The Best/Most Noteworthy Games from 1972-1983

My personal life as an avid video and computer gamer started during the NES era, therefore I didn't get around to play most of the games on this list until many years after their release. But since many of these games are repeatedly cited as influencial in gaming history, curiosity got the better of me and I finally seeked them out.

While the North American video game crash ended an era of video gaming in the USA, on the other side of the planet Nintendo released its Famicom - or Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as it would later be dubbed in the western hemisphere.

Aside from cleansing the market, the video game crash was also a main contributor in the rise of personal computers which led to a greater diversity in video gaming. Different and more complex games than were ever possible on consoles became popular - promoting genres like simulations, adventures and RPGs. Technically, though, games on IBM compatibles were far from exciting: the graphic standard was CGA and sounds came from an internal beeper...

It was the Commodore's C64 which started its cometic rise in 1983 and became one of the most popular home computers used for gaming. Personally I must admit, that I never owned a C64 which excuses the lack of games on my lists.

Game genres that were popular during the timespan from 1975 to 1983 were maze games like "Pac-Man", platform games like "Donkey Kong", isometric platform games like "Ant Attack", early shoot 'em ups like "Space Invaders", text adventures like "Zork" and RPGs like the genre-defining "Ultima" and "Wizardry" series.

One note on my behalf, since I'm not a fan of sports games you won't find any of those on this list.