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Games
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Enjoy some of these classic '80s games below - You'll need Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or Netscape 6.0 or higher, together with the Macromedia Flash Plugin (most people have this installed already). If you don't have this particular plugin installed already, you can download it from the Macromedia web site for free - use the link on the right.
When loading the games, please give them a moment or two to load.
The games available include;
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Asteroids
In the years after Star Wars, anything involving outer space, speedy interstellar craft and dangerous battles was considered golden. Into this arena of sci-fi fantasy came Atari's Asteroids, one of the most enduring hits in video game history. Atari's recipe for addiction consisted of the following: one screen, five buttons, one ship, a few UFO's, and several ship-smashing asteroids. Smack dab in the center of the action was your triangle-shaped spacecraft, adrift in a sea of space rocks. The Blasting large, slow-moving asteroids turned them into two medium-sized, speedier asteroids. Another blast at the medium asteroids split them into small, fast-moving asteroids, which could be vaporized with one more shot. Thus, if you started firing wildly into fields of big asteroids, you would likely end up in an even bigger mess than you started with, facing a swarm of tiny, zippy asteroids. The controls allow you to rotate left and right, thrust, warp into hyperspace, and most importantly, to fire your blaster at the rocky menaces. For a generation of video game addicts, Asteroids will always mean simple graphics, stressful and addictive gameplay, and dreams of high-scoring glory.
Instructions:Use your mouse to click start, Space bar = Fire , Up arrow key to thrust, Left/Right arrow keys to move left/right
play »
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Donkey Kong
This classic game first appeared at the arcades in 1981, and was the first to introduce such characters as Mario, Donkey Kong and Peach. Donkey Kong was the product of a Nintendo artist named Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto did the entire game himself (even the music), the only help he got was with the name. He and a manager decided they'd call it "Donkey Kong" because "kong" would imply a gorilla was involved, and "donkey" was used because their Japanese-to-English dictionary said it meant "stubborn, wily, and goofy." The story : Donkey Kong has stolen Mario's girlfriend and taken her to the top of a steel structure. You move Mario over girders and up ladders, leap over tumbling barrels, dodge lethal fireballs and jump onto fast-moving elevators, trying to rescue Mario's girlfriend from Donkey Kong
Instructions:Space Bar to jump; Use your left/right arrow keys to move from left to right, etc. To climb ladders use your Up arrow
play »
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Duck Hunt
Released in 1984 by Nintendo, Duck Hunt was one of the first games on the NES platform to use the 'light gun'. The basic idea of this game is pretty simple - you're a duck hunter armed with a pistol and your trusty dog. You have three shots to shoot one or two ducks each round. After ten rounds of duck hunting (you'll probably be rather bored of shooting duck at this point), you go to the shooting range and shoot at clay pigeons for another ten rounds - although the dog is absent. The game is rather fun and satisfying initially but gets old quickly. The sound effects are pretty much what you'd expect for a game from the early 1980s - that is, awful by todays standards - gameplay and graphics are simple - but it remains a classic and is fun to play every once in a while.
Instructions:Be patient for this game to load. To fire your pistol click your mouse button.
play »
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Frogger
Strangely addictive game from back in the day when Windows and MS-DOS was still in its embryotic stages. You are the frog and your task is to make it across the road without being hit by traffic, and finally make it across the river by skilfully hitching a ride on the floating logs. Sounds simple enough, but it's the end pockets which are the hardest - and watch out for those pesky crocodiles!
Instructions:Left/Right : User your left/right arrows. To move up/forward - use Up arrow
play »
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Moon Patrol
An impressive yet quite challenging action/shooter game with its unique 3D graphics, funky techno background music - and its revolutionary gameplay, that's still good even by todays standards - OK, maybe not - but Moon Patrol excels in so many areas that it's sure to please diehard Atari 2600 fans :)
Instructions:Move left/right : use your Left/Right arrow keys, Jump : Up arrow , Fire : Space Bar
play »
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Pacman
If you haven't played this all time classic game it must be because you've been hiding out in a shack on top of a mountain in Montana for the last 20+ years. The object of the game is to move around the small yellow blob (Pacman) and chomp up the white dots. Oh, and watch out for Blinky, Pinky, Inkey, and Clyde (the spooky ghosts).
Instructions:Use mouse to click 'Start' , Use your arrow keys to move Up/Down Left an Right. Press "M" to Mute/Unmute sound, and "P" to Pause/Unpause the game
play »
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Pong
Pong, while not the first videogame, was the first coin-op arcade game and the first mainstream videogame that was available to almost everyone. The origins of Pong lie with an abstract tennis game created with an old oscilloscope and some vacuum tubes by Willy Higinbotham way back in 1958. What eventually became "Pong" was a pretty simple game with simple rules - hit the ball across the playing field and try your best to hit it past your opponents paddle on the other side.
Instructions:Use your mouse to guide your paddle up and down.
play »
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Simon
This game will test your memory, and, ultimately, your sanity. The object of the game is to memorize Simon's sequence of lights. On that note,does anyone remember those Simon commercials in the '80s? How could you forget! :)
Instructions:Use your mouse to click start and click the color bars.
play »
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Space Invaders
You can't get anymore retro than this classic shoot-em-up game. Yes, the graphics are chunky - a far cry from X-Box or PS2 standards - but at the time it seemed like 'space-age' technology :-) .
Instructions:Space Bar = Fire, Move Left / Right using your arrow keys.
play »
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Star Castle
You may not remember Star Castle, but visually this game (released in 1980) uses the same 'vector graphics' that are seen in games such as Asteroids and Battlezone. Vector graphics are, as seen in the screen shot to the right, simple lines to create objects - and while it may seem cheesey compared to present day graphics, they were considered cutting edge stuff back in the '70s and early '80s. This was also one of the first games to use an experimental artificial intelligence to harrass the game player's ship. A barely noticable feature of the game from our perspective, but a fundamental element of all video games today. Your task in Star Castle is to break through the three layers of walls and destroy the central behemoth. Success in this game is primarily determined by how well you can control your ship.
Instructions:Use the space bar to fire, move around using your arrows keys.
play »
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Tetris
Tetris is life. Think about it : As time passes, life's little problems incessantly pour down in chunks. Somehow, someway, you must conquer these hurdles, fitting them together so you can move on. Ok, maybe I'm taking the metaphor too far. In any case, this is one of the all time classic games and it was Alexey Pajitnov who created Tetris on an Electronica 60 while working for the Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Tetris was released in the United States in 1986. The game's popularity was tremendous, and many were instantly hooked - it was a software blockbuster.
Instructions:Use your mouse to click 'Play', then choose a level to start at. Up arrow to rotate shapes, Down/Left/Right arrow keys to move shapes, press P to pause
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FAQ's
OK, this help section is brief but that it should solve 99% of the problems you may experience when trying to load my games.
#1 I click the game and nothing happens
Check that you do not have any pop-up blocking software such as Google Toolbar which is preventing the game from showing up in a new window. You need to turn pop-up blocking OFF for this particular website (don't worry, I don't have any *real* pop-up's here, just games). You also should have JavaScript turned ON in your browser, but you probably don't need to worry about this anyway since 98% of browsers have it turned on by default. Also check that you are running the latest version of Macromedia Flash, you can obtain the latest version here.
#2 The game window loads, but it prompts an install - or, does nothing
This probably means you don't have Macromedia Flash installed. Refer to the games page for the URL to download and install this. Note that over 95% of internet users have this installed already. If the window loads and all you see is a blank screen, this could also mean the game is still loading. Be patient for it to load. If you're on a slower connection some games (e.g. Duck Hunt) may take a while to load.
#3 The game loads, but nothing happens when I hit various keys on my keyboard
Check that you're using the correct keys by looking at the special instructions for each game. Also the game window needs to be the 'main' window. To 'activate' the window take your mouse and click anywhere in the game window once with your left button. It should now work.
#4 The games don't work, but I have flash installed already
I haven't tested the games in Netscape, although I believe they should be fine if you're using one of the later versions. The games are ideally suited for Internet Explorer.
#5 Can I download the games and play them offline?
Absolutely!. If you want to know how, go to the 80sMusicLyrics.comdownloads page :-)
download »
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Acknowledgements
We'd like to thank 80sMusicLyrics.comfor providing these games free of charge.
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