Indeed, this broad range leads to one of the minor issues I have with the book, which is a slight feeling of imbalance and inconsistency between chapters.īy way of example, the first chapter on 1992's Alone in the Dark begins with a two page look at the title itself, followed by a brief peek back at other 'horror' games such as 1981's Haunted House, 1982's Dracula and 1988's Splatterhouse. Worth noting in this regard is that each chapter is not solely dedicated only to the titular game related games that both preceded and followed the selected title are also discussed, and although I didn't keep count many hundreds of titles are at least mentioned, if not covered in some depth. First, it demonstrates the broad range of game genres and titles covered in the book, with selections made from across four decades of gaming history. Though listing the titles here seems a bit tedious, it does serve two purposes. In addition, nine additional 'Bonus Chapters' are available online at the book's website, covering Defender, Elite, Pinball Construction Set, Pong, Robotron: 2084, Rogue, Spacewar!, Star Raiders, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Those games chosen as particularly 'vintage' are (in order): Alone in the Dark, Castle Wolfenstein, Dance Dance Revolution, Diablo, Doom, Dune II, Final Fantasy VII, Flight Simulator, Grand Theft Auto III, John Madden Football, King's Quest, Myst, Pac-Man, Pole Position, SimCity, Space Invaders, Street Fighter II, Super Mario 64 (covered in tandem with Tomb Raider), Super Mario Bros.,Tetris, The Legend of Zelda, The Sims, Ultima, Ultima Online, and Zork.

The book itself features 25 chapters, each devoted to the study of a particular title that best stands out as 'vintage' in its particular genre.

Aeonite writes 'Featuring a subtitle that is almost longer than the preface, Vintage Games: An Inside Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time offers a retrospective look at those games which authors Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton feel were, in their words, 'paradigm shifters the games that made a difference.' As the preface points out, these are not necessarily best-selling games, innovative games, or novel games, but rather titles that, 'in their own special way changed videogames forever.'' Keep reading for the rest of Michael's review.Ī look at the most influential games of the past four decades

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