Doug Neubauer‘s 1979 release, Star Raiders, is a very important game indeed. Predominantly because it was so hugely influential on many other games that followed it. Some people even point to it being the spark that started the first-person shooter market, but that is probably going a little too far…
Tag Archives: pioneering
Vagrant Story, PlayStation
Vagrant Story is an action/RPG released by Square in 2000 for the PlayStation. Some people rate it as one of Square‘s best games of all time. Which is saying something.
Combat Lynx, ZX Spectrum
Mike Richardson‘s Combat Lynx is a very effective helicopter combat sim, first released for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum by Durell Software in 1984.
Combat, Atari 2600
Combat was designed by Atari, Inc. and first released for the Atari 2600 in 1977 and was the pack-in game for the system until 1982 (meaning: you got a Combat cartridge with the console, upon purchase).
It was one of the first home video games I ever played (probably the same for millions of others) and it enthralled me. Yes, Combat is very simple by today’s standards, but in 1977 it was a revelation and was much cloned by other developers.
Pitfall!, Atari 2600
David Crane‘s Pitfall! is a pioneering old game, from way back in 1982.
You control Pitfall Harry and must find 32 treasures in 20 minutes. You run and jump from screen to screen, swinging on ropes, jumping on crocodile heads, and avoiding quicksand. Not to mention: creatures that will kill you if you touch them.
X-Wing, PC
Still considered to be one of the best Star Wars games of all time, X-Wing is a serious, high-tech, fantasy combat sim – in space obviously – with all the different ships from the famous films in there somewhere, modelled in low-res 3D.
Avalon, ZX Spectrum
Steve Turner‘s 1984 release Avalon is a groundbreaking adventure game with pseudo 3D graphics, released only for the ZX Spectrum.
Bank Panic, Arcade
Sega‘s 1984 arcade hit Bank Panic is a simple reaction game where you play the role of a bank clerk who must answer the various doors in a bank to serve customers, some of whom are genuine and some of whom are bandits.
Lemmings 2: The Tribes, Amiga
The sequel to the brilliant Lemmings is even better than the first one, with clearer graphics and more interesting levels and gameplay.
Rainbow Islands, PC Engine
The PC Engine version of Taito‘s classic arcade game Rainbow Islands was only made available on CD-ROM, so you had to have a CD compatible PC Engine to play it.
[That was: until emulation was invented…] 🙂
The King of Grabs 