With over 2.5 billion gamers around the world and with the gaming industry now exceeding $300 billion in revenue last year, there is no doubt that video gaming has taken the world by storm.
Nowadays, gamers of all ages are spending hours on popular online games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, and Counter Strike. However, even in this golden age of gaming, it’s difficult not to occasionally pine for the simpler days of the arcade era, where 8-bit and 16-bit titles used to dominate the charts.
With that in mind, here are some of the best retro games that deserve a place in every modern hardware today. Be sure to read through until the end of this article to rediscover old gems and timeless classics that set the stage for modern gaming.
Donkey Kong
Launched in 1981, Donkey Kong has sold over one million copies and is one of the best retro games that are still on the scene in today’s modern gaming.
The original Donkey Kong may not have the same kind of graphics as use by today’s standards, but this game is pack full of nostalgic charm that stands the test of time. The overall premise of this game revolves around collecting bananas, defeating the army of Kremlins, and collecting the golden KONG letters on each level while teaming up with Diddy.
Nothing feels more satisfying than winning against the greatest baddies of all time, King K. Rool–whose sole mission in the game is to steal monkeys’ bananas. The game also spawned an epic series that still has a loyal community today and provided a formula that inspired many game developers.
Klondike Solitaire
Solitaire card games have long been a popular pastime among gamers but were made a global phenomenon in the 1990s with the release of Windows 3.0 and its free Solitaire version. Due to Klondike’s success, other card games such as FreeCell and Spider Solitaire followed. However, no other game has ever attained the kind of ubiquity and adoration that Klondike Solitaire enjoyed during its heyday in the 1990s, despite many games in the same genre being released each year.
Conan Exiles
Conan Exiles is an exceptionally good fantasy survival game that allows players to enjoy small tight-knit role play communities and hardcore PVP servers.
With a rich narrative and interactive gameplay, Conan Exiles is undoubtedly one of the greatest survival games ever to grace a console.
As soon as the loading screens appear, it is sure to provide instant nostalgia for Conan the Barbarian fans. Players will be dumped into the wilderness with little information to go off and must gather resources, weapons, tools, buildings, and clans to survive from the enemies. Surviving the harsh fantasy realm of Conan Exiles and its first major expansion, Isle of Sipta, can be tough, but it’s a foolproof way to keep anyone glued to their seats for hours.
Space Invaders
With over $13 billion in sales, it’s safe to say that Space Invaders is one of the greatest and most influential retro games ever made.
For those who have never played this game before, it involves a descending swarm of aliens moving down the screen, and players have to shoot these invaders from space as they come closer to the bottom of the screen.
A bonus alien spaceship appears at each level, which serves as an opportunity to score additional points. The worldwide success of Space Invaders continues to pave the way for today’s generation of shooting games and is viewed as one of the pioneers of modern gaming.
More than forty years strong, Space Invaders has continued to embrace the title as the best arcade game for more decades to come.
Video and console games have come a long way since the early days of Computer Space and have covered a wide range of genres. From Donkey Kong, Conan Exiles, and Space Invaders, these critically acclaimed retro games have set the standards for all modern game developers to follow.
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