Oldest 'hidden gems' & 'best of' lists.

[Ziggy]

I'm much more in tune with the SNES library than the PS1 or PSP, so I'd be more more helpful there.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Here’re some links to old EGM “best of” lists from 1997 and 2002, respectively:

https://kirk.is/vgames/powerlist/egm100.html

https://carlosplays.com/2011/05/21/egms ... ames-ever/

I still have copies of both EGM 100 and 150, and I’ve almost beaten every game on each of these lists. (Life goals!) Also, and most sports games excepted, the 1997 list is rock solid, even if it excludes both Atari and PC games.

……

If you’re looking for more old lists, I’d recommend looking for scans or copies of lists, like these, that were first published in print. I am certain Nintendo Power, GamePro, PC Gamer, etc. all published lists like these from time to time, usually to concise with “anniversary” issues.

[Note]

Thanks for sharing these lists, prfsnl! It's cool to browse through and see what games were mentioned back then. Some good lists for sure. Can't say I've beat every game on them yet, but I've played a good amount of the games, and a lot of them are games I'm interested in finishing.

I have some of my original Nintendo Power issues still around and I recall them publishing a few lists like this as well. I'll try to look online for scans, but if I don't find any, I can also take some photos of the magazines I have.

[nickfil]

Another approach, which I feel like it more do-able in the short term, is to promote some games from "Gems" to "Defining" and then promote some of the best "Gems" Honorable Mentions to be more highly featured. I've VERY slowly been doing this and hope to continue -- especially if I get some volunteer assistance. If anybody wants to join the initiative, please let me know!

Here's a thread I started to work on the PS1 Hidden Gems "remake"
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 26&t=53515

I think the conversation needs to shift from separating hidden gems and games the defined the system to something more of a "best of the super nintendo." Put the hidden gems side by side with the games the defined the system. Just list em all. The reason I think its better to do this is because as we get further and further form the SNES being out, more and more people are looking at various forms of emulation. Especially as it becomes prohibitively expensive to play. I also think that breaking them into type of game is great, but I do think an alphabetical list is advantageous too because if you are browsing a menu of roms, you are making your list look like theirs. I don't know- just a thought. And then maybe take special care to write up some of the really upper tier stuff. Like, look.... I like Goemon. Can it hold up next to Super Mario World? If you can only play one, I'd play SMW. So maybe a small write up of SMW, and then dive deeper with Goemon.

But- rearranging all this is a ton of work. Worth it? idk!

also- and I don't know if ya'll have thought about this..... some of these hidden games should stay hidden. Some games age beautifully, and as the years pile on, sometimes..... not so much! A game from a 2005 list might not fair well when replaying it in 2020.

I don't know what the solution is- but this is stuff thats been rolling around in my head.

[alienjesus]

The above mostly makes a lot of sense. Moving old 'hidden gems' which are now better known into Defining Games waters that term down I think. For me, defining games should be the stuff that sold well, that people and the media were discussing at the time. Some of those games probably aren't even games that hold up well.

The stuff in hidden gems that are better known are probably more like 'cult classics'.

[nickfil]

The above mostly makes a lot of sense. Moving old 'hidden gems' which are now better known into Defining Games waters that term down I think. For me, defining games should be the stuff that sold well, that people and the media were discussing at the time. Some of those games probably aren't even games that hold up well.

The stuff in hidden gems that are better known are probably more like 'cult classics'.

I really like the idea of "cult classics"

If a game defined a system, but isn't fun to play anymore. Is it even worth talking about or putting on any lists. I'd rather talk about the history, but list the good games to play right now.

[marurun]

The above mostly makes a lot of sense. Moving old 'hidden gems' which are now better known into Defining Games waters that term down I think. For me, defining games should be the stuff that sold well, that people and the media were discussing at the time. Some of those games probably aren't even games that hold up well.

The stuff in hidden gems that are better known are probably more like 'cult classics'.

I really like the idea of "cult classics"

If a game defined a system, but isn't fun to play anymore. Is it even worth talking about or putting on any lists. I'd rather talk about the history, but list the good games to play right now.

I mean, if the game defined a system but isn't fun to play, isn't that still valuable information? You'll likely see the game mentioned a lot on-line as being important. It might be nice to know it doesn't hold up, but that it was still critically important despite that.

[nickfil]

I think its valuable information for an article and not for a "heres what to play" list. Something like that needs context to be understood, and only someone who is looking for that context is going to enjoy it.

[marurun]

I think its valuable information for an article and not for a "heres what to play" list. Something like that needs context to be understood, and only someone who is looking for that context is going to enjoy it.

The "Defining" series of articles are very much more articles than "what to play" lists. At least that's the way I've approached any work I've done on them.

[racketboy]

I think its valuable information for an article and not for a "heres what to play" list. Something like that needs context to be understood, and only someone who is looking for that context is going to enjoy it.

I do have a concept float in my head that is very much the "Best for System Today" or "Essential Plays".
Here's a few pieces I have in my head
* Games for a system that retro fans should play regardless of their genre preferences
* Essential games for certain genres for those that enjoy said genres -- such as Fighting, RPGs, etc -- not everyone really likes them (but at the same time, some extremely good or iconic Fighters or RPGs should be given a try by those that aren't fans of the genre)
* Pulling from an overall list of the best games of all times and factoring in the best platform(s) to play those game on.

These will take some organization on my part and I think it will be highly collaborative to kinda narrow down what's "essential"