Games From The ’80s We Have All Forgotten About

1. Knock Your Block Off

Image source: 80s Kids

When we were young, it was great building walls from blocks and them knocking them down again!  This is where the Knock Your Block Off game served the purpose.  Like Jenga but with a wall instead of a tower.  With Knock Your Block Off, you had to remove blocks without bringing the whole thing down!

2. The Goonies II

Image source: Gandorion Games

The Goonies was an amazing film, with a great cast and giving us n exciting storyline.  It was no surprise then that a video game based on the iconic adventure would  follow. The first game didn't make its way to the USA but, luckily, North America did get their hands on The Goonies II in 1987.

3. Penguin Land

Image source: Retro Gamer

This classic video game was released for the Sega Master System in 1987, offering lots of interesting mechanics.  You dig your way through a series of levels, guiding an egg and protecting it from danger.  Penguin Land boasted some impressive visuals for the eighties.

4. Pig Pog

Image source 80s Kids

Pig Pong was a game that many of us kids wrote on our wish list for Christmas!  It was advertised as "the fast action tabletop game with a pig-powered puff ball."  It was pretty much a mixture of badminton and table tennis and was quite addictive once you started playing with it.

5. Circus Charlie

Image source: IMDb

Circus Charlie was released in 1984 by Konami and was an instant hit.  The game worked by the player controlling a clown who has to complete a range of unique circus-like challenges.  It's all done against the clock and once all the challenges have been completed, it restarts with added difficulty.

6. Lode Runner

Image source: YouTube

This game was introduced by Brøderbund in 1983 and the aim was to collect piles of gold placed all over a level but without getting caught by the enemies.  A player can run, climb ladders or dig holes to traverse the level and keep the enemies at bay.  Once the gold is collected, you jump up the ladder and climb to the next level.

7. Gauntlet

Image source: Game Blog

One of the best releases to ever come out of the eighties has to Gauntlet, an Atari-developed dungeon crawler, coined as one of the first of its kind to offer multi-player.  It was a simple top-down adventure that joined arcade action and RPG elements to great effect.

8. Feed Me

Image source: 80s Kids

Feed Me was the fun alternative to games like Buckaroo and Jaws where you had to feed marbles to a ‘hungry’ plant until its mouth snapped shut.  It was released in 1987 and Feed Me took inspiration from the man-eating plant Audrey II from the movie Little Shop of Horrors.

9. Operation Wolf

Image source: Geek.com

Operation Wolf really was an awesome shooter released by Taito in 1987.   The aim of the game was to rescue hostages held in different locations.  Operation Wolf was the first shooter to have a proper storyline and it pulled no punches and spared no expense.  It was full of action!

10. Crazy Faces

Image source: 80s Kids

The best games are often the most entertaining ones, for different reasons. You won Crazy Faces by being the first to complete your crazy face!  Most of the game involved laughing at how ridiculous your friends ending up looking.  You would be worn out with the giggling and it didn't matter if you didn't win!

11. Excitebike

Image source: Nintendo Life

Excitebike was a motocross game released in 1984 by Nintendo and the aim was to finish a motocross track within a certain time.  This involved driving over ramps, dodging obstacles and overcoming your opponents. The player had to control the speed and temperature of the bike.

12. Duck Hunt

Image source: Time Extinction

If you have ever played Duck Hunt as a kid, then you will remember how that darn dog taunted you when you missed the ducks!  This game was released in 1984 and required a light gun to play it.  It would capture the light similar to a camera and was quite ingenious for its time.

13. Hands Down

Image source: Geeky Hobbies

A game of Hands Down required fast reactions as you tried to be the first to find a pair of cards.  Yes, it was basically Snap, with added bells and whistles!  The fact that you had to slam your hand right down onto the table when you found a pair made the game much more fun.

14. Burger Time

Image source: GamesSpew

Burger Time was originally called Hamburger but was renamed before when it entered the North American market in 1982.  You had to successfully make hamburgers while being chased by food enemies who wanted you to drop the ingredients and you would climb ladders to stay safe.

15. Time Factor

Image source: 80s Kids

With its coloured discs, Time Factor looked like Connect 4 at first glance. However, the game’s objective was to make a row of three disks of the same color before the timer ran out - sounds easy but it ended up being challenging!  The game was popular for a few years but disappeared off the toy shop shelves in the late 1980s.

16. My Little Pony Merry-Go-Round

Image source: 80s Kids

We know that many of you '80s kids owned at least a couple My Little Pony figures but how many of you actually remember playing the My Little Pony Merry-Go-Round game? You were supposed to spin the wheel and make a note of your score with the colorful ink stamp.

17. Dig Dug

Image source: IMDb

Dig Dug was released in 1982 with the aim of the game to dig around and eradicate any underground monsters, shooting them with a homemade air-pumping contraption and inflating them until they exploded!  It was very satisfying to see the green dragon-like monsters pop!

18. Cup Final

Image source Geeks

When it comes to football board games, the first one that comes straight to mind is probably Subbuteo but second might be Cup Final, a similar game from Peter Pan Playthings.  There was also the cricket-based Test Match game as well, another popular Peter Pan product.

19. Pole Position

Simply Eighties

Pole Position was ingenious for many reasons. It simulated a 3D perspective, motion and the vanishing point accurately whilst also using the popular rear-view camera angle. The graphics were impressive for that decade and it introduced tracks that were based on authentic racing circuits.

20. Maniac Mansion

Image source: Zombies Blog

Lucasfilms are obviously most well known for the Star Wars franchise but the company also produced a handful of video games. One of these was Maniac Mansion, released in 1987.  Eighties kids who got their hands on this release were greeted to a stellar point-and-click style puzzle game with a brilliant soundtrack!

21. Shark Alert!

Image source: 80s Kids

Believe it or not, the Jaws movies were considered to be family viewing back in the '80s.  One thing for sure though is the game certainly was.  A shark was programmed to randomly move around the board and eat our playing pieces, keeping us on our toes but entertaining us at the same time.

22. Q*bert

Image source: GameTake

Q*bert was a very successful arcade game released in 1982.  The main character and game didn't have a name originally and many wacky suggestions were made.  These included Snots and Boogers.  Luckily that was cast aside and the company went with the now famous "Q*bert.

23. Bewitched

Image source: 80s Kids

The spellbinding Bewitched board game saw us attempting to race through obstacles to be the first to discover the spellbook.’  Because the spellbook reversed the evil spell cast by the wicked witch, we made sure that we always obtained it before the rest of our family!

24. Track & Field

Image source: YouTube

Track & Field was released in 1983 by Konami and its original name was Hyper Olympic. The game successfully managed to combine gaming and sports and was so incredibly popular that over a million gamers took part in  the 1984 March of Dimes International Konami/Centuri Track & Field Challenge, creating a new world record.

25. Battle City

Image source: Simply Eighties

As soon as the level started and you heard the introduction clip, you knew straight away that a fun tank battle was on its way and you couldn’t help but grin!  Released in 1985 by Namco, it was probably the first tank game that many of us ever played, long before the modern World of Tanks.

26. Bomberman

Image source: Pinterest

Bomberman is a massively successful game franchise with the first game released in 1983 and the most recent one being released in 2020.  Similar to Choplifter, the game concept was simple.  You run around a maze and plant bombs to blow up balloon-like enemies. Once they've all  been killed, you move on to the next stage.

27. Scruples

Image source: Reddit

Scruples was a card game based on dilemmas you think might happen and think what others would do in embarrassing situations.  It was a game geared towards adults and they played it at dinner parties.  The Scruples junior edition was much more suited to us youngsters.

28. Montezuma's Revenge

Image source: Indie Retro News

Games were pretty basic in 1984 but Montezuma's Revenge stood out against the others, with its catchy sound design and game play.  It was exciting to play - there were traps to avoid, monsters to destroy and more importantly, treasure to be collected.  Ah, happy memories!

29. Choplifter

Image source: Simply Eighties

Choplifter was a helicopter game developed for Apple II and released in 1982 by Brøderbund.  It was first released for home computers and then ported to arcade. The player controls an attack helicopter and the goal is to save hostages from captivity which was easier said than done.

30. Karateka

Image source: YouTube

Karateka was a karate game designed by Jordan Mechner and it was released in 1984.  It is the hero’s mission to save the princess her by doing the one thing that he knows best and that is karate!  The game features unique cut scenes which keep switching between the protagonist and enemies.