Do you recall hours of sitting in front of a monochrome CRT, tapping away at the keyboard of one of the first home computers to hit the market, enjoying the magic of very BASIC but highly enjoyable, early text-based computer games? If your memory (and gaming life) goes back that far, then AkeySoft Group’s recently-updated iPhone title, iBASIC [App Store], may be for you.
iBASIC is an app that delivers a collection of some of the most popular computer games from the late ’70s and early ’80s. Each game is launched from and run within a retro-looking 40-column text display with an onscreen keyboard for text input.
The titles presently included in the app:
- The Wonderful World of Eamon
- Life
- Hamurabi
- Text Adventure
- Tictac
- Lemonade Stand
- Star Track
The author indicates that a future update will likely bring in-game saves as well as handwriting recognition for text input in landscape mode. There’s also a free, lite version [App Store] featuring a subset of the paid release’s bundled titles.
Be warned: iBASIC gives an interesting look at (very) early gaming, but the paid version is definitely for the hardcore retro nut only.
App Store Link: iBASIC, $1.99, iBASIC Lite, Free
