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Best Activision games

Activision stands as one of the most important companies in video game history, pioneering the concept of third-party game development and establishing many of the business practices that define the modern gaming industry. Founded on October 1, 1979, by four ex-Atari programmers—David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead—along with entertainment executive Jim Levy, the company emerged from frustration with Atari's treatment of developers and their refusal to credit programmers for their work.

Activision became the world's first third-party software developer, revolutionizing the industry by proving that independent developers could create games for existing hardware platforms. David Crane emerged as Activision's star developer, creating several of the company's most iconic early titles. His masterpiece Pitfall! (1982) became one of the Atari 2600's best-selling games, featuring innovative gameplay mechanics and smooth character animation that pushed the console's technical limits. Crane followed this success with The Activision Decathlon (1983), developed with the impetus that the Olympics would be returning to the United States in 1984, showcasing his ability to create engaging sports simulations.

Perhaps Crane's most technically impressive achievement was Ghostbusters (1984) for the Commodore 64. Despite its rushed development, Ghostbusters turned out to be a very playable and surprisingly sophisticated game, featuring an RPG-like in-game economy and a thread of story that linked all ghost-busting missions together. The game's success demonstrated Activision's ability to capitalize on popular culture while maintaining high production values.

Crane also created the groundbreaking Little Computer People (1985), an early artificial life simulation that anticipated virtual pet games by decades. This innovative title featured a tiny person living inside the computer who would interact with players in real-time, representing one of the first attempts at creating believable AI companions in gaming.

As a publisher throughout the 1990s, Activision distributed numerous acclaimed titles from external developers. The company published the MechWarrior series, bringing BattleTech's mech combat simulation to home computers with unprecedented depth and realism. Activision also published Quake II (1997), id Software's acclaimed first-person shooter sequel, demonstrating their commitment to cutting-edge action games. Additionally, they handled the computer versions of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, bringing Sega's beloved arcade platformer to home computer audiences.

Other notable published titles included strategic simulations, innovative puzzle games, and early multimedia experiments that helped establish PC gaming as a viable entertainment medium. Activision's publishing strategy focused on identifying promising developers and providing them with the resources and marketing support needed to reach broader audiences.

Activision's influence on the gaming industry extends far beyond individual titles. The company established the template for modern game development, proving that talented individuals could create successful entertainment products outside traditional corporate structures while maintaining high standards of quality and innovation.

Quake II windows

Quake II doesn't need any introduction. The first-person shooter created by id Software was released in December 1997. The legendary John Carmack worked personally on coding this gem, that was not planned to be a sequel to Quake.

Year: 1997 Genre: Shooter

3d first-person fps multiplayer science fiction shooter texture map

Deuteros: The Next Millennium amiga

Deuteros: The Next Millennium is a sci-fi strategy/exploration game designed by Ian Bird, the sequel to Millennium: Return to Earth. The game was published by Activision for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1991.

Year: 1991 Genre: Strategy

post-apocalyptic science fiction space exploration space management strategy

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure windowsgenesissnes

Pitfall: the Mayan Adventure is a side-scrolling action platformer. It's the forth game in the Pitfall series. It was developed by Activision in partnership with Redline games and published by Activision in 1994.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

2d genesis original game hand-drawn animations jungle platformer puzzle platformer side-scrolling

The Activision Decathlon commodore-64atari-5200

The Activision Decathlon, or simply Decathlon, is a sports simulation created by David Crane initially for the Atari 2600 and published in 1983. It was then ported to MSX, Colecovision, Atari 5200, and Commodore 64.

Year: 1984 Genre: Sports

atari 2600 original mixed sports olympiad sports

MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat dos

MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat is a 3D vehicle combat sim game created by Activision and released in 1995 for MS-DOS. It was ported later to Windows and Mac, in addition to the console versions released in 1997.

Year: 1995 Genre: Simulation

3d 3d acceleration battlemech mecha science fiction simulation vehicular combat simulator war

Hexen II: Mission Pack - Portal of Praevus windows

Hexen II Mission Pack: Portal of Praevus is an expansion pack of Hexen II developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998 for Windows. Raven Software, the American ...

Year: 1998 Genre: Shooter

3d dark fantasy first-person fps medieval mission quake engine shooter

MechWarrior dos

MechWarrior is a vehicle simulation game developed by Dynamix and published by Activision. The title was created in 1989 for DOS but was later ported to Sharp X68000 in 1992 and PC-98 home in 1993.

Year: 1989 Genre: Simulation

battlemech mecha science fiction simulation vehicular combat simulator

Little Computer People commodore-64amiga

Little Computer People is an incredibly advanced life simulation game created in 1985 by David Crane. It was released by Activision for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, and Apple II.

Year: 1985 Genre: Simulation

c64 original game cards commodore 64 real-time simulation virtual life

Pitfall! commodore-64atari-2600atari-5200

Pitfall!, also known as Pitfall Harry's Jungle Adventure, is a legendary platformer designed and programmed by David Crane. It was released in 1982 for the Atari 2600. In this ga...

Year: 1983 Genre: Platformer

atari 2600 original flip-screen platformer puzzle platformer

Ghostbusters commodore-64

Ghostbusters by Activision is a video game based on the 1984 Ghostbusters movie. It was released the same year of the film on several home computers, including Commodore 64, Apple II, and MSX.

Year: 1984 Genre: Arcade

arcade licensed movies multi-type supernatural

Wonder Boy in Monster Land amiga

Wonder Boy in Monster Land is the second game in the famous series of 2d platformers created by SEGA. Released originaly as an arcade in 1986, the game was ported to Master System ...

Year: 1989 Genre: Platformer

2d basher coin-op conversion fantasy hack and slash platform-adventure platformer rpg elements

Hunter amiga

Hunter is a 3D action-adventure created by Paul Holmes and published by Activision in 1991 for the Amiga and Atari ST. It is considered the first successful example of a "sandbox" video game based on free-roaming in a 3d environment.

Year: 1991 Genre: Action

3d action-adventure amiga original game helicopter naval sandbox tank virtual world

Rampage amiga

Rampage is a popular arcade created by Bally Midway in 1986. It was ported to Commodore 64, Atari ST, and Atari 8-bit in 1987. Later it was also released for Amiga, NES, Apple II, ...

Year: 1989 Genre: Brawler

2 players arcade brawler clear-screen arcade coin-op conversion flip-screen multiplayer

Return to Zork dos

Return to Zork is a graphic adventure designed by Doug Barnett for Activision and released in 1993 for MS-DOS and Macintosh. The game is one of the official sequels to the famous...

Year: 1993 Genre: Adventure

adventure first-person graphic adventure live actors