13 Masterpieces That Changed Gaming History: What Truly Defines a "Masterpiece" in Gaming History? Tracing Over 40 Years of Lasting Influence

Deciding what constitutes a "masterpiece" in gaming is not easy.

Is it the number of copies sold, the review scores, the level of recognition, or perhaps the fact that people continue to play it decades after its release?

However, there is another important measure.

That is the influence of "how much it changed subsequent games."

The best-selling game at the time of release does not necessarily leave the most significant impact. Conversely, a game that seems very simple by today's standards might have set the norms for future game design.

Looking at the works Polygon highlighted under the theme of "the most influential games in history," this becomes clear.

Titles like 'Pac-Man,' 'Rogue,' 'Zork,' 'Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord,' 'Tetris,' 'Super Mario Bros.,' 'The Legend of Zelda,' 'SimCity,' 'Street Fighter II,' and 'Doom' are indispensable when discussing the history of games.

Interestingly, these games were not chosen simply because they are "old masterpieces."

Each of them created something that is now taken for granted.

Pac-Man: The Game Character that Became a Cultural Icon

The achievement of 'Pac-Man,' which debuted in 1980, was not just its high level of completion as a maze game.

Until then, it was not uncommon for game protagonists to be fighter jets, spaceships, or abstract shapes. However, Pac-Man was established as a character recognizable at a glance.

The round yellow body, wide-open mouth, and the chase with ghosts.

Even people who have never played the game know its appearance.

This phenomenon of "characters living outside the game" later connected to Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, and others.

Games can expand beyond mere programs to encompass culture, merchandise, music, and video centered around characters.

Pac-Man was an entity that demonstrated this potential to the world at a very early stage.

In terms of influence, it anticipated a future where "stars are born from games," more than just popularizing maze games.

Rogue: The Ancestor of Modern "Roguelikes"

Nowadays, the terms "roguelike" and "roguelite" are frequently seen.

Each playthrough changes the map and item configurations, and failure results in significant loss, yet players are compelled to start over.

From indie games to major titles, it's not uncommon for games to adopt this system.

At the source of this is the 1980 game 'Rogue.'

Its features go beyond simply conquering dungeons.

It's about the one-time challenge, the ever-changing world, the decisions on how to use limited resources, and the tension of "it's over if you die."

In typical games, failure is something to be avoided as much as possible.

However, after Rogue, the idea emerged that failure itself could be a learning experience for the next challenge.

This was a significant invention.

Players develop the ability to "respond to situations" rather than "memorize the correct answer."

This is one reason why modern roguelite games are highly addictive. Because each playthrough is slightly different, the desire for "just one more try" is sustained.

Even 40 years later, this design philosophy remains extremely modern.

Zork: Creating Worlds Without Graphics

Today's games can display visuals so beautiful they could be mistaken for movies.

On the other hand, 'Zork' is a work that teaches us that the essence of games is not just in the visuals.

Zork is a text-based adventure game.

Players read text, input commands, and use their imagination to complete the world.

What was important was the sense that players were not just "choosing from prepared options," but trying to interact with the world in their own words.

From today's perspective, it might seem primitive.

However, the structure of "exploring the world, examining objects, interacting with characters and environments to solve mysteries" was passed down to subsequent adventure games.

Even as graphics have advanced, it is curiosity—"What might be here?" "What happens if I use this?"—that drives exploration games.

What Zork left behind was not screen displays, but "design that lets players imagine the world."

Wizardry's Enormous Influence on Japanese RPGs

In Japan, when you hear the word RPG, many people might think of 'Dragon Quest' or 'Final Fantasy.'

However, one of the works that laid important foundations even before those was 'Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.'

Forming a party with multiple characters.

Choosing professions.

Entering dungeons, fighting enemies, growing stronger, and aiming for deeper levels.

These elements, now so natural, were systematically established early on by Wizardry.

Its influence on Japanese RPG culture is undeniable.

The enjoyment of strategizing with companions of different roles, rather than a "solo hero's adventure," remains central to RPGs today.

How to combine attack roles, healing roles, magic roles, etc.

This aspect of team building is also relevant to card games, online RPGs, and smartphone RPGs.

The appearance of games has changed significantly.

However, the framework remains surprisingly unchanged.

Tetris: Making Games for Everyone

Few games are as easy to explain as 'Tetris.'

Arrange the falling blocks from above and clear them by forming a horizontal line.

That's basically it.

However, this simplicity was its greatest strength.

There's no need to understand complex stories, memorize gaming terms, or set aside long periods of time.

You can play in a few minutes.

And once you understand it, the desire to stack better arises.

It was particularly well-suited to handheld gaming devices.

Games moved away from the notion of being played for long hours in front of a home TV, becoming something enjoyable even during commutes or waiting times.

The current emphasis on smartphone games being "understandable in a short time and satisfying even in short bursts" is, in a broad sense, an extension of the direction Tetris indicated.

More importantly, it reached people who usually don't play games.

It became a plaything accessible to anyone, not just a "gamer's entertainment."

This idea was crucial in the expansion of the game market.

Super Mario Bros. and the World That Makes You Want to Move Forward

When discussing the influence of 'Super Mario Bros.,' focusing solely on the technology of side-scrolling misses the essence.

What was important was the feeling that "something unseen" existed beyond the screen.

Players move to the right.

New enemies, new terrains, and new mechanisms appear.

Entering a pipe might take you to another place. Hitting a block might reveal something. There might be secrets in high places.

This design, where "moving forward itself becomes a reward," was incredibly powerful.

It's not just about increasing scores.

Players are traveling through a world.

While this sense is now standard in action games, one of the works that established it globally was Super Mario Bros.

Mario teaches players how to play through the stages themselves without displaying a lot of instructions.

This is why the original Super Mario Bros. is still treated like a textbook when discussing excellent level design.

The Legend of Zelda: Offering the Freedom to Explore

On the other hand, 'The Legend of Zelda' aimed for something different from a linear adventure.

Walking through a vast world at your own will.

Investigating suspicious places.

Acquiring new tools allows you to progress to places you couldn't reach before.

Finding your own objectives without detailed instructions from the game.

This philosophy is also relevant to today's open-world games and exploration-based actions.

What moves players is not just the moment they find a powerful item in a treasure chest.

It's the moment they feel "I discovered it myself."

Not because someone ordered it, but because their curiosity led them to discover a cave.

They solved a mystery as a result of trying it themselves.

This sense of discovery is likely the charm that the Zelda series has refined over the years.

This philosophy underlies the current trend of valuing "player's own discoveries" in game design.

SimCity: From "Winning Games" to "Creating Games"

Games traditionally had enemies, and defeating them meant victory.

For a long time, this was a very straightforward structure.

But 'SimCity' was different.

What players do is build a city.

Placing residential areas, balancing them with commercial and industrial zones, addressing traffic issues, and growing the city.

There is no clear final boss.

There is no single correct answer.

Players create their own goals.

Some want to build a metropolis, others want to create a beautiful city, and some aim for perfect traffic management.

This type of game, where players "create their own stories using the system," has become a huge genre since then.

It's not just about city building.

There are many works that entrust the purpose to the player, including management simulations, life simulations, farm games, and sandbox games.

Games are not just about solving problems prepared by the creator.

Players can also create the problems themselves.

SimCity broadly demonstrated this potential.

Street Fighter II and the Culture of Watching Competitions

When 'Street Fighter II' appeared, the atmosphere in arcades changed.

It was not just about defeating the computer; it was about human-to-human combat.

Moreover, each character had different abilities and techniques, changing tactics even within the same rules.

This led to the emergence of competition over "who is the strongest."

Learning techniques.

Studying spacing.

Reading the opponent's habits.

Crowds would gather around strong players, and watching the battles became entertainment in itself.

This scene is also connected to today's eSports culture.

Particularly interesting is that players discovered advanced fighting techniques that the developers had not initially anticipated.

The player community evolved the way games were played.

This is an extremely important concept in modern competitive games.

Updates, balance adjustments, strategy videos, frame research,