The 10 Most Influential Retro Games

Oregon Trail?

How did it influence other game? I mean it's incredible for its time and incredibly popular (and i ain't arguing against that) but what other game got its inspiration from Oregon trail?

Uh Yukon Trail! Duhhhh! and lets not forget about the Amazon Trail. haha, I couldn't resist. You make a good point though. Maybe some game had a tiny influence of something, but I don't see it.

Recently, RPS has had two articles about IF that got me playing some of the Interactive Fiction Competition entries for this year. It is pretty amazing that there is such a devoted community of people out there making and playing games exactly like Zork.

Sorry, didn't mean for that to be a reply.

Nice list and well detailed. I would of added Dune 2 and maybe Maniac mansion but that would of pulled some games out of the top ten spot.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis sucked hours of my childhood away. Was is retro? Yes. Was it influential? Probably not too much, but I feel like it influenced me quite a bit. It was one of the first video games I really got into and got me hooked into this wonderful world of games.

I agree it was great, but I think the old Sierra Quest games would qualify as more influential from that genre. If the original King's Quest hadn't come out, the various LucasArts adventure games likely never would have happened. And the idea of a contiguous graphical world filled with obstacles, puzzles, and traps that you interacted with directly was revolutionary in that day and age.

Then again, King's Quest was basically Zork with pictures. So you could argue that either of these games would have been redundant.

Good list. The only change I would make is to swap Tetris (while hugely popular, what did it really influence other that 392 lesser knock-offs?) with Resident Evil.

It was the first game to deliver the kind of cinematic thrills and chills, previously only available at your local multiplex, on your home video game console.

No, you certainly made your case, I just don't think I completely agree with it.

Another possibility I would swap with Tetris would be Pirate's Gold (or Pirates!. etc) as it was the first to introduce the concept of the "sandbox" game,

In either case (Pirates or RE), I feel like the ripples of those two are more prominent in the current state of gaming than the ripples of Tetris.

Resident Evil started development as a Sweet Home remake, and ended up as an Alone in the Dark ripoff. A very good Alone in the Dark ripoff, but not a particularly influential one.

Elite was released 3 years before Pirates! I could certainly get behind Alone in the Dark or Elite being on this list, though.

And don't forget the numerous Puzzle arcade games that are widely popular in japan. You can say that the Japanese would of eventually invented Tetris without Alaxei Pajimov, but it's seems clear today the arcade industry gotta respect that Russian innovator for catering the "casual" market.

This list makes me want to watch the **** out of All Your History are Belong to Us.

Oh, and E.T. should have made the list for how it started the fantastic cycle of games based on movies. Now, I know you probably thought to yourself, "everyone knows the best genre in gaming is movie tie-ins, so I don't need to point that out." But I think you missed a great opportunity on this one.

Street Fighter was BULLSHIT.

Mortal Kombat's fatalities created the ESRB.

In what way???

Mortal Kombat invented the BLOCK button. The FATALITY. The ESRB, and the list goes on and on and on.

What the FK did Street Fighter innovate?

It's nothing more than low-budget porn for anime lovers.

What did it innovate? Seriously? *IT SINGLE-HANDEDLY CREATED AND POPULARIZED THE ENTIRE MODERN FIGHTING GAME GENRE!* That's one Fucking Hell of an innovation right there. Street Fighter 2 was the first game of its kind, and if it hadn't existed, Mortal Kombat likely wouldn't have existed either.

Wolfenstein 3d was I think the first, first person shooter I ever played. The final level at the end is a endless hallway that goes on forever. Man to think I was only 4 years old playing on my grandpas old IBM.

Whenever i finish wolfenstien 3d the final level is a room with a big open wall that BJ runs towards in a 3rd person view with arms raised in victory...... i have never seen this infinite hallway ... now im curious

I've only played 4 of these games, and I was born in the (mid) 80s. I am ashamed.

I enjoyed your series quite a bit. Kudos! Kudos to you!

Ulitma or Wizardry?

I don't know how they defined retro (maybe pre-3D?), but perhaps one of the most influential games of all time would be Metal Gear Solid.

Influenced? Virtually every game ever since in someway, from the brilliant use of the then "rumble pak," to the use of cinematics and quality storyline, as well as one of the first games that gave you a choice that affected the outcome of the game.

第一个是什么游戏，没玩过阿。。好几个都没​玩过