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Post by Xeogred on Mar 10, 2018 18:48:32 GMT -5
Feel free to divide this up however you want, maybe even break it down by genres or whatever. Figured it could be fun to see which specific titles we like the most on some systems. I've been thinking about this with the NES a lot this last year or so. Not sure why, maybe because it's the first system I grew up on and the oldest I've experienced. I finally came to the conclusion that when thinking of just the NES on its own, the Mega Man games are my absolute favorite and even dethrone my love for the Zelda and Metroid titles. 16bit wise, this isn't the case... but on the NES, those Mega Man games are just pure bliss and probably the games I've replayed the most over the years. Every new Mega Man collection release and I'm quadruple dipping for them again and again, Capcom's got me hooked...  NES: 1. Mega Man 3 2. Blaster Master 3. Metroid 4. Super Mario Bros 3 5. The Legend of Zelda Feeling pretty good about the top 3. Mega Man 3 is always a close tie with 2, but I am a MM3 guy. It doesn't totally matter though, because when I replay one I'm replaying them all! MM1 is my least favorite, but it gets props for the blueprints. There is nothing quite as eerie as the original Metroid and the amazing dark atmosphere it disperses, but I love how Blaster Master is bigger and more varied with a lot more unique areas. Both miss out on having save files though and Blaster Master doesn't even have passwords! I wouldn't fault anyone for using save states on these nowadays. Zelda is a tricky one, it's my favorite franchise of all time and I love that I started with it from the beginning... the original is more of a combat gauntlet/arena though with the dungeons. The puzzles didn't really start to get intricate or fun until Link's Awakening and Link to the Past. I also might like Zelda 2 as much as the original, even if it's very different. Kirby's Adventure is a good honorable mention, I love how advanced this game is and it really pushes the hardware to the limit, even looks better than some SNES games! Maybe a little predictable and not the most interesting top 5, but easily some essentials everyone should play at least once. |
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Post by Sarge on Mar 10, 2018 19:50:54 GMT -5
This is something that's incredibly difficult on the NES for me. There are so many great games! Still, I know at least one that makes the list: Kirby's Adventure. That game is something special, and looks absolutely fantastic. I think I'd need to throw a Mega Man game on the list, so Mega Man 2 it is. If we're going for RPGs, there's a massive fight for that slot between Dragon Warrior III and IV; I think I'm going to go with IV. They're so close, though! As much as it pains me to do so, I have to leave Bionic Commando out in the cold for these two: Contra and Tecmo. Super. Bowl. The hours I put into that game, y'all.
Honorable mentions are too many to list, but the three games that I still wanted to slot in were the aforementioned Bionic Commando, Gargoyle's Quest 2, and The Guardian Legend. And I guess a little game called Super Mario Bros. 3 might deserve mentioning as well. And while it's not objectively the best game, I still absolutely think Zelda II rocks.
So, recap:
- Kirby's Adventure
- Dragon Warrior IV
- Mega Man 2
- Contra
- Tecmo Super Bowl
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Post by Ex on Mar 10, 2018 20:37:59 GMT -5
This is a cool topic, learning about everyone's tastes and such. I'll just stick with NES & SNES for now, but we oughta add more systems later.
Ex's Top 5 NES
1. Bionic Commando
2. The Guardian Legend
3. Metroid
4. Super Mario Bros. 2 USA
5. Gimmick! AKA Mr. Gimmick
All of those are pure gold in my book.
Ex's Top 5 SNES
1. Front Mission: Gun Hazard
2. Super Metroid
3. Yoshi's Island
4. Zelda III: A Link to the Past
5. Demon's Crest
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Mar 10, 2018 21:02:50 GMT -5
NES / Famicom / FDS
1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter
3. Super Mario Bros. 3
4. Contra
5. Kirby's Adventure
SNES / Super Famicom
1. Final Fantasy VI
2. Chrono Trigger
3. EarthBound
4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
5. Super Mario World
I'll have to think hard about the Atari 2600 - and others - later on.
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Post by anayo on Mar 10, 2018 21:20:58 GMT -5
NES 1) Castlevania - I didn’t play this until 2015, but I fell in love with it right away. I don’t know why this has unlimited replay value for me. Every time I sit down to play it is just as enthralling as the last. 2) Super Mario 3 - In 1995 a coworker of my Dad’s gave me the the NES challenge set bundled with Mario 3. I didn’t even know who Shigeru Miyamoto was, but even at that age I could recognize his signature quirkiness and creativity. Despite my better judgement I keep buying rereleases of this, like the Gameboy Advance and virtual console versions. 3) Contra - My first Contra game was Contra 4 on the Nintendo DS. I was enamored with it, playing it over and over many times. The original Contra was included on the cart as an unlockable extra, and I really enjoyed that, too. I'm really glad to have an original Contra cartridge with my NES now, cause that stupid thing costs way too much on eBay. 4) Mega Man - I didn’t play this until 2016, but it’s soooooo good. The music, the controls, the whole concept… Wiley’s castle is kind of bullshit, but that doesn’t make this any less of a classic. 5) Little Samson - I beat this on an emulator in 2016. It’s cute and fun and the graphics are good. I’m not sure if it really belongs on this list, cause it’s not really one of those “iconic” NES games. But I haven’t played that many NES games in the first place and I liked this more than Kirby’s Adventure so here it is. Maybe when I get around to playing Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! that'll take Little Samson’s place on the last. There’s another half-dozen NES I’ve begun playing for like 30 minutes but stopped so my opinion of them isn’t well formed enough to warrant sharing (Batman, Super C, Bionic Commando, and Castlevania III). A closely related category would be Battletoads, which I played at a friend’s house when I was small. I loved it then but I have no idea what I would think now. I’d probably hate the infamous motorbike stage. The last category is NES games I haven’t played at all. It doesn’t bother my conscience too badly to avoid RPG’s from that generation. I’m not crazy about RPG’s from any generation, so if you add counterintuitive and unforgiving 8-bit stuff and add a lack of personal nostalgia for good measure then you have a recipe for my personal hell. But I do intend to play more NES some day. My NES (emulation) backlog looks like this. |
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Post by Sarge on Mar 10, 2018 21:21:47 GMT -5
I'm not sure SNES gets any easier, but I know two games that make the cut no matter what: Yoshi's Island and Chrono Trigger. The former is the best platformer on the system, and the latter the best RPG. I'd slot in Demon's Crest as well; every time I play through it I go poking around for similar games and lament that, for the most part, they don't exist. There's a brutal fight between A Link to the Past and Terranigma... and I think I'll go with the timeless former for now. I'm debating which of Lufia II, Final Fantasy III, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, and Super Metroid gets my final spot, but I think for variety's sake, I'll go with Super Metroid.
So...
- Chrono Trigger
- Yoshi's Island
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- Demon's Crest
- Super Metroid
And for good measure, I'm going to throw in my favorite Genesis games. I wasn't a Genesis guy growing up; I didn't own one until 1999, so my only real exposure was visits to friends who had them and emulation.
- Phantasy Star IV
- Shining Force II
- Beyond Oasis
- Streets of Rage 2
- Gunstar Heroes
I really wanted to throw Monster World IV in there; that game is legit. And since we were talking about Shinobi III, that's another that I'd love to slip in. I recognize that the Sonic games are quite good, but I'm not sure they even make my top 10.
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Post by Ex on Mar 11, 2018 1:19:38 GMT -5
Muh Genesis favorites
1. Phantasy Star II
2. Ghouls 'n Ghosts
3. Phantasy Star IV
4. Sword of Vermilion (this game's so underrated it's just stupid)
5. Sonic the Hedgehog 2
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 11, 2018 10:32:00 GMT -5
Ah come on Ex, two Phantasy Star's? haha, just kidding. I think I'll try to keep it to one entry per series though. Makes it harder huh?
Backed myself into my own corner with this on the SNES ... that's going to be a real tough call. Link to the Past and Super Metroid are my locks as well as my all time favorite games period, but after that... between Nintendo, Capcom, and Square Soft exclusives, goodness...
Do you guys have an absolute #1 favorite game of all time? It's strange but I don't think I've ever once settled between LTTP and SM. Never hesitated to just accept I love both equally and nothing else compares, at the same time it's always felt a bit odd I don't have a singular champion, heh. Tag teams are fun too though.
I'm also not sure how to include multi platform releases, but personally I'm thinking more of exclusives for now. Maybe multi platform releases will be better suited for the Hidden Gems thread Ex made. Or a little breakdown of two lists for SNES and Genesis releases would be fun, back then it's cool how the varied releases actually mattered and could be very different experiences. I even like how some Genesis titles got Sega CD/Saturn releases for insanely different music scores and whatnot. I miss that.
Love all the Contra love. Having finally played most of them literally just last year in 2017, they hold up extremely well and deserve the praise they get. Top tier productions for sure and I will be going back to them for years to come now.
It's cool a lot of us love Kirby's Adventure too. Frankly, it kind of broke the franchise for me immediately... because I have yet to play any Kirby game that rivals it. Going back to nowadays, it is a bit shorter than I tend to remember and insanely easy, but man... it's one of the absolutely best in "feels good" category that just puts a smile on you.
Nice to see some SMB2US love Ex! I honestly hesitated a little on placing SMB3... since I personally like SMW the most, whereas I love SMB3's look and aesthetics the most out of all Mario's, but I freaking love SMB2US as well. ShyGuy's are way cooler than Goomba's and it's just such a bizarre and fun game. On the flip side SMB1 gets mad props, but it is the chunky one to go back to haha. I love the All Stars versions of these classics as well, but the NES version of SMB2US and SMB3 are still perfect.
For now, this one is in no particular order:
Genesis / Mega Drive:
- Sonic & Knuckles
- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
- Streets of Rage 2
- Thunder Force IV
- Castlevania Bloodlines
Really tough call on Sonic for me. I owned Sonic 2 and S&K growing up, but I have to admit I loved S&K more. I love its harder hitting music (think it has a similar driver or composers as Shinobi III, but don't quote me on that). I'm also a huge fan of Sonic 1, that's the one that almost beats out S&K for me.
You guys have seen me praise Shinobi III everywhere recently. Nuff' said, haha. Everything about this game is 100% my aesthetic and pure bliss. When a game "feels" this good to look at, listen to, control and play, you know it's immortal.
While I love the addition of running and improved fluidity from Streets of Rage 3, I have a soft spot for 2 and have always loved it. A frequent replay. Both are my favorite beat em' ups period.
Thunder Force IV is my favorite shmup of all time, just like Shinobi III... everything about this game resonates with me, it syncs with my body and soul at 200%.
Bloodlines is a newer one, while I played Contra's in 2017, a few years prior to that I went on the journey of playing all the traditional Classicvania games. This one might possibly be my favorite of all of them for the non Metroidvania types. It has a grittier vibe than the rest, even blood, and the music is out of this world. It's a lot tougher and more balls to the wall that Super IV to me, which I appreciate. I was thinking of Contra Hard Corps as well for this spot, but Bloodlines really blew my mind.
I feel like I'm weirdly forgetting some potential titles though, hmmm. Ristar and Vectorman would be some easy honorable mentions, though I tend to see across the net thesedays that Vectorman isn't all that popular actually. I still love them though with the first being my favorite of the two. I think Mega Turrican is a good mention too and obviously Hard Corps from above. I really dig MUSHA too. I love how there's still potential to discover new old gems that can crack the top tier list.
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Post by anayo on Mar 11, 2018 10:40:59 GMT -5
SNES
Disclaimer: I haven’t thoroughly played the SNES library for myself, which I intend to remedy soon. This list will probably change after I play more SNES games.
1) Super Mario World & Super Mario All Stars - Yes, I’m counting the 2-in-1 combo cart as one game. Every kid I knew with a SNES had at least one of these. It was a requirement. 30 years later Shigeru Miyamoto’s wacky sense of creativity still draws people to pick up the controller and give it a go, even for people who don’t usually play games.
2) Axelay - I bought this game in 2014 based solely on one cool screenshot (the lava monster whose arms are made out of multiple sprites). I don’t regret it. It’s full of memorable set pieces and the soundtrack is so atmospheric.
3) Chrono Trigger - I played the Nintendo DS version, not the SNES version. Even though I’m like a weird picky eater who won’t eat his RPG’s, Chrono Trigger still endeared me. Maybe that Akira Toriyama love of adventure just shines through. This has aged more gracefully than a lot of more advanced RPG’s from the 32-bit generation.
4) Star Fox - As a 3D game this has aged miserably. As a SNES experience this is delightful. The mascot animal pilots add a ton of personality. The soundtrack gets my blood pumping. I imagine SNES owners must have showed this to Genesis owners and said, “Can the Sega do THIS? Huh?”
5) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island - I’m not super convicted that this belongs here, I’m just not sure what else to put in slot #5. I personally played the GBA version as a teenager, but during elementary school I remember watching some other kids play the SNES version while I was at their house. The music is hella catchy and I admire the pastel-style graphics.
Stuff that was fun back in the day but I don’t like very much now:
1) Super Mario Kart - I really enjoyed playing this back in the day, but after playing this with 3D polygons I’m reluctant to go back to mode 7.
2) Killer Instinct - As a 7 year old I thought this was pure badassery. Today it’s a quaint time capsule.
Games that didn’t make it because of my weird tastes:
Castlevania IV - I thought this was a good SNES game, but not a great Castlevania game. I can remember so many bosses and set pieces from Bloodlines and Rondo of Blood, but all of Castlevania IV just blurs together in my head for some reason. It’s well made, just not particularly memorable to me.
Super Metroid - I played Metroid Fusion first as an impressionable teenager, which set unfair expectations for this version. I beat SM, but it just didn’t seem as remarkable to me as the GBA Metroids.
The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past - I made numerous attempts to get into this. My longest play through took me as far as the 4th dungeon. I kept telling myself, “Maybe I’ll start having fun at the next dungeon.” It never became fun for me so I finally decided to cut my losses and play something else. I know the resounding consensus in SNES fandom is that LttP is a masterpiece, so it’s bizarre that I prefer the 3D polygon Zeldas, considering my usual affinity for 2D sprites.
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Post by toei on Mar 11, 2018 13:53:53 GMT -5
I'd say it's Yuji Horii love of adventure, since Toriyama was the character designer. Dragon Quest is literally all about the love of adventure. As a matter of fact, I think that's what makes Chrono so good; Sakaguchi has more flair for drama and epic moments, but left on his own, he tends to take it into corny territory. I think Chrono Trigger is basically their good points cancelling each other's flaws, which is why it's so good.
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