With the new Disney/Pixar film Wreck-It Ralph coming out, I've been on a little bit of a retro gaming kick. What's my personal favorite? As cliché as it sounds, that would have to be Super Mario Bros. (with Joust at a close second). However, I recognize that there are several retro games floating around, and actually, I'd love to play them all!

As you might be able to guess, there are quite a few sites out on the Internet that are filled to the brim with retro games. Fortunately for you, we've found a few of them that are worth checking out. So stretch out your hands and grab your quarters – we're going to the MakeUseOf Internet Arcade.

Classic Games Arcade

retro games

Classic Arcade Games may not be the prettiest site to look at, but it is definitely functional, and that's what counts.  All over this site you'll find Flash arcade classics including Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and even Street Fighter!

By the way, from what I can tell, the NES classic Contra is available here. Just remember: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A.

Retro Nintendo Games

classic retro games

Nintendo games are my favorite, so this is definitely one of my top sites. Retro Nintendo Games dives into the world of the NES to provide quality games with the retro flair we all love. It appears that the games are ROMs presented in Java, and although there is an option to download, I would do some background checks to make sure it's safe.

Based on my Google travels, I found nothing to be concerned about, but it's always good to at least try and find a second opinion.

Nintendo 8

classic retro games

Nintendo 8 is an 8-bit wonderland devoted to – just like the site above – classic NES games. However, I've got a little secret for you... Nintendo 8 is actually part of a retro gaming chain full of other sites with in-browser fun. Consider this the Bonus Level:

  • Snessy – Good ol' SNES gaming
  • Gbemul – Game Boy games (including Pokémon!)
  • Master System 8 – Sega games right over here
  • DOS Dose – Classic DOS gaming that includes Indiana Jones and The Prince of Persia
Note: There was a link to a Commodore 64 portion of the chain, but the website was not available at the time of this article. Hopefully, that will get right back up and running.

2600 Online

classic retro games

Ah, the good old Atari 2600. Yes, it may be before my time, but I actually had a gamer grandmother, so this machine was set up and ready to play right in her garage (yeah, I had an Atari growing up.) This site actually provides a gameplay YouTube video before linking you to the game itself, so you can get a taste of how to play or whether you even want to take a shot at it.

2600 Online updates regularly with new content and mini history lessons with each game, so this is a site worth checking out fairly often.

Virtual Apple

retro games

We couldn't get out of here without throwing the Apple II into the mix. Fortunately, there is an entire site bent on providing old Apple II ROMs for the general public to enjoy. As the site says, almost every Apple II and Apple IIgs game is available to play on this site, so I can't imagine a situation where you'll never be bored. Furthermore, I've actually set the above link to send you to Oregon Trail.  I hope that's not a problem.

Conclusion

I hope that the above sites are more than enough to satisfy your retro gaming needs, but as always, I am sure that there are many more sites out there pumping out classic games. Furthermore, just give it a few years... The games of today will be the retro games of tomorrow, and at that point, we'll have holo-sites full of "good old-fashioned" games like Diablo III.

What other retro gaming sites do you know of? What's your favorite retro game?

Image Credit: cbikle