Katamari Damacy for the spectacle of it. Wait for a switch sale and let your mind be blown.
There are also 3 of them on PC and are quite cheap.
Super Metroid because it’s amazing, and Castlevania Symphony of the Night for the same reason. I may be biased because those are two of my favorites ever but I swear they legit hold up.
I played super Metroid for the first time in 2019 and it was amazing. Felt like it hadn’t aged at all and the atmosphere was incredible
As someone who didn’t play them back in the day, I feel like SotN holds up but Super Metroid doesn’t. Just as another opinion. I couldn’t really get into metroid fusion either. To me it feels like the moment-to-moment action gameplay is too clunky in the early metroid games I’ve played, even if the exploration element is neat. I did enjoy playing SotN for the first time a couple of years ago though. It’s been a while since I played either, so they’re not totally fresh in my memory - I guess it’s possible that I’m just more forgiving of clunky melee combat than clunky shooting.
Tangentially related, always amuses me how “metroidvania” has become the genre name, when originally it was just a way that reviewers poked fun at the big change between SotN and earlier castlevanias. They were like “this isn’t what I expect from a castlevania, it’s a great game but maybe they should have named it metroidvania”, and the name stuck. Another odd fact about that terminology is that according to interviews, the SotN designer never played metroid - they were inspired by the non-linear exploration with different routes opened up by items/upgrades in Zelda games (although obviously adding that to castlevania’s platformer gameplay makes it more closely resemble metroid). So it should probably be considered a zeldavania.
Ummm do not know who would disagree with you about Super Metriod but that is my go to game when I am sick of the stupid shit that is being pushed out today.
Need for Speed Underground 2 was great came. Not sure how much nostalgia ia in there but it just felt good for a racer.
Bloons TD holds a special place in my heart and so does Runescape.
I know I am old and you don’t have to call me it but F Zero was my first forway into racing.
I loved F-Zero on the SNES and an old game called PoD: Planet of Death on the family PC.
Thief 1 - 3.
I came here to say this! These games are highly underrated. Amazing story and world building, actually having to be sneaky even with low level enemies, amazing music, these were always my top faves.
I must admit I’ve never seen or played these. They might be a bit too new for me. I listened to an interview with the game designer on the retro hour a while back. It sounded intriguing.
Would you care to give an elevator pitch on why these are must-play?
The open world concepts for each level.
The story is found and told through other characters. A lot of the story is shown rather than told.
Thief 3 has the most horrific level design ever in the orphanage. A game review had a review (really more of a worship piece) just on that one level. (I think this is the review: https://www.pcgamer.com/journeying-into-the-cradle-in-thief-deadly-shadows/)
The stealth mechanics actually require stealth and are multivariate. Most stealth games stealth systems now are actually less advanced.
They’re great games.
Tetris
If you like rpgs (real ones, turn based, not this action rpg thing)
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy 6, 7, Tactics (the ogs, not remakes)
Secret of Mana
Lufia 2
Grandia 2
Breath of Fire
…And why not, kickle cubical
Weird to gatekeep what a “real” rpg is, implying it’s turn based, then mention games which are “active time”, like SoM or FF7.
Fair criticism. I should avoid gatekeeping. Enjoy what you enjoy.
me when I enjoy gatekeeping
Add Golden Sun to that list.
Look up a top 25 list for the SNES and play every one of them
Yea well ever since they did a huge crackedown on emulation. No thanks other wise I would download the shit out of them.
NoIntro Romsets on Archive.org for roms.
4chan’s Emulation General thread wiki for emulators etc.
They only care as far as going after large targets running rom sites (archive is much more than that, so they skirt by) and emulation of modern consoles (they go after the devs). They will never go after an individual just direct downloading and emulating shit.
Well, if you can afford it, the SNES classic has most of the stuff worth playing, with a couple of curiosities thrown in.
Believe it or not and I am showing my age but still own an SNES . And that was the last system I have ever bought.
Starwars Knights of the old Republic 1 and 2 they are on steam and kotar 1 can be played on a phone. AC blackflag. Dragon age origins. If you want a more specific recommendation based on a old gaming system let me know.
How old? Heretic, Zork, Nethack, Metroid Zero ( it’s basically OG Metroid with quality of life upgrades). On the old Nokia, we had snake…
Sorry to let you down but Super Metroid sorry to burst your bubble but while NES may have had Metroid it was not the GOAT before the term was instituted.
“OG” means “Original Gangster”, like first of its kind.
Star wars Jedi Knight: Outcast and Jedi Knight: Academy.
I’m not really much of a Star wars fan and I looooved those fucking games.
Age of Empires II
The remaster is one of the few remasters that are not just a rip-off.
The C&C remasters also did an excellent job
Star Wars knights of the old republic 1 and 2
Portal, Final Fantasy, StarCraft, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Half-life 2, Portal 2, COD Modern Warfare… to begin with
Crusader: No Remorse and No Regret.
Controls kinda fucking suck in the modern day, but the games are still solid fun.
The Bard’s Tale - Hilarious, and I am a sucker for anything that involves summoning a squad to fight for me.
Psychonauts - Absolutely delightful. Just cute, funny, weird and imaginative. The platforming itself is good, though it gets really hard towards the end.
Eternal Darkness - By far my favorite horror game. None of the terrible controls, bad cameras, or bullet sponge enemies beating you with a wet noodle to give the impression of danger. Just a lovecraftian horror story full of great atmosphere and character, with the twist that as your character’s sanity meter goes down, shit gets weird, and sometimes breaks the fourth wall.
Skies of Arcadia - I cannot stress enough just how much I love this game. Sky pirates flying between floating islands in endless sky during an age of adventure and exploration.
The Zelda Series - The original is still worth playing, but you’ll want to look up the map that it came with. A link to the past is beloved, but Link’s Awakening is the real nostalgic one for me (I have the switch remake and haven’t had a chance to try it yet). I still think Ocarina of Time holds up, but I understand that many disagree. Majora’s Mask is great in many ways, but it is a game that works best when you have a lot of time to explore and discover things on your own, and as a grown ass adult with a Job and responsibilities, I had trouble going back to it and not just looking stuff up in a guide, which diminishes things… I also don’t have time to list my thoughts on the entire series.
KOTOR 1 & 2 - Pretty much what I wish every new iteration of Star Wars would aspire to be. The second one is a bit more uneven, as it had a vision that was truly inspired, but was forced out on an extremely rushed time frame, so a lot of things got cut, and even the restoration mods can’t add everything back in. (Also, Dragon Age Origins, as long as we’re talking classic Bioware)
Star Wars Republic Commando - A great FPS with a squad that actually knows how to do their jobs, and which does a good job of showing the clone wars from the perspective of a soldier. (Honorable mention to Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy which are still the best Jedi based action games but which had some technical issues the last time I tried to play them)
Castlevania Circle of the Moon - Everyone talks about Symphony of the Night, and I won’t argue with them, but my all time favorite in the series has to be Circle of the Moon. Refined Castelvania gameplay with a unique magic system that is simple but satisfying.
Punchout (with or without Mike Tyson) - The original is a classic and it holds up surprisingly well.
Halo 1, 2, 3 ODST, and Reach - They each hold up in their own unique way. The first one is immersive and is extremely well polished mechanically. The second has a stronger story and adds the bonus of being able to swap weapons with teammates (give them the scoped weapons, keep them alive, live or die as a unit), the third has awesome mechanics but weaker storytelling, ODST is Halo 3 Band of Brothers Edition, and Halo Reach actually tells the best story while taking the gameplay back to its roots.
Cursed Halo - It’s Halo 1, but completely insane. It manages to actually be fun while also being completely ridiculous.
Eh, that’s enough for now.
I would do terrible things for a VR Eternal Darkness.
I also would probably be too scared to actually play it.
Man, Star Wars Republic Commando is a great game. Such a shame they cancelled the sequel, Imperial Commando, though.
