Being in my 40s now, although I do have an Xbox Game Pass (recent after an upgrade to a gaming laptop) in which I've clocked up 220 hours gameplay (!) on FIFA 23 which is a great grab and play distraction - I'm def a retro gamer by heart.
Most of you won't remember this lot below but here would be my fave games of all time - many of course can be found on retropie emulators:
Kung Fu Master - Arcade
Probably one of the very first arcade games I ever got in to back in the day, this and Dug Out. Mid 80s, caravan holiday park in the UK, this thing took all my nightly allowance of 10ps. Classic kick and punch kung fu platformer.
Outlaw - Atari 2600 'Woody'
Got bought the Atari 2600 'Woody' in the early 80s when I was very young. Space Invaders was good, Combat was better, Popeye was addictive but Outlaw holds the most memories - hit your cowboy opponent more times than they hit you. Simple, fun and immensely playable.
Horace Goes Skiing - ZX Spectrum
I had the original 48k Spectrum with separate cassette deck in the 1980s. Back then when coloured loading bars sounded as bad as tinnitus, and games could take so long to load that you may as well have gone play kerbsies with a mate until it'd had finished. Horace Goes Skiing is a simple two part game. Take Horace across a busy road (like Frogger) to buy some skis, then send him off down the slopes. Still fun to play today.
Gauntlet 2 - Atari ST
'Blue Wizard shot the food!' - was often heard coming out of arcade halls in the 80s. The Atari ST had a great port of this 100 level fast frantic game that kept you on your extreme toes the entire time with more enemies to shoot than probably any game before or after. This game kept me awake all night on many occasions in the late 80s.
Targhan - Atari ST
Targhan by Similaris isn't often spoke about today but I played this very often in the early 90s. Warrior, medieval platformer type - I miss not being able to listen to the deep nostalgic bliss of the opening signature tune.
Nebulus - Atari ST
You take to the rotating towers as Pogo, a kind of alien frog type, and traverse the revolving towers. A mix of platform, puzzle and the most frustrating game of snakes and ladders you've ever played!
MYST - PC
The very first immersive 3D puzzle world experience. The sounds, graphics, complex puzzles and surprises were amazing then and still are to this day. Got a copy on my PSP recently. Total nostalgia.
F-Zero - SNES
Ive saved my most favourite game ever until last. A futuristic racing game with an incredible mix of speed, power and adrenaline rush - with music and a soundtrack I'd almost risk a 3 day spike to listen to again! Pure nostalgic bliss.
I'm missing a whole bunch here (After Burner, Space Harrier, Outrun, Starwing etc...), and I know this derails the thread from the latest online multiplayer games, but maybe someone remembers one or two of these original golden nuggets.
