From pixelated screens to sprawling open worlds, video games have never stopped reinventing themselves. Each generation introduces a new way to play; sometimes through graphics, sometimes through storytelling, and sometimes with an idea so simple it feels timeless. These titles didn’t just entertain millions; they reshaped what games could be. Whether they brought families together around a console, filled arcades with cheers, or turned solitary players into digital architects, their influence is still felt every time someone picks up a controller. These are the milestones… The moments where imagination met innovation, and the world pressed “Start.”
#1: Super Mario Bros. (1985)
You can almost hear the click of that first controller. A plumber in overalls runs toward a scrolling horizon, jumping on creatures that look friendlier than they should. What Nintendo built here wasn’t just a game; it was muscle memory for a generation. The physics were perfect, the challenge gentle but insistent, and the music impossible to forget. And it became a popular icon forever. It even has its own world, a theme park, at Universal Studios Tokyo.
Every time Mario leaps, there’s a flicker of optimism. Forty years later, that sound of a coin still feels like happiness.