Top 5 Video Games...

[jones]

I'm making the cut-off date 1990 because home systems and PCs in the '90s became so sophisticated that they offered a better gaming experience than arcade machines. So at that point, the field gets really crowded and hard to judge. We're looking here at games that are popular, influential, and (most important) reward playing more than once. Here we go:

5. Ms. Pac Man (Midway 1981) - Believe it or not, this is generally considered the most popular video game of all time. It gets more media references than its predecessor, and with multiple maze designs and wandering prizes, it's still fun to play even today.

4. Oregon Trail (?) - First developed by a junior high social studies teacher in the '70s, this text-based game has gone through many updates and revisions over the years (there's even a complex GUI version on the market), but the original is still played and enjoyed both in and out of the classroom.

3. Zaxxon (Sega 1982) - Even after 21 years, I still can't get the hang of this game, but the fact that I try (and that so many gamers who have mastered it swear by it) tells me this one's a must for the top five. The first game to combine scrolling and 3D in the same playfield, this fast-paced shooter was truly ahead of its time.

2. NES Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo 1989(?)) - Somewhere in Mario's surreal quest to consume mushrooms, collect stars of invincibility, cram his pockets with gold coins and investigate secret tunnels and caves, the rescue of his fair princess becomes an afterthough, but I swear there's a fascinating dissertation in this game just waiting to happen (and if I ever go back to grad school, I'm gonna write it). The developers of this installment in the Mario series look reverently to the past in its title character, who starred in four previous games (beginning with the golden-age classic Donkey Kong (Nintendo 1981)). But more importantly, this sophisticated game trusts in a future where video games are no longer a trade-off of a few quarters for fifteen minutes diversion. With an expansive network of puzzles and symbolism, this is an ambitious gaming experience that can be pursued for hours in front of the screen and away from it -- in places where obsessed gamers suck down gallons of Mountain Dew and talk in the secret language of the game about that time they found a huge mess of unguarded gold coins down whatever tunnel they happened into after just barely avoiding those randomly swinging wrecking balls and falling axes. More than any other title, I think Super Mario Bros. 3 ushered in the wildly creative (though sometimes overly complicated) saga-type games that seem to dominate the industry today.

1. Asteroids (Atari 1979) - This mega-hit of the golden era shows its age in the black and white graphics and ponderous 2-note soundtrack, but I think the clean angles (sharply rendered by the once revolutionary vector beam projection system -- God, I miss those vector games) and ease of handling make this a worthy contender for Greatest Video Game of All Time. Anyone can play Asteroids, and anyone can have fun playing Asteroids. Whether you're spastically blasting the crap out of the hurtling space rocks (which have the unnerving quality of passing like ghosts through each other but leaving your ship in pieces at the slightest touch) or lurking near the on-screen score display, waiting to take out that little hunter-saucer that you know is coming for you, this one demands a healthy combination of lightning-fast reflexes, patience, and subtlety. Just don't ever hit that hyperspace button, which always seems to land you in a position far worse than the one you were just in -- the most notorious red herring escape route in video game history.

Honorable mentions:

Gunfight (Midway 1975) - The first video game to use a microprocessor. But otherwise it's dull. Doesn't hold up.

Space Invaders (Midway 1978) - It was hard to leave this one off the list, but it was either this or Asteroids, and Asteroids is faster and allows for more variation in playing style. I stand by my choice.

Sim City (?) - No doubt, this was an entirely new type of game when it first came out, and it inspired a long line of successors and legions of imitators. Further, it is still played today even in its original form. But isn't this a '90s game? If it's earlier, I would seriously consider finding a place for it in the top five.

Tetris (Atari 1988) - This deceptively simple but amazingly fun game demands both hand-eye coordination and problem solving ability, and being packed in with the NES and older versions of Windows, I suspect it's the most widely played video game since the packed-in Atari 2600 version of Pac Man. But in its original form, it's a little too simple. Like Space Invaders, the difficulty is increased only by adding more speed to successive levels. I can't see bumping any of the illustrious five for this one.

Centipede (Atari 1980) - Fast paced? Hell yeah! Popular in its day? Whenever I talk to anyone born before 1973 about favorite video games, this one is mentioned more than any other ("Centipede! Oh, that was my game, dude..."). Still played today? I play it. And I'm sure many will want to kick me for leaving out the first video game that was really popular with women and programmed by a woman. But what I don't see in this game is the influential part. I don't see it inspiring hosts of other games. How 'bout you?

And now, your picks?

(GeekGirl, I know you're out there...)

take care

---jones()

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 02, 2003 03:46 PM: Message edited by: jones ]</font>

[Ski]

HEY! what about MEGA MAN!!!

[Branflakes]

Wow, cool thread. Fond memories.

Alright, here are 5 of my fave games from the early video game era:

Night Driver(Atari 2600 early 80's)-used the the wheel controller (what did they call that thing?) instead of the joystick. You could only move side to side, but it was the first racing game I ever played. Definitely what caused my love of driving games.

Pong (Atari 2600)-the game that started it all for most people. I never played the original one (from the 70's). My first experience was on the Atari and I loved it.

Sea Battle(Intellivision early 80's)-Intellivision is a lesser known video game system that I had for awhile. Sea Battle put you in control of a group (platoon? Armada?) of navy ships that you had to use to invade your opponents' port while protecting your own. First game I saw where once a ship to ship battle started, the action zoomed in to show the "detail" of the battle. A great strategy game.

Major Leaque Baseball (Intellivision early 80's)-even this basic graphics games shows the pull sports games have on even non-atheletes. I wasn't into sports back then, but i loved stealing bases from my brother. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Dungeons and Dragons (Intellivision early 80's)-My first RPG. Hidden doors adn lots of monsters. The reason I love RPG type games.

[RichC]

Hmmm...I can name five...

5) Crossbow (Arcade). The first really good fantasy arcade game. Quickly got overshadowed by Gauntlet ("The fighter needs food badly."), but was more fun in that a) it had a story, b) had an ending, c) you used a crossbow to shoot with rather than a joystick and buttons and d) that creepy eyeball that would just pop out of nowhere and laugh at you. Of course, the real fun was when you got lucky and shot the eyeball. [img]smile.gif[/img]

4) Impossible Mission (Commodore 64). Whipping out the really obscure game. This was a "break into enemy base/crack their secret code" type of game that my friends & I spent a good year playing religiously.

3) Tempest (Arcade). To a math dork like me, a video game where you play on different shapes, shooting different shapes was way cool. Plus, it really was a fun game.

2) Adventure (Atari 2600). Unique for it's time in that it had THREE levels! And I believe it was the first game to have an easter egg in it.

1) Galaga (Arcade). I loved this game, with it's "free points" bonus rounds and the cool combining of ships thing. That was awesome.

Honorable Mentions:
Galaga 88 (Arcade)
Haunted House (Atari 2600)
Zork (computer)
Castle Wolfensein (the original! For the Apple IIe! "Das Pass?")
Bezerk (Arcade "Stop the humanoid.")

[RichC]

Wow. Are we the only people who played games in the 80s? Or were my games just so friggin obscure it scared everyone away?

[Jadian]

Well, I was going to post Zelda: Link to the Past, but that was SNES and early ninties. During the eighties I wasn't really old enough to appreciate the Atari, Commador 64, etc. My first console was a NES and all I played was Zelda and Mario.

[jones]

I played Zelda on the NES too -- another highly influential and fun game. If Mario weren't such an icon, I'd have put Zelda on the list.

btw, I was skimming through the PlayStation games at Best Buy the other day and ran across the ActiVision collection. On one disc you get dozens of early ActiVision games, most of which were designed for the 2600. I think it was only $10, so if you were too young to appreciate those Atari days of old, this collection would be an easy (and fun) way to experience it. It's amazing how engaging some of these games can be, especially considering that all of them run with less than 8k of instructions.

(welcome back, Jadian)

take care

---jones()

[Ersby]

Top Ten pre 1990's video games? Ah, this is a nice thread to post on before I go on hold for a couple of weeks. Okay. Here goes (ahem)...

5. BattleZone (Atari)
When was this? 1980? Something like that. Anyway, I loved it's weird vector graphics and strangely slow and claustrophic gameplay. A 3D tank game, with you in the middle of it all. And, of course, I loved the gimick of having two joysticks to use.

4. Paradroid (Hewson)
Commodore 64 game in which you were a robot and had to destroy all the other robots on a ship. You could either shoot them, or "grapple" with them, which involved bumping into them and getting involved in a brief puzzle game against the computer. If you one that, you got control of the robot with its better guns, more strength or whatever. Very nice.

3. Defender (Williams)
The first time I played this game, it scared me before I'd even begun. It emitted a demonic growling noise which made me realise I wasn't about to play your average Space Invaders clone. A very nice game that I was rubbish at when I was a kid, and only slightly better when I played it again last year.

2. Manic Miner (Software Projects)
The last two are British games for the ZX Spectrum (released in the US as a Timex something or other, I think), so won't mean much to anyone here. Still, this was a version of Miner 2049er for the Spectrum and a lovely version it was too. Full of colourful Pythonesque graphics and a surprisingly clever level design.

1. Lords Of Midnight (Beyond)
1982 ZX Spectrum game. Very nice game whihc had you controlling dozens of armies across a snowswept landscape, all rendered in very evocative graphics (for the time). The makers said it could also be played as an RPG, but the strategy way of playing was much better

[BarbaraE00]

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