The 8 Best Retro Games You Should Play

Wouldn’t it be nice to push away from that Overwatch game for a little bit, catch your breath, grab that retro controller and go back to the basics?

Games that capture your attention for the better part of an hour, require only two buttons and a directional pad are some of the purest forms of game entertainment. The magic of these games is that anyone can just get into it and go, no matter the age or if they’ve played any video games at all. This is why flash game sites such as Run 3 have proven themselves to be welcome diversions.

Let’s take a look at some of the best classic games that are still worth your time today:

1. Run 3

Run 3, the third of the Run Series, is the best sequel. It also has a mobile version called Run Mobile. The game is extremely exciting when compared with other running games such as Temple Run. You start off as a little gray alien guy and enter in a prohibited zone. There are many challenges, obstacles and dangers along the way. Always avoid dozens of dangerous holes to survive, try not to fall or jump off the edge. If you fall into one of them, you are lost in space

2. Super Mario Bros. 3

It’s one of the best adventure platformers of all time. It came out on one of the earliest gaming consoles (the NES) and it was advanced during its time. It was like a godsend for platforming enthusiasts, chock full of levels, secrets and character. Who could ever forget Super Mario Bros. 3? This was Mario at his best. You get to jump around and wear different suits- would it be Yoshi, your faithful dinosaur friend or that super fun Frog Suit? Would you grab that Cape Feather or make room for the Super Leaf? No matter your decision, you’d try to get through the same level multiple times doing multiple different things just because you can!

3. Tetris

Don’t let the primitive graphics and the four-tone grey shading fool you- Tetris will grab ahold of you and never, ever let you go. If you’re taking it to the can, you better make sure you have a pause button, or you’d never want to leave your seat. It’s really that good and addicting! The gameplay is simple- different shaped blocks fall from the sky, and it’s up to you to arrange them into a line to be eliminated. Will you just keep on eliminating one line, or build it up and knock it down 4 at a time? The game goes faster and faster as you get to the higher levels, and eventually you’d panic and the whole square fills up with falling blocks. Game over!

4. Space Invaders

Yeah, you may have played all the Gears of War games and all the Halo games, but have you played the grandfather of all cover-and-shoot games, Space Invaders? The idea is simple- take your space ship and fend off an advancing army of alien space ships. You get to hide behind shields and duck incoming enemy fire while taking them out one at a time. Music plays a large part in making the atmosphere tense; the pulse and tempo would be faster the closer they get to your base. Try and head on to your local arcade (if there’s still one), and chances are you’ll be seeing this classic right on the most played list!

5. Street Fighter II Turbo

Arcades were borderline niche until this classic fighting game from Capcom came along. Suddenly, arcades were the “in” thing, with people of all ages lining up just to have a shot at street fighting glory. There weren’t any super combos or one-hit special moves then; it all depended on timing knowing the moves for your character. You got to choose different characters that had unique moves and different fighting styles. If you played turtle, which means pure defense you’d pick Guile; if you wanted close-quarter fighting you’d pick Zangief. This game single handedly paved the way for the e-tournaments we know and love today. View more

6. Pac-Man

You control a yellow hungry blob who eats pellets littered across a maze. As it turns out, the maze is haunted by colorful ghosts looking to pay you back for all the trouble you’ve caused! Eat all the pellets in the level and you get a whole new one. Quickly turn the tables around by ingesting a power pellet, and suddenly, the ghosts turn blue and run away. Now, it’s you who’s doing the chasing! Save the power pellets for later though, for when you’re trapped or when you need to get to that final line of pellets. View more

7. Pong

Gamers today would probably stare blankly at the screen, looking confused as to what kind of game is it exactly they’re looking at. Is it some kind of black and white advertisement? Is it an interactive flash game? What is it?

Hand them the original Atari controller and they’d think it’s a flight stick. Well, that’s all you’ll really need to enjoy the game of Pong. It’s retro simplicity at its finest. The graphics can very well be recreated by a 10-year old on his or her computer. The premise of Pong is based on a real sport called Table Tennis. Two players go head to head and try to push the small ball up and over the border to score a point. The key here is to have a good hand-eye coordination and lots of patience.

8. Donkey Kong

It looks like arcades are hogging the retro limelight here, but these games do make it to the cabinets because they’re that good. Case in point- Donkey Kong. It’s a spinoff of the Mario series which proved to be very popular in its own right. Yes, you get to jump and walk along a 2D landscape, but it all happens on one screen. Up to the top, there’s the angry Donkey Kong, throwing barrels at Mario. Then you have Mario, who’s trying to save the princess. Along the way you jump over barrels and evade slow-moving fireballs with nothing but your reflexes and two saving graces in the form of massive hammers. This arcade coin-op probably ate more quarters during its heydey. It kept Nintendo growing to what it is today.

Classic games are definitely making a comeback, albeit in a much sleeker form. Nowadays, you have mobile games that give you one goal and one button. You have games made of pixel blocks. You have an endless runner in the form of Temple Run and Run 3. The young generation are just discovering the fun and the lure of simple, engaging games. Play these games on the computer or as a mobile port, and watch as the hours go by quickly as you were playing the latest AAA games.