This week, let's take a moment to appreciate one of the iconic features in games: the power-up. For this post I'm defining power-ups as items that grant your in-game character (player avatar) a temporary* change in their abilities or state when picked up or used. Power-ups can add some extra flavor, give the player a break, and/or even add a new layer of strategy to the gameplay. They can be a boon, a trap, or something in-between. They can be general purpose like a smart bomb, or situational like the frog suit in SMB3. Power-ups have been integral to gaming since the early days, earlier than you may know! They keep us on our toes, they spice up the gameplay, and they are an example of something from video games spilling over into other media and everyday language use.

The first video game examples, while not called power-ups at the time, seem to have appeared in the game dnd (1975) as well as some other non-commercial RPGs from the same year. This dungeon crawler game actually features many different and interesting items but let's focus on the ones that fit the definition: Magic potions found in the dungeon which you can examine or drink. These have 11 possible effects including transforming the player character into astral form, which allows them to pass through walls and floors - however they can't carry gold or the orb (the goal of the game is to bring this with you out of the dungeon) while using it so it's mainly used for scouting. Two other interesting ones are an invisibility potion (lets you flee from random encounters easier) and a levitation potion (lets you walk over pits).

*As in timed or lost after taking a hit or losing a life in a game with a lives system.

Some Other Notable Examples:

The magic amulet from Akalabeth (1979) - This multi-purpose item can be used in dungeons to ascend or descend a level, shoot a missile, or cast a Transformation spell (if it goes well, the player character becomes a stronger lizardman). Fighters can use an amulet, but only mages can control which of the four effects they get. An amulet has a 25% chance of vanishing after use

The power pill from Pac-Man (1980) - Often cited as the first power-up, and I think it is for action games at least, this lets Pac-Man temporarily get revenge on the ghosts he's been running from as he'll become invincible and able to defeat them for a bit.

The scrolls from Rogue (1980) - The game that the rogue-like term is derived from featured various single use scrolls for spellcasting. Some of the more interesting ones include the random teleportation one, the monster freezing one and the map revealing one

The alternate weapons from ​​​Spy Hunter (1983) - In this early shooter/racer known for its turbo feature and music, you can pick up alternate weapons by boosting into a van. Smoke and oil trails are used for back attacks, and homing ground to air missiles to deal with helicopter enemies

The pickaxes from the Tower of Druaga (1984) - This proto-action adventure game features pickaxes to break some blocks - these deteriorate quickly (perhaps this comes from Rogue) until you get the golden one. There are also temporary life bar increasing items

The options/gun drones from Gradius (1985) - In this shoot 'em up you can gain up to three satellites, automatically following the player ship around at a set distance which can also be altered for the most effective use of them given the current situation. This one may have been an evolution of the dual ship power up from Galaga

The Super Mushroom from Super Mario Bros. (1985) - Strangely represented by a poisonous mushroom (after the first game, at first it had different colors), this one transforms Mario into Super Mario, allowing him to take an extra hit and to break blocks from below. What some overlook when thinking back on it is that it's not a 100% positive one, after all the regular, small Mario can more easily move through narrow paths and is a smaller target. This nuance is one of several things that made the game stand out back in the day

Various power-ups from Bubble Bobble (1986) - This one features tons of power ups. Some of the more interesting ones include warp/level skip items in the umbrellas and gates, smart bombs (first seen in Defender), stop watches that freeze enemies, comet rains that make enemies more aggressive and water bubbles which cause a flood when they burst

The Spread Gun from Contra (1987/1988): One of the most beloved power-ups in shooters, this weapon allows players to fire in multiple directions simultaneously, providing an express ticket to truly attacking aggressively. Contra didn't feature the first spread shot (might've been Gradius, or Xain'd Sleena for run 'n gun games) but it's one of the strongest and most well known. The one from Fantasy Zone also packs a punch, albeit for a very limited time.

The transformations from Altered Beast (1988) - Can't forget the game that first spoke the word out loud and with a commanding voice at that! Here your avatar becomes buffer and buffer until you eventually hit literal beast mode, turning into a werewolf or tiger that can both shoot fireballs and dash attack, a bear that can somersault or petrify enemies, and a dragon that can fly and electrify enemies.

The creature mounts from Golden Axe (1989) - In this one, the power-up (one of them, there's also the spells) becomes a creature you can mount and which changes how you move and attack. In some levels you can go for a sort of wingless cockatrice with a long tail, and in others one of two kinds of dragons. But watch out, the enemies can use them too. One thing most don't know is that a great player can actually be more efficient without these - the downthrust and back attack are just that good. But fighting over them and hitting enemies with firebreath does add to the fun, no?

The Rocket Skates from Toejam & Earl (1991) - These make you go really fast (fast enough to skip on water) and jump really far, although there is a loss of control while in mid-air. Another one with nuance to it, seeing as if you're unprepared or inexperienced with using them, you'll probably end up falling off the current level (or several) instead of putting them to good use. Maybe the devs got the idea from Sonic, released a few months earlier.

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What are your favorite power-ups, and which games do you think executed them the best? Share your thoughts on the power-ups that left a lasting impact on you!

Hey everybody. This week, let's dive into a topic that has become an expected part of most modern games but had humble beginnings and took a long time to take hold outside of certain genres – Character Creation & Customization!

These innovations have added layers of personalization, player agency and immersion. They allow players to mold their in-game avatars to match their own preferences, either representing themselves better or as an outlet for their imagination, and to tweak the gameplay experience according to their playstyle. All in all, while they can sometimes make games less accessible due to their complexity, these systems tend to create a more unique connection between the player and the virtual world.

Dungeon (1975 or 1976), pedit5 (1975) and dnd (1975)

Three of the first examples can be found in these, the very first CRPGs made. As one of the titles hints at, these took their character creation systems straight from the tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons. In these games, players could input their name, roll virtual die to determine 5 starting attributes (stats) represented by a number between 8 and 18 (strength, intelligence, constitution, dexterity, hit points), or choose between 15 pre-made ones. It's a start!

Jumping ahead a bit, we see other RPGs add more and more elements of D&D to the character creation process. In Akalabeth (PCs, 1979), players can choose between two classes (mage or fighter), affecting how their character grow throughout their journey as well as which items and skills they can use. A couple of years later, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Multi, 1981) introduced five races (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Hobbits; the fictional ones probably based on how Lord of the Rings author Tolkien defined them), adding further stat modifiers (resistances and weapon proficiencies), modifying starting stats and allowing for a bit more of a roleplaying aspect. It also features three moral alignments (Good, Neutral, Evil), two of which can switch depending on player actions and will affect if two party members can stay in the same party after going back to the surface as well as what items can be equipped without being cursed.

Some Other Notable Examples (note that I'm referring to customization done before the game starts proper):

-Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (1985), Auto Duel (1985) and Mail Order Monsters (1985)

-Alter Ego (1986) and Starflight (1986/1991)(the crew)

-Pirates! (1987/1990) - Another early example of character creation in a non-RPG/non-traditional RPG, this one lets you pick your nationality (& starting position), name, difficulty, special ability (fencing, navigation, gunnery, wit and charm, medicine). The nationality has a major effect on the difficulty of the game.

-Sorcerian (1987/1988 (party portraits))

-Pool of Radiance (1988)

-Quest For Glory I/Hero's Quest (1989/1992) and Baseball Stars (1989)

-Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes Back (1989) - Expansion which let you draw and save your own portraits

-Uncharted Waters (1990/1993)

-Cocoron (1991), 4D Sports Boxing (1991) and Midwinter II: Flames of Freedom (1991)

-Romancing SaGa (1992), Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu (Nekketsu Fighting Legend)(1992)

-Syndicate (1993), Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993)

-Master of Magic (1994) and The Elder Scrolls series (1994, 1996, etc)

-Quake (PC, 1996)(more w/ QuakeWorld update)

-Fallout (1997)

-Baldur's Gate (1998)

-System Shock 2 (1999) and Jagged Alliance 2 (1999)

-WWF SmackDown! (2000) and The Sims series (2000, etc)

-Project Justice (DC, 2000)(JP)

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Equipment and/or vehicles only:

-Ghostbusters (1984) and Elite (1984)

-1943 (NES, 1988), Laser Squad (1988), Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction (1988) and BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception (1988)(after an intro mission I think)

-Star Trader (1989) and Gradius III (1989)

-Target Earth/Assault Suit Leynos (1990)

-Scorched Earth (1991) and U.N. Squadron (SNES, 1991)

-Star Control II (1992)(after the two tutoral missions)

-MechWarrior (SNES, 1993), Rock 'n Roll Racing (1993)

-UFO: Enemy Unknown (1994) and Battletech (MD, 1994)

-Hyper Iria (1995) and MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (1995)

-Front Mission: Gun Hazard (1996)(after the intro mission)

-Gran Turismo (1997) and Armored Core (1997)

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What's your favorite retro game that featured character creation and/or customization? Did it have a significant impact on your gaming experience? Share your thoughts and experiences!

This week, it's time for an (eventually) revolutionary innovation that has fundamentally shaped how we interact with many games: Twin-Stick Controls. This was an important innovation in that it provided a more immersive, precise and flexible gameplay experience, particularly for 3D games and multidirectional shooters since it would let players move their avatar with one stick and aim with the other. In general this is how they work, though there are a few exceptions like Crazy Climber, Karate Champ and Cyber Sled 1-2 that use them differently.

The first example can be found in the 1975 arcade game Gun Fight (Western Gun) by Taito. This is a single-screen, top down view shooter that pits two players against each other in a gunfight set in the Old West. Upon getting shot, characters tumble to the ground and it looks like their bodies were fried, turning completely black. Each player controls their avatar with a pair of joysticks: an eight-way joystick for movement and another for altering the shooting direction.

Some other notable early examples:

Crazy Climber (1980)

Robotron 2084 (1982)

Karate Champ (1984)

Smash TV (1990)

For consoles, twin-stick controls became popular for 3D games towards the end of the fifth generation, but innovated closer to the beginning of it. On the PS1 the control scheme was introduced via the dual analog joystick (a large, flight stick-style controller) and a few games such as Descent in 1996. On the Saturn the Saturn Twin-Stick was supported by Virtual On and a few other mech games.

In 1997, the dual analog controller was released for PS1. MechWarrior 2, Ace Combat 2, Descent Maximum, and Colony Wars were among the 27 compatible games.

A couple of years later, the control scheme would be popularized by games like Ape Escape, Tomb Raider 3, Resident Evil 3, South Park, Mega Man Legends 2 and Ace Combat 3 (these games supported the dual shock controller, an updated version of the dual analog controller), and to some degree by the N64 games such as Turok and GoldenEye 007, which used the c-buttons or d-pad as a makeshift second stick. GoldenEye 007 for N64 actually did feature twin-stick controls - the problem was that it required two controllers to achieve true twin-stick glory, limiting the multiplayer aspect of the game (the first game to use this idea seems to be Smash TV for NES and SNES).

On PCs, Descent and other games also supported dual flight stick controls since 1995 or perhaps further back. However, keyboard & mouse (KB&M) controls would instead become the standard while twin-stick conrols remained pretty niche (some players also used KB & Joystick for Descent). Full Free Look or mouselook was first introduced by the FPS games Marathon (MAC, 1994) and Terminator: Future Shock (PC, 1995), but aiming with the mouse while moving with the keyboard was actually possible for Doom in 1993 as well via its control setup in DOS (september, 1993 to be precise) - only issue being that vertical mouse movement also controls forward and backward movement so you had to be rather careful with your movement. However the game that eventually popularized the now standard WASD keys for movement and mouse for looking around setup was Quake (PC, 1996), for which the online MP community would change the default arrow keys for movement setup, to WASD as the preferred setup.

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What are your thoughts on twin-stick controls and what are your favorite games that use them? Did you use any of the more oddball setups back in the day?

This week, let's talk about something that has truly revolutionized the way we play video games - Network & Online Multiplayer. Online play in particular has become the norm ahead of local multiplayer and taking turns to play, a transformation that really became noticeable on PC during the mid-late '90s but - as with many other innovations - has much older roots. This innovation has transformed previously solitary or local gaming experiences into social (in its own way) and competitive events on a global scale, allowing players from around the world to connect and play together.

Empire (PLATO, 1973) is one of the first in-depth strategy games for computers. It is also significant for being probably the first networked multiplayer game (although Maze War is another candidate for this category).

Empire I, the first version of the game, was created by then student John Daleske at Iowa State, as part of a project for an educational course during the spring of 1973. This early version of the game was a turn-based experience that allowed for a maximum of eight players. Each player assumed the role of a government leader, overseeing ships for both trade and warfare, industrial operations, and financial budgets. Players needed to maintain their budgets to construct more ships, sustain industry, generate raw materials for goods, and engage in trading. The next version of the game, Empire II, was more combat-oriented, and the third and final version by Daleske (completed in 1974) allowed for up to seven teams and fifty players at once! A later version by a different team, Empire IV (1976), even allowed for live chat between players.

Other Notable Examples:

moria (1975) - RPG which featured multiplayer parties connected over a network (the game continues after a character dies). Players are able to combine into a party or separate in-game

Neverwinter Nights (1991) - MMORPG

Doom (1993, network and one year later online as well) - FPS

Some SNES and MD/GEN games via the XBAND, a 3rd party peripheral (1994) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBAND

Diablo (1996, network and online) - Isometric ARPG

MSN Games (1996, online service) - Previously known as The Village, Internet Gaming Zone, and MSN Gaming Zone this site launched in the mid '90s and was acquired by Microsoft in 1996. Initially focused on card and board games, it was later rebranded and over the next five years, gained popularity with the addition of popular retail games like MechWarrior, Rainbow Six and Age of Empires.

What are your favorite memories from the earlier days of network or online multiplayer gaming? Did you play any of the games mentioned or are there other titles that hold a special place in your heart? Share your experiences!

Today, it's time for the innovation that let human make human in their own image - the human player avatar!

The concept of a human player avatar was important because it allowed players to more easily project themselves into the game world. This not only added a personal touch to video games but also added another layer of immersion and engagement. Before this innovation, most games relied on abstract representations of players, such as spaceships or paddle controllers. The introduction of a human-like avatar created new possibilities for storytelling, characterization and gameplay.

Let's start with the first example - the arcade game TV Basketball/Basketball from 1974. This pioneering game (it was also one of the first sports games besides Tennis for Two and Pong, as well as one of the first JP games to be released in the US) allowed players to control two basketball players at the same time, representing their team while another player controlled the opposing team in what is essentially a variation on Pong. A rudimentary representation for sure, something akin to caveman paintings using pixels instead of paint, but it was a start and it got the ball rolling.

Some Other Notable Examples:

​Donkey Kong (1981) - In this game, players were asked to identify with a male, working class hero in a scenario clearly inspired by the movie King Kong. The introduction of Mario (although still called Jumpman then) not only introduced one of the most iconic video game characters but also marked a significant step in the development of human-like avatars. Mario had facial features, distinct clothing and an almost cute, chubby anatomy (in the game anyway, the arcade artwork gives him a less sympathetic appearance).

Temple of Apshai (1979) - While a minor evolution of what we saw before in TV Basketball, this early computer RPG combined the concept with manual character creation, allowing players to determine their character's initial skills and traits (represented by numeric stats: intelligence, intuition, ego, strength, constitution, dexterity) as well as name their character before beginning their dungeon crawling quest.

Galactic Saga IV: Tawala's Last Redoubt (1981) - While the first black protagonist in a video game seems to be one of the players in Basketball (Atari 400/Atari 800, 1979), this game seems to be the first to feature a black protagonist with something of a backstory and personality, as well as a female protagonist. In this strategy game, players take on the role of Benthi, a commander of a rebel force who is romantically involved with the series previous protagonist, Julian du Buque of Sparta. Players are tasked with scouting, diplomacy and ultimately conquest of emperor Tawala's last fortress.

Sorcerian (1987) - In this JP Action RPG, players can create and control their own party, including choosing one or more characters' gender, portrait, starting stats and class. They can even select a job for them in-game. This was a significant step towards allowing players to have more personalized avatars in the RPG genre.

Street Fighter II (1991) - This arcade fighting game let players choose from a roster of distinct characters, each with their own fighting style and special moves, represented by some of the largest and most detailed sprite characters seen up to that point. While not the first similar game to do so, obviously, it was the most popular and had the largest, most diverse roster up to that point, while also giving each character their own backstory and ending cutscene. Players could embody characters like Ryu and Chun-Li, and the concept of the "main" was born.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) - This game gave us a cool, fast character to control that would popularize the concept of the anthropomorphic player character (a second wave of them really, though I figured some might object to Pac-Man being a humanoid character), this time crossing a human with another animal. Sonic's design and gameplay were intended to create a relatable avatar that resonated with players in the US in particular. Of particular note is Sonic's detailed idle animation which conveys a lot with just a few frames.

Tomb Raider (1996) - Lara Croft, the adventurer, quickly became one of the most recognizable female avatars in gaming after her debut in this game. Known for her intelligence, confidence, and action-packed adventures, she was also an early voiced character in console gaming with a distinct and fleshed out personality, featured in the game's various cutscenes where she'd negotiate job offers, perform stunts, investigate mysteries and face off with the villains. It's worth nothing that she was also used as a sex symbol of sorts by the games media at the time, mainly targeting a young male demographic.

Do you have any favorite examples of human player avatars, or any experiences with these characters that left a lasting impact? Share your thoughts!

For this week, I'd like to dive into a topic that captivates many players: Easter Eggs and Secrets. An easter egg is a hidden feature in a game or piece of software added as a bonus or joke (I'm excluding cheat codes here unless they're hidden and adding some frivolous feature like big head mode). These hidden gems in games have been around for decades. In fact the first one seems to be from Moonlander, a DEC GT40 graphics terminal game from 1973 which is also an early momentum-based flight game with thrust mechanics.

Flying far enough to the right will lead you to a McDonald's restaurant, and landing near it makes your astronaut avatar walk into it and order a "TWO CHEESEBURGERS AND A BIG MAC TO GO". You can also land on the McDonald's and destroy it, causing the game to call you a clod.

Some Other Notable Easter Eggs and Secrets:

Mortal Kombat (1992) - In the original game, players could unlock Reptile, a hidden opponent which acted like a combination of Sub-Zero and Scorpion, by meeting certain in-game conditions. In later games, Reptile became a full-fledged character with his own moves and personality.

Adventure (1980) - The easter egg here is creator Warren Robinett's secret room. A concealed gray dot, when found and carried to a room with one of the forcefields (along with two more other objects), opened a path through the forcefield to a hidden room to the right of it, where the game revealed the message: "Created by Warren Robinett."

The Legend of Zelda (1986) - In the original game, naming your character "Zelda" will result in the game becoming redesigned as a sort of second playthrough, called the second quest, without having beaten the the game first. This alternate game mode features different, harder dungeons which are placed at new locations. Heart containers and some shops in the overworld are also repositioned.

Maniac Mansion (1987) - In this classic point & click adventure game, players could find a microwave that allowed them to microwave various items, resulting in descriptions and animations. One of the "items" was actually a hamster, which would explode if placed in the microwave.

Doom (1993) - In the first Doom game, level E4M1: Hell Beneath includes the letters "NIИ" in a part of the level. This is a reference to the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails.

Toejam & Earl (1991) - Most people probably know about Present Island/level 0 so here's another one: After reaching the end of the game and returning to the planet Funkotron, you can head to the water and swim all the way to the Southeast of the level. Here you'll find a secret little group of islands with the green mermaid Trixie hanging out.

What are some of your favorite easter eggs or secrets in retro games, and do you have any interesting stories related to their discovery? Share your experiences below!

Maze War from 1973 is seen as a precursor to 3D FPS games, but today I want to highlight another important feature that it introduced: the in-game map system! With simpler, repetitive visuals and the maze structure of this game's (and many other retro games) levels, you'd easily get lost without it. Maze War uses a separate map screen which shows the entire level layout with walkable paths and walls as well as the player's current location, which is actually quite generous and detailed for the time.

Some other notable examples:

Impossible Mission (1984): This is both an early example of a mini-map and an auto-mapper, meaning the map is revealed bit by bit as the player explores the game world. The mini-map was an important innovation in that it allowed players to chart their progress and plan their next moves without going into a menu or using an outside source. It is only shown while in elevator rooms however, forcing players to try and remember (or write down) parts of it while playing.

The Legend of Zelda (1986): The first game in this series features a mini-map. It shows the entire overworld at once while not in a dungeon, zoomed out and lacking in information besides the player's location on a tile-based, single color rectangle shape meaning one can't see the grid lines. While in dungeons, the game instead employs a system similar to the aforementioned Impossible Mission. But not right away - in the spirit of the rest of the game, this more detailed map had to be found and one could also find a compass, adding to its features by magically showing the location of the boss room on the map.

Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987): This game put in some extra effort to not break immersion, by making players use a sun sight on difficulties above apprentice/easiest difficulty to be able to tell their position in the game world. Only the latitude can be measured. To use it you'll have to do as they did during the era the game takes place in and wait until the sun is at its highest, then move the sun sight directly under the sun and move its platform up until the sun just touches the platform. Later versions added a more convenient but also more traditional map system.

Super Mario World (1990): This is a hub map rather than a map system, but it has a relevant use in that it aids in the process of finding secret level exits by coloring their icons red.

Super Metroid (1994): The Metroid series, starting with Super Metroid, features a map system based on the one in Zelda, which strikes a good balance between showing crucial info, and hiding enough to not ruin the sense of mystery and exploration. In each area of the game, one can find a map station that shows the whole layout of that area, however there will still be some parts of the area not shown, keeping players guessing if they have really explored the whole area or not, but also providing the tools to let them do it. Furthermore, the game also features a mini-map showing the nearby area, essentially a cropped version of the map screen.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (1996): A significant addition to the series known for its enormous open world, it also featured three separate map systems. The world map system allows you to zoom in and out, and there is a location browser which shows a list of similar names if you remember only part of one. The dungeon map system (which is also 3D) allows for placing markers and inputting your own notes. In towns the game color codes shops, guilds and temples as well as places names at visited ones for you. If anything this game might've done too much by also showing hidden doors on dungeon maps, however it didn't show the hidden world map locations found through items dropped by enemies.

The Divide: Enemies Within (1996) - One of the first games to feature a 3D, rotatable and zoomable map showing the current area and detailed topography. It would also show the exact location of important items as long as one had entered the rooms they were in, making it easy to find them.

Are there any other classic games that employed a map feature that you remember fondly? How do you feel about the use of maps in retro games compared to nowadays?

For this week, I'd like to shine a spotlight on a feature that I think is more commonly associated with PC and strategy games: The Advisor NPC. This is a way to personalize a game's tutorial and immerse players into the game quicker, segmenting the learning process into smaller, easier to follow steps that tend to happen as a player is exposed to a new challenge. It can also be a way to present important stats to the player in a more entertaining way. Basically, it's like having a personal mentor or assistant within the game.

The origin of the concept goes all the way back to 1968 and a game called Hamurabi (PDP8), a text-based strategy game which is a distant predecessor to much more well known and influential games such as SimCity and Civilization (which also happen to be known for featuring advisor NPCs). In this game, each round begins with an advisor stating "Hamurabi: I beg to report to you", followed by the current status of a city that the player is supposed to manage, including the prior year's harvest and change in population. This is followed by a series of questions about how many bushels of grain to spend on land, seeds, and feeding the people.

Some other well known examples from various genres:

Ski or Die (commentator)

Dune II (each faction had its own advisor, called a Mentat)

Sierra's Quest Series (the witty and often sarcastic narrator)

Command & Conquer (EVA)

Star Fox (Slippy)

Theme Park (a sort of Willy Wonka or Jiminy Cricket style character also featured in the intro to the game)

Final Fantasy VII (Bugenhagen)

System Shock 2 (Janice Polito)

What are your thoughts on this concept, and which is your fave example from retro games?

The first example of this if asking ChatGPT is Chrono Trigger, which is also a popular example, however the feature actually predates that game by at least 25 years. The actual first seems to be High Noon (PC, 1970), developed by Ivan Vassilievich. It's a wild west-themed, gunfight duel sim of sorts, with turn-based combat. It puts players in the shoes of a sheriff in a small town during the era. The game is text-based meaning you play it through a command-line interface, where commands are typed in to interact with the game world and make choices, although you can also ask for instructions and just use numbers to play.

As you can guess it offers players choices that influences the outcome. One can end up chasing the villain out of town, killing them, leaving town, fleeing or ending up dead, so there are five outcomes in total. Not bad for 1970!

Some other, more well known games with this feature:

Metroid (1986)

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987)

Double Dragon II: The Revenge (1988)

Ogre Battle (1993)

Resident Evil (1996)

What do you think about games having multiple endings and which games featuring them are you faves?

This groundbreaking innovation first saw use in SpaceWar!/Space War (PDP-1, 1962), but they have been used in several genres afterwards such as Racing, Platform, Sports and more. Shoot 'em ups that use them are sometimes called Thrust-likes, after the 1986 game, though that game is heavily based on Gravitar from 1982.

A shout-out to some other early examples:

Moonlander (1973)

Springer (ARC, 1982)(for the moving platforms)

Mario Bros. (ARC, 1983)

Pac-Land (1984)

Technically, it seems to me that momentum-based is actually more accurate but I went with the more commonly used word for the sake of nostalgia and of course the clicks.

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What are your thoughts on this approach to controls? Which game(s) with intertia-based controls is your favorite?