My last post on Apple IIe games that frustrated me as a kid got a fair amount of reader love, so I thought I would write about some of my all-time favorite Apple IIe games. Here are the entertainments I loved so much, I lost sleep playing them. These games rocked, even in their green-screen, floppy-disk-swapping glory.

1. Karateka

This was the first real side-scroller I can recall, plus it had a mission (to save a pretty girl), life meters, and several proto-bosses. You basically had to journey through a castle from left to right, killing karate masters with nothing but kicks and punches. There were several cool surprises such as a falling gate and the fair maiden in distress would kill you if you ran up to her - talk about an awesome surprise ending.

2. Sabotage

This game put you in charge of a gun turret that could only shoot at airborne targets. The helicopters moving back and forth dropped parachuters which you had to blast before they landed on the ground. When a certain number of them landed, you were screwed, as they formed a small pyramid and blew up your turret as you watched helplessly. The best part of this game were the green smears flying around - if you shot a helicopter, there was a good chance some of its fallout would take out a few paratroopers, too. Sabotage is so good that a version exists on my iPod many years later.

3. Ultima

I played several of these epic Ultima role-playing games. I vividly recall being in some dungeon, staying up all night, not writing a term paper because I had to get some item or pass some difficult level. The games also evolved in some awesome ways. In an earlier adventure (I think Ultima II), you could kill people - even in the towns - if you felt like it, but by Ultima IV, morality took over and you had to do the right things in order to win. These games were also the first ones where the concept of “cheat sheets” arose. In school, people would hand out forumlas for various spells or the secret times and locations of moongates and shrines.

4. Mario Brothers

This was my favorite two player game on the Apple IIe. My brother and I would play this obsessively, learning every nuance of the game, such as how to push your opponent into a turtle, or bounce beneath the other to land them on a fireball. I also remember a later level where the platforms were covered with ice.

5. Robotron

This was a pretty accurate knock-off of the arcade game, which I was a freaking master. You basically run around a screen littered with evil robots, blasting them in all directions in an attempt to save the helpless humans. I learned how to use the keyboard with both hands, emulating the double-joystick situation - sometimes I could get up to level 100: a feat I can’t repeat. I’m sure the Apple IIe version was easier, but I still would like to believe I kicked serious robotic ass at Robotron.

6. Boulderdash

This was a good combination of an action and puzzle game. You ran around as this gopher-like guy, digging tunnels, trying to retrieve all the diamonds. The wrinkle was that the rocks would get loose, falling and killing you, or block your path to the jewels, which required strategy and planning ahead. Needless to say, the combination was unique enough to suck tons of time away, staring at screens trying to figure out the best way to pass the level.

7. Choplifter

A fun action game where you flew a helicopter, picking up people while tanks shot at you from the ground. A few variables made this a challenge, for starters, while on the ground, you couldn’t fire, making you a sitting duck whenever you tried to load up on passengers. I remember some tense times, waiting for the stupid, slow-moving humanoids to saunter over to your copter.

8. Stargate

This copy of the arcade game required a lot of effort to master, since the number of key controls was insane (inviso, hyperspace, smart bomb, reverse, thrust, fire). Still, I remember being pretty good at it. There was a special strategy of getting four humans hanging from your ship and then flying into the Stargate, which warped you ahead several levels. There was also some insane level with tons of Yllabian Space Guppies, which was incentive to save smart bombs and inviso for, as it was the only way to survive.

9. Lode Runner

As with Boulderdash, this game was a stunning combination of action and strategy. As a little running person, you had to pick up gold bricks and dig holes for the bad guys to fall into. This action also would create holes that sometimes you’d have to jump through to navigate a level. There were also ladders and poles that you’d have to hang off of. Another fun aspect was a level editor. This was the type of game that had simple rules, graphics, and an interesting situtation that with enough inventiveness in terms of level design, could last forever.

10. Taxman

This was just a cheesy Pac Man rip off, but I played it a ton. You couldn’t miss with a Pac Man game during the early eighties - even if it had nothing to do with George Harrison’s song off of Revolver.

Disclosure: I own a tiny amount of Apple stock.

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