Those stilted graphics. The funky sound effects. Unforgiving game play. How did you manage to sit through these games all those years ago? While most retro games have slipped into the too-outdated-to-play-anymore pile, here are a bunch of oldies that are as much fun today as they were when they first came out. 10: Tetris (Various) When Alexey Pajitnov first created this game in 1984, he couldn’t have known how Tetris would change the face of gaming forever. This game needs no introduction. It has become so ingrained in our society that 27 years later, young children are familiar with the name and we still give it a whirl sometimes during the long train ride home. 9: Bubble Bobble (Arcade) If you were a kid in the 80s, you would remember feeding arcade machines with your lunch money just to pop those damn bubbles. Created by Taito, this classic has given birth to many spin-off thats follow its basic skeleton. 8: Tyrian (Various) Tyrian is a shoot 'em up with a complex plot. You play the role of Trent Hawkings, this galaxy's ace solo fighter-pilot, whose luck forces him to save the galaxy, one time after another. Again and again, Trent must fight off MicroSol, a company with the evil intent of taking over the galaxy. Through your struggles, you will find yourself again and again betrayed by friends and allies, your parents will be killed and you will have to return to points you've already been to (with variations on the levels) in order to remove further threats to the galaxy and to yourself, all for the ultimate goal of overthrowing MicroSol. 7: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Master System/Game Gear) If you asked a group of 10 people what is a hedgehog, about 6 of them will answer Sonic. The blue lightning bolt took side-scrolling gaming to a whole new level. Running around collecting rings and jumping on robots never seemed so fun. 6: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) LttP set standards for adventure games that many still try to achieve today. The Light and Dark worlds allowed for some interesting game play, where the player can only progress by accomplishing ‘mirror’ objectives in both worlds. On top of that, it has its fair share of tricky puzzles and epic boss battles, putting it on our list and in our hearts. 5: Crash Bandicoot (PS) Crash Bandicoot was one of the first games every created for the PlayStation. It was the first time may of us were introduced to Crash. We fell in love with his quirkiness and loyalty to his girlfriend, Tawna, almost instantly. Even though Crash has gone on to cart racing and the like, he will always be best remembered smashing crates and running from boulders. 4: Pacman (Arcade) You know a game is good when 31 years later pirate programmers don’t change a thing about it. Pacman is a landmark in video game history and succeeded in creating a completely new genre of video games. It has the highest brand awareness of any video game character. Its legend will forever be preserved in the Smithsonian, where it is one of only three video games on display. 3: Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation) While FF7 was by no means the first role-playing game to hit the market, it was the first time many of us entered the world of Final Fantasy. From the depth of character customization to the storyline to the game soundtrack, it gave birth to a cult movement. Even today, fan boys routinely dress up as Cloud for comic conventions and full grown men shed a sad tear when remembering Aeris’ untimely death. 2: Street Fighter (Arcade) SF was the first competitive fighting game and started the worldwide cry of ‘Hadoken!’. While the idea of an international martial arts tournament whose characters consist of ninjas, kung-fu experts and professional killers seem strange, SF ensues hours and hours of button-mashing fun. 1: Super Mario Bros (NES) Topping our list is the world’s most beloved Italian plumber. We have gone through years and years of helping him through the different worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Toadstool. And I don’t think we’ll be getting sick of that anytime soon. The face of Nintendo has popularized phrases like ‘power ups’ and ‘1-Up’ and even inspired modern remixes of chip music based on the game, sealing his place as #1 in our hearts.
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