The world of video games has certainly been evolving with time since its birth. What about the video games of those early days when they were just born? Needless to say gaming in those early days was simpler but not easier and it was not really easy to pick 12 favorites but let’s have a look at which game secured a place in the list.
12. Q*Bert (1982)
By Gottlieb
Q*Bert is a platform game where the gamers have to change the colors of all cubes in the process of advancing to next level. The game provides character who will jump on each block for activating the change. With the increasing difficulty levels, the gamer is greeted by more enemies. Due to massive popularity of the game, it is positioned among the top 12 best games of 1980’s.
11. Duck Hunt (1984)
By Nintendo
You need to shoot the ducks on screen that fly around using you light gun. Once you achieve a selected number of successful hits, you can advance to the next level. At the initial stage, the video game didn’t receive many positive reviews, but after getting bundled with the system, the game became a massive hit.
10. Frogger (1981)
By Konami
Here all you have to do is to send the frogs home, but it is not as simple as it looks as you have to face the obstacles such as cars, floating logs and turtles. So you need to take time to play it like a game of chess to make it all the way. The game was a universal hit.
9. Street Fighter (1987)
By Capcom
You play the role of Ryu, a martial artist who encounters 10 enemies. You can use kicking, punching and other special attacks in Street Fighter. Due to its popularity, the game was introduced in multiple home systems before being played in arcades.
8. Castle Wolfenstein (1981)
By Muse Software
The huge popularity of Castle Wolfenstein influenced the massive number of first-person shooters that came after it. The game is designed in a WWII environment where you have to probe the castle levels, reveal the war plan and run off with your entire team.
7. Pole Position (1982)
By Namco
In the racing game genre, Pole Position belongs to those few firsts where the player gets the opportunity to compete a pre-race lap in real racing track. Then the player has to compete for the F1 race along with other players for the championship.
6. Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986)
By Sega
First released in Japan, Alex Kidd in Miracle World is set in a fantasy world where the story evolves around the central protagonist Alex Kidd. The Alex Kidd series of games were immensely popular in the 80s and was built into Master System II consoles.
5. Donkey Kong (1981)
By Nintendo
A list of top video games of 80s would not be complete without Donkey Kong which is considered as one of turnaround games in the video game industry. In fact, it is the breakthrough for Nintendo as people during those days really loved the characters and the “plot”.
4. Mega Man (1987)
By Capcom
After its release, Mega Man didn’t create much buzz due to its slow selling but after Mega Man 2, this completely changed and Mega Mn became one of the bestselling video games of 1980s.
In the game, Mega Man has to combat with Dr Wily and his robots. Belonging to completely different genre from Super Mario Bros, this game has a non-sequential approach where you can start from any stage to play it.
3. Super Mario Bros.
(1985) By Nintendo
As an avid video game lover, you may be acquainted with Mario, the mascot of the video game industry. The game centers round Mario who proceeds multiple levels, defeating the enemies and collecting coins with the ultimate goal of rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser.
The game was a massive hit and it held the second most selling game in 1980s.
2. Tetris (1984)
By Alexey Pajitnov
You play the game simply by lining up the blocks by rotating them and there will be no gap left. Whenever a line will be filled up, it will disappear. The game is quite popular even today .
1. Pac-Man (1980)
By Namco
In the discussion about most influential games of 1980s you have to mention that Pac-Man as it holds the first position as one of the most being the iconic game of that decade and beyond. Throughout the entire game, Pac Man munches all pellets on the board, his ghost enemies try to stop him along the way. After finishing all pellets, the player can advance to the next level.
What are your favorite games of the 80s?
