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10 Retro Titles That Shaped the gaming World

Now that geeks have won and video games make more money than Hollywood blockbusters (and even becoming Hollywood blockbusters), it can be easy to forget just how far the industry has come. A lot of gamers are too young to have even heard of the retro games on this list, and I doubt if most people have a machine that can even play some of these titles. But it’s games like these that shaped the culture, art and game-play that all of today’s blockbuster video game titles are based on.

Retro Video Games the Industry Was Built On

Wolfenstein 3D (1992): What’s better than killing Nazis with a massive Gatling gun? Killing Nazis, undead mutants and Hitler in a robot suit and chain guns, obviously. Wolfenstein wasn’t the original first-person shooter, but it was definitely one that everyone — everyone — played. The graphics may look laughable now, but it was one of the first really viable 3D games I every played on a PC, and it helped indoctrinate an entire generation that is now playing Call of Duty and Mass Effect games.

Wolfenstein


Legend of Zelda (1986): Few other franchises have been as successful as this one. Behind Mario, Link may be the most recognized video game character ever. Zelda is so significant because it really combined elements of action-adventure, RPG and puzzle games in a brilliant way. And the evolution from the top-down style to side-scrolling to the wildly successful 3D game environments on N64 was nothing short of brilliant every step of the way. This game still holds up.

Gauntlet (1985): Starting as an arcade title that evolved into an NES favorite, this dungeon crawler was one of the first of its kind. The ground-breaking element here was Gauntlet’s multiplayer coop mode. You could steal your team-mates food, hurt them with your weapons and just generally start a shouting match in front of the TV. Few other games enabled the same level of chaos, and other games took note that the multiplayer dynamic could make or break a game.

Metroid (1986): Navigating the original Metroid for NES was so dark and weird for games at the time that the experience couldn’t be duplicated. The aliens were scary and otherworldly, and even the levels and music were creepy. It was one of those titles that made it okay for video games not to be all cute or kid-friendly. Successive versions of the game, especially Super Metroid, have met with similar success. But it’s the originality of the first that broke new ground for video games.

Dragon Quest (1986): Originally published as Dragon Warrior in the US, Dragon Quest is probably responsible for introducing much of the gaming masses to full-blown RPGs. It seems simplistic by today’s standards, but it got me hooked on doing small quests and battles to build up my character. You wouldn’t have Neverwinter Nights or Skyrim if not for this retro game.

Final Fantasy (1987): While it was criticized for its lack of balance (a lot of wandering around, waiting for random battles to level up), Final Fantasy earned its place as the seminal RPG, even though it did land in the US after Dragon Quest. It’s largely responsible for launching an entire brand of Japanese-style RPG that counterbalances the traditional Tolkien-style subject matter of other games.

Dune II (1992): Everyone who’s spent any time at all playing StarCraft II owes a debt of gratitude to Frank Herbert for writing the sci-fi epic that inspired this video game. Dune II wasn’t the first RTS, but it created the formula that is the standard for modern real-time strategy titles. Selecting units one at a time was a pain, as was losing harvesters to random sandworms and spice-blows, but Dune II was an addicting experience that paved the way for WarCraft and Command & Conquer.
 
Image via mobygames.com
Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994): Space and flight sims have certainly evolved since Lucasfilm began cutting it’s teach on games like this. Preceded by Star Wars: X-Wing, TIE Fighter let you fight on the side of the Galactic Empire. The game was almost impossibly difficult, forcing you to hone your reflexes to dogfight enemy ships. Somehow, the game kept you going by marching you up the Imperial ranks. This changed expectations for what special effects and 3D navigation in games was supposed to be.

SimCity  (1989): An army of urban planners owe their inspiration to childhood hours spent building roads and connecting power plants to the residential and industrial zones of SimCity. This was before Maxis got distracted with The Sims, and brilliantly challenged players to try and manage utilities, economics, taxes and the occasional alien invasion in their own city. The city-building elements made their way into more complex RTS games, including Civilization and similar titles.

Myst (1993): This is probably the game that sparked by lifelong obsession with puzzle games. At the time, Myst was a kind of enigma. This was before walkthroughs and cheat books were common. I remember my cousin giving me his “Myst Notes”, filled with sketches and explanations of the mysterious island’s many puzzles that unlocked the magical linking books that took you to otherworldly landscapes. Once again, this wasn’t the first of the graphic adventure games, but the storyline, setting and gameplay were pure inspiration, and it raised the bar for game art and showed developers the value of environments that enchant the player.

Author bio: Mark Greene has been gaming since video games still came in cartridges. He blogs at TheTechnologyLounge.com about video games, tech news, geek culture and why zombies will still be cool in ten years.

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Japan Earthquake

Retro Games Blog wishes all the victims of the Japan Earthquake a speedy recovery....

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Selling retro items online?

Many people have great games or retro items in their closet or wardrobe that they think about selling at some point.  Your options when this happens are something like ebay where there is a huge second hand market or setting up your own website.  You can then implement your own merchant account and try to sell your own items without paying the costs of using ebay or similar.  Good luck!

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Play Operation Wolf Online

Operation Wolf is one of the classic arcade games of the 1980s, which was transferred with reasonable success to various gaming platform including the 8-bit Nintendo NES.  However, now you can play Operation Wolf Online right here on Retro Games Blog.  We should mention the sound comes on automatically, so mute if you need to!  Right, go ahead and play!

Play Operation Wolf Now!

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Man plays Atari 2600 for 24 hours

We love Atari, hell, we love all computer systems and games, even the ones that make your mind melt into plasticine.  But we would probably draw the line at playing an Atari 2600 for 24 hours, like this guy did.  He's just lucky he didn't throw ET into the mix!

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Dating in video games

Dating has been under represented in computer games thus far, which is a bit strange given its interactive nature.  However, as most games are aimed at teenage boys, although they might like the sight of a page 3 girl, dating in its strictest sense is preobably not very high on the agenda.

One of the classics of the genre however is leisure suit larry.  Following the exploits of the lounge lizard larry as he tries his charm with the ladies in his neighbourhood.  Check out a clip here, it's hilarious!


 

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50 worst videogame voiceovers

Fairplay to the people at GameTrailers who have compiled the 50 worst ever video game voiceovers.  The only surprise omission for me is that there is no Metal Gear Solid, enough bad voiceover in that maybe to make a chart on its own!  'Snake, do you believe love can bloom on a battlefiedl?'  Noooooooooo!

Check it out here

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Little Computer People - classic computer game

Before the SIMS and Tamagochi, there was a cult computer game which enabled you to take control of a character on-screen and run his life, that game was Little Computer People.  You simply controlled the character and his dog and helped them go along daily tasks such as eating and cleaning.

The game took place entirely in a 3 storey house, through which you had a cut through view.  The house was very detailed, right down to the lampshades and shower curtains and your character would happily wodner around it.

The game was a hit on the Commodore 64 and Amiga, although it did come out on other formats.  Zzap Magazine even gave it a score of 97%.  Everyone eagerly awaited he add-ons that were due to come out, which were due to do things like allow your LCP to interact with other LCP's or pimp out the crib with new furniture, but sadly, these projects never saw the light of day.

Anyway, here is a video of the game for those looking to take a trip down memory lane, it looks to me like the Amiga version, but do correct me if I'm wrong, enjoy...


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Retro Gaming Gifts

For those of you who would rather get something different to a selection of christmas hampers, don't forget to tell Santa there is a great selection of retro gaming gifts that will delight you on Christmas Day.   From retro gaming books to retro games, there is a surprsingly wide selection out there.  Here are our favourites...

Retro Gamer guide to retro games  - a great selection of retro games remembered from the top people at Retro Gamer


Sega Megadrive 15 in 1 games system - plug into your TV and play, no seperate Sega Megadrive needed!  Play old school classics like Golden Axe and Alex Kidd on your TV.  Plus there are two controllers for multiplayer action!


Atari classics Plug and Play System - want to go even further back?  To the machine that helped make home gaming what it is today?  Then get the retro gamer in your life this classic Atari plug and play system, allowing to re-visit the classics that time forgot.  it will definitely bring a smile to their face!


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Star Wars Jedi Force Trainer

Back in the day, Star Wars toys consisted of moulded plastic and the occasional 'interactive' element, usually involving a button firing a bit of moulded plastic.  Things have moved on since then and here is a very 21st century toy, a perfect gift for a Star Wars fan.

The Star Wards Jedi Force Trainer takes you through the training to be a jedi master, with the key element being mind control.  The game involves a headset, which when attached to your head, will read certain brainwaves to decide if you are relaxed or not.  A clear mind pushes the ball up, lose your focus and the ball will fall down.

Star wars jedi force trainer

It's a quite amazing piece of kit and can teach you alot about relaxation and concentrating.  Alot of fun to be had seeing who has the best Jedi mind skills as well!

The Jedi Mind Trainer is available from Firebox.com for just £99.99 - find out more

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