The World’s Most Popular Retro Video Games, Ranked

Last Updated on May 30, 2021

What is the best retro video game? It’s difficult to tell, at least not without asking a lot of people.

Big games tend to have a long-lasting impact. For example, the Animal Crossing franchise celebrated 20 years in April 2021, while Pokémon celebrated 25 years in February.

To get a better idea of what classic games are highly regarded, ManySpins.com researched all classic video games that celebrate a key milestone in 2021. Utilising SEMrush to analyse over 100 games, only 18 games were revealed as most popular in the 118 countries analysed!

ManySpins.com reveals the most popular retro game is Super Mario 64, popular in 34 different countries. The country with the highest number of monthly average search volumes is the United States with 74,000.

In joint second are Metal Slug andSuper Mario World, with 19 different countries, respectively. Metal Slug is most popular in Argentina and Italy, with average monthly search volumes of 12,100, whilst Super Mario World is most popular in Peru, Mexico, and Brazil, with monthly search volumes of 60,500.

In third place is Pandemonium!, top in 15 countries including the UK where it collected 18,100 average monthly searches.

Fourth is Sonic 3D Blast(10 countries), fifth is Devil May Cry (nine countries), sixth comes Dragon Quest (seven countries) and seventh is Road Rash, most popular in six countries. Battletoads and Duke Nukem tie in eighth place, with five countries each. Joint ninth place goes to Mario Kartand Tetris Attack, both celebrating 25 years in 2021. The 10th most popular retro game is Bubble Bobble, with 1,300 monthly searches in Greece alone.

Browse the table below to learn more.

(Data for this table was collected on 18/05/2021 by ManySpins.com, focusing on games celebrating milestones in 2021 and using SEMrush to research average monthly search volumes.)

It’s undoubtedly an amazing table of data, but do you agree with it? What would you consider to be the most popular retro video games?

Christian Cawley

Gaming since 1984, retro gaming since 2004. Contributes to Linux Format magazine, TechRadar.com, and other publications.

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