If you like the Halt and Catch Fire TV show, you might dig deep into 80s nostalgia and check out those games from the ancient era. We’ll exclude Pac-Man and Tetris as outliers and focus more on games with similar features to modern titles.
Did You Know Final Fantasy Started in 1987
Final Fantasy is a role-playing classic in a time when RPG was not among the most popular genres. Hironobu Sakaguchi’s game follows four young characters, Light Warriors, in the quest to restore light to crystals and defeat evil. Game modes included Overworld map, town, and dungeons. There was a unique battle screen for turn-based combat and a menu screen. Players in the 80s had issues about time you needed to find enemies. However, the concept survived and became one of the most popular genres.
First Link Adventure in Original The Legend of Zelda
The first Zelda game was an instant classic and best-seller. You could play the action-adventure game on Nintendo Entertainment System. The story follows protagonist Link, who has to collect eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom to save Princess Zelda. You play the game from an overhead perspective, and the Link travels through various dungeons and other areas with secret doors. You can add items and weapons to the inventory, and the game had many other features that are still part of the standard game UI and gameplay.
Monte Carlo Take on Casinos
Monte Carlo is an 8-bit game focused on casino games. In a time before the Internet, you could play casino simulation on your computer. For example, you can play BlackJack, slots, video poker, and roulette. While gamers could find 80s games like Zelda or FF exciting today, with so many igaming sites where you could play online slot machines at any time, Monte Carlo indeed lost most of its appeal and original quality.
Operation Wolf is a Shooter With a Story
It might look odd from the 2021 perspective with 4K HDR graphics, but 8-bit Operation Wolf was for many games of the year in 1987. To survive a level, you should shoot all enemies that came along, including soldiers, tanks, helicopters, and others. It had great graphics for that time and featured a storyline unlike previous shooter games of the era.
Bomberman Blowing up Balloons
The Bomberman franchise survives the test of time, and it’s still entertaining to wander around the maze planting bombs and killing enemies. A later iteration of the game had local multiplayer elements that provided great deathmatches. Of course, it would help if you were careful with bombs because they are capable of friendly fire.
Super Mario Bros 3 is a Colourful Platformer
Console gaming was ahead of the computer by far in the 80s, and colourful platformer Super Mario Bros 3 is still on the genre’s best games list. It is the third best-selling game for NES and has compelling and challenging gameplay.
A side-scrolling 2D platformer has classic genre elements, and developers added sliding, floating, and other moves. You also get a world map to navigate between well-designed areas. Every level has a boss, and the final fight is against Bowser in his castle in the eight worlds.