by Before we begin, some cleaning. For the most part, we’ve gone with the earliest first release date for a game on whatever platform it debuted on. But with dates in different territories sometimes spread over several years (hello, Super Mario World), there are instances below where we’ve taken a minor liberty to accommodate a particular deserving favorite. Complaints to the usual address.
In some cases, we’ve added honorable mentions and even notable non-Switch nominations. You’ll also notice that the excellent Atari 50 collection and Hamster’s Arcade Archives series do some heavy lifting in the early years (and we had to get creative with 1972-75 — let us know in the comments if you have suggestions for the early years ). Overall, we think you’ll agree that the wealth of historical titles available to play on Nintendo’s diminutive console is mighty impressive.
So, enough fuss. Let’s start with… well, not very the beginning, but certainly much closer to it than we are now. Join us now on a journey through time and space, back to Minnesota in 1971…
Publisher: Gameloft / Developer: Gameloft
Created as an educational tool for students at a Minneapolis high school, Oregon Trail is an iconic “edutainment” text-based adventure known for teaching American children about the dangers of dysentery for pioneers on the trail in the mid-1800s. As with many of the games near the top of this list, the original game is available to play for free online (via the Oregon Tourism Board’s website, no less), but it’s also available on Switch in a hugely updated, upgraded form thanks to Gameloft.
We haven’t played this one, unfortunately, but let us know in the comments if you’ve enjoyed dysentery-based death on Switch.
Publisher: Atari / Developer: Digital eclipse
We promise we won’t cheat too much from here on out, but the selection is slim in the early 70s, so you’ll have to forgive us for using Atari’s seminal Pong from 1972 to cover a few years.
Given the game’s enduring, worldwide popularity, it is perhaps appropriate to allow it to span three entries. The version in Digital Eclipse’s Atari 50 collection is as authentic as you could hope for, and this won’t be the last time we lean on the special collection, as you’ll soon find out.
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Publisher: Atari / Developer: Digital eclipse
The archetypal block breaker game, Break out sees you bounce a “ball” from a Pong-like paddle at the bottom of the screen and use it to slice through rows of bricks on top. Atari’s Nolan Bushnell apparently wanted something akin to a single-player version of Pong, and that’s pretty much what Breakout is.
A huge success, it would go on to inspire a 1978 Taito game which we’ll get to shortly…
Publisher: Atari / Developer: Digital eclipse
Match was the typical pack-in title that came with every Atari VCS/2600 system from its release in 1977 to 1982. While the ’27 VIDEO GAMES’ it was proclaimed to contain on the box may seem a bit far-fetched by modern standards (these 27 titles consist of different modes for just a handful of games), titles such as Tank and Jet in this collection was many a player’s introduction to competitive home multiplayer.
Publisher: Taito / Developer: Taito
In a broader cultural sense, and perhaps even more so than Mario or Pac-Man, Space Invaders and ‘video games’ are synonymous. Only one of these three has its own emoji on the phone’s keyboard, and it’s not the skilled plumber or the yellow cake. Taito’s shooter is cited as the inciting event in the origin stories of many of the gaming industry’s luminaries, including one Shigeru Miyamoto, who we understand has a few hits to his name.
Space Invaders is required reading, and luckily you can do that reading on the Switch.
Publisher: Atari / Developer: Digital eclipse
The Atari 50 comes to the rescue again with this vector-visual masterpiece that gave you the freedom to move anywhere you wanted, firing your ship’s rockets to avoid and target the eponymous space-based obstacles flying at you from every possible direction. The craft’s sense of inertia and precise physics and controls still impress today, serving as callbacks to the very earliest video games such as Space War! and Nolan Bushnell’s own Computer space.
Publisher: Bandai Namco / Developer: Bandai Namco
Another of those gaming icons known even by people who have never grabbed a joystick or a pad before, Pac-Man’s maze-based antics with his ghostly antagonists (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) were designed as a non-violent alternative to the BLASTY-BLASTY the fighting games Atari and Taito had given great acclaim. We’d argue that devouring your enemies and imprisoning them in a confined space isn’t quite the pacifist antidote to Space Invaders it was suggested to be, but early 80s arcade-goers couldn’t get enough.
Honorable Mentions: Missile Command, adventure
Publisher: HAMSTER / Developer: Nintendo
Mario (or rather Jumpman) may seem quite limited in his abilities (and death by a short fall is very old fashioned), but Donkey Kong is still a fun game. Tougher than the NES port, it can become quite addictive as you try to improve your scores. For fans of the game and the OG arcade cabinet’s vertical orientation, this TATE Mode compatible Arcade Archives release is something of an “ultimate edition”. Three versions of it with a few display options and Hamster’s usual selection of modes and online leaderboards make this a good choice for high score chasers and sticklers for the right ratio.
Honorable Mentions: Galaga, Frogger Defender, Tempest, Centipede
Publisher: HAMSTER
Namco’s Xevious crept into Japanese arcades in December 1982, delivering visuals uncommon in arcades at the time, and stands alongside the mighty Space Invaders as one of the most influential entries in the shooter genre. We’re quite partial to the autostereoscopic 3D Classics version on 3DS, but the Switch version delivers TATE mode in all its glory.
Fun fact: Xevious is an unlockable in Star Fox: Assault on the GameCube. No, it’s not on Switch. Sorry we brought it up.
Honorable Mentions: Donkey Kong Jr., Burger Time, Centipede, Dig Dug
Non-Switch Nom: JoustMrs. Pac-Man, Pitfall
Publisher: HAMSTER / Developer: Nintendo
Mario Bros. may be the game many remember as the extra bonus mode you never played on all those GBA Super Mario ports, but it’s a significant release and one you can enjoy in all its original arcade glory on Switch.
While nowhere near the success of Donkey Kong, this is still a significant entry in Nintendo’s canon, and one that showcases Mario and Green Mario Luigi in the sewers doing some plumbing next door for a change.
Honorable Mentions: Lifting action, athletics
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