I'm going to dig deep into my brain and try to remember all my favorites video games from years past. I will start with the one atari game I played and then work my way to Nintendo and go on from there.
Atari
Dig Dug - my Aunt Pam had the Atari system and my sister and I used to play this game whenever she babysat for us. My parents would not allow us to get an Atari.
Nintendo (NES) - warning, this list may be long
My neighbors across the street got Nintendo a few month's before me, so I played the first couple games with them.
Super Mario Bros - a staple Nintendo title
Legend of Zelda - I remember this game being so great. I couldn't wait to come home and play it. Absolute classic game.
Gradius - This was a space ship shooter game by Konami and yes the classic Konami code work (up up down down left right B A start). I loved this game. Lifeforce was pretty much the sequel to this game.
Metroid - Exciting game that had a lot of twists and turns. It took me a couple times over a period of time to finally beat this game.
Kid Icarus - I borrowed this game from a friend and loved it from the start. I beat it.
Castlevania - Simon was the character and the whip was his beat down weapon of choice.
Duck Hunt - My nintendo system came with this and SMB. This game good, but not great. It held me over until I got this next title.
Dragon Warrior - My second favorite series of games in my lifetime. This was my first until Final Fantasy came out. This was another one of those games that I craved to play. It was my first real RPG, but definitely not my last. I replayed this game with an emulator a couple years ago. It was just as good this time around.
Final Fantasy - Ah, the greatest series of RPG games ever created. This was the first. The funny thing is, the company that made this game was going bankrupt, so they created their last game and put the word Final in the title because it was supposed to be their last game, but this game sold so well, that that company soared and is huge today. I have played this game from start to finish many times over.
Contra - Another great Konami shooter. The code gave you 30 lives.
Mike Tyson Punchout - enough said
Dragon Warrior II - a great sequel to the first game. It took place on the same world as the first, but you had a lot more area to roam around on.
Dragon Warrior III - This game was good, but it didn't exactly take a step forward, so I would have to call it the worst of the series.
Dragon Warrior IV - Now this game was a complete classic. It was better than all 3 of the others combined. This was the first RPG I can remember that allowed you to switch people in and out of your party instead of just having the same 3 or 4 people throughout the game.
***I believe that's all the real classics. At one point I had over 1oo games for Nintendo. My dad sold them at his store and he would bring every new title home for me. I still have a lot of the games and the system. Guess what, it works too.
Sega Genesis
This was the first 16 bit system on the market. It still wasn't arcade graphics (32 bit), but it was way better than 8bit.
Altered Beast - this is the game that came with the system. It started out in the arcade and was then mage for Genesis. This was a cool game.
Phantasy Star II - This is probably the third best series of RPG games. I don't remember this one as much as III, but I do remember that is was really good.
Sonic the Hedgehog - Fun game. I just rebought a re-mastered version of the series for PS2, but the game doesn't have the same luster today as it did when I was younger.
Shining in the Darkness - This was a progressive RPG that took place in a Dungeon. It was quite original at the time. A really fun game which I have since downloaded to ROM for. I think I will start playing this again when I'm bored at work.
Phantasy Star III - The best RPG up to this point. It even beats out Dragon Warrior IV. The game is broken up into 3 chapters. You start out with one group of characters and after you finish the chapter, you decide which person you want your main character to marry, from that choice you start the second chapter with that couple's son. So it is actually like a "Choose your own Adventure" where you can have many path's within the same game.
Shining Force - This game was a move based RPG where you had lots of characters at your disposal. I played this game from start to finish quite a few times.
Phantasy Star IV - This one went back to it roots and was designed more like I and II and they did a good job with it. I got stuck at one point in the game and since I no longer have Genesis, I guess I'll have to finish it on emulation.
Might and Magic II Gates to Another World (Genesis version) - This was the last game I played on Genesis and it was probably the best one or at least tied with Phantasy Star III. This (to me) was a different kind of RPG. It was unlike any other RPG I had ever played. The world was huge. It consisted of at least a 10x10 grid and each square in the grid was at least 15x15. You had to walk over each square before you had the map to it. You trained each character in skills and trained them to level up. This was the first in many M+M games I played.
Super Nintendo (and it lived up to the "Super" name)
SN was also a 16 bit system and it was Nintendo's answer to Genesis. It started out with a bunch of classic titles but with the word "Super" in front.
Super Mario World - this was not your typical Mario game. They changed the layout to a huge world that you walked around. The world consisted of lots and lots of areas (like classic mario areas) that you needed to complete before you could move on. This game also consisted of a couple new marios. Frog and Racoon. This Mario game was, in every way, 1000x better than it's predecessors.
Zelda: A Link to the Past - If you thought the first Zelda was great, then you would fall off your chair at how awesome this game was. It had the same gameplay stayle as the first one. Good thing too, cause Zelda II for nintendo was not the greatest game. This is one game that I never beat. I could probably easily beat it nowadays.
Super Metroid - This game was designed just like the first one, but with better graphics, better gameplay and a much bigger world. Absolutely awesome game. I still own this and will play it again once I hook up my SNES.
Final Fantasy II (IV in Japan) - the American sequel to what will become the greatest line of RPG games. This game was much like the first one in design, but once again with better graphics, better gameplay and way more hours of playtime. You acually went to the moon later on in the game. Very cool.
Ogre Battle - of all the people to introduce this game to me, it came by the name of Chris Held (a crazy football player that talked about doing steroids all the time). This was a move based game much like Shining Force II. Lots of fun, but another game that I never finished due to the fact that I never owned it and only borrowed it. I do have to ROM for it though.
Dungeon Master - I'm having a hard time remembering specifics about this game, but I remember it being very addictive. This was a RPG of sorts.
Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan) - this game gets it's own little paragraph. Hand's down the greatest game I have ever played. It is even better than FFXI. I can't even tell you how many times I have played this game from start to finish and the countless number of times I started and never finished. A friend of mine in college gave me the soundtrack to this game and even the soundtrack is awesome. This was a revolutionary RPG much like Phantasy Star III was.
You had lots of characters to move in and out of your party and at times in the game, you controlled multiple parties at once. Each Character was customizeable in some ways.
I have this game for SNES, Emulation and the re-mastered copy for PS/PS2. Sabin kicked ass and took names. I think I will listen to the soundtrack now.
Nintendo 64
iirc, the first 64 bit system and it had a completely new controller with many more buttons.
A lot of the begining game titles had 64 after the name. I never owned this system until I met Larson, but I played it a lot in college with Bliska and Halden. I only ever played 2 games on the system that were good enough to put on this list.
Super Mario 64 - excellent, excellent game. It was completly different than any previous Mario game. I bought this once I met Larson, but she lost the game on me, so now I'm sad.
Mario Cart 64 - many hours were spent playing this game late night in college. Toadstool was my favorite character to use.
Playstation
This system was CD based and external memory card based. Another system that I did not own, but I almost always had one that I was borrowing.
First and Foremost:
Final Fantasy VII - I bought this game before I ever borrowed a playstation and it's a good thing I did, because the game is one of the best FF titles ever made. It had a lot of content and a great soundtrack. This is one of the FF's that I have never finished. I have a saved game that I will get back to someday soon.
Twisted Metal I + II - Another game that we spent many an hour playing in college. You basically pick your vehicle of choice, which is decked out in various weapons and you go and try to blow up the other players. Good stuff. Dr.Grimm was my guy of choice.
Final Fantasy VIII - I actually first bought this for the PC, but then bought it for Playstation.
Yet another great FF game and another great soundtrack.
Final Fantasy IX - another great title. This one went back to more of a classic style FF game, but with hints of the newer styles. I need to rebuy this game because disc 3 is scrathed.
Final Fantasy Tactics - I still have not bouoght this game, but I have to add it because everyone that has played this game has loved it. At least the people I've talked to.
I think I will stop there. My next video game blog will consost of current systems. PS2, Gamecube and PC.
Labels: Video Games Remembered

