Raein
1983
A maze game where you play as Knight with a sword and shield whose only attack is shooting little pellets at the other knights and archers. It feels like they couldn't think of how to make better combat so fell back on "just shoot them". The enemies seem to path randomly, aren't particularly challenging, and as a result this is mostly just a slog through different colored mazes.
1983
Don Bluth animations packaged in an innovative new meld of gameplay and animation.While it's just a sequence of quick time events (before that term was coined), it was incredible unique for its time. I think it also previewed how players would develop a stronger sense of immersion into a cinematic story by getting to control parts of that story through the character. In a sense it defined one of the key aspects of video games that set it apart from movies and tv shows.
1983
A series of six minigames that tell the story of your attack on an island fortress. None of the games themselves are particularly complex, but the presentation and cinematic flair makes them feel more engaging.
1983
After years of (unlicensed) attempts at re-creating the trench run, this is the first game to do it properly. The music, sound effects, sense of speed, vector graphics, and approach towards the Death Star are all done really well, and then loop back to the start in a very natural way.
1983
Before there was Sneak King, there was Tapper, brought to you by your friends at Budweiser™. One of the first time management games, you serve beer to four lanes of patrons while collecting empty glasses. Nice graphics with cheerful music, but the gameplay loop didn't hold my interest for that long.
1981
The gameplay requires enough timing to stay interesting on the first playthrough. Nice use of color and sprites as well.
1982
You have to play a lame Frogger clone prior to getting to play a basic downhill ski course. There's an attempt at a 3D downhill view here, but it barely translates.
1983
I think I first encountered this game as a pack-in via Super Mario All-Stars and was incredibly confused by it. The term "romhack" didn't even exist at that time, but that's what it felt like to me. What do you mean I can't jump on a koopa to kill it? The controls are always what killed this for me. Mario would either refuse to jump sideways without getting some momentum first, or if you did start moving, you'd soon be floating away to the edge of the screen. The overall gameplay concept was never really all that fun either.
1984
The gameplay concept here is so well executed that it truly makes for a timeless and endlessly replayable game. While the objective remains the same, the levels are varied enough to make each one feel like a new challenge as you race the clock to collect all of the diamonds without getting crushed to death.
1982
Dig Dug but worse. Hideous visuals filled with nonsense. The enemies are are basically non-factors, and if they do somehow remember to get close to you, you can just shoot them. There's also a tank shooting at a mountain at the top of the screen... The best thing this game accomplished was to inspire the creation of Boulder Dash.
1982
The controls are a little clunky, but it has a surprising amount of depth crammed into such an early title. Many types of enemies in a fully realized dungeon with treasures and pitfalls. One could arguably see the first traces of Castlevania here. Uninteresting sound design and somewhat annoying backtracking hold it back.
1982
Pac-Man Hard Mode, and that's a fun thing.
1982
An improvement over Centipede in every way. Adding the dynamite gives you a sort of panic button to buy yourself some breathing room. The addition of a zone of free movement allows you to get more aggressive while also introducing new threats that keep the game even more engaging, and everything feels a little faster and more hectic. It's the ideal pace for an Arcade game that makes you want to go back for another shot at the high score.
1982
I kind of like the aesthetic of this with the spooky castle on the hill and the day/night cycle. Making you build a bridge as your secondary objective rather than dealing with enemies from the side is also novel, but the Satan fight is so simplistic that it almost feels like they forgot to program it which leaves it feeling like an unfinished game in a sense.
1982
I find it very amusing that this one of the first games to introduce a day/night cycle that affects gameplay. It's a maze game where you clear the maze of mostly pellets instead of actual ants. It's a little frustrating to figure out the tongue mechanics at first, and while the game has multiple layouts, nothing really changes with the gameplay itself in a compelling way. You could clear one round of this in 90 seconds and get 99% of the experience.