Earliest Games With Auto-Save

[grandta13]

I was wondering what the earliest games to implement an auto-save feature were. Perhaps I just wasn't using the right terms, but I couldn't find any definite answers to this by searching. I think that the best criterion for an auto-save would be any save that is performed without the player being given a choice in the moment. No user-interaction should be required outside of normal gameplay. If you have to press a button in order for the game to save (such as a 'SAVE AND QUIT' screen), then the save is not automatic. Sorry if this is too verbose; I just wanted to make sure that we are all talking about the same thing when discussing auto-saves. If you think that there is an issue with this description, bring it up and I may revise it accordingly.

I would like to start this thread with a game called StarTropics for the NES, which uses auto-saves and was released in 1990.

[Key-Glyph]

That's an interesting question!

The first one that comes to mind for me is Kirby's Adventure for the NES, but that came out in 1993, several years after StarTropics.

Kirby's Adventure has that kind of format where different levels are represented by different doors in a "home" area. When you clear them, unlock them, or discover new ones, the game saves your progress. Everything will be as you left it the next time you play.

In 1994 was Sonic 3, which maintained the furthest level you'd gotten to (as well as your lives, continues, and chaos emeralds) in one of several auto-save slots.

[Sarge]

A lot of PC RPGs probably had autosaving enabled. I just checked something like Wasteland, and it had an autosave. So that's 1988.