Four classic titles were added to The World Video Game Hall of Fame recently, and you’ll likely be pretty familiar with at least three of them: Microsoft Solitaire, Super Mario Kart, and Mortal Kombat.
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The most important of the bunch is surely Microsoft Solitaire, which is responsible for sucking the time from millions of people all around the world. Released in 1990, it first came as part of the Windows 3.0 operating system but also appeared on almost every subsequent release of the software. As the Strong National Museum of Play in New York notes, the game “has been distributed on over a billion computers,” which is a mindfuck whichever way you slice it. Windows straight-up trojan horsed that bad boy right into your life.
Beyond its sheer reach, the museum also says Microsoft Solitaire “helped pave the way for the growth of the casual gaming market that remains so popular today”.
Two of the other titles inducted into the Hall of Fame might be a little more familiar to the traditional gamers out there. The classic Super Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat have made the list for pretty much just kicking ass, both of which were released in 1992.
While almost singlehandedly responsible for the creation of a video games Rating Board, the latter was also praised for its characters and style.
“Beyond its controversial content and role in triggering debate about the role of violent video games in society, Mortal Kombat’s compelling gameplay, iconic characters, and many sequels have kept players coming back again and again,” The Strong’s digital games curator, Andrew Borman, said.
Super Mario Kart was the first in a long line of popular kart racing games, not only within its own franchise but in competitors’ as well. While popular with gamers themselves, the Nintendo series also became known for being a great entry point for novice and casual gamers.
“Super Mario Kart truly excelled as a social game that appealed to players of all skill levels, especially with its engaging multi-player settings,” archivist, Julia Novakovic, said.
The fourth title is a little older, released in 1976. It’s called Colossal Adventure, an incredibly influential text adventure game which became the root of many future games, even some modern ones.
Titles already in the World Video Game Hall of Fame include The Legend of Zelda, GTA III, Doom, Donkey Kong, The Sims, Tetris, and more. All of them are on permanent display in the New York museum.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to waste 2 hours trying to beat my high score on Solitaire.
