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)
By Вen Li
Q*bert is like Speed: They only got it right in its first incarnation. Having fortunately played the upright, LCD, PC and Atari (shudder) versions of the original Q*bert, nothing quite tops frobbing the joystick on an upright to get the orange tube-nosed thing onto a Flying Disk, away from the vicious Coily and his friends.… Continue reading Q*bert (1982)
Offered as the first game you would ever play on your Nintendo Entertainment System, the first kid on the block to get this puppy hooked up was suddenly at no loss for friends. Mario was unlike anything we had seen before. With its 32 levels in eight different worlds (!) it was the most massive,… Continue reading Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt (1984)
This game pitted one or two of four characters (Warrior, Valkyrie, Elf, Sorcerer) against an infinite onslaught of unavoidable enemies over the course of an endless dungeon crawl. Each level featured little “houses” spawning hordes of creatures to be killed by players’ thrown weapons. Most games of the era gave players the chance to make… Continue reading Gauntlet (1985)
By Natalie Sit
Not all games were mindless blasting and maiming. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was the queen of intelligent games. It was followed by USA, Europe, Time and Space, but the original was the best. Intrepid learners would gather clues that led them closer and closer to the culprit. At the same time, they… Continue reading Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (1985)
If you happen to hear the word “contra” these days, chances are very good it’s being used to refer to this game, not the infamous U.S.-orchestrated contra missions in Iran and Nicaragua. If it seems odd that an NES game is better known than the bloody slaughter of indigenous civilians by American mercenaries, you probably… Continue reading Contra (1987)
By Chris Tait
With games like these, who needs girls? The original adult video game protagonist, Larry Laffer made his debut appearance in Leisure Suit Larry: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards. He’s a middle-aged loner, he’s into disco and, surprise, surprise, he’s still a virgin. Can you help him? Doubtful, but you can try. Leisure Suit… Continue reading Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
A simple overhead viewpoint role-playing game where your objective is that of any even remotely creative boy–to save the princess, silly! You are Link, a courageous boy pitted against the evil villain, Ganon, who has kidnapped the Princess of Hyrule. Ganon seeks to combine the relics of an ancient magic, the Triforce, to rule the… Continue reading The Legend of Zelda (1987)
By Chris Tait
A wrenching phenomenon in the history of Z-scrollers, frustration hit the gaming market like a spike through the crotch in Prince of Persia. The Aladdin-based story line was simplified to “save girl from bad guy in one hour.” What they neglected to mention was that the game was impossibly riddled with juicy spike traps, falling… Continue reading Prince of Persia (1989)