#30: Stunt Car Racer (MicroStyle, C64, 1989)

On the Commodore 64, its austere graphics – one colour for the sky, one for everything else, 3D view marked out in black and white lines – further take away distracting questions of practicality, leaving you to concentrate on the racing experience, simple but with well-built depths.

Your turbo is limited and worth conserving for when it counts most. You face only one opponent a race, but there are points on offer for fastest lap as well as victory, meaning an incentive to carry on going even if you get hopelessly behind. It’s not always best to go flat out, though, because the car accumulates damage which lasts across races, represented by an ominous crack in the bodywork which snakes along further with each wince-inducing hit. It’s difficult, but fair.