Top Ten Games of the 1980's

I was born in 1980. The video game explosion happened during my childhood and I was hooked instantly. My Grandfather had a Commodore 64 computer system, and this is the first system I remember playing. It was fun. It had the basic games of the time (Pac-Man, Load-Runner, and my favorite at the time, BC Quest For Tires), and it was fun to play for a bit. I played arcade games back then too. My daycare center had a tank simulator and a Kangaroo game where you punched out naughty monkeys. All this was ok fun, but I didn't fall in love with games until 1985 when a babysitter I had named Roxanne bought her kids a Nintendo Entertainment System. I played it once at her house, and I was hooked! So with that, let me start my list with a few Honorable mentions.

Honorable mentions: Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Bubble Bobble, Excite Bike, Castlevania, Mega-Man, Metroid, and Frogger.

Now let the TOP TEN begin!:
10. Double Dragon II - The Revenge
NES 1989

Double Dragon for the NES was a good game, but it lost much of what the arcade game had going for it, including co-op play. Double Dragon II fixed this problem by adding back the co-op play and had an impressive level up system that added new moves including the famous cyclone spin kick. This was 8-bit, side scrolling, button mashing at its best. The levels were fun and challenging. Billy and Jimmy Lee kicked ass and took names. Watch out Abobo, you're next!

9. Super Mario Bros 2
NES 1988

If you have followed the Super Mario Brothers franchise at all, you've noticed that the game play of SMB 2 is completely different from the rest of the side scrolling platforms. The level design is different. You can play as characters other then Mario and Luigi. Plus all the baddies are different, as King Koopa is nowhere to be found. The reason for this is that it really isn't a Super Mario Bros game at all. The game was released in Japan as Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic. It had a completely different cast off hero's, but other then that it was the same game. Here in America they gave the game a face lift by replacing the original stars with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Princess. This game worked so well with the great level designs and because each of the hero's had special abilities to beat these levels. Mario was the all around guy who was good at everything, but great at none. Luigi could jump very high and long. Toad was very fast and could pick up things fast as well. The Princess could float for short periods of time, but took a long time to pick things up. In Japan they released a true Super Mario Bros sequel that looked very much like the first game. It was later released in the US for the Super Nintendo and was titled "The Lost Levels".

8. Shinobi
Arcade and Sega Master System 1987

My first favorite arcade game. I used to sneak quarters from my Mothers "hidden coin box" to go play this at the Circle K gas station. Yes, I stole money to play Shinobi. This game is based around a Ninja named Joe. Yep, Joe. He was saving kidnapped children from the evil organization called the Zeed. With Ninja stars for long ranged attacks and swords for close ranged attacks, you make your way across five levels and a roll of quarters. Luckily I got a Sega Master System and this game, so I no longer had to borrow quarters from Mom. Do not play this game on the NES, as it is a sluggish port that doesn't do it justice. You can buy the Sega Genesis Hits game for the XBOX and this is included as a bonus game.

7. Contra
NES 1988

Contra is the 80's in game form. Think of all the crappy 80's Stallone and Schwarzenegger movies and package them together with our GI Joe like hatred for other countries and you have Contra. This game was first an arcade game that was solid, but the NES version eclipsed its big brother. When you think of NES co-op game play, you think of this game. You controlled either the red dude, or the blue dude, and ran across levels spraying gun fire at any and everything. Nothing like letting off the spray gun at enemies running straight at you. The music was fun and amped you up the whole time. Oh, let's not forget to mention the CODE. Yep, if you played Nintendo, you know the CODE. UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A. This code gave you so many lives that you could run through the game not worrying about dying and just cause havoc. Classic game.

6. Ninja Gaiden
NES 1989

Man, was this game hard. I'm not just talking 1989 hard. It's still 2009 hard. You take the roll as Ryu Hayabusa, the hero of this game on his journey to fight an evil cult leader bent on reviving the ancient demon called "Jashin" and the one responsible for the attack on Ryu's father. This game is credited as the first to have cinematic cut sceens, which is now a video game staple. This series is so popular that they still make games for the XBOX 360 and PS3 today.

5. Tecmo Bowl
NES 1987

Sports games weren't always good for systems. Matter of fact, before Tecmo Bowl and Baseball Stars (1989), sports games were very primitive. Team A VS. Team B. Poor mechanics, and bad graphics. Tecmo Bowl helped change all of this. The game featured 12 teams that represented real life teams. The game lacked an NFL license, so the New York Giants were just New York. However, the NFL players association licensed the game and it featured real players for the first time. Joe Montana, John Elway, Lawrence Taylor, and Bo Jackson, to name a few. The game only featured four plays, and was more arcade then simulation style. A perfect example was how unstoppable Lawrence Taylor was on kicks, as he could block everyone if you ran right at the long snapper. Bo Jackson and Walter Payton were damn near unstoppable! A few years later, Super Tecmo Bowl was released and topped everything about this game, including having every NFL teams and a full NFL license! I'm sure you'll see it in my 1990's list.

4. Mike Tyson's Punchout!!
NES 1987

I feel kind of dirty having this game so "low" on my list. This game was played so much, I have every detail memorized and I can still play it today and kick ass! Matter of fact, I still do play this one on my Wii download. This game maybe a boxing title, but it is more of a time based, memorization and reflex game, then a sports title. You'd have to memorize the punches and moves of your opponent and time your counter just right. The game follows Little Mac on his journey to be a World Champion. It takes you through many memorable fighters including; Glass Joe, Piston Honda, Bald Bull, King Hippo, and of course the Champ, Iron Mike Tyson. Well, that is if you nabbed a copy before he went to prison. If not you get a white guy version named Mr. Dream to battle. I still have the code memorized that lets you skip ahead and battle Tyson; 007 373 5963.

3. Tetris
NES 1987

"Mom, will you please stop playing Tetris, so I can have my Nintendo back?", is an actual phrase I said a lot as a kid. This is the puzzle game that trumped all before it, and is the measuring stick for all that followed. Instead of explaining Tetris, since I assume everyone has played it at some point in their life, I'll touch base on the controversy around the Nintendo versions. Nintendo had a lockout device in all of their systems that only played official Nintendo games. In 1988 an Atari publisher named Tengen developed an override to the lockout system and released their version of Tetris. You may have seen a Tengen cartridge, they were the sleek, black ones. Well, Nintendo quickly sued Tengen as Nintendo had the exclusive rights to the game in America. The game was quickly pulled, but there are still many out there, Most people like the Tengen better because it had multi player that Nintendo lacked. I owned both at one point, and I liked the Nintendo version better for the music. Hey, I was 7.

2. The Legend Of Zelda
NES 1987

The Legend Of Zelda starring Link? Yep, you're not even Zelda. She's the princess you are out to save. You take the roll of the protagonist Link, a young man from Hyrule. You set off in a massive world full of enemies, dungeons, fairies, and weapon upgrades. Games back then were played in one sitting. Some had codes you could enter to skip to different levels. Zelda was the first game to use a battery backup to save your game, so you could pick it up later, right where you left off. Back then there wasn't the Internet to help you out. You had to know a kid who knew where to go. I knew Tony. He was a little Hispanic kid from West Valley. He was two years my junior, but he knew how to get through the graveyard, so he was a valuable asset. This game has spawned many sequels that are all classics in their own right, except the Panasonic 3DO titles Nintendo sub-let, but that is another story. Zelda's RPG/action adventure title was mind blowing at the time, and a true video game classic. The music is still hummed by fat, 30 year old's around the world.

1. Super Mario Brothers
NES 1985

Duh. Like it could be anything else. The first game I played at Roxanne's home was this title. Wow, was it mind blowing. This game is the quintessential platformer. Mario is now a cultural icon. You start off in the Mushroom Kingdom as one of the Mario Bro's. First player is Mario Mario, and player two is Luigi Mario. Yep, that's their names. Anyhow, you make your way across the Mushroom kingdom to save Princess Toadstool from the evil Koopa King, later known as Bowser. You collect coins for extra lives, mushrooms to turn you into "Super" Mario, flowers to turn into "fire" Mario, and stars to turn invincible. You battle goombas, koopas, and other baddies across what is known around the world as the perfect side scrolling adventure. I have played this game so many times I can beat the whole game in under 5 minutes without dying. True story. Ask David!

PS, did you know that Mario's fist name in Japan was Jumpman, but was changed to Mario in America because he looked the Nintendo of Americas landlord named Mario Segale.

Thanks for reading what I consider the best games of the 80's. In due time I'll make a list for the 90's.