The concept of minigames collection is older than you may actually think.
Like most C64 games, the story isn't exactly book material - you impersonate Lazy Jones, a guy who works for some kind of videogames company (I totally made that up). Since he's, well, lazy, he prefers to pass his time by running away from his coworkers and boss and playing with the creations of his company. - 99 Red Ballons - What you get in this game is, basically, a collection of 15 smaller games. Your character starts in a room that sort of works as a hub - there are three floors with six doors each, and each door takes you to a room with a game (aside from three). The game in the central room consists in avoiding the obstacles while trying to reach the next door. But the real game starts when you get to enter. Inside the doors there is a giant computer, that will display a different game, although generally an already known one - for example, games similar to BreakOut, Defender, and the such. Except for some others, which are really interesting and original, like The Turk. Almost all the games have a time limit, while others will end once you die. The controls are very responsive and simple, and make for a lot of fun. There is a lot of variety to the games, so you won't get easily tired. - Did someone say SID? -
The graphics aren't especially great, but bear in mind that this is a 1984 title. They do, however, bring in quite a lot of variety (since there are so many different games) and serve well their purpose. The palette goes too much on the black though. On the other end, the sound department really shines. I don't know if it could be considered a first, but this game contains what you may call a "continuous soundtrack". There is a main theme that plays in the hub, but when you enter a room, the theme changes subtly to one that belongs to the game, and then get back to the normal one once you exit. This means the game has potentially sixteen different musics, although some of them sound quite similar. And with the SID's power, all of the tunes are catchy and easy to remember. One of the musics was even licensed to become the famous Kerkraft 300, or Zombie Nation as many know it. The sound effects are well varied and also quite funny. - Anti-climatic for the win -
If the story is not much, you can bet that the ending won't be any different. In fact, there is no ending. If you complete all the rooms, you'll restart from the beginning, at a higher speed. Much in line with what Warioware offers, don't you think? Also, the game can be completed in a very short time, and if you're playing this on tape you won't be able to record your high scores - the high score is only valid for the big game, not for the smaller ones anyway. That said, it's a very good pass-time to pick up once in a while, just like today's party games. - In short - You should try this game. It will show you that some most recent ideas were actually brought up in long past times. It's lots of fun anyway, so there's no reason in not trying it. Or, if you want, do it to listen to the original source of Kernkraft 300. Choose whatever reason, but give the game a try.