Eating in Edinburgh

5 of the Best Retro Games

With the onset of futuristic inventions like the Wii and the ridiculous power of machines such as Playstation 3 - the true essence of quality gaming can get lost in all those pixels and online battles. Whatever happened to good old colourful shapes and silly plots? Well, nothing, is the answer. They're here to stay.

Space Invaders

Not only are these awesomely cheap crisps – Space Invaders also happened to be one of the most iconic games ever played. And it's still battled out on over-sized arcade machines today. See, the thing about the human brain, contrary to popular scientific belief, is that it's very simple. It would much rather spend its day looking at basic, 2D moving shapes than trying to converse with people or pay bills. And so, this beautifully simple game of 5 rows of eleven 'aliens' and 100 levels of arcade actions makes it comfortably into our list. Sure – it could have been invented on a mobile phone, but boy is it addictive.

Final Fantasy VII

This game was released in 1997, which seems like a long time ago – but this epic bastard certainly beats some of its more modern contemporaries in terms of complexity and sheer emotional involvement. A bit of a leap from the days of Space Invaders, you can play 9 characters, which includes anything from a lion-like creature to a martial artist. The game has three modes, field maps, an overworld map and a battle screen. The 3D model creates a fictional world which is used by the player to navigate between the game's locations. Added to this crazy faux-world is the hour long video scenes that players can enjoy...or not as the case may be. This truly is an epic.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

On the much loved Nintendo 64, this huge third person hit made the role playing game mainstream with its mammoth 40 hours of gameplay, puzzles, ocarina songs, swordplay and character transformations. Much like Final Fantasy – this is a complicated classic featuring a range of characters, locations and real-time night and day sequences. As with all good games – there is a ludicrous plot to contend with. No time to hang around when there's the small matter of the moon crashing into the planet after 72 hours. So...upgrade your sword, explore everything meticulously and stop the world from, you know, ending and that.

Super Mario Kart

This ancient go-kart racing game is still played amongst friends today in Uni halls and houses up and down the country, all over the world. With an ever-replenishing image for the brand with consoles such as Wii – this is a concept that will seemingly never die, or get old. Well it's certainly old – but that doesn't mean it's not achingly great. Be Luigi, Princess, Bowser and Toad, leave eggs, throw bananas...do whatever it takes to make your opponents spin out and lose coins. Just don't fall off those dreaded, inexplicable sides yourself. With Time Trial, Match Race and Battle mode, after saying you'll 'just have a few games'; before you know it you've unlocked some levels and beaten your friend Mark 17 times. But it's 5pm and you've not eaten breakfast yet. If you're still not convinced at the quality of this title – try arguing with Guinness. Indeed, their World Records book has it as the top console game ever.

Pacman

Again – proof that simplicity reigns. Pac Man is probably the most recognisable computer creations of all time. Testament to its success was the recent installation that Google ran on its homepage – causing the economy to all but crash as millions of bankers, secretaries and estate agents directed a little munching head around a grid as opposed to doing their actual jobs. Not only is it senselessly addictive and fun – it's how mums would want games to be...none of this violence, drugs influencing bile of the 21st Century. Then again, maybe this 80s top dog had more of a negative affect on us all than you'd think, if Marcus Brigstocke is to be believed. ”If Pac-Man had affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.“ Oh, erm, maybe Grand Theft Auto ain't so bad afterall.