1980, Game of the Year

[Jumpin]

Conina said:

Mystery House, the first game of Roberta Williams, which started the Sierra success story.

https://www.mobygames.com/game/9312/hi-res-adventure-1-mystery-house/

Also the first adventure game with graphics:

I’ll second that.

And I agree, it’s considered one of the most influential games of all time even by the mid 1980s, when I first played it. And I know people in this forum aren’t alone, as gaming magazines in the 80s and 90s would talk about this one when discussing notable games from the past. Granted, PacMan was substantially more popular because Arcades and was basically the icon of video games even until sometime after Mario’s success (which probably took over by SMB3). The Arcade sector several times bigger in the 80s than all other platforms combined and still outgrossing the console (home + handheld) sector until 1997 when PlayStation and Pokémon exploded (with the exception of 92 and 93 at the commercial height of the 16-bit era and early handheld era).

I was also thinking Wizardry, which I thought was 1980, but it was only the beta release and not the final (which came out in 1981). Also, I know the version of the Wizardry games I played and enjoyed were Japanese remakes with an updated battle system based on Dragon Quest’s menu selection rather than the more convoluted typed commands. Also, much like early PC Adventure and RPGs, Wizardry required external literature to be able to play it correctly.

Rogue was also a very interesting game, but again, I only played derivatives on later hardware. It is also one of the most influential games in the indie gaming world.

Last edited by Jumpin - on 07 September 2023