Best Action Game From Every Console Generation

The action games of today may look and feel different from those of the past, but they offer the same experiences.

Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Missile Command are just as exciting and action-packed as today's blockbusters like Doom: The Dark Ages, Hades 2, and Ninja Gaiden 4.

Are today's games more complex? Absolutely, but there's just something about taking a trip back through time and reliving the "good ole' days" that made us fall in love with gaming.

So with that in mind, let's travel through memory lane and re-experience the best action game from every console generation.

8 Centipede

The Second Generation

At the top, I mentioned three classic Atari games: Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Missile Command. Do all of these feel like today's action games? Not quite, but back in the day, these were incredible.

Yet, for as good as they are, there's just something about Centipede I can't quit. It's always one of my first go-to games at the local barcade, stemming back from having high-score competitions with my mother when I was growing up.

It combines the tension of Space Invaders, the strategy of Missile Command, and the action of Asteroids, with the pace turned up to eleven.

7 Ninja Gaiden

The Third Generation

The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?

One of the more pleasant surprises of 2025 was the return of old-school side-scrolling Ninja Gaiden with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. It had a bit of an issue with its difficulty curve in the final act, but it still delivered the fantastic, challenging action the franchise is known for.

Playing through Ragebound made me boot up the original on Nintendo Switch Online, and I'm happy to report that it holds up exceptionally well. Not that I had my doubts; retro side-scrollers are in right now. Even if they weren't, the original Ninja Gaiden's gameplay is timeless and remains the gold standard for all side-scrollers released today.

6 Streets of Rage 2

The Fourth Generation

I grew up in a Sega Genesis household without regular access to a Super Nintendo. This meant a couple of things. I missed out on plenty of SNES classics, but I had the superior version of Disney's Aladdin. Yet I never felt like I was missing out, not just because of being able to play the superior Aladdin and my love of Sonic the Hedgehog, but because I had Streets of Rage 2.

There was no shortage of great beat 'em ups, and like side-scrollers, the genre is enjoying a renaissance. I played through two enjoyable ones this year with Ra Ra Boom and Marvel Cosmic Invasion! Despite the stiff competition over the years, there's nothing quite like Streets of Rage 2. The soundtrack, the combat, the stages, all of its perfection.

From the impressive personality, led by its playable roster of characters and driven home thanks to its impressive visuals, to the simple and addictive gameplay, Streets of Rage 2 is still worth coming back to even after all these years.

5 Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night

The Fifth Generation

Symphony of the Night isn't the first Metroidvania to see critical acclaim; it's called Metroidvania, after all, and Super Metroid is a pretty dang good game.

Having said that, there's one thing that helped Castlevania: Symphony of the Night transcend the action genre and help establish Metroidvanias as here to stay. The genre's formula of nonlinear exploration is perfected, but it's the role-playing elements that help it stand out.

In an era when 3D gaming was becoming more and more popular, Symphony of the Night instead focuses on polishing an established formula. Its 2D visuals are better than nearly everything else on the PS1, its soundtrack is iconic, and the gameplay is still the gold standard.

4 Ninja Gaiden Black

The Sixth Generation

The only franchise to appear twice on our list, Ninja Gaiden Black is an improvement over the original 2004 Xbox game Ninja Gaiden.

Rather than continuing the trend of 2D side-scrolling gameplay, this is the franchise's transition to the 3D world, and it's a leap that's arguably just as, if not more, impressive than Super Mario 64. Don't get me wrong; the original Ninja Gaiden holds up today, but it's incredible to see the franchise transition to 3D and take advantage of modern technology.

Ninja Gaiden Black is the superior version of the game. It retains the balance between action and adventure sequences that Sigma moved away from, alongside the added benefit of the post-release content the original game saw. Action games don't get much better than this.

3 Dark Souls

The Seventh Generation

Dark Souls wasn't FromSoftware's first rodeo; the studio had been making games since the '90s. Dark Souls isn't even the first entry in the Soulslike genre; that would be its predecessor, the PlayStation 3 exclusive Demon's Souls. Having said that, Dark Souls is the game that put FromSoftware on the map.

The immediate hook is the game's difficulty that, to put it bluntly, made Ninja Gaiden look like a walk in the park. Dark Souls is unrelentless, unforgiving, and intimidating. Having said that, the gimmick here is far more than just hard for the sake of being hard. Its difficulty is a core gameplay mechanic. Maybe you're not supposed to tackle that boss just yet.

Is it rough around the edges? Absolutely, but that adds to the charm of Dark Souls. It's a hauntingly beautiful action RPG that pushes you to your limits, and when you finally succeed and defeat that boss, there's no better feeling in the world.

2 God of War

The Eighth Generation

I wouldn't say that the God of War franchise needed a reboot.

While the series was still arguably chasing the high of the original game, 2010s God of War 3 is still a fantastic action game that caps off the original trilogy. Eight years later, Kratos makes his triumphant return, now a father residing in Midgard, looking to honor his late wife's final wishes.

It's this element in particular that helps 2018's God of War stand out from its contemporaries. The action is as delightful as ever, as if there was any doubt it wouldn't be, but it's the fact that there's an emotional force driving the game forward that gives the extra layer of depth it needs to succeed in the modern era of gaming.

1 Elden Ring

The Ninth Generation

2025 has been a surprisingly strong year in the action genre, led by Hades 2 and Ninja Gaiden 4. Yet for all the things those games do well, there's just something about Elden Ring that keeps you coming back for more.

There are so many ways to play through the game and experience its massive open world. So many build varieties, items, locations, and bosses make it infinitely replayable. Not that you needed a reason to come back to Elden Ring. It's the FromSoftware formula perfected, using difficulty as a gameplay mechanic to organically gatekeep players from areas they shouldn't be in. Or, thanks to Elden Ring's open world, you can get creative and fight fire with fire against the game, finding ways to "cheat" the system.

While Elden Ring has now spun off to co-operative play thanks to Nightrein, as well as the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, the base game is still there, waiting for us, and ready to grab hold and never let go.