Once upon a time, I tried to think of a Top 10 video games list. The list kept changing! I've played A LOT of video games and, historically, I never stuck to one type. My friends introduced me to all sorts of other games, too. Sometimes we'd pick a game for beach week and that trip would forever become linked with that game (Tactics Ogre, Duke Nukem 64, etc).
In high school, my goal was to become a video game developer. I went to George Mason and studied Computer Science with that in mind!
In general: Some sort of leveling or research, thinking, and story.
I decided to break my favorites down by system. I left off the Atari's and started with the good, old-fashioned Nintendo Entertainment System.
NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
This console blew my mind. I vividly remember doing chores to earn money for rentals. We subscribed to Nintendo Power. Pop would play with me. He'd take notes and draw maps to act as strategy guides. It was a great era of gaming for young Mike.
HM - Battletoads - too hard! Crystalis! FF and Zelda had a baby. Ducktales.
5. Castlevania 2 - Simon's Quest - This spot was the hardest to settle on. I played Ducktales with Jesse Havard. Crystalis at Bill's house.
4. Super Mario 3 - This is still a good game! It aged better than everything else. I was excited when it appeared in The Wizard, too. It was my favorite of the Mario games on NES.
3. Mega Man 2 - HARD, but I loved it. Mega Man 3 was a better game, but this is the first one I owned. I played it the most and can still name all the bosses.
2. Final Fantasy - I was so proud when I beat this game all on my own! Well, I did have a strategy guide from Nintendo Power. Uncle Kevin gave me some advice when I was having trouble with the final dungeon. He told me to buy 99 potions and that made the difference. I had more than enough money, but it hadn't occurred to me to spend it on healing!
1. The Legend of Zelda - This is the game I remember Pop helping me on. It was a great game and him playing it with me made it even more special. It's
SNES (Super Nintendo!)
The SNES was a huge step up from the NES. It was my favorite system growing up. I bought an emulator of it for Shane (and he really liked Kirby for a while!).
HM - Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, UN Squadron, sooooo many RPGs, Street Fighter 2, the scope shooting game Battleclash
5 Metal Marines - Could've been higher....but I memorized all the base locations. Without randomized maps that killed the replay value. I still knew where a chunk of them were when I showed Shane the game decades later! I will never forget Briggs handing me the controller once and the enemy nuking him.
4 Mega Man X - Action packed awesomeness. My favorite Mega Man (with nostalgia factored in). There was one beach trip we dedicated ourselves to beating it. I did beat it on the SNES emulator with Shane (Save states make things sooooo much easier).
3 Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - I played this with Pop and on my own. There were comics in Nintendo Power about it that I looked forward to each month. It is the best Zelda in my opinion. I never made the switch to the 3D Zelda games.
2 Final Fantasy 2 - Such Nostalgia! Such wow! This game blew my mind. I'll never forget Cecil needing to not attack to conquer his inner darkness and become a Paladin. I had a crush on Rydia, wanted to be a monster-caller myself, and was traumatized by Cid, Palom, Porom, and Tellah. There are other great RPGs on the system, but nostalgia wise nothing beats FF2 (or 4 in Japan). I beat it on the SNES and the remake on the Playstation (the translations were 'Edge-ier' pun intended and the game clock was unnecessarily sped up).
1 GemFire - Matt and I played Gemfire more than ANYTHING. It didn't age as well as other games, though. I'm less likely to replay it, but I have to acknowledge how much time I spent on this game. Matt and I figured out how the AI thought and could predict its moves! I beat it from every major house and went into detail learning how the game worked so that I could exploit anything and everything. I really like grand, turn-based strategy games with role playing elements and a story and this is one of the first games that hit that itch.
N64 (Nintendo 64)
The N64 was a multiplayer monster. It wasn't as amazing of an evolution to me as the SNES, but it was the first time I got to play 4 player anything on the same screen. Almost all my best gaming memories for the system revolve around playing with others rather than being immersed by a game's story.
5 Star Fox 64 - 4 player multiplayer. You could be a tank or a jet. I remember liking the tank. The single player was fun, but the multiplayer was where the best memories were.
4 Duke Nukem 64 - The multiplayer trend continues here. Only this one, we played co-operatively. It had bots. We'd team up 2 of us versus 2 bots. There was a pirate ship level with a fort where we'd claim the fort or the ship and defend it against all bots! I remember doing that at the beach with Matze
1. Mario Kart 64 - This was the definitive game for N64. We played through and got gold cups on every level to unlock the secret reverse levels. This was a beach game, a house game, a friend's house game, and a party game. All of us played SOOO MUCH. I liked the SNES version, but the ability to have 4 players have caused this version to fully eclipse it in my memory.
Game Boy
The Game Boy was a road trip staple. The only other options were these Konami handhelds that were terrible, awful-bad. The Game Boy made gaming portable even if it wasn't in color.
HM - Fist of the North Star. I didn't know what the anime was or even really like this game much...but it was what I had. I played a lot more of it than I would have if I'd had more options! I had to look through old covers and the truth is, I recognized many covers, but couldn't recall most games. I know I had Mercenary Force. I think I liked Qix. If I played Super Mario Land I'm sure I liked it, but they all just...blur. There were only some games that really stood out of the mix all these years later.
5. Final Fantasy Legend II - I love RPGs and this one was....passable. I remember you could pick your own party. Monsters ate meat from defeated enemies and changed form. Robots gained stats based on the items equipped....and that's about it. I was able to be distracted on car rides, but I know I never beat it. It stuck out enough when I was stuck trying to think of "What's the 5th best game?" The truth is, the next four games are worth it to this day, but I'm not sure this one or any other Game Boy games were good enough to be played ever again.
4 Advance Wars - This is cheating. It came out on Game Boy Advance. I honestly don't remember any other GBA with clarity save for it! I like strategy games, so I really enjoyed this one. It was like Super Conflict for the SNES (which I rented multiple times), but more cartoonish and fast paced. There wasn't really an RPG element to it. There was a story....kinda. The main thing was you could pick different commanders who had different strengths, weaknesses, and a super ability you could charge up. The units were the same from side to side with some rock, paper, scissors elements built in.
3. Pokemon Red - Matze and I made so much fun of Patrick for liking Pokemon....and then we went out and bought it ourselves. It really was the best RPG that came out on the Game Boy. The game was so good that I was willing to at least see what the show was (even though I thought it was way too kiddish for me). Mentioning Matze should give you an idea of how old I was. This came out while I was in 11th grade.
2. Tetris - Early Game Boy games were simple, but that didn't mean they weren't good. Tetris was a classic. My record as a kid was 110, I think. I had a student take on that challenge and destroy my score! The music hasn't changed, but there were no saving pieces or auto dropping in the original version.
1. Dr Mario - Tetris is the one that started it all, but I really like Dr. Mario. It wasn't a better game per se, but I liked working towards winning rather than trying to last as long as I could. In Dr. Mario, there were bugs you had to drop the right colored medicine on. Once they were all gone, you won! It was blatantly inspired by Tetris, but I liked that shift in goal.
Sega Genesis
HM - Side Meir's Pirates and Warsong were both almost #5. I debated back and forth, but with something else (soon to be revealed), Golden Axe/Altered Beast, Mortal Kombat 2
5. Shadowrun - It was one of my first "open-world" type games. I remember making new characters and then hoping to get the zombie killing quest for a good price. I'd farm them for karma and cash to level up. The SNES version was awesome and had a more cohesive story, and it's hard to say which I loved more. This spot was really hard to settle on a single game.
4. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - I couldn't mention Sega without Sonic! He's their mascot. The hedgehog to Nintendo's plumber. It's not necessarily my favorite game, but it was always good mindless fun. It was easy to show people and there were a bunch of them. Two is the one that stands in my head. It introduced Tails which allowed for multiplayer. Plus, I can still hear the Casino Zone music if I close my eyes and try.
3. Phantasy Star IV - I played this game with David Hillis. I also hired out Matt's leveling up services to help David beat the game. It has one of the most fun openings of any RPG with Alys extorting more and more money from the guy who hired her for a monster slaying job. I later got this on some sort of handheld in college to replay and was so mad when my game got deleted halfway through. I wouldn't mind playing through it with an older Shane.
2. Shining Force - Bill had this game and it blew my mind. We named the main character Kylo and then were shocked to find a later character named Zylo. This was my first Tactical RPG and I've loved the genre ever since. I've beat it multiple times!
1. Shining Force II - This is Shining Force, but better. No longer did I need to click two buttons just to talk to someone. Promotions were at Level 20 instead of Level 10, because there was sooo much more game. The kraken battle gave me trouble as a kid. I'm pretty sure I remember hooking my Genesis up at Jama's and laying on the bed to play in Beaumont. I have introduced this game to Shane already, because I loved it that much. I went on to play every other Shining Force I could get my hands on (I even bought a used Sega Saturn to play just Shining Force III....to which I was sad to realize only Episode 1 was ever released in English).
Game Gear
This was the Game Boy, but in color. Only it drank down batteries like an overheating kid hits lemonade in the summer. It came with a Sonic and I had a couple games for it, but...
1. Shining Force - This is the only game I feel rates high enough to mention. I used to go into the driveway and sit in the van, because I had a car adapter and Nana didn't want me to keep burning through batteries.
SegaCD
I think this system hit around middle school. I know I was in VA for the 2nd time. I will always remember it for my #1 game on it. There were some FMV stuff (full motion video) that was supposed to be cutting edge (Sewer Shark?), but I didn't care. It had animated cutscenes. Cartoons! I didn't really know what anime was at that point, but I wanted more cut scenes in my games.
5. Lunar 2 - This is partially a cheat. I really, really wanted this game and never got it. Year later I bought a remake of it for PlayStation and it was amazing! If I had been able to afford, find, and buy it all the way back when it would have easily made this list.
4. Dune - I read Dune in high school and loved it. The Sega Genesis game was the first real-time strategy game I ever played and was great, but the control scheme was annoying (I was blown away by Command and Conquer on the computer which evolved from the Genesis Dune). This was more of an RPG version of Dune. I remember playing it to completion while on vacation in Beaumont visiting Jama.
3. Vay - This was the first RPG I remember that had animated cutscenes. I was so impressed. I was even more impressed when the auto battle feature beat a boss I was having trouble with. No lie, I lost a time or two, set it to auto battle and went outside to play. When I got back, the fight was still going! The auto battler used healing items at the drop of a hat and prioritized staying a live, and it actually won! Blew my young mind. I'm pretty sure I never beat the game, but that moment lives on.
2. Shining Force CD (Seeing a theme?) - This one could have rated higher, but it was half a disappointed. The game was split into two parts. The second part was the Game Gear game I'd already beaten. The first part was the prequel. The Game Gear game made more sense afterward, but I was hoping for all new stuff.
PlayStation 1
HM - Gran Turismo 2 - Played soooo much because of friends. I wouldn't play it again today, cuz I had my fill but no regrets. Resident Evil 2. Wild Arms for the Theme song. I still like it. I actually beat Wild Arms 2! Bushido Blade 2 with Matze. Xenogears, Lunar, Vanguard Bandits, oh my! Really, so many of these games could have made the list (except GT2 - that was fun because it was social and we played it so much I don't want to ever play it again! Ha!). I remember playing Twisted Metal 2 at John's house, I played Space Griffon at Grandpa Vern's and pretended it was a Veritech, and Dan always loved the Armored Core games where you zipped around (like a Veritech!).
6. Metal Gear Solid - Stealth! I remember nearly beating this at the beach one year...and then my save file got corrupted. It was tragic. Carrie loves the series, but I only ever played the original and the original's demo. That's right, I was crawling around in a box in a demo before I ever played the real thing. DEMOTED! I remembered a game as I was writing!
5. Castlevania Symphony of the Night - This was peak Metroidvania. John talked it up so much at school and eventually loaned it to me. I remember playing it on the floor of my room in the basement. Pop beat the original Metroid for me. I was older and able to play Super Metroid with Bill (and I've also played it with Shane!). I remember playing Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest first at Bill's house, too. Faxandu was another game I liked (and never beat or got very far in) that's part of Symphony of the Night's genes. This was all of those games mashed together and the birth of a genre I really like (Metroid + Castlevania...if you haven't seen how those go together yet, I'm not going to spell it out further). I only played through it once, but I've played many games inspired by those one since.
4. Final Fantasy 7 - After FF2 and FF3 (4 and 6), this was the best Final Fantasy. I used to sneak and play this in my room when I was grounded. Neither FF8, FF9, or FF10 ever recreated how mind-blowing this game felt to me when I first played it. The Popeye arms were revolutionary at the time. I was rooting for Tifa, but shocked when Sephiroth took out Aerith! I beat the game and got a gold choboco, but I never spent enough time to actually beat both Weapons. Still, I sunk a lot of hours into this game.
3. Brigandine - I struggled with whether or not to put this before or after FFT. I first borrowed this game from Travis in college and it was marvelous. It was another strategy RPG. There was a grand map full of towns you could attack or had to defend. You could send up to three generals and their entourages to fight a battle. Once they were used, they were unavailable for the rest of the turn. You had to plan your attacks, move people around, level up, and upgrade your troops. There were story elements to it, as well, and I made sure to win with all of the factions. Unfortunately, the AI was a bit dumb. It was easy to send a single Jinn shooting forward, attack the enemy, and then watch the AI bum rush your established lines of battle. If it was a smarter game, I would have put it above FFT. I think I played Brigandine more overall. I almost forgot Brigandine, because I didn't know it existed until Travis showed it to me in college. I thought it was a PS2 release and threw me for a loop.
2. Final Fantasy Tactics - This was mature Shining Force 2. The plot was political. The morality of some situations murky. It also included a job system where you could change character classes and customize characters. That made it far more complicated than Shining Force 2. The battle system and map with multiple levels made it a better tactical battler than SF2, but I preferred the simple, heroic storyline of SF2. If FFT and SF2 had a baby, I would adopt it. Also, I want to shout-out to Vandal Hearts and Vanguard Bandits. Those were two other fantastic games of this genre. Vandal Hearts had actual blood and came out sooner. Vanguard Bandits came out later, had the funniest strategy guide ever, and had multiple endings (I got 2 out of 3).
1. Suikoden 1 and 2 - These were my favorite RPGs on the PS. Yes, I included both, because you could use a 108 star save game file from the first Suikoden to allow McDohl to join you in Suikoden 2. That was mind-blowingly awesome! Some of the characters from the original carried over and continued bickering and being awesome (I'm looking at you Flik and Viktor). The game featured a level up system where you didn't have to grind as much. That allowed for faster playthroughs and I've played each game at least twice (I may have played the original 4 times?). I bought every Suikoden that came after on the strength of these two (3, 4, and 5), but none of them matched the amazingness of the first two (I did beat 3, but 4 was weird). I plan on buying the remastered versions of 1 and 2 when they come out on computer. I texted Matt when I heard they were coming out, and he plans to play through them again, too!
Other Systems
I could keep going on. We ended up with nearly every system at some point. I think the Dreamcast (Tony Hawk!) was the last one I really used before transitioning more to computer. Well, I did get an Xbox for Halo 2 (and played co-op with Dan) and Sudeki. Those are the only two games I remember well enough to mention. I don't really remember using the GameCube or the Wii much (except maybe for bowling). Carrie had a PS3 we used for years as a DVD player before it broke. Nowadays, we have a Nintendo Switch (Carrie loves Fire Emblem Three Houses), but we haven't bothered with a PS4, PS5, or fancy Xbox. Nowadays, most of my gaming is on the...
Computer
Most of my gaming nowadays is done on the computer. When I think about it, I've played a crazy amount of games. Some of my favorites growing up (Command and Conquer, Privateer/Wing Commander, Xwing/TieFighter, Raptor: Call of the Shadow) haven't aged well and died out as series. I used to play a ton of competitive multiplayer games, too. Especially first person shooters. I feel like I could make lists for individual genres and still leave good games out.
However, I've already spent too much time on these lists. I'm going to pick 10 games that I enjoy now. Just now that my tastes have changed markedly since I rarely play anything competitive multiplayer nowadays.
Also - I excluded my little puzzle games. Hexcell, Tametsi, Hexlogic and all the like are great, but they could easily be run on a phone or a browser. I view them similarly to Sudokus, Freecell, and Hearts.
HM - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I didn't even know I liked the genre, but it had me laughing out loud. It doesn't seem replay-able, but I have the sequel on my wishlist in case it ever drops in price. Also, Griftlands and Slay the Spire - I didn't know deck builders could be so amazing as video games. I used to play Hearthstone a lot on my phone, but I haven't touched it in at least a year and a half (I remember crushing on the new mode that came out in Oct 2021, Mercenaries, for a little bit, but then I haven't picked it up since).
11. Baldur's Gate 2 - I forgot about all BG2! It's a retro pick, but this was my favorite computer RPG of all time. BG 1 was good, but BG2 was amazing. We used to play it on the LAN, I tried a solo run, and with a party. It was the best open-world story on the computer and I'd argue it still is. However, I never really got into any of the Icewind Dales or Neverwinter Nights that came after it. There is a BG3 coming out that I'm hoping is good...but I probably won't buy it for years to come. Morrowind also blew me away as an open world cRPG, but the exploration was the highlight rather than the story.
10. Total War Series - I will probably never replay these again, because they take so much time. I have already spent so much time on this series. I beat Medieval, Rome, Medieval 2, Empire, Shogun 2, Rome 2, and Warhammer. I have looked longing at Three Kingdoms and the other Warhammers when they've gone on sale, but I have resisted. I don't need new ways to kill time and I've already spent so much time on this series I've chosen to move on elsewhere. These follow a recipe I tend to like: A large map mode for strategy, planning, and upgrades. Then a tactical map mode where battles are fought. HM - I'm probably more likely to play Master of Orion 2 nowadays. I bought it on GoG even though it's so old! It's a shame there weren't as many good Master of Orion games.
9. Orcs Must Die 1 and 2 - This a series I wish there was more of and that my friends did it multiplayer. It was a first person shooter tower defense. I loved playing through these and got 100% achievements on OMD1. The main character was cheeky and funny, it took thinking and quick reactions, and I just like blowing up orcs. I like the action was crazy, but then there were breaks to think and plan (unless you were playing Nightmare mode). There was an Orcs Must Die 3, but it doesn't match up to the others. I would play many more games that were like this if only someone were to make them!
8. The Messenger / Shovel Knight - Every now and then I want to play a side-scrolling, metroidvania. The Messenger has been my favorite so far and most recently played. Shane saw me playing and he played through it, as well! The game was amazing, the writing funny, and I still play the music sometimes (It's that catchy!). The only downside to these types of games is I typically play them once through. I don't try to master them or do a speed run, I go all in, enjoy the moment, and then grab a different one later. Shovel Knight has one advantage on The Messenger - Quantity. I played through as the Shovel Knight with Shane, but then went back later as Specter Knight. Then there's a slew of others I have not done. Right now, my controller is on the fritz and I'm thinking about ordering a new one. Bill keeps telling me I *need* to play Ori, but I missed it on the last sale. The odds are 50 / 50 that I'll replay one of these rather than buy something new the next time the mood hits. HM - Mark of the Ninja,
7. Portal and Portal 2 - Unlike the total war series, these games are short. That's revolutionary in some ways. I like bang for my buck and if I buy a game for $20 and play for 100 hours that's a great ROI. But while these games were short, they were that good. I recommended them to Carrie and to this day we make "The cake is a lie!" references. She showed them to Shane and he's beat both of them, too. I would show these games to non-gamers. As an adult, I appreciate the idea of an awesome experience with a clear end that I can then move on from. If a Portal 3 ever came out, I might preorder it and that's not something I do!
6. Heroes of Might and Magic Franchise / King's Bounty - Here's another game from Middle School. I remember being super excited when I bought Heroes 3. I've played more Heroes games since, but HoMM3 is still the most magical in my memory (Matt still plays it today! He had a goal of beating 7 impossible computers on a custom map and did it with Inferno!). Each map felt like it's own game, but I'm crazy enough to have done campaigns in H2, H3, and H5. H4 was the only one I felt that was weird. I haven't gone back to it or H2 (because H3 was basically H2 but better in every single way). There's an H6 and H7 out, but there's so much game in H3 and H5, I've never felt the need to go back. Matt told me about a fan-made, Pirate faction in H3, so if I do get the itch, I'm likely to go there! There was a spin off game that involved matching that was great, too. The King's Bounty is a single player only game that's a fan take on the franchise, too. Instead of being turn based, you have one character who moves around in real time. The battlefield scope is smaller. You can tell it's a Russian design, because the game would take hours and hours to actually play through the whole thing (Russian designers seem to value the ability to kill/spend massive amounts of time on something).
5. Warcraft/Starcraft - I've played Blizzard games since Middle School. I remember setting up Warcraft 2 matches with Adam(?), an older kid who rode my school bus. We played a map called "No Way Out of this Crazy Maze." He killed me. He killed me baaaaad. I had thought I was so smart and so good, because I could beat the campaign. He served me some humble pie and taught me about keyboard shortcuts. He graduated before Starcraft came out and surpassed Warcraft 2 as the best game ever. I played Starcraft at camps, on LANs, and online (The beginning of Battle.net!). Starcraft came with the ability to create custom maps. That allowed it to be so many more games than just Starcraft. There were Tower Defenses, Elemental RPGs, and I especially liked "Paintball maps." Warcraft 3 came out in college. We got our hands on a beta copy and played it on the LAN. Then the full version came out and it was a amazing. I forgot to eat once I was so into it (and fainted after bashing my knee and rushing to answer the door for Mr. Sharpe). There were even more custom game modes including a little something called DOTA. Years down the line, we did more DOTA All-Stars than we played the regular game! I remember coming back from teaching and playing with Bill and Matt in the basement! World of Warcraft gets a mention here, too. Originally, I only played for 6 months when it came out. Carrie tried it and it was a staple for a while. However, WoW flirts with being more work than game at times. You had to accomplish things to be able to do other things and while the highs were amazing with friends, there were other times the game was just a grind that had to be done.
4. BattleTech - This is a semi-cheat. There are two very different kinds of BattleTech games. There's the action kind where you drive around your own mech (I played Mechwarrior Online a lot when we lived in Chantilly). Then there's the tactical kind where you command a force of mechs from outside the cockpit (I played a long career campaign during the initial COVID lockdown). The games are great, but the IP is a huge draw for me. I grew up playing the board game, reading the books, and I still have the game now. I've played with Shane and with John, but not anytime recently.
3. Deep Rock Galactic - I loved my FPS's growing up, but this is the one I've played the most recently. Both with Shane and with Bill. It's cooperative instead of competitive and that fits my vibe. Honestly, we've played so much we've unlocked everything of note. I'd still play if any of my friends wanted to. I'd happily level them up. In fact, I bought copies for multiple people hoping it'd catch on! Patrick played for a little while. Briggs and Dan both tried it, but neither is big on FPS games anymore.
2. Desktop Dungeons - This has been my most played game by far lately. It's a roguelike puzzler game by an indy developer (I've really liked indy games for a while now). You pick a character, a class, and you go into a level and see if you can beat it. I've played it enough that I know all the ins and outs and it would be work to learn a new game! I'll sometimes pop in earbuds and listen to an audiobook while I play. You'd think that listening to something else while playing something wouldn't work so well, but it does! I can't listen to audiobook without doing something else, and the game counts. The game doesn't need audio and I've memorized what everything does, so I can plan my strategies, pause if I need to focus on the book for a moment, and then go back to playing at my leisure. I've even taught it to Shane.
1. X-Com series - This is my favorite series hands down. I keep discovering new things about it to like (including making custom characters!) I stopped myself from starting a run last summer, because I was afraid I would get too involved and ignore things I need to do. It's the closet thing to electronic crack-cocaine for me. You're the heroes struggling to fight off a mighty alien invasion force. There's a horror-esque, tense vibe, because any soldier lost is gone forever. But over time, your soldiers improve, their gear improves, and hopefully (if you build right) you can be the one terrifying the aliens at the end. There are two levels to the game: The tactical map where missions occur and the strategic map where you construct a base, research new technologies, and run everything to give yourself the best chance possible on missions. I have introduced it to Shane, too. Once he played the original enough, I bought him the newer version. If he ever plays that more, I'll get him Xcom 2, but he's not as into challenges as I am so far.
Pop and I loved going down memory lane with you in this blog! It brought up some great memories! Thanks! Love, Mom
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