By John Leung
The quintessential city simulation game spawning simulations of all sorts (including dating, thanks to The Sims), Sim City started with humble DOS and Windows roots. With rudimentary 2-D graphics, square blocks as buildings and rudimentary roads and transit, it brought the world a first, albeit rudimentary, look into running a city. Later versions such as… Continue reading Sim City (1989)
This was Nintendo’s contribution to the puzzle game explosion led by the phenomenal success of Tetris. Each player started the game with a jar containing numerous red, yellow and blue viruses. The object was to eliminate all of the nasties by steering capsules thrown into the top of the jar by a lab-coated Mario. Lining… Continue reading Dr. Mario (1990)
By John Leung
Sega’s famous blue hedgehog was created by the brain trust of the Sonic Team, led by Yuji Naka (creator of other games such as Chu Chu Rocket and Billy Hatcher). In the games, Sonic must battle the evil Dr. Robotnik, speed through zones and grab the rings and defeat Dr. Robotnik’s somewhat easy-to-defeat bosses (when… Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog (1990)
By Andrew Ross
Wing Commander does not require much of a computer, it ran perfectly on my family’s 386, but was unplayable on our Pentium 166. Despite being a relatively low-tech game, Wing Commander is still one of my favourite games of all time. This game was the reason to own a joystick. What was so great about… Continue reading Wing Commander (1990)
What modern man has not, at some point in their life, yearned to conquer the world? Civilization was perhaps the first computer game to quench this thirst. In charge of a civilization on an extensive map, filled with enemies and resources, your job is to explore the map, manage resources, confront your enemies and conquer… Continue reading Civilization (1991)
By Andrew Ross
I have to start with a disclaimer: I never shelled out the $30 for the full version of Wolfenstein 3D. Being a kid without an allowance, I didn’t have the means for such largesse, so I was restricted to playing the first dungeon. Of course, I played that first dungeon over and over, until I… Continue reading Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
By Robbie White
Released in arcades in 1970, Asteroids was Atari’s answer to Space Invaders. They must have done something right because Asteroids went on to become Atari’s all-time best seller. Asteroids took the “high score” idea and went a step further, allowing players to enter their initials when they achieved a high enough score. Asteroids was also… Continue reading Asteroids (1979)
By Robbie White
In 1993, Nintendo was feeling pressure from the various 32-bit consoles such as the Panasonic 3D0 and Atari Jaguar. Also their biggest competitor Sega had its new 32X system on the horizon. Nintendo’s answer was to push its Super Nintendo to the limits with the Super-FX chip. Star Fox was the first game to use… Continue reading Star Fox (1993)
By Вen Li
Though not the first video game, Pacman (originally named Puck-man, though renamed to discourage obscene graffiti) is the definitive video game in both popular and gaming culture. In movies and on television, Pacman is called upon to be any video game the producers desire, and deservedly so. The story of a little yellow head roaming… Continue reading Pacman (1980)
By Falice Chin
Capcom’s classic game that combines Tetris-style puzzles with Street Fighter combat makes Puzzle Fighter one of the most addictive video games of all time. With its theme inspired by Street Fighter Alpha 2, its characters are caricaturized to about one-tenth of their original height and three times their body width. Naturally, they are just adorable.… Continue reading Puzzle Fighter (1996)