Games of Yesteryear
In my lifetime computer games have changed dramatically. It’s gone from that TV console tennis/badminton/football to Doom Eternal (94% on PC Gamer). Anyone remember the original Doom? Playing that late at night was pretty atmospheric. The graphics were blocky by today’s standards of course, but those stomping demons had me tense as a boy who should have been doing his art homework (teacher was scarier than Baron of Hell!).
[image error]“Come on in, mutha-f*cka. Old Painless is waiting!”
So we have come a long way in 50 (??) years. Hang on, fifty years is a long time…
[image error]From this…[image error]…to this!
My Dad worked in the IT industry and so there was always a computer in our home. We went from ZX81, to Vic20, then onto C64, C128 and then the Amiga. After that it was PCs, which I can’t really remember. Any Spectrum 48k folk out there? Amstrad?
I think we had two games for the Vic20, both cartridges. Cosmic Cruncher, which was essentially Pac Man, and a Space Invaders clone. Very green & black graphically, very entertaining. Simpler times.
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The C64 was where gaming really went up a couple of gears in my world. It began with cassette tapes (the days of shift + run-stop!) and went onto floppy disks. I was a big fan of exploration games and I’d say Jet Set Willy is a golden memory. I never did complete the game but I loved finding new rooms. That was a real thrill back then, actually getting past one of those weird demon-heads or a witch or a guardsman, and making it to the next room. Where I inevitably died.
[image error][image error][image error]Been a while since I’ve seen the cassette cover. As a kid I had no idea why his head was down a toilet. Adult-Me: “Ahh, he was praying to the Porcelain God!”
Just Googling C64 games and getting a blast of nostalgia.
Impossible Mission – “We have another visitor…”; searching for stuff by standing legs akimbo and thrusting your groin at it…; somersaulting through elevators ‘cos it was Hot Lava!
Bruce Lee – One of you plays the sumo and just relentlessly beats up the Ninja, and Bruce leaps over… some zippy, electric charges or something??
Pharoah’s Curse – Damn thing always crashed just as we were getting anywhere.
Archon – Epic chess game! I preferred the dark side (or blue team). Goblins were cool.
Monty on the Run – So much damn fun! And what a soundtrack! …which leads me onto music.
Possibly my favourite piece of music from back in the day.
The music was quirky and electronic, but awesome! It made the load-time fly by. I even miss that screeching mind-melter of a sound that came with Novaload. It’s testament to how good the music was back then that orchestras are playing the tunes now. Fred Grey & Rob Hubbard, we salute you! Anybody have any other composers that deserve a call-out?
With the Amiga came better graphics. I remember being blown away by how good GI Joe was. The game sadly was a bit limited in scope however. My memory now combines Snow Job fighting Destro in the snow but with the voice of the spoof PSA. “Get off my f*ckin’ ice!”
I’d say the game I played most back then was Dungeon Master. I spent literally hours on that, beefing up my heroes by slaughtering Screamers & Purple Worms. Even wrote a lengthy piece in A-Level English Literature centering around a fight with a winged serpent. Gothmog was secretly in love with Sonja She-Devil and gave his life for her. Tragedy of Shakespearean magnitude. I thank Dr D for patiently encouraging me with that, when he was probably thinking “Any chance of getting out of the dungeon, Peter?”.
[image error][image error][image error]Again, playing late at night, house is quiet and a Mummy attacks from behind. Made me jump. and then I started throwing stuff at him. Rocks, cheese, scrolls…whatever came to hand. Dropping doors on those rock monsters was satisfying. Annoying little buggers they were!
I have no idea what the equivalent is of DM these days. Would love to play a game like it, dungeon-crawling, monsters roaming, searching for weapons and learning how to send sun-sized fireballs up the arse of a Boss Monster.
Also enjoyed the point-and-click games like Zak McKraken & the Alien Mindbenders, or Maniac Mansion. Never did complete the latter. I get on my kids’ backs now for playing too long but I reckon I clocked in many hours on many games. I haven’t turned into a total weirdo so probably no harm done…
Okay, will keep it short today as I have so much to do. I hope I have brought some nostalgic niceness to somebody’s day. Take care everyone and continue being careful when going out. It’s unfortunately far from over.
[image error]Stay safe!
