Going Old School

Let's look at a couple of Golden Age classics. Since they are all short games (in a manner of speaking) I'll cover 3 good ones.

Space Invaders:

Everyone has played this game. Aliens move back and forth across the screen (in what is called "waves"), and you, the lone space ship set to save Earth, must kill all the aliens. One of the earliest of the Shmups (as they are called), Space Invaders was ingenious in its simplicity. While it starts slow, the less aliens there are, the faster they move, and the harder it gets.

There have been ports and revamps of the classic game, but nothing really beats plain old Space Invaders.

Adventure:

Of all the games I'm covering today, Adventure is the only one to not get out of the Golden Age of gaming unscathed. Far as I know it never had a sequel, and while the game is fun, few people have spent the time playing it that it truly deserves.

Adventure is one of the first ever console RPGs, although the term can only be loosely applied. You, the lone yellow brick, must venture through the various landscapes of pixelated blobs to find the thinger that looks like a key, while avoiding poorly drawn dragons (that vaguely resemble Trogdor), all to get the Chalice of Game Victory (as I like to call it).

It featured multiple challenge levels (something not often seen at the time) and unlike most games of the era, relied little of twitch game play. For the era it was deep and involving. Quite the Game.

Honestly though, I really have no clue how a sequel or revamp would play. By today's standards the game play is simplistic, and while fun on it's own, there are much more involved RPG/RPAs out there. Thus, the spiritual predecessor to the Zeldas and Manas of the world came and went without a current game to call its own.

Pitfall:

One of the big Kings of the Golden Age, Pitfall is dubbed the first platformer but practically every publication out there. You, Pitfall Harry, must get treasure while avoiding gators and magic pits and logs. Evil, vile logs.

I never really figured out how far the game went, although I did learn there are a set number of screens. I doubt there's an ending to it, but not many can get far enough to find out anyway.

Numerous sequels abound for the game, but none (except maybe for the original Pitfall II) came close to the magic of the first.