History of Computer Games: 1976-2024 Updated on an almost daily basis as of 2024, this is a history of computer games that I am covering on cRPG Blog. The computer games are listed in chronological order, from oldest to newest. This chronological computer-game history is only concerned with computer games that were coded for Western computer-game machines. I define a computer game as an entertainment-based and/or educational computer program that is coded to be played on a home computer via joystick, keyboard and/or mouse or other input device. For me, the term home computer encompasses b ..read more

TRS-80 Shoot 'em ups Posted for quick reference purposes, this is a chronological list of Tandy TRS-80 shoot 'em ups that are being covered in my History of Shoot 'em ups. I am far from done with this list, so check back every now and again. This document was last updated on the 15th of May, 2024. Let's start off with some green-screen goodness on Tandy's TRS-80 of 1977. Note that the following TRS-80 shoot 'em ups are made up of only 10-15 kbytes of code and displayed in 1 kbyte of vRAM, yet featured responsive controls, tidy presentation and even decent screen-scrolli ..read more

IBM PC Shoot 'em ups Listed in Chronological Order Posted for quick reference purposes, this is a chronological list of IBM PC shoot 'em ups that are being covered in my History of Shoot 'em ups. Commentary on these shoot 'em ups is found in the above-linked History article. This list thus far contains 36 original infographics that can be mouse-wheeled through in order to get an idea of the IBM PC shoot 'em up catalogue with no non-IBM PC admixture. You can also right-click the images and open them in a new tab at full resolution (2k-5k px). Some may exclaim, "Wow, you're missing a ..read more

Best IBM PC Game For the purposes of my computer-game commentary I refer to the IBM PC and its compatibles as Western computer-game machines. The Microprocessor of the IBM PC From the late-1970s to the 90s the IBM PC compatible was powered by 16 and 32 bit Intel 808x and 80x86 microprocessors. The 5150 IBM PC of 1981 was initially powered by the 16 bit Intel 8088 clocked at 4.77 MHz. The i8086 of 1978 was clocked at 5-10 MHz The i8088 of 1979 was clocked at 5-16 MHz The IBM PC, PC/XT and PCjr. (and others) of 1981-84 employed the 8088 at 4.77 MHz; their RAM ranging from 16 ..read more

Best Apple II Game For the purposes of my computer-game commentary, the Apple 2 of 1977 is a Western computer-game machine powered by an 8-bit MOS Tech 6502 clocked at 1 MHz. RAM on the Apple 2 ranged from 4 to 64 kbytes. One of the best Apple 2 games is Silas Warner's Castle Wolfenstein of 1981. Castle Wolfenstein is one of the most conceptually-advanced computer games of the very early 80s. FS1 Flight Simulator Apple 2 1979 One of the most influentual and extraordinary Apple 2 games was Sublogic's 16 kbyte A2-FS1: Flight Simulator of 1979. Designed and coded by ..read more

Chronological List of C64 Shoot 'em ups Posted for quick reference purposes, this is a chronological list of Commodore 64 shoot 'em ups that have so far been covered in my History of Shoot 'em ups. Commentary on these shoot 'em ups is found in the history article. This list contains 48 original infographics that can be mouse-wheeled through in order to get an idea of the C64 shoot 'em up catalogue. You can also right-click the images and open them in a new tab at full resolution (2k-5k px). 1982 Gridrunner 1983 Choplifter! Scramble 64 1984 Dropzone Ancipital ..read more

Chronological List of Amiga Shoot 'em ups Posted for quick reference purposes, this is a chronological list of Amiga shoot 'em ups that have so far been covered in my History of Shoot 'em ups. Commentary on these shoot 'em ups is found in the history article. This list contains 83 original infographics that can be mouse-wheeled through in order to get an idea of the Amiga shoot 'em up catalogue. You can also right-click the images and open them in a new tab at full resolution (2k-5k px). cf. Commodore 64 Shoot 'em ups Listed in Chronological Order. 1986 Starglider & Stra ..read more

Best BBC Micro Game The Acorn BBC Micro is a Western computer-game machine powered by an 8-bit MOS Tech 6502/6512 clocked at 2 MHz. RAM on the BBC Micro ranged from 16 to 128 kbytes. The best BBC Micro game is David Braben's Elite of 1984. Another ground-breaking BBC Micro game was Geoff Crammond's Revs of 1985, which was the first fully 3D autoracing simulator to appear on a personal computer. cf. Best ZX Spectrum Games Best Commodore Amiga Game The First REAL Amiga Game Best Acorn Archimedes Game Computer Games Listed in Chronological Order History of 1990s Computer Ga ..read more

Best ZX Spectrum Game Sinclair Research's ZX Spectrum is a Western computer-game machine powered by an 8-bit Zilog Z80 microprocessor clocked at 3½ MHz. RAM on the ZX Spectrum ranged from 16 to 128 kbytes. The best ZX Spectrum game is Costa Panayi's Highway Encounter of 1985. Highway Encounter is one of the most polished computer games that I have ever played; it is pure magic. Note that Costa Panyi's Tornado Low Level (TLL) of 1984 features smooth multi-directional scrolling. The best ZX Spectrum port is a toss-up between Bob Pape's R-Type of 1988 and Jon O'Brien's Chase H ..read more

Best Commodore 64 Game The Commodore 64 (C64) is a Western computer-game machine powered by an 8-bit MOS Tech 6510/8500 clocked at 1 MHz. RAM on the C64 ranged from 64 to 640 kbytes. The C64 featured hardware sprites, hardware scrolling and SID audio. The C64 is often cited as having a sprite-cap of 8, but coding tricks can go far beyond that (I have counted over 30 on-screen objects in some C64 games). The best Commodore 64 game is Andrew Braybrook's Paradroid of 1985. Dan Phillips' Armalyte of 1988 and Manfred Trenz's Katakis of 1988 are two of the most technically im ..read more