Vince Guaraldi was the brilliant composer and pianist behind the Peanuts cartoons.
It was quite controversial to use modern jazz in a kid's cartoon, networks hated it, but introduced many kids to jazz.
He was only 46 when he died in 1976, but left such a legacy!
If there was ever a game that was ahead of its time and deserves a modern remake, it’s Robinson’s Requiem from 1994 by Silmarils (RIP). Did you come across this one back in the day?
I remember first playing it and having no clue what to do. Literally zero. But that was part of the fun: you just walked around, picked up stuff, tried not to die, encountered a weird dude, punched him in the face, and kept wandering aimlessly.
That was fine - it really felt like a total survival game, and I loved it despite being terrible at it. However, the game is painfully slow, with little happening at first while you wander around lost.
Decent graphics (for its time), good sound effects, and a total mystery of a story. The world felt huge but also empty. This would be a great candidate for a remake or indie project: just pure survival and “collect and build” stuff à la MacGyver.
I can't think of many games that had better 80s vibes than California Games (Epyx, 1987). The score card "cutscene" at the 0:54 mark in the video was simply one of the many little brilliant details. The seagull getting hit with the hacky sack is another one :)
Disciplines were half-pipe, footbag, surfing, roller skating, BMX, and flying disc - quite the mix and of course very different from other sports games, making California Game pretty unqiue in that sense.
Getting bonus points for hitting the seagull with the hacky sack, faceplanting over a crack in the sidewalk along the beach, or unsuccessfully diving for an overthrown frisbee; California Games was felt like a game that was made by dudes why had fun making it. Your typical game by gamers for gamers.
It became Epyx's best-selling title, reaching half a million copies sold by 1989. I remember it being a popular choice when my friends and I played (others being M.U.L.E. and Decathlon). I'm pretty sure that anyone who ever had a C64 also played California Games at some point. As brilliant as it was, its sequel was abysmal (if you have never played it, please never do).
There’s something beautiful about a Boeing 777-300ER being deiced in the snow. The massive aircraft, the falling snow and the glow of the deicing equipment create an incredible scene before departure. ❄️