Patient Gamers

Blaster Master

Starflight came out in 1986, and if you liked Mass Effect, you should give it a try. IMO it has a deeper and more interesting implementation of the space/planet exploration mechanics, not to mention a solid story to tie it all together.

The UI looks dated, of course, but it's straightforward enough to use. It influenced the Star Control games, another series that holds up (but just barely misses the 1990 cutoff).

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (1987)

A good place to look for good pre 90s games is the arcade cabinet games. There's a bunch of shumps that are really good and I think smash TV is pre 1990 and is great.

Controversial take, perhaps, but I don't think there are any games from the 1980s (or earlier) that I think hold up. Wasteland form 1988 is impressive but ugly (and a remaster exists that is better) and other than that, uh...

TLoZ is so utterly hideous that it repulses me. The NES colour palette is just so tremendously ugly.

Tetris is fine, I guess, but I've always found it a bit plain. Much like picking up individual grains of rice with chopsticks it requires skill but as with that it's only your own time you're wasting - unless you enjoy it, which I don't. Or to put it another way - I don't find the core gameplay loop rewarding.

There's plenty of cool stuff from the early '90s but the 1980s are pretty much a case of "it was good when we had nothing better" territory, in my opinion.

Here's an unusual one: Midi Maze for the Atari ST

Zork (1980), and Nethack (1987) are fun adventures.

• Sid Meier's Pirates!
• Centipede
• OutRun
• Spy Hunter

I really love Samurai Warrior: The Battles of Usagi Yojimbo on the C64

Or, let's say, I like the idea of playing Usagi Yojimbo. Because that game is frickin' hard. I could usually defeat the first few ninjas but I never got close to the end of the game.

It has a nice honour system. You can't just run around with your sword drawn. You have to be polite and bow to other people. Killing innocents reduces your honour. And when it's depleted you kill yourself.

I was really amazed when the character Usagi Yojimbo appeared in an episode of the Ninja Turtles. In my mind he only existed in that game. A modern version could be nice.

• Hero’s Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero
• Quest for Glory II
• Duke Nukem
• Adventure\
• Sim City\
• Lode Runner\
• The Oregon Trail\
• Boulder Dash\
• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?\

M.U.L.E. (1983) still holds up, though I'd appreciate some QOL improvements. It's a multiplayer game where you develop your production and then sell your commodities at auction to the other players (or what the bank will pay as minimum). The theme song is a banger.

Sid Meyer's Covert Action is a fun espionage game. Break-ins, wiretapping, following clues, etc. Released in 1990, so on the line.

Really hot take here: Super Mario Bros (you didn't mention it in your list).

For a game from the '80s on the limited hardware available at the time, they really put a lot of work into the mechanics of the platforming. It's an incredibly responsive game compared to its contemporaries.

Xexyz, on the NES, is an underrated gem. It's a mix of platformer and shoot-em-up, and honestly seemed a bit ahead of its time.

BBC - Radio 4 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy https://share.google/rvSbuN9n4gnVMKY2c

Faxanadu

Metal Gear (1987)

Mega Man 2

Super Mario Bros. 3

Snatcher (1988). Cyberpunk text-heavy adventure by Hideo Kojima. The MSX version was fan-translated and the Mega CD/Sega CD version received an official English localization a few years after the PC88 and MSX versions came out.

Hmm. I think that it's hard to find games that really stand up on their own, and haven't had been outclassed in the intervening 35 years. I can think of a lot of games that I enjoyed then, but that's when they were competing against 1980s games and technology. Honestly, you got some of the ones that I'd have suggested, like Tetris and Pac-Man, and even there...I mean, original Tetris is perfectly playable, but I'd probably recommend Tetris Effect: Connected to a new player. Might as well have the extra glitz.

considers

Shmups have generally gotten more fast-moving and bullet-hell oriented. If you prefer slower shmups, you might enjoy playing 1942 or 1943: The Battle of Midway.

I agree with @emb@lemmy.world that Super Mario Brothers 3 for the NES is pretty decent, though I've never played fully through the game. Side-view platformers really did have their heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s, and that was a strong game.

kagis

These guys show marketshare of video game genres by year; platformers were really big in the 1980s:

https://savvystatistics.com/video-game-genres-by-year-1980-2016/

The arcade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989) is probably fun if you can get some friends together. Probably need to emulate it with MAME or similar. I don't think that the beat-em-up genre has changed all that much or seen many entrants since.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jLO1upcd8w

The Simpsons would be a stronger arcade beat-em-up recommend, but that's 1991, a bit out of your timeframe.

Arcades really peaked in the 1980s, before home console systems and computers started cutting into them. There were some things that arcade games were better at than computers and consoles, like having custom-to-a-game input hardware. If you are willing to get ahold of some arcade-style hardware, like an arcade-style joystick (US-style Happ, or Japanese-style Sanwa), you could play some games that were designed around having a full-size arcade joystick.

There are trackball and spinner games as well.

I think that light gun games are out, unless you're willing to obtain a CRT. Maybe someone's made something that can deal with LCD/LED displays.

kagis

Apparently so: https://sindenlightgun.com/

There were a number from the 1980s:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_light-gun_games

Dragon Quest 3 (and the two previous games) are great on NES. DQ2 is one of the hardest RPGs, though, as the developers admitted they never play tested the final dungeon. First turn AOE insta deaths, mini bosses that respawn, etc. there's a reason they're remaking them, though.

Those were inspired by Ultima and Wizardry, though, if you want even older RPGs. Actually, most SSI AD&D games were fantastic, too, and you can access them legally via steam now if you don't want to futz with DOS, although my favorite Eye of the Beholder games are slightly newer at 1991.

The Revenge of Shinobi (Sega Genesis)

• Atari Paperboy (there were various ports but the arcade version is the best one IMO). It's fun, unique with no real successor (more are like Frogger).
• Ghosts n Goblins, the 1985 original (there are modern instalments but I think the original is just as fun, just hard af for a filthy casual like me).

Bubble Bobble

Leisure Suit Larry 1-4

Secret of Monkey Island (released in 1990 actually, but close enough)

Barbarian (1987)

Batman (1989)

Space Quest and King's Quest, at least some of each series but I don't remember which ones.

Just a few I remember from my old Amiga.

Mother/"EarthBound Beginnings" definitively has the late 80s/early 90s RPG smell with its grindiness and rocky difficulty curve, but is still pretty damn good if that's not a dealbreaker. The official translation came out in 2014, but is reasonably accurate.

Gradius and especially Gradius 2 are classic shmups for a reason, but the much bigger hitboxes take some real adjusting if you're used to modern bullet hell ones.

Here are some greatly-known ones, primarily in arcades:

• Galaga. The ultimate refinement of early shmup design - before this there was Gorf, Galaxian and Space Invaders, all of which had good ideas but less happening for long term play. After this the genre took a turn towards scrolling games where more production values could be thrown at you. You can play Galplus or the other direct sequels, but it's more like different takes than improvement.
• Robotron 2084. Same thing as Galaga but for twin stick games which had a bit of ancestry in "characters moving and shooting" games like Berserk before Robotron, but didn't have it put together into the recognizable twin-stick scenario. The entire genre tries to glue more stuff onto the Robotron template, but it already has what is essential.
• Lode Runner, Boulder Dash. These are pioneers in "action puzzles on a grid with characters and level design", a genre of puzzle game which is hard to imagine not having now, and is essentially timeless. These two were directly preceded by "Space Panic" and "The Pit" in arcades, respectively, but it was on the home computers that these games found their refined and playable form.
• Sokoban. Sokoban, like Lode Runner and Boulder Dash, is a character puzzle on a grid, but with no arcade elements. Also timeless, though newer takes on Sokoban all add undo and other conveniences. Also worth mentioning with Sokoban is Pitman, which is like a turn-based Lode Runner. It had a nice visual update on Gameboy as "Catrap". (Early Gameboy releases are a reliable source of old games that people still craved a port of after 1989)
• Outrun. It's a simple arcade racer. Other games like Pole Position or Buggy Boy could substitute. But aesthetically speaking, the game is The One Everyone Remembers, definitely aged in its sprite graphics and FM sound but still a compelling vision of "driving into the sunset with your girlfriend", with no extra gimmicks like its 2000's sequel.
• Zork. A difficulty of exploring the adventure gaming genre is in how quickly it consolidated itself into genre tropes that emphasize niche forms of challenge. Zork, being one of the first entries in adventures, manages to keep it simple enough: there's a fantasy world to explore and puzzles and some random chance elements. The vocabulary is limited but doesn't strive to get in your way.
• Ultima 4. Roleplaying is probably the genre that is hardest to make recommendations for since it's gone through so many fashion trends. I pick this particular one as opposed to any other in the series because it hits a nice balance of conveying a unique roleplaying world and quest style(follow an ethical code to become an Avatar) versus being a simple and playable experience. Ultima never emphasized combat or grind although it has a little bit of that going on, which makes it unique among most 80's RPGs since the easiest way to pad out these games is to add punishing grinds and gotchas. Earlier Ultima entries are just simple(3 in particular still quite playable), later ones become more burdened by worldbuilding(5 is still worth trying if you want a challenging, sometimes confusing quest). The NES version, though not "authentic" to how the original Apple II game looks and feels, is probably the most accessible port of it. All the Ultima games rely on basic conventions of the genre during this period: write down all the dialogue for hints, make maps of each location. The puzzles are loosely structured and can be sequence broken by knowing what keywords to type or where to search.

And some lesser-known ones:

• Bill Williams' Alley Cat and Salmon Run. Two arcade games that engage with the lives of the titular animals. Relatively simple but creative and fun to play every time.
• Xagon. An arcade game for the Atari computers styled after the more popular arcade hit Q-Bert, this game uses hexagons instead of cubes and its sense of graphic design still works perfectly.
• The Return of Heracles. The approach to role playing in this game is really noteworthy since it figures things like a kind of board game - there is a lot of RNG, a lot of puzzle solutions that will get your character killed, forcing a new one to take their place - and you are expected to roll with it. When people say 80's games had teeth this is a good example of it. That might sound bad, but it's the same kind of tangible risk that made battle royale games blow up in the 2010's.
• Journey to the Planets. This is a game played because it is hyper abstract in the ways that only early 80's games were - the scale of objects, the vague representationality, the flashing colors and strange noises that only Ataris could do. The sense of raw experiment shines through this game, and while you'll probably become frustrated and give up very quickly, it's about the look and feel. Zelda came along and made things boring.
• Alternate Reality: The Dungeon. This was a high-minded, overambitious roleplaying project that got to its second game before giving up because of publisher issues. What's special about it? The depth of simulation, mainly. The first game, the City, had weather effects, diseases, alignment, reputation and seasons, but it was a kind of prelude to the Bethesda-style open world in that there were few explicit goals. The Dungeon added in a traditional questline chain, and explored the worldbuilding (a "kidnapped by aliens, forced to participate in a fantasy simulation" premise) in much more depth. If you are going to play one first person dungeon crawler from this period, this is the one I'd go with. It shows its age, but the atmosphere remains striking and unique. One of the first major encounters in the game is your doppleganger, who mirrors your own stats. You can get sick with the "Crystal Death" which makes you stronger but slower until you freeze. If your inventory is full, "The Devourer" will arrive to reclaim memory by consuming your items. The game has big ideas conveyed in a simple way, and the interface only has a few things that take effort to learn: you can get down to the business of grinding, mapmaking, hint collecting and puzzle solving pretty quickly.
• Project Firestart. This is one of those games that occasionally appears on lists of predecessors to modern survival horror. It's a very fully realized, cinematic take on how to do the genre, despite being stuck in side view and requiring disk swapping to move around the sci-fi, alien-infested ship. It was made for the wrong machine, TBH - it would have blown away a lot of people on Amiga or Genesis. The C64 graphics make it a little weaker aesthetically than it could have been. But I wouldn't call it obtuse or unplayable at all.

Dungeon keeper, emperor: rise of the middle kingdom, Rome, theme hospital, zeus/atlantis, pharaoh/cleopatra why yes, i am big on world builders.

nethack, super startrek (basic), space quest, infocom games, ultima,

one of my favorite games of all time is called Rags To Riches on commodore64. you play a homeless guy getting your life together getting a job and education with very addictive gameplay in my opinion.

there is a pico8 remake you can play oline but the og is better. https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=29519