Replay: The History of Video Games (66 page)

Ice hockey

• NHL 09
  (2008, EA Sports, EA Canada, Xbox 360, Canada)
  

Mountaineering and climbing

• Crazy Climber
  (1980, Nichibutsu, Coin-op, Japan): Skyscraper-scaling arcade fun.
  
• Bivouac
  (1987, Infogrames, Amstrad CPC, France): Attempt to simulate the mountaineering challenge.
  

Poker

• Texas Hold ’em
  (2006, Microsoft Game Studios, TikGames, Xbox 360, USA)
  

Rugby

• Rugby ’08
  (2007, EA Sports, HB Studios, PlayStation 2, Canada)
  

Skateboarding

• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
  (2002, Activision O2, Neversoft, PlayStation 2, USA): Before the series lost its edge.
  
• Skate.
  (2007, Electronic Arts, EA Black Box, Xbox 360, Canada): More restrained stunts than the Tony Hawk games but more rewarding for that, especially when coupled with a city to skate and grind your way through.
  

Skiing and snowboarding

• SSX Tricky
  (2001, EA Sports Big, EA Canada, PlayStation 2, Canada): Joyous snowboard racing fun.
  
• Amped 3
  (2005, 2K Sports, Indie Built, Xbox 360, USA): Snowboarder chic alternative to the hyperrealism of the
  SSX
  series.
  
• Family Ski 
  (2008, Namco Bandai, Wii, Japan): Balance Board-enhanced gentle ski fun.
  

Snooker and pool

• Jimmy White’s ‘Whirlwind’ Snooker
  (1991, Virgin Games, Archer MacLean, Amiga, UK)
  
• Pool Paradise
  (2004, Ignition Entertainment, Awesome Studios, Gamecube, UK)
  

Soccer

• Football Manager
  (1981, Addictive Games, Kevin Toms, ZX81, UK): The start of the soccer management genre.
  
• Sensible World of Soccer
  (1994, Renegade, Sensible Software, Amiga, UK): 2D footy’s pinnacle
  
• FIFA 10
  (2009, EA Sports, EA Canada, PlayStation 3, Canada)
  
• Football Manager 2010
  (2009, Sega, Sports Interactive, PC: Windows, UK)
  

Surfing

• Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfing
  (2002, Activision O2, Treyarch, Xbox, USA)
  

Table tennis

• Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
  (2006, Rockstar Games, Rockstar San Diego, Xbox 360, USA)
  

Tennis

• Virtua Tennis 3
  (2006, Sega, Sega AM3, Coin-op, Japan)
  
• Wii Sports
  (2006, Nintendo, Wii, Japan)
  

Volleyball

• Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
  (2003, Tecmo, Team Ninja, Xbox, Japan): Almost forgotten beneath the pixel titillation is a decent enough volleyll game.
  

Wrestling

• Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special
  (1994, Human Entertainment, Super NES, Japan)
  

Others

• World Games
  (1986, Epyx, Commodore 64, USA): Ranges from the traditional, such as skiing, to the unusual, such as caber tossing and bull riding.
  
• California Games
  (1987, Epyx, Commodore 64, USA): Sunny sporting delights.
  
• Wii Sports Resort
  (2009, Nintendo, Wii, Japan): 11 sports wrapped in an island resort theme. Also see the previously mentioned
  Wii Sports
  (2006, Nintendo, Wii, Japan).
  

Fighting

The boxing game
Heavyweight Champ
(1976, Sega, Coin-op, Japan) was the earliest example. Then came the genre-defining double whammy of
Kung-Fu Master
(1984, Irem, Coin-op, Japan) and
Karate Champ
(1984, Data East, Technos Japan, Coin-op, Japan).

Kung-Fu Master
’s followers:

• Final Fight
  (1989, Capcom, Coin-op, Japan): Over-the-top ’80s US urban grit and three-player mode.
  
• Golden Axe
  (1989, Sega, Makoto Uchida, Coin-op, Japan): Swords and sorcery battling that laid the template for the chirpy indie smash
  Castle Crashers
  (2008, The Behemoth, Xbox 360, USA).
  
• River City Ransom / Street Gangs
  (1989, Technos Japan, Mitsuhiro Yoshida & Hiroyuki Sekimoto, NES, Japan): Beat up gangs, steal their money, buy a spa treatment. A unique, cute and humorous marriage of RPG and beat ’em up.
  
• Dynasty Warriors 4
  (2003, Koei, Omega Force, PlayStation 2, Japan): Exhilarating lone warrior versus an army action.
  
• Viewtiful Joe
  (2003, Capcom, Clover Studio, Gamecube, Japan): Riotous punch-up action inspired by Japan’s tokusatsu (‘live action’) TV shows. Think Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
  
• Yazuka
  (2005, Sega, Amusement Vision, PlayStation 2, Japan) and
  The Warriors
  (2005, Rockstar Games, Rockstar Toronto, PlayStation 2, Canada): Remaking the scrolling fighting for the 3D era.
  

Karate Champ’s disciples:

• International Karate + / Chop ’n Drop
  (1987, System 3, Archer MacLean, Commodore 64, UK): Three-player cheat-fuelled fun.
  
• Street Fighter II
  (1991, Capcom, Yoshiki Okamoto, Coin-op, Japan): One of the most influential and enduring fighting games ever made. Its secret moves were a revolution.
  Street Fighter IV
  (2008, Capcom, Capcom & Dimps, Coin-op, Japan) proved the series hasn’t lost its appeal.
  
• Mortal Kombat
  (1992, Midway Games, Ed Boon & John Tobias, Coin-op, USA): Now best remembered for the controversy than the entertainment value. SNK’s
  Street Fighter II
  followers –
  Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
  (1991, SNK, Coin-op, Japan) and
  Samurai Shodown II
  (1994, SNK, Neo Geo, Japan) – were superior.
  
• Virtua Fighter
  (1993, Sega, Yu Suzuki, Coin-op, Japan): Took fighting into the third dimension.
  
• Bushido Blade
  (1997, Squaresoft, Light Weight, PlayStation, Japan): A daring jettison of fighting game tradition. No energy bars, instant kills and limb-disabling damage juxtaposed against beautiful backdrops. Also see the instant death decapitations of
  Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior / Death Sword
  (1987, Palace Software, Steve Brown, Commodore 64, UK).
  
• Soul Calibur
  (1998, Namco, Coin-op [Dreamcast], Japan): Astonishing weapon-based combat.
  
• Super Smash Bros Melee
  (2001, Nintendo, HAL Laboratory, Gamecube, Japan): Nintendo’s characters gathered together for deliriously fun cartoon punch-ups.
  
• Dead or Alive 3
  (2001, Tecmo, Team Ninja, Xbox, Japan) and Tekken 6 (2007, Namco Bandai, Coin-op, Japan): Equally matched rival fighting game series.
  
• Rag Doll Kung Fu
  (2005, Valve, Mark Healey, PC: Windows, UK): Elastic puppetry underpins this crazed and irreverent martial arts game.
  

Driving

Restricted by technology, the earliest driving games opted for a bird’s eye view of the road, such as in
Gran Trak 10
(1974, Atari, Coin-op, USA).

The best of the overhead tarmac burners:

• Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off-Road Racer
  (1989, Leland, John Morgan, Coin-op, USA): Rough and tumble off-road racing on suitably bumpy tracks. As with most overhead racers best played with friends.
  
• Super Cars II
  (1991, Gremlin Graphics, Magnetic Fields, Amiga, UK): Tongue-in-cheek take on the overhead racer with weapons to destroy your rivals and between-race run-ins with bureaucratic safety officials.
  
• Micro Machines V3
  (1997, Codemasters, PlayStation, UK): Based on the toy cars and set on tracks set up on kitchen tables and in household gardens. The overhead racer’s finest moment.
  

A rare few tried an isometric viewpoint:

• Racing Destruction Set
  (1985, Electronic Arts, Rick Koenig, Commodore 64, USA): Build-your-own-tracks racing. A precursor to the racecourse-building game Trackmania (2003, Focus Multimedia, Nadeo, PC: Windows, France).
  
• R.C. Pro-Am
  (1988, Nintendo, Rare, NES, UK): Zippy isometric races.
  

Nürburgring/1
(1976, Dr.-Ing. Reiner Foerst, Coin-op, West Germany) and
Night Driver
(1976, Atari, Dave Shepperd, Coin-op, USA) introduced the driver’s perspective viewpoint, while
Turbo
(1981, Sega, Coin-op, Japan) was first with the behind-the-car view. These three games formed the basis of most of what follows and the divide between the simulation-emphasis of
Nürburgring/1
and the arcade thrills of
Night Driver
is still very much visible.

First, the simulation leaning:

• Revs
  (1984, Acornsoft, Geoff Crammond, BBC Micro, UK): The start of physics degree holder Crammond’s efforts to simulate professional racing, which continued with
  Formula 1 Grand Prix
  (1992, Microprose, Geoff Crammond, PC: MS-DOS, UK) and
  Grand Prix 4
  (2002, Microprose, Geoff Crammond, PC: Windows, UK). Also see the fantastical rollercoaster drag racing of
  Stunt Car Racer / Stunt Track Racer
  (1989, Microprose, Geoff Crammond, Amiga, UK).
  
• Hard Drivin’
  (1988, Atari Games, Coin-op, USA): 3D driving game pioneer.
  
• I
  ndianapolis 500: The Simulation
  (1989, Electronic Arts, Papyrus Design Group, PC: MS-DOS, USA): Landmark use of 3D to simulate Indy 500 racing complete with instant replays and multiple camera angles.
  
• Gran Turismo
  (1997, Sony Computer Entertainment, Polyphony Digital, PlayStation, Japan): Petrolhead wish fulfilment. Fill your virtual garage with every flash car you ever wanted. Try:
  Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
  (2001, Sony Computer Entertainment, Polyphony Digital, PlayStation 2, Japan).
  
• Grand Prix Legends
  (1998, Sierra, Papyrus Design Group, PC: Windows, USA): Recreates the 1967 Formula 1 season in glorious detail.
  
• F1 2002
  (2002, EA Sports, Image Space, PC: Windows, USA): Stole Geoff Crammond’s thunder with its choice between full-on simulation and arcade action.
  
• rFactor
  (2005, Image Space, PC: Windows, USA): Incredibly detailed. A true simulation.
  
• X-Motor Racing
  (2007, Exotypos, PC: Windows, USA): So accurate the car industry uses its technology for research and development.