Considering how many buttons are on the average controller of today’s video games, it easy to forget how simplistic some of the earlier controls actually were. Take a fun little flying game like Looping, released in 1982. Forget things like pitch, flaps and even steering – here you had two possible navigational moves, up and down, via a two-way joystick, plus a pair of buttons, one for acceleration and the other for firing. As a result, successfully executed loops were the only way to avoid the numerous buildings, walls, pipes and other aircraft that got in your way.

You started by taking off, then navigating a cityscape, where a herd of hot air balloons made things more interesting. By making it past them and firing a (hopefully) well-aimed missile, you unlocked the next level. Here, a maze of pipes awaited, leaving only narrow spaces to safely travel through. If you managed to remain airborne, you eventually came to a room with a door marked “The End.” Getting through that door was a little daunting, however, as a number of colorful bouncing balls blocked your path to the promised land. Shoot them all away, make it through the door, and a more difficult course waited for you, filled with more obstacles this time around, and putting more pressure on your piloting skills. Mastery of that other button, the acceleration control, allowed for tighter loops and increased your chances of success substantially.

This wasn’t exactly a Microsoft flight simulator, but Looping was no walk in the park either, despite its seemingly primitive controls. And eager fans provided a steady stream of quarters as they earned their wings. Of course, if that on-the-job training proved a little too costly, the new ColecoVision home consoles also included a version of the game, so you could take to the skies for countless hours, without ever leaving that comfy couch in the process.