This is a modern pedal but damn that is some 80's shit. Y'all know what game that's from, right?
I posted this earlier - another modern pedal that pays incredible homage to the 80's. The synthesizer stepped on all the guitarist's toes in the 80's. Neil Young made an electronic music record! Remember? Basically metal, post-punk, and glam/hair bands had to carry the guitar torch until the guitar recaptured the throne. But now it's like fuck it, I'll just play synth on my guitar.
Like a lot of these pedals, the Memory Man came out in the late 70's but really took hold in the 80's. For analog delay, it was this and the DM-2. Maybe the Ibanez whatever that delay was. I picked the memory man because it had/has those cool modulations and you could do this stuff:
So that's your analog delay.
And this here's your digital delay. Ok, we get it BOSS, you're good at electronics. Sheesh! The was the first mass produced, compact digital delay. Feels like 1983, y'all. And despite the fact that companies are coming up with an obscene number of varieties and versions of digital delay pedals, this thing fucking still sits on the pedalboard of Satriani, Clapton, Eric Johnson, David Gilmour, Brad Paisley, Tom Morello, Nels Cline, and a billion other people. And I don't mean that these guys use Boss digital delays generally, I mean those guys specifically still use DD-2's. If you counted the artists that use the later Mks, that's probably a large portion of the Earth's population.
And the final spot goes to...the generic multi-effects unit.
How 80's is a kid saving up to buy a sweet multi-effects processor where he could tap around and cycle through? I remember when got my hands on a Zoom. I didn't learn how to do presets or read the manual like a pussy. I just kept stomping and let the next preset surprise me. Also, it looked like something a pro would have on stage. That was a huge selling point. Remember back when you weren't way too fucking cool and concerned about your tone to play this one of these? They were fun AF. And do you notice what all those have in common?
Roland - Japan
Boss (division of Roland) - Japan
Ibanez - Japan
Korg - Japan
Yamaha - Need I go on?
So Japan gets an honorary spot on the roster. The 80's were all about that MIJ.
Just kidding, but there is no doubt that they were light years ahead of us in developing anything electronic during the 80's. It was like we were trying to figure out the wheel and they were building Terminator 1000s.