12 x 8bit /16bit Era Games Recommendations for School

bmouthboyo

Evening all,

I will be running 12 1 hour sessions with a group of up to 20, 14 - 16 year old girls as part of an 'elective', essentially a lesson a week which focuses on areas outside of the traditional curriculum.

The blurb they will have signed up for is as follows:

“*Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. Ever heard these games referenced in pop culture, songs and movies but never really experienced them for yourself? Well now is the chance. This elective unit will see students experience these iconic games and many more first hand, identifying key characters, story-lines, graphic designs, game play mechanics as well as looking into the subtle messages these games deliver to the generations of players and society as a whole.

With yearly video game revenue surpassing movie and music combined, and mobile game revenue skyrocketing in emerging markets there has never been a better time to increase your knowledge of the sector, either for personal enjoyment or in preparation for a career in the digital sector.*”

I have 10 Raspberry Pi 3B+'s which will have identical RetroPi installs, each with 2 x SNES style controllers.

The aim is for them to experience iconic video games which girls often have miss out on compared to male counterparts in digital focused workplaces.

Key points:

No prior knowledge of games
Ideally multiplayer or at least 2 people can take turns
One lesson per game (possibly x 2 but like to avoid save states etc)
None violent / age appropriate
Ideally some easily identifiable influences that are a result of the games chosen
8bit / 16bit so the same games can be used for a game making unit with other age groups (will be using Construct 3 so 2D non graphic intensive game focus)

I was wondering if people could recommend games which fit this brief and any suggestions on the focus / info given for each.

Thanks in advance

Komkommerschijf

Hi, what a great idea! These would be my suggestions:

The classic Super Mario Bros for NES: demonstrating that the platform genre quickly went beyond the single-screen challenges from the arcade
Sonic The Hedgehog: clearly influenced by Mario but injecting some attitude and new gameplay ideas to keep the platformer genre fresh.
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (SNES): the classic topdown adventure setting, showing that music, art and gameplay all work together to draw a player in.
(Super) Metroid: introducing the Metroidvania genre, where you unlock new gameplay possibilities on the way and use them to reach places you couldn't reach before. Also, when released many didn't realize they were playing a female character until the end of the game. Your group might get a kick out of that :)
Tetris: without it, there would be no puzzle games today
Final Fantasy as an example of the classic (Japanese) RPG. It might be too involved for a 1 hour session, but it will get the basics of the genre across: heavy on the storytelling and characters, the use of statistics in 'leveling up' and a very different combat-style compared to something like Zelda.
Pokemon Red/Blue for Gameboy would be a variation of the RPG setting where you train the animals you catch instead of your own character. Also a demonstration of how the very limited Gameboy uses addictive gameplay within a 'complete' world to draw players in for hours and hours.
It's slightly more violent, but I feel you might get away with Street Fighter 2 (SNES) as it focuses more on the 'sport' of martial arts (not in any realistic way, but still) and not so much on the blood and guts you see in different series. Kung Fu for NES might work as a prototype-version of the fighting genre.

BennyProfane

I am not affiliated with the following but you could also take a look at the new Raspi press book, available for free
Code the Classics

Since you’re on the rasbpi itself you could pull out a keyboard, open a python IDE and paste in a section of a relevant area of the book to show that anyone can make these kind of games today.

Pico8 could also be a good option for this endeavour btw, but there is unfortunately a license cost.

bmouthboyo

@BennyProfane said in 12 x 8bit /16bit Era Games Recommendations for School:

I am not affiliated with the following but you could also take a look at the new Raspi press book, available for free
Code the Classics

Since you’re on the rasbpi itself you could pull out a keyboard, open a python IDE and paste in a section of a relevant area of the book to show that anyone can make these kind of games today.

Pico8 could also be a good option for this endeavour btw, but there is unfortunately a license cost.

Thankyou for this useful information, the code the classics resource looks amazing and something I will consider if the taught unit I will be delivering in Construct 3 goes well. Unfortunately I have already committed to a year license for the students with Construct 3 but will look at Pygame next year if it is suitable for the age range. Pico8 looks fun and also something I will look into for the future.

@Komkommerschijf said in 12 x 8bit /16bit Era Games Recommendations for School:

Hi, what a great idea! These would be my suggestions:

The classic Super Mario Bros for NES: demonstrating that the platform genre quickly went beyond the single-screen challenges from the arcade

Sonic The Hedgehog: clearly influenced by Mario but injecting some attitude and new gameplay ideas to keep the platformer genre fresh.

Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (SNES): the classic topdown adventure setting, showing that music, art and gameplay all work together to draw a player in.

(Super) Metroid: introducing the Metroidvania genre, where you unlock new gameplay possibilities on the way and use them to reach places you couldn't reach before. Also, when released many didn't realize they were playing a female character until the end of the game. Your group might get a kick out of that :)

Tetris: without it, there would be no puzzle games today

Final Fantasy as an example of the classic (Japanese) RPG. It might be too involved for a 1 hour session, but it will get the basics of the genre across: heavy on the storytelling and characters, the use of statistics in 'leveling up' and a very different combat-style compared to something like Zelda.

Pokemon Red/Blue for Gameboy would be a variation of the RPG setting where you train the animals you catch instead of your own character. Also a demonstration of how the very limited Gameboy uses addictive gameplay within a 'complete' world to draw players in for hours and hours.

It's slightly more violent, but I feel you might get away with Street Fighter 2 (SNES) as it focuses more on the 'sport' of martial arts (not in any realistic way, but still) and not so much on the blood and guts you see in different series. Kung Fu for NES might work as a prototype-version of the fighting genre.

Thank you for this list, along the lines I was thinking (working my way through Link to the Past as we speak :)). My only worry with the RPG titles like Final Fantasy is that by the time we setup the Pi's and they are given a brief intro to the game they wont really be able to get that deep into it. Attention spans are also much shorter than when I was younger! Could be good for recommendations though for those that want to look into more in their own time. I never knew Metroid was a women! perfect for them to relate to the character and probably one of the earlier examples of female gamers being catered for.

Any more suggestions more than welcome. Thanks all :)

mitu

@bmouthboyo said in 12 x 8bit /16bit Era Games Recommendations for School:

I never knew Metroid was a women!

It's not, that's the title of the game. The name of the main protagonist of the Metroid series is Samus Aran.

What's missing from the list is a the shooter genre - R-type or Gradius might come in handy and are easy to pick up.

Ashpool

Mh,
Focused on Console, or also Computer Games?

Mario Brothers (see above) and Joust (also a one screen platformer with a similiar gameplay to mario brothers)

I've just played DynaBlasters on the Amiga (5 Players: it included an adapter for 2 joysticks over the paralellport in addition to the "basic" two + one player on the keyboard), so I cannot comment on the number of players for it (or bomberman as it was called outside europe afaik) on different systems.

and also: Stunt Car Racer on the Amiga - it was the first "racing game" (2 player via Nullmodem Cable) where I actually felt the "dives" in my stomach. And staying with racing games: Lotus 2 Turbo Challenge on the Amiga (and ST?) did not only allowed for 2 players via split screen, but also a Nullmodemconnection, so that 4 player could race against each other :D