For many people around the world, the golden age of video games didn’t arrive in the ’70s; It emerged in the 1980s. During that decade, the Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Nintendo Gamy Boy were all released.
The arcade games of the 80’s produced some of the best arcade games, many of which continued to produce sequels decades later. These 10 games are among the most important games of all time because their influence didn’t just affect the ’80s; It built the video game industry.
There are well over 700 games on the NES, but none have had as much of an impact on the industry as Shigeru Miyamoto’s beloved title, Super Mario Bros. The game had something no other game had at the time it was released in 1985 — it was a launch title for the Japanese Family Computer and the NES.
Super Mario Bros. features an impressive soundtrack, bright and well-rendered pixelated graphics, and entertaining gameplay. Its scoring system offered up competitive play for a second player, and the game was packed with tons of hidden items, secret areas, and warp zones.
While Super Mario Bros. influenced side-scrolling games, its most significant accomplishment centers on how it saved the video game industry. In 1983, the industry suffered a major crash. It looked like video games might be more of a passing fad than the eventual juggernaut it evolved into.
The release of Super Mario Bros. and the NES changed all that by showing there was still a market for consoles and well-made titles. Many credit the game with saving the industry, making it one of the most important games of the 1980s and of all time.
