Before the late 90's it WAS about games being optimized. The earlier, the more optimization was required. An example I like to use is Elite on the BBC Micro co

Before the late 90's it WAS about games being optimized. The earlier, the more optimization was required. An example I like to use is Elite on the BBC Micro computer. They fit 8 galaxies of 250 stars each with a planet with its own economy, and a space station, along with real-time 3D wire-frame space flight with hidden line removal in less than 32KB of RAM on a 2 MHz 8-bit 6502-based system. It was incredible for its time. For me, it was more incredible than DOOM when it came out. I found Quake a lot more impressive than DOOM. The second version written for the IBM PC was coded by hand in assembly language by the same programmer who coded Rollercoaster Tycoon, mentioned by the OP above. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)