Summer Games Challenge 2026 - PRESS I FOR INVENTORY

[RobertAugustdeMeijer]

AJ’s list is absolutely based. I’ve beaten Mega Man Legends and Sonic CD, and I can attest to their classic status. Just great games, particularly Mega Man Legends. Star Control II I played a lot on my friend’s DOS PC very long ago. It blew my mind, and I need to make an actual attempt at beating it someday.

1 Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast)
2 God of War 2018 (PlayStation 4)
3 Beyond Good & Evil (PS2/Xbox/NGC)
4 Madden NFL 2005 (PS2/Xbox)
5 Viewtiful Joe (GameCube)
6 Rome: Total War (Windows XP)
7 Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (PS2/Xbox/NGC)
8 Jet Grind Radio (Dreamcast)
9 NBA 2K11 (X360/PS3)
10 Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox 360)

Wish me luck!

Good luck! I’ve bounced off multiple games in this list - Skies of Arcadia, Viewtiful Joe, Ninja Gaiden II - but based on my time with them, I see them as classics. The ones I’ve beaten are Beyond Good & Evil, which is a very solid Zelda-like from a great designer, and PoP: Sands of Time, which had a really neat mechanic 20+ years ago. I hope you like them.

On the sports games…why did you pick those particular years?

I seriously detested Sands of Time back in the day. Lazy combat mechanics, stupid puzzles, and the praised rewind time mechanic was the same as having limited lives. My best friend loved it and after decades of embarrassment for never having beaten a game, this was his first. We're still friends, but I'm still gobsmacked that this crap was to his liking.
I'm giving it another chance, but my expectations are low. Luckily, having beaten 100+ AAA games I didn't like, my nerves can now take a beating.

Didn't like Beyond Good & Evil that much either (good thing it has nothing to do with Nietzsche, phew!), despite wanting to like it because of its style and characters. Gonna beat it this time for real.

I also want to know a bit more about popular sports titles. NBA 2K11 had the Jordan challenges and made NBA2K super popular. NFL 2K5 is often seen as the best (realistic) football game, and I want to compare it to the second best: Madden '05.