This is my choice, genuinely fun getting lost in the mazes zapping robots, perfect late-night Summer game to play with the windows open and the lights off.
Had an Intellivision as a kid. Many games still hold up.
Microsurgeon - if ever a game needed a remake with modern graphical and CPU capabilities, it's this one
Old school 2P games:
Swords & Serpents, Snafu and Armor Battle, but I have to wait for holidays when my bros come over to enjoy them. Sadly, many zoomers will never know the joy of playing 2p games in meatspace.
Ice Trek
Night Stalker
Sub Hunt
B-17 Bomber - all the voice games are pretty good
Best 1P is pic-rel - a procedurally generated survival horror game using visual and audio cues, snoring Dragon sound still gives me chills.
Sure nostalgia plays a role, but I think there's some legit quality gameplay to a lot of these games that has yet to be utilized in modern games.
Centipede 2600, has multiple levels with different patterns and it fun to survive long enough to make a lot of the mushrooms change colour. These days I do still appreciate the first lot of 2600 games or odysee etc but move on after 10 minutes. Really like yar revenge but in short bursts to get where the quotile constant runs after you.
Also like stuff like frogger, pacman and lunar lander. After about late 84 it took awhile to get the good next gen games like megaman so there was a bit of a drought until then.
I challenge anyone who says they don't like old games to play frogger and not have fun.
Whichever came out first, these were cabinets at a small pool hall and arcade that was inside my aunt and uncle's trailer park in the mid-90s that my parents had to leave me at a lot of times. It was always empty so I spent a lot of time playing as none of the games needed coins to play.
Probably Alien Breed 1991 is the oldest I would still put time into. Close runners up are Wolf 3D and Dune 2, both of 1992. All of the still hold up surprisingly well.
Pitfall
Did you know Super Mario Brothers Two is actually called Doki Doki Literature Club?
Craaazy
Zelda 1 is probably the only pre-SNES era game i would actually sink time into.
Mario Madness.
My favorite oldie is Mario Madness just like you OP
Doom
castlevania
there's a few older games i like but that's probably my favorite of em
Venture (second closest would be Centipede, but it's 2 years younger)
Robotron 2084/Satan's Hollow
Space Invaders
there might be something older than Space Invaders but it's not coming to mind right now
Maybe breakout but Arkanoid is better.
Robotron 2084 or Yar's Revenge.
I remember playing Yar's Revenge at night and being kind of spooked by the sounds. (was 7 or 8)
Wizardry 1.
Tetris.
It is still enjoyable. It's a perfect video game.
Galaga
Galaxian. Still one of the best shooters because you actually have to aim and time your shots
Spy Hunter
Wizard of Wor.
Spacewar
Excitebike.
First game I ever played.
Up there with Dig Dug as my favorite 80s arcade game
Personally I find it hard to enjoy anything older than Space Invaders (1978).
October 1980
This is my choice, genuinely fun getting lost in the mazes zapping robots, perfect late-night Summer game to play with the windows open and the lights off.
t. odd rodgers
Had an Intellivision as a kid. Many games still hold up.
Microsurgeon - if ever a game needed a remake with modern graphical and CPU capabilities, it's this one
Old school 2P games:
Swords & Serpents, Snafu and Armor Battle, but I have to wait for holidays when my bros come over to enjoy them. Sadly, many zoomers will never know the joy of playing 2p games in meatspace.
Ice Trek
Night Stalker
Sub Hunt
B-17 Bomber - all the voice games are pretty good
Best 1P is pic-rel - a procedurally generated survival horror game using visual and audio cues, snoring Dragon sound still gives me chills.
Sure nostalgia plays a role, but I think there's some legit quality gameplay to a lot of these games that has yet to be utilized in modern games.
OOPS not pic-rel - posted wrong pic
I meant best 1P was THIS pic. It's D&D Cloud Mountain. Sorry for Tarding out.
Final Fantasy on NES (1987)
Colossal Cave Adventure
Maybe Hamurabi but I've only tried a later version based on the 1973 version.
probably pacman and donkey kong arcade but practically speaking SMB1
Centipede 2600, has multiple levels with different patterns and it fun to survive long enough to make a lot of the mushrooms change colour. These days I do still appreciate the first lot of 2600 games or odysee etc but move on after 10 minutes. Really like yar revenge but in short bursts to get where the quotile constant runs after you.
Also like stuff like frogger, pacman and lunar lander. After about late 84 it took awhile to get the good next gen games like megaman so there was a bit of a drought until then.
I challenge anyone who says they don't like old games to play frogger and not have fun.
Faxanadu (nes)
Defender (Atari 2600)
Goonies 2 (nes)
Ultima I (1981)
Digdug
Pac-Man
but my favorite '80s Arcade game is Mappy. 🙂
Ms Pac Man, Galaga, or Dig Dug
Whichever came out first, these were cabinets at a small pool hall and arcade that was inside my aunt and uncle's trailer park in the mid-90s that my parents had to leave me at a lot of times. It was always empty so I spent a lot of time playing as none of the games needed coins to play.
Night Stalker
Kung Fu
I actually do enjoy Yar's Revenge.
Space Invaders, G&W Vermin, Pac-Man, Galaxian, but my favorite by far is Xevious, either the arcade or the famicom version.
Probably Alien Breed 1991 is the oldest I would still put time into. Close runners up are Wolf 3D and Dune 2, both of 1992. All of the still hold up surprisingly well.
Shit, I just remembered that I still unironically play Rogue from 1980 from time to time as well
Oregon Trail.
I dig all the versions and they get pretty old.
Pong if it modified to play harder and faster.
Computer Space is fun.