Apple Arcade has some pretty rad arcade offerings. Here are the best ones that we found for you to blast your way through for those epic high scores.
Apple Arcade is Apple’s very own gaming subscription service that offers hundreds of premium games for one low price of $4.99 a month. This price also includes Family Sharing, so everyone in your Family can also make use of the games in the service without additional cost. With so many games available on the service, there is something for everyone here, including some nice retro arcade games.
Get your game on!
Apple Arcade
Unlimited games, one flat rate
Apple Arcade has over a hundred premium games with more being added regularly. There’s a bit of something for everyone, and it costs less than your morning latte!
THE BEST
Exit the Gungeon
- Studio: Devolver
- Age rating: 12+
- Use a gamepad? Yes
This is the follow-up to the highly popular Enter the Gungeon, except now you’re doing the opposite: getting out of there, ASAP! Since the previous Gungeoneers were successful, the Gungeon is now a paradox and collapsing in on itself, and you need to Exit the Gungeon.
You’ll need to make your way through each elevator shaft level and fight off hordes of demons with your single, everchanging weapon. It starts off as a simple peashooter, but as you blast your foes away, the gun will evolve every few moments, giving you even more awesome abilities and range, or it may be worse and you’ll just have to learn to adapt.
As you’re stuck in the elevator fending off the enemies with your everchanging weapon, you’ll need to make sure to roll through their attacks and dodge what you can. You’re only able to take so much damage before it’s a failure, so you’ll need good platforming skills and quick reflexes in order to survive.
Even if you’ve never played Enter the Gungeon, Exit the Gungeon is an enjoyable experience for anyone who likes a challenge. You’ll die a lot, but you’ll be learning from your mistakes and getting better with each run (hopefully).
Dodo Peak
- Studio: Moving Pieces
- Age rating: 4+
- Use a gamepad? Yes
Dodo Peak is a cute arcade platformer that serves as a great little throwback to the classic arcade platformers of the past, but with a modernized twist.
You must play as a dodo bird who has lost her baby eggs on a series of dangerous peaks. You need to help maneuever the mom dodo to safely recover them and get them back home, where they belong. Along the way, you’ll find coins that you can use to purchase new and unique dodos. There are also dangerous enemies on the peaks, such as snakes and monkeys — make sure to grab those power-ups for a nice speed or strength boost.
The controls in Dodo Peaks is simple enough for everyone in the family, and it even has controller support for those who prefer it. As your pack grows, so does the difficulty. This is a great game for those who like to see their rank on the leaderboards. Plus, the graphics are gorgeous and the soundtrack is fun to listen to.
The Pinball Wizard
- Studio: Frosty Pop Games
- Age rating: 4+
- Use a gamepad? Yes
Love pinball, RPGs, and dungeon crawlers? The Pinball Wizard is a little bit of each, making it a unique and fun arcade adventure experience.
In The Pinball Wizard, you will discover a tower that you must ascend if you want the wisdom it offers up at the very top. But to reach it, you’ll need to get through each floor, which is set up like an old-school pinball machine.
The main hero gets propelled into the fray by a set of flippers at the entrance of each level. The goal is to survive, collecting treasure and outlasting the enemies long enough for the key to unlock the door, which leads to the next stage. The stages start out simple enough, but the enemies you encounter only get more challenging, and you have a limited amount of health (though you can hit the health potion barrels to heal) to get you through the tower.
The Pinball Wizard definitely offers an interesting take on arcade adventure by combining pinball, RPG, and dungeon crawler into one. The graphics have that simple low-poly aesthetic that most find pleasing, and the music and sound effects are quirky and cute. This is definitely one to not be missed.
Dead End Job
- Studio: Headup GmbH
- Age rating: 9+
- Use a gamepad? Yes
If you’re a fan of dual-stick shooter games, then Dead End Job is a good one to pick up.
This Dead End Job isn’t what you’d expect. You’re Hector Plasm, a worker of Ghoul-B-Gone, a paranormal pest control company. Your job consists of going to haunted offices, restaurants, houses, and other seemingly normal buildings, and then getting rid of some unwanted ghosts that seem to have made the building their home.
With Hector Plasm, you’re equipped with a vacuum pack on your back, and a plasma blaster in your hands. Aim well with your steady hand, blast those ghosts, and then suck them up into the vacuum for collection! After all, someone’s gotta do it.
The art in Dead End Job is reminiscent of the old 90’s Saturday morning cartoons, so it’s definitely a nice throwback. The game also has a great sense of humor, and the soundtrack is pretty epic. While you can play the game with the touch controls, it does work better with an actual controller, especially in later, more hectic levels.
THE REST
Frogger in Toy Town
- Studio: Konami
- Age rating: 4+
- Use a gamepad? Yes
Frogger in Toy Town is a modernized take on the classic Frogger game. Except instead of actual cars and highways, you’re in a toy box world with innocuous objects that you wouldn’t think are dangerous, but everything’s different in the eyes of a small frog.
In Frogger in Toy Town, a tornado swept through a quiet town, causing quite a mess everywhere and also picking up some unsuspecting froglets, scattering them across human houses. Frogger is the only one who managed to find shelter, and now must save the froglets.
Control Frogger by swiping or touching the screen to direct his movement as you search for your friends and avoid danger from toy cars, blocks, stovetops, and more obstacles. Unfortunately, the controls aren’t as responsive as they should be, making the game more frustrating than fun. It is also rather glitchy, according to some players.
PAC-MAN Party Royale
- Studio: BANDAI NAMCO
- Age rating: 4+
- Use a gamepad? No
PAC-MAN is a classic, so you would expect PAC-MAN Party Royale to be a great modern take on the tried-and-true PAC-MAN formula.
With PAC-MAN Party Royale, you and up to three friends can play together through the online multiplayer mode, in which everyone plays until there is only one PAC-MAN left standing. Who can catch the Super Pellet, which turns you into an unstoppable chomping machine, first? Any PAC-MAN that gets eaten turns into a ghost, who will want to seek revenge.
If no one is ahead enough, the 256-glitch occurs, in which the maze begins to collapse in on everyone and the safe area shrinks, until there is only one PAC-MAN left.
While this game has potential, the issue is with the controls. It uses swipe controls, which aren’t precise as you would want them to be. There is also no controller support or local multiplayer, which is a bummer.
Explottens
- Studio: WeRplay
- Age rating: 4+
- Use a gamepad? Yes
Cat lovers who enjoy dual-stick shooters will get a kick out of Explottens and its heart-pumping, hair raising, shoot-em-up action. It’s packed with fierce kittens and explosions galore, what’s more to love?
In Explottens, the land of Catmandu is celebrating the end of the battle of Kittysburg. Evil kitties of KLAW laid siege to Catmandu in an effort to overthrow the democratically elected government and rule it with their iron paw. However, a group of heroic cats named KIT created a hero, who wiped out KLAW. But while the celebration goes on, it seems KLAW isn’t done just yet.
Explottens features bullet-hell shmup action, and you control a feline hero of your choice as they zip, boost, and shoot their way through the skies. There are missions to complete, sidekicks to recruit to help you out in battle, and a ton of weapons and upgrades to make you even stronger.
The only negative thing about the game is the fact that it can be a bit too hard for some. Plus, the difficulty levels makes it so you would need to upgrade you starting weapons, which are crappy, instead of saving up for something better. This isn’t a game for the faint of feline hearts.
Painty Mob
- Studio: Devolver
- Age rating: 4+
- Use a gamepad? No
Painty Mob is a frantic and chaotic little arcade game that is great for quick play sessions when you have a minute to spare.
In Painty Mob, you are a colorful little creature who is just going about their day, minding their own business, when all of a sudden, you get the brilliant idea to douse all nearby citizens in paint. I mean, they just need a little color in their lives! So the goal of the game is to rack up your score by painting as many unsuspecting citizens, but watch out! They’ll get angry, and if you get caught by the angry mob, then it’s game over. There are also plenty of items and power-ups to pick up to help you cover the area faster.
While the game is fun, things get a little too chaotic at times, so it feels like you’re just running and grabbing whatever you can to see if it helps you, or not. Things aren’t labeled as clearly as you would like, and things just move too quickly for you to really notice what power-ups or dangers you’re getting.
Chase those dreams and high scores
Apple Arcade has a little bit of everything, including some awesome retro arcade goodness. These are some of the ones we’ve been playing, and they’re pretty enjoyable, for the most part. Which ones are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
Source of the article – iMore