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cowgod
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"Must Play" games for each system?

by cowgod Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:13 am

I just got a retro handheld device (Anbernic RG351P) and I only want to add "must play" games on it, rather than entire ROM sets for each system. I know racketboy has guides for genres as well as hidden gems as well as defining games, but is there a more general "here's a list of every game worth playing" for each system?
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by prfsnl_gmr Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:58 am

Congrats on your purchase. Those handhelds are awesome. I have a RG350, and I love it. I spent a few months dumping all of my cart-based games -which was quite a challenge! - and with so many games on the system I see the appeal of a more limited ROM set.

What kind of games do you like? I think the list of must-play games will vary based on your interests. Also, how many games are you thinking for each system? 10? 50? 100?
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marurun
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by marurun Fri Oct 22, 2021 11:39 am

We don't have any "everything must play" in the RB guides, but we do have hidden gems (which are all worth playing) and some genre guides for different platforms as well. The 101 articles and Pushing the Limits articles also include titles for consideration.
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cowgod
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by cowgod Fri Oct 22, 2021 12:03 pm

I like pretty much every genre except JRPG. I was just hoping to get a more general list that applies to everyone than to something specific for me, but that seems hard to come by. I did see that IGN has a few "top 100 games" articles, so it seems like I will have to curate my own list from RB articles and those lists. I just didn't want the process to be so tedious and was hoping someone already did the leg work for such a list! Thanks for the replies.
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o.pwuaioc
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by o.pwuaioc Sat Oct 23, 2021 6:45 am

There are dozens of consoles out there. Compiling a list of every game for each system is impossible. The NES and PS2 have over a thousand games for their systems (NES US only is still over 700). Even a top 100 is a Herculean task. Some consoles/handhelds don't even have 100 games for them. Specificity is key here if you want good recommendations.

My suggestion is to just look up "best games for [console]" either here, other video game forums, or Google, too.

Some favorites I've used before include Retro Sanctuary and vBender, though registration is currently closed there.

Alternatively, you can Google the oh-so-many "100/500/1000 best/top video games you must play of all time/worth playing today" and thumb through those lists.

Welcome to the club, but now digging through this all is the fun part.
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by cowgod Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:58 am

Here's my first curated "Must Play" list. Atari 2600.

Adventure
Air Raid
Barnstorming
Berzerk
Centipede
Chase the Chuck Wagon
Chopper Command
Combat
Crazy Climber
Demon Attack
Dragster
Dukes of Hazzard
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial
Enduro
Frostbite
Grand Prix
Haunted House
Indy 500 ~ Race
Kaboom!
Kool-Aid Man
Millipede
Ms. Pac-Man
Night Driver
Pac-Man
Pitfall II - Lost Caverns
Pitfall! - Pitfall Harry's Jungle Adventure
Raiders of the Lost Ark
River Raid
River Raid II
Seaquest
Ski Run
Skiing
Solaris
Space Invaders
Star Raiders
Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back
Super Breakout
SwordQuest - EarthWorld
SwordQuest - FireWorld
SwordQuest - WaterWorld
Warlords
Yars' Revenge
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marurun
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by marurun Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:21 am

Is this "must play" list titles that are fun or that are important, because from the perspective of the former criterion there are a couple on that list that are only noteworthy for their notoriety.
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Raging Justice
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by Raging Justice Wed Oct 27, 2021 1:32 am

Well, here's one for the SNES. I don't claim it's complete, but everything here is must play and most people would agree on these choices. I'll mark the JRPGs if you want to avoid them. There are some games I love that I won't put on this list simply because they are not universally loved or universally acclaimed. Like I said, I'm going for a list that most people would agree on here. I say most because every thing is subjective and some people will likely question some of these choices.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Super Mario RPG - JRPG, a rather unconventional one though for its time
Super Mario World
Street Fighter II -There were plenty of arguably better versions of SF II that would come later, but this was the classic original.
Final Fantasy III - JRPG
Chrono Trigger - JRPG
Starfox
Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Castlevania IV
Super Metroid
Mega Man X (you can optionally play the excellent X2 and 3 as well, the first is generally considered the best one though)
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country 2
Mortal Kombat II
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
F-Zero
Super Mario Kart
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Super Punch Out
The Lost Vikings
Final Fight 3 - The Final Fight series is highly regarded in the beat 'em up genre and this was the best one
Disney's Magical Quest series - There were many noteworthy Disney games in the 16-bit era, many from Capcom, these are probably the best ones from them. Any must play list for a 16-bit era console HAS to include a Disney game or two as far as I'm concerned.
Rock n Roll Racing
Blackthorne
Demon's Crest
Actraiser
The Ninja Warriors
Wild Guns
Super Ghouls n Ghosts

I love the 16-bit era, so here's a Genesis list too

Toejam & Earl
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Revenge of Shinobi
Shinobi III
Gunstar Heroes
Earthworm Jim 1 & 2
Contra Hard Corps
Castlevania Bloodlines
The Vectorman series
Comix Zone
Streets of Rage 2
Strider
Castle of Illusion
Mortal Kombat - The genesis version of the classic original MK was better on the Genesis
Golden Axe
Alien Soldier
Rocket Knight Adventure
Ristar
Aladdin - More popular than the SNES version
Pulseman

I'm sure I'm missing some, the Genesis had a ton of classics. There's probably lots of shooters and sports games that should be listed. I am not familiar enough with those genres, but the system was known for them.

Both systems had a lot of good licensed games, but it's debatable if they are "must play". There are some good Batman games I considered mentioning.
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DaydreamStarbeam
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Re: "Must Play" games for each system?

by DaydreamStarbeam Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:22 pm

For MegaDrive, you missed out a few... Some maybe not considered "classics" but I like them a lot or heard good things about them ^^

Thunder Force series
Columns
Puyo Puyo / Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
The Ooze (Howard Drossin is a god. see: that one CD entitled 'sega tunes - roadkill')
Altered Beast
Space Harrier II
Super Fantasy Zone (PAL only)
Another World
Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (some hate it but I love the design)
Bio Hazard Battle (some of my favourite graphics work on the whole console)
Zero Wing (best guitar sound from a 16bit system. FULL STOP.) (PAL/JP only)
Ecco the Dolphin (the CD rerelease is REALLY worth a look at, too!)
Midnight Resistance (US/JP only)
Street Fighter 2 SCE (better than the SNES port IMO as it runs faster and sounds closer to the arcade, SSF2 music sucks though)

32X:
After Burner (pretty much arcade perfect)
Star Wars Arcade
Doom (insert lame fart joke here)
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Racing Deluxe
Kolibri
Knuckles' Chaotix
Tempo (US only)
FIFA '96 (PAL only)

Also, for your SNES list:
Super Mario World 2
Plok!
Super Street Fighter II
Jurassic Park
Donkey Kong Country 3
-JRPGs-
Breath of Fire (1st game was NTSC only, 2nd did come out here)
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore
Terranigma (famously JP/PAL only)
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