Look, anyone with a serious gaming den probably has an impressive gaming TV to go with a fleet of consoles or a sick gaming desk to serve as the heart of a battle station. We don’t think there’s any problem with that, but there’s a lot more that can be done to deck out a recreation room. One of the niftiest options is an arcade cabinet.You’ll find arcade cabinets that will let you feel like you’ve just traveled through time, giving you access to a horde of classic games alongside familiar arcade controls. In many cases, a quality arcade cabinet can even exceed the cabinets you would have actually seen in arcades. Many of these models include anywhere from several games to thousands of games all in a single cabinet. Even if you don’t have room for a full-size arcade cabinet, you can get in on the retro fun with a handful of mini and tabletop arcade cabinets. And, thanks to Black Friday savings already getting started, you could score a great deal on these arcade machines for yourself or for a gift.So, if you’re ready to relive arcade classics, check out our top arcade cabinet picks.
TL;DR These are the Best Arcade Cabinets
1. Creative Arcades Full-Size Cabinet Arcade Machine
Best Arcade Machine
The Creative Arcades Full-Size Cabinet Arcade Machine is basically the closest thing to truly bringing the arcade home. It’s a fully commercial grade cabinet featuring four Sanwa joysticks and a 32-inch screen covered in tempered glass. That means you’re not just getting plenty of space to play with friends, but also the premium quality controls you should expect from a premium product.What’s more, it’s loaded up with 3,500 games including classics like Mortal Kombat, Robotron, and Moonwalker. This machine even comes with a pair of bar stools for when you get tired of standing.
2. Chicago Gaming Arcade Legends 3
Best Multi-Game Arcade Machine
Chicago Gaming has been manufacturing these Arcade Legends full-size cabinets for a number of years now. With a 24 LCD monitor and 165 games (including at least three versions of ubiquitous bar-favorite Golden Tee) the Chicago Gaming Arcade Legends 3 is a full-size, professional-grade arcade cabinet.The button and joystick setup is what you would expect to find on a commercial arcade machine. And very importantly, it’s even got a trackball for hitting those golf balls. When it comes to having a machine that’s ready for just a bit of everything arcade-wise, this machine does it.
3. Arcade1UP Galaga Arcade Machine
Best Cabaret Arcade Cabinet
It’s easy enough to see the appeal of having a throwback arcade machine in your home. But, old technology had a tendency toward being big and bulky. Cabaret models keep the design a bit more on the svelte side, and that’s the case here with the Arcade1UP Galaga Arcade Machine.This model stays trim at just 19 inches wide. It would also normally stand at just under 46 inches tall, but it includes a hefty riser that can boost it up to 61.8 inches tall. It features both the classic Galaga and Galaxian arcade games plus original artwork on the cabinet.
4. Prime Arcades Cocktail Arcade Machine
Best Cocktail Arcade Cabinet
Lets face it: standing is for suckers. Back in the old days of arcades and bars that also had arcade machines in them, someone was like, Hey what if we could set our drinks on an arcade machine and play at the same time? And so, the magical cocktail arcade machine was born.This particular unit from Prime Arcades includes 1,162 classic games (412 vertical and 750 horizontal) including Galaga, Street Fighter II Turbo, and a whole lot more. And just to make sure youre getting the most out of your newfound freedom from the tyranny of standing, it even includes the chrome stools.
5. My Arcade Data East Classics Mini Player
Best Tabletop Arcade Cabinet
If youre short on floor space, theres always the option to stick a fully functioning arcade machine on the tabletop. This unit from My Arcade features 35 titles from the Data East classic collection, including BurgerTime, Joe and Mac Returns, and Street Hoop.The games are displayed on a 4.25 LCD screen and controls include a miniature joystick (which you can screw off for a regular D-Pad) and arcade buttons. Plus, the authentic Data East design on the cabinet is pretty rad. Big things really do come in small packages. MyArcade also has a MiniPlayer dedicated to Namco’s classic collection if you’d rather play games like PacMan and Galaga.
6. My Arcade Bubble Bobble Micro Player
Best Mini Arcade Cabinet
Now we’re getting into the realm of portable arcade machines with Bubble Bobble Micro Player. It has a tiny 2.75-inch screen with a matching pair of itty-bitty arcade controls.This arcade machine will easily fit into the palm of your hand, so you can pack it into a bag and it makes for a great tabletop decoration as well. Of course, it’s not as capable or impressive as some of the bigger machines on this list, but the Bubble Bobble Micro Player is also a small fraction of the cost of its bigger competitors and won’t take up nearly as much space in your home.
7. Tiny Arcade Space Invaders
Best Tiny Arcade Cabient
Big, expensive arcade cabinets just arent in everyones budget. Thankfully, this Tiny Arcade cabinet only costs $18. This Space Invaders machine is, as the name suggests, super tiny. Think keychain-size tiny.But amazingly, this little wonder plays the full and original Space Invaders on an even tinier screen. The controls work great, too. It’s small enough to serve as a little novelty decoration on your office desk, and you don’t need to let anyone else in the office know that you can actually play on it when you need a quick mental break from work.
8. Arcade1Up Mortal Kombat Arcade Cabinet
Best Fighting Game Arcade Cabinet
Before you get into a big huff thinking that IGN has selected Mortal Kombat is the best fighting arcade game over Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Caliber, Dead or Alive, King of Fighters, Darkstalkers, BlazBlue, Smash Bros. or any of your other favoriteswe’re not.We’ve simply selected Arcade 1Up’s Mortal Kombat Arcade Cabinet (read our review) because it best emulates the classic experience of playing the first three games in the series. At only $300, it certainly costs less than a genuine Mortal Kombat machine thanks to being three-quarters of the size of a traditional machine.
At this price, you get a set of robust controls that fight stick owners will appreciatethough the bat top joysticks won’t be super ergonomic for everyone. The games play just like they used to as well. Although this unit has an LCD screen rather than CRT, there isn’t any smearing or ugly ghost effects. Everything looks crisp and as colorful as the original games were down to the pixelated blood squirts. And if you’re more into Street Fighter, Arcade1Up has a machine for you too.
9. Namco Pac-Man Pixel Bash
Best Pac-Man Arcade Cabinet
Hey, its a Pac-Man party and everyones invited! Except for Inky, get lost Inky. While most of the cabinets on this list are manufactured by third parties using emulators to install huge numbers of classic games, this Namco Pac-Man Pixel Bash machine is pretty unique.After all, its sold by the legendary Namco, and if youre familiar with Namcos popular Namco Museum collections for consoles, this is essentially the same concept, but in a between full- and cabaret-sized arcade cabinet with a 19-inch monitor. This unit comes with 32 classic titles including Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, and more in a well-made, eye-catching machine.
10. New Wave Toys Dragon’s Lair X RepliCade
Best Novelty Arcade Cabinet
The massive arcade cabinets are awesome if you’ve got the room, but many of us probably don’t. In that case, you can get a bit of the fun and flare of an old-school arcade cabinet at a much, much smaller size with the Dragon’s Lair X RepliCade from New Wave Toys.This scale replica measures just one-sixth the size of the 1983 Dragon’s Lair arcade. That gives it a pint-sized but still playable 4.2-inch display. And when we say playable, we mean it. The Dragon’s Lair X RepliCade has functional controls on it and will let you play the game with them. It even includes a battery and built-in speakers, so you don’t need anything else to enjoy the games. If you want a more permanent setup for it, you can also play with an external USB controller (or two) and even connect it to a TV, letting it serve as a fun and stylish console specifically for Dragon’s Lair.
11. SNK MVSX Arcade Machine
Best SNK Arcade Cabinet
From the King of Fighters and Samurai Showdown to Metal Slug and Fatal Fury, these iconic arcade franchises all came from one place: SNK. So, what better way to relive those classic arcade experience than a dedicated SNK Neo Geo machine loaded with 50 games.The SNK MVSX arcade cabinet deliver a large batch of titles from those classic franchises, as well as Real Bout, World Heroes, Sengoku, and more. For $500, you’re getting access to a classic library that’ll deliver plenty of play time. And, it provides an option to play through either the arcade or the home console versions of the games. The cabinet itself offers room for you and a friend to play shoulder-to-shoulder, as it stands 57-inches tall, has a 17-inch display, and features full-size arcade controls for two players. Fortunately, you won’t have to go running for quarters if you run out of lives with this cabinet.
For more deals on games, tech, and lots of other cool stuff, check out our Black Friday deals coverage, which includes video game deals and sales for last and current-gen consoles like the PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch that are live now through the end of Cyber Monday.
Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspamMark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark