When it comes to retro games, and by which we mean the very first classics that formed the entire gaming world, they sit in something of an unusual place in the community. There isn’t a single veteran gamer who won’t speak of the importance of these games and give them legendary status, and yet if you ask them when they last played one, you’re most likely to get blank looks instead.
What may don’t realize is that in the majority of cases, these games have all been brought forward into the modern gaming world in a range of forms. Some have been high profile and some have flown under the radar, so in case you missed any, here’s a rundown of all the most ancient names in gaming.

Tetris
We’ll start with the game that’s had the most high-profile life recently, with the past 5 years feeling like the second golden age of Tetris. While the game did have many remakes and iterations since the original game released more than 40 years ago, recently everything has gone into overdrive.

Closer to the classic feel of the game has been Tetris Effect: Connected which takes the huge pile of different game modes introduced in the original Tetris Effect and adds in both local and online multiplayer. Go back a little bit further to 2019’s Tetris 99 and you’ll find a Tetris-based battle royale game that’s just as unusual as it sounds. To its credit, it caused a big stir amongst gaming YouTubers and streamers at the time.
We can’t finish this section without at least mentioning the recent movie release which went down far better with critics than anyone could have expected.

Space Invaders
Moving onto a series that has kept a much lower profile over the years, Space Invaders back in the day was so iconic as a game that the little aliens remain a generic gaming image recognised worldwide. It spawned imitators such as the also-popular Galaxian and has crossed over into all different kinds of entertainment.
They’ve made multiple TV and movie appearances and if you look over at a site like VegasSlotsOnline you’ll find that they have also made the jump there in the form of Invaders Megaways. While the latter is more inspired by the original than a direct reference, the fact that it has found its way to all corners of gaming speaks to the cultural impact. Online casinos are well-known for adapting existing material to create fun and engaging remixes of familiar favourites, accompanied by bonuses and jackpot prizes.
As for the actual series itself, there hasn’t really been the same level of innovation as we saw with Tetris. The most recent entries are just iOS and Android mobile versions but the core game has been left unchanged. The game formula may be a little limiting for developers.

Asteroids
At the far end of the scale we find Asteroids, hailed as one of the greatest all-time classics of gaming but seemingly lost to the abyss of anonymous releases and a neglected licence. The most recent effort to bring it back to public attention was the Asteroids: Recharged release of 2021, although being lumped into the Recharged series with relatively unknown games like Centipede and Black Widow goes a long way to show what has happened to the game.

The harsh reality is that while other games have had the chance to adapt and reimagine their gameplay, Asteroids was seen as too simple as a concept to find anything new in. It was also beaten to the punch of any possible innovation by other games that did it all way better. No one is realistically going to choose it over something like the fast-paced, high-energy Geometry Wars which is now a classic title in itself.
Asteroids: Recharged went virtually unnoticed as a title even at a budget price for a new game and it’s hard to see any epic comeback on the cards given the wealth of options the modern gamer now has.

Aside from these three above there are plenty more classic games still thriving although many more have now dropped into the history books. As a final thought about what can make a game series last the test of time, consider that the oldest, still-running video game franchise in the world is the humble, historical journey of The Oregon Trail. It’s a living history lesson.