Tales From a Simpler Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pac-Man

"Pac-Man", originally marketed in Japan as "Puck-Man", was developed and released by Namco in 1980 and distributed in North America through Midway Games.

Many spin-offs and clones of the original game have come and gone, but the original was extremely popular, and is still played today on many platforms.

Clear the screen of dots, avoid the ghosts Blinky (red), Pinky (pink), Inky (cyan), and Clyde (orange) - unless you have just eaten a power pellet, and get bonus points for the appearing and disappearing fruit. A very simple, yet challenging game, as each level the ghosts get faster.

Answer: Asteroids

"Asteroids" was released in 1979 by Atari, Inc, and was a major hit in the arcades, with over 70,000 arcade cabinets sold.

Rendered on a vector display, the game was simple in design and concept, but challenging. You control a triangular ship that you can rotate, and move with thrust. But just like in space, once you begin moving, you stay moving in that direction until you provide counter-thrust. You have an asteroid field to clear, with the occasional flying saucer that comes along and shoots at you. If you clear the screen, you do it all over again, with more asteroids.

Answer: Centipede

"Centipede" was a fixed-shooter arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1981 and was also very successful, spawning a direct sequel ("Millipede") in 1982 and becoming equally successful on multiple Atari platforms.

A fun game, but it really makes no sense. Your 'gun' at the bottom of the screen looks like a bug's head and you fire up at the 10-12 segment centipede that is going back and forth across the screen, descending a step every time it comes to an obstacle (the edge of the screen or a mushroom). Up to there, it makes sense, but why would a segment of the bug turn into a mushroom when hit? And if you hit it in the middle, you all of a sudden had two different centipedes? Where did the other head come from?!?

The centipede was not the only bug in the game. There were also fleas that came falling straight down, leaving a trail of mushrooms behind. There was a spider that would jump around the bottom portion of the screen, devouring mushrooms as it went. And there were scorpions that would crawl across the screen and 'poison' mushrooms. And when the centipede hit a poisoned mushroom, it would come straight down to the bottom.

And, even when you killed all the segments of the centipede and finished a level, all those mushrooms (that each took four hits to clear) were still cluttering the screen.

Answer: Lunar Lander

Developed by Atari, Inc. and released in 1979, "Lunar Lander" was Atari's first vector graphics game and was moderately successful in the arcades, selling close to 5,000 units.

The game play was simple in concept, yet challenging. You had to land the lunar module on a specific spot in mountainous lunar terrain, using thrusters to ensure you didn't come in too fast or at too steep an angle. But the catch was, you had a limited amount of fuel to operate the thrusters, so you had to conserve it an rely on momentum as much as possible.

Answer: Donkey Kong

"Donkey Kong" came out in 1981 and was a Nintendo release. It became one of the most popular arcade games of all time, earning $180 million in its first year and another $100 million in its second year.

Not only was "Donkey Kong" one of the earliest examples of a platform game, it is considered to be the first video game with a storyline. As described in the question, the ape kidnaps 'Lady' (in later versions, she is renamed 'Pauline') and climbs up a building under construction. 'Jumpman' pursues, but must jump over the barrels and fireballs that roll down the girders towards him. At least, that's the first level. After that, there are some different challenges thrown in.

Answer: Frogger

Developed by Konami and released by Sega in North America, "Frogger" came out in 1981. It was a unique way to run the proverbial gauntlet, and in 1982, "Softline" magazine stated that "Frogger has earned the ominous distinction of being 'the arcade game with the most ways to die.'" (source: Wikipedia)

You, as the frog, must negotiate your way across multiple lanes of traffic to the a mid-point of safety - the fringe between the highway and the river. In the river you have to jump onto moving logs and turtles (that submerge before too long) while avoiding alligators in order to reach one of five lily pads.

Answer: Missile Command

Released in 1980 by Atari, Inc., "Missile Command" played on the fears of the Cold War, and was consequently quite successful. Reportedly, the lead programmer even had nightmares about nuclear strikes while working on the game!

In the game, you have six cities to defend with three anti-missile batteries. As missiles streak towards your cities, you counter by aiming cross-hairs ahead of the missiles to destroy them before they strike your cities (or your batteries). In this original release, the cities are supposed to represent six cities in California: Eureka, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Answer: Peter Pepper

"BurgerTime" was originally created by Data East for its DECO Cassette System in 1982, but it was also released in the arcades through licensing with Bally Midway.

The game is pretty much as described in the question. In the first level your character (Peter Pepper) must create the giant hamburgers (comprised of two buns, a meat patty, and a layer of lettuce) by walking over them, causing them to fall down one level. You have the ability to stun your enemy foods with a pepper shot, and if you cause one of them to fall with an ingredient, it falls two levels.

In higher levels, more burgers need to be made, and more ingredients are added. After six boards, the cycle repeats.

Answer: Pole Position

"Pole Position" was developed by Namco and licensed in North America by Atari, Inc. for a 1982 release. It earned the status of most popular coin-operated arcade game in 1983.

There were two variants of the arcade release - upright and cockpit. Both had the steering wheel, high/low gear shift, and an accelerator, but the cockpit also had a brake. Before beginning the actual racing, you had to do a qualifying lap to see where in the field of eight cars you would begin. Of course, the goal was to take the pole position and not have to track down any cars ahead of you.

Answer: Mario

This earliest foray into the lives of Mario and Luigi was simply entitled "Mario Bros." and it was released by Nintendo in 1983. While technically, Mario was first seen as 'Jumpman' in "Donkey Kong", this is the first instance of Mario as Mario along with his brother. (Note - "Mario Bros." was actually first released for the 'Game & Watch' handheld electronic game four months prior to the arcade release).

Mario and Luigi must clear the sewers of the different creatures appearing in the sewers. The only controls are running and jumping, so to defeat the different creatures, you have to jump up from a lower level and knock them over, then get up to them and kick them away.