Strachey’s List - 1982

The Most Consequential Games of All-Time

Strachey’s List is my list of the most acclaimed, consequential, and influential titles of all time. There is a max limit of 20 games per year. As always, this is all my opinion and research.

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BurgerTime (Hamburger)

Known as Hamburger in Japan, BurgerTime became a classic of the arcade golden age. You play Peter Pepper, a chef who has to dodge evil hot dogs and fried eggs (this is real folks) to drop ingredients down to a burger patty to complete a burger. As simple as the game sounds, it became a hit and made many memories for early gamers. The game has gone on to have clones and re-releases. The game has lived on in pop culture, including an appearance in the Disney film Wreck-It-Ralph.

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Demon Attack

After leaving Atari due to unhappiness with pay for his work on the Space Invaders port, Rob Fulop created Demon Attack for the recently created publisher Imagic. Imagic would have a short run but took advantage of the arcade peak to get some successful games out - but none bigger than Demon Attack. You control space lasers on the surface of a planet and fire away at winged demons. The game was the first to have a graphic artist and several animations for the demons. It was a massive success and got critical praise for its graphics and gameplay. It even got a couple of Game of the Year awards from some early video game media.

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Dig Dug

Dig Dug was born with a team that included Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama. It's a maze game in which players use a pump to inflate and take care of enemies under the ground as they dig tunnels. It has 256 stages and used the color and graphics well, receiving high praise from the gaming media and becoming a commercial success with its addicting gameplay. The game has become a staple of the arcade golden age games and is still played through collections and re-releases today.

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Donkey Kong Jr.

The sequel to the smash hit that would launch Nintendo into a whole new dimension switched the formula up. For the first time, Mario would play the villain! Donkey Kong has been caged up after the events of the first game, and it’s up to his son, Junior, to get the key and save him. The game is an evolution of the original and advances some of the platforming elements. While not as infamous as the first game, the game is still an important part of Nintendo and Miyamoto’s legacy. This is the only time that Mario has been a villain.

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E.T. the Extraterrestrial

If you want to talk about iconic but for the wrong reasons, that’s this game. The game tried to make the holidays as E.T. fever hit the nation, and Stephen Spielberg begged for a game adaptation. The game was rushed and bombed, launching what many call the 1983 North American video game crash. So why do I have this in my prestigious Strachey’s List? Well, for starters, the game is just too famous and important in video game history not to include it. Remember, this series is about establishing the most consequential games in the industry. Lastly, I believe this game gets too much hate. The problem with it is that it’s generic, not necessarily bad. Either way, you can’t deny the game's enormous impact on the industry's history.

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Haunted House

One of the first survival horror titles, Haunted House, had players control an avatar in the shape of eyes traversing a haunted house. The players aim to bring urns back to the entrance to win. You’ll encounter bats, spiders, and ghosts as you explore the house. It was a big hit for Atari, although the reviews were mixed. Today, it’s recognized as an early innovator in the horror gaming market. Personally, I think it has one of the best box art of the arcade era.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator

After making FS1 Flight Simulator, Microsoft contracted Bruce Artwick to create a similar title for the IBM PC, for which Microsoft was making the software at the time. The results would give us the first of Microsoft’s foray into video games and a significant franchise—Flight Simulator. You fly a Cessna in either New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Seattle. The game was a success and would be the first step of Microsoft’s involvement in the gaming industry. It launched a franchise that would go on to span multiple versions and sequels, even today.

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Moon Patrol

You control a vehicle on the moon and must watch out for craters and mines while also dealing with attacking UFOs. It’s one of the first games to use parallax side-scrolling, a common feature in the upcoming 8-bit console era. With beautiful color and pick-up and play gameplay, the game was a success and received several awards. Today, it’s shown up in several collections and has seen its fair share of re-releases.

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Ms. Pac-Man

Following the mega success of the original Pac-Man, Namco allowed their American distributor, Midway, to create a sequel. Ms. Pac-Man was made from the bones of a canceled game but plays similar to the original - just with a few changes. The Pac-Man craze was driven by women, one of the first times the female demographic drove a video game’s success. Ms. Pac-Man took advantage of that and delivered its own iconic classic that some would argue is as good or better than the original. It’s also one of the first instances of a video game heroine. Interestingly, Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani has never commented on the game.

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Night Life

Considered to be the first erotic video game, Night Life helped start the Japanese eroge genre or Hentai game genre as it displays sexual images. The game was advertised as a game for couples looking to spice up their sex life (I’m not joking). It has never officially been released outside of Japan. While you may raise an eyebrow at me for spotlighting this one, I think it is a game that not only spotlights a genre that does have fans in Japan but also the start of video games becoming a part of more than just for kids.

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Pitfall!

A group of developers became disillusioned with Atari after disputes arose over their pay as video games started to reach the million-plus dollar revenue streams. Eventually, that group walked out and created Activision. David Crane sought to make a game for the new company to give them the credit they had been fighting for, which became Pitfall!. Crane had created a more lifelike human animation and used it in the game. You play as Pitfall Harry, traversing the jungle and avoiding obstacles and animals to get as many points as possible. It’s considered by some as the first great platform adventure game, inspiring future franchises like Tomb Raider and Uncharted. The game’s commercial also features a young Jack Black, who has appeared in many video game film adaptations.

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Pole Position

Pole Position pushed arcade graphics and hardware to the limit to produce a well-done simulation racer. The game’s third-person view around the track and use of in-game advertising makes it one of the most influential racing games ever. Critics praise the game for focusing on the race aspect and the realistic car driving over the typical arcade racers of the time. Pole Position heavily influenced the car simulation genre. The game became one of the best-selling Arcade titles of the year and became legendary for many video game historians looking back.

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Popeye

When Shigeru Miyamoto made Donkey Kong, he wanted to make a Popeye game instead but couldn’t at the time. With the success of Donkey Kong, Nintendo could pay to acquire the license of Popeye characters, and Miyamoto jumped at the chance to make the game. Olive Oyl drops several items for Popeye to collect as he deals with Bluto and the Sea Hag. A couple of other characters from the cartoon series show up as well. The game got mixed reviews but got above-average commercial success. It’s received several ports and re-releases without Nintendo involvement since then. It also was one of the launch titles for the Famicom console’s 1983 Japanese launch.

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Q*Bert

Created by Jeff Lee, the action puzzle game plays in an axonometric view as you hop down cubes in a pyramid to change their colors to clear the stage. As you progress, the cubes take more hops to change, and you have to deal with various enemies. Q*Bert became one of the last mega-hits of the golden age of arcades. It became such a success that despite the character and IP not doing anything in the modern era; most gamers still know who and what Q*Bert is.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark

E.T. wasn’t the only game pushed by Stephen Spielberg, as he wanted an adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Atari was willing to give it to him. The game had a much better release than E.T. However, it got criticism for what many reviewers felt were disappointing graphics. The game has players guide Indiana Jones through Cairo and the Temple of the Ancients. When you collect the necessary items, you jump off a mesa and enter a room where the Ark of the Covenant is. The same programmer as E.T. the Extraterrestrial made the game, Howard Scott Warshaw. However, this one got a better reception, and Warshaw credits it for not being rushed to complete it, compared to E.T., which was mandated to be out by the holidays.

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Spider-Man

The first Spider-Man game was released by Parker Brothers and developed by Laura Nikolich, an early female pioneer in computing and video games. In it, Spider-Man climbs a building and takes on enemies to get to the top and stop a “super bomb” planted by The Green Goblin. While it was immediately panned for being simple and generic, it provided a solid foundation for the titular character in video games and was a huge hit.

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Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The first Star Wars video game was based on Episode V's intro. The game has Luke try to stop the Imperial Walkers from reaching the base and play that way until the player loses. Despite lacking a real narrative, the game proved to be one of the biggest hits of 1982. The popularity of Star Wars showed up here, and the franchise would become a major IP in the industry.

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The Hobbit

While The Lords of the Rings franchise inspired many games, it was only natural we would eventually get an official adaptation. The game was put together by Beam Software’s Phillip Mitchell and Veronika Megler, who became an important female computer scientist. It’s a text-based game with images included, but it can be pretty elaborate, with some items being able to be used together, and the size of objects can make a difference as you play. Every copy of the game also came with the book, a deal struck when getting the license. The game saw commercial success despite mixed reviews.

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Yar’s Revenge

Created by Howard Scott Warshaw, Yar’s Revenge sees you play as the Yars, a fly-like humanoid creature at war with the Qotile. You have to take down an energy shield to reach the Qotile. While the game got mixed reviews, it’s become a classic, tends to be in many arcade collections, and has received many re-releases and clones. The game also put Warshaw in Speilberg’s mind and would lead to his development of Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extraterrestrial.

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Zaxxon

With the popularity of space shooters taking over the industry, Sega wanted their own hit space shooter and made Zaxxon. The game has the same ideas and goals as those other shooters, but it does it from a different perspective with the use of axonometric projection, simulating a 3D view in the third person. This game has some of the best graphics, sound, and color for the era, pushing the hardware to its limits. It became one of the best-selling games in the United States and received critical acclaim. The game was featured in the Smithsonian’s 2012 Art of Video Games exhibit. It would go on to have several re-releases and sequels.

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