10 Of The Best Arcade Games On Android To Play In 2023

The mobile games market shows no sign of slowing down, giving players getting access to more and more impressive games. In fact, the available power in smartphones and tablets, combined with the larger budgets that developers are being given to produce mobile titles, means that many Android releases can rival those coming to consoles and PC.

One of the great advantages of platforms such as Android is the sheer variety of titles available. The Play Store is home to millions of different games, ranging from thoughtful strategy games to vast open-world titles that allow hundreds of players to interact with each other. Arguably the most popular genre of games on mobile is action games. These fast-paced experiences often focus mainly on gameplay, with players having to think quickly and use lightning-fast reflexes to beat opponents or advance through stages. Here are some of the best Android action games available right now.

"Dragon Ball Legends" is an action fighting game from Bandai Namco based on the popular animated series. Just becoming available in 2018, it has remained one of the most popular and highly rated fighting games on the Play Store. Utilizing real-time 3D combat, it's the perfect game for those who love "Dragon Ball" and want to experience the breathless fast-paced nature of the battles within the television series.

Using taps and swipe gestures, alongside a series of card-based mechanics that can be selected in-game, players can quickly use various abilities to try and avoid damage while also unleashing devastating attacks on enemies. Gameplay largely revolves around PvP battles online although there are also options for those who prefer to play offline against AI opponents, including Story Mode and Adventure Mode which give players the chance to unlock new characters and play through a variety of campaigns. The action is constantly being refreshed with time-limited events and unique content, bringing the total number of characters to more than 400, and ranked tournaments for the more competitive players.

A highly faithful adaptation of a beloved series, "Dragon Ball Legends" is everything you'd want from a game based on the anime. It has fantastic visuals, frantic gameplay that is lightning-fast, and almost every central character and location that fans will be familiar with. Gacha mechanics designed to extract extra money from players might put off some players but the game can be played entirely without making any additional purchases.

Developed by Long Hat House and published by Raw Fury, "Dandara" is a platformer and Metroidvania game that first hit store shelves in 2018. In the game, players take on control of the protagonist, who lends her name to the title of the game itself, as she journeys through different areas of a world known as Salt attempting to liberate the people from the Eldarian Army, a tyrannical force that has effectively enslaved Salt's inhabitants.

The main gameplay mechanic of "Dandara" is that the heroine is capable of defying gravity. This means she can effectively cling to walls, ceilings, and other surfaces regardless of their orientation. This makes the game rather unique among platformers and other Metroidvania games, as players have to take every single surface into account rather than just concentrating solely on the floor. Although unconventional and somewhat confusing at first, it only takes a short amount of time to become accustomed to it. Once that is the case, moving through the world becomes instinctive and fluid.

With environmental puzzles and an array of interesting enemies to overcome, being successful in "Dandara" requires players to think strategically and not just jump straight into the action. The game features many weapons to combat enemies and a rich in-game world that makes you want to explore further and take in what is a beautiful and immersive environment.

Dreamotion's "Ronin: The Last Samurai" has already made a name for itself as one of the best action games on the Play Store. Since it launched in 2021, the game has been downloaded millions of times and sits at an impressive user rating with almost 300,000 reviews from players. A hack-and-slash combat game, "Ronin: The Last Samurai" is set in feudal Japan and sees players having to engage in close-quarters battles with a series of enemies.

The action in "Ronin: The Last Samurai" tasks the protagonist samurai character with facing off against hordes of enemies. As enemies are defeated, new waves arrive with a greater number of more imposing enemies, slowly increasing the challenge. Rewards scale with the number of waves that are completed, providing rarer loot as you perform better. These can range from brand-new equipment to special resources that can be used to upgrade weapons and gear to make them more effective in combat.

The gameplay is focused on careful timing attacks and parries. With the game having to rely on touch controls as a mobile title, it means that the mechanics need to be simpler than they would with a controller, and here the developer has certainly succeeded. The game is intuitive and simple to learn, although mastering the precise moment to launch attacks and defend against incoming blows requires practice. With highly-stylized visuals that resemble traditional Japanese art, "Ronin: The Last Samurai" is an easy action game to recommend to Android owners.

After years of stubbornly refusing to allow its content to appear on other platforms, Nintendo changed its stance in 2015 and subsequently began to exploit its IP on mobile devices. This included launching "Super Mario Run" in 2016 and the "Mario Kart Tour" in 2018. Fans were understandably excited at the prospect of being able to play one of Nintendo's most popular multiplayer franchises on the go without needing to have a Switch or other console with them.

Obviously, "Mario Kart Tour" is not a one-for-one port of any particular "Mario Kart" game. The fact that most gamers play mobile titles using touch controls rather than a traditional controller means that the gameplay requires some tweaking to work effectively on a touch screen. Unlike traditional entries in the series, "Mario Kart Tour" doesn't give players full control of the vehicles, automatically accelerating, braking, and jumping. Meanwhile, certain actions can be controlled by tapping or swiping on the screen, putting players in charge of things such as drifting, turning, and using items.

The mobile adaptation received a lot of plaudits for the way it simplified the controls and played intuitively on a touch screen that may not seem like the best way to experience "Mario Kart." The familiar visuals and soundtrack were also praised, although there was some criticism about the Gacha elements that it included, which have since been removed.

The "Doom" franchise is arguably one of the most well-known in the gaming industry. Having helped to establish the first-person shooter genre, the series has played an important part in the history of action games and is still highly regarded. In fact, recent releases in the series have proven that "Doom" as an IP is still an incredibly strong leader in the market. Therefore, it's no surprise that various ports and games based on the series have made their way to mobile devices in the last few years

One of the most recent is "Mighty Doom." First launched in early 2023, the top-down shooter sees players assume the role of the traditional series protagonist, known as the Slayer, as he battles against the demonic forces of hell through levels that are littered with environmental hazards. However, the game differs significantly from other entries in the series as it is not as dark or mature. Not only does it feature more colorful visuals than you would normally associate with "Doom" but the entire story is also centered on the fact that the demons have stolen the Slayer's pet rabbit.

The gameplay of "Mighty Doom" closely resembles other noted action games such as "Archero." The main character automatically shoots at enemies, with players only put in charge of determining where they move using an on-screen joystick and activating special attacks and abilities. This works surprisingly well with touch controls and keeps the gameplay working at a quick speed.