Retro games: 10 classic games you can play online

Although we are living in an age of constant digital technological advancement, it can sometimes be rewarding to step back and think about how far we've come. Here in the showmetech, we often write about the top news in the world of technology and how it has changed the way we live and work. However, have you ever stopped to think about how it affected the way we play and how classic games have become retro games?

Today, we live in a pixel perfect and 4K video game era. Huge and immersive digital worlds open up before our eyes, providing experiences that go far beyond a simple entertainment tool. But just a few decades ago, our primitive video games consisted of nothing more than pixelated shapes and bouncing lines across the screen.

A dose of nostalgia with retro games

In this article, we'll introduce you to some of the many video games that pioneered new genres and technology, laid the foundation for modern gaming, and spawned iconic franchises that are still successful today. For the most part, these titles have managed to stand the test of time very well, with their unique mechanics and high-quality gameplay – even if the graphics have already become obsolete.

In addition, we have a bonus for players who want to revisit these classics (or didn't have the opportunity to play them at the time they were successful): you can play all these retro games online for free in your browser by accessing the link below each game from our list.

oregon trail

In 1971, the Oregon Trail game was created by several young students as a way to encourage their students to take an interest in the pioneering 19th century journey to the American West. It was an early strategic game that introduced the concepts of resource management and risk management to players. In the early 80s, it was released as a standalone game for audiences in Apple II, reaching schools everywhere and becoming a pioneer of the genre edutainment.

Click here to play.

Pong

Atari's first product in 1972 — a simple table tennis video game called Pong — came with just one instruction: "Avoid losing the ball to get a high score."

Pong was originally developed as an internal training exercise. But it soon began to appear in pubs, bowling alleys and JC Penney stores. In fact, people even lined up outside the crates in the morning to play. winning $3,2M monthly by profit, Pong was the first commercially successful arcade game and introduced video games as a new form of entertainment.

Click here to play.

Space Invaders

Space Invaders, an arcade game about shooting aliens, became immensely popular around the world in 1978. (An urban legend says it caused a national shortage of 100 yen coins in Japan.) With its iconic aliens and blocks, it visually defined the commercial video game visuals. He also paved the way for modern video games, pioneering the shoot-em-up genre and using music as a device to influence players' emotions.

It was the first game that introduced a difficulty curve – it gets more challenging as you play. But this was unintentional; it was actually a glitch due to technical limitations. When you blasted aliens, fewer aliens on screen meant a lighter load on the processor, and in turn, faster rendering. The aliens revved up, as did the 4-note soundtrack. Video games now had the ability to feel suspenseful and formidable, and that happy accident laid the groundwork for future gameplay.

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Battlezone

In 1980, Battlezone was one of the first video games to use vector graphics technology, and the visuals became smoother and cleaner. It is considered by some to be the first VR arcade game because it contained 3D graphics and players had to look through a "periscope" to play the game.

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pitfall!

Several Atari programmers defected in 1980 and created Activision, the world's first independent video game developer and distributor. They produced some of Atari's best-selling games, like Pitfall, where you navigate the jungle and collect treasure. Pitfall was an early platformer, and while technically not side-scrolled, it was certainly an early version of it. It paved the way for the gameplay found in Super Mario Bros.

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Pac Man

Of course, Pac-Man could not be left out of our list of retro games. The game hit the arcade scene in 1980 and was an overnight sensation. As the little yellow circle looked like a puck, it was originally called Puck-Man, but executives feared the name was too easy to vandalize, so they changed it. The character was half inspired by a pizza without a slice and half inspired by the Japanese character for "mouth". At a time when most games were space shooters, designer Toru Iwatani made the game about eating because he wanted something equally appealing to men and women. It was certainly a universal success.

Reaching over $1 billion in quarters, it's the biggest grossing arcade game in history, as well as a major pop culture icon. O Pac-Man introduced the idea that video games could be transferred and have mainstream appeal if they had strong characters. Audiences loved the Pac-Man character so much that there was even a Pac-Man TV series, not to mention products like Pac-Man cereal, pasta, board games, toys, radios, etc.

Click here to play.

Donkey Kong

In 1981, the world met a carpenter named Jumpman and his pet gorilla, Donkey Kong. It was one of the first games to have a real plot (Jumpman must climb the construction site to save his girlfriend, Pauline, who has been kidnapped by Donkey Kong). Donkey Kong was a success and a milestone in the annals of gaming history. Players all over the world loved the silly narrative, fun graphics, interesting characters and humor. But, as we found out a few years later, the real star of the game was Jumpman (later renamed Mario).

Click here to play.

Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo released its 8-bit NES console in 1985, helping to resurrect an American video game industry that was still recovering after a major slump two years earlier. The NES came along with Super Mario Bros., which introduced revolutionary technical innovations (side-scrolling) as well as a visually rich and quirky world that gamers had never seen before. The brothers of Italian-American kayakers, known as Mario and Luigi, instantly became iconic characters. Super Mario Bros. was a cultural phenomenon and a huge commercial success – it remains the best-selling video game franchise to this day.

Click here to play.

Sim City

Avoiding the traditional win/lose dynamics of games, Will Wright created SimCity in 1989. It featured an open design where players could build and design their own city. This was a difficult concept to swallow. Publishers couldn't see his potential ("Nobody likes that, because you can't win"), so he co-founded Maxis and published SimCity himself. While this was not the first of the "God omniscient" games, it popularized the genre and spawned several versions and spinoffs, including 2000's The Sims.

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Tetris

Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989, which came along with the Tetris. Invented by a Soviet programmer in the USSR in 1984, Tetris was not originally intended to be a form of entertainment – ​​it was to showcase the potential of computer intellect. But it was a hit on the Game Boy. (https://www.curlygirldesign.com/) It was simple enough to play anywhere, and was popular with adults and children alike. Henk Rogers, the designer responsible for bringing the game to market, explained its appeal: “The basic pleasure of putting blocks together to make something is a universal basic pleasure center.”

With over 170 million copies sold, it is one of the best-selling retro games to date. It has been played in over 185 countries, translated into over 50 languages ​​and released on over 50 platforms. Many people credit Tetris with popularizing the puzzle game genre.

Click here to play.

Bonus: The Eternal Blue Hedgehog

Last but not least, we have the most famous hedgehog in the gaming world! Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 to compete with the giant Nintendo. Originally called Mr. Needlemouse, Sonic was positioned as the coolest, spunkier, and edgier alternative to Mario. The game emphasized speed – unlike Mario, Sonic turns into a fast blur at high speed – which was unprecedented at the time. The prickly blue hedgehog was a commercial success and became Sega's iconic mascot.

Click here to play.

Now that you have the most famous retro games today, let us know in the comments below which of the titles you revisited.