Classic games make comeback in 2021

Have you been wondering what all the fuss is about lately? So have I. What’s going on? Are people playing old-school games again?! I know, it’s weird, right? If you’re as curious as I am, let’s take a look at who’s been playing what shall we?

 

First up, we have Tetris! A lot of people I know have been playing it lately, and a lot of high scores have been achieved by many people.  It was created in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov. It was inspired by his favorite game, Pentominoes. The name Tetris came from “tetra,” the Greek word for four, and “tennis” which is his favorite sport. The goal of this game is to clear as many lines and go as many levels as you can without dying. My personal high score is 158,618 points with 143 lines, and at level 15. The game is surprisingly easy to finesse although it takes some practice to get used to the controls of the game. You should try your hand at it.

 

Second up, Space Invaders. This game came out in 1978 and was inspired by the ideas of The War of the Worlds, Star Wars, and Breakout. The creator, Tomohiro Nishikado came up with the concept and introduced it to the company Taito, a Japanese corporation. This game helped video games go from a novelty to a global industry. One of the original ideas was that the aliens would be human soldiers, but the company didn’t want it to look like it was OK to send out the idea of shooting humans as acceptable. You get three lives. If you lose all three, you have to start over from square one.

Third, we have Super Mario Bros. A lot of these games that you’ve heard so far, they may lead your thoughts to “my parents used to play these games when they were kids” or something like that. All of these games came out before cell phones and most computers were made. This was made after Mario Bros. the arcade game. The video game came out in 1985 for Japan. North America got the game on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) in 1985. It’s a fun game, but much like other games released around this time, you get three lives. Once you die, you’re dead and you have to restart.

Pac-Man is our number four on this list. It was originally released in 1980 in Japan. The game was a big success right off the bat. Video games were so rare back then that it was like limited-edition merchandise from your favorite band or company. It spread quickly throughout arcades across the globe. Japan got hit first, since it’s the country of origin, and after a while the game got spread to North America and Europe.

 

Number five is one that sounds familiar, although it might not be in the form you think it is, Frogger. A modern-day version of this is Crossy Road. It was introduced in 1981 by Konami, another Japanese company. I know, these guys are a bunch of geniuses. 1981 was a huge year for video games all around the world. The concept was new and exciting, rare to see until it hit the arcade. Once you could get the games in your home, in those times, it meant that you had a lot of money. You had to save your allowance every time you got it until you could buy it. Like most companies back then they started out slow but quickly became a big success due to their new games.

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