Retro gaming is a hobby of millions
Since the home computer boom of the early 1980's gaming really took off as something you could do in the comfort of your own home.
Prior to this most people had a limited choice of console systems they could use with offerings from retro coleco vision, Atari and so on.
8-Bit computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC464 and the BBC micro added a range of diversity to home gamers - and helped to increase the overall quality of games.
Smaller 8-Bit machines such as the ZX81, Jupiter ACE, Acorn Atom, Commodore 16 and Commodore VIC-20 (endorsed by none other than William Shatner!) paved the way for home users and launched those famous 'bedroom programmers'. These machines quickly gave way to better 8-bit models that generally had more RAM (at least a whopping 32K!) and greater graphical capability (the ZX81's display was monochromatic!)
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Other machines such as the Oric1, Oric Atmos and Dragon 64 attempted to corner a section of the growing market. Most of them failed to gather much momentum in the UK or the US - but some did become popular in other European countries (retro machines became quite popular in France).
Other machines such as the 'compatibility model' MSX became really popu
As the 1980's wore on developers managed to squeeze more and more out of these machines (particularly the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64) pushing them way beyond their intended limitations. Classic games such as Manic Miner, Technician Ted, 3D Starstrike and Harrier Attack graced these machines and wowed users up and down the land. Great conversions of arcade games such as Hyper Sports and Commando brough arcade gaming into the home - and the popularity of computers increased. New genres such as 'beat em up' games were created with excellent titles such as The Way of the Exploding Fist (similar to the classic Karate Champ by Data East) and IK+
The 8-bit machines were popular (the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 spawning a classic machine rivalry) and survived way into the early 1990's (incredible!) But... eventually these 8-bit machines gave way to newer and more powerful 16-bit machines such as the Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga.
With these machines you now had sound, music and graphics to rival what was available in the amusement arcades. Accurate arcade conversions could now be created on these 16-Bit machines (such as Star Wars, Bubble Bobble and Arkanoid), and new and enhanced versions of 8-bit games were also created (such as Jet Set Willy).
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Graphically beautiful games such as Project X and Flashback were released, dark and sinister offerings such as retro Syndicate made their way into our homes and super playable arcade games like Rainbow Islands kept us addicted for weeks.
Some of these games stand the test of time well with classics such as Expoding Fist, Speedball 2, Syndicate and Marble Madness being as playable now as they were all those years ago.
So - dust off your old computer (if you've got one!) or grab a bargain off Ebay. Load up those old games and re-discover the era when playability and innovation was first.
