We live in a world that is immersed in digital technology. Wherever we travel, we will be presented with a wave of people glued to their mobile devices.
Nowadays there are a lot of casino games available at your fingertips, online, in any device. You can find entertaining crypto roulette games and slot machines without any hassle.
However, before the dawn of the internet and the immense technological developments, many casino game players would take to retro games that would replicate the feel and stature of a game based on chance.
We’ll examine the top 5 retro casino games today and determine how they shape up compared to the more modern titles that dominate today’s casino gaming landscape.
#1 – Vegas Stakes
Our first feature is a game that is nearly 30 years old. Vegas Stakes emerged as a contender for the multi-million dollar casino iGaming industry we see today. The beauty of this game was that it was cutting-edge for its time and featured more than one game.
Whether you wanted to play poker, slots or blackjack, you could do so via the initial release of the game on the GameBoy in 1995 or the Nintendo 2 years earlier.
#2 – Casino Kid
Sticking to the Nintendo theme, this retro classic hit the shelves in 1989. The game’s storyline is based in the Nevada desert in Las Vegas. The game’s purpose is to defeat the evil casino boss in an array of casino titles such as roulette, slots and blackjack. Whilst this concept may seem slightly dated now, in 1989, it was extremely innovative and still ranks as one of the top retro casino game titles.
#3 – Hollywood Poker
Hollywood Poker is a title that inspired the highly popular creation of the video poker games that we still see today. Although some of the game’s concepts are extremely dated, that’s the whole point of a retro game. It is a title that is part of an old era in which game developers have evolved exponentially. Poker has always maintained popularity, and the retro classic that resulted in an explosion of titles directly influenced by this Atari ST title was evident.
#4 – The Wild Bunch
Combining casino games and popular themes seem commonplace these days. You don’t have to look far to find a casino game based heavily on a horror movie, crime theme, or a famous TV character. But when The Wild Bunch first gained popularity on the Nintendo 64 and other platforms such as Amstrad and the Spectrum, it wasn’t an area of gambling that developers explored well. It also wasn’t a familiar genre to gamers either.
Swilling beer, taking part in gun fights and playing short-hand poker might seem something you can easily do on several online games today. However, four decades ago, it was considered a cutting-edge game and rightly squeezed into our top 5 best retro casino games.
#5 – Super Mario 2
Undoubtedly the biggest name on our list, taking the top spot is a game where plenty of us harbor nostalgia. The iconic gaming series is one of the most successful franchises ever created. Super Mario 2 wasn’t a casino game by any stretch of the imagination.
However, many features replicated plenty of the retro casino games we have discussed today. The engaging and accessible platform these legendary games provided allowed some factors that drove the gameplay to take front and centre.
For instance, successfully navigating a slot machine as you progress through the levels and then having to match a trio of these machines so you can progress onto the next level is something that many gamers will remember fondly from these times. Although many more retro games were casino focused, it doesn’t get much bigger or more retro than Super Mario 2.
