Now that the final mission of NASA's space shuttle program is underway, we thought we'd take a look at some of the games influenced by the primitive spacecraft over the years.

Since the early test flights leading up to the maiden voyage of the space shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, game creators have been enamored with NASA's orbital spacecraft. The shuttle represented a future where all of mankind worked together to reach the stars. It represented cutting-edge technology. It was a link between reality and science fiction.

And hell, it was pretty cool too, and game developers embrace cool things. Flip through the gallery to see how they paid to the space shuttle, and feel free to share your favorite shuttle-themed gaming moments in the comments!