An early ZX Spectrum classic, Deathchase was first released by Micromega in 1983.
Although it doesn’t look like much (especially in stills), Deathchase was (and still is) an exhilarating game, and is something of a tribute to the speeder bike scenes in Return of the Jedi (which was released the same year as this, in 1983).
Qix is an early Taito arcade game – first released in 1981 – and featuring gameplay that requires the player to section off areas of the screen using a marker that can draw lines on the playfield.
This third iteration of id Software‘s classic Doom, is a dark and violent continuation of the ‘stuck-on-Mars-and-surrounded-by-monsters’ setting, set up by the first two games.
Sega‘s tremendous 1987 arcade hit, After Burner, used powerful sprite scaling technology in its cabinets back in the day, to create the mind-bogglingly fast on-screen visuals.
Commando is a classic vertically-scrolling run-and-gun game, first released by Capcom into arcades in 1985.
Possibly the best – and most influential – beat ’em up ever made, Capcom‘s Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is the second game in the Street Fighter series and the first in a long line of variations, enhanced editions and clones of Street Fighter II.
Continue reading Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Arcade
Atari‘s 1985 arcade hit Paperboy features an isometric road to cycle down and houses to throw newspapers at. It’s an attractive proposition for an arcade game. Especially when the game has real bike handlebars for steering, which the original arcade cabinets did.
Williams Electronics‘ iconic Defender is one of the highest-grossing arcade games of all time.
Developed by a team led by Yu Suzuki at Sega in 1985, Space Harrier is a super-fast third-person, flying-into-the-screen fantasy blasting game, originally housed inside a hydraulic cabinet in arcades. This would jerk around as you moved the control stick, giving you a feeling of movement as you played the game.
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 is possibly Japanese game developer Taito‘s finest hour. On any system.
The King of Grabs 