In-depth histories of some of the most popular, influential video games of all time are laid out in this series. The oldest game of the pack is the arcade classic PAC-MAN, which was the first video game to allow players to control a character. The evolution of each game from its infancy to today wasn’t full of success. Some iterations of the games, like the 2009-2010 editions of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, were glitchy and unpopular, but all figured out ways to come back into the mainstream. The success of these franchises over time comes from their ability to adapt and bring fresh air to the series, like how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s open world exploration led to it becoming the best-selling Zelda game of all time. Time lines at the end of each book offer a quick visual history for each franchise. VERDICT Interesting and surprisingly thorough, these are all excellent additions to any library.