The 1980s were a weird spot for video games. The industry had a major crash in 1983 and spent the next several years trying to get back to its previous highs. Importantly, that was spearheaded by the Nintendo Entertainment System‘s launch and the continued popularity of arcades. The ’80s gave fans tons of new games to dive in, some of which went on to become major series. For every Super Mario Bros., Metroid, and Mega Man, there are at least as many underappreciated gems that have gone under the radar for modern gamers. Thankfully, many of these great games are relatively easy to play if you missed them.
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Here are five awesome games from the ’80s that you might’ve forgotten about.
5) Karateka
Jordan Mechner went on to have a legendary career, most notably working on Prince of Persia and its 2003 remake, but The Last Express, his 1997 adventure game, is also exceptional. However, Karateka was Mechner’s first game and stands as one of the more important games of this era.
Karateka introduced many players to rotoscoped animation and helped usher in a more cinematic style of storytelling. Mechner’s classic blends sidescrolling platformer and 2D fighter to create something unique at the time.
It was a sales and critical hit in the ’80s. Unfortunately, a 2012 remake did not do as well, and the only other Karateka-related release we’ve gotten since is Digital Eclipse’s The Making of Karateka, which is essentially a documentary about the game and Mechner’s life, while including several versions of Karateka.
4) R.B.I. Baseball
R.B.I. Baseball isn’t only a great baseball game; it also plays a massive part in sports gaming’s history. Namco’s classic was the first console game to get the MLBPA license, which meant it included player names for real-world MLB stars.
Sure, it doesn’t have the full MLB license, so you don’t have the player names, but for the first time, players like George Brett, Mike Schmidt, Mark McGwire, and many others were in the game. Anyone who keeps up with modern sports games knows how important having those likenesses is for fans. Without them, many games seem like they’re setting themselves up for failure.
That wasn’t the case back in 1986, so R.B.I. Baseball set an important standard for moving forward. The series did run out of steam by 1995, and the modern reboot failed to seriously compete with MLB The Show. Still, those first few games were special for more reasons than one.
3) Gauntlet
Gauntlet was a massive hack-and-slash game in arcades, thanks in part to its four-player cabinet being incredibly eye-catching. Arcade operators were pulling in thousands of dollars each month for a single cabinet, and it was easily topping charts in the mid-80s.
Console ports were also well-received, as players loved the fast-paced gameplay. A second game quickly followed, which led to five total games being launched between 1985 and 1991. One of those was the Atri Lynx version called Gauntlet: The Third Encounter, which isn’t the third game in the series nor a port, but a weird quasi-sequel.
Several reboots have made it to market, including the relatively popular Gauntlet Legends and its Dark Legacy expansion. That said, we haven’t seen anything from the series since 2014’s reboot. It’d be great to see another Gauntlet launch, especially if it dives deeper into online and couch co-op, but Arrowhead Studios (the team behind the most recent reboot) is firmly focused on Helldivers 2.
2) Marble Madness
Mark Cerny, best known as the architect of the PlayStation Vita, PS4, and PS5, got his early start as a video game developer. He worked on several projects before joining Sony, but Marble Madness was his first hit.
Players used a trackball to control a small marble down a series of isometric mazes. It sounds simple, but Cerny’s design could turn truly devlish. While the arcade version was one of the highest-earning cabinets during 1984, it had a second life on home consoles and PCs.
Sure, a moue wasn’t as fun as a track ball, but Marble Madness still looked great and was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. A second game was planned (without Cerny’s involvement), but never made it to market. And while games like Super Monkey Ball serve as solid spiritual successors, it’s a little sad that Cerny never made another Marble Madness.
1) Maniac Mansion
Developer Lucasfilm Games went on to make some of the best point-and-click adventure games of all time. Designers Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick are absolute legends in the genre, with games like The Secret of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure under both their belts.
However, Maniac Mansion was the first self-published game Lucasfilm Games released, and an innovator in the adventure game genre. Heck, the team invented the SCUMM engine to make Maniac Mansion possible. It was an instant hit critically, but took quite a while to build up commercial steam.
Still, Maniac Mansion got a TV series and a sequel called Day of the Tentacle. Unfortunately, the adventure genre largely died out, and in modern times, you hear about games like The Secret of Monkey Island, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango when talking about Lucasfilm Games. Hopefully, that changes soon, and we get a full Maniac Mansion remake.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.
