Just as with books, movies, plays etc the past holds a treasure trove of amazing experiences. Unless you have a lot more free time than I do it’s unlikely you’ve played anywhere near the majority of the classics. Let’s get out those pink sunnies and compare notes on some of our favourite releases.

I’ve recently been going back in time a little on the retro pi and looking at console games I never had.

  • I have to say Chrono Trigger blew me away with it’s stunning art, puzzles with surprisingly little moon logic, and beautiful music.

  • Mario golf on the SNES is very simple but for tired evenings cuddling on the couch it’s been a winner in our household.

  • The n64 Zelda games are surprisingly great too although that awkward period of 3d had some unusual controls. Even the gameboy ones are a blast although the water temple in oracle of ages it a bit frustrating.

  • Heroes of might and magic 2 and 3 hold a special place in my heart and I can still dump hours into skirmishing with those (32167 for when hom2 gets too frustrating amiright?)

  • I loved neverwinter knights as a kid but recently tried to check it out again and just… idk the magic wasn’t there. I think now I’d rather just play some actual ttrpgs instead of sprawling CRPGs

PS1 is a mystery box to me so I’d love to hear some recommendations from that old thing. All I ever played on it was time crisis at my mates house (which was and is soooo coool, RIP lightguns).

What about you folks? What games hold a special place in your heart? or what have you checked out for the first time recently and found it’s actually pretty good?

  • Boozilla@beehaw.org
    3·
    1 year ago

    Beyond Good & Evil, 2003. It’s been so long since I played it, I don’t remember much other than it was a sandbox and it had some neat mechanics and cute characters and I loved it. The closing credits musical sequence is magical, too.

    • InsurgentRat@beehaw.orgOP
      2·
      1 year ago

      I think I rented it for the gamecube but never played much. Apparently it’s famously good! I’ll have to check it out.

    • omgarm@feddit.nl
      1·
      1 year ago

      One of the first games I played that was translated in Dutch with good voiceovers! Loved it and made me more open to localized games.

  • Julian@lemm.ee
    2·
    1 year ago

    Not a unique opinion, but Portal is probably the closest thing to a perfect game. Nothing feels unnecessary, and every part of it (story, gameplay, visuals) is not only good on its own, but also work together to make the game better than the sum of its parts.

    Portal 2’s also great but suffers from a lot of fluff imo. The analogy I like to use is Portal 2 is like a big feast of really good food, while Portal 1 is just one small dish, but it’s the best version of that dish you’ve ever tasted.

  • MrEUser@lemmy.ninjaEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    My response to this will look like a who’s who of Dreamcast games. The Dreamcast was the first console I bought myself, so I have lots of fond memories.

    • Soulcalibur I & II
    • Sega NFL 2K1 (and I was NOT a sports game person)
    • Shenmue I & II
    • Jet Set Radio
    • Phantasy Star On-Line
    • Quake III arena
    • Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2
    • Hydro Thunder
    • Fur Fighters
  • Azure@beehaw.org
    2·
    1 year ago

    Had a partner want to practice hacking a 3ds before they closed the shop so I can play PS1 games. The first one I put on that mofo is Azure Dreams, my first and probably favorite dungeon crawler roguelike with a city builder. Also Breath of Fire IV is one of my absolute favorite games ever.

  • GeneralRetreat@beehaw.org
    2·
    1 year ago

    One of my all-time favourites is Freelancer, 2003. Just a really fun arcade space sandbox with an engaging campaign and great multiplayer and modding scene.

  • misguidedfunk@beehaw.org
    1·
    1 year ago

    For me it was metal gear solid 3 snake eater. I thought it was the perfection of the metal gear formula. I’m exited to see its remaster.

  • zen404@lemm.ee
    1·
    1 year ago

    Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, all of these still hold up, and are totally worth a play even if you never played them back in their day.

    Also, Alpha Centauri has SUCH a great narrative. Each faction has a strong identity, each leader has a fitting personality, the whole package is great.

    It really deserves a remake to update the controls and UI, it still plays really well if you can get past that though.

  • Cavemanfreak@vlemmy.net
    1·
    1 year ago

    TimeShift came out in 2007, and that game was the bomb. Loved the concept with the suits that can control time, and the game play felt really smooth. Nothing beats freezing time and grabbing the enemies’ weapons from them and shooting them with it.

  • Chahk@beehaw.org
    1·
    1 year ago

    I loved the bullet time in OG Max Payne game (2001).

    I was addicted to EverQuest since I started playing it in 2001 for at least 10 years. They don’t call it “EverCrack” for nothing. No matter how I feel about it now, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

    I also played PlanetSide MMOFPS for at least 4 years since it released back in 2003, and it was so great. I hear both good and bad things about its successor, PlanetSide 2, but haven’t tried it for the fear of it ruining my nostalgia of the original.

    Starsiege: Tribes was an awesome game too. I was a beta tester for that one way back in '98, in the days before broadband was a thing. I still have an installation CD hand-signed by the devs that they had to ship to all the testers, because downloading 500+ MB over dial-up was not feasible.

    Earthsiege 2 was the game for which I went out to CompUSA and bought a joystick that had swivel function (MS SideWinder 3D Pro).

  • Ricky@mastodon.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    @insurgenRat the king kong movie tie in game its actually really good and extremely innovative and alot of the ideas I’ve never seen replicated sadly we’ll probably never see a remaster cuz 1 it’s a tie in game and 2 it was made by ubisoft

  • sculd@beehaw.org
    1·
    1 year ago

    The original Red Alert is still one of my favorites! In the expansion you can even fight Giant Ants!!! (Not sure how many people knew)

  • drewdevorcula@beehaw.org
    1·
    1 year ago

    Eternal Darkness

    Silent Hill

    Resident Evil 1+2

    Call of Cthulhu

    Quake 1-3

    Doom 1+2

    Chrono Trigger

    Final Fantasy 3, 7, Tactics

    Metal Gear Solid (all of them)

    Shadowrun (SNES)

    Castlevania 1-3, SOTN

    I could go on…

  • kelvinjps@beehaw.org
    1·
    1 year ago
    1. Commando, 2. Black 3. metal gear 4. GTA san andreas 5. prince of persia 6. I remember having an emulator of a lot of old games.
  • CorrodedCranium@lemmy.fmhy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    I played Max Payne and its sequal recently and I was surprised how well they held up. The gameplay and level design kept it consistently fun

    • chimera765@lemm.ee
      1·
      1 year ago

      The first game definitely shows its age, but is fun nevertheless. The second game, though, has always surprised me how amazingly it has held up.

      Fantastic games.