Classic Video Games.

[RustedFox]

I forget exactly where it got mentioned on here, but someone posted something about some classic video game (no doubt some "matchitis" post) on here, and my nerd-radar went loco. As a child of the 80s, I remember "the golden age of the arcade" decently well. I know that there are a number of you guys/(girls?) out there that either remember being there, or studied "the classic games" ex post facto.

So I spend a decent amount of time playing classic games online; most of them are small enough to be emulated in simple flash or little more. The one very "EM-relevant" game that jumped to mind was "Tapper"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapper

Bunch of angry "customers" continually encroaching on you, while you frantically try to satisfy their needs, collect empty mugs, run for tips, etc. I grew up in very rural Pennsylvania, and this one local restaurant/pub/family fun center (including go-karts and ice-cream shack... yesssss, childhoodmemoriesFTW!!11!!1!) had a "Tapper" machine in a forgotten back hallway next to an old "pull-knob" cigarette machine and 1-2 other games (Joust 2, Galaga) Its odd how I can't remember what I ate for breakfast, but I can describe with painstaking detail the smell, the wood-paneling of the hallways, the (detail) of that place. Anyways.

(Insert your own joke here).

Anyone else have a favorite or another EM-relevant game ?

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[deleted245139]

Self described Nintendo fanboy and I'm ok with that...
Megaman, Mario, metroid series, was obsessed with them!!

And if you like tapper... watch Wreck it Ralph, you'll get a kick out of a key scene lol

 

[EM2HPM]

I grew up with super nintendo and loved Mario and Donkey Kong. Although I think the two classics I love to play on N64 would be Goldeneye and Mario Kart. Battle mode on Mario Kart is classic.

I play Goldeneye on N64 way more then I play anything on my PS3.

 

[RustedFox]

I grew up with super nintendo and loved Mario and Donkey Kong. Although I think the two classics I love to play on N64 would be Goldeneye and Mario Kart. Battle mode on Mario Kart is classic.

I play Goldeneye on N64 way more then I play anything on my PS3.

If you grew up with Super Nintendo, you're too young.

Watching "Wreck-It Ralph" in about 30 minutes as soon as the pasta here is done. Dont spoil ANYTHING for me, d!cks.

EDIT: I read the "Tapper" wikipedia page, saw mention of the "Wreck-It Ralph" movie, and quickly, quickly closed the tab. Close call.

 

[docB]

I'm old so it was Atari 2600 for me. My favorite was Adventure, arguably the greatest video game of all time despite the low res graphics.

In Adventure you're wandering through these mazes trying to find things while being stalked by dragons and a bat keeps messing up everything you do for no reason. It's very similar to a shift in the ED.

 

[FMtoEM]

NES: Tecmo Super Bowl....used one of the worst teams if not the worst to win the Superbowl...NE Patriots...last second sliding catch TD in the end zone.

 

[EM4Reals]

Golden Axe!

 

[sylvanthus]

Gauntlet was a kick ass game. Altered beast also comes to mind.

 

[Cinclus]

I grew up with super nintendo and loved Mario and Donkey Kong. Although I think the two classics I love to play on N64 would be Goldeneye and Mario Kart. Battle mode on Mario Kart is classic.

I play Goldeneye on N64 way more then I play anything on my PS3.

My faves. I used to want to live in DK Country when I was a kid. My fave on N64 was F-Zero X. I will still defeat all challengers.

 

[RustedFox]

Update: Just watched "Wreck-It Ralph". Great film, no matter how old/young you are. Clearly written on multiple levels.

Multiple "Tapper" in-film jokes. Loved how Ryu and Ken from SFII stopped their epic duel to say - "Hey, day's over, bud. Head for a brew at Tapper's joint?" - "Sounds good, yep."

 

[RustedFox]

Gauntlet was a kick ass game. Altered beast also comes to mind.

The original arcade version of "Gauntlet" was killer, especially with the "Dungeon Master" narrator. The NES ports did not do it justice.

"Green Elf.... is about to Diiieee."

"I've not seen such bravery!"

 

[dsoz]

I remember that one! Do you remember being able to find and pick up the "dot" that if you put it in the right place you could cross the boundary and find some cool stuff...

I wonder if I can find that one again. It probably isn't as cool now, but it was sure a great game back then.

I also loved the Zork games. Text based games for the win. It made me learn strategies to get over parts of my dyslexia.

dsoz

 

[RustedFox]

I'm old so it was Atari 2600 for me. My favorite was Adventure, arguably the greatest video game of all time despite the low res graphics.

In Adventure you're wandering through these mazes trying to find things while being stalked by dragons and a bat keeps messing up everything you do for no reason. It's very similar to a shift in the ED.

I remember "Adventure", bud.

Very... very... similar to a shift in the ED.

 

[RustedFox]

Also, if there are any other forum denizens who are serious "pinballers", I'm game. You kids can have your "Halo" and your "Gears of War" and all that nonsense, but there's nothing like truly manipulating physics with a steel ball and eleventeen "targets". Its as simple as that.

 

[opb]

What fond memories. I too was a child of the 80s. I had an Atari system growing up, but don't remember many of the games I played on it.

After the Atari, I graduated to a Commodore 64, the pinnacle of PC gaming with a whopping 64kB of RAM. Some notable games for me on the Commodore:
Tapper
Lode Runner
Moon Patrol
Karateka

I know a lot of you guys will have to Google-Wikipedia those games.

I then moved on to the NES, during which time I was living in the Philippines and had a Japanese version of the NES (called FamiCom). Some of my games were in Japanese so I obviously did not know the story lines. Some of my favorite games for the NES/FamiCom:
Tecmo Bowl
Contra (and the infamous Konami cheat code)
Double Dribble
Double Dragon
Ninja Gaiden
Mike Tyson's Punch Out (with Little Mac and his underdog story)
Bionic Commando
Castlevania

And I'll stop there. I don't consider Super Nintendo games classic quite yet.

Yup, I guess I love video games.

 

[shibby1111]

I started playing video games in the late 90s with Tomb Raider. Then I learned what a real video game was with Halo and Call of Duty.

 

[B-Bone]

I recently bought an arcade console for my basement which is loaded with 24,000 classic games. It includes pretty much every arcade game released up until the mid 90's, all NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, playstation, atari (2600, 5200, 7800), neogeo, turbografix, sega master system, sega genesis, sega saturn, dreamcast titles as well as a few more recent entries like buck hunter, etc. I play a lot of street fighter/mortal kombat on there, but also like busting out 4 player classics like TMNT, the Simpsons, and Sunset Riders. Now that is a massive time suck...

anyone with a buttload of time and $5000 can check out dreamhomearcades.com for a custom build. Mine is in the gallery.

 

[Zercolops]

I recently bought an arcade console for my basement which is loaded with 24,000 classic games. It includes pretty much every arcade game released up until the mid 90's, all NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, playstation, atari (2600, 5200, 7800), neogeo, turbografix, sega master system, sega genesis, sega saturn, dreamcast titles as well as a few more recent entries like buck hunter, etc. I play a lot of street fighter/mortal kombat on there, but also like busting out 4 player classics like TMNT, the Simpsons, and Sunset Riders. Now that is a massive time suck...

anyone with a buttload of time and $5000 can check out dreamhomearcades.com for a custom build. Mine is in the gallery.

Ah the 4 mans were the best, there was a particularly good x-men game as well.

We need more threads like this

 

[sylvanthus]

What fond memories. I too was a child of the 80s. I had an Atari system growing up, but don't remember many of the games I played on it.

After the Atari, I graduated to a Commodore 64, the pinnacle of PC gaming with a whopping 64kB of RAM. Some notable games for me on the Commodore:
Tapper
Lode Runner
Moon Patrol
Karateka

I know a lot of you guys will have to Google-Wikipedia those games.

I then moved on to the NES, during which time I was living in the Philippines and had a Japanese version of the NES (called FamiCom). Some of my games were in Japanese so I obviously did not know the story lines. Some of my favorite games for the NES/FamiCom:
Tecmo Bowl
Contra (and the infamous Konami cheat code)
Double Dribble
Double Dragon
Ninja Gaiden
Mike Tyson's Punch Out (with Little Mac and his underdog story)
Bionic Commando
Castlevania

And I'll stop there. I don't consider Super Nintendo games classic quite yet.

Yup, I guess I love video games.

I still remember most of that contra cheat code.

 

[Arcan57]

I still remember most of that contra cheat code.

Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-[select]-Start. Worked in Life Force as well.

I loved the Ultima series (starting off on an Apple IIe with the upgraded 128k RAM), Gold Box D&D (Curse of the Azure Bonds, the Dragonlance games), and the early VGA PC games (Wing Commander, Hero's Quest (ie Quest for Glory), Might and Magic VI, X-Wing, Castle Wolfenstein). I miss that some of my favorite genres don't exist as commercially viable anymore: party-based (or at least controllable companions) western RPGs with tactical combat (ala Baldur's Gate, Planescape, original Fallout, Neverwinter Nights), adventure games (Sierra style) and 3D space combat (WC, Tie Fighter, +/- Descent).

Although Kickstarter is reviving some of them. Almost everyone that worked for Sierra in the 90's has a project and Obsidian and inXile are producing party-based rpg's (Project Eternity, Wasteland, Torment: Tides of Numera (supposed to be spiritual successor to Planescape). Even Richard Garriott has one (although I'm sceptical given his post-EA buy-out of Origin track record).

 

[DreamingTheLive]

What fond memories. I too was a child of the 80s. I had an Atari system growing up, but don't remember many of the games I played on it.

After the Atari, I graduated to a Commodore 64, the pinnacle of PC gaming with a whopping 64kB of RAM. Some notable games for me on the Commodore:
Tapper
Lode Runner
Moon Patrol
Karateka

I know a lot of you guys will have to Google-Wikipedia those games.

I then moved on to the NES, during which time I was living in the Philippines and had a Japanese version of the NES (called FamiCom). Some of my games were in Japanese so I obviously did not know the story lines. Some of my favorite games for the NES/FamiCom:
Tecmo Bowl
Contra (and the infamous Konami cheat code)
Double Dribble
Double Dragon
Ninja Gaiden
Mike Tyson's Punch Out (with Little Mac and his underdog story)
Bionic Commando
Castlevania

And I'll stop there. I don't consider Super Nintendo games classic quite yet.

Yup, I guess I love video games.

Mike Tyson's Punch Out and Tecmo Bowl are STILL amongst my all time favorites.

Castlevania was way ahead of its time.

 

[Deuce Doc]

I'm old so it was Atari 2600 for me. My favorite was Adventure, arguably the greatest video game of all time despite the low res graphics.

In Adventure you're wandering through these mazes trying to find things while being stalked by dragons and a bat keeps messing up everything you do for no reason. It's very similar to a shift in the ED.

Without a doubt. The similarities don't end there though--as you run around with a sword blade and hilt, but no handle. Ever felt like that?

Maybe the first game with a secret too. Use the bridge to find the dot in the last castle...

 

[sylvanthus]

Holy crap Ive played Adventure. Had to look it up and I was pretty young, but I remember it.

 

[Old_Mil]

Cyberball.

 

[glorfindel]

I'm old enough to have played Adventure, but young enough that when I played it I was too young to really internalize the name of the game and had completely forgotten it until Doc B brought it up.

I also fondly remember a game where you had to parachute off a cliff and float down to a tunnel in the cliff wall that was positioned right under a projecting tree branch. Come in too shallow and you miss the tunnel and fall forever. Come in too hot and you hit the branch, puncturing your 'chute and falling forever. I think that was an Indiana Jones game...

After those early experiences I stepped away from gaming, grew up, and came back as an adult to the best game ever: DOOM.

Played that a lot while listening to Mike Modano and the Dallas Stars take out my beloved Avalanche in the years just before the Avs broke through against the Devils to take the cup.

Good times.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

No mention of Zelda yet? I'm a total Zelda nerd. Love the other stuff, too (especially Megaman & Mario). Did anyone play Boulderdash? The NES version was good but there was an older version (Atari? I don't remember) that was tougher

 

[polishedhobo]

on NES. Really, who wouldn't love a game loosely based on M.C. Escher?

 

[docB]

I remember that one! Do you remember being able to find and pick up the "dot" that if you put it in the right place you could cross the boundary and find some cool stuff...

I wonder if I can find that one again. It probably isn't as cool now, but it was sure a great game back then.

I also loved the Zork games. Text based games for the win. It made me learn strategies to get over parts of my dyslexia.

dsoz

You could find "the dot" and use it to unlock a secret room where you saw flashing text reading "created by Warren Robinett." This was the first video game Easter Egg. He did this because Atari would not credit the game developers.

I too played Zork on my parents IBM XT. You realize that we're both dating ourselves here?

I'm old enough to have played Adventure, but young enough that when I played it I was too young to really internalize the name of the game and had completely forgotten it until Doc B brought it up.

I also fondly remember a game where you had to parachute off a cliff and float down to a tunnel in the cliff wall that was positioned right under a projecting tree branch. Come in too shallow and you miss the tunnel and fall forever. Come in too hot and you hit the branch, puncturing your 'chute and falling forever. I think that was an Indiana Jones game...

After those early experiences I stepped away from gaming, grew up, and came back as an adult to the best game ever: DOOM.

Played that a lot while listening to Mike Modano and the Dallas Stars take out my beloved Avalanche in the years just before the Avs broke through against the Devils to take the cup.

Good times.

You're talking about the Atari 2600 Raiders of the Lost Ark game. That was considered to be one of the games that ruined Atari. They started out strong but then put out a lot of games that were poor quality and really expensive due to the licensing (e.g. Raiders, ET) and it bankrupted the company.

 

[Dane07MD]

Many previously mentioned games were personal favorites of mine, including Tecmo Bowl, Double Dribble, and Punch Out.

Arcade machines that ate a lot of my money:
-Pole Position (best part was grazing tires with another car resulted in your car completely exploding)
-SuperSprint (you could whip the steering wheel so hard and drift pretty well)
-Super Off-Road (great rally truck racing)
-Kung Fu Master
-UN Squadron (sweet warplane game)

There was an early simpson's game sidescroller as Bart only, that game was impossible.

But not as impossible as Ghostbusters. If you ever played it, you know...

And since we're all wearing our inner nerd on our outer sleeves now, if you haven't enjoyed the angry video game nerd series reviewing different games, it's phenomenal. Dude is an extreme nerd, but the more you watch, the more you want to keep watching them for classic games. I highly recommend the "Ghostbusters" one, if not for those of us who struggled, but for those out there who want to see perhaps the worst game ever made.

http://cinemassacre.com/category/avgn/avgnepisodes/

 

[RustedFox]

I looooove Angry Video Game Nerd.

So many good episodes. So many.

 

[KidDr]

No mention of Zelda yet? I'm a total Zelda nerd. Love the other stuff, too (especially Megaman & Mario). Did anyone play Boulderdash? The NES version was good but there was an older version (Atari? I don't remember) that was tougher

I grew up playing the original Nintendo--my favorites were Zelda, Metroid, Super Mario Brothers (all of them), and Mike Tyson's punch out. My brothers and I spent endless hours in front of the TV trying to master these games. I have fun memories from those times.

 

[RustedFox]

Is anyone else absolutely sick and tired of every game being "3D" with a predictably ****ty, or poorly-controlled camera angle ?

Give me a side-scrolling platformer and make it good. I dont' need yet another FPS, or 3D update of a classic. Castelvania: Symphony of the Night or the SNES Metroid come to mind. They were in-depth, with a zillion items/character upgrades, a huge map, an involved plotline.... and were beautifully rendered in 2D.

 

[Arcan57]

Is anyone else absolutely sick and tired of every game being "3D" with a predictably ****ty, or poorly-controlled camera angle ?

Give me a side-scrolling platformer and make it good. I dont' need yet another FPS, or 3D update of a classic. Castelvania: Symphony of the Night or the SNES Metroid come to mind. They were in-depth, with a zillion items/character upgrades, a huge map, an involved plotline.... and were beautifully rendered in 2D.

Side-scrolling platformers are getting a resurgence thanks to indie developers. STEAM (and to a much lesser extent XBOX Live) has a ton of them.

 

[Bostonredsox]

NES: Tecmo Super Bowl....used one of the worst teams if not the worst to win the Superbowl...NE Patriots...last second sliding catch TD in the end zone.

Play it as the giants. taking control of "#56".... you can block every single FG and extra point the CPU team attempts. Was awesome. Tecmo was a true classic.

My fav of the originals was california games for NES....biking/surfing were the bomb.

When I got an SNES it was super Starfox.

N64 brought the greatest multiplayer 1st person shooter to date, Goldeneye.

Never played much after that. The world of warcraft began then.....had to force myself to retire from that a few years ago before it consumed my life..

 

[da8s0859q]

What about Shadowgate or Uninvited on the NES?

Loved them even though I used to play them at night and get creeped the hell out.

 

[Apollyon]

My fav of the originals was california games for NES....biking/surfing were the bomb.

I just remember "dorky". What was another - "buzzard bait"?

 

[deleted109597]

[YOUTUBE]6N0PzqF9gWY[/YOUTUBE]
Drops mic.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/03/26/capcom-is-remastering-the-classic-nes-ducktales-game/

 

[QuackaDO]

Wow... these names bring back some good memories, lol! Kung Fu master, Dragon Warrior, of course Contra, Tecmo Bowl as Bo Jackson (lol), Castlevania, Tyson... could go on and on. I still remember Pitfall and Joust and others even on the Atari... wow

 

[RustedFox]

Side-scrolling platformers are getting a resurgence thanks to indie developers. STEAM (and to a much lesser extent XBOX Live) has a ton of them.

I'm cruising XBOX LIVE now, but I'm not finding much. Make any recommendations ?

I tried this "Terraria" dealie, but "keep mining things" quickly got boring.

 

[mauricekenter]

A little off topic, but if you like to read and have any interest in video games this is a really entertaining book!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

 

[Druggernaut]

I'm cruising XBOX LIVE now, but I'm not finding much. Make any recommendations ?

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a $10 trip down memory lane on Xbox Live.

This thread brings back the frustration of always getting to the same part in Simon's Quest and not being able to figure out how to move on. Charon should've been waiting at the end of the river, but he was nowhere to be found... And fighting up the stairway at the end of Ghostbusters... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLVGmvmNitg

I'm proud to say that last I heard, I still have the high score on RoadBlasters at the Barcade near a buddy's place. I'll have to check in on that the next time I visit him. It'll be the one year anniversary of that magical evening.

 

[tartesos]

I forget exactly where it got mentioned on here, but someone posted something about some classic video game (no doubt some "matchitis" post) on here, and my nerd-radar went loco. As a child of the 80s, I remember "the golden age of the arcade" decently well. I know that there are a number of you guys/(girls?) out there that either remember being there, or studied "the classic games" ex post facto.

So I spend a decent amount of time playing classic games online; most of them are small enough to be emulated in simple flash or little more. The one very "EM-relevant" game that jumped to mind was "Tapper"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapper

Bunch of angry "customers" continually encroaching on you, while you frantically try to satisfy their needs, collect empty mugs, run for tips, etc. I grew up in very rural Pennsylvania, and this one local restaurant/pub/family fun center (including go-karts and ice-cream shack... yesssss, childhoodmemoriesFTW!!11!!1!) had a "Tapper" machine in a forgotten back hallway next to an old "pull-knob" cigarette machine and 1-2 other games (Joust 2, Galaga) Its odd how I can't remember what I ate for breakfast, but I can describe with painstaking detail the smell, the wood-paneling of the hallways, the (detail) of that place. Anyways.

(Insert your own joke here).

Anyone else have a favorite or another EM-relevant game ?

I grew up seeing my bros playing Atari and then I started with a nes:
Contra, Rambo, zelda( Fav) and many others( that I now own as roms on my computer).
Snes showed us great games and I dwelled into rpg then with final fantasy, secret of mana, sports and racing games etc.
then came a hiatus( skipped ps one) and went for ps2 where I got into fps.
And yes... Cod Medal of Honor and black and such.
Nowadays..
Assassins creed, bf and cod.

And I will play until I die!!

Can't wait for my boy to be old enough to play!

 

[tartesos]

What about Shadowgate or Uninvited on the NES?

Loved them even though I used to play them at night and get creeped the hell out.

Shadowgate for nes! Awesome game!
Great memories. The first game that made me think!

 

[EMDoc0411]

Anybody remember Jumpman on the Commodore 64? Very fond memories.

Also Paperboy at the local 7-11. The handlebars were so dirty. 1942 and spyhunter were fun as well. I would always have to buy a pack of Garbage Pail Kids on the way out.

 

[opb]

Anybody remember Jumpman on the Commodore 64? Very fond memories.

Also Paperboy at the local 7-11. The handlebars were so dirty. 1942 and spyhunter were fun as well. I would always have to buy a pack of Garbage Pail Kids on the way out.

I don't remember Jumpman, but I do recall Paperboy, 1942, and Spyhunter. So many memories coming back!

 

[docB]

A little off topic, but if you like to read and have any interest in video games this is a really entertaining book!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

For Ready Player One. I loved it. Great read.

Anybody remember Jumpman on the Commodore 64? Very fond memories.

Also Paperboy at the local 7-11. The handlebars were so dirty. 1942 and spyhunter were fun as well. I would always have to buy a pack of Garbage Pail Kids on the way out.

Spyhunter. That's a game I wish I had in my house.

 

[Lumberg]

Anyone remember Wizardry? Man, I'm old. Sorry, carry on.

 

[EM2013]

[youtube]6n0pzqf9gwy[/youtube]
drops mic.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/03/26/capcom-is-remastering-the-classic-nes-ducktales-game/

omg this game was impossible.

I'm so excited!

 

[cbtk18]

How can you play the old NES games nowadays?

 

[DreamingTheLive]

this thread is emotional candy! Hall of fame level stuff.

Anyone else for the original NBA Jam on Sega Genesis? C'mon, when you'd have little muggsy bogues or someone "on fire" raining down half court threes and triple sow-cow double overhead flip lutz tuck dunks from the opposite baseline....and the theme song!?!? Memories.