Video games have become an integral part of our culture, regardless of if you play them or not. For many, it’s herculean to imagine a world without video games. They’ve no doubt come to stay. Here, we will look into the ‘70s down to the ‘90s, the three powerful decades that left their marks in the sand of time!
The ’70s came in to mark the first prominent decade in the world of video games. Here, the arcade versions were most prominent but still saw outstanding games nonetheless. It saw a development that had a significant impact on popular culture, which, in the long run, greatly influenced better games in subsequent years. The ’80s, no doubt, had phenomenal games as well. What was most peculiar about this decade was that it saw the sudden fall and drastic rise of the video game, making it a decade the gaming world would never forget. The ’90s came with all its glory to further accentuate the video game industry’s history’s success. It came with innovations that began an endless world of possibilities, especially as regards features and graphics.
Ready to learn who is on our top 10 list?
We will provide you with an interesting top 10 list representing these three outstanding decades of brilliant games. Many may or may not agree with this list. Still, one thing is for sure: any video games that made it to this list were not just phenomenal in their respective decades; they made a great impact in the world of gaming generally! Here are the top 10 retro games from the ’70s down to the ’90s. Enjoy!
10. Super Mario 64 (1996)
Beginning this list as number 10 is Super Mario 64! This happens to be one of the most outstanding games from the Super Mario series. And what’s more, it’s the first to employ 3D graphics! In this game, Mario goes through Princess Peach’s castle on a quest to rescue her from the series antagonist, Bowser. As the game proceeds, he explores vast worlds and completes several missions. Super Mario 64 was able to creatively maintain many of the franchise’s elements in terms of visuals and characters.
To begin with, this game excelled with 3D gaming even in a time where 2D gaming was still the standard. It came in with 3D graphics that integrated a free-flow movement. This very feature is one that paved the way to endless possibilities in the video gaming world. Here, players could now enjoy vast degrees of freedom in terms of adventure and movement as they could run across all three axes in space. Unlike its predecessors, the level visuals of Super Mario 64 came out to be more detailed. Everyone who played this game most likely fell in love with the hidden secrets and ‘unlockables’ strategically placed in the game. Added to its features was the 360-degree analog control, which in the long run, served as a quintessential example that many 3D games now effortlessly employ.
Super Mario 64 was a huge success as it sold over 11 million copies as of 2003! It, no doubt, added great prestige and worth to the Mario franchise.
9. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
The number 9 spot on this list goes to the ever amazing role-playing video game, Final Fantasy VII! This brilliant game follows the spiky-haired massive-sword-wielding ex-soldier Cloud Strife who gets to join a group of freedom fighters. They are very stern about getting rid of the world-controlling Shin-Ra Corporation. This brilliant Japanese role-playing game leads to a chain of situations, circumstances, and events that the player must see through to the end. The player, who controls Cloud Strife, must restore the planet’s fate back to balance and sanity.
Like Super Mario 64, Final Fantasy VII was also the first in the series to employ 3D graphics. It also made use of full-motion video, which made playing it so appealing! The 3D levels in the game brilliantly helped to create an immersive world that was extremely memorable. Many gamers consider this game as one of the most influential video games ever made. It won several “Game of the Year” awards. Final Fantasy VII also boosted Playstation sales and establishing the console’s reputation for popular role-playing games! The successes of Final Fantasy VII have no doubt instilled a landmark that generally adds up to the video gaming history!
8. Pong (1972)
Many would wonder why Pong will make it to this list. Well, why wouldn’t it? Asides from the fact that it was one of the best arcade video game classics of the ’70s, this simplistic video game are the very one that changed the world of games! It is simply a table tennis-themed arcade video game that employs 2-dimensional graphics. Here, players are to simply compete against each other in a simulated table tennis match. Now, here’s why it makes it to this list, even as number 8!
First, in the history of video games, Pong was the first commercially successful video game. It simply helped to firmly establish the video game industry. After Pong‘s release, numerous Pong clones emerged as companies set out to develop games with similar gameplay. Many wouldn’t be wrong to say that there would arguably be no video games today without Pong. Due to its cultural impact, Pong is now a permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The history of video gaming is simply incomplete without the mention of Pong!
7. Super Mario Bros (1985)
Here comes another Super Mario series on the 7th place that runs across three powerful video gaming decades. And this time, it is no other but Super Mario Bros! This platform game follows Mario’s adventures. This game features the fictional Mushroom Kingdom. Here, Luigi joined by his brother, Mario, and occasionally by other Mario cast. The player is to run and jump across platforms as well as atop enemies in respective themed levels. Mario is to rescue the kidnapped Princess Peach from Bowser, the series’ antagonist. As the game proceeds, there are many power-ups and other items that gifts Mario superpowers, like throwing fireball and changing sizes into both a giant and a miniature size!
Gaming historians often credit this 7th place game as the game that revived the ’80s gaming world after its massive crash. Incidentally, Super Mario Bros. happens to be the first game in the series that was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This is one of the greatest games in the franchise. Also, Super Mario Bros. makes up a part of the 330 million Super Mario games that Nintendo has sold worldwide. It has now come as the third-bestselling video game series that is notable all over the world. Super Mario Bros is a game that deserves all the plaudits it gets, being a game that has started a multi-billion franchise. What’s more, it is a game that has a significant cultural and historical history in the game industry!
6. Space Invaders (1978)
With these three decades in view, Space Invaders comes up at 6th place. Being the first arcade shooter video game ever, and arguably the best video game to come from the ’70s decade, it deserves to be on this list! In this game, players are to defeat aliens that descend. As they come in different waves, players are to defeat these aliens with horizontal moving lasers. As more aliens are shot, the more points are earned.
Gamers note Space Invaders to have served as a quintessential example for subsequent ‘shooting enemies above’ video games. Tomohiro Nishikado created the game for Taito. This game somewhat launched the videogame industry from relative obscurity to an amazing worldwide phenomenon! Many people played it, which impressively grossed $3.8 billion as of 1982 and accrued $450 million! So, it was the unbeatable best-selling video game at the time, which greatly grossed worldwide. To date, gamers often consider Space Invaders as one of the most influential video games that came from the ’70s decade, which gave inspiration for several other video games and designs across other genres! Hence, for its cultural and historical accolades and its impact in the video gaming world, Space Invaders deserves all the plaudits it had, is, and could ever get!
5. Super Mario World (1990)
Making its way to take the number 5 spot on this list is Super Mario World! This is unarguably one of the most loved of the Mario franchise. In this edition, Mario retains his quest to save Princess Peach from Bowser. Added to this is the quest to also save Dinosaur Land. He is to defeat Koopalings as he goes through a series of levels to attain his goal. This game introduced Yoshi, a dinosaur capable of eating enemies. He also gains special abilities when he eats the shells of Koopa.
This game comes with its wittiness, the classic, challenging level designs, as well as the strategic wealth of layered secrets that make it a widely beloved game of all time! Even though it came in at the beginning of the ’90s decade, it made its way into the hearts of many, standing the test of time and becoming one of the best video games ever. Often, gamers consider Pac-Man as the best 2D platformer game ever made. It came in to usher a commercially successful, groundbreaking hit – selling over 20 million copies! Super Mario World has earned a reputation as the best-selling SNES game! To this very day, several gamers cite Pac-Man as one of the best video games ever made. Hence, this game has earned its spot as the number 5 on this list!
4. Pac-Man (1980)
Standing on this list as the third runner up is Pac-Man! Not only is this one of the most influential and popular games to emerge from the ’80s, but it is also one of the best games of all time! This Maze arcade game is pretty simple. Here, players are to control Pac-Man and move him towards eating all the dots that are placed inside an enclosed maze and, at the same time, avoid four colored ghosts. As the game proceeds, if Pac-Man eats any large flashing dots known as ‘energizers,’ it causes the ghosts to turn blue, making them vulnerable. Here, Pac-Man can, in turn, eat them during this period for bonus points!
This brilliant game is one of Namco’s masterpiece. All love it as it appeals to both men and women, boys and girls. It gave the game industry something uniquely different but still thrilling when space shooters and sports games filled the scene. In the process, this birthed a unique game genre that gamers still play even today!
Pac-Man has enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success, making it one video game with a potent cultural legacy. Due to the tremendous success of this 4th placed game, it has led to several sequels, two TV series, merchandise, and even a hit single! It has no doubt remained one of the highest-grossing and best-selling game series of all time! That’s because, as of 2016, it has done well to generate over $14 billion in revenue and $43 million in sales! Pac-Man is the mascot and flagship icon of Bandai Namco Entertainment and has the highest brand awareness as far as any video game character is concerned in North America!
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
What makes the number 3 spot on this phenomenal list is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! Being one of the very bests from the ‘90s decade and one of the best video games of all times, Ocarina of Time doesn’t disappoint with its adventurous story. As the game proceeds, it tells the story of the protagonist, Link, who is tricked by Ganondorf, the master of the Gerudo thieves. He tricks him by using Link to gain access to the Sacred Realm. Here, he indulges the Triforce and turns the amazing Hyrulean landscape into a barren wasteland. Hence, the player is to control Link and fix the problem. To do so, Link is to travel through time as he gathers the powers of the Seven Sages with the help of Rauru to restore sanity! Pretty adventurous!
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding games to have come from these three decades of excellence. It is the 5th game in the Legend of Zelda series. Interestingly, it was the first of the series to employ 3D graphics for more fun-filled gaming. With it came amazing features like a target-lock system and context-sensitive buttons. All, which is now a very common feature in 3D adventure games. The game received lots of love, praises, accolades, and award since it came into existence. Aside from the gameplay and story of the game, which is brilliant, critics and gamers often consider this game’s soundtrack as one of the best of all times!
Notably, several publications placed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at the very top of their list as the greatest video game from the ’90s as well as the greatest video game ever made! Also, the game experienced huge success in selling over 7 million copies worldwide. It was the best-selling game that existed in the US in 1998, earning more than three times more pre-orders as compared to any other video game!
2. Half-Life (1998)
The first runner up that makes its way as the 2nd place video game on this list is no other but Half-Life! This game simply never goes out of style! Here, the player controls Gordon Freeman, a scientist that must do everything needed to get out of the Black Mesa Research Facility. However, to do this, he must face and overcome the aliens that have invaded the entire facility. Battles are engaged in a classic shooting spree as Gordon Freeman is fully armed with various weapons. Here, players have to think smart to survive!
Gamers credit this game with the revolution of the first-person shooter genre with its amazing level design and gameplay. It brilliantly combines the fantastic tradition of Stephen King’s storytelling, coupled with intense action and technology. This births a frighteningly realistic game outlook! Unlike many other games, Half-Life creatively tells its story through scripted sequences from the viewpoint of Gordon Freeman, which enable players with an almost uninterrupted control of him!
Moreover, this game has won more than 50 Game of the Year awards from numerous publications across the world! With this, Half-Life easily cemented itself as one of the most influential FPS games ever created! This game was highly commercially successful, having sold over 9 million copies across the world as of 2008. Valve has ported the game to several platforms then later created sequels that came to add immerse value in the video game industry. Not only is this game arguably the best video game from the ’90s, but it is also unarguably one of the best video games in history!
1. Tetris (1984)
Number 1 on this list goes to the phenomenal Tetris! This brilliant tile-matching video game built on simple rules, requiring intelligence and skill, is unarguably one of the greatest early video games! In this game, players are to complete lines by carefully moving different shaped pieces known as ‘tetrominoes.’ These shaped pieces descend on the playing field as the game progresses. Once lines are completed, they disappear and grant the player points, enabling the play to fill other vacated spaces. When the playing field is filled, it is game over. The longer players can delay this inevitable outcome, the higher their scores!
Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov, a Russian software engineer. This game was a huge success even in a period where video gaming was seeing difficulties. It will interest you to know that this game has survived the test of time, having sold 202 million copies as of 2011! It sold 70 million physical units and 132 million paid mobile game downloads. This easily makes it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time! The Game Boy version, which came in way earlier, is particularly one of the best-selling games of all time, having sold over 35 million copies! It will also interest you to know that Tetris is available on over 65 platforms. That set a Guinness world record for the most ported video game title ever. This game has deeply rooted within popular culture, and its popularity transcends beyond the walls of video games.
Tetris has left its impact on our Culture!
The imagery alone has influenced cosplay, architecture, and even music. Tetris has gone ahead to be the subject of several research studies. Scholars have analyzed the theoretical complexity this game possesses and have gone further to show its effect on the human brain after a session, which is called the Tetris effect! This game has modest health benefits like PTSD prevention as well as cravings control. It has gone ahead to generate life lessons that are enshrouded in this apocryphal truism: if Tetris has taught me anything, it is that errors pile up and accomplishments disappear. This game truly deserves the number 1 spot, no doubt!
FINAL THOUGHTS!
These video games were not only phenomenal at the time; they also marked historical heights in the video game industry! They sure came out to be part of the greatest offerings for gaming both in their times and in the world, as they respectively dominated their decades both in standard and in popularity. It is noteworthy to say that the video games on this list became part of popular culture. They did well to gift gamers the pleasure of entertainment in all ramifications!
Author: Chris Ingledue
Contact: email
Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their own versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!