Nine Classic Games That Hold Up
You know, nostalgia's a funny thing. It gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling when you look back on things that meant a lot to you long ago, but it also has a sneaky way of utterly distorting the past, making it seem a lot better than it actually was. Few things demonstrate this more effectively than experiencing things as an adult, that you loved when you were a kid. It's happened to us all; you go to re-watch The Last Unicorn or re-read your favorite Goosebumps book and...it's just not that good. The same thing often happens when you try to replay your favorite video games. Fortunately, there are some ageless titles that retain their kick-assness, no matter how much time goes by.
Deus Ex
Designed by industry legend Warren Spector, Deus Ex came out on PC in the year 2000 and kept gamers riveted. Ten years later, it remains amazingly relevant, following nano-tech-augmented UN Anti-Terrorist Coalition agent JC Denton as he sets out to save a world increasingly threatened by terrorism. The game offers an unusually deep storyline (for its time) that encompasses several narratives that branch depending on the player's choices, and was one of the first PC games to get its emotional hooks into us. Despite its now-dated graphics, and its mediocre 2003 sequel, this first person shooter/RPG/adventure/stealth game still plays like the day it was “born”, and beats out any number of games that are a product of its legacy. If you've never played Deus Ex, slap yourself—hard—and then go get a copy.
Tetris
To prove the staying power of Tetris, you need only note the absurd number of variants—both official and unofficial—that have been released of the game. Created in 1984 by Russian scientist Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris (for those of you who've been inside a Turkish prison for the last 26 years) is simple in concept; random sequences of different, multicolored shapes waterfall down from the top of the screen and your job is to fit them together to form solid horizontal lines. Oh, various versions of the game mix things up by changing the speed, the colors or the music, but the core idea remains the same. Presently, there are 40 Tetris titles available on just about every platform known to man—what more does a game need to prove its everlasting appeal? Play umpteen variants on the game for free at TetrisFriends.com.
Resident Evil
Resident Evil's another title that spawned a host of sequels (not to mention being the mainstay of Milla Jovovich's career). It appeared in 1996 on the original Playstation, and became a key contributor to the still relatively new survival horror genre. In the game, players join a special task force as one of two characters (Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine) assigned by the Raccoon City police to investigate a series of bizarre murders. In the process, they find themselves trapped and fighting for their lives inside a monster-filled mansion. This was the first time gamers shook hands with the T-virus and they took to it like flies to a corpse. Though followed by numerous (variously successful) sequels, this first game remains the quintessential Resident Evil's experience. If you're hankering to play it, the game was re-issued on the Wii in 2009 under the title Resident Evil: Archives and can be had for around $30.
Burger Time
What better way to segue from a game about flesh-eating zombies than to talk about a game focused on ground beef? In 1982, Burger Time was one of the building blocks of a quality arcade. Its ridiculous concept—having you play squatty little chef Peter Pepper, who makes ginormous hamburgers by walking across their platform-mounted ingredients—demonstrates just how open-minded designers (and gamers) were in those days. All you do, level after level, is saunter around the playing field, climbing ladders, stacking foodstuffs and warding off seemingly sentient hot dogs, eggs and pickles by tossing pepper in their faces (do these things even have faces?). The more skilled players rack up points by luring enemies onto ingredients, then dropping them or by crushing enemies under burger bits dropped from high elevations. Currently, nostalgic Burger Time players can enjoy the game in its purest form only by buying their own cabinets off the VAPS (Video Arcade Preservation Society) boards. Non-purists or Burger Time virgins can try the game online at free game site Addicting Games or can experiment with a new paid version of it called BurgerTime Deluxe made by Awem Studio.
Qix
Qix (not to be confused with Kix, kicks or Nestle Quick) is another classic arcade game with an ingeniously simple premise. Actually Qix, with its straightforward gameplay and spartan approach to graphics can easily be considered a card-carrying member of the Minimalist Video Game Society. (Pong is the president.) The point of the game is to hem in the Qix—a constantly moving, accordion-like shape—by using a diamond-shaped cursor to shrink the playing field. You do this by drawing rectangular shapes and enclosing them before the Qix can come into contact with the cursor. Points are scored points depending on the speed with which you close off the shapes and rounds are won when you've “claimed” 75% of the playing field. To those who haven't tried it, it might not sound that exciting but anyone who's played the game knows—your heart can't help but race as the game gets faster and you see those cursor-blasting sparks come burning toward you. Like most early 80's arcade games, Qix faded into obscurity in spite of several console ports and today can only be played online or on old cabinet versions commonly found in small town bowling alleys.
Star Control II
The second in the Star Control trilogy, SCII holds a special place in many a PC gamer's heart. An unforgettable space adventure, it's easy to see the connection between it and modern day games in the same genre—games like say, Mass Effect 2. In SCII you play the captain of an alien ship whose goal it is to liberate the people of Earth who've become enslaved by an insectile race called the Ur-Quan. You spend the game traveling among solar systems via Hyperspace, interacting with various alien races and scanning planets for resources. Sound familiar? With its RPG elements, ship-to-ship combat, brilliant characterization and hilarious dialog, SCII is one of those rare games that just never gets old. And thanks to the UQM project which ported the game for modern systems, we can at any time, relive our favorite old school space adventure.
StarCraft
Speaking of stars, StarCraft may very well be the best RTS of all time. Well, until Blizzard releases StarCraft II, that is. The game focuses on the three-way conflict among humanity and two alien races—the Zerg and the Protoss. Players choose one of the three races, each with unique units, abilities and buildings. Each race also has its own distinct gameplay pros and cons, which makes for some pretty crazy fights. Although players originally complained about StarCraft's AI being rather uh...reluctant to follow a waypoint, the game's still one of the most exciting RTS experiences you'll ever have. Nearly 10 million gamers can't be wrong—nor can the umpteen critics who granted the game a collective score of 93%. If it's been a while since you got your Protoss on, StarCraft's still available from the Blizzard online store and with StarCraft II due for release later on this year, now's the time to hone your RTS chops.
The Curse of Monkey Island
As amazing as it is infuriating, The Curse of Monkey Island remains an icon of adventure gaming's golden age. Starring clever (but klutzy) aspiring pirate Guybrush Threepwood, The Curse of Monkey Island involves a cursed ring, a visit to the mysterious Voodoo lady and an epic fight in an amusement park between Guybrush and his nemesis, the dread pirate LeChuck. With its clever 2D art, funny dialog and sometimes infuriating puzzle logic, the game is both the best and the worst of point-and-click, pixel-hunting adventure gaming. Players get to roam around places with great piratey names like Plunder Island, looking at (and making amusing comments about) random objects, talking to humorous characters and solving puzzles that can be maddening at times. They also frequently engage in the wonderfully ridiculous “insult sword fighting”, wherein fighters exchange verbal as well as physical blows in order to beat their opponent. The game's as hilarious today as it was fifteen years ago and definitely worth a replay. So dust off that old Monkey Island disk—or if you've misplaced it, you can still find used copies online for $10 and up.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Jane Jensen's Gabriel Knight series hearkens back to Sierra's salad days. Sins of the Fathers is the first in the series, a third-person point-and-click PC adventure that follows the exploits of aspiring author, New Orleans book shop owner and sometime detective, Gabriel Knight. In this first case, Gabriel's caught up in a series of what look like voodoo-related murders. The trail leads him all over the French Quarter, as well as to Lake Pontchartrain and the famous St. Louis Cemetery and pits him against a sexy New Orleans socialite who appears to be connected to the murders. With Rocky Horror Picture Show star Tim Curry as the voice of Gabriel as well as the voice talents of Michael Dorn, Leah Remini and Mark Hamill, Sins of the Fathers offers a winning formula made of up an absorbing storyline, witty dialog and challenging puzzle play that are still (in spite of the extremely simple graphics) a lot of fun today. For those of you who like the idea of being immersed in voodoo, murder and the city of New Orleans, the game can be had for a mere $6 on GOG.com and even has been retrofitted to run on modern Windows machines.
