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Game obsessed

There are many classic games throughout history that made a difference.  Every Video Game, or Board Game we play today owes something to those early creations.  This list is more about the games that changed things in the modern era, or kept me from seeing the light of day for months.  The games you couldn’t stop playing because at the time there was nothing else quite like it.

The Top 8 Games you just had to play

Dragon’s Lair – I just finished watching the second season of Stranger Things on Netflix.  During one of the early episodes they briefly show the kids collecting quarters to go play Dragon’s Lair at their local Arcade.  It inspired me to write this article actually.  Dragon’s Lair first appeared in Arcades in 1983.  At that time there was nothing even remotely close to it in graphic quality, and story.  All of today’s adventure based video games where you play a recognizable character owe a little something to Dragon’s Lair.  The Laserdisc system was plagued with issues so by the early 90s the Dragon’s Lair Arcade machines were mostly gone.  Very few people ever mastered the timing and moves necessary to defeat the Dragon.  I was one of the few.  There’s a common misconception that you needed to get through each room to reach the Dragon’s Lair.  Actually the Lair was triggered after reaching a certain number of points.  The point threshold could be adjusted for difficulty so in most cases you would have to play some of the rooms multiple times before you reached the Dragon’s Lair.  People who claim to have beaten the game but actually haven’t won’t know that.  To this day it’s still one of my two favourite Arcade games.  The console versions that came out later never quite did it justice.

Gauntlet – In case you hadn’t already guessed Gauntlet was the other Arcade game.  Originally released in 1985 Gauntlet didn’t suffer from the Laserdisc issues Dragon’s Lair did.  Up until the fall of the Arcades in the late 90s, Gauntlet remained a very popular game.  What set it apart from so many others was the four player cooperative play.  There had been many two player cooperative games but they didn’t have the same allure as four player Gauntlet.  Gauntlet will be for many people the first video game they ever played cooperatively with strangers.  Quite often a couple best friends would visit the Arcade together, and end playing Gauntlet for hours with a couple total strangers.  By the end of that Gauntlet marathon those strangers were now friends.  For those of you that never played Gauntlet in the Arcades, you might have thought that hours of playing was an exaggeration.  It wasn’t.  In Gauntlet your quarters bought you a predetermind amount of life points.  The more quarters you added, the more life your character had.  As long as you kept adding quarters, you could keep playing.  On top of that you could add additional life points by picking up food during the game.  If you knew what you were doing, had great players to play with, and a bucket load of quarters.  You could practically play all day.  Trust me I did.  I spent enough money playing that game to have bought one outright.  Gauntlet was the first of the real time dungeon crawler video games, and one of the first true multiplayer games as well.  Some of the most successful video games like Diablo, and Destiny owe a lot of their success to Gauntlet.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle – If you are a tabletop gamer you will know about Warhammer Fantasy.  Chances are good that if you regularly visit gaming stores you will have at least seen it being played.  Without Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop gaming would never have taken off the way it did.  As much as it’s a game, it’s also a hobby.  Allowing players to demonstrate their painting skills, army composition, and display creativity.  The first edition released in 1983, but after many expansions and new editions is still being played today.  If you are a tabletop gamer, the success of Warhammer Fantasy Battle is why.  Everything from Heroclix to X-wing owe their success to Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

Magic the Gathering – When Wizards of the Coast hired Richard Garfield to help them create a competitive Collectible Card Game.  I doubt they ever imagined the success, and effect that it would have on gaming in general.  First released in 1993, and continuing on with new expansions to this day.  Magic the Gathering remains the most successful of all the Collectible Card Games on the market.  Responsible for creating the online Card Game community, a professional Collectible Card Gaming tour, and valuable Individual Card market for something other than Sports Players.  If you played Pokemon, you can thank Magic the Gathering.  Yu-Gi-Oh wouldn’t have existed without Magic the Gathering.  Countless Card Games based on well known franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, the WWE, any many others wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for Magic the Gathering paving the way.  I’ve bought, sold, and traded a small fortunes worth of Magic the Gathering cards.  I’ve even been part owner in a couple of stores dedicated to the CCG market that game created.  It’s hard to find a more influential game that was created in the 90s.

HeroQuest – Simply put HeroQuest was the Board Game version of a Video Game dungeon crawler.  Recreating the cooperative experience from Gauntlet in a simple to play tile board, and miniatures game at home.  More importantly it made previously complicated game genres more accessible to the average person.  Not everyone is interested in painting an entire Warhammer Army, and then measuring out each, and every troop movement to play the game.  Not everyone has the interest, or imagination to enjoy playing a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign.  HeroQuest didn’t require painting, replaced rulers with gridded tiles, and gave Fantasy Players something they could see.  Games Workshop partnered with Milton Bradley to create the game released in 1989.  They realized that their Warhammer Fantasy Battle game only appealed to a hardcore audience.  HeroQuest served as a way to get the average player interested in miniature gaming.  Then maybe their interest would continue to grow, and eventually become Warhammer Fantasy Battle Players. This wasn’t necessarily the case because the story was just as important as the battle.  As a result Games Workshop released their own version of HeroQuest, although far more advanced called Warhammer Quest in 1995.  Board Game dungeon crawlers remain as some of the most appealing games to a wide audience.  Their simplicity of play, story, character advancement, and group dynamic make them one of my personal favourites.  For those of you that read my The Gamer in me posts, you will already know that I’m a huge fan of Imperial Assault.  If you love Board Games, but have a difficult time talking your friends into playing.  Do yourself a favour, and figure out which genre is most appealing to your group of friends, and pick up a cooperative dungeon crawler board game.  If you can get them to play it just once, they will be hooked.

Wing Commander 3 – This could already have many of you searching Google for what Wing Commander 3 is.  To understand it’s importance you need to know a little about home console gaming first. Home consoles effectively took over from the Arcades in the early 2000s in what is referred to as the 128 bit era.  The generation of consoles that came out before that were the first to incorporate 3D graphics.  It was during this time that the possibility of buying a home console system could keep you from going out to an Arcade.  The first of these 3D era consoles was the Panasonic 3DO. You read that right.  Panasonic made a home game system.  It was actually quite good as well.  Consoles had just switched from cartridges to Discs, and Wing Commander 3 was their crowning achievement in 1995.  The cut scenes were actually film quality.  Something that would be adapted for many future Video Games.  Actual recognized actors were used for the main characters.  A practice that has continued to this day.  The game played like you were a participant in a movie.  Much like modern Video Games Heavy Rain, Until Dawn, and The Last of Us.  If you have never seen it played.  Check out some videos on YouTube, and remember that this game was on consoles in 1995.

Counter-Strike – Are you a fan of First Person Shooters?  Do you absolutely love online multiplayer?  Well give the makers of Counter-Strike a call and thank them.  Counter-Strike released in 2000 set the bar when it comes to online multiplayer First Person Shooters.  Sure there were other FPS games before it but Counter-Strike perfected the genre.  Every FPS game that’s come out since owes a debt of gratitude to Counter-Strike.  Small unit tactical combat, deathmatch, objective based missions, and balanced map design were all executed  perfectly by the Counter-Strike development team.  I’ve never been a huge fan of online multiplayer FPS, but I did like MAG, and the Killzone series so thank you Counter-Strike.

Resident Evil 7 VR – Quite simply the most immersive experience that you can have playing a Virtual Reality Video Game.  There are a number of Virtual Reality titles available across multiple platforms, but none of them capture the realism, and mood of their respective games better than Resident Evil 7 VR.  The game can be genuinely scary at times when you play the regular version.  In Virtual Reality the full 18 hours of game play could leave you frightened to the point where therapy is required.  Isn’t that the whole point behind the Virtual Reality experience?  To feel like you aren’t just playing the game, but actually a part of it.  Virtual Reality is still in it’s infancy, and by no means is it inexpensive.  If you are battling with the merits of becoming an early adopter.  Do yourself a favour, and give Resident Evil 7 a try.  If that doesn’t sell you on the value of a Virtual Reality game system then nothing else will.  There’s a very good chance that you will be opening your wallet and joining the ever growing ranks of VR Gamers though.

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