In the times of the 8-bit generation of gaming there was a level playing field of games from shooters to puzzles and most of these were aimed at the older gamer let’s say 14 and upwards. But on the flip side there was a certain section of games based at younger generation and today these kids video games is what we are going to be diving into.
HOW MUCH!?
I remember as a boy the excitement of pocket money and the chance to indulge in my favourite hobby of gaming from purchasing gaming magazines to scouring the local toy shops and newsagents for the budget priced games that were constantly produced from £1.99 to £2.99.
TV show game spin-offs
Now I had my favourite kids TV shows back in the day as I’m sure all of you did so imagine my delight when I found a game based on one of them, this game was Postman Pat; a simple little game that quite simply consisted of going round delivering letters and parcels to the residents of Greendale all of who I knew from the show.
My excitement grew as I found more kids video games associated with various shows even sequels, Postman Pat even had a trilogy of games all as simple and fascinating to me as the first. I went looking every weekend to see what new game had been released and to my delight I began to find more and more games for my age group.
Games like Fireman Sam, Trap Door, Count Duckula, Hong Kong Phooey, Scooby Doo to name a few and I was in my element, not all the games were brilliant but as a youngster being in control of your favourite cartoon character was amazing.The games were bright and colourful and all of them had the nostalgic 8 bit rendition of the shows theme tune.
Kids video games got better and better
So as time went on we moved into the reign of Sega and Nintendo, time had moved on and graphics and games were evolving kids favourites were being used still but they were more in depth like Mickey mouse and the castle of illusion ,Donald Duck’s Quackshot, Mickey and Donald in World of Illusion, Tiny Toons, Acme Allstars, Animaniacs,The Simpsons all were released to great success but now kids were being treated to feature films and game developers delivered.
The Lion King ,Aladdin, Pinocchio, Jurassic park even Toy Story had games and again kids loved them but not all were brilliant once again and the issue this time was price, it was ok to pay £1.99/ £2.99 for a game to keep your child happy and occupied but £40 was pretty steep for something that wasn’t going to be used much.
The end of an era?
As we move further along and coming to present day and game prices steadily increasing its unlikely we will see many more cartoon related games with the likes of Lego and Battle royale games captivating children of all ages and the poor showing of Capcom’s Disney afternoon collection which bought back Darkwing Duck, Duck tales and Tail spin with Chip,n,Dale.
We can only now thank Alternative software, Hi-tech Sotware and Encore for providing such great memories and taking the time to try and capture the joy of the cartoons that stick in our childhood memories.
So until next time Star Struck Gaming fans…..
