Classic Video Games Bucket List

Custom races, ship design and a galaxy to argue over; the 4X the genre still copies.

Isometric feudal fantasy on the C64, with one of the best 8-bit soundtracks ever written.

Hand-animated run-and-gun chaos; the prettiest sprites the arcade ever produced.

The fastest racing game ever made; Amusement Vision on the GameCube.

The Pacific from above, with a loop-the-loop to dodge; Capcom's 1984 shooter.

Thirteen layers of parallax scrolling and a David Whittaker soundtrack; the Amiga demo everyone bought.

Escape Castle Wolfenstein floor by floor; id's first-person shooter before Doom.

A dog detective and a rabbity thing on a road trip through American kitsch.

Two dragons trap monsters in bubbles across a hundred screens; the co-op that needs a second player for the real ending.

A Ferrari, a coast road and a choice of branch at every junction; pick your radio station.

The hand-drawn third game, with the insult sword fighting moved to a boat.

Two brothers punch their way across the city for one kidnapped girlfriend.

A run-and-gun of enormous levels and Chris Huelsbeck music; the C64 showing off.

War has never been so much fun; squads of little men and a graveyard that grows.

Somersault past robots, search furniture, "another visitor; stay a while, stay forever".

The first 3D fighting game, all polygons and precise timing.

Settle the New World, build an economy and declare independence from the king you serve.

The underwater sequel, harder than the original in every way.

Vector rocks, one ship and hyperspace; Atari's 1979 arcade high-score machine.

Four heroes, muscle cars and raptors; the arcade beat-em-up of every 1990s games room.

Eight galaxies, wireframe ships and free trade; the game that invented open-ended space.

Two planes, a screen of bullets and the Vulcan/laser choice; the vertical shooter to start with.

Eight cars, a stock-car oval and the song about rolling start; the arcade cabinet of the 1990s.

Three kids into a mad scientist's house; the game that invented the SCUMM point-and-click.

Anti-gravity ships to a Chemical Brothers soundtrack; the PlayStation as a club.

A biker gang, a murder and Roy Conrad's voice; LucasArts in leather.

Two players, top-down corridors and a self-destruct countdown; Team17's Aliens tribute.

A barbarian, a dwarf and an amazon against Death Adder, riding stolen dragons.

The original, before the sequels: hot-seat artillery with a banana bomb.

Chris Sawyer's original: trains, buses and a rival to run out of business.