Classic 70's and 80's Games Go Online: Let's Explore the Internet Archive

Hey ATSers!
Classic games are online in the Internet Archive (Software Collection).

BBC: Internet Archive Puts Classic Games Online.

Games like Pac Man and Donkey Kong and Asteroids - old Atari favorites.

I thought we could explore and share our findings on this thread. I threw down a few of my favorite Atari games.

The Internet Archive is the home of the Wayback When Machine - a search engine that rather jankily returns old websites - if you can remember their web addresses.

It is also the home to many text, audio and video resources (and now old game and software resources) that are hard to navigate - it reminds me of trying to find things in the library using the Card Catalog for the first time.

But you know what? The hard to use search engine makes it more fun to find cool stuff and report back to the thread!

So to help you out (at least with the Atari stuff) I added some direct links.

Archive.org: The Console Living Room



Atari 7800 Library



Atari: Asteroids



Atari: Centipede

Their featured item: Commando.



Link

And many more games.

reply to post by darkbake


The Internet Archive also includes:
*Video Resources
*Text Resources
*Audio Resources
*Educational Resources

Video Resources

Example: Male Restroom Etiquite - sadly the only video I could find that I have seen before and liked last time.

Definitely try out their Advanced Search - it might be your best bet for finding something. Their search engine is very hard to work with, in my opinion. Although when I tried the Advanced Search, it broke on me.

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My favorite systems would be the NES, SNES and N64 - for which you can find roms and emulators online - this archive has legitimate ways to play the older games from the Atari and its generation, but not NES or higher.

You can also search the Wayback When machine for old internet sites - if you happen to remember what you are looking for. My memory pooped out last month.

Old computer games and software are on this site as well, although a lot of the good ones are only Demos - still, the year requirement goes into the late 90's.

Browse (Old PC Games) By Subject and Keyword



Yeah... their video game search option is a bit janky!

So what can we find ATS?

reply to post by darkbake


that's my day sorted ,there is a game i would love to play again but can't find anywhere it's called wonderboy in monsterland,i used to waste all my pocket money on that lol

I'm a big advocate for retro gaming my time periods are from the mid 80s to the early 00's I was a big fan of SNK, turbo grphx, snes, sega masters and genesis, nes, and the sega cd. I grew up with an uncle that actually was big into computing tech and especially evaluating game systems as a consultant so I got to play so cool games. I personally own 5 retro systems and 3 dedicated arcade cabinets one being the uber rare metal slug from snk and the other being killer instinct and killer instinct 2.

reply to post by darknewt


Check this out:

In Hippy's Quest you take the role of a teenager who is just becoming a Hippy in the 60's. You must make essential decisions along the way and you must "CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE."

Hippy Quest

There is gold on here, people! That was in the "Interactive Fiction" section. Anyone find anything else interesting?

Check out my really badly written tutorial on how to get this DOS game to run and the commands to use three posts below (yeah somehow I remembered how to use DOS in the span of three posts).

darknewt
reply to post by darkbake

 

that's my day sorted

,there is a game i would love to play again but can't find anywhere

it's called wonderboy in monsterland,i used to waste all my pocket money on that lol

Here

If you get an emulator there is the rom download

reply to post by darkbake


that looks lots of fun lol looks like i'll be having a crack at that one to

reply to post by Brotherman


I will get you to run Hippy Quest! So far in my quest to run Hippy Quest, I have needed to download Dos Box:

Link : Download Dos Box

That lets you play DOS games on your Windows PC.

The main command to know is "mount c c:/HippyQuest" and that will make your c drive in the c:/HippyQuest folder - which I am about to make and throw down right into my C drive - let's not waste any time going through all that Program Files crap.

I am making a HippieQuest file directly on the root drive ha ha!

Once your C drive is mounted type c: and that will get you there. Type dir in order to see a directory of options.

Then hippie.exe and BAM! I'M IN THE HIPPIE QUEST MO# F#s! I cannot believe I still remember how to use DOS...

Now excuse me for a minute while I go pretend to be a Hippie.

reply to post by Brotherman


much thanks brotherman,looks like i'm off back to my childhood,wonder if i can still complete it on one life

reply to post by darknewt


No quarters here brother

reply to post by darkbake


not tonight I cant play its 5am here Im unwinding from drawing all night and then getting the rom for the other guy it made me have to play a quick match of samurai showdown and got my ass kicked badly

Best retro game, hands down for me was shadowrun for the genesis that and in a close 2nd either shinobi 2 or shinobi 3

snes has to be strider returns or mario all stars

nes so gawd damn many

reply to post by Brotherman


have to also add musha or aleste love me them shooters and bullet hells

Brotherman
Best retro game, hands down for me was shadowrun for the genesis that and in a close 2nd either shinobi 2 or shinobi 3

snes has to be strider returns or mario all stars

nes so gawd damn many

They also had Shadowrun for SNES. I wasn't sure if you were unaware or just stating that you preferred it on the genesis platform. I've been searching for a game like that ever since... I think I fit right in with your time period! Basically started with super mario brothers. Kinda took a break in the early to mid 2000s. Then had a small wii revival from 2006-2008. Now I've grown to appreciate mobile gaming on my android device. That began in earnest around in 2011 but of course I was playing g them ever since snake on the old nokias maybe even before that.

OP: Oh, HELL yes!!

reply to post by darkbake


Holy molly...DOS...

You could just download MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) for the PC and then go rom hunting for your favorite game online and play the arcade version of the game you desire.

Donkey Kong and Pac Man are cool on the Atari but why play those versions when you can play the Arcade version instead?

Did anyone else here have a modded original Xbox with BAED's (Big Ass Emulator Discs)? If you could name the game from the 70's, 80's and 90's most likely it was on one of the discs. Good times there.

Thanks for the link. I've been going through the list trying to find a certain game I enjoyed playing in '05 or therabouts.

I am blanking out on the name completely, but maybe someone can help me? It was a Win game I think, with lot of levels of difficulty. A strategy shootem up game in which the shooter used a cannon to shoot pineapples and knock angry coconut tossing apes from ledges. Maybe PETA had something to do with its demise, I don't know. However my computer died and I later looked for it online and could not find it. Any help would be appreciated.

Where is packman and misses packman?

God, I remember my Atari 2600, Played the classics, went on that website and played ET, I'm shocked I STILL remember how to play it!!!

I want GAUNTLET!!!!

reply to post by darkbake


Sucks I cant play them on my computer (surface). But I was able to get my nostalgic fix just by previewing the games. Almost shed a tear when I remembered the game "Mouse Trap."
Thanks for posting.

Atari 2600