How can these games be so fun? Simple: they're lovingly crafted by people who loved games and loved Macs. Maelstrom - An asteroids clone from the second golden age of Mac shareware.Īperion - Same as above, but a centipede clone. All versions were fun.right up until they went color and self-destructed on the Mac platform View image: /infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gifģ in Three - Fools Errand is the real classic, but 3 in Three is the better game, IMO. Lunar Rescue - minimalist cross between MULE and lunar lander.įalcon - A black and white flight simulator? You bet your ass. Uninvited and Shadowgate - these point, drag, and click adventure games were great: worthy successors to the purely text-based adventures games that came before them. Black and white, of course, with only rudimentary "texturing", but it was still pretty amazing-and a fun game too. The Colony - A real-time 3D first-person adventure game long before Wolfenstein, with an interesting twist on movement and shooting via mouse. Lode Runner - merely an adequate port of the classic game, but the control was super-precise, and it was one of the most important "early games" for the platform. Must be played on a classic Mac (SE or earlier) due to the superior mouse tracking in those models (really!)ĭark Castle - finely detailed, superbly animated characters in a clever, fun game (keyboard and mouse required simultaneously-long before Quake -) It's like a 9-inch pen-and-ink work of art in motion View image: /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif (The sequel is great as well, but mostly more of the same.) You can challenge these regulars to one-off matches or enter a tournament.Best classic Mac games, in no particular order:Ĭrystal Quest - one of the best arcade games ever, for any platform. In a tournament, you work your way up from the weakest to the strongest opponent - at least, you try to. This begins with the feeble novice Skip Feeney, who'll compliment you on your fine skills, then steps up to a midget alien, a seasoned veteran shufflepuck player, an increasingly inebriated champagne-loving serpent, and onwards, eventually reaching the street-tough Biff, who is the reigning champion. In one-off matches you can customise the playing conditions - increasing the size or power of your paddle, adding a weighted block to the centre of the table for a little unpredictability, or, if competing against the robot, modifying the attributes of your opponent. Think twice before making your own paddle ridiculously wide - it may make defence easier, but your ability to send a crazy, unstoppable shot scooting towards your opponent will be severely hampered.Įach opponent has his/her/its own patterns and idiosyncrasies - many comedic, such as the serpent Lexan who sips champagne, hiccups, and eventually passes out, or the mysteriously calm alien Nerual, who periodically opens his (her?) robe to reveal a smirking face at around chest level. These character quirks extend to the gameplay, with some of them even doubling as tells for what your opponent will do next. It is a far inferior game with the audio turned off. Every sound and animation is satisfying and lends a tangibility to the experience the donks and thwacks of the puck bouncing around the table, the sneers, taunts, or grunts of your opponent, and the smashing of glass all resonate sharply, giving a sense of being there. If anything, it can be punishingly difficult. Get careless while trying to do a wicked bounce shot and you'll end up bumping the puck into the wrong end of the table. Try to overpower your opponent and you're just as likely to overpower yourself. The respective play-style of each of your opponents may eventually become obvious to you, but until that moment you can get stuck in seemingly endless back-and-forth rallies - neither you nor your opponent willing to give even a hair-widths advantage.įor fans of the NES, it may seem reminiscent of Punch Out! - and in many ways it is.
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