Core gaming

10 games that defined Apple systems

CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN > Apple II > 1981

Silas Warner’s stealth-based arcade game finds you deep inside a castle full of armed enemies during World War II, trying to find war plans. Its combination of tense moments, strategy and arcade smarts won it plenty of fans.

PRINCE OF PERSIA > Apple II > 1989

Karateka’s take on side-on fighters wowed on the Apple II, but with Prince Of Persia Jordan Mechner went one better, your hero carefully working his way through dungeons to save a princess. Realistic animation and challenging gameplay cemented the game’s classic status.

ANGRY BIRDS > iOS > 2009

Obviously inspired by online flash game Crush The Castle and in-house Rovio designer Jaakko Iisalo’s designs of limbless avians, Angry Birds exploded on to the iPhone. Its bite-sized slingshot gameplay was perfect for brief mobile sessions and touchscreen control, quickly catapulting the game towards iconic status.

LIFELINE… > Apple Watch > 2015

The first of a new generation, Lifeline… is a game that works better on Apple Watch than a smartphone. A Choose Your Own Adventure with you assisting a stranded astronaut, the narrative is compelling and has emotional clout. Playing on a watch feels futuristic yet natural.

ULTIMA > Apple II > 1981

Following up on debut title Akalabeth, Richard Garriott used his Apple II to fashion the first step in the Ultima series. One of the earliest open-world, roleplaying games, Ultima has influenced countless games throughout the years.

MYST > Mac > 1993

This adventure puzzler is perhaps best-known for being a PC game, but it started life on the Mac. The original was built in HyperCard, and Apple’s release of QuickTime part-way through development enabled an extra degree of immersion through the integration of video.

CHOPLIFTER > Apple II > 1982

Initially an experiment in creating a controllable helicopter on an Apple II, Choplifter soon integrated Defender-style rescues. The game’s seemingly political nature was coincidental, but spotted by the masses.

MARATHON > Mac > 1994

With the Mac still mostly known for serious work in the Nineties, most games were static and staid. Marathon bucked the trend, bringing cutting-edge FPS action to the platform, marrying blasting with a detailed plot. Bungie would, of course, go on to create Halo.

DARK CASTLE > Mac > 1986

This game took advantage of Mac hardware, utilising both keyboard and mouse, the latter used to launch projectiles, and the former for movement. The game shows how the Mac’s graphical limitations can still reap rewards.

ESCAPE VELOCITY > Mac > 1996

With Mac games being few in number as Apple hit its nadir, space opened up for enterprising indies. One of the best examples is Escape Velocity, a space trading game that resembles Elite, albeit with a third-person view during the outer-space travel sections and battles.