80s Video Games

80's Video Games

Donkey Kong

A Nintendo classic, Donkey Kong first appeared in video game arcades in 1981. Playing the game was simple: save Mario’s girlfriend from the ferocious gorilla holding her hostage. Hop over barrels, climb ladders and dodge projectiles thrown at you to reach your goal at the top of the screen. The popularity of this game lead to a couple sequels and a Donkey Kong Jr. release.

Pacman

The original maze craze game! Chomp your way through the maze and munch all the dot pellets in your way while avoiding ghosts who chase after you. You could also eat the larger, power dots to temporarily transform the ghosts blue and try to catch them for extra points. Pacman is one of the most memorable video games of the early eighties, and has resulted in many other related titles, like Ms Pacman, Jr. Pacman, Super Pacman, Pacman World, and so on.

Space Invaders

Another popular type of game in the 80’s were shooter-type titles like Space Invaders. The concept was to defend the earth from alien invaders by shooting at them with your space ship. The only means of protection were the small barriers that you could hide behind. The rest required some good left and right dodging moves. Some other popular alien shooter 80’s video games were Galaga, Galaxian, and Gyruss.

Frogger

Popular even today, the original Frogger game is simple to play. Guide your frog home by avoiding freeway traffic and crossing a river filled with dangerous alligators and snakes that try to stop you from getting to your destination. You earned extra points by guiding a female frog across and eating flies. Many sequels were produced, along with a version released for Xbox Live in 2006.

Asteroids

Defend yourself from an onslaught of asteroids and alien ships in this spaced-out title. Graphics in the arcade game version were extremely basic with a black background and white detail, while the Atari 2600 type had different colored asteroids and ships. Shoot from all directions and even go into hyperspace to get away from sticky situations.

Tetris

The original puzzle game! Created by a Russian named Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris was released in the US in 1986. Manipulate the varied shaped blocks to form solid lines that would disappear, resulting in points. You received higher scores for creating multiple lines (4 are considered a Tetris) , while trying to prevent the blocks from going too close to the top, resulting in losing the game. Still considered a popular title today, you can find different variations of Tetris on PS2, Xbox/ Xbox 360, mobile game versions. and the new PlayStation 3.

Where to Find 80’s Video Games

Check out the following websites to sample some of the classic video games of the eighties:

• 80sMusicLyrics.com
• TripletsAndUs.com
• 1980 Games.com

If you are looking to play 80’s classic video games on your PS2, consider the following titles:

• Atari Anthology – Play Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede and other fun titles. Also available on the Xbox.
• Activision Anthology- It has some great classic Atari 2600 games like Jungle Hunt, River Raid and Pitfall.
• Namco Museum – Play Pacman, Dig Dug, Galaga and others in this great collection of titles.
• Taito Legends - Experience great 80’s hits like Space Invaders, Phoenix and Bubble Bobble.

Fun to Play, Simple to Learn

The 80’s video games are fun to play and simple to learn. From maze games, shooters, puzzle and action/adventure titles, they can be found online and on your PS2 and Xbox consoles. .