Apple games? Yep, while you may not immediately associate the Apple name with gaming, the tech giant's history is closely intertwined with that of the video games industry. Engineer Steve 'Woz' Wozniak, the brains behind the Apple II computer, was inspired by his work on arcade games and wanted to create a computer that was faster, more colourful and noisier than anything else.
Woz tinkered with his computer, adding colour, BASIC commands, paddle controllers, and sound. Building primarily for himself, he was also kick-starting a computing revolution – the Apple II captured the imagination of wannabe home programmers, and the machine’s initial success bankrolled Apple for years. If you've used one of today's best MacBooks, you can thank the success of the Apple II for the fact that the company was able to stick around long enough to design it.
In later years, Apple would cede a lot of gaming ground to PCs, but there were still a fair few landmark titles released for its Macintosh platform – including revolutionary first-person puzzler Myst. However, Apple would go on to make a mark for itself in another gaming space, as the iPhone revolutionised how people interacted with their digital devices, and a software gold rush ensued.
We're counting off the ten most important games in Apple's history from back in the 1980s right up to the present day. And if it gives you the urge to do a little gaming of your own, check out our guide to the best iPads for gaming and the best gaming headsets.
01. Castle Wolfenstein
- System: Apple II
- Release year: 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.
02. Ultima
- System: Apple II
- Release year: 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.
03. Choplifter
- System: Apple II
- Release year: 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.
04. Dark Castle
- System: Mac
- Release year: 1986
This game took advantage of Mac hardware, utilising both keyboard and mouse, the latter used to launch projectiles, and the former for movement. This Apple game shows how the Mac’s graphical limitations can still reap rewards.
05. Prince of Persia
- System: Apple II
- Release year: 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.
06. Myst
- System: Mac
- Release year: 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.
07. Marathon
- System: Mac
- Release year: 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.
08. Escape Velocity
- System: Mac
- Release year: 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.
09. Angry Birds
- System: iOS
- Release year: 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 as an iPhone game. Its bite-sized slingshot gameplay was perfect for brief mobile sessions and touchscreen control, quickly catapulting the game towards iconic status.
10. Lifeline
- System: Apple Watch
- Release year: 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.
This content originally appeared in MacFormat magazine. Subscribe to MacFormat at Magazines Direct (opens in new tab).
Read more:
