Jane Jensen’s southern gothic Gabriel Knight trilogy is both a fossil record of CD-ROM’s impact on video games and the highlight of the days of full-motion video:
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993, Sierra, Jane Jensen, PC: MS-DOS, USA)
The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (1995, Sierra, Jane Jensen, PC: Windows, USA)
Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (1999, Sierra, Jane Jensen, PC: Windows, USA).
Cinemaware’s interactive movies, which predated the CD-inspired marriage of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, were better than almost all the full-motion video games that came after the pioneering company’s demise. Defender of the Crown (1986, Cinemaware, Kellyn Beck, Amiga, USA) defined the Cinemaware style, but the company’s later work was superior. See: The King of Chicago (1986, Cinemaware, Doug Sharp, Macintosh, USA), Rocket Ranger (1988, Cinemaware, Bob Jacob & Kellyn Beck, Amiga, USA), Lords of the Rising Sun (1989, Cinemaware, Doug Barnett, Amiga, USA) and Wings (1990, Cinemaware, John Cutter, Amiga, USA). Best of all: It Came from the Desert (1989, Cinemaware, David Riordan, Amiga, USA) and its expansion disk Antheads: It Came from the Desert II (1990, Cinemaware, David Riordan, Amiga, USA).
By 2000, the adventure game had faded away. Keeping the flame alive:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001, Capcom, Game Boy Advance, Japan): Legal eagle visual novel.
Masq (2002, AlterAction, Javier Maldonado, PC: Windows, USA): Comic strip visuals, real-time decisions and available for free. Go to: www.alteraction.com
Another Code: Two Memories (2005, Nintendo, Cing, Nintendo DS, Japan): Touch screen and microphone enhanced adventuring.
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (2007, Nintendo, Cing, Nintendo DS, Japan): Excellent writing and pencil sketch artwork that echoes the video for A-Ha’s 1985 hit single Take On Me.
Heavy Rain (2010, Sony Computer Entertainment, Quantic Dream, PC: Windows, France): A gripping serial-killer thriller that finally realised French game visionary David Cage’s efforts to reinvent the adventure game. Cage’s earlier attempts are fascinating if not as successful:
Omikron: The Nomad Soul (1999, Eidos Interactive, Quantic Dream, PC: Windows, France): Sci-fi confusion starring David Bowie.
Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy (2005, Atari Interactive, Quantic Dream, Xbox, France): Frustratingly flawed tale of occult conspiracies.
Arcade adventures
Possibly the broadest genre of all. Encompasses anything the mixes the story and puzzle-solving elements of adventure games with the action of the arcades. The earliest:
Adventure (1979, Atari, Warren Robinett, VCS 2600, USA): Remoulded the text adventure into a text-free action experience.
Other notable arcade adventures not featured elsewhere in this guide:
Dragon’s Lair (1983, Cinematronics, Advanced Microcomputer Systems & Sullivan Bluth Studios, Coin-op, USA): Figurehead of the short-lived laserdisc game craze. An interactive cartoon, but mainly a cartoon.
Ghostbusters (1984, Activision, David Crane, Commodore 64, USA): Based on the hit comedy film. Manage the Ghostbusters firm and then go bust some ghosts.
Another World / Out of This World (1991, Delphine, Eric Chahi, Amiga, France): Uncluttered and refined action adventure superbly told without the need for speech or text.
Tomb Raider II (1997, Eidos Interactive, Core Design, PlayStation, UK): Lara Croft’s seminal globetrotting second coming. After that the series lost its way until Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007, Eidos Interactive, Crystal Dynamics, Xbox 360, USA) recaptured the magic of the first two games.
Ico (2001, Sony Computer Entertainment, Team Ico, PlayStation 2, Japan): Awe-inspiring journey into a sun-bleached world. Truly magical.
Okami (2006, Capcom, Clover Studios, PlayStation 2, Japan): Beautiful action game that replicates the look of traditional Japanese artwork.
Shadow of the Colossus (2005, Sony Computer Entertainment, Team Ico, PlayStation 2, Japan): An emotional rollercoaster where journeys through desolate wastes are punctuated with epic battles against enormous Colossi. Ends with a brutal twist.
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007, Sony Computer Entertainment, Naughty Dog, PlayStation 3, USA): Bombastic action game that echoes the Indiana Jones films. Even more spectacular was the sequel: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009, Sony Computer Entertainment, Naughty Dog, PlayStation 3, USA).
No More Heroes (2007, Marvelous Entertainment, Grasshopper Manufacture, Wii, Japan): A punky and scrappy otaku take on Grand Theft Auto.
Puzzles
Tetris (1984, Alexey Pajitnov, Elektronika 60 [Game Boy], USSR) remains the king of puzzle games: A hypnotic time-eater that is as compelling 25 years on as it was first time around. Those interested in what Alexey Pajitnov did after Tetris should try Hexic (2003, MSN Games, Alexey Pajitnov, Online: Browser [Xbox 360], USA). Two other Russian puzzle games that appeared soon after Tetris reached the west are also worth tracking down:
7 Colors (1991, Infogrames, Gamos, PC: MS-DOS, USSR): Goal is to take control of half the play area before your opponent by absorbing diamonds of a particular colour. Originally called Filler.
Colour Lines (1992, Gamos, PC: MS-DOS, Russia): Tetris reimagined as a board game but with a dash of Reversi.
And while we’re at it, another Eastern European puzzle gem is the tomb-exploration challenge of Quadrax (1994, Ultrasoft, David Durcak and Marian Ferko, ZX Spectrum [PC: Windows], Slovakia).
Tetris inspired many other games about lining up patterns or objects. The best:
Klax (1989, Atari Games, Dave Akers and Mark Stephen Pierce, Coin-op, USA): Tile piling conveyor belt fun.
Bejeweled (2000, PopCap Games, Online: Browser, USA): Pressure-free mixing and matching pleasure. Originally called Diamond Mine.
Puzzle Bobble / Bust-a-Move (1994, Taito, Coin-op, Japan): Jaunty bubble matching spin-off from the Bubble Bobble series.
Saving things is another big theme in puzzle games:
Lemmings (1991, Psygnosis, DMA Design, Amiga, UK): Save the charmingly cute and oblivious critters from 1,001 horrible deaths.
Pipe Mania / Pipe Dream (1989, Lucasfilm Games, The Assembly Line, Amiga, UK): Frantic pipe-building to stop the ‘ooze’ escaping.
LocoRoco (2006, Sony Computer Entertainment, Tsutomu Kouno, PSP, Japan): Wonderfully bright and cheery game where you roll wobbly jellies to safety. Rolando (2008, ngmoco, HandCircus, iPhone, London) ventured into similar territory, but with the added bonus of the iPhone’s tilt controls.
Sticking with gooey blobs, there’s the utterly satisfying construction challenge World of Goo (2008, 2D Boy, Wii, USA). Its forerunner: Tower of Goo (2005, Kyle Gabler, PC: Windows, USA). Both owe a debt to the challenging construction puzzle game Bridge Builder (2000, Alex Austin, PC: Windows, USA).
Managing air or rail traffic is another recurring puzzle game theme, although these are more about planning ahead than logic: Air traffic control sim Final Approach (1982, Apollo, Dan Oliver, VCS 2600, USA) and The Kennedy Approach (1985, Microprose, Andy Hollis, Commodore 64, USA) are two of the earliest, but Flight Control (2009, Firemint, iPhone, Australia) is much more fun, not least because of its pleasing finger-tracing mechanic. Also see the rail controller challenge of The Train Game (1983, Microsphere, ZX Spectrum, UK) and Trains! (2009, Armor Games, TigerTail Studios, Online: Flash, India).
Few of the above are, however, serious brainteasers. The real migraine-inducers:
Sokoban (1982, Thinking Rabbit, Hiroyuki Imabayashi, NEC PC-8801, Japan): Maddening block-pushing puzzle. Its challenge – some of the toughest levels of the long-running series require hundreds of moves to complete – has made the game a focus of artificial intelligence researchers.
Spacestation Pheta (1985, T&T Software, TI-99/4A [Macintosh], USA): Don’t be fooled by the Lode Runner looks.
The Sentinel (1986, Firebird, Geoff Crammond, BBC Micro, UK): Unique game that demands Chess-like levels of concentration.
Minesweeper (1990, Microsoft, Robert Donner & C
urt Johnson, PC: Windows, USA): Alongside Solitaire the mine-spotting logic puzzle game is one of the world’s most played games thanks, primarily, to its inclusion in the Windows operating system.
The Incredible Machine (1992, Sierra, Dynamix & Jeff Tunnell Productions, PC: MS-DOS, USA): Takes the crazy contraption building idea of the board game Mouse Trap and turns it into a fiendish test of ingenuity.
Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training / Brain Age (2005, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Japan): A daily dose of Sudoku, math tests and word games to boost your ‘brain age’ (aka score).
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007, Level-5, Nintendo DS, Japan): 135 brainteasers held together with a point-and-click adventure game about a strange village. The Fool’s Errand (1987, Miles Computing, Cliff Johnson, Macintosh, USA) also mixed challenging conundrums with a story.
The mind-bending perspective blurring of the M.C. Escher-inspired Echochrome (2008, Sony Computer Entertainment, PlayStation 3, Japan) is also a must for those after a real brain wracking experience. Along similar lines is Illusions (1984, Coleco Electronics, Nice Ideas, Colecovision, France).
Braid (2008, Microsoft Game Studios, Jonathan Blow, Xbox 360, USA): Devious puzzle-based platform game about turning back time. Ingenious and subversive.
Best of the rest:
Marble Madness (1984, Atari Games, Mark Cerny, Coin-op, USA): Trackball-enhanced zany marble steering with a uniquely odd soundtrack.
Boulder Dash (1984, First Star Software, Peter Liepa and Chris Gray, Atari 800, USA): Excellent arcade puzzle game where players gather diamonds while figuring out how to avoid monsters and falling rocks. Superior Software delivered a just-as-good-copy with its Repton games, of which Repton 2 (1985, Superior Software, Tim Tyler, BBC Micro, UK) is the best.
Shanghai (1986, Activision, Brodie Lockard, Macintosh, USA): Based on the tile-based board game Mah-Jong Solitaire. Other Mah-Jong influenced titles include Ishido: The Way of Stones (1990, Accolade, Publishing International & Michael Feinberg, Macintosh, USA), which incorporated elements of the I Ching into its new age mix.
Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon (1992, Coktel Vision, Pierre Gilhodes & Muriel Tramis, Amiga, France): Use two goblins with different abilities to solve various challenges.
Zen Bound (2009, Chilingo, Secret Exit, iPhone, Finland): Tranquil puzzle where you wind string around wooden carvings.
Scribblenauts (2009, Warner Bros Interactive, 5th Cell, Nintendo DS, USA): Incredibly inventive puzzle game where you solve challenges by summoning objects simply by typing in any word you feel like.
Platform games
Although it lacked the jumping that became a hallmark of the genre, the ladder climbing, platform action of Space Panic (1980, Universal, Coin-op, Japan) was the first game that could truly be described as a platform game. The genre’s forefathers:
Maneater (1975, Project Support Engineering, Coin-op, USA): Jaws cash-in where you dive for treasure while avoiding sharks. The fibreglass cabinet set the TV within the jaws of a great white shark’s mouth.
Frogs (1978, Gremlin, Coin-op, USA): Jumping game where you control a frog that must jump up to catch insects.
Heiankyo Alien (1980, Denki Onkyo, The University of Tokyo’s Theoretical Science Group, Coin-op, Japan): A maze game where players dig holes to trap aliens that can then be knocked out. The hole digging used in Space Panic to trap monsters is similar.
Donkey Kong (1981, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, Coin-op, Japan) ushered in the platform era. Its success was followed by numerous single-screen platform games, including:
BurgerTime (1982, Data East, Coin-op, Japan): Fast-food themed platform run-around.
Donkey Kong Jr. (1982, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, Coin-op, Japan): A role-reversal from the first game. Mario is now the villain and the caged Donkey Kong is the victim. You play Donkey Kong’s son. Donkey Kong reappeared in many more games, including the over-hyped eye candy of Donkey Kong Country (1994, Nintendo, Rare, Super NES, UK).
Chuckie Egg (1983, A&F Software, Nigel Alderton, ZX Spectrum, UK): Simple but oh-so-perfect egg-collecting bliss.
Congo Bongo (1983, Sega, Sega, Coin-op, Japan): Sega’s isometric retort to Donkey Kong.
Lode Runner (1983, Brøderbund, Douglas E. Smith, Apple II, USA): Excellent ladder-based action. One of the first games to feature a level editor.
Bubble Bobble (1986, Taito, Fukio Mitsuji, Coin-op, Japan): The bubble gum visuals and soundtrack compliment one of the finest platform games ever devised. Near perfect in two-player mode.
Rodland (1990, Jaleco, Coin-op, Japan): Bubble Bobble-apeing platfomer but no less great for that.
Donkey Kong also introduced Mario. Nintendo’s extensive back catalogue of Mario games is a treasure trove of great gaming moments. Highlights:
Mario Bros (1983, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto & Gunpei Yokoi, Coin-op, Japan): Mario became a plumber and Luigi made his debut in this bouncy slice of turtle stomping. Echoed the winged ostrich riding game Joust (1982, Williams, John Newcomer, Coin-op, USA).
Super Mario Bros (1985, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto &mp Takashi Tezuka, NES, Japan): The game that sold the NES and made Mario a star. Simply dazzling. After that came three sequels in the same mould that packed more inventiveness into every one of their levels than some game design teams produce during their whole career. All three are magnificent: Super Mario Bros 3 (1988, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka, NES, Japan); Super Mario World (1990, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka, Super NES, Japan); Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (1995, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka, Super NES, Japan).
Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo 64, Japan): A complete reinvention of the platform game and series for the 3D era but still as gloriously spellbinding as ever.
Super Mario Galaxy (2007, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto & Yoshiaki Koizumi, Wii, Japan): Gravity-defying platforming that throws up a constant stream of surprises and marvels.
New Super Mario Bros Wii (2009, Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto & Shigeyuki Asuke, Wii, Japan): Proof the original 2D formula is just as compelling as it was 24 years earlier.
Super Mario Bros’ scrolling platform action inspired many:
The New Zealand Story (1988, Taito, Coin-op, Japan): Bright and bubbly old-school platforming.
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1987, Taito, Fukio Mitsuji, Coin-op, Japan): An excellent sequel to Bubble Bobble despite having almost nothing in common with its pre-equal.
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1988, Capcom, Coin-op, Japan): Rock-hard platform game. Only for the most determined.
A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (1989, Imagineering, David Crane, NES, USA): Puzzle-inflected twist on the genre.
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991, Sega, Yuji Naka, Megadrive, Japan): Platforming meets pinball. The best of the many sequels is Sonic Adventure (1998, Sega, Sonic Team, Dreamcast, Japan), the speedy hedgehog’s 3D debut.
Earthworm Jim (1994, Playmates Interactive, Shiny Entertainment, Megadrive, USA) and Earthworm Jim 2 (1995, Playmates Interactive, Shiny Entertainment, Megadrive, USA): Great lead character, distinctive levels.
Rayman (1995, Ubisoft, Michel Ancel, Atari Jaguar [PlayStation], France): Traditional platforming in a vibrant world. Also see its crazed spin-off, Rabbids Go Home (2009, Ubisoft, Michel Ancel & Jacques Exertier, Wii, France).
Not every 2D platform game, however, was an exercise in the cute or cartoony:
Infernal Runner (1985, Loriciels, Eric Chahi, Commodore 64, France): Gory take on the genre packed with lethal contraptions.
Castlevania (1986, Konami, Famicom Disk System, Japan): The start of the long-running vampire hunting series that peaked with the inventive Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997, Konami, Toru Hagihara, PlayStation, Japan).
Metroid (1986, Nintendo, Gunpei Yokoi & Yoshio Sakamoto, Japan): Non-linear sci-fi platform adventure. The outstanding Super Metroid (1994, Nintendo, Yoshio Sakamoto & Makoto Kanoh, Super NES, Japan) and Metroid Fusion (2002, Ni
ntendo, Yoshio Sakamoto, Game Boy Advance, Japan) both stuck to the original’s format. Metroid Prime (2002, Nintendo, Retro Studios, Gamecube, USA) expertly reinvented the series giving it a first-person viewpoint without reducing it into a first-person shooter.
Shinobi (1987, Sega, Noriyoshi Ohba, Coin-op, Japan): Ninja action that delivered a harmonious blend of fighting and platforming.
Prince of Persia (1989, Brøderbund, Jordan Mechner, Apple II, USA): A excellently animated and designed platform game with a distinctive silent movie feel. Also see: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003, Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal, PlayStation 2, Canada), a graceful parkour-influenced return.
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (1997, GT Interactive, Oddworld Inhabitants, PlayStation, USA): Wonderfully original.
Other 3D platformers of note:
Alpha Waves (1990, Infogrames, Christophe de Dinechin, Atari ST, France): Platforming’s first, and rather odd, move into 3D.
Crash Bandicoot (1996, Sony Computer Entertainment, Naughty Dog, PlayStation, USA): Narrow paths typical of 3D platforming prior to Super Mario 64, but the game’s larger-than-life character carries it through.
NiGHTS: Into Dreams (1996, Sega, Sonic Team, Saturn, Japan): Sega’s dreamy answer to Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (2002, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sucker Punch Productions, PlayStation 2, USA): Stealth-based platforming.
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (2004, Sony Computer Entertainment, Insomniac Games, PlayStation 2, USA): Wacky and idiosyncratic weaponry in this trigger-happy platformer.
Psychonauts (2005, Majesco, Double Fine Productions, Xbox, USA): Peyote-tripping platform strangeness.
LittleBigPlanet (2008, Sony Computer Entertainment, Media Molecule, PlayStation 3, UK): The loveable scrapbook looks signal just how different a platformer this is with its game-making tools and a vast swarm of user creations to try. A source of endless interest and novelties.
Replay: The History of Video Games Page 54