Click and compare - it's in your hands:

Raid Over Moscow (1984) served Cold War panic as an arcade sampler platter: launch the interceptor, dodge defences, blow the silos, then head for the Kremlin like you'd lost a bet.

Raid Over Moscow

1984 • Amstrad • Apple II • Atari 8-bit +2 more

Pixel8Games 80% Users —

The empire strikes back

Wipeout (1995) hurled you into anti-gravity racing where the tracks looked like nightclub flyers and the speed felt borderline irresponsible.

Wipeout

1995 • PC • PS1 • Saturn

Pixel8Games 89% Users —

Speed with teeth

The 7th Guest (1993) lured you into Henry Stauf's creaky mansion with shiny CD-ROM swagger and smirking FMV ghosts.

The 7th Guest

1993 • PC

Pixel8Games 89% Users —

Puzzles, phantoms, bad decisions

Get Dexter (aka Crafton & Xunk) dropped you into a glossy isometric sci-fi maze where an android and his tiny sidekick had to blag, dodge and gadget their way to an all-important code.

Get Dexter

1986 • Amstrad

Pixel8Games 82% Users —

Crack the code, survive

Airwolf (1985) arrived fuelled by TV hype, cello solos, and the promise of airborne firepower.

Airwolf

1984 • Amstrad • Arcade • Commodore 64 +1 more

Pixel8Games 57% Users —

The embodiment of turbulence

Rise of the Triad (1994/95) took the Wolfenstein-style corridor shooter, chugged a can of soda, then started doing backflips.

Rise of the Triad

1994 • PC

Pixel8Games 86% Users —

Ludicrous gibs!

Descent (1995) took a normal corridor shooter, spun it in every direction, then asked you not to be sick.

Descent

1995 • PC

Pixel8Games 90% Users —

Six degrees of panic

Elite (1984) dropped players into a vast, lonely galaxy armed with a fragile Cobra Mk III, 100 credits, and absolutely no safety net.

Elite

1984 • Amstrad • BBC • Commodore 64 +1 more

Pixel8Games 93% Users —

Profit or perish

Ghostbusters (1984) dumped you into a bouncy, cash-hungry loop of buying gear, cruising the city, and praying you earned enough to keep the business afloat.

Ghostbusters

1984 • Amstrad • Apple II • Atari 8-bit +6 more

Pixel8Games 76% Users —

Busting makes you feel good

Blood (1997) gleefully dragged the shooter genre into a blood-soaked carnival of horror, humour, and absolute chaos.

Blood

1997 • PC

Pixel8Games 91% Users —

Horror with attitude

Gauntlet (1985), by Atari Games, cheerfully tossed players into a neon-soaked fantasy dungeon where health drained faster than loose change in an arcade pocket.

Gauntlet

1985 • Amstrad • Apple II • Arcade +2 more

Pixel8Games 77% Users 100%

Eat the food. Survive the dungeon.

Entering a martial arts tournament at the height of the genre's mid-80s popularity, The Way of the Exploding Fist draws clear inspiration from Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, reinforced by its digitised kiai sample and visual nods.

The Way of the Exploding Fist

1985 • Amstrad • BBC • Commodore 64 +1 more

Pixel8Games 81% Users —

Participate in this morning's edification

Monaco GP (1979) delivered white-knuckle racing long before realism was a selling point.

Monaco GP

1979 • Arcade

Pixel8Games 79% Users —

Shift up, survive

Bubble Bobble (1986) turned monster-hunting into something suspiciously adorable.

Bubble Bobble

1986 • Arcade • Atari ST • BBC +1 more

Pixel8Games 76% Users —

Bursting with joy

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe took the idea of a friendly sports match, threw it out of an airlock, and replaced it with metal armour and flying elbows.

Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe

1990 • Amiga • Atari ST • Commodore 64

Pixel8Games 83% Users —

Enjoy a clean break

Sorcery (1984) flung you across up to 40 flip-screen fantasy scenes as a last-ditch wizard, trying to rescue your kidnapped mates before the timer and your energy bar both had a tantrum.

Sorcery

1984 • Amstrad • Commodore 64 • MSX

Pixel8Games 81% Users —

It's a kind of magic

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