1985 in video gaming

1985
1985 in games

Notable events of 1985 in video gaming. See also history of computer and video games.

[edit] Events

Sky Kid is the first game from Namco to allow 2 players to play simultaneously.

Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985. Before the year was out Super Mario Bros. became the highest selling game of that year, selling 10 millon copies then eventually selling 100 millon copies making it one of the highest selling games of all time.
Namco releases Dig Dug II, Metro-Cross, Baraduke, Motos and Sky Kid.
Alexey Pajitnov creates the Tetris video game in the USSR. Nintendo released its most popular versions (for the NES and Game Boy) in 1989.
Atari Games releases Gauntlet (by Ed Logg), the first dungeon crawl arcade game.
Ghosts 'n Goblins by Tokuro Fujiwara (Capcom, arcade), one of the most popular arcade games of the year, spawned a series of later games
Adventure Construction Set by Stuart Smith and Racing Destruction Set by Rick Koenig are both released by Electronic Arts and become hits, following on the success of 1982's Pinball Construction Set by Bill Budge.
Elite Systems UK releases Roller Coaster, a platformer in the mould of the previous year's best seller, Jet Set Willy. Roller Coaster was the first game to ever simulate fairgound rides.
Bubble Bus software release the popular arcade adventure Starquake for several 8-bit computers. In later years, it is ported to 16-bit platforms.
Pete Cooke's ambitious, sprawling science-fiction game Tau Ceti is published in the United Kingdom.
The Learning Company releases the first commercial version of The Oregon Trail on the Apple II.

Atari releases the 520ST personal computer
Commodore releases the Amiga personal computer
INTV Corp. releases the INTV III home console
Telegames releases the Dina home console, a Colecovision clone
Nintendo does a limited test release of the NES video game console in the United States and the Robotic Operating Buddy (ROB) robot and video game for the NES home console
Sega's SG-1000 Mark III released in Japan

New companies: Titus Interactive, Code Masters, Westwood Studios, Inc., Square Co., Ltd.
Edu-Ware closes; David Mullich and several other laid-off employees form Electric Transit, which becomes the first company to join Electronic Art's new affiliated publisher program.
Defunct companies: RDI Systems