In this age of mind-numbing 3-D eye candy, it's hard to recall the days when games didn't require a graphics accelerator. Harken back to the days of yore when "microcomputers" fascinated us and games could capture our attention for weeks on end. The games may have been simple by today's standards, and the graphics required a bit of imagination ... but they were fun. You can't say that about every new game these days.
Below is a list of games lost in the sands of time. Some are old, but some are fairly recent; all have nearly disappeared save a few people to say, "Oh yeah ... I loved that game."
Who thought computers without graphics couldn't have graphical games? The granddaddy of all dungeon crawlers has the distinction of being among the oldest of computer games still being played. (It's the "chess" of computer games.) Has anyone ever won at this game? Is it even possible? Rogue had many descendants ranging from old timers like Moria and Angband to recent ones like Diablo. Play is different every time. How many games can claim that, really? While mostly distributed as freeware, a commercial MS-DOS version was released in the early 80's, with slightly improved graphics. (The player was represented with the smiley face character in the DOS set, not the traditional "@" symbol.)
A whole book could be written about the Atari 2600 (and probably has), since all its games are Gone but not Forgotten. However, I choose Yars' Revenge as the representative because I believe it was both among the best Atari games and also among the most underappreciated. Plus, this was a completely original game, not a clone of a coin-op game. They finally got the formula right with this game: it starts easy, gets harder as you go along, and is hard to predict. The result is hours of entertainment. Guide your mutant fly through battle after battle with the Qotile, beware of direction-changing swirls, panic when the "safe zone" disappears, and do a dance in the psychedelic colors when you clear a level. One thing that is up to speculation is when the game abruptly ends and displays the message "HSWWSH," is it an error, a "bug" if you will? I prefer to think of it as a code for "you win."
This was possibly the most influential game of all time, although few of today's gamers have played it. (I have had the honor.) Most of today's 3-D action games can trace their roots to this game. How so? Well, Quake, for example, was inspired by Doom which was inspired by Wolfenstein 3-D which was inspired by ... you guessed it! The gameplay sounds familiar: it's World War II, you walk around a mazelike prison, shoot Nazi guards, etc. Overhead view, of course. This is where it all began, folks!
Before there was Street Fighter, before there was Mortal Kombat, there was Karateka. (And wasn't Bruce Lee still alive and making movies?) Somewhat realistic gameplay along with groundbreaking elements such as hit points and level bosses made this game a trailblazer.
One of the earliest computer games based on a comic strip, since the Apple could fairly accurately render cartoon characters. Strange, silly gameplay involved riding one's wheel, jumping over rocks, interacting with prehistoric beasties, avoiding getting clubbed by the Fat Broad (the game's terms, not mine), and rescuing the Sweet Chick (terms, again). While there are a lot of wheels in the game, I don't recall any tires! Hmm ...
In this era of 50 MB installations, it's amazing how much game could be stuffed on a 360K floppy disk. Time Bandit was a profoundly elaborate action game. There were around a dozen "worlds" to explore ranging from ancient Egypt to the Old West to spaceships. There were even a few odd worlds, such as a Pac-Man-like world and Welkin Island, where you must navigate around some space debris. Each world had 16 levels of increasing difficulty. Get through level 16 and "close" the world. Win the game by closing them all - remember, that's well over 100 levels of play! Talk about hours of entertainment.
This game was one of the first 3-D, almost first person action games. I say "almost" because with your head-on perspective, you're playing the part of a four-person "party" you can select. Pick up clues to learn spells. Deal with tricky puzzles. Watch monsters emerge from the shadows in eerie silence.
Despite its dumb name, this is a strategy game to be reckoned with. The game begins right after World War II when commercial flying was getting back to business and ends in the 80's. As president of the Air Bucks airline, it's your task to buy historically accurate aircraft, negotiate landing rights, set up routes, sent ticket prices, haul cargo, and edge out three competing airlines. Believe me, it's more fun than it sounds. It's also exceptionally challenging. The only strange thing about this game is that every person in the game has a strange blue dot on the tip of his nose. Huh?
After Epyx enjoyed the successes of Summer Games 1 & 2 and Winter Games (released around the time of the 1984 Olympics), it tried to get timely with California Games. While quality of gameplay endures, the events are firmly rooted to a point in time and space: skateboard stunts, surfing, roller skating (not inline), frisbee tossing, and hackey sack. The best event of all was BMX biking, which included a liberal dose of valley girl language ("totally tubular", "gnarly"). Win the tournament and get a trophy complete with your sponsor's name. Unfortunately, no Devo music in the background. Yes, Epyx was the same company that published the ill-fated game, Breakdance.
A convenience store down the road from where I used to live had this unique and bizarre game. The player character was a green slime named Toby. He could creep through levels, up the stairs, and even stick to ceilings. Drop down on enemies to incapacitate them, and drop on food to feast. I've never known any other game to use a green slime as a protagonist, proving that original ideas for video games had not run out by the mid-80's. That convenience store (now a hair salon) was the only place I ever saw this game.
If it was a good one, write and tell me about it. I'll add it to this page (and credit you as contributor, if desired).