20 Games that Defined the Apple II January 3, 2013
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Ancient Gaming, entertainment.Tags: Apple II, YouTube
10 comments
A little video my friend Scott sent me.
The games shown are, in chronological order:
- Ultima I
- Castle Wolfenstein
- Wizardry
- Swashbuckler
- Choplifter
- Lode Runner
- Cavern Creatures
- King’s Quest
- Impossible Mission
- Karateka
- The Oregon Trail
- The Bard’s Tale
- Elite
- Might and Magic
- Pirates!
- California Games
- Maniac Mansion
- Wasteland
- Prince of Persia
- Battle Chess
Not a bad list. A lot of the games on it were on multiple systems, so I think they more define computer games in the 1980s rather than the Apple II specifically. But not bad. I played most of them.
If I were making the list I would probably strike Battle Chess and California Games from the list, as they came so late in the the cycle. Prince of Persia is a bit questionable for me as well, as I played it on the Mac much later on. But Wasteland was the last Apple II game I ever bought, so that plays into it. What defined Apple II games for me came much earlier in the life of the platform
Instead I would add Aztec and probably Autoduel. I would also substitute in Epoch (which doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry) for Elite, Ultima III in for Ultima I (which I think was just a better, more popular game), and probably Seven Cities of Gold for one of the over-represented-on-the-list RPGs. And I would have a strong desire to get F-15 Strike Eagle in there somewhere. And Pinball Construction Set. And Taipan! as well.
There is the problem with making such lists. I can look at all those Apple II games and pull out quite a few great ones.
And, as a side note, Oregon Trail is one of the games in the video I never played.
At least not on the computer.
Instead, that was a game we played as a teacher driven role playing game when I was in 7th grade. True to the spirit however, when people refer to playing the video game version it sounds exactly like our role play version. As young boys, my friends and I all loaded up our wagon with guns and as much ammo as possible and most of us went on to die of dysentery.
