Xbox Game Pass just got updated with 50 retro titles hailing from the dawn of gaming. Many awesome and memorable games that inaugurated the gaming industry as a whole are there, and, out of the bunch, more than a few stand out. So, here’s what you should focus on.
50 games at the push of a button
Before I get into listing out the highlights, I really want you to consider taking these old games for a spin. All 50 come together at the push of a button and at just about 85 megabytes, which is a far cry from the game sizes we’ve unfortunately become used to in recent years. There are games from the old, old Activision, made for the Atari 2600, PSX, Amiga, the SNES, and others.
You can relive a day and age where things were much simpler, and if you’re a tad younger, finally understand that the older folk weren’t raving when they spoke of “how gaming used to be.”
And now for the showreel.
5. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
All those great RPGs and story-driven games we have today, fromBaldur’s Gate 3toThe Witcher 3, couldn’t have happened if it weren’t for pioneers who created wonderful point-and-click adventures that combined the arts to prove that games can be and are an art form themself.Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacistis one such game available in theRetro Classicsbundle on Game Pass, with amazing voice acting and music opening the world of the late Wild West to you who control the eponymous apothecary.
4. The Dagger of Amon Ra
Just likeFreddy Pharkas,The Dagger of Amon Rawas published by Sierra (the same Sierra that helped makeHalf-Lifea reality), originally for the DOS system. It is one of many murder-mystery point-and-click games that came out during this neo-classical era of video games, when small teams of passionate developers experimented and tried things that had never been seen before. And, just like the one above, it features amazing storytelling, music, and atmosphere, all of which rival modern titles that often tend to lack many of these artistic elements.
3. H.E.R.O.
H.E.R.O.is a much older title than the ones above, i.e., it precedes them by about a decade. It grants you control of, well, a hero, descending treacherous terrain to rescue lost people. You come across various challenges along the way, including obstacles and enemies standing in just the right spot to ensure you lose a life. The game gets progressively harder as you go by, and time is of the essence, as getting a high score directly depends on how quickly you reach the victims. It’s old, but it’s tremendously fun.
2. Enduro
Many of the games in the Retro Classics bundle come with their own set of challenges, includingEnduro, an old but incredibly fun racing game from the early 1980s. One challenge,Full Speed Overtake, sees you having to navigate the tracks to overtake as many cars as possible without being able to slow down. Though it’s an ancient title by video game standards, this challenge was so unexpectedly fun, especially because Microsoft arranged a whole leaderboard to see who’s the best at retro racing. You can also challenge others, including your friends, which adds a lot to the experience.
1. Caesar II
Sierra published an ungodly number of great games during its existence, andCaesar IIis no exception. This DOS city-builder puts you in the shoes of a Roman imperator raising a new city from the ground up. You can place housing districts, erect colosseums and forums, provide the town with water via aqueducts, and just generally vibe with the ancient Roman vibes.
Though it’s nothing in comparison to the upcomingAnno 117: Pax Romanaor other newer games following a similar concept, it’s a classic that paved the way for all these greats to exist. Keep in mind that I did run into some issues (it seems like Xbox streams these games to each player), and input lag is quite noticeable in all the DOS games, including the point-and-click ones.
