A long amount of time has passed since the origin of video games, and the medium has since progressed far beyond what any developer could’ve dreamed of. Back in the old-school days of video gaming, developers even had their own predictions for what the future held for humanity. Some were optimistic, while others showcased grim looks at what awaited humans.
Now that the 2020s have arrived, against all odds, it’d be wise to take a look back at what video games predicted the decade to look like. These eight games that are now considered “retro” (in this case, pre-2000 titles) tried to imagine their own vision of the 2020s, to varying degrees of accuracy. Nevertheless, they’re all still fun to play even if they didn’t pan out to be true.
8Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time
Originally released as an arcade game,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Timeis one of the more belovedvideo game adaptations of the popular cartoon franchise. The game’s plot centers around the reptilian foursome who are sent by Shredder through a time warp, forcing them to fight his army in the past, the present, and the future.
While some levels take the turtles to prehistoric Earth or a pirate ship at sea, one level takes the turtles into the then-future of 2020. The level “Neon Night-Riders” is one of the few surfing levels of the game, also forcing players to fight the iconicTMNTvillain Krang. The level resembles a techno futurescape, but hardly predicted 2020 events like the pandemic.
Doomis one of the most iconic and notorious video games in history, released in 1993 for DOS andlater seeing re-releases on most platforms. The game centers on a military base on Mars that is overrun with demons from hell, forcing players to violently mow them down. However, the timeline of the game has been subject to debate among fans and creators.
According to an instruction manual for the SNES iteration ofDoom, the game takes place in March 2022. However, this has been contested by game designer John Romero, who insists thatDoomtakes place outside of time. Nevertheless, given recent advancements towards colonizing Mars, the futureDoompredicts may not be much further than 2022.
6Perfect Dark
Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000,Perfect Darkwas developed by Rare as aspiritual successor to their hit gameGoldenEye 007. However, the original story centers on Joanna Dark, a secret agent operating in 2023 during an intergalactic alien war. Like the game’s depiction of the current year,Perfect Darkwas quite ahead of its time.
The game also received a GameBoy Color port, though this iteration differs by being set in 2022 instead. Funnily enough,Perfect Darkdidn’t receive a sequel untilPerfect Dark Zeroon the Xbox 360, though this game serves as a prequel to the original, taking place in 2020. However, most fans agree that the original is the superior game in the franchise.
5Captain Commando
This 1991 Capcom game was originally released on arcade machines before making its way to the SNES and PlayStation by the end of the ’90s. It centers on the titular character, a crime-fighting superhero operating in Metro City in 2026. In this crime-ridden world, Captain Commando is the only one who can save it from powerful Super Criminals.
Though the game is set 35 years after it was initially released, its image of the future wasn’t incredibly far from the truth. Though criminals in the 2020s aren’t super-powered and all over the place as the game suggests, many of the game’s levels are set in urban environments that are close to what people were familiar with back in 1991.
Metal Slugtakes after run-and-gun predecessors likeContraandGunforce, originally designed for arcade machines in 1996. It later saw ports to the Neo Geo AES, the original PlayStation, and the Sega Saturn, andsparked an entire franchise that continued into the late 2000s. Unlike similar games,Metal Slugwas deeply entrenched in sci-fi futurism.
The game’s story takes place in 2028, centering on a war where the titular tanks are sought for control. Players progress through levels as a soldier in command of one of these tanks, as they navigate battlegrounds in the near future. The world in the 2020s is obviously not as war-stricken asMetal Slugdepicts it, but it remains mostly faithful to how things are today.
3Verne World
This 1995 game never saw a release in western markets, only released for the Super Famicom. That’s quite surprising considering it takes inspiration from the works of French writer Jules Verne, the author ofJourney to the Center of the Earth. The game centers arounda theme park dedicated to Verne’s books, which players become trapped inside.
This is quite the odd video game, considering its outlandish premise. It’d be hard to argue for a Jules Verne-themed amusement park in today’s age, let alone the game’s canon year of 2028. However, its enemies mostly consisting of lifelike animatronics probably remain accurate as to how scary some advancements in technology can become these days.
2S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team
S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Teamreleased for the Famicom in 1990 before seeing ports on the NES the following year. Set in 2029, the game centers on the titular army of cyborg soldiers defending New York City from alien invaders.The sidescrolling shoot-em-up, or “shmup"finds players controlling these soldiers as they battle alien ships from up high.
While no alien invasions have plagued Earth yet in the 2020s, one aspect of the future the game does get right is its inclusivity. When beginning the game, players have the option to control either male or female soldiers. The inclusion of women into the S.C.A.T. army is something that would definitely fit right in with the social norms of the real 2020s.
1Shadow Of The Ninja
Also set in 2029,Shadow of the Ninjacenters on a pair of ninjas tasked with assassinating a cruel emperor who has taken over America. The game’s levels take place in a futuristic New York City, which in this alternate history has been run over in the emperor’s conquest. Players start in a harbor and progress through sewers and a factory in the city.
Originally released in 1990 for the Famicom and later ported to the NES,Shadow of the Ninjaoffers a grim look at the end of the 2020s,overwrought with worldwide war and violence. Hopefully, the next few years don’t turn out likeShadow of the Ninjasuggests they might, though it still makes for a fun game to play on Nintendo Switch Online.
