# Computer/Video Games Most People Don't Remember **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [March 8, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594 "2024-03-08T03:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/21 "2024-03-08T21:48:51Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > mini gamea Should add I had a visceral reaction watching the Quazatron mini game on that video. I played a lot of that game as a kid and my subconscious remembers 😉 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/22 "2024-03-08T21:51:41Z")
My favorite game from 80s Commodore gaming was Mail Order Monsters: > **[Mail Order Monsters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Order_Monsters)** > > Mail Order Monsters is an action-strategy computer game created by Paul Reiche III, Evan Robinson, and Nicky Robinson. It was published by Electronic Arts (Ariolasoft in Europe) for the Commodore 64 in 1985, then released for Atari 8-bit family in 1986. Players create monsters which they can use to battle multiplayer or against computer-controlled opponents. > The players create a variety of monsters and equip them with futuristic and modern weapons to do battle. Monsters can be further customi... You designed a monster with various abilities and pit it against other monsters in gladatorial combat. Hugely fun for my brother and I. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/23 "2024-03-08T21:57:17Z")
I’ve never played it. But I’ve heard great things. I do play The Movie Monster Game. Pick a monster. Pick a scenario. Pick a city. Smash buildings and eat cars. Words fail to describe my love for this game. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/24 "2024-03-08T22:18:32Z")
My school had just gotten its first computer lab with Apple II computers. My friends and I would go in after school (or on free periods) and play Castle Wolfenstein. FWIW…the much more recent reboot (a few years ago now) is actually pretty great too (completely different as an FPS and not a platformer). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/25 "2024-03-08T22:20:22Z")
Dark Castle: > **[Dark Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Castle)** > > Dark Castle is a 1986 platform game for Macintosh that was originally published by Silicon Beach Software. The original game was designed and animated by Mark Pierce and programmed by Jonathan Gay with Real Sound by Eric Zocher. In Dark Castle, a young hero named Duncan tries to make his way to the evil Black Knight, dodging objects as well as solving occasional puzzles. > A sequel, Beyond Dark Castle, was released in 1987. A second sequel, Return to Dark Castle, was released by Super Happy Fun Fu... ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/26 "2024-03-08T23:38:13Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Reminds me of the hardest game ever: > [https://robotodyssey.online/](https://robotodyssey.online/) I played that game on Apple II circa sixth grade. Never made it very far. My school library had a copy of it. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/27 "2024-03-09T00:44:06Z")
I just remembered BBS games that I used to love back in the 90s. Anybody else play Trade Wars? I remember manually plotting sectors on graph paper to create a map, which was surprisingly difficult. [TradeWars 2002 - Break Into Chat - BBS wiki](https://breakintochat.com/wiki/TradeWars_2002#:~:text=TradeWars%202002%2C%20also%20known%20as,game%20for%20bulletin%20board%20systems). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/28 "2024-03-09T01:06:01Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I just remembered BBS games that I used to love back in the 90s. Anybody else play Trade Wars? I remember manually plotting sectors on graph paper to create a map, which was surprisingly difficult. I used to play a few of those old school BBS games. TW 2000 was one of the big ones and there was another called Red Dragon Inn I liked. There are a few whose names I simply can’t remember though. I enjoyed playing one where you were a gladiator in a fantasy world having to challenge others. And of course the graphics on all these games were top notch on my dial up 9600 baud modem. ZPack for life! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/29 "2024-03-09T01:08:32Z")
Thanks for reminding me; that definitely counts as part of the massively multiplayer space game genre I mentioned. With _Elite: Dangerous_ still around, we can’t say the concept is completely forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/30 "2024-03-09T01:20:15Z")
BTW remember when George Lucas had an independent video game company? There were _Rescue on Fractalus_, _Ballblazer_, _Maniac Mansion_, many many others. That subsidiary has long since been shut down/the IP sold, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/31 "2024-03-09T01:23:40Z")
Oh, yeah. Day of Tentacle, Curse of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Curse of Atlantis, and of course a myraid of Star Wars games. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/32 "2024-03-09T01:30:49Z")
They made some really great games in their day. I miss those days. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/33 "2024-03-09T02:03:48Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Oh, yeah. Day of Tentacle, Curse of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Curse of Atlantis, and of course a myraid of Star Wars games. It’s _ **Secret** of Monkey Island_, and _Indiana Jones and the **Fate** of Atlantis_. Also, LucasArts is very well remembered, so probably doesn’t count. Though nobody talks about _Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders_ very much. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/34 "2024-03-09T02:09:16Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > My favorite game from 80s Commodore gaming was Mail Order Monsters: > > [Mail Order Monsters - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Order_Monsters) Funny, I was going to come into this thread after finishing up some work to mention Mail Order Monsters vis a vis Racing Destruction set, both freaking great games for their time with their customizability. Loved them both, back in the day. Mail Order Monsters fight scenes also remind me of Archon, another great game, though I don’t know if that’s really something most people don’t remember or not. I mean, sure, MOST people literally don’t remember it, but it’s iconic for its time. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/35 "2024-03-09T02:11:52Z")
My friend and I played Archon a LOT. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/36 "2024-03-09T02:19:45Z")
It may have seemed vintage to her. Those arcades, with period machines, sure are fun, aren’t they? My first encounter with them was this one, when I lived in the area in 2011-12. > **[1984](https://www.1984arcade.com/)** > > We are the BIGGER 80s! There’s one in my city but I’ve never been there, although it’s in the bar district which has terrible parking. In the late 1970s, there was a pinball/foosball/air hockey place that had a great game called “Exidy” that always had a line to play it. It was one of those solo games where you climbed in and sat down and played it with buttons on a steering wheel, and evaporated space ships that came at you in 3-D. Never seen it since (and TBH I probably wouldn’t fit into that machine now!). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/37 "2024-03-09T02:23:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It may have seemed vintage to her. Those arcades, with period machines, sure are fun, aren’t they? My first encounter with them was this one, when I lived in the area in 2011-12. It was made to resemble an old school game and when I saw it I did a double take. It took me a few seconds to remember it wasn’t a game in the 80s, so I don’t blame someone in their mid-twenties for thinking it was a vintage game. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/38 "2024-03-09T02:30:37Z")
Some I have fond memories of: [Sundog: Frozen Legacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunDog:_Frozen_Legacy). A game with a bit of everything; space combat, ground combat, black market deals, cargo trading, repairable/upgradable ship, etc. Hampered by being made with 1984-era technology, it was still good and ahead of its time in a lot of ways. [Killing Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Time_(video_game)): A very atmospheric FPS set in a haunted 1920s estate. [PO’d](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PO%27ed): Which got mixed reception, but I liked it. A wide variety of monsters and weapons, interesting environments, and various ideas I didn’t see elsewhere for some time. [Midwinter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwinter_(video_game)): A strategy/first person game set in a frozen future world where you fight a guerrilla war against invaders. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/39 "2024-03-09T02:32:05Z")
Mutant League Hockey? I played it a bunch when I was assistant manager of a video store in the 90s, and video game rentals were complimentary. I think a friend and I were the only ones to ever check it out. > **[Mutant League Hockey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutant_League_Hockey)** > > Mutant League Hockey is an ice hockey game that was released in 1994 for the Sega Genesis. It is a spin-off of Mutant League Football and has several of the same team names. > Unlike Mutant League Football which featured five species of mutant, Mutant League Hockey narrows it down to three: robots, undead skeletons and trolls, removing aliens and superhumans. The game has the same tone as its predecessor, with special plays that can cause things to happen like making the puck explode when it is pi... ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594/40 "2024-03-09T02:59:14Z")
From the high school Apple IIe computer lab, all green on black: - [The Bilestoad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bilestoad). Controls like QWOP, framerates around 1.5 if both players are on the screen at the same time. But axes, shields, limb loss, and a 1-note-per-frame soundtrack! Für Elise! In the Hall of the Mountain King! “It’s just a flesh wound!” references if I’d seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail before college! - I don’t remember the name, but you controlled an anti-aircraft gun on a platform in the bottom middle of the screen. Bad guys (helicopters? planes?) would fly across the top and drop paratroopers. When hit, the aircraft debris would take out other aircraft and paratroopers. It was possible for your shots and the debris to hit a paratrooper’s chute only, causing them to fall to their death (and to the death of any paratroopers immediately below them). When 4 paratroopers landed on one side of your gun, three of them would make a pyramid next to your gun platform and the fourth would jauntily hop on their heads, land on your platform, and blow you up, ending the game. - [Archon I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon:_The_Light_and_the_Dark), but not II - [One On One: Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_on_One:_Dr._J_vs._Larry_Bird), but that’s hardly forgotten - [Jeopardy!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy!_(franchise)#Other_games), also unforgotten [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-video-games-most-people-dont-remember/998594.md?page=3)