1960s-1970s Games That Were Innovative and/or Ahead of Their Time (Misc. Platforms)
New genres 1960s: Gravitar-like Shooter (2-player vs), Edutainment/Economy Sim, Minesweeper precursor (turn-based puzzle), Text-based TBS/Proto-Building & Management Sim.
1962:
SpaceWar!/Space War (PDP-1, 1962/A2600, 1978) - Vs. Shooter/Proto Gravitar-like, 2-player vs., Single Screen, TD view
-Inertia-based controls
-Loop around mechanic when moving outside of the screen
-Rotation controls (l/r rotates, up thrusts)
-Can control the path your bullets take
-Inspired by the science fiction stories of E.E. Smith
1964:
The Sumerian Game (IBM 1050 terminal connected to a time-shared IBM 7090 mainframe computer and a slide projector) - Edutainment; http://www.acriticalhit.com/sumerian-game-most-important-video-game-youve-never-heard/
Late 1960s: Minesweeper or an earlier variant on it (which in turn is based on Cube and Rlogic) - Puzzle, TD view; Commercially released in 1989 when it was bundled with Windows
Electro-mechanical arcade games:
Periscope (1966) - First arcade game with quarter play
Duck Hunt (1968) - First arcade game with video projection display (precursor to arcade video games)
Missile (1969) - First game with joystick controls
1968:
Hamurabi (PDP8, 1968/PC, 1973) - Text-based TBS/Proto-Building & Management Sim
-Resource management (people, acres of land, bushels of grain - can feed your people or plant more)
-Buy or sell land in exchange for grain
-Advisor NPC (reports status of the city, including the prior year's harvest and change in population, followed by a series of questions as to how many bushels of grain to spend on land, seeds, and feeding the people)
-Random land price and bushel amount generation for each round
-Chance of a plague each year/round
-Turn limit (10 rounds/years)
-Basic ranking system in the 1973 version with titles handed out at the end of a game
New genres 1970s: Proto-Life Sim/Interactive Art, FP view Free-Roaming shooter (electromechanical) & TD view Free-Roaming Shooter, Precursors to Rogue/Maze/Horror, FPS w/ convincing wireframe 3D using 2D graphics, Pong/Maze hybrid (2-player vs (goal is to chase the other player)), Shop Management Sim, FMV Light Gun Shooter (Light Gun games and shooting gallery games had existed in some form since the 1930s), Racing (against the clock), Basketball Sim/Pong variation, Arena Combat/Multi-Directional vs. Shooter (tank-based), MMO Space Flight/Combat Sim/Trading, Flight Combat Sim, RPG/Dungeon Crawler (TD view, FP view), Text Adventure, Snake-like, Pseudo 3D TP view Racing, Boxing, Proto-4X TBS? (Empire), 4-Player vs. Racing, SV Horse Racing/Platformer precursor, MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), TD view Shoot 'Em Up (single screen), Maze/Proto-Platform Adventure w/ flight (Action Adventure), 3D vector Racing, 3D wire-frame Flight Sim, RTT/Gallery Shooter Hybrid, Stealth (TD view), Vertical Scrolling Shoot 'em up, Trap 'em up/Single Screen Maze Action, Spaceship Landing Sim/Proto Gravitar-like, Proto-Cover Shooter, Action/Proto-Horror (Underwater-based), Vs. Fighting,
1970:
Game of Life (PC?, 1970) - Basic Life Sim/Interactive Art
High Noon (PC, 1970) - Text-based Gunfight Duel Sim (turn-based combat)
-Multiple endings
-6 action commands (advance, stand still, take cover, give up, run)
Electro-mechanical arcade games:
Jet Rocket (1970) - Earliest first-person shooting flight sim with non-linear open map, free-roaming shooter, proto-open world
1971:
Star Trek (Sigma 7, 1971) - TBS/Proto Rogue-like (ASCII-based, turn-based, grid-based world map, procedurally generated maps, perma-death)
-Map feature
Computer Space (ARC, 1971) - SpaceWar-like (thrust-based arena shooter), Single Screen, Top down view
-See SpaceWar
-First commercial and coin-op game (Galaxy Game is the first coin-op one but was limited to Stanford University)
-First video game with sound effects?
Oregon Trail (HP 2100, 1971) - Survival Sim/Edutainment, Text-based
1972:
Hunt the Wumpus (Mainframe, 1972 or 1973/TI-99/4A, 1981 (graphical remake)) - Text-based Adventure, Precursor to Rogue/Maze/Horror
-Input commands via a CLI (move or shoot)
-Interconnected world of 20 rooms where each room is connected to three others (dodecahedron shaped map)
-Bat enemy that can pick you up and drop you in a random room location including a pit - later used in Superman and Adventure
-No inventory or inventory item-based puzzles
-Gives you a warning text about the wumpus, bat or a pit when in a room next to one
Pong (ARC, 1972) - Table Tennis, 2-player vs, TD view
-Ricocheting ball physics
-Paddle controls
-Popularized arcade video games
-Basic difficulty curve (the ball moves faster and faster) - "Feeling the basic game was too boring, Alcorn added features to give the game more appeal. He divided the paddle into eight segments to change the ball's angle of return. For example, the center segments return the ball at a 90° angle in relation to the paddle, while the outer segments return the ball at smaller angles. He also made the ball accelerate the longer it remained in play; missing the ball reset the speed." - Wikipedia/And then there was Pong
1973:
Pong Doubles (1973) & Leader (1973) - Table Tennis, 4-player vs
-Ricocheting ball physics
Maze War (1973) - FPS w/ convincing wireframe 3D using 2D graphics, Semi-tile based movement?; Map feature, death animations
Empire ver. 1-3 (PLATO, 1973-1974) - Arena shooter/strategy (seems inspired by Risk), Network MP (seven teams and 50 players in the third version)
-Probably the first networked multiplayer game (although Maze War is another candidate for this category)
-Maps are many screens in size
Gotcha (ARC, 1973) - Pong/Maze hybrid, 2-player vs (goal is to chase the other player), Single screen; Constantly changing level layout
Lemonade Stand (1973) - Shop management Sim, Turn-based
Space Race (1973) - 2-player vs. Racing/Action (Frogger Precursor), Side View
-Avoid the hazards gameplay
Moonlander (1973) - Inertia-based flight, Side view
-One of the first games with a secret/easter egg in it: Flying far enough will lead you to a McDonald's, and landing near it makes your astronaut walk into the restaurant and order a "TWO CHEESEBURGERS AND A BIG MAC TO GO". You can also land on the McDonald's and destroy it, causing the game to call you a clod.
1974:
Wild Gunman (ARC, 1974) - Light Gun Shooter, First FMV Game
Balloon Gun (ARC, 1974) - Shooting Gallery, 2-player vs
-Earliest arcade video game with first-person shooting and analog stick (positional gun)
Speed Race (ARC, 1974) - Racing (against the clock), Top Down View
-First vertical scrolling game
-Opponent cars
-Basic crashes (if you touch an opponent)
-Difficulty options
Basketball/TV Basketball (ARC, 1974) - Basketball Sim/Pong variation, Side view
-Human avatars
-Rudimentary "jumping"
Tank (1974) - Arena Combat, TD view, 2-player vs.
-Mines
-Non-destructible walls
Spasim (1974) - MMO Space Flight/Combat Sim, Wireframe 3D, FP view, Trading
-Online multiplayer (network MP)
-Players can switch their perspective between their ship, their starting space station, and torpedoes they have launched, in addition to changing the angle and magnification zoom of their camera
-Educational component: players enter instructions to move their spaceships using polar coordinates, e.g. altitude and azimuth, along with acceleration, while their position in space is given in Cartesian coordinates
-Controlled through single-key text inputs on the keyboard
-"An updated version of the game was released a few months after the initial release that added strategy and resource management; each team's planet has resources, population levels, and standard of living. Players spend their planet's supply of "anti-entropy" on powering their spaceship or managing their planet. Teams compete or cooperate in order to gain enough resources to reach a far distant planet. Mismanaging a team's resources or over-reliance on combat causes dissatisfaction on the players' planets, and can lead to a "planetary proletariat revolt" which greatly reduces the planet's population and resources.[5][3]"
-1 frame per second gameplay
Pin Pong (ARC, 1974) - Pinball
1975:
Indy 800 (ARC) - Racing, TD View, Single Screen, 8-Player vs. (!)
Western Gun/Gun Fight (ARC, 1975) - Free-Roaming Shooter, 2-player vs., Top Down View
"...combined action gameplay with an open-world adventure environment", "It was the first on-foot shooter, the first on-foot multi-directional shooter, introduced human combat..."
-Codex Gamicus, https://gamicus.gamepedia.com/Western_Gun
-Dual stick/twin stick controls
-8-way movement, movement in 8 directions
-Ricocheting bullets
-Some destructible obstacles
-Two different versions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Fight
-Basic dynamic difficulty balancing: "This head-to-head shoot-em-up would aid whichever player had just been shot, by placing a fresh additional object, such as a Cactus plant, on their half of the play-field making it easier for them to hide." - Wikipedia. This is only sort of true since it's not necessarily an advantage without cover shooter mechanics
Interceptor (ARC, 1975) - Flight Combat Sim, FP View
-First multi-directional scrolling game
-First sprite scaling game?
-Time limit
Dungeon (1975 or 1976), pedit5 (1975), dnd (1975) - First RPG games (no classes yet), Rogue-like/Dungeon Crawler precursors, TD view
-Quarter and half turns+time limited turns (one turn is about 3 mins long)
-Character creation (name, 5 character stats (strength, intelligence, constitution, dexterity, hit points)) - can also choose between 15 pre-made chars
-16 spells (magical: sleep, charm, light, magic missile, esp, speed, invisibility, blastbolt; clerical: cure, detect evil, protection from evil, pray, serious cure, hold person, continual light, dispel myth)
-Random encounters (every fourth turn) and some spells that affect their rate
-Can break through doors
-Some hidden doors which you have a 1/6 chance to discover when passing by them
-Can only escape from monsters in corridors (based on level)
-Can only level up by leaving the dungeon (treasure brought out of it also yields exp)
-Dungeon features a basic bestiary (shows sprites representing categories of monster and lists what those monsters are, then it lists their HP and EXP value on a separate page)
-(dnd) Potions which you can study, examine, sip or quaff them (11 possible effects including astral form (allows you to pass through walls and floors - the first ability gate type tool? Although probably optional+you can't carry gold or the orb while using it so it's mainly for scouting), invisibility (flee easier) and levitation (walk over pits))
-(dnd) Attribute or exp raising items in the books (however it's equally common for them to be bombs, can turn books off)
-(dnd) Some other interesting items (HP regeneration ring, elven boots - reduce random encounters, rings of invisibility and swiftness - easier to escape random encounters, magic amulet - tells you how likely you are to win in physical combat against a monster, magic lantern - reveals hidden doors, bags of holding - increase amount of gold you can carry)
-(dnd) One special encounter in a monster that makes you pay all the gold and magic items you're carrying, half of your accumulated gold and half your exp to avoid fighting it (monsters might also offer this when they're about to kill you during combat)
-(dnd) Boss monster in the Dragon that guards the orb
-Difficulty curve (based on how much gold you're carrying in dnd and you can drop gold to lower it)
-(dungeon) While carrying the orb which you're supposed to take out of the dungeon you encounter tougher monsters - can drop it if you need to
moria (1975) - One of the first RPG games (Dungeon Crawler), FP view
-Multiplayer parties connected over a network (the game continues after a character dies)
-Use-based stat progression (later used in Dungeon Master and Final Fantasy II)
-Character creation (four stats, pick between four different setups rather than rolling dice, no classes)
-A simplistic 3D wireframe depiction of the dungeon
-Dynamically-generated content (?)
-Complex for its time battle system taking into consideration four base statistics that derive into numerous others and featuring attacking, bribing, tricking, spellcasting, fleeing, and item use)
-Players are able to combine into a party or separate in-game
-Hunger mechanic
-"Tie a string" mechanic - works like a teleport beacon however it disappears when moving between floors and can even be cut off by monsters if you're unlucky
-Can set up camp to store gold and food
Steeplechase (ARC, 1975) - Horse Racing/Platformer precursor, Side View, 6-player vs. (single button controls)
-First side scrolling video game
Panther (PLATO, 1975) - 3D Vehicle Sim (Tank)
-Decent framerate for the time
Shark Jaws (1975) - Action/Proto-Horror, Underwater-based, Side View
-Catch fish while being chased by a shark
1976:
Colossal Cave Adventure (PDP-10, 1976/PC, ) - First text adventure and work of interactive fiction, Collectarthon/Treasure hunt (5 treasures)
-Text command inputs (basic text parser - 1-2 word commands only, contextual to the area or room)
-Inventory puzzles
-Score and turn counters
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
-Named rooms (dozens of different rooms)
-First cheat code in a game?
Blockade (ARC, 1976) - First Snake-like game
Road Race (1976) - Earliest use of pseudo-3D third-person perspective with sprite scaling
Fonz (1976) - First game with force-feedback rumble and licensed character (from Happy Days)
Heavyweight Champ (1976) - First game with hand-to-hand fighting and motion-based controllers
Breakout (1976) - Block Breaking/Pong Variation, Action Puzzle, Single Screen
-Partially destructible environment
Indy 4 (ARC, 1976) - Racing, TD view, 4-player vs
-Early example of color graphics (cars and text signifying the different players)
Sea Wolf (ARC, 1976) - Gallery Shooter, Proto-fixed shooter (see Space Invaders), FP view (high angle)
-First video game to log high scores
-Periscope peripheral (created an illusion of perspective)
Amazing Maze (1976) - Maze, TD view
-Continuous in-game music
1977:
Empire/Classic Empire (PC, 1977/PCs, 1987) - TBS, Proto-4x?, LAN Multi-player
-Resource management
-Unexplored terrain represented as a black shroud (might've been added in the 1987 ver. only)
Super Bug (ARC, 1977/) - Racing, Top down; One of the first games with scrolling
-Multidirectional scrolling
Street Racer (A2600, 1977) - 4-player vs. simultaneous (1-4)
Bomber (1977) - Action/Bombing, Single Screen; destructible environment
Sega Vic Dual (1977) - First arcade system with 8/16-bit microprocessor (Zilog Z80)
Combat (A2600, 1977) - Vehicle-based (Tanks) Arena Combat/Multi-directional shooter, Top down view
Zork (PDP-10, 1977/PC, ) - Early text adventure
-Inventory puzzles
-Non-linear structure?
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
Oubliette (1977) - RPG/Dungeon Crawler (party-based)
-Player avatar selection
-Buy or find items - weapons, helms, cloaks, boots, armor, torches, potions, and other items
Drag Race (1977) - Racing, Tilted view
-Split-screen
Circus (ARC, 1977) - Proto-platformer/Breakout variant, Single screen, Side view
-Bouncing and seesaw physics
1978:
Beneath Apple Manor (AII, 1978/AII+, 1979/1982/1983) - Rogue-like/precursor RPG, Top down view
-First commercial RPG for a home computer
-Manual stat allocation (buy stats with exp, no char creation)
-Unusual save feature (removed when quitting the current run, pay to save system, respawn where you saved with minor stat reductions and your gold lost)
-Procedurally generated dungeons aka random map generation (can pick between 4 and 20 rooms per level) - Star Trek (Sigma 7, 1971) had procedurally generated maps
-Locked chests (can attempt to break the locks)
-Gain exp from gold
-Four magic items (magic wand 1 - infinite zap spells, wand 2 - opens doors, magic sword and armor - ?) and one magic potion (clairvoyance - reveals the unexplored territory). There is only one of each item in each game and it never "runs out" so the effect is permanent even for the potion
-Trapped chests
-4 spells (zap, heal, x-ray, teleport - to a random tile on the current floor)
-Listen (for monsters) and inspect (for secret doors; happened automatically in Dungeon) commands
-Can break or kick a door open - Dungeon
-Can drop gold (why?)
-Wait/rest command (1-9 turns or until rested)
-Difficulty options (1-10)
-Unexplored terrain represented as black tiles - later used in Rogue, Civilization, Toejam & Earl, Dune 2, etc.
MUD1 (PDP-10, 1978/PC, ) - First Virtual World/Multi-User Dungeon (MMO), Text-based (text parser)
-Basic character creation (name and sex)
-Goal is to become a wizard or witch by accumulating 102,400 points through collecting and dumping treasure at a specific spot or killing other players
-Points also determine player level and there are three stats (stamina (what the game calls HP), strength and dexterity)
-Can look around and interact with various objects and characters
-Perma-death from fights but not traps or jumping off a cliff
-Temporary death leads to a corpse run (first game to have them?) - the player is booted and all items are dropped on the spot
-Lose points from fleeing from a fight (the opponent gains points from this)
-HP regenerates from sleep or when not playing the game
Adventureland (TRS-80/1978/Multi) - Text Adventure
-Save feature
Space Invaders (ARC, 1978) - Shoot 'Em Up, Top Down View, Proto-Cover Shooter, Single Screen
-Space shooter
-Music/jingle gets faster the closer the aliens get
-Destructible objects - Bomber
-Extra lives system
-Risk/reward mechanics - The first risk/reward mechanic here is sometimes called the "wall of death" or "death row", and requires a bit of setup as seen in the footage. When the remaining alien invaders are just one row above the player's ship/cannon, it actually can't be hit by their attacks, so a player can let them get that close to be able to pick off an entire row of them without the risk of being shot, but at the risk of then getting taken out by the last invader, which as anyone who's played it knows, moves the fastest. Since one has to hit an enemy to be able to quickly shoot again (there can only be one player shot on screen at a time), players have to be very exact when timing their last shots. It is theorized by some that this "temporary safe spot" feature was unintentional (just like the invaders speeding up was at first), but was kept in the game due to positive feedback from players. This point-blank range maneuver is generally not more risky than playing normally actually, if you remember the setup, but there is the risk of the invaders starting out traveling in the other direction (usually in a 2-player alternating game). You then have to flip the setup to make up for it.
The other risk/reward mechanic is found in the special "mystery ship" which will occasionally move across the top of the screen, awarding bonus points if destroyed (which lead to extra lives and bases/shields). As you can imagine, focusing too much on these will quickly get you shot and the wave of invaders will have more time to move closer as well (even if you do the wall of death setup, you eventually need to shift your focus), so it's good to use some strategy in how you take out the invaders and how you position your ship.
-Difficulty curve that goes back down at the beginning of each new level
Dungeon Campaign and Space (AII, 1978) - Early commercial RPGs
Get-A-Way (ARC, 1978) - Racing (against the clock), Top Down View
-Fairly impressive visuals for the time (multi-color sprites)
1979:
Star Raiders (Atari 8-bit, 1979) - Space Combat Sim, 2.5D (3D movement, sprite ships)
-Warp (hyperspace fast travel mechanic, on higher difficulties you need to steer while using this) - can select the goal on a galactic map
-Enemy radar (mid range and long range - latter changes the view to top down?)
-Rearview camera toggle
-Particle explosions
-Subsystem damage (parts of your ship can be damaged individually; shields, engines, weapons, targeting computer, and scanners can be damaged or completely destroyed)
-Basic rank system
-"Many games heavily inspired by Star Raiders appeared, such as Starmaster (Atari 2600), Space Spartans (Intellivision), Moonbeam Express (TI-99/4A),[29] Codename MAT (ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC), Star Voyager (Atari 2600) and Star Luster (Famicom–Japan only).[5] Neubauer's own Solaris, for the Atari 2600, is both similar and in some ways more sophisticated than his earlier game, despite the difference in technology between the two systems.[5]Star Raiders inspired later space combat games like Elite, the Wing Commander series and BattleSphere.[5]" - Wikipedia
Temple of Apshai (TRS-80/Commodore PET, 1979/C64, 1985 (Remake)) - Dungeon Crawler RPG, TD View, Turn-based/Real-time hybrid (If the player doesn't make any input for a while, the enemies continue to move and attack in set intervals regardless), Shops, Character creation
-Ranged weapons
-Fatigue mechanic (the more damage you take, the more stamina/fatigue each action spends)
-Can be found by an NPC if you're knocked out unless you were eaten by a monster (these tend to take some of your items in exchange for saving you)
-No map
-No save
-No fast travel
-Monsters don't follow you between rooms
-Can listen for monsters in adjacent rooms (Q key, random chance of success)
-Talk command
-Hidden doors (search with E (success based on intuition stat), no visual clues as to where these are?) and traps
-Monsters appear one at a time
-Some bugs
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979) - RPG (mainly a Dungeon Crawler), First Person (FP) view dungeons/Top Down (TD) view overworld exploration (cardinal directions)
-Overworld and dungeons structure (several entrances to one big dungeon, where most gameplay takes place). Graphically consists of simple patterns of lines on top of a black background - collections of five squares are towns, the large square with a smaller crossed-over one inside it is Lord British's castle, Xs are dungeons (going into them changes the perspective to first person view), squares are forests, and the lines are mountains. The last two are impassable, serving only as landmarks. The size of the world is 20x20 screens. Towns are identical and dungeons are non-persistent when it comes to loot and monsters, so you really only need to find one dungeon entrance.
-Tile-based movement, Enemies move when you do (no separate battle screen)
-Shops
-Character creation (rolled stats which can't be altered while keeping the same total; strength, dexterity, stamina, wisdom; fighter or mage class; name your char when meeting lord british in the beginning)
-Basic overworld and a single dungeon
-Multiple towns and multiple entrances to the dungeon
-Randomly generated world based on a seed number ("lucky number" picked when starting out - if you pick the same number again you get the same layouts again)
-Hunger mechanic
-Compass feature
-Difficulty options (1-10)
-Thieving enemies and a chest mimic enemy
-Enemies can run away at low HP and can get stuck between you and another enemy since they can't move through each other
-4 spells which can also be cast via the amulet items (blast to get past some walls, two ladder spell which let you go up or down one floor, random transformation spell - can turn you into a toad (bad) or a lizardman (good), ) - these degrade when used
-Respawning enemies
-Wisdom works in an odd way (determines how many monsters you need to kill in your main quest chain and how strong the ones you start out facing are, you'll want to have it low to have a better chance early on)
-One of the first games with NPCs (Lord British, who hands out quests)
-Magic amulet item (can be used in dungeons to ascend or descend a level, shoot a missile, or cast a Transformation spell). Fighters can use an amulet, but only mages can control which of the four effects they get. An amulet has a 25% chance of vanishing after any use
Superman (Atari 2600, 1979) - Maze/Proto-Platform Adventure (no gained abilities or player char upgrades, can fly but not jump), Open world/non-linear structure, Collectathon/Police Sim (capture criminals and bring them to the jail, rebuild the broken bridge by bringing back the three pieces of it to where it was), Mixed perspective (tilted view and top down view), Flip Screen/Multi-Screen (tilted view and top down view - outdoors and indoors respectively)
-Scripted event (enemies blowing up the bridge)
-Object interaction (pick up and carry+drop NPCs and some objects)
-Transform (from clark kent into superman via the phone booth, only use for this is that you need to turn back into clark kent after capturing the criminals and enter the daily planet building as him to complete the game)
-Horizontally looping world (SpaceWar although that one's a SS game) - later used in Defender and SMB2
-Difficulty options (affects enemy speed and how easily lois lane shows up when poisoned)
-"X-ray" vision ability (start with it) - lets you view adjacent screens by holding in that direction (kinda like the binoculars in Metal Gear)
-Chopper enemy that acts like the bat in Adventure (can carry any object it flies into) - can't be destroyed
-The moving cryptonite satellites poison you (can't fly nor carry objects) and you have to touch lois lane to restore your powers
-Confusing but creative layout (tilted view ground movement on outdoors screens however if in Superman form you move north or south you end up in on another screen - used as a shortcut feature apparently, when entering a building there's no exit on the same screen - instead you go d/l/r for a few screens to exit and these play out in top down view - a subway system apparently and you change stops by exiting a screen upwards)
-First licensed game where elements of the license are actually present in the game itself
-Can't die - later used in Wario Land 2
-Pause feature
-"Criminals left" counter in the GUI
-Keeps track of your time but there is no time limit (it's there to gauge how quickly you beat the game)
-Early action game featuring an NPC (lois lane)
Speed Freak (ARC, 1979) - 3D vector Racing (Race against the clock), FP view (see the front of the car but not the cockpit)
-First game with a Z-axis/into the screen movement?
-Airplanes flying above the track
War of Nerves (O2, 1979) - RTT/Proto-squad tactics ("tag by proxy" - goal is to capture the enemy commander with your soldier units), Single screen, TD view, Designed for 2-player vs. (the enemy commander stays put in 1-player)
-Random map layouts
-Players only control the commander unit (other units are handled by the CPU besides the player being able to call their army towards the commander)
-Units are stunned when shot and only the commander can unfreeze them, however the remaining robots gain a speed boost when a friendly unit is knocked out
-Sci-fi theme
Basketball (Atari 400/Atari 800, 1979) - Early Basketball game
-First playable black protagonist
Flight Simulator (Apple II, 1979) - Flight Sim, Free-roaming
-Wire-frame 3D graphics
FS1 Flight Simulator (Apple II/TRS-80, 1979) - Flight Sim, 3D wireframe graphics
Star Hawk (ARC, 1979) - Light Gun-style/Gallery Shooter/Rail Shooter Hybrid (crosshair-based), FP view
-Fairly advanced 3D Vector-based wireframe graphics w/ a smooth framerate
-Enemies break into the lines they're made up of when destroyed
Stratovox (ARC, 1979/1980?) - Fixed Shooter/Single Screen Shoot 'em up (Space Invaders-like)
-The first game with voice samples?
Space Battle (Intellivision, 1979) - RTT/Gallery Shooter Hybrid (move your fleets into enemy fleets to protect your mothership during the first phase then shoot down enemy ships in the second - similar to what Archon did a bit later)
Heiankyo Alien (PC-8001, 1979/ARC, 1980/GB, 1990) - Trap 'em up/Single Screen Maze Action, Top Down View
-Chasing/avoid the enemies gameplay
Manbiki Shounen (Shoplifting Boy)(PET/CBM, 1979) - First Stealth game, Stealth Action/Thieving Sim, Top Down View, Single Screen
-First game with stealing
-Chasing/avoid the enemies gameplay
SOS (ARC, 1979) - First vertical scrolling Shoot 'em up (Ozma Wars released late the same year)
-Military theme
Galaxian (ARC, 1979) - Shoot 'Em Up (Space Invaders-like), Top Down View
-Multi-color sprites (RGB color graphics)
-Sprite line buffer (?)
-Tiled background (tilemap) featuring a vertical scrolling star field
Lunar Lander (ARC, 1979) - Landing Sim, Thrust-based flight, Side view
-Speed and altitude display
-Fuel mechanic
Warrior (ARC, 1979) - Vs. Fighting (2-player vs. only) w/ Arena Fighting elements (two pits), TD view, Single Screen
-Vector-based 3D graphics
-A button to switch between character and weapon modes (twin stick controls were planned but not implemented due to financial constraints)
Sheriff (ARC, 1979), Hangman (TI-99/4A, 1979) - Continuous in-game music (single channel/monophonic; Space Invaders)
Asteroids (ARC, 1979)
-Continuous in-game music (single channel/monophonic; Space Invaders)
-Random teleportation/blinking feature (jump into hyperspace and appear randomly elsewhere)
Showdown in 2100 A.D (Odyssey2, 1979) - Arena Combat, Single Screen Shooter, Cover Shooter, TD View, 2-player vs.
-Ricocheting shots
-Reload at the small trees (random which one has ammo in it?)
-Spectator mode
The Driver (ARC, 1979) - FMV?
-Live Action FMV
Auto Racing (ITV, 1979) - Racing, TD view, 2-player vs.
-Multidirectional scrolling (Super Bug)
-In 2-player, players gain points for having a significant lead over the other player (later used in Micro Machines) or if the other player crashes
-The tracks all interconnect into a larger world
Monaco GP (ARC, 1979) - Racing (against the clock), TD view, 1-player
-Dark tunnels w/ limited FoV (flashlight cone)
-Thin bridges (the game includes a warning icon before they happen, if you end up outside of the bridge your car explodes)
-Crash from touching other cars
Space Invaders Part II (ARC, 1979) - Shoot 'Em Up, Top Down View, Proto-Cover Shooter, Single Screen
-First cutscenes
Astro Fighter (1979) - Vertical Shoot 'em up, Fixed movement
-Boss fights (a single one, first in a real-time game) - dnd (1975, turn-based)
Ozma Wars (1979) - Vertical Shoot 'em up, Fixed movement
-Boss fights (a single one) - dnd (1975)
-Fuel mechanic (presented in number form and called Energy, refilled after each level)
-Constantly draining health/fuel
1962:
SpaceWar!/Space War (PDP-1, 1962/A2600, 1978) - Vs. Shooter/Proto Gravitar-like, 2-player vs., Single Screen, TD view
-Inertia-based controls
-Loop around mechanic when moving outside of the screen
-Rotation controls (l/r rotates, up thrusts)
-Can control the path your bullets take
-Inspired by the science fiction stories of E.E. Smith
1964:
The Sumerian Game (IBM 1050 terminal connected to a time-shared IBM 7090 mainframe computer and a slide projector) - Edutainment; http://www.acriticalhit.com/sumerian-game-most-important-video-game-youve-never-heard/
Late 1960s: Minesweeper or an earlier variant on it (which in turn is based on Cube and Rlogic) - Puzzle, TD view; Commercially released in 1989 when it was bundled with Windows
Electro-mechanical arcade games:
Periscope (1966) - First arcade game with quarter play
Duck Hunt (1968) - First arcade game with video projection display (precursor to arcade video games)
Missile (1969) - First game with joystick controls
1968:
Hamurabi (PDP8, 1968/PC, 1973) - Text-based TBS/Proto-Building & Management Sim
-Resource management (people, acres of land, bushels of grain - can feed your people or plant more)
-Buy or sell land in exchange for grain
-Advisor NPC (reports status of the city, including the prior year's harvest and change in population, followed by a series of questions as to how many bushels of grain to spend on land, seeds, and feeding the people)
-Random land price and bushel amount generation for each round
-Chance of a plague each year/round
-Turn limit (10 rounds/years)
-Basic ranking system in the 1973 version with titles handed out at the end of a game
New genres 1970s: Proto-Life Sim/Interactive Art, FP view Free-Roaming shooter (electromechanical) & TD view Free-Roaming Shooter, Precursors to Rogue/Maze/Horror, FPS w/ convincing wireframe 3D using 2D graphics, Pong/Maze hybrid (2-player vs (goal is to chase the other player)), Shop Management Sim, FMV Light Gun Shooter (Light Gun games and shooting gallery games had existed in some form since the 1930s), Racing (against the clock), Basketball Sim/Pong variation, Arena Combat/Multi-Directional vs. Shooter (tank-based), MMO Space Flight/Combat Sim/Trading, Flight Combat Sim, RPG/Dungeon Crawler (TD view, FP view), Text Adventure, Snake-like, Pseudo 3D TP view Racing, Boxing, Proto-4X TBS? (Empire), 4-Player vs. Racing, SV Horse Racing/Platformer precursor, MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), TD view Shoot 'Em Up (single screen), Maze/Proto-Platform Adventure w/ flight (Action Adventure), 3D vector Racing, 3D wire-frame Flight Sim, RTT/Gallery Shooter Hybrid, Stealth (TD view), Vertical Scrolling Shoot 'em up, Trap 'em up/Single Screen Maze Action, Spaceship Landing Sim/Proto Gravitar-like, Proto-Cover Shooter, Action/Proto-Horror (Underwater-based), Vs. Fighting,
1970:
Game of Life (PC?, 1970) - Basic Life Sim/Interactive Art
High Noon (PC, 1970) - Text-based Gunfight Duel Sim (turn-based combat)
-Multiple endings
-6 action commands (advance, stand still, take cover, give up, run)
Electro-mechanical arcade games:
Jet Rocket (1970) - Earliest first-person shooting flight sim with non-linear open map, free-roaming shooter, proto-open world
1971:
Star Trek (Sigma 7, 1971) - TBS/Proto Rogue-like (ASCII-based, turn-based, grid-based world map, procedurally generated maps, perma-death)
-Map feature
Computer Space (ARC, 1971) - SpaceWar-like (thrust-based arena shooter), Single Screen, Top down view
-See SpaceWar
-First commercial and coin-op game (Galaxy Game is the first coin-op one but was limited to Stanford University)
-First video game with sound effects?
Oregon Trail (HP 2100, 1971) - Survival Sim/Edutainment, Text-based
1972:
Hunt the Wumpus (Mainframe, 1972 or 1973/TI-99/4A, 1981 (graphical remake)) - Text-based Adventure, Precursor to Rogue/Maze/Horror
-Input commands via a CLI (move or shoot)
-Interconnected world of 20 rooms where each room is connected to three others (dodecahedron shaped map)
-Bat enemy that can pick you up and drop you in a random room location including a pit - later used in Superman and Adventure
-No inventory or inventory item-based puzzles
-Gives you a warning text about the wumpus, bat or a pit when in a room next to one
Pong (ARC, 1972) - Table Tennis, 2-player vs, TD view
-Ricocheting ball physics
-Paddle controls
-Popularized arcade video games
-Basic difficulty curve (the ball moves faster and faster) - "Feeling the basic game was too boring, Alcorn added features to give the game more appeal. He divided the paddle into eight segments to change the ball's angle of return. For example, the center segments return the ball at a 90° angle in relation to the paddle, while the outer segments return the ball at smaller angles. He also made the ball accelerate the longer it remained in play; missing the ball reset the speed." - Wikipedia/And then there was Pong
1973:
Pong Doubles (1973) & Leader (1973) - Table Tennis, 4-player vs
-Ricocheting ball physics
Maze War (1973) - FPS w/ convincing wireframe 3D using 2D graphics, Semi-tile based movement?; Map feature, death animations
Empire ver. 1-3 (PLATO, 1973-1974) - Arena shooter/strategy (seems inspired by Risk), Network MP (seven teams and 50 players in the third version)
-Probably the first networked multiplayer game (although Maze War is another candidate for this category)
-Maps are many screens in size
Gotcha (ARC, 1973) - Pong/Maze hybrid, 2-player vs (goal is to chase the other player), Single screen; Constantly changing level layout
Lemonade Stand (1973) - Shop management Sim, Turn-based
Space Race (1973) - 2-player vs. Racing/Action (Frogger Precursor), Side View
-Avoid the hazards gameplay
Moonlander (1973) - Inertia-based flight, Side view
-One of the first games with a secret/easter egg in it: Flying far enough will lead you to a McDonald's, and landing near it makes your astronaut walk into the restaurant and order a "TWO CHEESEBURGERS AND A BIG MAC TO GO". You can also land on the McDonald's and destroy it, causing the game to call you a clod.
1974:
Wild Gunman (ARC, 1974) - Light Gun Shooter, First FMV Game
Balloon Gun (ARC, 1974) - Shooting Gallery, 2-player vs
-Earliest arcade video game with first-person shooting and analog stick (positional gun)
Speed Race (ARC, 1974) - Racing (against the clock), Top Down View
-First vertical scrolling game
-Opponent cars
-Basic crashes (if you touch an opponent)
-Difficulty options
Basketball/TV Basketball (ARC, 1974) - Basketball Sim/Pong variation, Side view
-Human avatars
-Rudimentary "jumping"
Tank (1974) - Arena Combat, TD view, 2-player vs.
-Mines
-Non-destructible walls
Spasim (1974) - MMO Space Flight/Combat Sim, Wireframe 3D, FP view, Trading
-Online multiplayer (network MP)
-Players can switch their perspective between their ship, their starting space station, and torpedoes they have launched, in addition to changing the angle and magnification zoom of their camera
-Educational component: players enter instructions to move their spaceships using polar coordinates, e.g. altitude and azimuth, along with acceleration, while their position in space is given in Cartesian coordinates
-Controlled through single-key text inputs on the keyboard
-"An updated version of the game was released a few months after the initial release that added strategy and resource management; each team's planet has resources, population levels, and standard of living. Players spend their planet's supply of "anti-entropy" on powering their spaceship or managing their planet. Teams compete or cooperate in order to gain enough resources to reach a far distant planet. Mismanaging a team's resources or over-reliance on combat causes dissatisfaction on the players' planets, and can lead to a "planetary proletariat revolt" which greatly reduces the planet's population and resources.[5][3]"
-1 frame per second gameplay
Pin Pong (ARC, 1974) - Pinball
1975:
Indy 800 (ARC) - Racing, TD View, Single Screen, 8-Player vs. (!)
Western Gun/Gun Fight (ARC, 1975) - Free-Roaming Shooter, 2-player vs., Top Down View
"...combined action gameplay with an open-world adventure environment", "It was the first on-foot shooter, the first on-foot multi-directional shooter, introduced human combat..."
-Codex Gamicus, https://gamicus.gamepedia.com/Western_Gun
-Dual stick/twin stick controls
-8-way movement, movement in 8 directions
-Ricocheting bullets
-Some destructible obstacles
-Two different versions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Fight
-Basic dynamic difficulty balancing: "This head-to-head shoot-em-up would aid whichever player had just been shot, by placing a fresh additional object, such as a Cactus plant, on their half of the play-field making it easier for them to hide." - Wikipedia. This is only sort of true since it's not necessarily an advantage without cover shooter mechanics
Interceptor (ARC, 1975) - Flight Combat Sim, FP View
-First multi-directional scrolling game
-First sprite scaling game?
-Time limit
Dungeon (1975 or 1976), pedit5 (1975), dnd (1975) - First RPG games (no classes yet), Rogue-like/Dungeon Crawler precursors, TD view
-Quarter and half turns+time limited turns (one turn is about 3 mins long)
-Character creation (name, 5 character stats (strength, intelligence, constitution, dexterity, hit points)) - can also choose between 15 pre-made chars
-16 spells (magical: sleep, charm, light, magic missile, esp, speed, invisibility, blastbolt; clerical: cure, detect evil, protection from evil, pray, serious cure, hold person, continual light, dispel myth)
-Random encounters (every fourth turn) and some spells that affect their rate
-Can break through doors
-Some hidden doors which you have a 1/6 chance to discover when passing by them
-Can only escape from monsters in corridors (based on level)
-Can only level up by leaving the dungeon (treasure brought out of it also yields exp)
-Dungeon features a basic bestiary (shows sprites representing categories of monster and lists what those monsters are, then it lists their HP and EXP value on a separate page)
-(dnd) Potions which you can study, examine, sip or quaff them (11 possible effects including astral form (allows you to pass through walls and floors - the first ability gate type tool? Although probably optional+you can't carry gold or the orb while using it so it's mainly for scouting), invisibility (flee easier) and levitation (walk over pits))
-(dnd) Attribute or exp raising items in the books (however it's equally common for them to be bombs, can turn books off)
-(dnd) Some other interesting items (HP regeneration ring, elven boots - reduce random encounters, rings of invisibility and swiftness - easier to escape random encounters, magic amulet - tells you how likely you are to win in physical combat against a monster, magic lantern - reveals hidden doors, bags of holding - increase amount of gold you can carry)
-(dnd) One special encounter in a monster that makes you pay all the gold and magic items you're carrying, half of your accumulated gold and half your exp to avoid fighting it (monsters might also offer this when they're about to kill you during combat)
-(dnd) Boss monster in the Dragon that guards the orb
-Difficulty curve (based on how much gold you're carrying in dnd and you can drop gold to lower it)
-(dungeon) While carrying the orb which you're supposed to take out of the dungeon you encounter tougher monsters - can drop it if you need to
moria (1975) - One of the first RPG games (Dungeon Crawler), FP view
-Multiplayer parties connected over a network (the game continues after a character dies)
-Use-based stat progression (later used in Dungeon Master and Final Fantasy II)
-Character creation (four stats, pick between four different setups rather than rolling dice, no classes)
-A simplistic 3D wireframe depiction of the dungeon
-Dynamically-generated content (?)
-Complex for its time battle system taking into consideration four base statistics that derive into numerous others and featuring attacking, bribing, tricking, spellcasting, fleeing, and item use)
-Players are able to combine into a party or separate in-game
-Hunger mechanic
-"Tie a string" mechanic - works like a teleport beacon however it disappears when moving between floors and can even be cut off by monsters if you're unlucky
-Can set up camp to store gold and food
Steeplechase (ARC, 1975) - Horse Racing/Platformer precursor, Side View, 6-player vs. (single button controls)
-First side scrolling video game
Panther (PLATO, 1975) - 3D Vehicle Sim (Tank)
-Decent framerate for the time
Shark Jaws (1975) - Action/Proto-Horror, Underwater-based, Side View
-Catch fish while being chased by a shark
1976:
Colossal Cave Adventure (PDP-10, 1976/PC, ) - First text adventure and work of interactive fiction, Collectarthon/Treasure hunt (5 treasures)
-Text command inputs (basic text parser - 1-2 word commands only, contextual to the area or room)
-Inventory puzzles
-Score and turn counters
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
-Named rooms (dozens of different rooms)
-First cheat code in a game?
Blockade (ARC, 1976) - First Snake-like game
Road Race (1976) - Earliest use of pseudo-3D third-person perspective with sprite scaling
Fonz (1976) - First game with force-feedback rumble and licensed character (from Happy Days)
Heavyweight Champ (1976) - First game with hand-to-hand fighting and motion-based controllers
Breakout (1976) - Block Breaking/Pong Variation, Action Puzzle, Single Screen
-Partially destructible environment
Indy 4 (ARC, 1976) - Racing, TD view, 4-player vs
-Early example of color graphics (cars and text signifying the different players)
Sea Wolf (ARC, 1976) - Gallery Shooter, Proto-fixed shooter (see Space Invaders), FP view (high angle)
-First video game to log high scores
-Periscope peripheral (created an illusion of perspective)
Amazing Maze (1976) - Maze, TD view
-Continuous in-game music
1977:
Empire/Classic Empire (PC, 1977/PCs, 1987) - TBS, Proto-4x?, LAN Multi-player
-Resource management
-Unexplored terrain represented as a black shroud (might've been added in the 1987 ver. only)
Super Bug (ARC, 1977/) - Racing, Top down; One of the first games with scrolling
-Multidirectional scrolling
Street Racer (A2600, 1977) - 4-player vs. simultaneous (1-4)
Bomber (1977) - Action/Bombing, Single Screen; destructible environment
Sega Vic Dual (1977) - First arcade system with 8/16-bit microprocessor (Zilog Z80)
Combat (A2600, 1977) - Vehicle-based (Tanks) Arena Combat/Multi-directional shooter, Top down view
Zork (PDP-10, 1977/PC, ) - Early text adventure
-Inventory puzzles
-Non-linear structure?
-Save feature (built into the PDP system like a save state)
Oubliette (1977) - RPG/Dungeon Crawler (party-based)
-Player avatar selection
-Buy or find items - weapons, helms, cloaks, boots, armor, torches, potions, and other items
Drag Race (1977) - Racing, Tilted view
-Split-screen
Circus (ARC, 1977) - Proto-platformer/Breakout variant, Single screen, Side view
-Bouncing and seesaw physics
1978:
Beneath Apple Manor (AII, 1978/AII+, 1979/1982/1983) - Rogue-like/precursor RPG, Top down view
-First commercial RPG for a home computer
-Manual stat allocation (buy stats with exp, no char creation)
-Unusual save feature (removed when quitting the current run, pay to save system, respawn where you saved with minor stat reductions and your gold lost)
-Procedurally generated dungeons aka random map generation (can pick between 4 and 20 rooms per level) - Star Trek (Sigma 7, 1971) had procedurally generated maps
-Locked chests (can attempt to break the locks)
-Gain exp from gold
-Four magic items (magic wand 1 - infinite zap spells, wand 2 - opens doors, magic sword and armor - ?) and one magic potion (clairvoyance - reveals the unexplored territory). There is only one of each item in each game and it never "runs out" so the effect is permanent even for the potion
-Trapped chests
-4 spells (zap, heal, x-ray, teleport - to a random tile on the current floor)
-Listen (for monsters) and inspect (for secret doors; happened automatically in Dungeon) commands
-Can break or kick a door open - Dungeon
-Can drop gold (why?)
-Wait/rest command (1-9 turns or until rested)
-Difficulty options (1-10)
-Unexplored terrain represented as black tiles - later used in Rogue, Civilization, Toejam & Earl, Dune 2, etc.
MUD1 (PDP-10, 1978/PC, ) - First Virtual World/Multi-User Dungeon (MMO), Text-based (text parser)
-Basic character creation (name and sex)
-Goal is to become a wizard or witch by accumulating 102,400 points through collecting and dumping treasure at a specific spot or killing other players
-Points also determine player level and there are three stats (stamina (what the game calls HP), strength and dexterity)
-Can look around and interact with various objects and characters
-Perma-death from fights but not traps or jumping off a cliff
-Temporary death leads to a corpse run (first game to have them?) - the player is booted and all items are dropped on the spot
-Lose points from fleeing from a fight (the opponent gains points from this)
-HP regenerates from sleep or when not playing the game
Adventureland (TRS-80/1978/Multi) - Text Adventure
-Save feature
Space Invaders (ARC, 1978) - Shoot 'Em Up, Top Down View, Proto-Cover Shooter, Single Screen
-Space shooter
-Music/jingle gets faster the closer the aliens get
-Destructible objects - Bomber
-Extra lives system
-Risk/reward mechanics - The first risk/reward mechanic here is sometimes called the "wall of death" or "death row", and requires a bit of setup as seen in the footage. When the remaining alien invaders are just one row above the player's ship/cannon, it actually can't be hit by their attacks, so a player can let them get that close to be able to pick off an entire row of them without the risk of being shot, but at the risk of then getting taken out by the last invader, which as anyone who's played it knows, moves the fastest. Since one has to hit an enemy to be able to quickly shoot again (there can only be one player shot on screen at a time), players have to be very exact when timing their last shots. It is theorized by some that this "temporary safe spot" feature was unintentional (just like the invaders speeding up was at first), but was kept in the game due to positive feedback from players. This point-blank range maneuver is generally not more risky than playing normally actually, if you remember the setup, but there is the risk of the invaders starting out traveling in the other direction (usually in a 2-player alternating game). You then have to flip the setup to make up for it.
The other risk/reward mechanic is found in the special "mystery ship" which will occasionally move across the top of the screen, awarding bonus points if destroyed (which lead to extra lives and bases/shields). As you can imagine, focusing too much on these will quickly get you shot and the wave of invaders will have more time to move closer as well (even if you do the wall of death setup, you eventually need to shift your focus), so it's good to use some strategy in how you take out the invaders and how you position your ship.
-Difficulty curve that goes back down at the beginning of each new level
Dungeon Campaign and Space (AII, 1978) - Early commercial RPGs
Get-A-Way (ARC, 1978) - Racing (against the clock), Top Down View
-Fairly impressive visuals for the time (multi-color sprites)
1979:
Star Raiders (Atari 8-bit, 1979) - Space Combat Sim, 2.5D (3D movement, sprite ships)
-Warp (hyperspace fast travel mechanic, on higher difficulties you need to steer while using this) - can select the goal on a galactic map
-Enemy radar (mid range and long range - latter changes the view to top down?)
-Rearview camera toggle
-Particle explosions
-Subsystem damage (parts of your ship can be damaged individually; shields, engines, weapons, targeting computer, and scanners can be damaged or completely destroyed)
-Basic rank system
-"Many games heavily inspired by Star Raiders appeared, such as Starmaster (Atari 2600), Space Spartans (Intellivision), Moonbeam Express (TI-99/4A),[29] Codename MAT (ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC), Star Voyager (Atari 2600) and Star Luster (Famicom–Japan only).[5] Neubauer's own Solaris, for the Atari 2600, is both similar and in some ways more sophisticated than his earlier game, despite the difference in technology between the two systems.[5]Star Raiders inspired later space combat games like Elite, the Wing Commander series and BattleSphere.[5]" - Wikipedia
Temple of Apshai (TRS-80/Commodore PET, 1979/C64, 1985 (Remake)) - Dungeon Crawler RPG, TD View, Turn-based/Real-time hybrid (If the player doesn't make any input for a while, the enemies continue to move and attack in set intervals regardless), Shops, Character creation
-Ranged weapons
-Fatigue mechanic (the more damage you take, the more stamina/fatigue each action spends)
-Can be found by an NPC if you're knocked out unless you were eaten by a monster (these tend to take some of your items in exchange for saving you)
-No map
-No save
-No fast travel
-Monsters don't follow you between rooms
-Can listen for monsters in adjacent rooms (Q key, random chance of success)
-Talk command
-Hidden doors (search with E (success based on intuition stat), no visual clues as to where these are?) and traps
-Monsters appear one at a time
-Some bugs
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979) - RPG (mainly a Dungeon Crawler), First Person (FP) view dungeons/Top Down (TD) view overworld exploration (cardinal directions)
-Overworld and dungeons structure (several entrances to one big dungeon, where most gameplay takes place). Graphically consists of simple patterns of lines on top of a black background - collections of five squares are towns, the large square with a smaller crossed-over one inside it is Lord British's castle, Xs are dungeons (going into them changes the perspective to first person view), squares are forests, and the lines are mountains. The last two are impassable, serving only as landmarks. The size of the world is 20x20 screens. Towns are identical and dungeons are non-persistent when it comes to loot and monsters, so you really only need to find one dungeon entrance.
-Tile-based movement, Enemies move when you do (no separate battle screen)
-Shops
-Character creation (rolled stats which can't be altered while keeping the same total; strength, dexterity, stamina, wisdom; fighter or mage class; name your char when meeting lord british in the beginning)
-Basic overworld and a single dungeon
-Multiple towns and multiple entrances to the dungeon
-Randomly generated world based on a seed number ("lucky number" picked when starting out - if you pick the same number again you get the same layouts again)
-Hunger mechanic
-Compass feature
-Difficulty options (1-10)
-Thieving enemies and a chest mimic enemy
-Enemies can run away at low HP and can get stuck between you and another enemy since they can't move through each other
-4 spells which can also be cast via the amulet items (blast to get past some walls, two ladder spell which let you go up or down one floor, random transformation spell - can turn you into a toad (bad) or a lizardman (good), ) - these degrade when used
-Respawning enemies
-Wisdom works in an odd way (determines how many monsters you need to kill in your main quest chain and how strong the ones you start out facing are, you'll want to have it low to have a better chance early on)
-One of the first games with NPCs (Lord British, who hands out quests)
-Magic amulet item (can be used in dungeons to ascend or descend a level, shoot a missile, or cast a Transformation spell). Fighters can use an amulet, but only mages can control which of the four effects they get. An amulet has a 25% chance of vanishing after any use
Superman (Atari 2600, 1979) - Maze/Proto-Platform Adventure (no gained abilities or player char upgrades, can fly but not jump), Open world/non-linear structure, Collectathon/Police Sim (capture criminals and bring them to the jail, rebuild the broken bridge by bringing back the three pieces of it to where it was), Mixed perspective (tilted view and top down view), Flip Screen/Multi-Screen (tilted view and top down view - outdoors and indoors respectively)
-Scripted event (enemies blowing up the bridge)
-Object interaction (pick up and carry+drop NPCs and some objects)
-Transform (from clark kent into superman via the phone booth, only use for this is that you need to turn back into clark kent after capturing the criminals and enter the daily planet building as him to complete the game)
-Horizontally looping world (SpaceWar although that one's a SS game) - later used in Defender and SMB2
-Difficulty options (affects enemy speed and how easily lois lane shows up when poisoned)
-"X-ray" vision ability (start with it) - lets you view adjacent screens by holding in that direction (kinda like the binoculars in Metal Gear)
-Chopper enemy that acts like the bat in Adventure (can carry any object it flies into) - can't be destroyed
-The moving cryptonite satellites poison you (can't fly nor carry objects) and you have to touch lois lane to restore your powers
-Confusing but creative layout (tilted view ground movement on outdoors screens however if in Superman form you move north or south you end up in on another screen - used as a shortcut feature apparently, when entering a building there's no exit on the same screen - instead you go d/l/r for a few screens to exit and these play out in top down view - a subway system apparently and you change stops by exiting a screen upwards)
-First licensed game where elements of the license are actually present in the game itself
-Can't die - later used in Wario Land 2
-Pause feature
-"Criminals left" counter in the GUI
-Keeps track of your time but there is no time limit (it's there to gauge how quickly you beat the game)
-Early action game featuring an NPC (lois lane)
Speed Freak (ARC, 1979) - 3D vector Racing (Race against the clock), FP view (see the front of the car but not the cockpit)
-First game with a Z-axis/into the screen movement?
-Airplanes flying above the track
War of Nerves (O2, 1979) - RTT/Proto-squad tactics ("tag by proxy" - goal is to capture the enemy commander with your soldier units), Single screen, TD view, Designed for 2-player vs. (the enemy commander stays put in 1-player)
-Random map layouts
-Players only control the commander unit (other units are handled by the CPU besides the player being able to call their army towards the commander)
-Units are stunned when shot and only the commander can unfreeze them, however the remaining robots gain a speed boost when a friendly unit is knocked out
-Sci-fi theme
Basketball (Atari 400/Atari 800, 1979) - Early Basketball game
-First playable black protagonist
Flight Simulator (Apple II, 1979) - Flight Sim, Free-roaming
-Wire-frame 3D graphics
FS1 Flight Simulator (Apple II/TRS-80, 1979) - Flight Sim, 3D wireframe graphics
Star Hawk (ARC, 1979) - Light Gun-style/Gallery Shooter/Rail Shooter Hybrid (crosshair-based), FP view
-Fairly advanced 3D Vector-based wireframe graphics w/ a smooth framerate
-Enemies break into the lines they're made up of when destroyed
Stratovox (ARC, 1979/1980?) - Fixed Shooter/Single Screen Shoot 'em up (Space Invaders-like)
-The first game with voice samples?
Space Battle (Intellivision, 1979) - RTT/Gallery Shooter Hybrid (move your fleets into enemy fleets to protect your mothership during the first phase then shoot down enemy ships in the second - similar to what Archon did a bit later)
Heiankyo Alien (PC-8001, 1979/ARC, 1980/GB, 1990) - Trap 'em up/Single Screen Maze Action, Top Down View
-Chasing/avoid the enemies gameplay
Manbiki Shounen (Shoplifting Boy)(PET/CBM, 1979) - First Stealth game, Stealth Action/Thieving Sim, Top Down View, Single Screen
-First game with stealing
-Chasing/avoid the enemies gameplay
SOS (ARC, 1979) - First vertical scrolling Shoot 'em up (Ozma Wars released late the same year)
-Military theme
Galaxian (ARC, 1979) - Shoot 'Em Up (Space Invaders-like), Top Down View
-Multi-color sprites (RGB color graphics)
-Sprite line buffer (?)
-Tiled background (tilemap) featuring a vertical scrolling star field
Lunar Lander (ARC, 1979) - Landing Sim, Thrust-based flight, Side view
-Speed and altitude display
-Fuel mechanic
Warrior (ARC, 1979) - Vs. Fighting (2-player vs. only) w/ Arena Fighting elements (two pits), TD view, Single Screen
-Vector-based 3D graphics
-A button to switch between character and weapon modes (twin stick controls were planned but not implemented due to financial constraints)
Sheriff (ARC, 1979), Hangman (TI-99/4A, 1979) - Continuous in-game music (single channel/monophonic; Space Invaders)
Asteroids (ARC, 1979)
-Continuous in-game music (single channel/monophonic; Space Invaders)
-Random teleportation/blinking feature (jump into hyperspace and appear randomly elsewhere)
Showdown in 2100 A.D (Odyssey2, 1979) - Arena Combat, Single Screen Shooter, Cover Shooter, TD View, 2-player vs.
-Ricocheting shots
-Reload at the small trees (random which one has ammo in it?)
-Spectator mode
The Driver (ARC, 1979) - FMV?
-Live Action FMV
Auto Racing (ITV, 1979) - Racing, TD view, 2-player vs.
-Multidirectional scrolling (Super Bug)
-In 2-player, players gain points for having a significant lead over the other player (later used in Micro Machines) or if the other player crashes
-The tracks all interconnect into a larger world
Monaco GP (ARC, 1979) - Racing (against the clock), TD view, 1-player
-Dark tunnels w/ limited FoV (flashlight cone)
-Thin bridges (the game includes a warning icon before they happen, if you end up outside of the bridge your car explodes)
-Crash from touching other cars
Space Invaders Part II (ARC, 1979) - Shoot 'Em Up, Top Down View, Proto-Cover Shooter, Single Screen
-First cutscenes
Astro Fighter (1979) - Vertical Shoot 'em up, Fixed movement
-Boss fights (a single one, first in a real-time game) - dnd (1975, turn-based)
Ozma Wars (1979) - Vertical Shoot 'em up, Fixed movement
-Boss fights (a single one) - dnd (1975)
-Fuel mechanic (presented in number form and called Energy, refilled after each level)
-Constantly draining health/fuel