Vintage Video Games in Haiku Trivia Quiz

Answer: Frogger

"Frogger" was an arcade game released by Sega in 1981. The object of the game was to use the joystick to maneuver a small frog across a busy, multi-laned street and similar river, hopping onto obstacles to cross rather than being run over by them.

Answer: Space Invaders

"Space Invaders" was developed and released in Japan in 1978 before its worldwide distribution. The player used the joystick to shoot at approaching aliens in a marching formation, with the user's tank hiding behind barricades that the aliens would gradually destroy.

Despite its simple graphics, the music and the quickening pace of the approaching enemy made "Space Invaders" a rather daunting yet addictive game. In 2008, the "Guinness Book of World Records" named "Space Invaders" one of the top five video games of all time.

Answer: Pong

"Pong" was created by two engineers originally as a programming training exercise, but they found it so fun, their company, Atari, decided to launch it as an an arcade game and a home game. This two-dimensional table-tennis type game was an instant hit.

Answer: Ms. Pac-Man

"Ms. Pac-Man" was the more successful follow up to the "Pac-Man" arcade game released by Bally/Midland in the early 1980s. Her version included enhanced color graphics, ghosts with semi-random behavior, and bonus-point fruit that came and went using the warp tunnels. What more could you want in a video game?

Answer: Centipede

In "Centipede", the player fired at a centipede that would keep lengthening and fragmenting. Mushrooms, spiders, fleas, and scorpions added extra challenge and menace. Developed at Altari in part by female game designer Dona Bailey, "Centipede" was the first video game to have a significant female user base.

Answer: Pitfall!

In "Pitfall!" the player maneuvered a nonspecific character through a jungle by swinging on vines without being taken out by pits, rolling logs, fire, snakes, scorpions, crocodiles, and quicksand. It was released for the Atari 2600 in 1982. AllGame's review gave it gave it five out of five stars.

Answer: Asteroids

Another hit from Atari, "Asteroids" involved shooting from a little triangular-shaped ship and destroying asteroids and enemy saucers, all within a crowded asteroid field. It was an immediate hit with players, displacing "Space Invaders" as Atari's best-selling game. It was also a critical success; RetroGamer ranked it as fourth on a list of top 25 arcade games (2008).

Answer: Donkey Kong

In "Donkey Kong", the player maneuvered a gorilla along multiple girders of a construction site, avoiding game-death by jumping over barrels. "Donkey Kong" introduced the character of Mario, who later became the principal character in Nintendo's "Mario" franchise.

Answer: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

"E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" the movie was a colossal hit; "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" the video game was a colossal flop. The user, in the character of a tiny extra-terrestrial creature, would search for pieces to build a telephone, which would in turn be used to phone E.T.'s home. With fewer than six weeks to develop the game before Christmas season, the designers had to skip the user testing phase and skimp on other features, resulting in a disappointing game. Tens of thousands of unsold game cartridges were buried in a landfill in New Mexico, sparking an urban legend that was proven true when they were excavated thirty years later.

Answer: Dig Dug

Namco released the arcade game "Dig Dug" in 1982. Working in an underground environment, the player maneuvered a little guy who would dig tunnels in order to destroy other little guys. "Dig Dug" appeared on many platforms after the arcade version, including multiple Atari home systems, the Apple II, the Commodore 64, Gameboy, and, considerably later, the xBox, among others.