for several platforms, alongside ports for home consoles and digital storefronts. Dig Dug is also included in many Namco video game compilations for a number of systems. Characters from the game appear throughout the Mr. Driller series, itself based on the Dig Dug gameplay.

Snow Bros. is a 1990 platform arcade game released in 1990 by Toaplan. The gameplay of Snow Bros. is similar to Bubble Bobble, released in 1986. The game supports up to two players, with each player taking the part of one of two snowmen, Nick and Tom. Each player can throw snow at the enemies. The player must throw snow at each enemy until it is completely covered and turns into a snowball. An enemy partially covered in snow cannot move until it shakes it off.