1987 VIDEO GAMES POLL

Some explanations about inclusion: Zelda II was released in Jan 1987 in Japan, but English speakers had to wait until late 1988 for their slightly-altered versions. The NES version of Punch-Out is significantly different than the 1984 arcade version, so I included it. AberMUD was the first popular MUD, although they had been invented many years earlier.

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr209/duggie2dope/HeadOverHeels_3-1.jpg

One vote for Contra - and on that note Contra on MAME calls for some shootin' love

I've never even heard of Head Over Heels, but it looks to be one of the greatest games of ALL TIME!

The hassle of getting sound to work in this game is totally worth it.

http://www.mullsports.com/images/whatgame2.pnghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2948991935_07d7e22c15_m.jpghttp://i36.tinypic.com/ipcq2u.jpg

Zelda 2 behaves weirdly if you press left and right at the same time.

wow what a year.

Seriously, I'm abstaining from voting because it's like picking your favorite pet.

Police Quest is a really funny entry to me - were there no other major Sierra games that year?

Of these, the "only" ones I've really played substantially are Mega Man, Castlevania, Contra, Zelda II, Final Fantasy, Punch-Out, California Games, and to some extent Maniac Mansion. California Games is good but it'd really have to be the whole "Games" series to be a contender for me. Mega Man is nothing on later games in the series, and Maniac Mansion is nothing on Monkey Island.

Of the rest, it kind of comes down to which one I really sank my life into, versus which one I'd most feel like playing now. You couldn't pay me to launch a serious attempt at Zelda II today, but it was the first big game I ever beat and man did I feel like I'd accomplished something! (Similarly FF1, which I never beat but also sunk ungodly amounts of time into, burning out somewhere about halfway through). Whereas I suck at Punch-Out and Contra but I would happily pick them up right now and start playing.

The best answer is probably Castlevania, which is a little bit of both categories, but I think I'm going to end up going with my eight-year-old self and vote Zelda II.

Music-wise, Castlevania takes the whole thing easy.

Some good stuff up there, but as you say, half the list are original titles that were outclassed by later sequels (Castlevania, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, the original arcade Contra) which makes knocks them down a peg for me. And in the case of Zelda II - that was one of the weakest entries in the series, even if it wasn't all that bad.

Nethack probably deserves it on technical or historical merit, but I will go with the NES' MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH OUT! Classic gameplay, classic music, cultural touchstone.

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards was 1987 and I should have included it.

Yeah, I gotta agree with Nhex for the most part. A lot of these games are either really rough versions of what something amazing was to come (Final Fantasy, Metal Gear), or just subpar entries into greater series (Zelda II, Beyond Zork - probably the weakest of the Zork games). For me it comes down to Bubble Bobble, Maniac Mansion, and Lurking Horror. The last is probably the greatest piece of "art," but the least impressive game of the bunch. Bubble Bobble is obviously classic, but also feels a little tired on replay. Maniac Mansion is both an amazing game (I remember actually shaking in fear when walking through the kitchen - for fear of being caught by one of the freaks), and also a precursor to Day of the Tentacle. So that gets my vote. Tho obv. an amazing crop of games here. (I'd probably vote for LSL if that had been included tho. So many fond memories of hoping my parents didn't find out I owned a copy.)

For me, the answer is Contra, but there are a lot of really good games there.

"bubble bobble" gets my vote. i'm not sure why i love that game so much. it was just so incredibly playable.

I've never even heard of Head Over Heels, but it looks to be one of the greatest games of ALL TIME!

a lot of people said stuff like this at the time. i thought it was over-difficult and over-rated, and became quite dull very quickly.

when i was six my mom was still doing her residency and had to work nights. often instead of reading to me or letting me watch tv my dad would set up the nes in my room and we'd play for an hour or so before i had to go to bed. one of my best memories of us playing castlevania one night from simon chugging up to the castle gates right through. we got stuck on the level where the boss is frankenstein and igor idk why, exactly but i remember finally, my dad getting t o the end w/full health and the feeling of near overwhelming tension and excitement, watching the enemy life bar go down knowing we were getting close and then, when my dad finally beat the stage just him grinning. it was weird but awesome too. not long after that i stopped taking a turn too bleary-eyed and exhausted, just happy to watch him play.

i also remember he had to write a note excusing we from school the next day i wonder what it said.

i guess that's kind of long way of stating the flat fact that the handful of games i actually played like 89-91 seem way more meaningful and memorable and fun for me, regardless of any objective criteria. also i voted for four of these games in dom's best games ever poll and probably would've voted for a couple of others if they had been nominated. finally also wanted to rep for faxandu which probably doesn't deserve to be on this list but see above

Out of all these Bobble, Nethack, and Galaga 88 are the only ones I could play for more than a few minutes. But Bubble Bobble is the only one that I could play for hours

In Head Over Heels did you have to switch between characters? I hate games like that, I am unable to multi-think.

yeh, but the first thing you had to do was bring the two characters together (head sat on top of heels). IIRC head could jump really far; heels could run fast.

TBH, given the constrictions of the 8-bit platforms etc, it was a really clever, novel piece of game design. i just found the puzzles really fucking frustrating and dull.

how did i forget the hooter that fired doughnuts?

I've never played anything on this list! In 1987 I had an Acorn Archimedes. And I was mostly playing Zarch. Which was fantastic, and shouldn't have been left off this poll. So I'm voting for "other".

there must be a billion games released in 87 not on this list, i remember it being a core time for gaming?

i spent many childhood hours playing double dragon, contra, bubble bobble, punch-out, and final fantasy (i didn't start with mega man and castlevania until the sequels). final fantasy probably meant the most to me though, i loved that fucking game (but never finished).

games not on list that i was playing:

arkanoid revenge of doh
barbarian
cybernoid *
exolon *
nebulus *
super hang on
trantor
wizball
zynaps *

* four classic hewson hits!

exolon!!

In 1987 I had an Acorn Archimedes.

You lucky lucky <bleep>... I didn't get one until 1992.

wizball! oh, man. and i never had a commodore 64, either.

exolon was also awesome, yeh. which one was zynaps?

the horiz scrolling schmup.

hmm. i'm thinking of exolon as being one of them. which maybe it was, too ;)

lol, video of gameplay:

exolon didn't scroll.

hang on. exolon isn't what i thought it was at all. what am i thinking of?

*googles* ...

... uridium!

which was apparently 198-fucking-5. wow.

http://pbfcomics.com/archive_b/PBF167-Punch_Bout.gif

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

weird.

i really do like the o.g. metal gear.

Now I feel bad I didn't vote for Lurking Horror.

Bubble Bobble? Who ARE you people?

Bubble Bobble rulez. I didn't vote for it, but it does. I thought Metal Gear would be higher up as well. I still have never played Nethack.