Gaming Classics That Transcend The Ages
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Mar 28 2022, 1:03 PM
Back when he was leading the technological revolution practically single handed, Bill Gates famously predicted that businesses would change more in the subsequent 10 years than they had in the previous 50. Looking back, we can definitely say he didn’t know the half of it. The ceaseless advances in tech have kept everything new, with change the only constant.
That’s as true in gaming as it is anywhere. From Chuckie Egg in the 80s to Sonic in the 90s to World of Warcraft in the 00s, games have come and gone. Yet there are a handful of game franchises that have managed to roll with the wheels of time instead of getting crushed underneath them.
Final Fantasy
The phrase game-changer is often thrown around with reckless abandon, but there’s no other way to describe the Japanese themed RPG that quietly arrived on Western shores in 1987. That’s right, Final Fantasy commemorates the 35th anniversary of its original release this year.
Setting aside the broader universe it has spawned in terms of spin offs and movies, the 15 core games that have been released to date have each been classics in their own rights. Some, like the 1991 release Final Fantasy IV, which pioneered concepts like the active time bubble and fixed character classes, are counted among the greatest games of all time.
Football Manager
Sport has been one of the most popular game genres from the earliest days of gaming. When you think of a soccer game franchise that’s stood the test of time, you could be forgiven for assuming FIFA is the Grandaddy of them all. You would be mistaken. When Kevin Toms released Football Manager for the Tandy TRS-80 and the Sinclair ZX, in 1982, the first FIFA game was still 11 years in the future.
Football Manager pioneered the sport management genre. Over the past 40 years, the depth, complexity and data that underpins the game engine has advanced with every new edition, as has the user interface. But the basic concept remains exactly as Toms created it all those years ago, the battle to build a team that can go from grass roots to the top of the world.
Mario
The most recognizable character in the history of video games arrived on the scene even earlier than the first Football Manager game. Mario was the player-controlled protagonist in Donkey Kong, a platform game that made its debut in July 1981 and dominated arcades over the next two years.
Donkey Kong was popular at the time, but it gave no clue to the phenomenon that was to come. The Mario character was promoted to lead billing in Nintendo’s next game, Super Mario, and the rest is history. Mario is by far the best selling video game franchise ever.
Mario is more than just a plumber with a cool mustache. Ultimately, it is the versatility of the franchise, through RPGs like Mario and Luigi or sports games like Mario Kart that have proved the key to his longevity.
Back when he was leading the technological revolution practically single handed, Bill Gates famously predicted that businesses would change more in the subsequent 10 years than they had in the previous 50. Looking back, we can definitely say he didn’t know the half of it. The ceaseless advances in tech have kept everything new, with change the only constant.
That’s as true in gaming as it is anywhere. From Chuckie Egg in the 80s to Sonic in the 90s to World of Warcraft in the 00s, games have come and gone. Yet there are a handful of game franchises that have managed to roll with the wheels of time instead of getting crushed underneath them.
Final Fantasy
The phrase game-changer is often thrown around with reckless abandon, but there’s no other way to describe the Japanese themed RPG that quietly arrived on Western shores in 1987. That’s right, Final Fantasy commemorates the 35th anniversary of its original release this year.
Setting aside the broader universe it has spawned in terms of spin offs and movies, the 15 core games that have been released to date have each been classics in their own rights. Some, like the 1991 release Final Fantasy IV, which pioneered concepts like the active time bubble and fixed character classes, are counted among the greatest games of all time.
Football Manager
Sport has been one of the most popular game genres from the earliest days of gaming. When you think of a soccer game franchise that’s stood the test of time, you could be forgiven for assuming FIFA is the Grandaddy of them all. You would be mistaken. When Kevin Toms released Football Manager for the Tandy TRS-80 and the Sinclair ZX, in 1982, the first FIFA game was still 11 years in the future.
Football Manager pioneered the sport management genre. Over the past 40 years, the depth, complexity and data that underpins the game engine has advanced with every new edition, as has the user interface. But the basic concept remains exactly as Toms created it all those years ago, the battle to build a team that can go from grass roots to the top of the world.
Mario
The most recognizable character in the history of video games arrived on the scene even earlier than the first Football Manager game. Mario was the player-controlled protagonist in Donkey Kong, a platform game that made its debut in July 1981 and dominated arcades over the next two years.
Donkey Kong was popular at the time, but it gave no clue to the phenomenon that was to come. The Mario character was promoted to lead billing in Nintendo’s next game, Super Mario, and the rest is history. Mario is by far the best selling video game franchise ever.
Mario is more than just a plumber with a cool mustache. Ultimately, it is the versatility of the franchise, through RPGs like Mario and Luigi or sports games like Mario Kart that have proved the key to his longevity.
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