Game Reviews

Doozie Dozen - Computer Games (80s & 90s)

As a kid and teen I owned a video game console for the 3rd, 4th and 5th generation of consoles, however I also had home computers and played games on them. In addition, some of my friends had some really great games on their computers and I would play at their houses. As I got older, I found that games were resource hogs on the performance of my computer. In the 80s and 90s I had too many computers conk out on me that I decided to just stop PC gaming. In addition, computer games have gotten so complex that it is difficult to play a game without getting addicted to the enthralling experience. At this point in my life I just don't have time for that. I haven't PC gamed since 2000. 

This list, much like the other Doozie Dozen lists, is my top twelve choices of games for particular consoles, arcade or computer. These are the games that have had the greatest influence on my life and ones that I would recommend to others to try and the ones that I would love to play through again. The games are ranked for each list based on my preference to play them. 

N.B. I have linked a youtube gameplay video for each entry, although I cannot assure that the uploader will keep the video active or that a company won't put in a successful removal request. Feel free to search online for these games.

12. Tetris (1987)

Our first home computer was not very powerful and eventually succumbed to the Michelangelo virus (which we assumed came through a floppy disc that had games on it). As a family in the late 80s we didn't know much about computers and mainly used the machine as a word processor to replace the typewriter. The other use of the PC was for games. We had a cache of floppy discs with bootleg versions of the Sierra games and many of the early text-based DOS games. In addition, we had chess and Tetris. My sister and I frittered away hours on Tetris. I even managed to find a gameplay youtube video of the exact version of the game we had, although we kept the catchy Russian music on while playing. The nice thing about this version is that you could enjoy different landscape backgrounds as you progressed through the game.

11. Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Wolfenstein was a game that I played through at my uncle's house. While everyone was being social upstairs and catching up on the latest, I was indulging in the latest game craze in the dark recesses of their basement. The game had great action and the rendering of a 3D experience through 2D graphics was novel. The animations on killing enemies was hilarious and the guns had good range. Ammo was rationed so you couldn't spam bullets into rooms. That being said, there was often an NPC hiding in the corner of an unexplored room. The game was so fast-paced that I got motion sickness from playing it. In fact, this has had a pronounced effect on my waning interest in 1st-person shooters overall. 

10. Police Quest (1987)

In the summer of Grade 7, my family lived in Munich, Germany where we rented a house from one of my father's work colleagues. They had a son who was a few years older than me. I stayed in his room and became familiarized with his LP record collection fully stocked with gangster rap albums. In the basement, was their home computer and it was loaded with the classic Sierra On-Line games. I spent hours in that dark basement playing through the "quests" and although it feels like I should have been out in the sunshine taking advantage of a new experience... the real new experience was PC gaming and the adventure genre. I'm a sucker for good narrative in games and Sierra games were abound with compelling stories. Police Quest had an extensive map to navigate and commands were relatively straightforward. The graphics and sounds were pretty standard for the early Sierra games - tinny and nondescript.

9. Space Quest (1986)

Space Quest was another Sierra game that I got to play in Munich. It was a good story and as a kid I sometimes had a difficult time figuring out what to do next. They have recently ported and rebuilt Sierra games to new platforms with much more intuitive UI. 

8. King's Quest (1987)

This was yet another Sierra game I played while in Munich. The story fit well for an adventure game because at the time I had been reading choose your own adventure books, like "Wizards, Warriors and You". King's Quest had similar stakes, themes and action. It is nice to see that companies have been trying to revamp these old PC games on modern platforms. 

7. Snipes (1982)

Snipes was one of the early computer games for home computers and it was truly addictive. My mom was getting worried because when I played the game I also started to clear my throat nervously. She eventually tried to ban the game, but soon after our computer was destroyed by a virus. The gameplay revolved around exterminating hives that released enemies. You had to navigate a labyrinth, locate the hives, wipe out the drones and kill the queen. It was a theme that is still played on often today, especially for mobile games. 

6. Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987)

This was the definitive Sierra On-Line game in the 1980s. It was also the epitome of taboo for a kid to be playing. You had to answer history-related questions to access the game, under the pretense that a kid wouldn't know who Nixon or Khrushchev were. The story was truly unique and focused on the adventure of a 40-year old virgin questing to get laid. There were many different areas to explore that were all quite different from each other. There were also multiple options for which female character to bed and each option came with a unique set of challenges and hazards. The upshot of the game was actually educational, because non-intuitive kids often didn't have the intellectual tools to unlock the most favourable options. With them knowing that the goal was to get laid, they often fell back on going to the prostitute for her services, yet without the condom discovered, Larry would contract AIDS and die. The game had a nuanced take on modern culture and an educational valence in how the adventure was negotiated by the player. Fortunately, this original has been remade for modern platforms. 

5. Hero's Quest (1989)

Hero's Quest had an upgrade in graphics to the other first installments of Sierra adventure game series. The story was also a little more sophisticated and mindless exploration was minimized. The nice thing about adventure games in the early era of home computers was that they were churning out sequels. There were lots of options if you found a series you really liked. 

4. Sid Meier's Colonization (1994)

After the success of the Civilization game, Sid Meier produced a new resource management and conquest experience through Colonization (turn-based, top-down 4X game). The game played very similarly to Civilization with some upgraded options for fort/city management. The theme was specific to the early colonial era and the game educated the user on world history of that era. You could also choose to wipe out Native American tribes or to ally with them, which produced nice moral options and consequences for the player. As a kid, I familiarized myself with the nuances of the game through prolonged exposure, but mainly focused on defeating enemies, controlling trade routes and ultimately controlling all the territory as quickly as possible. 

3. Leisure Suit Larry 6 (1993)

I used to go over to Taylor's house to play this game at the beginning of high school. The interface and graphics were a big step up from the original and I had this sense of nostalgia for the series as a whole. It was a fun game to play with somebody else because the action is slow and two sets of eyes on the scene help in discovering what needs to be done to progress the story. Usually, we think of adventure PC games as single player experiences, but through LL6 I discovered that they can be much more enjoyable as co-op adventures. 

2. Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)

This game was sometimes just referred to as "Civ" and for good reason - it was an instant classic in computer games. The graphics were crude, but the gameplay was very straightforward. You could approach the map as a ruthless conquistador emphasizing quick military development. The game would be over in a few hundred turns as you dominated the world map. You could also choose to play the game using all of the features. This approach would lead to adventures and conquests that took days to play out fully. Your nation of cities would eventually develop into a network of modern metropolis marvels with nuclear technology and satellite defense. Your opponents would be just as tough or tougher creating challenging climaxes. As a kid I enjoyed being able to have quick matches and then later learn the game properly. 

1. Syndicate (Bullfrog)(1993)

Syndicate was my favourite computer game by far. I loved the isometric view and the ability to toggle between units in a team of four to generate aggro from NPCs. The missions were interesting and the environments had a really cool aesthetic in the New Bad Future genre. Some missions were tricky and you had to learn how the NPCs move around during the level in order to exploit their patterns and pass the mission (this recalls the Hitman series). This game had other early instances of popular features from modern games, such as customizing your syndicate's logo and upgrading your characters with custom loadouts. Watching the world map fill up with your syndicate's territories was a great way to follow progress and recalls the board game, RISK. The upgrading for your cyborg agents was intuitive and controls were easy to learn and master. The sounds were neat and the victory screen was fun and memorable. This is a game that I would like to see remade, but retaining the isometric view.