Let's keep the ball rolling with a couple of 8-bit platformers. Nostalgia alert!
25. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Master System) - 1992Not to be confused with the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis game of the same name, this game was released only a month or so before its 16 bit counterpart. It is however an entirely separate game, with little in common between the two, beyond the title character. While this game clearly doesn't hold up as well as the 16 bit offerings, this was my first Sonic game, and I spent countless hours playing it, so the nostalgia is strong with this one.
The levels had multiple paths with hidden areas that made the game fun to play repeatedly as I tried to finish it (never did back in the day). It still has some of my favourite 8-bit era music, and I love the level themes. There were also some interesting gimmicks, such as the hangglider, and riding in bubbles underwater to get to higher ground and avoid death by drowning. The underwater sections were even more of a bitch in this game than the 16 bit ones.
The controls aren't great by today's standards, and it's not an essential Sonic game, but this game had a big impact on me.
Longplay video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6RtXmMN9Og24. Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Sega Master System) - 1986As I mentioned when I started, this was the first videogame I ever played, although it hardly counted as playing. But it wasn't too long after that we got our Sega Master System, and everyone who had a Master System knew this game, since it was built in to the console (at least, the version of the console everyone had). From what I gather, the Master System didn't really catch on so well outside of a few countries, Australia being one of those, so I have no idea how well known this game is in general.
Alex Kidd was supposed to be Sega's answer to Mario, and was released about a year after the original Super Mario Bros. Despite not catching on and becoming the success that Mario was, Alex Kidd in Miracle World is comparable in quality, and even better in some ways, with some shortcomings.
Much like Mario, you're trying to save the person from the person. Also like Mario, there are traditional levels, cave levels, water levels, castle levels etc. You can't jump on enemies as has become standard in that style of platformer since, you had to punch enemies to kill them instead. The game had a variety of vehicles; there was a bike that could smoosh through enemies and some blocks, a speedboat that could shoot bullets (and your punishment for crashing the boat was falling into the water below and having to play the traditional underwater level), and a helicopter that could also shoot bullets, and you had to tap the jump button to rise up.
There were many powerups that were either collected in level, or bought from the shop in many of the levels, which could be activated on the pause screen menu. The most commonly used powerup was a fire ring that let you shoot fire across the screen, and there was also the cane of flight so you could fly for a short while, and an invincibility powerup.
The boss fights were one of the more unique elements of the game, and probably one of the more criticized elements. Every boss would have to be defeated in a game of paper-rock-scissors, usually followed by a more regular boss fight. There was a collectible to let you see what hand the boss would choose, but you had to be quick to keep up with them changing, and there was an element of memorization to it that was more common to the era.
Defeating the final boss wasn't the end though! There was one short level after that, with a room that required you to jump on the correct sequence of squares, otherwise ghosts would kill you. The sequence order was shown on a stone tablet you collect earlier in the game, however it's read right to left, bottom to top. This is something I had to be told from a friend before managing to finish the game, which was a bit frustrating. If you played this game as a kid, this just brought back painful memories. Still, there was something rewarding about finishing these games back in the time before save games, and internet walkthroughs.
Longplay video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb9haoWT5js