Click and compare - it's in your hands:

Star Wars: Dark Forces (1995) handed you a blaster, parked the lightsaber, and proved the galaxy had room for a proper first-person shooter.

Star Wars: Dark Forces

1995 • PC

Pixel8Games 87% Users -

The Force is strong in this one

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!

Micro Machines (1991) shrank racing down to tabletop size and somehow made breakfast tables more dangerous than Silverstone.

Micro Machines

1991 • Amiga • Mega Drive • NES

Pixel8Games 70% Users -

Small engines, big trouble

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

Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985) gleefully armed Sir Arthur, knocked his armour off within seconds, and then kept kicking him while he was already down.

Ghosts 'n Goblins

1985 • Amiga • Amstrad • Arcade +4 more

Pixel8Games 78% Users -

Die. Retry. Repeat.

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.

Crash Bandicoot (1996) helped give Sony's new PlayStation a mascot with attitude and platforming built to show off 3D hardware.

Crash Bandicoot

1996 • PS1

Pixel8Games 88% Users -

Putting a new spin on it

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.

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.

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf put you behind the controls of an Apache and somehow made fuel gauges as frightening as missile launchers.

Desert Strike

1992 • Amiga • Mega Drive • PC

Pixel8Games 77% Users -

Get to da choppa!

Gilligan's Gold (1984) sent you scrambling through a three-screen mine, hauling sacks of gold back to a wheelbarrow while outlaws tried to turn payday into a funeral.

Gilligan's Gold

1984 • Amstrad • Commodore 64 • Spectrum

Pixel8Games 62% Users -

A man with a cart of gold

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

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 -

Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight

Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future (1986) sent Britain's square-jawed space hero into a race against the Mekon, whose hollowed-out asteroid was aimed straight at Earth.

Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future

1986 • Amstrad • Commodore 64 • Spectrum

Pixel8Games 75% Users -

Action stations!

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

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 92% Users -

One plumber. Endless legacy.

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