If you're a
hardcore gamer there are lot of boxes that a game must tick to warrant
your attention. Graphics, gameplay, Artificial Intelligence, character
development, quality cut-scenes and by extensions voice overs and so on.
When I was a kid all we cared about was being able to control a
character or vehicle on screen. No matter how ridiculous the premise of
the game. 8-Bit video games made me the man I am today! Since we at
LTGTR are officially in nostalgia mode, I've compiled a list of what my
top 10 8-bit games of all time.
10. Spartan X - The character you control is called Keiji
Thomas. His girlfriend has been kidnapped by - wait for it - Mr. X! He
needs to get her back. What follows is cartoonish mayhem. Thomas can
kick and punch high and low and that's all there is to it. Fight your
way past a never ending stream of cronies and take on a boss at the end
of each floor of Mr. X's building. Endless fun!
10. Spartan X - The character you control is called Keiji
Thomas. His girlfriend has been kidnapped by - wait for it - Mr. X! He
needs to get her back. What follows is cartoonish mayhem. Thomas can
kick and punch high and low and that's all there is to it. Fight your
way past a never ending stream of cronies and take on a boss at the end
of each floor of Mr. X's building. Endless fun!
9. Bomber Man - The layout is along the same lines
as Pac-Man but the grid is of increasing complexity. There are a bunch
of aliens you need to finish off. You can plant bombs which will explode
after a constant interval of time. Anticipate their movements and place
bombs that will blow when the aliens are nearby. Make sure you get out
of the way!
8. Excitebike - If this game were to release now it
would flop miserably. It's a straight line bike race against a time
limit on tarmac/dirt featuring flawed physics and ramps straight from
Moto X! This was the SH** in the 80's though. The best part - you get to
design your own track with ramps of your choice!
7. Ice Climber - Ok this is embarrassing. I tried so
hard but I never did complete this game! Armed with a wooden mallet the
objective is to smash the ice floors above you to create and opening for
ascent. That's about it really. Avoid the enemies and keep moving up.
Thoroughly entertaining.
6. Metroid - Before Metroid arrived on the scene the
most popular games were either shooters or explorations games. Metroid
clubbed these two genres and paved the way for next gen gaming. It was
among the first games to allow backtracking. Metroid was a case of
"Contra meets The Legend of Zelda." Quote like Zelda, Metroid spawned a
hugely successful gaming franchise with titles for consoles from every
subsequent generation.
5. Pac-Man - If you don't know what Pac-Man is or why it's famous I really can't help you.
4.
Duck Hunt - This game brought arcade style point and shoot gaming in to
living rooms. You had to use a gun instead of a controller. The gun is
plugged to the console and your objective is to shoot down clay pigeons
or live ducks! Yeah this was when the super annoying PETA had a sense of
humour. You could of course cheat by sticking the gun to the tv screen
and shooting from point blank range!
3. Contra - This is the anti-Splinter Cell, anti-MGS
game that I grew up on. No stealth, no tactics just shoot em' up. Great
background score, detailed visuals for its time and a semblance of a
plot. That's all it took back then.
2. Double Dragon - Spinning heel kick. An 8-bit game
that allows you to perform a spinning heel kick and several other
complex manoeuvres. You start with Jimmy and Billy and you progress
through each level fighting off thugs in the process of course. Quite
predictably each level ends with a boss. The bosses from levels 2 and 3
however join your team for the next levels. Highly entertaining and a
game that never loses appeal.
1. Rather predictably - Super Mario Brothers. The
Rosa Parks of the video game world, Super Mario Bros. was the first game
to get everyone in the family playing leading to wider acceptance of
video games in society! Ok that's a little too dramatic but i'm trying
to hype up my favourite game of all time! You play as Mario - a plumber.
In 2 player mode the second player gets to control Luigi - Also a
plumber. Simple as you like. Kill the owls (goomba) and turtles (Koopa)
and get to the boss at the end of every 4 level - The boss being a
fire-breathing giant Koopa. All this to rescue Princess Peach. Plumber,
Princess, giant fire-breathing turtles - it's complicated!
You can still find some of these games online and play them on the computer via a simulator!
Which were your favorite games? Let us know as comments.
Which were your favorite games? Let us know as comments.
Nishant Boorla
Sarcasm means the world to me. Yeah that's always a good place to start. I watch movies...a lot of movies! Sports nut and a die hard Manchester United fan. Highly opinionated and that shows in my articles.
Sarcasm means the world to me. Yeah that's always a good place to start. I watch movies...a lot of movies! Sports nut and a die hard Manchester United fan. Highly opinionated and that shows in my articles.
