Favorite retro games?
I've been playing some retro games recently (PS1 and prior) and I've been discovering a lot of games that I never thought I would enjoy. Particularly 90s arcade shmups and arcade style sports games.
What are some of your favorite retro games that you always find yourself coming back to?
Earthbound, gotta play that at least once in your life.
Chrono trigger, still one of the greatest games of all time.
Final Fantasy 6(US 3) there is debate, but widely regarded as the best one overall still. 7 is the other strongest contender, but if you are gonna play that one, don't play the retro one, as one of the very first polygonal games, it's hard to look at now.
Zelda (3), a link to the past.
There are certainly more, but those'll last you a few months.
Edit: Suppose I can't really get by without saying Rock n' Roll Racing.
Huh......Despite being true, I've never heard anyone refer to LoZ:LttP as "Zelda 3".
Hehe yeah, I figured with them having no context, that might make it easier to figure out which zelda it was quicker. There are a few kind of similarly named ones now if someone is coming in fresh.
Chrono Trigger (Probably the best JRPG ever made, or even the best game ever made)
Terranigma (Very philisophical action RPG that also happens to be a lot of fun)
Silent Hill (The vibes alone make this one, but it also has a great story)
DOOM (This one should be obvious)
Majora's Mask (An emotional powerhouse of a game)
Tetris
Also pick any mainline console Mario game that came out between 1985 and 1996 (not including The Lost Levels, but including US SMB 2)
Super Mario Land 2
Pokemon 2nd gen
All GOAT, but all for different reasons.
The original Super Mario Bros. and SMB 3. The first console I got to play as a child was the NES at my grandparents' house. Every couple of years I get a nostalgic craving and it’s usually those two games I return to. Also, there are many great rom hacks available if getting bored of the originals.
Smb3 is definitely my favorite classic mario, it's simple and fun, smw seems much more complicated tbh.
Still haven't beat it though.
.......can't help but notice you didn't mention everyones favorite turnip throwing mario game!
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It inspired and perfected a genre of games. It holds up incredibly well.
I just started my nostalgia hunt lately, and firstly it's Digimon World after watching some content about it. It's still hold up quite well tbh, even though it does show its age with its system.
I replay it every other year. It was one of my first games ever, started playing it when I was 5 or so and kept grinding on the same save file for more than 10 years.
For those interested, the Maeson patch fixes all the bugs that afflicted the game on release and adds a lot of QoL improvements, including persistent music across screens (in the original game, the music resets every time you change screen), diversified evolution lines, and rebalanced progression.
I replayed it last summer with the Maeson patch and it was very enjoyable while still keeping the "core" experience intact.
It's not strictly a 90s schmup but I got the original XIII (2003) on sale on GOG last month and played through it. I never played it back then and always thought it looked cool. It's a shame it wasn't a big success, the art direction and concept of playing in the panels of a comic strip was really cool and still holds up. I love the typed out sound effects like TAP TAP TAP on footsteps and BOOOM on explosions. So I guess that's my retro recommendation.
Next for me will be No One Lives Forever, which I also missed back in the day but heard was amazing. It's been unavailable to purchase for decades but I just recently found out the game is made available to download for free by some fans.
I guess I'm on a bit of an old school spy game kick lately.
XIII was (and still is) a fucking awesome game. Such a breath of fresh air back then trying something entirely new in terms of art direction on an FPS and nailing it!
The split screen multiplayer in XIII on consoles was a lot of fun.
Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Gunstar Heroes, Splatterhouse 3.
Gunstar fucking Heroes. You’re a gentleperson and a scholar.
In no particular order:
Sonic Spinball
Micro Machines 2 Turbo Tournament
Toejam and Earl
General Chaos
Recently I have had an urge to play Hogs of War on PS1 too.
Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age.
I think that Tetris is probably the oldest game that I'll play some implementation of occasionally. I don't know if I'd call it my favorite, but it's aged very gracefully over the decades.
Super Mario War and Pocket Tanks
In Iran we always pirate games (except PlayStation games) because US sanctions has banned trades with Iran. Back when I was a kid instead of buying CDs with one game I bought packages which had 100 smaller games and I didn't buy often because I couldn't buy games on my own. There are some famous ones among these 600 games (I bought 6 CDs over the years) like peggle, plants vs zombies, chicken invaders, and some others. Despite having fun with many more games, these are the ones I remember the most. Despite not getting a lot of chances to play computer games with others these games where the most fun to play with others
Grandia 2 is a magnificent game IMO.
Bc they’re fun and easy to jump into,
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Super Dodgeball
If you’re looking to spend time/have a complete experience:
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario 64
Final Fantasy VII
Fallout 1, which I've probably replayed about ten times more than the second game. It's concise, with this depressing and dark world that gives a feeling never fully replicated in sequels.
Lords Of The Realm 2, a great little strategy game with an effortlessly charming aesthetic.
Civil War Generals 2, when I feel like really grinding out a strategy game. It has the bright colors and charming graphics which create a clear and readable battlefield that can be brutally difficult as units get ground down into ragged bands.
genesis shadow run. used the shadowrun rules at the time and really alllowed amazing build options for something from so long ago. that and being able to hire runners for your team was really need. only limitation was you had to be human but some people made rom hacks that let you choose race and usually included some bug fixes to.
Final fantasy tactics Dragon quest monsters
Hell yeah DQM! I imagine an alternate universe where that game took off instead of pokemon. So much fun and I still play it (and the sequels) regularly.
Gunstar Heroes
I don't go back to it (Win 3.1 games are a PITA to get running), but I really wish someone would remake Millennium Auction. It was a very clever version of the old board game Masterpiece.
The first Klonoa game on PS1. Always gave me nostalgia that one and Spyro 1 as well, truly nostalgic games of that era
Flashback
I played it on the SNES. It's a sci-fi platformer that I felt shared themes with movies like Total Recall, They Live, Blade Runner, Running Man.
You start as Conrad, who has crash landed on Titan, being chased by mysterious bad guys, and with no memory of why. All you have is a gun, and a video recording of yourself telling you where to go for the next clue.
I've had a Gameboy for most of my life so I'm a sucker for portables. Donkey Kong, Oracle of Seasons, Pokemon Crystal, and Super Mario Land 2 all get replayed with some regularity. For GBA the Golden Sun games are still in my top ten favorites to this day, and the SNES ports like Link to the Past and Super Mario World were great to have in my pocket.
I'm going through the N64 catalogue on the Switch and really enjoyed finally finishing the 3D Zeldas and, of course, Banjo Kazooie. The second part is on my list next, followed by the big Zelda title on the SNES. Looking forward to playing those :)
Legend of dragoon always holds a special place in my heart.
i still play backyard baseball
Arkanoid
Oh, just these series of games. You probably never heard of them.....called The Super Mario Bros!!!!
Super metroid
One retro game that I think hasn't really been well-imitated since is called The Last Express. You're on the last major express train through Europe before World War I.
What sets it apart is both a very vivid art style using rotoscoping of live actors, as well as a real-time gameplay system wherein the NPCs of the train can constantly move around, scoot past you in the car hallways, or even seek you out during certain key events.
I don't ever really go back to retro games much anymore, but I recently did come back to Devil Dice/XI (in Japan) and I just really like the arcade like mode where dice keep spawning until the board fills up and you lose. Pretty much the only mode I play since the AI cheat, I swear.
Metroid zero mission
Played it on my gameboy micro, what an experience
Super Contra for NES (sometimes just called Super C). Stupid shoot em up action done to perfection.
Metal Slug games are great in emulation; similar to above.
Can we consider the PS3 Retro at 17? If so i'd have to say Uncharted and Little Big Planet. I keep my Childhood Copies out just to play them.
If i need to go further back i'd have to side with Ocarina of Time. It's such a basic Zelda story with it's Arthurian lore and dungeons, but it's like the cornerstone Zelda game for me. Mario 64 while im at it