Do you like videogames? Hey, great, so do I! And part of the reason I have such a big backlog of new, unplayed games is because I spend a lot of time replaying games I've already beaten - it's like re-reading a good book, or re-watching your favorite movie.
If I was trapped in a world without new games, as long as I had what was on this list, I think I'd do just fine.
So, in no particular order...
Showing 1-10 of 63 items
The last great SNES platformer, Yoshi's Island let the Super NES go out with a bang. Timeless art style, air-tight gameplay, some of the best boss encounters in any game ever made, and just the right amount of levels. All 2D platformers are held to the standards set in Yoshi's Island.
I can't quite describe what makes this game so incredible without sounding like some kind of weirdo. With the bongos, this game almost becomes some sort of stress relief - and combined with its dynamic music system and joyous style, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat always puts me in a great mood.
When I played Chrono Trigger, I was new to JRPGs, so I had no idea that this was actually the ultimate team-up game -- between Squaresoft's "Final Fantasy" team and Enix's "Dragon Quest" team. The end result is one of the greatest JRPGs of all time, besting even modern games more than twenty years later, with a cool premise, strong characters, and a story that is quick, succinct, and just deep enough to feel rewarding. And, oh my gosh, that soundtrack. I could gush about this game forever.
Donkey Kong Country brought the SNES back from the brink of irrelevance because it's just that good. The basic concept is really just "hey what if there was more Super Mario World but now it's monkeys," but it's the little details Rare imbued in to the gameplay that make it stand out. Levels in this game just have a *flow* to them that's hard to describe without seeing it in action, where everything is timed perfectly for speed running.
The three Donkey Kong Country games still represent the best use of pre-rendered graphics in any games ever made. Of the trilogy, DKC2 stands above and beyond, improving on everything from the original DKC, with more variety, more levels, and the best soundtrack out of the three games.
A game that will always be installed on any computer I will ever own, and will never, ever, ever be uninstalled for any reason whatsoever. In an era where first person shooters were still ripping off games like DooM and Quake, Half-Life showed depth and a cinematic presentation that is still unmatched by most modern games even today.
Half-Life 2 was almost as revolutionary as the original game - almost. Setting new standards for animation and storytelling, it ended up being a fantastic game in its own right. But, while I love Half-Life 2 to pieces, I do find myself occasionally missing some of the more dynamic, chaotic elements of the first Half-Life. But, man, HL2 is still pretty good, too.
I had no appreciation for the Castlevania franchise until I played Symphony of the Night. Most of my prior experiences were with the ultra-difficult Castlevania III on the NES, and Konami's reputation for ultra-difficult games scared me away from the rest of the series -- until Symphony. Now I'm a Castlevania fanboy. What strikes me is just how big this game is; nearly two decades later and I'm still finding new things hidden inside these walls.
Going from the SNES's d-pad to the Nintendo 64's analog stick was like having to re-learn how to walk again in the best possible way. There is no feeling quite like knowing you mastered Super Mario 64. It set the standard for movement in 3D, and few games - even games Nintendo themselves have produced in the genre - have come close to matching Super Mario 64's scope and innovation.
Technically, this goes out to "Sonic 3 & Knuckles". When combined with Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles transforms in to the biggest Sonic the Hedgehog game ever made - 14 levels with three playable characters, each having vastly different ways of experiencing the game. Me and my friends spent an entire summer playing nothing but Sonic 3 & Knuckles exclusively, finding every secret in the game. For that, I will never forget it.