Welcome to the 1981. Video games were getting better and better. In 1981 we saw the release of iconic Donkey Kong arcade machine (Nintendo), Mario’s first appearance in video game as Jump-man. Namco and Midway teamed up to release and spread out arcade machines like Galaga, Ms. Pac-man, Bosconian and New Rally-X. Sega answered with Frogger, Jump Bug and Turbo. Atari was loosing ground but tried to keep up with Tempest and Asteroids Deluxe. Many other arcade machines were released, but I am going to cover the best arcade games in my next posts.

On home consoles Atari 2600 continued to dominate with releases like Ice Hockey, Missile Command, Kaboom! and Space Jockey. Magnavox released their famous and controversial K.C. Munchin, innovative Quest for Rings, but also Satellite Attack and Stone Sling (Smithereens). A port on Space Invaders was released on Channel F, called Alien Invasion and Intellivision released their Astrosmash.

Apple II vs Atari 8-bit vs TI-99. These were the best home computers to own in 1981. Apple II released many fun titles like Ultima and Wizardry (early rpg-s), Castle of Wolfenstein, the first in Wolfenstein games. I would also mention entertaining games like Bug Attack, Crossfire and Sneakers. Atari’s best 8-bit games were Caverns of Mars, K-RRRazy Shootout and Eastern Front (one of my personal preference). Some home computer games were released as multi-platform, some of the most memorable were Zork, Crush, Crumble and Chomp, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

In my next posts I will take a closer look at the most memorable Arcade Machines in 1981. Hopefully see you soon 🙂