This is one of those posts i’ve wanted to do for a long time and finally got around to. If you had to put on paper your top ten retrogames what would they be? Harder to come up with than you’d think. First, I put some rules on it, I had to own the computer/console and it was pre super nintendo. The idea for me is not so much the best games or consoles in terms of gameplay, but more in terms of impact to my thinking about games. Think of it in more modern terms, essentially almost everything you play is a 3d shooter. That being said, what 3d shooter started it all for you? which one got you really into that genre of gaming? Going by the criteria I set for myself in this artical, i’d say Quake. Sure, Wolfenstein came out earlier and other games like Marathon were also around, but Quake drew me in for the first time on this type of game.

Well, that part out of the way lets start the top ten.

10. Slither on the Colecovision

Slither was a pack in game for the trackball controller on the Colecovision and for me was awesome in that it was a trackball game that I could play at home! Yes, the trakball controller was out there for the 2600 and 5200 but I never owned those. I always have liked different forms of input between the player and the game and at the time, this was it. The combination of a trakball, unique play, great graphics and sounds were hard to beat and I put many an hour into this one.

9. M.U.L.E. on the Atari 800

This was one of the earliest of the Sim Game genre. You build and maintain your own society. Between the creationist play and cool theme song this one really sticks out in my memory.

8. Scott Adams adventures

Back in the earliest of days where computers became available to young students, I was in junior high school learning to program on a TRS-80 model 3. Of course, as kids we all collected virtually every game we could find and one of the most popular ones were the great Scott Adams adventures. These were essentially a competitor to the works of Infocom back in that timeframe. It was the Scott Adams works that inspired me to write my own text adventure back in the day.

7. The 7th Guest

Who doesn’t remember T7G? In a time when very few computers had CD rom drives, this game came out and changed everyone’s perception of what a PC game could be. Full video cuts, interactive photorealistic puzzles and a mystery woven together. An experience i’d never before seen and to this day I still look back on and think about how cool it was.

6. Planetfall by Infocom

I was a huge fan of text adventures and the style of game that relied on your imagination more than snazzy graphics. Planetfall was one of the best. Guiding your lowly janitor character through a space adventure similar to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was a blast, I drew pictures of what I imagined the world to look like and played it over and over. Fantastic trip to nowhere

5. H.E.R.O by Activision (5200/computers edition)

HERO was one of the first games that really introduced me to what ‘next generation’ graphics and games were like. At the time it was released, my only other console was my 2600 and it was the first game I had on both. It blew me away the difference in sound and graphics the computer could deliver. Gameplay was pretty simple, navigate a mine to locate trapped miners and bring them out.

4. Mr. Robot on the Atari 800XL

Here’s another game that changed everything for me. This was the first game I ever had that included a ‘construction set’ that allowed me to create my own levels to play. I spent hours doing this and created dozens of levels for myself and my friends. There have been hundreds of games since that allow you to make your own game, but this for me was the first.

3. RC Pro AM on the Nintendo

The one that hooked me on my Nintendo. This was the first time I got to race cars from the RC perspective since Indy 500 on my Atari 2600. This was a blast, and one of the few that family would play with me because they ‘got it’ so to speak. It’s really hard to explain just why this one ranks so highly for me with all the great games that were on the NES, why this one? I really can’t say, but if I think of the system and all the hours playing it that I did only one game pops into my mind quickly.. RC Pro AM.

2. Zork by Infocom

Yep, Zork. The first one, no 2, 3, returns or inquisitions. Just Zork. Text adventures do not get any better than this and never will. This is probably the only game I played on my very first computer, and every single computer since. That is staying power.

1. Adventure on the Atari 2600

What? Adventure you say? Of course! This one game as simple as it is, established many things to come. One of the first games to not simply put you in a shoot or be shot situation. You had to find your way, discover a kingdom, avoid bats, fight dragons.. How cool is that? To me this was the precursor for so many things to come and also the very first easter egg I found. The bat’s nose was the bee’s knees

That’s my top ten… but, there’s an honorable mention that I couldn’t get in the 10.

Honorable Mention: Pitfall 2 on the Atari 2600

Rarely does a sequel to a blockbuster game outdo it’s parent. Pitfall 2 is one such game. Not in terms of sales, but in terms of pushing the 2600 for what it could do. A unique sound chip in the cart itself enabled a soundtrack that was previously unheard of on the system, a huge cavernous world to run around in in any direction added up to loads of fun.

And now (oooh the trickery) my favorite game of the classic console and computer era…..

0. Realm of Impossibility by Electronic Arts

It’s my story and I can have a zero if I want to! Realm of Impossibility is simply a great game for the day. A 3d ish world, adventures, spells, giant spiders and snakes.. it’s got it all. Some would argue this with me, but it’s not about popularity with the masses, it’s about what I enjoyed the most as a kid and this is it. I played this game even after I had beaten it dozens of times and actually I have an atari 800 XL set up in my office with that disk in it right now!

Well, that’s my list, what’s on yours?

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