That's a list of practically of all the old games I didn't play, lol. Played Dragon's Lair, who didn't? Xevious, and Wizardry. The first Wizardry still holds up, the design-wise at least (there are updated versions with better graphics, which I recommend). It's a simple, elegant structure. They knew exactly what they wanted it to be and what parts of the pen and paper RPG experience would translate well at the time. Unfortunately it doesn't get recognized by the wider audience as one of the essential classics, like Doom and Super Mario. But it is. It laid the foundation for video game RPGs, for better or worse (it basically brought the concept of grinding encounters for xp to the genre, something that wasn't part of its tabletop origins)
My List in 8 Parts: Part 1
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 On 02/18/2020 at 04:52 PM by KnightDriver See More From This User » |
I made a list of my favorite games, and it's so darn long I have to break it into 8 parts, roughly following console generations. This, the first part, is about the Golden Age of video games: arcades, consoles by Atari, Intellivison, and ColecoVision and PC.
1978 Mattel Electronics Baseball (handheld)
1979 Lunar Rescue (arcade)
1980 Sea Battle (Intellivision)
1980 Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (PC)
1981 Stampede (Atari 2600)
1981 Atari Tennis (Atari 2600)
1982 Xevious (arcade)
1982 Front Line (arcade)
1982 Time Pilot (arcade)
1983 Dragon’s Lair (arcade)
1983 Sinistar (arcade)
1984 Marble Madness (arcade)
Yes, I played all the classics of the time like Missile Command, Asteroids, Tempest, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga but these above have a lasting appeal to me. I have some distinct good memories about each of these titles and who I played them with.
Mattel Electronics Baseball was a LED handheld that I played incessantly, probably even in bed.
Lunar Rescue I discovered on a Taito collection on PSP and fell totally in love with it. It combines Space Invaders, Lunar Lander and Asteroids for one fun game. I wish to play the original cabinet one day.
Sea Battle is a two-player strategy ship battle game on Intellivision. It's strategy when you deploy your ships and action when opposing player's ships get close to one another. I always tried to get my friends to play it with me.
WIzardry was my go to Sunday game on my parents Apple IIc computer. I still play it now on the NES port. Wire frame dungeons and party creation are its features.
Stampede is my favorite Atari 2600 game. Rustle up some doggies 2D style until those black angus, or a rock, or the speed gets you.
Atari Tennis was a frequent play for me on 2600. I was playing a lot of real tennis too. I thought it was amazing that you could slice a shot in this game to fool your opponent.
Xevious has always been my favorite arcade game. It is both a shooter and a bomber. What a revelation at the time to do two things at once in an arcade game.
Front Line was a favorite arcade game for me too. You run vertically, shooting and lobbing grenades. Then you can get in a tank. I played the port on ColecoVision at a friends house. I was so thrilled.
Time Pilot I learned to love later on with a port on Xbox 360. Each era gives you a different plane to fly. It's fast paced. Attention is needed in every direction.
Dragon's Lair was turned into a competetive sport by me and a friend in the arcades. We'd take turns to see who got farther, testing our memories. We both beat it eventually.
Sinistar I rarely came across in the arcades, but when I did I was rivited. The tension is very high as Sinistar approaches.
Marble Madness was also turned into a competetive sport by me and a friend. With the track ball it was challenging to get that marble through all the levels.
Next is part 2, about the second half of the 80s. Not sure what to call that generation, silver age?
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