Click and compare - it's in your hands:

Batman: The Movie (1989) wasted no time brooding, throwing players straight into Gotham's grime with surprising confidence for an '80s movie tie-in.

Batman: The Movie

1989 • Amiga • Amstrad • Commodore 64 +1 more

Pixel8Games 87% Users —

Fear is the tool. Justice is the Knight.

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

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

Gryzor (1987) strapped a machine gun to your thumbs and dared you to run right, shoot everything, and still look cool doing it.

Gryzor (aka Contra)

1987 • Amstrad • Arcade • Commodore 64 +1 more

Pixel8Games 83% Users —

Run. Gun. Regret.

Marble Madness (1984) looked cute until the timer started screaming and your marble began sliding like it hated you.

Marble Madness

1984 • Amiga • Amstrad • Arcade +6 more

Pixel8Games 74% Users —

Don't blink!

Duke Nukem 3D (1996) swaggered into the shooter scene chewing bubblegum and kicking ass.

Duke Nukem 3D

1996 • Mega Drive • PC

Pixel8Games 91% Users —

No manners. No mercy.

OutRun wasn't about winning races, it was about vibes.

OutRun

1986 • Amiga • Amstrad • Arcade +4 more

Pixel8Games 88% Users 100%

Choose your route. Chase the horizon.

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

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!

Pole Position (1982) didn’t just ask you to race - it demanded you qualify first, instantly setting it apart from its coin-hungry rivals.

Pole Position

1982 • Arcade

Pixel8Games 71% Users —

Qualify or quit

Super Mario Bros began with a plumber, a mushroom, and a simple goal, then quietly redefined platform gaming forever.

Super Mario Bros.

1985 • NES

Pixel8Games 93% Users —

One plumber. Endless legacy.

Horace Goes Skiing (1982) cheerfully put players in control of an unusual character whose idea of a relaxing ski trip involved dodging traffic, renting skis, and repeatedly face-planting down a mountain.

Horace Goes Skiing

1982 • Spectrum

Pixel8Games 52% Users —

Worst ski holiday

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

Monaco GP

1979 • Arcade

Pixel8Games 79% Users —

Shift up, survive

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

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

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

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