Top 25 Video Games Lists v2.0: Cable's NES Nostalgia 15 & 2 (starts pg32)

[ReaperKK]

Can't wait to read it Chris

[Cool Chris]

15: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II (Gamecube)




As an original trilogy junkie, I never felt so immersed in the SW galaxy, fighting for the Rebellion against the Empire as I did in this game. Great level design and gameplay.

14. VVVVVV (PC)




According to Steam: "VVVVVV is a platform game all about exploring one simple mechanical idea - what if you reversed gravity instead of jumping?" Simple, right? It is, until it isn't. This quirky game is so simple in its structure, but such a complex joy in its execution. So fun, and one of the most enjoyable soundtracks I've ever heard. Get it on Steam, it's $5. Trust me.

[Crow]

VVVVVVVVVVVVVery good game

[Lynxo]

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II is one of those games I quite recently aqquired for my GameCube but haven't played yet.

I can easily write up more lists, maybe for like top 90's and top 00's, if there's any need.

[Cool Chris]

Should have clarified earlier.... some of these are on the list as I could pick up them right now and play for hours like the game was brand new. Others are on the list more for nostalgia, recalling the enjoyment they brought to me in different times, though I wouldn't necessarily get an equal amount of enjoyment from them now.

13: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (PC)   



Another fun SW game, with great action elements and an engrossing story. Not the last SW game on the list.

12: GoldenEye (Nintendo 64)   



I know everyone raves about the multiplayer. I hated it. I always got my ass handed to me. But it was still one of the best multiplayer gaming experiences of my youth. Wait, I was in college. Whatever. I loved the Bond franchise, this movie and appreciated how the single player followed the plot, characters, sequences, and the places from the film.

[ReaperKK]

Two very awesome games right there. Lots to be said about Goldeneye but Jedi Outcast was such an amazing game. My brother and I got it going a couple years back it was just as fun as when it first was released.

[Phoenix87x]

Three games I worship. Rogue leader, Jedi Outcast (my fav of the jedi series) and of course goldeneye. Hours upon hours of fun.

I want a new jedi knight and rogue squadron game so bad

[Cool Chris]

Looking at my list, I figured many of them would be crowd favorites. No obscure titles but a few might get some crickets.

Can someone change the thread title? Does the original poster have to do that?

[jingle.boy]

I remember Jedi Outcast.  I was so excited for lightsaber action in the game, but remember it being rather clunky.  I don't think I ever finished it, as it didn't live up to it's predecessors (imo)

[Cool Chris]

Honestly I found the game dropped off a little when you get the lightsaber. I enjoyed the blaster sections more.

[ReaperKK]

I honestly don't even remember playing the single player . I just played multiplayer all the time.

[Phoenix87x]

I am the total opposite. I absolutely loved getting the lightsaber and perhaps I loved it so much since it was a HUGE step up from the shitty lightsaber control of Jedi Knight part 1. I also loved getting the force powers and force choking storm troopers and throwing them off cliffs and stuff. Good times.

Now all that being said, I did still love jedi knight 1. That was a fantastic game.

I liked the multi player, but only could play it at friends houses. I didn't even have internet at the time, so I just played single player over and over again. God I love that game

[Cool Chris]

11 Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)   





In terms of hours of my college life wasted, Mario Kart on the SNES takes the gold trophy. Sorry mom and dad. In terms of awesomeness, Kart 64 wins the prize. 1 Player, Multi-Player, Battle Mode..... if you had this game, and a couple friends who similarly didn't have girlfriends, your Friday night was set. Nintendo kept the Kart franchise going, never releasing a bad Kart game. Kart 7 and 8 may be better in some ways. But Kart 64 is tops of my list.

10 Diablo (PC)   




I know Diablo 2 might be the a hallmark game in the genre, wonderfully expanding on the original. But I remember my first. That will be a theme here. Not much to say… create your character, collect weapons and armor, and hack and slash your way through several beautifully designed levels to get to the infernal beast. Played it recently, and doesn't feel dated at all. Wonderful soundtrack. Fun quests. Great level design.

[Phoenix87x]

Lots of hours of Fun with Mario kart 64. Diablo 1 was my first as well, I just really sucked at it. It wasn't until I played 2 where I could get obsessively in to the series

[ReaperKK]

Played a ton of Mario Kart and surprisingly never played anything in the Diablo franchise.

[black_biff_stadler]

Can someone change the thread title? Does the original poster have to do that?

I didn't see you give it a formal name unless I missed it. Just let me know what your list is called and I'll change it.

[Cool Chris]

Thanks b_f, I didn't have a proper name for it. You can title it however you wish.

9 Legend of Zelda (NES)


   


I didn't own this game in my early NES days, but it was my best friend's prized game. Just taking out the gold cartridge was a joy to us kids, to say nothing of getting through the Lost Woods or finally getting in to Death Mountain. I could pick up and play this game anytime, and to make it even more fresh, the Randomizer available on the net offers great new challenges to an already well-aged classic. 


8 Mass Effect (PC)   





I know MS2 is generally considered a better overall game, but being the first, I was swept up in ME's gameplay and story from the onset, and as such, it holds a higher place for me. (told you being my first would be a theme) ME3 is still in my "To be played" queue, to show you how far behind I am on some things. Small detail: I like how you can set up Shepard to be a man or a woman. I played as a woman, and my daughter, while watching me noticed, and thought it was pretty cool I was "playing the woman." Preferable to playing women in real life, as I have been known to do. But I digress.

[Phoenix87x]

I loved the first zelda. It just threw you in to the world and that was it, you were on your own and it was one hell of an adventure.

Mass effect 1 was incredibly fun and I like it about the same as part 2.

[Lynxo]

While Mass Effect 2 improved a great deal in many areas and is an amazing game in its own right, the first one had a specific atmosphere about it that went missing in the second one and never really came back. For me, it has a lot to do with the soundtrack - that retro 80's sounding music made it really stick out.
Also, I've always play as a female Shepherd. Voice actor Jennifer Hale is sooo much better. 

[ariich]

Yeah my recent play through was female and her voice acting is so vastly superior.

In narrative terms I can't really separate out the three games - they feel like three acts of the same brilliant story. I do think the gameplay was stepped up quite a bit in 2 an 3, though they also didn't have the same sense of exploration as 1 (although driving the mako around was horrible).

[ReaperKK]

Putting in some time in Skyrim, I never did play through the DLC's and I got the remaster. Makes for a good weekend.

[Cable]

Just seeing the photo, and thinking  back, makes me want to go fire up the NES right now!

I still will always take Metroid over the other original big 2. But I will also take Zelda easily over SMB1, and possibly SMB2/DD Panic. Zelda was such a smooth game.

[Cool Chris]

6 The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (PC)   





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo75tLTQ9lA

Wiki calls this a "interactive movie point-and-click adventure game." Which is a mouthful. But I loved this genre of games back in the mid-90s. The storytelling was rich, the characters were compelling, and the gameplay, while limited in the typical sense, focused on problem-solving and advancing the narrative. Video game storylines have developed so much since I was a kid, when I just instructed to "save the princess!" or "kill the dragon!" But in my video gaming prime, adventure games fed my appetite for rich, complex, stories. And this was one of the best, weaving a story about King Ludwig II, Lycanthropy, and Man's relationship to nature and self-discovery. GK1 and GK3 weren't as good. Though they released a revamped version of GK1 with better graphics that make the gameplay more enjoyable. 


7 Deus Ex (PC)   





Deus Ex put everything I love in gaming, threw it in to a pot, and cooked up a wonderful stew. Many times when a game tries to be too many things, it fails at at least one of them, and can't manage to make something greater than the sum of its parts. Deus Ex did that masterfully. Never played any others from the franchise, though I know I own at least one of them.

[Cool Chris]

Well..... crickets on those two! And thanks for the title update!

5 Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)   





Ranking Mario games is my Sophie's Choice.. I played the crap out of SMB/2/3, and then Mario World came out and blew me away. I trudged my way through a moderately enjoyable Sunshine, and almost fully completed Galaxy. But the variety of worlds and star quests challenges in Mario 64 captivated me in a way unlike the others. It might not hold up well now, but I'd still get a kick out of playing it.

4   Knights of the Old Republic (PC)   





I generally hate RPG games. I am terrible at them. I usually can’t get more than 5 minutes in to them before I lose interest. But I love Star Wars, so I thought I would check this one out. From the onset, I was hooked, and loved every minute of this game. The amazing story is more developed and intriguing than a Trade Federation blockade, the characters and the voice-acting are top-notch, and rarely have I felt as immersed in a game as I have with this one. I made it through part ot KoToR II, but gave up for some reason I can't remember. Still saved on my PC though so I hope to get through some day.

[ReaperKK]

I loved deus ex. It's one of the first rpgs that I remeber playing. Never did play any of the follow up titles.

Super Mario 64 is fantastic, funny enough it's the only game on n64 I played, beat, and never touched again, all my other games I played over and over.

I've never played KOTOR disputes owning it for years. I've been very slowly making my way through it on my iPhone.

[ReaperKK]

Also I've never heard of the beast within but I did take a look at some screen caps after your post. It reminds me of a game I played on sega cd that I can't remember the name of.

[Cool Chris]

My gut wanted to go with Mario World (SNES) as I think the replay value is higher. But in the end, Mario 64 had more of an impact on me. I loved being able to go to different levels on your own, once you had enough stars of course.

Sega CD tried to do the whole Full Motion Video thing, but failed miserably.

[Sacul]

I really want to try Deus Ex one day, I love Human Revolution.

SM64 is just trascendental 

A friend gifted me KOTOR, but still haven't played it properly - didn't stop crashing on me. I'll eventually fix it.

[Cable]

6 The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (PC)   





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo75tLTQ9lA

Wiki calls this a "interactive movie point-and-click adventure game." Which is a mouthful. But I loved this genre of games back in the mid-90s. The storytelling was rich, the characters were compelling, and the gameplay, while limited in the typical sense, focused on problem-solving and advancing the narrative. Video game storylines have developed so much since I was a kid, when I just instructed to "save the princess!" or "kill the dragon!" But in my video gaming prime, adventure games fed my appetite for rich, complex, stories. And this was one of the best, weaving a story about King Ludwig II, Lycanthropy, and Man's relationship to nature and self-discovery. GK1 and GK3 weren't as good. Though they released a revamped version of GK1 with better graphics that make the gameplay more enjoyable. 

 I never played this one, but certainly remember the box!  I miss FMV, or interactive movie games. They were kind of ahead of their time, and certainly were a new twist vs. jumping around or shooting things. Ah, the days of having 3-6 CD-ROM discs. 

[Cool Chris]

I recall GK2 had a large section cut as its inclusion would have resulted in the game needing 9 CDs instead of the 6 it ended up having.

A game that just missed my list and will be an Honorable Mention was the first game to include a DVD-ROM. Boy that was hot shit, not having to change CDs!

[ariich]

I generally hate RPG games.

wut

You clearly don't as you've had five already, nearly half your list so far!

[jingle.boy]

KOTOR was amazing.  Played it about 10 years ago, and holy fuck did it suck me in.  There were times I'd play it from the time that the jingle.family went to bed (about 10pm back then), until 2-3am most nights of the week.  Amazing game.

[Phoenix87x]

I worship KOTOR and its probably my favorite SW game. I am replaying it right now and its still just as much fun. I want KOTOR 3 so bad 

[Cool Chris]

3   Metroid Prime (Gamecube/Wii)   





This was the first Metroid game I owned. (theme...again...). I never owned Metroid (NES) or Super Metroid (SNES) so only played them via rental or at a friend’s house. So Prime's FPS gameplay didn't phase me (yes I went there) The areas in this game are so beautiful. The Phendrana Drifts is one of my all-time video game environs. I love the scanning feature, being able to gather information about your surroundings and enemies is great. Learning about the Chozo as you progress through the game is a nice touch, and so much better than being lulled to sleep with hours of cut-scenes. The controls are spot on, the music is glorious. I especially love how when you enter a new area, you aren't bombarded with enemies. You are left on your own to explore, taking in the sights and sounds, relying on your wits to figure out how to proceed, before the baddies come out of the darkness and try to kill you.

2   The Pandora Directive (PC)   





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw5jyKOndZ8


Tex Murphy is my favorite video game character. Never heard of him? Alas. Sam Spade in a dystopian 21st Century San Francisco. The Tex Murphy series (after the first two) seamlessly blended FMV and 3D environments in a way that revolutionized computer games in the mid 90s. It was one of the first games to use branching narratives and have multiple endings based on player choices. The back of the box image (above) sums it up better than I can. Atmospheric music and visuals, fun problem-solving and puzzles, witty dialogue (notice your choices aren't what you will exactly say, they just give a quick snapshot of which direction you want to take the conversation), and a compelling story. They literally (unfortunately) don't make them like this any more.

[Sacul]

Although I prefer the second game, Metroid Prime is a fantastic one