CHENNAI: Did your brand new hi-tech computer freeze while playing a latest videogame? While we understand your need to bang something on the keyboard to force your cursor to move, don’t be surprised if old timers snicker at your frustration. Here are games of yore (favourites of serious gamers) you can still play without fancy gadgets, gizmos and software. Yes, we want them back and we can’t emphasise it enough
Duck Hunt (1984)
Duck Hunt was a ‘bun in the face’ for those who said that complex maps, superguns, drones and tanks can only create an acclaimed first-person shooter game . A lot of us started videogaming by picking up a plastic gun connected to a console and aiming to shoot at ducks that flew across the TV screen, with a tiny dog cheering us on. The cries for a bring-back is finally heard— Nintendo is releasing its SNES for a short period, and we also have a VR version of Duck Hunt that released recently.
Contra (1987)
The age of DOS games emerged simultaneously with NES—like arcade platforms. With this, came Contra —a fast-paced third-person shooting platform. Even now, a level in Contra would take you longer to finish than a mission in CoD. It allows no time for thinking, with a barrage of enemy soldiers running to shoot us down every 5 seconds. There was a rhythm to the game, and losing a life meant letting go of the rhythm ! Low graphics and less memory meant games that were packed with high-difficulty. Now that’s something that we miss in today’s single-player games.
Dangerous Dave (1988)
Undoubtedly, the level-wise difficulty is far greater than any platformer right now—no, none of us can honestly say that we finished the 10 complex levels that Dave offered. The sound of Dave walking, and the explosions in the irritating 8-bit tune was not at all necessary; it increased our frustration as we had to restart from level 1 if we lost all the lives. But that also made the achievements that much greater. Where are the platformers of 2017?
‘DOOM’ & Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
The ‘3D’ of both these games meant that these games were a class of their own. The enemies of the games were legends, because of the pure numbers that fell on a heap as we unexpectedly attacked them in a lone corridor. Destroying those enemies made us feel like we were invincible! Although both these games were remade and released as new-age FPS , there wasn’t any way to aim camera angles in DOOM, and there is some inexplicable thrill in finding the enemy you face, straight ahead — no crouching or hiding.
Claw (1997)
1997 meant smaller pixels, and better in-game sound effects— the result was a Pirate Cat, armed with a sword and lurid blue hat and coat. Captain Claw was the plunderer of wondrous treasures and destroyer of unqualified pirates. The game involved a lot of jumping, and using of special magic powers. But even one wrong movement could cause the Pirate to fall down onto the spikes, and the friend who was supposedly helping you would laugh and get ready for their turn.
Pinball (1998)
In the days of erratic, slow or no internet connections, Pinball saved us from hours of boredom. We can never forget the feeling of the paddle kicking the ‘space cadet’ right into a wormhole —it felt more rewarding than hitting a six in cricket, because we scored 15000 as many points. Interestingly, ‘Pinball Fx3’ just released —a pinball simulator for multiple consoles, with fresh and interesting 3D designs. But the larger request is the revival of the small and well-made in-built computer games.
Snake
Remember Snake and Space Impact?In the age of non-smartphone videogames were greats like ‘Bounce’, ‘Snake’ and ‘Space Impact’. One involved blind-shoot missiles on oncoming enemy spacecrafts, and another could make misshapen pieces fit in a line! Now although the same games exist in smartphones and the PC, the whole experience of button-pressing and the single-tone response is what made the games special. And though the Nintendo has expensive 3DS, we need these ‘just time-pass’ videogames too !
Midtown Madness (1999)
Now that Road Rash is back, we need this four-wheel racing game to be back. The best part of ‘Midtown Madness’ was the simplicity in car selection and the free-play mode. We can still crash and fly, in other car-racing games (and GTA), but none of them offered that range of vehicles. We could even modify the traffic, pedestrian density and weather! All this to unleash carnage on the roads of a modelled Chicago — sending people and garbage cans flying, destroying signal lights. A high-quality remastered version of this free-play vehicle crashing game would be appreciated!
Anusha Ganapathi
Twitter @quaffle_waffle
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)