100 Favorite Games Challenge

[Sumez]

Speaking of Tomb Raider, I might include the TR3 expansion pack The Lost Artifact on my list, which was released on its own, so it can be considered a different game altogether. As you can see, you're given a lot of freedom when making your lists, just keep it reasonable.

Completely forgot about Tomb Raider. I have a soft spot for TR2 - not sure if it's good enough to actually make the list, but it's kinda crazy to think there were still enough relevant devs out there that Core Design couldn't even claw their way in.

[Searchlike]

Nonetheless it has a minor impact on the list, as a replacement would be easy enough for me to figure out.

No need to change your picks, you've made a solid argument. Well played:

-----------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER: chum
MISSION: 100% (20 points)
CLEAR TIME: Within a week (15 points)
NUMBER OF DEVELOPERS: 100 (20 points)
NUMBER OF TITLES: 100 (20 points)
STRICT ONE DEVELOPER RULE: YES (20 points)

TOTAL AVERAGE: 95 points

RANK: SS
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Sorry guys, I know this thread sucks

I had no idea the folks responsible for GUN-DEC also did Blazing Star. Neat.

I've got my eye on some games I never heard of before from your list, such as Metal Stoker, because I see you put it ahead of Money Puzzle and Zupapa, two really awesome games! Now my interest is piqued.

not sure if it's good enough to actually make the list, but it's kinda crazy to think there were still enough relevant devs out there that Core Design couldn't even claw their way in.

Thread redeemed. Thank you, guys!

[BulletMagnet]

- Had to stop at 50, most everything past that would have been too much of a stretch for my taste.

- I found myself taking a bit of an odd perspective while compiling this, as I frequently gravitated towards titles that I wouldn't likely call all-time favorites in a purely objective sense, but did manage to keep me glued to the screen or take me out of my comfort zone in a standout way that I can't help but recall fondly.

- Probably a bit of Sony overlap in there, not sure when everyone ended up under its umbrella. Oh well.

- Most embarrassingly of all, while coming up with this list I constantly happened upon games that I have in my backlog and am eager to get to but haven't played enough to consider for a list like this yet; now THAT I could probably make a full 100-game list out of.

Spoiler

R= Game & Developer & Comment R= Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne & Atlus & Even its antiquated design aspects helped to bring to life the ruthless world that’s out to mess you the heck up. R= de Blob & Blue Tongue & I don’t play many “chill out” titles but touching stuff to color it in and get the music flowing is just the sort of daydream I’d have. R= 19XX: The War Against Destiny & Capcom & Nobody else will make this their Capcom pick, but my own sorely limited arcade memories belong to this game. R= Phoenotopia Awakening & Cape Cosmic & No other title that frustrated me this much still kept me so enthralled to the very end. R= DoDonPachi & Cave & It’s what got me into shmups proper, ‘nuff said. R= Super Aleste & Compile & It was always fun just blasting everything away, but going back and realizing just how weirdly trippy an experience this is makes it even better. R= The Talos Principle & Croteam & I long figured that Portal would be the only first-person puzzler I’d ever get into. The Serious Sam guys were somehow the ones to make me eat my words. R= Super Daryl Deluxe & Dan and Gary Games & You need a very particular sensibility to appreciate this one, and this team has apparently been spying on me for years. R= Mirror’s Edge & DICE & Both first-person and speedrun-centric games tend to turn me off, but this was different and stylish enough to hook me notwithstanding. R= Psychonauts & Double Fine & The sequel also comes recommended, in some ways moreso than the original, but nostalgia dies hard here. R= Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure & DreamRift & The REAL victims of the “Epic Mickey” boondoggle. This team deserved so much better. R= Severed & Drinkbox & The Guacamelee titles are great, but Severed is both more unique and perfectly tailored for its doomed debut on the Vita. R= SoulBlazer & Quintet & Perhaps the simplest and most basic of Enix’s output, but it still has a “more than the sum of its parts” vibe that speaks to me like none of its siblings. R= Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim & Falcom & Most folks consider this one of the weaker entries, but it’s my introduction to the dev, and the localization also has a SotN-esque cheese appeal. R= Blasphemous & The Game Kitchen & Catholic Guilt: The Official Game of the Movie. My very newest favorite, just in time! R= Horizon Zero Dawn & Guerrilla & The only open-world game I’ve ever felt compelled to try, and quite glad I did. R= Mana Khemia & Gust & At their best on the PS2 IMO, and this one was my favorite of the lot. R= Victor Vran & Haemimont & The closest to Diablo I’ll ever play...by Bulgarians best known for strategy titles? Have to respect that. R= CometStriker & Iced Lizard & A really great “...think you can do it faster and more efficiently this time?” title that nobody else seems to know. R= Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal & Insomniac & None of the sequels ever quite managed to match it, IMO. R= Divekick & Iron Galaxy & The sheer cheekiness behind it - not to mention the much-ballyhooed custom controller - makes it irresistible to the likes of me. R= Necronomicon Digital Pinball & KaZe & Last Gladiators 9.7 is probably technically superior, but the goofy pesudo-Lovecraftian nonsense makes it my favorite. R= Gitaroo Man & Koei & The early-stage songs are the best ones IMO, but that just means even if I suck I still got my money’s worth. R= Super Castlevania IV & Konami & Was never big on the “classic” ‘vanias, but this one was approachable enough to keep me coming back. Gradius V was a close second. R= Soul Bubbles & Mekensleep & Perhaps my most abrupt and memorable trip from “god, that box art looks awful” to “I’m a kid again!” R= Caladrius Blaze & Moss & Raiden seldom did a heckuva lot for me, but the guys behind it have proven they can succeed outside their wheelhouse. R= Tales of Graces F & Namco Bandai & Exhibit A of my personal “Dumb plot and characters are no object if I like the rest” museum. R= Shadow Hearts: From the New World & Nautilus & Exhibit B. The also-excellent Covenant is better recommended to those who place more emphasis on story. R= Super Mario World & Nintendo & It made me a gamer. Even within Nintendo’s ranks there was simply no contest. R= Battle Garegga & Raizing & Requires a completely different approach than almost any other shooter, baffling before you understand it, amazing once you do. R= Alan Wake & Remedy & About as close to a horror-ish game as I’ve ever enjoyed, and the game that forced me to abandon “reverse” camera controls. R= Yakuza 0 & Sega & A VERY tough call between this and Skies of Arcadia or Panzer Dragoon Saga, but Yakuza was the bigger surprise for me, and wins by a nose. R= The Lost Vikings & Silicon and Synapse & As close to a Blizzard entry as this list gets, and one of the few games my dad has enjoyed along with me. R= One Finger Death Punch & Silver Dollar & The “More Fun Than It Has Any Earthly Right to Be” award. R= Harmful Park & Sky Think Systems & Possibly my favorite cute-em-up, no mean feat considering how famously weak I am to their charms. R= King of Fighters ‘98 & SNK & I’m lousy at fighters but this one has a “workmanlike” appeal to it that always makes me willing to have a go. R= Gravity Rush & Sony Japan Studio & Just soaring around for no reason was a lot of fun, though I think I’m the only person who prefers the original to the sequel. R= Lightning Returns & Square-Enix & Lost more brain cells on this shamelessly ridiculous release than is remotely healthy, and regret nothing. R= Knights in the Nightmare & Sting & This bunch always specialized in off-kilter experiments, and this is the mashup I dig the most. R= Cotton Boomerang & Success & All the distinctive sealing and tossing shenanigans of Cotton 2, but more varied and accessible. R= Landmaker & Taito & Doubt very many would make this their Taito pick, but it’s my all-time favorite puzzler, so it gets the nod. R= Monolith & Team D-13 & Out of the million and one twin-stick roguelites out there this sucker still reigns supreme in my book. R= 99 Spirits & Toraiki & Part RPG, part reaction test, part word game, with a Japanese mythological theme? Who thinks up something like that? R= Radiant Silvergun & Treasure & Will always be awful at it, will always keep coming back for more. R= Fragile & Tri-Crescendo & Very rough in some respects, but hauntingly beautiful, even without the “for a Wii game” qualifier. R= Overlord & Triumph Studios & Everything on paper says I should like Pikmin but not this. Somehow the complete opposite happened. R= Portal & Valve & Unique, well-tuned, and to the point; the perfect “eh, what the heck, I’ll try it” formula. R= Vasara 2 & Visco & Vasara’s silly theme and scrappy charm always guaranteed a soft spot from me, and the sequel’s tweaks give it an edge. R= Crimzon Clover & Yotsubane & If you’re just plain in the mood to blow a bunch of stuff up with aplomb you can’t do much better. R= Imperishable Night & ZUN & This and PCB were my first Touhou titles, so I’ll always associate the series with more complex/esoteric systems like this one.

[Searchlike]

Most embarrassingly of all, while coming up with this list I constantly happened upon games that I have in my backlog and am eager to get to but haven't played enough to consider for a list like this yet; now THAT I could probably make a full 100-game list out of.

Same here, I was not ready for this, ironically. Personally, I have a bad habit of jumping from game to game. Digital purchases have not helped at all, as it's very easy to fail a certain challenge and switch games to attempt an entirely different one within a few seconds.

As someone always looking for fresh experiences in this medium, I've had my eyes on Henry Hatsworth, Soul Bubbles and Knights in the Nightmare for a while, cool to see them pop up on your list, BM. Thanks for participating and providing explanations for your picks too.

--------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER: BulletMagnet
MISSION: 100% (20 points)
CLEAR TIME: Within a week (15 points)
NUMBER OF DEVELOPERS: 50 (10 points)
NUMBER OF TITLES: 50 (10 points)
STRICT ONE DEVELOPER RULE: YES (20 points)

EXPLORATION BONUS: (5 points)
STORYTELLING BONUS: (10 points)

TOTAL AVERAGE: 90 points

RANK: SS
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also I'm working on a list but it's haaaaard

Just started mine last night. This is way more painful than fun so far, I'm sorry you all. Ganbatte, Roo!

What's enjoyable is looking at the remains of this bloodstained battlefield in the form of your final lists and building a wishlist out of each one, safe to say I will be consulting them quite often.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I actually finished my list last night (stayed up until 2 AM for some reason to do it >w>) and I was shocked that after a lot of digging through what I'd played, I didn't need to put in any actual filler games. I had to do a lot of research because there were some entries it turned out I was totally unfamiliar with the developers and only knew the publisher! I'm just formatting the list and my notes to pretty it up for postin' tonight. ;3

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure - DreamRift -The REAL victims of the “Epic Mickey” boondoggle. This team deserved so much better.

I'll have to look up the story here. I'm familiar with the game itself, very neat stuff, but didn't know about the poor developer's woes. D:

Tales of Graces - Exhibit A of my personal “Dumb plot and characters are no object if I like the rest” museum.

You can't go wrong with the Chain Capacity system pioneered by Tales of Destiny R. Great battle system.

Monolith - Team D-13 - Out of the million and one twin-stick roguelites out there this sucker still reigns supreme in my book.

While I have extremely mixed feelings about the rebalancing that took place in the DLC release (i.e. I hate it), the original release of Monolith is about as close to perfection as a roguelite gets. I still scrubbed them from my list deliberately because I loathe the ammo rebalancing in the DLC and how it basically yanks any kind of skill-based control of your current weapon away with unavoidable weapon breaks due to running out of ammo. This forces you to face all the new superbosses with your basic peashooter, which kills the mood of what's supposed to be an epic-feeling fight and is frankly a huge slap in the face given their Twitter account teased new weapons for ages that it turns out you'll barely ever be able to use.

Same reason I initially put Hopoo's Risk of Rain on my list then said fuck no. I love the game and when online works it's great, but they left the online multiplayer in a buggy, crash-prone state of development (crash out of a game and you can't rejoin!!) and released a 3D sequel instead. Very annoying, and leaves me uninterested to support them further.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Alrighty, here it is. This was a lot of fun! There's several games I discovered I was totally wrong on who the developer was (for Ultima IV NES and Bard's Tale NES in particular).

Sorted by developer name:

Spoiler

#1: Access - Wizardry Gaiden IV: Throb of the Demon’s Heart (SNES)

A little known dev with only a few golf games released in English happens to have made what is possibly one of the best officially licensed Wizardry games ever. It’s got a ton of classes and spells, and its list of races includes the exotic beast races from the later Wizardry games. It’s also got a very unique feudal Japan inspired setting. Now that we have an English translation, the world gets to finally experience it!


#2: Acclaim Studios Austin (formerly Iguana Entertainment) - Turok: Rage Wars

This multiplayer oriented FPS game never got the attention I felt it deserved. It never managed to get any attention over Goldeneye or Perfect Dark, and I felt it was a shame since it had a lot of interesting ideas going for it. It’s not necessarily an amazing game, but I enjoyed it a lot when I was young, and I think it did what it set out to do.


#3: Accolade - Law of the West (Commodore 64)
(honorable mentions: the early Test Drive series of games)

A kind of early visual novel before visual novels were all anime girl fare. Each day you encounter someone in town and have to foil bank robberies, deal with the local drunkards, woo fine ladies, and generally avoid getting shot.


#4: Addix Software Development, Inc. - Wrath of Earth

An obscure MS-DOS first person shooter, but one with the complexity of something like System Shock. It’s an amazing game. You’re in a solar-powered power suit with shoulder mounted cannons, and an energy system that recharges in sunlight or strong indoor lighting. You have automapping, radar, suit functions that can take damage if you suffer strong hits through your shields, multi-lockon homing missiles, you have to watch for radioactivity, areas of extreme temperatures, there’s NPCs to interact with, puzzles to solve… it’s a fantastic, tense FPS game. As far as I know it’s their only game, and it’s an amazing one at that.


#5: Aisystem Tokyo - Change Air Blade

One of the most hilariously fun vs shmups out there. You haven’t lived until you’ve blasted someone with the space shuttle’s thruster attack. They were apparently responsible for a lot of console ports such as the Genesis version of Bio-Ship Paladin, the Sega CD port of The NinjaWarriors, and the Saturn port of Darius Gaiden.



#6: Ancient Corp. - Beyond Oasis

Exceptional top-down action adventure game. Has a ton of secrets to find, and the combat system is fantastic.


#7: Angband Development Team - Angband

While I think Nethack is a fantastic game, Angband is a far better roguelike in terms of not being obtuse in what information it provides to the player, making it far easier to get into. Because you can explore at your own pace, it plays more like a traditional progression RPG rather than a super hardcore roguelike, and thus for someone dipping their toes into the roguelike genre, I’d probably recommend Angband first. Or Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.


#8: Ape - Mother
(honorable mentions: Mother 2 / Earthbound)

A true love letter to the Dragon Quest series. The game’s combination of quirkiness and emotion are unparalleled. The second game’s fun too with the innovative rolling HP meter, but it’s a bit too linear, and there’s not as many opportunities to wander and explore the world.


#9: Apogee Games (later 3D Realms) - Major Stryker
(honorable mentions: Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure, Bio Menace, Duke Nukem 3D, Monster Bash, Secret Agent

Major Stryker is an early MS-DOS era shmup that doesn’t get much love, and doesn’t suffer the euroshmup vibes its later Stargunner does (or Raptor, which Apogee published but didn’t develop. I haven’t played that much of Duke Nukem 3D yet to be honest, and while I'm aware it's a fantastic game I'm more familiar with Apogee’s platformers, so I’m not as nostalgic for it.


#10: Atelier Double - The Bard’s Tale (NES port)

I didn’t actually know the developer wasn’t FCI or Pony Canyon until I wrote this list! Apparently they made a number of Japanese only releases such as an NES sequel to this game, and some weird ones I’d never heard of like Monkey Puncher. This game is a fantastic first-person RPG for the NES that’s possibly the best on the console (Wizardry 1 for the NES has a major bug; armor doesn’t do anything!).


#11: Atlus - Persona 2 (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment)

Still stands as the best Persona games in the series, and the last Persona games before the series turned into wacky high school hijinks harem dating simulator themed games.


#12: Bandai Namco Amusement - Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5

The Wangan Midnight games are amazing and are basically tied with Out Run 2 SP with my arcade racing game of choice. I’ve chosen the 5th game for this entry because it’s the only one I’ve really been able to play extensively.


#13: BogHog - REDPULSE

An incredible platformer with Vanquish style slide dashing and enemies that fire shmup style slow but dense patterns at you. I thought it was an amazing game, especially considering it was released as a “pay what you like” game.


#14: BomberGames - Streets of Rage Remake

A fan-made remake that manages to be the best way to experience the first three Streets of Rage games in one combined package. The custom level creator only adds to the sheer possibilities. One of the best fanmade remakes ever made.


#15: Bullfrog Productions - Magic Carpet

Really fun MS-DOS era game about blasting things by RAISING VOLCANOES UNDERNEATH THEM. Hardcore stuff. ;3


#16: Capcom - Saturday Night Slam Masters (SNES)
(honorable mentions: Chip ‘N Dale (NES), Demon’s Crest, Mega Man 4, Resident Evil (Remake)

Capcom has a ridiculously large library of games so it’s difficult to pick one to represent them as a developer. However, one of my fave games as a kid is one that’s essentially a wrestling themed beat ‘em up that’s incredibly fun for co-op play. I actually prefer it slightly to the arcade version, Muscle Bomber Duo, simply because it feels like the fat’s been trimmed from the moveset (AI can’t block attacks with their perfect reads any more, a lot of useless moves are gone and inputs for the good moves simplified). The music's also fantastic!


#17: CAVE - Mushihimesama Futari
(honorable mentions: Donpachi, Dodonpachi)

Their best game I think, and not just because it was also the first one I owned. I also like the first two *Pachi games a great deal. Their early forays into prerendered 3D art in Espgaluda, DaiOuJou, and Mushihimesama weren’t all that great looking to me, though the music is exceptional in basically all their games except perhaps Donpachi with its low sample rate.


#18: Compile - Guardic Gaiden/The Guardian Legend
(honorable mentions: GG Aleste, GG Aleste 2)

One of the only shmups out there to competently blend two genres together. It feels like a delightful Legend of Zelda turned shmup, without any of the obtuseness of having to bomb random walls or use a candle to burn down random trees. And it’s got a pure shmup mode as a reward for beating the game! The GG Aleste games are also fantastic and among the best games on the Game Gear.


#19: Copya System - Lennus / Paladin’s Quest

Their most noteworthy games by far are the two Lennus RPG games they’ve made. I’ve only had the chance to play the first one, and its strange, surreal landscapes remind me of Jack Vance’s worlds. Truly a memorable experience.


#20: Cyberlore Studios - Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse

One of the most interesting, engaging top-down adventure games I’ve played ever. That's not an exaggeration. It’s an MS-DOS game, and the first game they ever released, and it’s absolutely fantastic. The combat may not quite be on par with Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or Beyond Oasis, but the story and sheer amount there is to see and explore is better than many JRPGs of its time. This game is downright fantastic, and criminally unknown.


#21: Data East - Wolf Fang: Kuuga 2001
(honorable mentions: Windjammers)

I don’t have fond memories of too many Data East games, but Wolf Fang is an absolute must-play for anyone into shmups or mechs. It’s just too much fun to mess with the customization, and the Electrigger weapon you can use to block shots gives me a Giga Wing vibe.


#22: Datasoft - Bruce Lee (Commodore 64)

A surreal, unique platformer that’s actually less focused on the combat than it is timing and precision platforming. It’s a LOT of fun, and it has a multiplayer option where the second player takes control of the green monster that appears in most places and can either be helpful and go after the black knight, or be competitive and try to murder you.


#23: DICE - RalliSport Challenge
(honorable mentions: Mirror's Edge)

The company that would be best known for the Battlefield series as well as Mirror’s Edge actually made some really fun racing games early on in their life. RalliSport Challenge is a really, really fun drifting oriented racing game. I also enjoy Mirror's Edge a lot and love the surreal look of the floating cube environment in the time trials DLC.


#24: Digital Extremes - Epic Pinball

It’s a fantastic pinball game with multiple tables to play. If there's a downside, it's that the best table is probably the first one that's in the shareware version? The android themed one is just that good. Was published, but not developed by Epic Megagames.


#25: Diversions Entertainment - One Must Fall: 2097

Their only noteworthy game was OMF 2097 but it’s arguably the best fighting game on MS-DOS, especially once you discover the secret unlock code that enables air juggling, which really changes your combo options.


#26: Dongleware Verlags GmbH - Oxyd

I played the heck out of the MS-DOS version of the game. Amazing puzzle game, Dongleware was the publisher who apparently also handled porting to most of the platforms the game was released on.


#27: Eden Games - Test Drive Unlimited

Open world driving game; as far as I know it was kind of the first of its kind, and it’s a damn good one!


#28: EMAG Software - SideLine

Simply put, the greatest MS-DOS shmup ever made. I've written a guide for it, and played this obsessively. They also made a few lightgun style games too apparently that I’ve never heard about, including A.D. Cop which looks very competent for the platform it was made on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrSvih9lEBE


#29: Epic Megagames - Jill of the Jungle
(honorable mentions: Kiloblaster, ZZT)

Amazingly fun, surreal platformer. I spent many hours with Jill of the Jungle. Kiloblaster is also a fantastic shmup deserving mention, and ZZT is arguably a contender for their best (and first!) game, essentially being a game engine that let you develop your own adventures from exploratory quests to wacky stuff like Burger Joint. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmlLfBGyQQ

They also made a game called Xargon which tries and largely fails to be Jack of the Jungle. The game felt harder and doesn't have the same surreal charm and visuals Jill of the Jungle has.


#30: Everett Kaser Software - Sherlock
(honorable mentions: Snarf)

What I suspect is a relatively unknown developer who’s been making games since the MS-DOS era is also an incredibly prolific puzzle game developer. Check him out here: https://www.kaser.com/sherwin.html

Sherlock’s a logic puzzle game I’ve enjoyed sinking lots of time into, but he’s also got a maze based shmup called Snarf that’s also amusing to play too.


#31: FromSoftware - King’s Field II

While their Armored Core series is good, as are their later games, nothing will ever quite grip me as much as the tense first person exploration that comes after waking up shipwrecked on an island. That death scream when you fall in a pit is brutal.


#32: Graftgold - Paradroid (Commodore 64)

Often described as one of the best Commodore 64 games ever made. You hijack robots using a reprogramming device one by one to clear out a ship that’s had its robots taken over by enemy forces. When you take over a new robot (after beating a hacking minigame) you then control that new robot and can directly attack, or hijack other robots. It’s very much like an arcade game in the sense that stronger, sturdier robots have a shorter timer before you’re forced to find a new body, so you can’t just grab a strong robot and then sail through the game with it blasting everything else. Very tough game since failing the hacking minigame will essentially result in immediate gameover!


#33: Grasshopper Manufacture - Shining Soul II

Very enjoyable GBA top-down style dungeon crawler. It’s also multiplayer, which is difficult to properly experience nowadays!


#34: Gulti & Seibu Kaihatsu - Raiden Fighters Aces

Quite possibly one of the best shmup ports ever. And it’s a 3 game compilation! Sets the bar incredibly high for how proper porting should be done. I only wish it also had Viper Phase 1 as part of the port...


#35: HAL Laboratory - Mother 3
(honorable mentions: Arcana, Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby’s Dream Land 3)

Strange, funny, heartrending. One of the best videogame experiences ever made.


#36: High Voltage Software - Hunter: The Reckoning

This is a seriously good 4 player Gauntlet style game for the Xbox and Gamecube (playable on XB360 too).


#37: Hydravision Entertainment - Obscure

This PS2 horror game was made by a French development studio and featured one of the earliest examples of 2-player coop in the genre. If you’re playing alone you can also have an AI partner along, but unlike some games where the partner is forced to tag along at all times, you can handle things alone if you prefer without seriously hampering your ability to not die. It’s a neat game; it doesn’t do anything new the genre hasn’t seen before, but what it does it does quite well. The PC port is very well done, and there’s also a competent sequel.


#38: id Software - Quake
(honorable mentions: Quake II)

I love Quake. I love the soundtrack, I love the fanmade Fantasy vs Future mod, I love the creepy Lovecraftian aesthetic. It’s great stuff. Quake II is also a solidly competent game, but its setting isn’t as memorable. I never owned a commercial copy of Doom, so I never got into it as much I guess.


#39: Incognito Entertainment - Twisted Metal: Black

The best Twisted Metal game? Quite possibly! It’s hard to properly express just how good this game’s design is, and how cool it is that many characters have multiple ways to use their specials.

I also enjoy Luxoflux’s Vigilante 8 series of games, but they’ve got some issues in terms of how weapon pickups and health pickups work that negatively affect game balance. I dig their groovy 70s aesthetic, but the Twisted Metal games generally play better.



#40: Infinity Co. - Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES port)

I had no idea Pony Canyon was just the publisher prior to this. As much as I love the original version of Ultima IV, and I do, it’s not beginner friendly. This is the best way for someone new to the Ultima series to experience the best, most interesting game in the series I think. It’s not a faithful port per se as a lot of elements are tweaked to streamline the game, but it’s a great port that retains the spirit of the original. Apparently they’ve been around forever, and were also the developer responsible for The Battle of Olympus, and more recently, the Nintendo Switch port of Mr. Driller: Drill Land!


#41: Irem - R-Type Leo
(honorable mentions: In The Hunt, Metal Storm)

Sorry R-Type purists, this is my current favourite R-Type game. Metal Storm and In The Hunt are both extremely cool, too.


#42: Irrational Games & Looking Glass Studios - System Shock 2

The first System Shock game is a lot harder for me to enjoy to the same extent because of the rather clunky and overcomplex control scheme. I much prefer the second game as a result. Wrath of Earth, which is also in this list, feels very much like a precursor to System Shock and is worth checking out if you like this kind of game!


#43: Juggernaut Games - StarCrawlers

A modern Wizardry-style dungeon crawler with huge class customization options, set in an environment that’s like Shadowrun in space. It’s an amazing labour of love, I love this game. It also supports custom character artwork, a nice bonus.


#44: K2 / Takeru - Cocoron

Super cute Famicom/NES platformer where you can make your own character to go on an adventure. Lots of nifty customizations to choose from and pretty fun bosses to face. It’s a fairly tough game though!


#45: Kaneko - Cyvern

Cybernetic dragons always make for a great game. The enemy bullet patterns feel like Psikyo, and the score system is far better than most Psikyo games.


#46: Kenta Cho / ABA Games - Tumiki Fighters
(honorable mentions: Noiz2sa, rRootage)

Tumiki Fighter’s toy-like aesthestic always brings a smile to my face. The capture mechanic is a lot of fun to play with. I’m rather sad I never got to play the later game based on it, Blast Works for the Wii.


#47: kigekiyahonpo (zakichi.ojaru.jp) - Vastynex

Unbelievably good love letter to the Thunder Force series (as well as various other shmups!). An unusual example of a fairly easy 1CC that’s a blast to play over and over because it’s just so damn good. From a very prolific freeware dev with plenty of other enjoyable releases such as Kaikan and Blaynix.


#48: Konami - Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
(honorable mentions: Crisis Force, Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius, Metal Gear Solid 3, Rocket Knight Adventures, Salamander 2, Sunset Riders, Super Castlevania IV)

It’s a run ‘n gun with a universal dodge. I got into it strongly enough to write a walkthrough for it. viewtopic.php?p=1318777#p1318777

It’s genuinely hard to pick one particular game by such a prolific and skillful developer.


#49: M2 - Gauntlet IV
(honorable mentions: Gunstar Heroes (GG port), GG Aleste 3)

It’s hard to overemphasize how unbelievably good Gauntlet IV is as a Sega Genesis game. The soundtrack is amazing and sounds nothing at all like what you’d expect from a Genesis game, and it’s incredibly fun. However, the port they did of Treasure’s Gunstar Heroes to the Game Gear is arguably equally well done, and is possibly more impressive from a technical standpoint in terms of how much it pushed the system to the limit.

GG Aleste 3 is also a lot of fun, but I still feel more nostalgia for the first two GG Aleste games (sorry M2).


#50: Magnetic Fields - Lotus II: RECS

A really fun Sega Genesis racing game that had a built in course creation system that used passwords to procedurally generate the course and had split-screen 2 player.


#51: MicroProse / MPS Labs - Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender

Best known perhaps for Civilization and Railroad Tycoon, but this point and click adventure game is absolutely hilarious and well worth playing if you’re into that sort of game. There’s just so much detail in the environment, and some fun, sometimes maddening puzzles to solve! Multiple difficulty modes, so you can play on an easier mode to remove some of the more insane puzzles.


#52: Monstrum Games - Monster’s Den: Book of Dread

This game by an Australian dev started life as a Flash game, and much later saw a standalone PC release on Steam. It’s an amazingly fun game and I love experimenting with different class combinations. There’s a few sequels, but the sideways perspective didn’t look as appealing (sprites slide forward and back amateurishly when attacking, a compromise for a game that allows custom artwork) and some of the newer, complicated mechanics made it harder to get into. I preferred the simpler look of the first one, though I admit I haven’t had the chance to go back and give the sequel a proper try again.


#53: MOSS - Raiden IV

Raiden IV is a lot of fun. Haven’t had the chance to play the fifth game yet. Not into Caladrius though, the soft-core pornographic themes don’t do it for me.


#54: Namco - Aqua Rush
(honorable mentions: Katamari Damacy, Mr. Driller G, Pac-Man Arrangement)

Tough call here. I love Aqua Rush a LOT, but Mr. Driller G has more modes and characters... and yet Aqua Rush is the one I often think of more when I think of the best of Namco games. The soundtrack to Aqua Rush alone I think deserves serious praise!


#55: Namco Tales Studio Ltd (formerly Wolf Team) - Tales of Destiny R: DC
(honorable mentions: Tales of Rebirth, Tales of Destiny 2)

Without question the best combat system in any “Tales of” game to date. Years ago I once got a modchip in my PS2 just to be able to play the Japanese exclusives with a translation guide. Well worth it. The AI is exceptional at melee combat, which is rather rare especially for the 3D era of Tales games.


#56: Natsume - Wild Guns, & Wild Guns Reloaded
(honorable mentions: Pocky & Rocky, Power Blade (credited also to Taito), Shadow of the Ninja, Shatterhand, Tail Gator)

The Wild Guns games are without a doubt exceptional. My only complaint is that the levels in Reloaded’s multiplayer are locked to # of players (2 players = easy course, 3 = normal, 4 = hard) so the only way to experience the unique levels in Normal or Hard is to start with extra players, let them die, then keep playing with them both dead. This forces you to essentially start co-op with a life stock of 0. Ouch. Aside from this design oversight in the remake, it’s a fantastic game.


#57: Naut Mark - Battle Traverse
(honorable mentions: )

Some of the best looking spritework in any doujin shmup game ever released. I can’t emphasize enough how cool the stage 3 boss’s entry is. It’s an amazing mix of Ketsui and Progear style mechanics. In many ways I prefer it over Ketsui, as the lockon system is more akin to Progear and doesn’t require hitting with a central shot to get lockons, which makes Ketsui a lot stricter to play.


#58: Nichibutsu - Formation Armed F
(honorable mentions: Terra Force)

The music and the graphics in this one are great. Perhaps the only downside is scoring is rather silly and revolves around killing the final boss then suiciding over and over to checkpoint milk the final boss.


#59: Nintendo EAD - Super Mario 64
(honorable mentions: Donkey Kong (GB), Super Mario World)

This game is still arguably the greatest 3D platforming game ever made. Donkey Kong for the Game Boy and Super Mario World are close runner-ups since they’re also arguably the best platforming games on their respective systems.


#60: Nintendo IRD - Startropics
(honorable mentions: Startropics II)

It might not have the scope or scale of The Legend of Zelda, but no other game I know of has truly managed to capture its imaginative setting (except perhaps the Adventure Island games, Super Adventure Island II is pretty neat). Startropics II is the better game in terms of controls (I find the first game a bit stiff) but the setting and story are nowhere near as interesting.


#61: NMK - Rapid Hero
(honorable mentions: Super Spacefortress Macross)

The red mech that acts as a recurring boss in Rapid Hero is a lot of fun to fight. It’s just a splendid game.


#62: Nonlinear - Leiria -Stargazer-

Essentially a fanmade Espgaluda game… and it’s a really, really good one. The soundtrack is phenomenal, and there’s 5 different shot types to use. The only problem is its interface isn’t quite as good as Espgaluda’s (there’s no meter around your character to show when your slowdown power will run out), but otherwise it’s a great doujin using Espgaluda mechanics.


#63: Origin Systems - Wing Commander: Privateer (and its Righteous Fire expansion)
(honorable mentions: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (original Apple II and MS-DOS versions))

Privateer is an amazing space flight game. There’s some grinding involved at first, but grabbing a fully outfitted Orion and being able to blast or ram your way through enemies is super satisfying. It’s a really enjoyable game to lose yourself in.

I also love Ultima IV and all the feelies it came with, but I can’t in good conscience put it above Privateer because it’s honestly a much harder game for people to get into. It also has a line of dialogue missing that would’ve served as a hint to the final puzzle of the game which is otherwise very obtuse to solve. Still a fantastic game, but the best way for a newcomer to experience this is Infinity Co.’s NES port.


#64: Parallax Software - Descent II
(honorable mentions: Descent)

Possibly my favourite first-person shooter. It feels very shmuppy. The first game’s also fun, but is slightly ruined once hitscan enemies start flooding levels. Drillers suck the fun out of the game for me I find, whereas the sequel doesn’t have anything quite as evil and gives you lots more tools at your disposal to deal with nasty enemies.


#65: Phat Kids - Kids of Karendow

A highly competent and amusing QBasic RPG for MS-DOS. Probably one of the best QBasic games ever made. The humor is very much influenced by early seasons of South Park and as such is strictly an adult game.


#66: PlatinumGames - Vanquish
(honorable mentions: Bayonetta, Transformers: Devastation)

As it stands, I currently have 1000 hours in the pc version of Bayonetta alone. It’s an amazing game. So why am I putting Vanquish first? I think Bayonetta is amazing and also deeply obtuse and flawed in many ways. I vastly prefer the bonus “bloody palace” style chapter over the story missions nowadays, I like to remap the lockon button (which can’t natively be done in-game) and I lament how many beginners miss out on Dodge Offset due to the lack of an explicit tutorial. Vanquish is the more all-around competent game. It’s a much shorter experience, but it has none of the weird jank or crappy minigame chapters to suffer through that Bayonetta has, and looks absolutely gorgeous. Plus, it’s entirely set inside an O’Neill Cylinder, my favorite kind of spaceship aesthetic.

Transformers: Devastation is also a great game that is quickly winning my heart over and may well prove to be better than Bayonetta when I get more time sunk into it. However, due to the license being yanked away, the game is no longer available for purchase on PC, its best platform to play it on…

Bayonetta 2 is not deserving of mention. It’s flashy, but the combat system is so heavily tweaked to appeal to casual audiences that it basically only resembles the first game superficially.


#67: Polyphony Digital - Omega Boost

The developer of the Gran Turismo games made one of the coolest rail shooter/Star Fox style games out there. It’s just oozing with style.


#68: Project Rolling Gunner / Mebius - Rolling Gunner

Rolling Gunner is fantastic. That’s really all that needs to be said.


#69: Q Entertainment - Child of Eden
(honorable mentions: Rez HD)

I initially dismissed this without knowing much about it other than it was a game heavily marketed to use the awful Kinect peripheral. However, when I realized it was tied to Rez, and it was a game featuring Genki Rockets, which I love, I was sold. It’s actually mechanically even better than Rez is thanks to the rhythm based combo system and the machinegun like attack you can use to shoot down enemy projectiles. Really, really good game.


#70: Rainwarrior / Brad Smith - Lizard

The best NES homebrew game I’ve ever played. It’s an absolute treat to play and discover.


#71: Raizing / 8ing / Eighting - Mahou Daisakusen / Sorcer Striker
(honorable mentions: Bloody Roar 2)

I’m really fond of Mahou Daisakusen. It’s simple, but very enjoyable, the art is amazing, the boss designs are spectacular, and the music is charming. I don’t like how stingy the bomb system in their later games is, which was inspired by Gun Frontier’s bombs, another game I’m not crazy about due to the slow movement speed. Bloody Roar 2 was a cheap PCB pickup I hadn’t expected much out of, but ended up actually being a very fun vs game and more complex than I expected.


#72: Rare - Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll
(honorable mentions: Donkey Kong Country, Perfect Dark)

I’m not all that enamored with Battletoads, their best known series. I always thought Snake Rattle ‘n’ Roll was always better. Rare’s a developer that has a lot of hits and misses. The Donkey Kong Country series is great, as is Killer Instinct, but they also have some awful games. The Taboo game for the NES was entirely their fault. Their game quality seems to be all over the place and very inconsistent.


#73: Sales Curve Interactive - Firepower 2000

One of my favorite SNES shmups. It’s a lot of fun as the Jeep, quite a bit blander as the Heli who can’t shoot diagonally and doesn’t need to deal with terrain at all.


#74: Sandlot - Chikyū Bōeigun / Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
(honorable mentions: EDF 2017, EDF 5)

EDF 5 actually is probably the better game but I haven’t finished a playthrough of it yet, and it’s still quite pricy compared to 4.1, so it’s easier to get new people into 4.1 still because the price point is pretty cheap. The Earth Defense Force games are fantastic considering their roots as budget releases. There’s some odd games in the series though such as Insect Armageddon that are worth ignoring.

They’re also the company that made the PS2 game Gigantic Drive/Robot Alchemic Drive, very unique and interesting, but I’m not sure it plays all that well. Served more as an interesting technological capability showcase for the large map scale that was later used in the first Chikyū Bōeigun game.


#75: Sega - Super Locomotive
(honorable mentions: Out Run, Out Runners, Streets of Rage 2)

I can’t express how cool Super Locomotive is enough. It was made only a year later than Donkey Kong, and yet for a 1982 arcade game it is amazingly deep and complex. The music is also exceptional, another relative rarity for its era. Don’t get me wrong, I love plenty of Sega games that picking just one is difficult, but this one stands out for me as a truly hidden gem.


#76: Sega AM2 - Out Run 2 SP

Along with the Wangan Midnight games, this is my absolute fave arcade racer ever. Huge credit to Sumo Digital for the PC port of the game in the form of Out Run 2006: Coast 2 Coast.


#77: SIGTRAP Games - Sublevel Zero

Descent with roguelike elements. It’s a lot of fun, with a variety of ships to use and weapons to craft. The soundtrack is exceptionally good.


#78: Sky Think Systems - Harmful Park

One of the best if not the best cute ‘em up ever made. The artwork is exceptional, even compared to Parodius standards. Absolute must play PS1 game.


#79: Snowblind Studios - Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms

You might not think an Everquest spinoff game for the PS2 would be worthwhile, but it’s the best top-down dungeon crawler on the system, if not one of the better ones ever made. Tons of fun with 4 player multitap support, a simple but effective blocking system… it’s a shame the studio tanked after only half a dozen releases, with its last one being a commercial failure that essentially killed the studio. I’d love to see this get a PC port for Steam to make online playable again.


#80: Soliton Soft - Wizardry: Llylgamyn Saga

The company responsible for the best port by far of Sir-Tech’s first three Wizardry games. It remains arguably the best way to play Wizardry 1-3, despite technically being a Japanese only release (you can turn on English in the options for everything except the found item record and the bestiary). There was a competent SNES port earlier that’s good, but not as faithful.


#81: Sonic Team - Phantasy Star Online

One of the most iconic MMORPGs ever made. I had tons of fun with the PC version, Blue Burst. The Ephinea server's currently the best way to experience it.


#82: Square - The Final Fantasy Legend / SaGa
(honorable mentions: Rad Racer, SaGa 2.)

While they might be known for the Final Fantasy series, the SaGa games for Game Boy actually stuck with me more over the years. Tons of customization and equipment to play with, I’ve done challenge runs including solos, and no spending money challenges for the three games in the series. The third one is the least interesting, being the blandest and easiest of the three (there’s not that much difference between your various transformations and being able to change whenever you like feels less meaningful for replayability).

Rad Racer is not what Square is generally known for, but it’s a damn fine racing game for the NES. The sequel and its changes to traffic however are a hot mess. What a shame.


#83: Steve Moraff / Moraffware - Moraff’s World
(honorable mentions: Moraff’s Entrap)

An incredibly prolific developer for MS-DOS who made a number of interesting games of varying quality in different genres. There’s a serviceable Arkanoid clone, a mildly amusing math game, and so on. Moraff’s World is a huge dungeon crawler that’s fun to explore (he made a later dungeon crawler but the interface on that one is rather more difficult to grasp). See: https://www.myabandonware.com/search/q/moraff


#84: Sumo Digital - Snake Pass
(honorable mentions: Out Run 2006: Coast 2 Coast)

I didn’t realize this until I worked on this list, but the company responsible for making the port of my fave arcade game also made one of my most enjoyed platformer games ever. Snake Pass is a game about slithering around and, without being able to jump, finding your way across a variety of floating islands. It’s a ton of fun to play, and a really unique take on the genre, even if the controls take a lot of practice compared to a Super Mario game.


#85: SunSoft - Gremlins 2: The New Batch
(honorable mentions: Batman: The Video Game (NES), Galaxy Fight (arcade))

Perhaps better known as a publisher than a developer, but SunSoft has several fantastic titles to their name. Gremlins 2 gives me similar top-down vibes as Startropics 2, which is a very, very good thing.


#86: Taito - Darius Gaiden
(honorable mentions: Bubble Bobble, Halley’s Comet)

I was seriously tempted to put Halley’s Comet in the lead here. It’s such a charming early shmup. But Darius Gaiden simply has too much going for it in terms of sheer content. Best experienced with autofire.


#87: Takumi - Giga Wing
(honorable mentions: Giga Wing 2, Giga Wing Generations, Night Raid)

I find Mars Matrix too unforgiving, and its suction mechanic less viscerally satisfying than the hug grapple in Night Raid or the reflect mechanic in the Giga Wing games. The music's a bit hit or miss in the first Giga Wing game, but the game itself is a ton of fun.


#88: Team Silent - Silent Hill 3
(honorable mentions: Silent Hill 1, Silent Hill 2)

This development team feels unique enough that it’s worth mentioning them separate from Konami itself. Silent Hill 3 deserves special praise by me for seriously improving the combat controls over the first two game, making blocking actually useful and intuitive (it’s actually in SH2 but the controls make it awkward to ever realize it’s there or useful), and the unlockables including the life bar and stamina meter, the numerous costumes, and the 10 (!) extreme difficulty modes make for a lot of replayability.

If you don't understand what's going on, the plot starts off as a slow burner compared to the first and second games. I think it's the sort of game that you only truly appreciate on a second playthough.


#89: Tecmo - Radia Senki: Reimeihen
(honorable mentions: Raiga: Strato Fighter)

The earliest example of an RPG with fully realtime combat. Also has surprisingly decent AI in battle for your allies. Very nifty precursor to the “Tales of” games that never saw an official English release. I never really got into the Ninja Gaiden games, I always felt the melee weapon was way too short (hence my preference for Gun-Dec or Shadow of the Ninja).


#90: Toaplan - Batsugun
(honorable mentions: V-V)

I’m not actually all that crazy about a lot of Toaplan games. But I do really enjoy Batsugun and V-V.


#91: Treasure - Gunstar Heroes
(honorable mentions: Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Gradius V)

It was difficult to decide which I preferred, but ultimately Gradius V, as amazing a game it is, has the issue of not having a slowdown button for d-pad movement, and only has a unique slow speed if you use the analog stick. Gunstar Heroes on the other hand is a flawless classic I’ve already talked about extensively here when I 1CC’d its Expert difficulty: viewtopic.php?p=1423335#p1423335


#92: Triangle Service - Ga-Sen Love Plus Pengo!
(honorable mentions: Trizeal)

It’s hard to stress how fun CombatZeal and Pengo are in this collection, especially at a party with a group of friends. It’s supremely enjoyable. Trizeal is a more “normal” shmup offering, but is a lot of fun too.


#93: UPL - Omega Fighter

Full autofire as a default feature in a 1989 shmup, a pointblanking scoring system, and Espgaluda style time slowdown? This game is insanely cool, far more than it has any right to be for a 1989 shmup.


#94: Virgin Games - Ghettoblaster (Commodore 64)

Okay, Virgin Games are technically the publisher, not developer, but I didn’t know how to list this otherwise. The developers are Tony Gibson and Mark Harrison, two former Taskset employees. It’s an amazingly fun Commodore 64 game where you go around blasting people with music to get people dancing in the streets to promote cassette tapes, while trying to avoid getting beat up by the police and psychopaths. I’ve got the soundtrack uploaded to my Youtube channel.


#95: Visco - Vasara
(honorable mentions: Vasara 2)

The melee mechanic is very similar to Giga Wing’s reflect. I prefer the first game over the second one very slightly, but they’re both a ton of fun.


#96: Wouter van den Wollenberg - Triangle Wizard

While it looks fairly simple graphically, it’s an incredibly complex, top-down randomly generated dungeon crawler with real-time combat. The number of races, classes, deities, and sheer spells to learn and use are absolutely ridiculous. It’s a damn shame I don’t hear more people talking about it. Website is: https://trianglewizard.webs.com/


#97: X.X Game Room - Blue Wish Resurrection
(honorable mentions: Eden’s Aegis)

Quality shmup dev with a very CAVE feel. Has numerous releases that are now freeware.


#98: Yacht Club Games - Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight is a really damn good platformer with super special awesome music done by Virt, who’s also done the exceptional remixes for Ketsuipachi (DFK Black Label Arrange).


#99: Yumekobo - Blazing Star
(honorable mentions: Gun-Dec)

As much as I love Gun-Dec, its last level has some really silly jumps, and Blazing Star simply has too much going for it for me not to put it as the frontrunner. The scoring’s fun, the memes are glorious, the shot types are interesting… just for god’s sake don’t play this game without autofire, it’s horrendous without.


#100: ZUN - Mystic Square
(honorable mentions: Lotus Land Story, Perfect Cherry Blossom)

Out of all the Touhou games ZUN has made, the PC 98 era shmups are my faves. I think I’d like the 2D vs shmups more if I had more opportunity to play them multiplayer as PoDD and PoFV are also plenty fun.

[BIL]

^^^ Good reading. This a cool thread.

[DMC]

On Normal, Gunstar Heroes homing weapons were too strong imo. How about, expert? Is one forced to use other weapons there?

I thought it was a very disappointing game mechanic to just shoot one bullet and then hold fire and let that homing bullet do all the work while I was just dodging enemies.

I like the board game stage though.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

You're not forced to use the homing weapons though. There's plenty that are good that don't involve Chaser. However, one of the good design aspects of Gunstar Heroes is the weapons actually are tweaked to deal damage differently in each difficulty mode. Force + Chaser is garbage on Expert because it deals a mere 2 damage per hit, three times less than Normal! Expert definitely encourages you to steer clear from the homing weaponry due to the damage scaling, with a couple of exceptions.

Here, I go over all the weapon combos in Expert.

The only really viable weapons homing type weapons on Expert are single Chaser which deals good DPS at close range and Fire + Chaser, which deals very high damage and cancels many types of projectiles (but is very awkward and difficult to control as it's a projectile you can directly control). The rest simply don't deal enough damage. Note that Double Chaser's not bad for dealing with the various swarms of small enemies in the shmup stage, but you'll want to swap to single Chaser for the Seven Force rematch.

Even on lower difficulties, Chaser based combinations aren't top tier. There's plenty of better options than homing weapons such as Force + Fire which is a good general purpose weapon throughout the game, Double Force which is good for DPSing bosses, Force + Lightning which is an effective piercing tool you can sweep, and then there's the close range weapons which all have various uses that are generally trickier to use but often more optimal than Chaser combinations (Fire, Double Fire, Fire + Lightning).

The Game Gear version (also detailed in that thread) also discourages Chaser use by nerfing it heavily. Single Chaser and Double Chaser aren't too bad there, but the same can't be said for the rest of its combinations. Fire + Chaser, technically the Genesis version's strongest weapon if used correctly, has been weakened to the point of being useless.

Here's a guide I found that has damage data on the weapons that'll give you an idea of how damage scales for each weapon in the Genesis version:

Spoiler

Bullet weapons Easy Normal Hard Expert |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Force 12 10 10 8 |
| Chaser 12 10 10 8 |
| Force + Force = Double Fireball 12 10 10 8 |
| Force + Chaser = Chaser Force Beam 8 6 4 2 |
| Chaser + Chaser = Star Chaser 8 8 6 4 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Approx. damage in 5 sec |
| Stream weapons Easy Normal Hard Expert |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Lightning 1100 900 550 550 |
| Fire 1700 1450 1175 1175 |
| Lightning + Lightning = Mega-Bolt 1750 1450 900 900 |
| Lightning + Force = Rapid-fire Lightning 1775 1450 900 875 |
| Lightning + Chaser = Chaser Lightning 850 850 600 300 |
| Lightning + Fire = Lightning Saber 2300 1750 1450 1175 |
| Chaser + Fire = Chaser Fireball 2250 1750 1250 1175 |
| Fire + Fire = Ultra Flamethrower 1750 1175 900 900 |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Max. damage from one shot + explosion |
| Other Easy Normal Hard Expert |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Force + Fire = Exploding Fireball 160 109 89 89

[DMC]

You're not forced to use the homing weapons though. There's plenty that are good that don't involve Chaser.

True, but if I find a weapon that I can use (in normal) that works against 99% of the enemies without the need to do any aiming, then I will use it. And I will clear the game on default difficulty on one of the first attempts before even learning any of the stages. To me that's bad game design.

But it is seems to be the same issue as with Gleylancer that some us recently discussed here. The commonalities are console shooting game, strong homing weapon, overpowered on normal difficulty. And they also suggested not using the homing weapon or play on harder difficulty to solve the issue. Fair enough. But being used to play arcade games for score, I expect a fun challenge on normal difficulty. And not using a weapon just because it is too good, doesn't make sense to me. But maybe I am rigid, and a bit missing the context of console games aimed at a broader audience.

I must say though, Gleylancer was still fun with homing weapon, because it is combined with a straight shot and you still needed to learn the levels, enemy appearances and so on, for survival. Gunstar Heroes was almost a parody where you shot one homing bullet on the boss, and then the remaining of the battle was just about keeping a distance to him.

Alien Soldier, on the other hand, you definitely have to use a variety of weapons, and homing is nerfed, even on supereasy. What's your thought on Alien Soldier?

Thanks for all the info, by the way. Interesting to see how they changed the balance of the weapons from one difficulty to the other.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

And not using a weapon just because it is too good, doesn't make sense to me. But maybe I am rigid, and a bit missing the context of console games aimed at a broader audience.

I believe you have misunderstood. The homing weapons may be good in the lower difficulty modes as a general purpose weapon to clear the game, but the ones that require more direct aim on the player's part are still all better for raw damage, which counts for a lot in boss-oriented game. Melee attacks and throws will deal way more damage than homing weapons, especially in Normal mode. The only difference between Normal and Expert is how wide the gap is for how much damage the homing weapons do compared to direct damage weaponry. Considering how much screen coverage many of the weapons have (basically anything that isn't short ranged or Lightning + Lightning), the homing property isn't nearly as much of a gamebreaker in Gunstar Heroes as you're claiming.

Your argument also suggests that having multiple shot types in a shmup or multiple characters in a beat 'em up is pointless because it doesn't make sense to play anything other than the one that's "optimal". But there's plenty of games where a suboptimal character is nevertheless mechanically fun to play with. The same applies to Gunstar Heroes; just because you can use the zoomy chase laser all through the game doesn't mean you have to. Single weapon runs like LIGHTSABER only are fun too.

I expect a fun challenge on normal difficulty

Which the game gives the average player. Normal's really not that bad for anyone who dabbles with 1CCing arcade games (the final boss rush being the main hurdle), with Hard and Expert being more equivalent in terms of 1CC difficulty to an arcade game, so someone like yourself should move up to Hard for the experience you're looking for.

Eschatos and the Raiden Fighters Aces port are other examples of games where the "Normal" difficulty is deliberately lower than what the devs consider to be arcade tier difficulty, so new players who pick the default mode don't get the impression of the game being too overwhelmingly daunting.

What's your thought on Alien Soldier?

Haven't played it enough yet to give an educated opinion on its mechanics, sorry.

[TransatlanticFoe]

I've made it into the 80s without really trying too hard. I did wonder if the single developer limit would artificially bump out too many great games but I'm only really struggling with Capcom and Nintendo. It might seem a bit playful with the rules to include console ports of games that I've otherwise had to leave out, but I've genuinely done it on a personal fondness for said port - rather than a way to "cheat" a game in. Will see if I can complete it over the weekend.

Pleased to see (and indeed appreciate) a couple of entries already which have surprised me - Micronics and Lightning Returns. Well brace yourselves for Tiertex...

[DMC]

I believe you have misunderstood. The homing weapons may be good in the lower difficulty modes as a general purpose weapon to clear the game, but the ones that require more direct aim on the player's part are still all better for raw damage, which counts for a lot in boss-oriented game.

The homing weapon was still good enough to clear the game on default difficulty without effort, it doesn't matter that another weapon is potentially stronger.

Your argument also suggests that having multiple shot types in a shmup or multiple characters in a beat 'em up is pointless because it doesn't make sense to play anything other than the one that's "optimal".

Two counter points.
1) There's a difference between shot types that you select prior to starting the game (e.g., which ship you select in Dodonpachi), and making in-game choices (e.g., whether you use laser or wide shot to defeat a certain enemy in Dodonpachi stage 2). I definitely see the point in having different shot types in Dodonpachi, and one can make different score boards for those, but it would be silly to say "don't use laser in Dodonpachi because it is too good". This is something apparently Gleylancer MD did better than the Switch version, because as someone pointed out homing weapon was pre-game selection in the md version.

2. A good game may have well-balanced shot types with clear trade-offs in accessibility and potential making the word "optimal" less applicable. In Soukyugurentai the red ship is most accessible but actually world records iirc as done with the other ships. So it is not clear that one ship is optimal because it depends on who plays and how experienced they are.

To me, a game is a set of rules and tools that it gives you, and you use any of those tools and rules to your advantage to clear the game or score well depending on the goal.

if you select a different ship or weapon pre-game, it is equivalent to say that the rules and tools are changed (and that is of course why we have different score boards for different ships in many games). But not using a certain weapon in-game is equivalent to not using the best tools you have at your disposal--which to me is counter-intuitive.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Not that I want to fill this thread with discussion about one game but:

Spoiler

The homing weapon was still good enough to clear the game without effort, it doesn't matter that another weapon is potentially stronger.

I mean, it's nice that you beat the game effortlessly, but what about players who aren't as good as you? The game is designed, at least on Normal difficulty, to be a lot easier than your average Contra game, especially when you have a full grasp of melee attacks and throws. But there's still players who may struggle with the game, so giving a variety of weapons including easier to handle fire-and-forget style ones isn't a bad thing.

But not using a certain weapon in-game is equivalent to not using the best tools you have at your disposal

You've never actually stated what weapon combinations you're talking about either, but I think it's safe to assume it's not Fire + Chaser. Despite your repeated (and incorrect) assertions about them being overpowered or "the best tools you have" for Normal difficulty, the remaining Chaser combinations aren't even top tier and there's plenty of weapons that with a bit of skill will far outperform them. I can guarantee you that the number of fights where a Chaser based weapon would be optimal or desirable over another would be near zero (not counting the player controlled Fire + Chaser of course which is top tier if you can handle constantly adjusting your aim to control it). Seriously, I'll do a quick rundown:

Pink's Stage: Fire + Lightning is optimal for blocking Papaya Dance shots, murdering Bravoo Man quickly, blocking Pinky Roader's laser shots.

Black's Stage: Melee attacks make short work of many of the bosses here, Fire + Force gives you piercing explosive damage for the bosses where you wanna keep your distance, single Fire helps for the bosses that force you into close encounters. Chaser based weapons would suck against some bosses where you have to hit a thin weak point or where there's multiple targets, and the only boss where a Chaser weapon might be super handy is Minion Soldier, and it's not hard enough to merit a specific weapon pick for that.

Green's Stage: Double Force, Force + Lightning, and Fire + Force are all solid picks here for raw damage. If you're playing Free Shot, you'll probably find Chaser types a lot easier to aim during Seven Force, but you're always making a compromise on potential damage. Tapping up or down to sweep with Force + Lightning isn't mechanically that difficult to do, and gives you higher raw damage for the phases where sweeps will hit a lot of segments at once or where you can easily line up to shoot at the enemy (Tiger, Crab, Gun, Eagle).

Orange's Stage: Fire + Force is plenty strong here for bursting down the smaller enemies as well as blasting down the bosses. It also gives you access to single Fire for the end of stage bosses, which is top tier damage. Orange is best dealt with by throwing him upwards rather than shooting anyways.

Highway Stage: If your plan is to run along firing nothing but Double Chaser or Chaser + Lightning, you're gonna have a bad time. It'll work in Normal, but it's far from optimal. You really want to be double jumping rapidly along here which really helps maximize mobility. Various Fire and Lightning combinations are all exceptionally good at bursting down the crates you find (great for dealing with the wall you're forced to shoot down), with long range options being suited to dealing with the tall walker mechs later on. The boss can be thrown for massive damage once on the ground, with single Fire or tapped Fire + Force ideal for the first phase.

Shmup Stage: Double Chaser may well be the easiest way to do this in Normal. Double Force and Fire + Lightning are solid ways to tackle this stage too, with Fire + Lightning probably being optimal for Expert due to how many damn shots there are. Chaser + Lightning is suboptimal as it has to move around a lot to chase down targets. Double Chaser is not optimal for the Seven Force refight though, with Fire + Lightning being capable of dealing huge damage and blocking multiple forms' shots.

Inside the Ship Stage: Weak Chaser combinations are not optimal for the bosses. There's far better you could be using here; the only boss that's really tricky to hit is Unit of the Hammer because of how it keeps trying to smack into you. Fire + Force makes short work of everything.

Final Stage Boss Rush: At no point here are the Chaser combinations ever optimal (except Fire + Chaser as discussed previously). It's particularly bad on Pink Lobster and Golden Silver due to them being multisegmented enemies where one segment will attract shots that deal 0 damage on hit. If you're using Chaser + Lightning on Golden Silver, have fun retargeting constantly to get it to hit.

So, yeah, that's exactly one section, the shmup stage, where I'd say Double Chaser is truly the easiest, best weapon for the job, and that doesn't apply to Expert mode where blocking enemy bullets is really damn useful!

Yet, despite the lack of many weapon combinations that are even stronger, you're complaining that Normal was too easy because of the homing weapons. From what I gather you haven't played the game on the higher difficulties yet or played Normal with a non-homing weapon. I'd suggest you do one of these to get a better understanding of the weapon balance. I'd also suggest your opinion is affected by the use of Free Shot, who benefits the most from Chaser, but has difficulty making consistent diagonal attacks like Free Shot, so give Fixed Shot a whirl. Being able to make diagonal attacks without moving really helps you appreciate the sheer power of the rest of the weapons.

If you're annoyed a certain weapon combination feels too easy, then just don't use it. It doesn't matter whether or not your shot type is hard locked at the start of the game or if you can change mid-game. If you don't enjoy using something, don't. If it were me, I'd have simply replayed the game immediately without using any of the Chaser type weapons to compare how it felt.

As far as Dodonpachi is concerned, people have done both No Laser challenges as well as DFK No Hypers, Power Style in Normal Only challenges. Or playing Espgaluda without using Kakusei. I think you're placing too much emphasis on if the game lets you switch shot types mid-game or not. It doesn't really matter. Gunstar Heroes is a game that gives you a bunch of tools at your disposal to play with. You're free to use or not use whatever you like, and that includes the homing type weapons. They're not all equally useful, so you're encouraged to experiment. However, you're complaining about 35% of the weapon combinations being too powerful and too convenient to use, so you can't be bothered to try the rest. There's a good 65% of the game's weapon types for you to discover, and realize are even more powerful when used with a bit of accurate aiming, which suggests to me you need to play more Gunstar Heroes.

[DMC]

Ditto, this is probably my last say on this.

Spoiler

I mean, it's nice that you beat the game effortlessly, but what about players who aren't as good as you? The game is designed, at least on Normal difficulty, to be a lot easier than your average Contra game, especially when you have a full grasp of melee attacks and throws. But there's still players who may struggle with the game, so giving a variety of weapons including easier to handle fire-and-forget style ones isn't a bad thing.

The weapon chaser+lightning lets you shoot a single shot that stays on target as long as you hold fire. You barely need to do any aiming to beat the game. Just hold down a button. So it is very little skills-related. That is just bad design. The game may be fantastic in other ways of course, and still a fun experience, perfectly fine for a list of favorites games. I have Bayonetta 2 and War in the North as two examples of maybe not greatly designed games but I still like them.

You said yourself Treasure (Edit: my bad, this was M2) nerfed the weapon in the game gear version of the same game, released two years later. They also nerfed the homing weapon greatly in Alien soldier. Even further, Alien Soldier had stronger weapon trade offs (some bosses being immune to certain weapons, limited ammo supply) to further balance out things. Radiant Silvergun is another Treasure game with more balanced homing weapon. I think simply Treasure made a mistake in Gunstar Heroes, learned from that mistake, and subsequently designed better games.

Despite your repeated (and incorrect) assertions about them being overpowered or "the best tools you have" for Normal difficulty, the remaining Chaser combinations aren't even top tier and there's plenty of weapons that with a bit of skill will far outperform them

You can please spare me the passive-aggressive, condescending tone. You misrepresent what I say to make strawman arguments. Adding wink wink smiley at the end of your reply does not change this.

I said "The homing weapon was still good enough to clear the game on default difficulty without effort, it doesn't matter that another weapon is potentially stronger."

I said "good enough" and "doesn't matter that another weapon is stronger". Still you argue about which weapon is the best, and accuse me of being incorrect about which weapon is the strongest.

I meant that the chaser+lightning weapon allows a player to beat the game on default difficulty without aiming, all you need to do is run through the stages, and keep distance to bosses. It is irrelevant that another weapon has higher maximum damage or works better in expert difficulty. There's a simple way to beat the game at default difficulty almost without any aiming at all.

If the game even gave the illusion that I am doing something it would be less bad, but just watching the shot stay on target doing all the work for me is silly.

If you had to say "dont use the queen, it's more fun" in Chess, it would be a poorly designed game from my point-of-view.
If you had to say "don't use the NALS weapon in Soukyugurentai, it's more fun" it would be a poorly designed game from my point-of-view.
If you had to say "don't use Chaser+Lightning in Gunstar Heroes normal, it's more fun", it is a poorly designed game from my point-of-view.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Chaser + Lightning is honestly worse than Double Chaser in many aspects, so I'm sad, but not entirely shocked given your earlier posts, that of all the weapons in the game this is the weapon you're claiming is overpowered:

Spoiler

The weapon chaser+lightning lets you shoot a single shot that stays on target as long as you hold fire. You barely need to do any aiming to beat the game. So it is very little skills-related. That is just bad design.

The weapon you're simping for happens to be the "easy to use, mediocre for damage" homing weapon of the game that also has a tendency to accidentally lock onto targets you don't want it to lock onto (such as the invulnerable orbs that block shots for the miniboss dudes). It's not even as good for general purpose use as Double Chaser is, which pretty much equals its damage in Normal mode while also stunlocking and handling large crowds of mobs effectively. Chaser + Lightning is deliberately meant to be a low effort, low payoff weapon and the game is balanced as such accordingly. It's decent and amusing to watch it leap from enemy to enemy, but it's not a strong weapon by any means.

You said yourself Treasure nerfed the weapon in the game gear version of the same game, released two years later.

I never, not once, ever said such a thing. M2 was the developer of the port, not Treasure. The weapons in the Genesis version are quite well balanced in Normal and Hard. It's only in Expert where the damage rebalancing makes some genuinely unusable. However, balance in the Game Gear is definitely worse there as the weapons that are bad aren't simply bad in the hardest mode, but are bad even in the lower difficulties (what were some of the strongest weapons of the Genesis version are terrible due to now having no range whatsoever compared to how big their sprite looks). There are several very good weapon combinations in the Game Gear port, but overall the weapon balancing is far weaker than the Genesis version.

I think simply Treasure made a mistake in Gunstar Heroes, learned from that mistake, and subsequently designed better games.

Again, you're complaining about the lesser of the two fullscreen homing weapons being overpowered. They're the de-facto recommended beginner combinations as Free Shot. With a bit of effort in aiming, they are far outshined by most other choices in your arsenal.

You can please spare me the passive-aggressive, condescending tone.

???

Buddy, I've tried my best to be nice here. This genuinely makes me feel bad. ;w; It's even more painful than seeing you seethe over the game giving you a weapon you apparently love so much that you refuse to use anything else, and yet claim to hate the game because the weapon exists. ;3 ;3 ;3

I meant that the chaser+lightning weapons allows a player to beat the game on default difficulty without aiming, all you need to do is run through the stages, and keep distance to bosses.

Who cares? If someone finds the weapon fun to use, it's there for them to use. It's not even in the running for the 5 best weapons in the game which makes your complaints entirely ridiculous. If you want to use the weak "I don't know how to aim and want the game to do it for me" lazy man's homing weapon, don't go whining about how boring it is not needing to aim! You're deliberately picking an underpowered weapon whose gimmick literally is not needing to aim, then complaining that the game is at fault somehow because your experience was ruined by your own personal choice to use it. Or rather your obsessive compulsive refusal to even consider using a different weapon.

Stop being ridiculous, sheesh.

[DMC]

I don't understand why you keep arguing which weapon is stronger, when I say there's a weapon that allows you to clear the game without doing anything, and I think that is bad design regardless if any other weapon is stronger. You disagree. And now we can end this discussion. Okay, M2 made the game gear version. I did not know that and should have said that the homing was nerfed, not that Treasure did it. Still Treasure did nerf the homing weapon in Alien Soldier and I think that was a good choice.

[Searchlike]

Don't mind a bit of derailing every now and then. The thread gains a bit of exposure, so it's cool.

Alrighty, here it is.

Quite an eye-opening list. I had not heard about several of these titles before, generally clueless when it comes to DOS games and not any wiser about old school PC gaming in general, so I really appreciate your contributions. Love seeing so many small devs mentioned, crazy to think a bunch of these games can be bought for peanuts and some are even free. And thanks for numbering these, very helpful.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER: BareKnuckleRoo
MISSION: 100% (20 points)
CLEAR TIME: Within a week (15 points)
NUMBER OF DEVELOPERS: 102 (20 points)
NUMBER OF TITLES: 101 (20 points)
STRICT ONE DEVELOPER RULE: FOR THE MOST PART (15 points)

STORYTELLING BONUS: (10 points)

TOTAL AVERAGE: 100 points

RANK: SSS (Pure Platinum)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well brace yourselves for Tiertex...

Looking forward to this. Don't worry about messing with the rules a bit, finding a game breaking mechanic can bring a lot of enjoyment too sometimes.

My list will be up next week. I've toyed with this idea for a while, so it's not terribly interesting making mine, I've had a lot more fun reading all of yours. This ended up being bigger than I anticipated, such a treasure trove already.

Feels like we reached some sort of peak and a decline in the number of posts is sure to follow, hope I'm wrong. One of the benefits of not having made a poll out of this is that this thread can stay open indefinitely and be bumped, say, one year from now with and updated or brand new post. No one is late to the party here.

[BIL]

My MICRO-PICK was totes genuine btw. FC Kyuukyoku is very lovable for a fan of both Famicom STGs and Toaplan; the highest compliment I can pay is that I wasn't entirely sure it was theirs at first.

(it's got issues, to be sure, but we're talking about absolute shitbirds here!)

With Alien Soldier, I get the feeling the weapon balance was deliberately linear. The two weapons which automate aiming (Spread and Homing) are conspicuously weak, to the point the timer becomes a menace if they're relied upon - "training wheels," to be discarded in favour of Buster (workhorse shot w/tons of ammo) and Flame+Lancer (supreme shot DPS on organics/machines, respectively, but much trickier shot dynamics, and ravenously ammo-hungry). Then finally Flame2/Lancer2, once the player's learned to build and conserve ammo stocks, and hopefully, also gotten to grips with Epsilon 2's movement+counter mechanics for lots of Phoenix Force.

Less of a toybox selection, more of a rocket launch, with the Homing and Buster phases getting you to the full suite which gives AS its "Combat Shooting" sobriquet - batting aside bullets and burning foes alive in spacetime-ripping body rams, with your guns more for up-close magdumps directly to boss brainstems than the ranged attacks or screen coverage of most shootier sidescrolling action.

Fuck I love this stuff.



MILLION TIMES GALEFORCE TEN <-- teh theme of Epsilon2

All this said I like to swap in Ranger for Act IV's opening zako rush. Since they respawn as fast as you kill 'em, if you do it just right the carnival of burning shrapnel will actually slow the game down. Feels like the MD is redlining.

[DMC]

With Alien Soldier, I get the feeling the weapon balance was deliberately linear. The two weapons which automate aiming (Spread and Homing) are conspicuously weak, to the point the timer becomes a menace if they're relied upon - "training wheels," to be discarded in favour of Buster (workhorse shot w/tons of ammo) and Flame+Lancer (supreme shot DPS on organics/machines, respectively, but much trickier shot dynamics, and ravenously ammo-hungry). Then finally Flame2/Lancer2, once the player's learned to build and conserve ammo stocks, and hopefully, also gotten to grips with Epsilon 2's movement+counter mechanics for lots of Phoenix Force.

Great point about the linearity! I have not thought about it like that, but makes perfect sense. The homing allows you to get pretty far in the game without knowing the ins and out of enemies, but somewhere maybe half way through you cannot any longer rely on the homing. You need to learn the other weapons as you say. The limited time and ammo is really key to this game design.

It's interesting Maegawa changed the difficulty of Alien Soldier on the very last day, while the programmer Suganami was asleep exhausted on the couch if I recall correctly. I wonder how the game would have been with Suganami's intended difficulty. My only concern is that there are arguably too many bosses you can kill in one blast, so maybe some more HP would have been better, but killing them like that requires lots of practice and is fun to learn (and requires great timing and preparations). I remember in one of the interviews they mentioned that they struggled with setting the difficulty settings of their game as they were a small team beta testing the game themselves, generally perceiving their own games to be quite easy, while being accused of making too hard games.

[BIL]

I often think of that interview while replaying AS (<333 blackoak), wondering if it was elevated at the 11th hour, or perhaps even held back... impossible to say without access to the beta, of course, and I'm happy as a clam with the final product either way. But it's funny to think such a singularly hardcore "Combat Shooting" game was up in the air like that - if I didn't know better, I'd have assumed Suganami ran the project with fanatic zeal, particularly after reading his commentary.

(I'd love to tell Suganami that while he may not have gotten to illustrate his story ideas in-game, AS's elliptic narrative works beautifully as-is - cue Fou rocketing up out of the freezing depths to the post KaedeForce sunset - and at zero cost to pacing... there aren't many other action games where a 30second unskippable intermission is not merely tolerable, but outright appreciated, with the blistering pace and relentless technical intensity either side of it!)

[Searchlike]

if I didn't know better, I'd have assumed Suganami ran the project with fanatic zeal, particularly after reading his commentary.

Love that interview, reminds me of the God Hand story. Strong indie spirit around those two games.

[DMC]

Thanks for linking that interview (Blackoak is the best, yes!). Absolutely love these insiders on how they worked together. Very heartwarming and also shows that even though they made awesome stuff not everything was perfectly planned or thought through, some things were quick decisions made close to the deadline.

Yeah, people complained to us that it’s really just “hard” and “super hard.” We really did try to make it easier though. Before the playtesting and fine-tuning, it was actually much harder. I asked NAMI to change it, and at the very, very last minute he lowered the difficulty a little bit. Also, on January 3rd, the very day the final version was due, while NAMI was sleeping I went in and secretly altered the damage parameters of the weapons… shh, don’t tell anyone.

(I'd love to tell Suganami that while he may not have gotten to illustrate his story ideas in-game, AS's elliptic narrative works beautifully as-is - cue Fou rocketing up out of the freezing depths to the post KaedeForce sunset Image - and at zero cost to pacing... there aren't many other action games where a 30second unskippable intermission is not merely tolerable, but outright appreciated, with the blistering pace and relentless technical challenge either side of it!)

Strongly agreed. Not even Gradius V.

[TransatlanticFoe]

I've structured this broadly in console/system chronological order... my personal gaming chronological order that is. And then alphabetical by title within each - arcade appears early and straddles generations because it just gets awkward to structure otherwise

Really wish Capcom and Taito named their dev teams, same with Sega's splintered teams early on, because there's a lot that's probably not made by the same people which falls under a giant umbrella. Still, I haven't resorted to picking anything I don't genuinely love as a result. Even if a few choices might see unusual!

Spoiler

Part I: The Primordial Soup - ZX Spectrum

1. Blue Max (US Gold)
Isometric WWI bombing run - River Raid meets Zaxxon. Occasionally unfair but a satisfying tactical feel to bombing targets and strafing tanks

2. Operation Gunship (The Oliver Twins)
Proto-Desert Strike or top-down Choplifter? Remarkable early action-strategy title considering the limitations of the hardware - director's cut version released as Firehawk for the NES

3. Raid Over Moscow (Access Software)
Classic Cold War stuff - Zaxxon-esque stages as you approach the boss, Soviet missile silos! Then assault the... erm.. State Historical Museum to destroy the secret nuclear reactor within! Just hope you can get your planes out of the hangar at the start...

Part II: The Beginning (and also middle) - Arcade

4. Ace Driver (Namco)
Rarely remembered "Ridge Racer but with F1 cars" and epic 8 player setup, I spent several family holidays playing this - unusual AI biased one of the green cars (Schumacher much?), so the only way to win was take a green seat and hope a chump joined in the other

5. Air Buster (Kaneko)
Another seaside arcade favourite, the first boss levelling a city remains a memorable moment. It gets a bit wonky with zero gravity for a bit later on, but the early stages are superb

6. Flying Shark (Toaplan)
I'd search for this at our regular seaside day out location and plough 10p coins into it without success! Simple and effective art style, cracking soundtrack and unusual integration of bosses with the stage end

7. House of the Dead 2 (Sega AM2)
Branching paths, terrible voice acting, memorable boss fights and still looks fantastic

8. Mahou Daisakusen (Raizing)
Fun mix of fantasy and dieselpunk styles, fun recurring boss fights and a surprise end stage

9. Metal Slug (Nazca)
The original and the best, before sequels got progressively more outlandish, but still top-tier sprite work and animation. Balanced, achievable difficulty gives this one the edge for me

10. Sega Rally 2 (Sega AM5)
Throwing in more modern rally cars into the mix and a snow stage, this was a late arcade favourite for me and appeared in enough bars for a bit of fun on a night out

11. Star Force (Tehkan)
An early favourite of mine, simple but intense fun and still enjoyable today

12. Virtua Cop 2 (Sega AM2)
Improved graphics, car chases, cruise ships, subways - it's basically a playable cop action thriller

13. Zero Team (Seibu)
Superb and fair beat 'em up, embraces silliness with a straight face with some daft point items and bosses. Satisfying array of moves and even better when your opponent explodes into toilet rolls!

Part III: My First Games Console - Sega Master System

14. Desert Strike (The Kremlin)
A remarkable port of an already great game, saddled only by the stupid pause button on the console. Top Gulf War action

15. Gain Ground (Sanritsu)
Probably my favourite version of Gain Ground, already a unique strategy game. Remixes out some of the more unbalanced arcade stages and goes full puzzle in places in the final stretch, culminating in a bleak war of attrition

16. Lemmings (Probe)
A puzzle classic which I'd only really experienced via this faithful console port. Great tunes, hilarious fails and cunning brainteasers

17. Operation Wolf (Taito)
I've gone for this, as my love of the arcade game led my parents to buy me a Master System thanks to this port. Classic 80s action movie stuff

18. Power Strike (Compile)
Candidate for my favourite game of all time, stunning use of the limited hardware and an inventive rank system which can lead to some dramatically different runs

19. Robocop vs. The Terminator (NMS)
Creaks a little under pressure with slowdown but a wonderful achievement on the console, solid platform-shooting acton

20. Sonic The Hedgehog (Ancient)
Sonic's debut fares better in 8-bit as a more traditionally paced platformer than the stop-start nature of the 16-bit game. Some joyous music and surprisingly challenging

21. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Aspect)
Sets itself apart from the 16-bit game via mine carts, hang gliders and boss battles with no room for error

22. Strider II (Tiertex)
Looks great, expansive stage layouts, multiple mid-level bosses and allows for either careful or aggressive playstyles. A disappointing final boss and some occasionally wonky collision detection remind you this is still by Tiertex, though

Part IV: Getting With the Times - SNES

23. Assault Suits Valken (Masaya)
Superb theatrical presentation, weighty mech handling, epic bosses and over the top explosions. What more do you want?

24. Operation Logic Bomb (Jaleco)
Puts an action-adventure edge on a top-down shooter with quaint silent storytelling throughout. Also robot crabs, so many robot crabs

25. Rock 'n' Roll Racing (Silicon & Synapse)
Fun isometric racing with weapons to ruin someone's day, with a memorable set of characters, licensed hard rock soundtrack and ridiculous entertaining commentary. Let the carnage, begin!

26. Super Bomberman 2 (Produce!)
Takes the classic Bomberman gameplay and adds a superb single player game on top

27. Super Empire Strikes Back (Sculptured Software)
Tougher but better balanced than the first game, less buggy and gimmicky than the third. Great soundtrack as you'd expect, but some epic boss fights and a cracking battle of Hoth section

28. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo EAD)
via Mario All Stars, benefits from brighter colours and enhanced sound but is still fundamentally the same inventive, endlessly replayable platformer

29. Super SWIV (Sales Curve)
Solid console shooter, meaty explosions and impressive presentation. Plays vastly differently depending whether you select helicopter or jeep - the latter presents a lot of unique environmental hurdles and, in one stage, a fun land to water transition moment

30. Super Turrican 2 (Factor 5)
While a divergence from traditional Turrican level design, this is the only title in the series I've spent any real time with. Fancy effects can't hide overly linear stages but still features impressive set pieces and, of course wormland

Part V: In the Money - PC

31. Deus Ex (Ion Storm)
I once spent an entire day as student hooked to this game, the freedom offered in completing your objectives and choosing your playstyle remains impressive. Superbly immersive and frequently tense if playing remotely stealthily

32. Doom (Id Software)
The original three chapters (forget the unbalanced Thy Flesh Consumed) remain a brilliant progression of the horror as you proceed through sci-fi facilities, into demonic medieval influences and finally descend into the hellscape itself. Tense flight or fight stuff as an ambush is rarely far away. Run in fear or go in all guns blazing? Original Doom's atmosphere is unbeatable

33. Grand Prix 2 (Microprose)
Full nerd stuff here, this is an era-accurate simulator which lets you get dirty with telemetry if you really want - or turn on mechanical failures and relive the despair of an engine failure when leading the final lap

34. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (LucasArts)
A masterpiece of story-driven stage design in a first person shooter. While it lacks finesse in its lightsabre combat, meaning boss fights often degenerate into flailing around, the expansive stages and tight action give plenty to enjoy

35. Mechcommander (FASA)
Excellent real time strategy, only held back by a couple of unbalanced stages which rely on trial and error. Fantastic little mech designs and animations, unreasonable affection for your pilot roster and a solid story progression

36. Mechwarrior 3 (Zipper Interactive)
Excellent narrative presentation tying the missions together, with a good balance between Mechwarrior 2's rigid simulation and Mechwarrior 4's simplistic approach

37. Sensible World of Soccer (Sensible Software)
Simple, fast, fluid action that's easy to get to grips with and takes time to master. Incredible what can be achieved with only one button. This bolts on a full 20 year career mode featuring all professional leagues and a transfer system, outstanding

38. X-Wing Alliance (Totally Games!)
Immersive story mode which is sadly ditched for a Millennium Falcon fantasy trip at the endgame. This is the ultimate evolution of X-Wing/TIE Fighter, well crafted missions occurring between multiple star systems

Part VI: Betting on the Wrong Horse - Dreamcast

39. Headhunter (Amuze)
Superb sci-fi atmosphere with a satirical edge (right down to the Verhoeven-esque news broadcasts) in this Metal Gear Solid meets Resident Evil sort-of-stealth game

40. Giga Wing (Takumi)
My introduction to bullet hell, and a good starting point for beginners as the reflect mechanic can be used defensively for survival as much as aggressively for scoring

41. Fast Striker (NG Dev)
Solid shooter which gets pretty tense as the rank builds and suicide bullets become common. Distinctive graphical style might come across a bit garish for some, and the rear shot mechanic is severely underused

42. Metropolis Street Racer (Bizarre Creations)
Style over substance - literally! A unique spin on the racing genre, rewarding stylish driving as much as being fast on track. The real fun in the game is the challenge stages, joker mechanics and seeing just how well you can do with an underpowered car

43. Resident Evil 2 (Capcom)
A slight graphical uplift on Dreamcast, this is still the pinnacle of Resident Evil - two characters with two scenarios each, memorable boss fights and tense encounters. Massive improvement in the voice acting too!

44. Triggerheart Exelica (Warashi)
Unique game that's more smash 'em up than shoot 'em up as you swing enemies around and hurl them back. Cool boss rank system too, where better scoring in the stage leads to more boss phases and even extra encounters

45. Under Defeat (G.Rev)
Graphically impressive and grim, plays more like a classic shooter which suits me just fine. Lots of background action in its dead space moments, giving it a cinematic edge

Part VII: Oh Hey Portable Doom and SNES Games - Game Boy Advance

46. Iridion II (Shin'en)
Massively simplified by a lifebar, but on its hardest difficulty renders most things a one-hit kill and plays well at that level. The angled viewpoint is a bit awkward, although it does look pleasing

Part VIII: Retro Revival - Mega Drive

47. Gunstar Heroes (Treasure)
Magnificent platform shooter, flexible weapon system to experiment/optimise/have fun with. Huge array of boss fights and a wonderful board game stage

48. Kyukyoku Tiger (GRC)
Accidental consolised genius. A faithful recreation of the arcade game, except it truncates the screen into a 4:3 playfield so you really have to be on your toes. Beefed up explosions help the balls to the wall atmosphere

49. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (STI)
A massive improvement on the original, albeit with frustrating special stages which need to be too tighly memorised and are impossible with AI tails in tow

50. Streets of Rage (Sega)
It may be a bit simplistic compared to its sequel, but I have fond memories of playing this with a friend so it gets the nod. Also the police backup guy is definitely Robocop, right?

51. Thunder Force IV (Technosoft)
Incredible presentation, difficulties which change up enemy formations instead of just bullet sponging everything, and of course metal squad

52. Urban Strike (Electronic Arts)
The pinnacle of the Strike series in my opinion. Jungle Strike went a bit mad with vehicles, culminating with an impossible sequence in an F-117. This switches it up by going on foot and while it's mostly more of the same it's just tweaking everything to be a bit better

Part IX: Retro Revival II - Saturn

53. Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Team Andromeda)
Panzer Dragoon is nice, the sequel even better - branching paths, graphical improvements, but still keeps the cinematic feel of the first game and largely the same gameplay

54. Sonic Wings Special (Video System)
A wonderful remix of Sonic Wings games, I warmed to the time-limited maximum power level, and there's plenty to unlock and have fun with

55. Strikers 1945 (Psikyo)
I prefer things a bit more straightforward so this is peak Psikyo for me, as with Sonic Wings there's a lot of different styles to have fun with and the difficulty is solid. Second game on the list that's a bit obsessed with crabs

56. Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 (Core Design)
Core Design got some mileage out of their Thunderhawk game engine and this is the peak, an excellent attempt at a console simulation game - like the Strike series going first person

Part X: Back in the Game - Wii

57. Call of Duty Black Ops (Treyarch)
This is my favourite Call of Duty multiplayer, a good set of objective games and mostly well designed maps. The campaign was memorable with some great set pieces which are largely intact in the Wii version

58. Conduit 2 (High Voltage Software)
While disappointingly short, this is technically excellent and great fun to play while it lasts - a massive improvement on the first game, the lighter tone also helps

59. Dead Space Extraction (Eurocom)
Not really a traditional rail shooter, this rather expertly uses the on rails structure to manage the tension and atmosphere. It's a good expansion of the lore of the series but crucially the pointer aiming is perfect for Dead Space's dismemberment mechanic

60. The Last Story (Mistwalker)
Another late Wii-era technical marvel that creaks under pressure a little and it's a missed opportunity to not have pointer aiming given you have a mini-crossbow throughout. A wet protagonist is propped up by an excellent supporting cast and fun quests

61. Metroid Prime 3 (Retro Studios)
Yep I prefer this one because it has a story structure to it and has a good balance between exploration and hand-holding. It's refreshing to have supporting characters in Metroid!

62. No More Heroes (Grasshopper Manufacture)
Tongue firmly in cheek, as you ride around an empty town looking for crap jobs to do, just to get to the next over the top boss setup where you murder goons with reckless abandon - and get the latest tease for your desperately thirsty main character

63. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Cavia)
Pumps the Resi Chronicles series up to a faster pace more akin to an arcade gun game, chiefly covering Resi 2 and Code Veronica - it keeps the spirit of the stories intact and it's especially good to have a new take on the classic boss fights

64. Xenoblade Chronicles (Monolith Soft)
I hadn't really played JRPGs before this game. The scale of it is astonishing - if you can see a location, chances are you'll be able to travel to it eventually. While a lot of side quests are simple fetch/kill, they have some nice stories attached - particularly warming is rebuilding a whole colony

Part XI: In the Money II - PC (again)

65. Crimzon Clover (Yotsubane)
Rayforce turned up to 11? Looks messy in screenshots but is immensely satisfying to play in reality - it's a lot of keep track of initially, but opens up quickly

66. Dead Space (Visceral)
Does suffer a little from busywork driving the plot, but an expert blend of action, suspense and horror. There's some decent environmental puzzles but the atmosphere is the highlight

67. Half-Life 2 (Valve)
Fun physics puzzles, tense action and Ravenholm is possibly one of the greatest levels of any game. Shame they couldn't work out what to do with the story afterwards

68. Mass Effect (Bioware)
As far as being in an interactive space opera goes, the series never betters the first game. Excellent story missions and side characters, memorable choices and the worst inventory system known to man

Part XII: My PC is Too Old - Xbox 360

69. Akai Katana Shin (Cave)
Fairly straightforward and satisfying risk/reward system in this arrange mode, which I found much more fun to play than the core game.

70. Batman Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady)
I'm not a fan of open world games so much prefer the tighter layout in this game

71. Binary Domain (Ryu Ga Gotoku)
Surprisingly well done cover shooter, which places more focus on character interactions (creating some interesting alternate sections if you don't keep everyone sweet) and throws in some solid boss fights. Also it has a wise-cracking French robot because why not?

72. Bioshock (2K)
Great setting and world building, still looks great today and fun integration of abilities into puzzle solving and combat

73. DeltaZeal (Triangle Service)
Branching and hidden sections, a manageable level of challenge and a fun mix & match weapon system. The pixel art holds up better than Triangle Service's other games

74. Gears of War 3 (Epic Games)
The best of the original trilogy, more balanced on hardcore difficulty

75. Halo 2 (Bungie)
Improved level design and a fun twist with the perspective shift, though the abrupt ending is unfortunate

76. Kingdoms of Amalur (Big Huge Games)
Immensely enjoyable action RPG with more customisation than you can shake a stick at, plus you can get as lost in the world as you like or charge to the endgame

77. Remember Me (Dontnod)
I had great fun with the combat, customisable combos and enemy variety kept the rhythm-focused combat from getting stale, plus the memory remix sequences were thoroughly entertaining

78. Vanquish (Platinum Games)
Just such a rush to play, iit's something else when you're in the zone chewing stuff up while zipping and dodging around the battlefield

79. Wolfenstein The New Order (MachineGames)
The story tone is a bit disjointed but the core gameplay, either in stealth or in a firefight is just perfect

Intermission: Oh Cool, Free Stuff - PS2

80. Psyvariar Revision (Success)
Buzz buzz - this is fun to get started with and just better the more you want to risk it

Part XIII: Getting With the Times II - Xbox One

81. Assassin's Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec)
There's a lot of these but this finally got it all right, and then they soft-rebooted it

82. Deus Ex Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal)
This brought back the same feeling I got from playing the original first time around, play how you want - no silly forced boss fights and not even a narrative reason to stay pacifist. At one point I thought "no, fuck these guys" and started sniping

83. Dishonored 2 (Arkane)
Absolutely fantastic open-ended level design, more non-lethal options so you don't feel constrained by being a good guy anymore

84. Dying Light (Techland)
The rush in this game when you have to do something at night, or daylight fades and you've got to make a mad dash somewhere. The parkour is just kind of there most of the time but really comes into its own when you're legging it from the night-time turbo zombies

85. F1 2020 (Codemasters)
The F1 game I've always wanted. Build your own team in a fantasy alternate 2020, simulation accuracy but with good concession options for the average person

86. Gears 5 (The Coalition)
The best Gears game? The semi-open world is a good inclusion - the side missions are fun and the traversal is filled up not with busywork but dialogue snippets, which definitely influenced my choice at the end...

87. Gears Tactics (Splash Damage)
Cracking turn-based tactics game, relies on planning and use of abilities - very possible to pull a bad situation out of the fire with a single chainsaw kill

88. Jedi Fallen Order (Respawn)
Wonderful stage layouts make this as much a 3D Metroid as a Star Wars game, as abilties open the map up on return visits. But it's not mandatory, lightsaber your path to the end if you want!

89. The Outer Worlds (Obsidian)
Perfect use of small open world areas, where you naturally stumble across things instead of wander for an eternity between waypoints. Fantastic characters and sense of humour

90. Project Cars (Slightly Mad Studios)
The racing game I've always wanted. Start in go-karts and work up through the ranks, or just remain a Renault Clio Cup driver for your career. Proper practice and qualifying sessions, full seasons, the works

91. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
I never really got on with the original Tomb Raiders but the reboot surprised me, this is the pick of the trilogy - a balance of action, traversal, survival and stealth

92. Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions)
Fluid combat and a surprisingly engaging plot, but the highlight is the wall of orc captains to bring down - often coming back stronger and showing up when you least need it, totally changing the game each time you play

93. XCOM 2 (Firaxis)
The original reboot but on steroids - objectives are tight, risks are necessary to get the job done. Leads to some memorable sacrifices, recoveries and "how did we get out of that one" moments

Short Interlude: Something for Lunchbreaks - 3DS

94. Fire Emblem Echoes (Intelligent Systems)
My favourite Fire Emblem largely because it ditches the convoluted romance, annoying reinforcement trapping and evens out weaknesses

Part XIV: It's Not the WiiU - Switch

95. Gigantic Army (Astro Port)
Valken but without the cinematics, nice stompy stomp mech action

96. Mario + Rabbids (Ubisoft Milan)
Character restrictions are balanced meticulously so that viable combinations aren't overpowered or useless, unexpectedly incredible strategy game

97. The Ninja Saviours: Return of the Warriors (Natsume)
Didn't think I'd like single plane beat 'em ups until I played this, tight as fuck - get in the groove and feel unstoppable!

98. Octopath Traveler (Square Enix)
With no prior classic JRPG experience this won me over with its charming characters and their tales. Shame banter between them comes late on, and the stories only converge in an optional boss and a few walls of text

99. Rolling Gunner (Project Rolling Gunner)
A simple concept, a thoroughly excellent game as a result

Epilogue: It's a Mini Adventure - PC Engine

100. R-Type (Hudson)
I'd played the SNES games but not the original, the PC Engine Mini was my first experience of it - definitely lived up to its reputation

[Searchlike]

Didn't know what to pick from Taito and there's some questionable stuff in there, but here you go.

Sorted by release year:

Spoiler

1. Road Fighter (Konami, 1984)
Quite a few of Konami's games are great at offering that heart-pumping action, but Road Fighter delivers it sooner and faster.

2. The Tower of Druaga (Namco, 1984)
Not sure about NetHack, but reading spoilers for this game doesn't really take the challenge out of it and it's actually mandatory if you want to progress at all. Play it only if you have a sense of humor or if you hate yourself like me.

3. Ninja Spirit (Irem, 1988)
I was this close to choosing Ninja Pit as my username and the only reason I didn't is because it would have made it a pain to look for info on that awful coin-munching setpiece. This game, more than any other sidescroller, gives me a bit of a brawler feel in how you have to take into account several threats at once in order to succeed.

4. Maupiti Island (Lankhor, 1990)
The first proper detective game? Very little hand holding in this mystery adventure game with a ticking clock and some real consequences for your actions. Choosing whether and object is relevant to your ivestigation and asking the right questions, it's all up to you. Don't think I'll ever solve this mystery.

5. Gekibo: Gekisha Boy (Tomcat System, 1992)
My photography pick for this challenge. Double Spoiler is already on chum's list and I can't pick Fatal Frame because of Itagaki-san. They're all equally good in my eyes.

6. Gimmick! (Sunsoft, 1992)
I love when platformers give you a weapon that doubles as a movement kit. Got the best ending but I still want to push my abilities further, game's like a beautiful haiku when played right.

7. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (LucasArts, 1992)
More or less your typical LucasArts adventure game, but I really dig its IQ system. You're awarded points for puzzle solving methods and not for randomly clicking on everything. There's a global score that keeps track of all of your solutions and runs independent of any of your saves, so you can keep a lot of them and come back to try a different approach to a puzzle without having to play through the whole thing each time. Very considerate.

8. SOS (Human Entertainment, 1993)
Time Limit: Checked! Brainless NPC's that you have to escort to safety: Checked! Semi-open world environment: Checked! Sky high ambition: Checked! This is Dead Rising before Dead Rising.

9. Alien vs. Predator (Capcom, 1994)
I think what Roo once said about Bayonetta applies to this game too. It's a power fantasy. One with a really high skill ceiling. You're basically playing as a boss when choosing the predators and you don't need to master their moveset as you can easily rely on a few OP solutions. Because of that, this is probably not the best of Capcom's brawlers, but it's definitely one of the more replayable ones for me.

10. The Ninja Warriors Again (Natsume, 1994)
I suspect the recent reimagining would be even more to my liking than this one, but until it arrives to PC I can only guess. Or do I have to wait for the inevitable "The Ninja Warriors Oops I did it again"?

11. Super Metroid (Intelligent Systems, 1994)
Not really a Metroidvania enthusiast, but this game is always a joy to revisit. I like how wall jumps actually take skill to perform in this one and generally prefer the way Samus controls here.

12. Shiren the Wanderer (Chunsoft, 1995)
Roguelikes. I suck at them. Probably should have chosen a different username. I also share name with some weird spyware, not sure how to feel about that. Anyway, I'm still getting my butt kicked by this game, but as John Harris put it, losing in Shiren is more fun than winning in most games.

13. Umihara Kawase Shun (Jackpot, 1997)
Pretty good game. I kinda miss the original's completely bonkers enemy spawn spam, but the sequel manages to be an improvement in every other area. Tied with Super Monkey Ball as my favorite platforming game.

14. Mission: Impossible (Infogrames, 1998)
Hardly a masterpiece, but this was the first time I witnessed someone trying to break a game. My brother would go on a murderous rampage through the embassy function level and purposely challenge the guards' AI to try and stop him with some very funny results, such as officers running at sonic speed to his position to put him under arrest.

15. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Factor 5, 1998)
This was my brother's game but I made it mine by getting all the best medals. My first 3D game too, so yeah, you guessed it, motion sickness.

16. Harvest Moon 64 (Victor Interactive Software, 1999)
It's pretty cool to time this game's fictional seasons with IRL ones. Best enjoyed in small doses, as it gets repetitive fast otherwise. Don't give your animals personal names or you'll regret it when they kick the buckett.

17. Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2 Plus (Arika, 2000)
Leave it to Arika to prove wrong all the people who claim the original Tetris is perfect.

18. Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artifact (Core Design, 2000)
While a product of their time for sure, the original TR tank controls, along with the tile-based platforming reminiscent of classic Prince of Persia is still surprisingly fun. This additional collection of levels in the TR3 engine happens to be my favorite title to replay for its brevity and focus.

19. Gunbarich (Psikyo, 2001)
Can't make sense of those Psikyo bullets, but this batshit crazy game wins me over.

20. Kuru Kuru Kururin (Eighting, 2001)
There's something about these brutal games disguised in colorful, kid-friendly packages that makes them so compelling. Can't really put into words what makes this time attack stick-moving simulator so darn fun, I can only say that it scratches a similar itch to Monkey Ball and I can't give any highest compliment, really.

21. Sengoku 3 (Noise Factory, 2001)
I normally don't care for high scores in 2D brawlers but this title's meta game is very enjoyable to me. The game going as far as encouraging you to slam your character against helpless pieces of furniture just to maintain your combo while rewarding you with the DMC style meter is both hilarious and strangely addictive.

22. Super Smash Bros. Melee (HAL Laboratory, 2001)
The Kirby series has to be one of the most experimental franchises out there, so I really wanted to include one game from it, but ultimately had to go with Melee which is already something of a successor to Kirby Super Star.

23. Demon Front (IGS, 2002)
They've made some of the best Capcom inspired brawlers and their take on Metal Slug is not any less stellar. Shame about that glitch that makes scoring broken in some editions of the game.

24. Super Monkey Ball Jr. (Realism, 2002)
Yay, Super Monkey Ball 1 made it after all, sort of. This was actually my first encounter with the series and I would soon graduate to the Gamecube version. People love to hate its controls and while is no subtitute for SMB1, I'd rather play this than Banana Mania quite frankly.

25. Way of the Samurai (Acquire, 2002)
I wish there were more action adventure games like the original WotS, short enough to encourage replays and get the most out of its C&C system.

26. F-Zero GX (Sega, 2003)
The Dreamcast had to die for this masterpiece to be born. While I genuinely prefer the arcade format of Crazy Taxi, OutRun 2 SP and Super Monkey Ball, GX's Very Hard Story Mode brings out the ultra instinct I didn't know I had in me and that's still not enough to clear it.

27. Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi (Cave, 2003)
Only really started to get into shmups thanks to Cave. I'm crap at this game and the best I've ever done is reaching the third boss without bombs.

28. Ninja Five-O (Hudson Soft, 2003)
Best movement options in a R2RKMF title and a lot of fun to time attack as a result. Needs to come back in some way, whether as a remake or a full blown sequel.

29. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo, 2004)
The big N loves their gimmicks, so I had to choose my favorite one among all of them. Played with a music game peripheral yet not really a rhytmn game, this title proves Nintendo has in them the ability to provide a great arcade inspired platformer with a well thought out scoring system to boot. If only they could harness those powers more often.

30. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (Troika Games, 2004)
The actual gameplay is nothing to write home about, but the world and writing make up for it. I once tried to ironman this and got pretty far, but some stupid bug killed my run. It was a lot more enjoyable than it had any right to be. The game is still style over substance, but I treasure it anyway.

31. Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (iNiS, 2005)
Probably will end up spending much more time with osu! than this, but I have to give credit to the original.

32. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Ubisoft, 2005)
Not saying this is better than the Thief games, but that series seems to be unanimously considered to be the best in the light and shadow subgenre of stealth games, so it was surprising to realize that this title is just as good.

33. Ys: The Oath in Felghana (Nihon Falcom, 2005)
Yes, I've been quite critical of this game's action rpg trappigs. Yes, I have now played time attack mode. Yes, it's all forgiven.

34. Excite Truck (Monster Games, 2006)
The first generation Wiimote controls are a lot of fun, but the real star of the show is the simple yet very addictive scoring system. Don't just win the race, do it while chaining multiple "tree runs" to the beat of the most epic butt rock soundtrack around. If they somehow could have gotten the Sega Bass Fishing announcer for this it could have very well damn been the best thing ever.

35. Contra 4 (WayForward Technologies, 2007)
This title was such a great little package, it included unlockable versions of the NES's Contra and Super C and some great optional challenges for the main game. Not the best Contra, but it was my proper introduction to the R2RKMF genre.

36. Mirror's Edge (Dice, 2008)
Almost like a spiritual successor of the Tomb Raider movement system with a lot more depth, even if most of it is unintentional. This game gave me some serious motion sicknes the first time around, glad I managed to overcome that problem because I was ready to drop it entirely on account of that. The steam and GOG versions lack the Pure Time Trials DLC, but thankfully you can add them as mods.

37. Mega Man 9 (Inti Creates, 2008)
Inti created the best Mega Man game as far as I'm concerned. I do like the restrain to design the levels around a slideless blue bomber, if only Sega could go back to Sonic's roots and give us a spin dashless game too.

38. Ninja Gaiden II (Tecmo, 2008)
Game was rushed by its creator, is prone to crashing (on 360 at least), checkpoint system is overly cruel at times, difficulty curve is poorly balanced, the scoring system for the main game encourages boring gameplay, some OP moves as expected of the genre, a camera you often have to babysit, bosses are weak in general, but the best 3D melee combat out there against enemies that don't play fair and will overwhelm you if you don't plan and improvise each and every encounter. Top 10 material.

39. Half-Minute Hero (Marvelous Entertainment, 2009)
An RPG for those who haven't got the time to deal with the genre's tropes but still would love to experience the genre's tropes, though is more of a puzzle game than anything. The sequel is also worth playing and its arcadey infinite mode is probably what the first one should have been all along in the first place, but I have not put that much time into it yet. If you decide to purchase this game on steam, buy the sequel and get the first one for free, just remember it doesn't work the other way around.

40. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor (Treasure, 2009)
It takes one step forward as it relates to control method, but two steps back when it comes to pacing and general design when compared to its predecessor, even so, I can't help but love all the ridiculous scenarios this game puts you through and aside from the obnoxious milking I don't know what I would change, honestly.

41. Vanquish (PlatinumGames, 2010)
Heads Bayonetta, tails Vanquish. Tails, alright. Honestly, I would have picked this anyway I think. I'm quite frankly sick of Kamiya's training wheels. Just let me choose the highest difficulty, the real game, from the start, please. I know why they do it, just make it accessible by a hidden input like in Vanquish. I don't really mind the minigames that much, but the unlockable cancer also has to go. Bayonetta rant over. P.S.: An actual coin flip took place for this entry.

42. Catherine (Atlus, 2011)
I don't care about the visual novel aspect, it's all about that inverted, 3D, Mr. Driller gameplay.

43. Child of Eden (Q Entertainment, 2011)
The kinect nonsense also kept me uninterested in this one for a while, thankfully this game is completely playable with a normal controller. The rhytmn scoring system is ace and Genki Rockets does add a lot to its charm. A beautiful experience from start to finish and a legitimate challenge too.

44. Mark of the Ninja (Klei Entertainment, 2012)
Stealth games already felt a bit like really slow platformers in a way, being all about jumping from shadow to shadow while carefully maneuvering around obstacles, so it's good to have an excellent sidescrolling title in the genre.

45. Rodea, the Sky Soldier (Prope, 2015)
Point and click freeform 3D platformer with ligthtgun style gameplay. Yuji Naka's games always tend to have that quality of being super easy to get into with very simple to use, immediately fun controls, often requiring only one or two buttons, but enough depth to go a bit crazy and distinguish the noobs from the pros. If you ever wondered what Air NiGHTS would have looked like, I think this is pretty close.

46. Bot Vice (DYA Games, 2016)
While it lacks the polish of a game like Wild Guns, once you come to accept the peculiarities of its lock on system it's truly deserving of a place in the pantheon of great gallery shooters with its frantic pace and wonderful boss centric approach.

47. Thumper (Drool, 2016)
Even if you're not into rhytmn games I have to recommend this adrenaline fueled tour de force to my fellow action bros. Doubles as both a fun experience and a hardcore score attack challenge.

48.Fight'N Rage (SebaGamesDev, 2017)
A strong contender for my favorite indie game so far, made by a one man team with the exception of the soundtrack which is brilliant too. It features a couple really funny tributes to what was my first game in the genre.

49. MudRunner (Saber Interactive, 2017)
I've aways being a fan of games with intricate movement systems, so it's a bit of a shame that I just recently started to delve into the vehicle simulation genre because this game is really good at making me lose track of time. This title is often mentioned in the same breath as Death Stranding, have to give that one a try someday.

50. Sonic Mania (Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games and Headcannon, 2017)
Not my favorite Sonic game, that one is probably a toss-up between Adventure 2 and the Mega-Play version of Sonic 1. Mania is a lot fun, but a bit too safe for my liking and relying too much on nostalgia. Still, drop dash is cool, though not as great as actually having to use momentum to play around in a pinball inspired platformer, but I couldn't help it, I had to include the blue hedgehog.

Since I went around plastering those silly ranks on everyone's faces, whether they liked it or not, I think it's only fair if someone does the same for my list. Otherwise, I'm happy to ditch them altogether as I should have done from the start. It was an attempt to encourage everyone to challenge themselves and make some difficult choices in the spirit of the thread, but there was no reason for it at all. You guys took this challenge head-on and did so with gusto.

I've structured this broadly in console/system chronological order... my personal gaming chronological order that is.

Great format! That was quite a journey, TF.

I had not even thought about the value of ports for this exercise until your post. I first experienced Okami thanks to Ready at Dawn's Wii port and the additional motion controls almost made up for the lack of the paper filter and credits sequence, almost. I mean, it's largely the same freaking game that Clover designed, but also a unique way to play it at the time.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

46. Iridion II (Shin'en)

The music is extremely good in both games, too. The first one's hitbox felt a bit chunky at times but I had a lot of fun with it.

36. Mechwarrior 3 (Zipper Interactive)

I've had a copy of this for ages that I've never properly put time into. Am ashamed.

8. SOS (Human Entertainment, 1993)
Brainless NPC's that you have to escort to safety

This is a massively underrated game I think. It's really, really fun and tense to explore, but the idiotic NPCs ruined my desire to go for any of the good endings, as the final area is basically a death sentence for them. I had a lot of fun playing for the bad endings where I basically ignored the NPCs or just shrugged when they got themselves killed. I think if they'd done some tweaking to how that was handled I'd have gone for the good endings... maybe just bringing them to the pre-final area? There's some jumps in the last section (the boiler room) where the NPC simply seems to suicide... and apparently the strategy for the good ending involves deliberately taking a hit so that you respawn in a position where the NPCs will teleport to you or something?

There is a major danger here: a pit the AI can not cross but is needed to pass to proceed. There is only one solution here: upon reaching the area past the pit, climb to the boiler with the ladder on its side (or the exit platform above) and allow yourself to be hit by the fire. The survivors will appear near you and can make it the rest of the way upon being talked to.

I only learned this trick years later, haven't tried to see how annoying it is to execute.

17. Tetris: The Absolute - The Grand Master 2 Plus (Arika, 2000)
Leave it to Arika to prove wrong all the people who claim the original Tetris is perfect.

The cooperative mode in this is amazing. The number of people obsessed with the NES version of Tetris who've never touched the arcade releases saddens me. ;w;

36. Mirror's Edge (Dice, 2008)
The steam and GOG versions lack the Pure Time Trials DLC, but thankfully you can add them as mods.

wtf they're like the best part of the game after you're done with the story mode

I don't really mind the Bayonetta minigames that much, but the unlockable cancer also has to go.

I agree that games should generally have some kind of full unlock code if you want or if you have to play on a fresh file. Bayonetta's worst unlock is the 100 chapters beaten on Normal or above weapon; that's equivalent to 5 and a half playthroughs or so (or several hours grinding on The Vestibule chapter) for what is a legitimately cool and interesting weapon. Shame a lot of folks will miss it.

43. Child of Eden (Q Entertainment, 2011)
The kinect nonsense also kept me uninterested in this one for a while,

I'm very glad to hear I'm not the only one.

48.Fight'N Rage (SebaGamesDev, 2017)

Great game. My only complaint was being limited to 3 playable characters, with no option to pick the same one in multiplayer, despite the palette options. Perhaps I'm spoiled by newer beat up ups that have that, or ones with larger rosters, but it felt like a missed opportunity (there might be an unlockable option to select the same characters in multi I missed, too).

[Searchlike]

apparently the strategy for the good ending

Human hates us. Clock Tower is another game by them that seems to, pardon the pun, expect some superhuman powers of perception from the players attempting to get its best ending. Not sure about the details, cause I kinda want to get it by my own but it involves...

Spoiler

some sort of weird Schrödinger shit so that if you look at that suspicious looking armor and find your dead friend inside you will get a bad ending, but if you don't examine it, then she's fine and you can eventually save her. Just don't witness your friends' death while also following some really obscure steps in the right order and you'll get the best ending.

The number of people obsessed with the NES version of Tetris who've never touched the arcade releases saddens me. ;w;

There was some talk a while ago about this series coming back due to the popularity of the Switch. Let's hope it happens, if only for the education of the masses.

wtf they're like the best part of the game after you're done with the story mode

Sadly, that's not the end of it. The DLC mod is also known to screw up with the time trials. If you set a new best time for a particular stage it overwrites the ones for all of the other levels with the same record. Bummer.

My only complaint was being limited to 3 playable characters

It's not the same, but the latest patch does give you the ability to play as the enemies in the main mode complete with their minuscule moveset if you do as follows:
Get any ending, purchase the 9th, 16th and 17th unlockable enemies, then highlight arcade mode and input LLRRLLRRLRLRLRLR (L=left, R=right).

[Lethe]

36. Mechwarrior 3 (Zipper Interactive)

I've had a copy of this for ages that I've never properly put time into. Am ashamed.

If you do get around to playing it, be aware that there are finally comprehensive fixes to make it run properly on modern hardware. And mods that make the AI less stupid, and/or the whole game bastard hard if you want.

[drauch]

Had time at work and decided to try it out, but had to bail because I was spending wayyyy too much time thinking about this. Feel free to make fun of my plebeian Sims love. Probably forgetting some crucial ones, but it was at least fun to think about.

Spoiler

Myth II: Soulblighter | Bungie
Blood | Monolith
Diablo II: LoD | Blizzard
Duke Nukem 3D | 3D Realms
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat | GSC Game World
Ninja Gaiden (NES) | Tecmo
Bloodborne | FromSoftware
Swan Song | FlyingShine
Half Life 2 | Valve
Shadow of the Colossus | Team Ico
Corpse Party BtSE (3DS) | Team GrisGris
Splatterhouse 3 | Namco
Clock Tower ('95) | Human
System Shock 2 | Looking Glass
Planescape Torment | Black Isle
Baldur's Gate II | Bioware
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss | Blue Sky (CHEEAAAAATING???)
Deadly Premonition | Access
Silent Hill | Team Silent
Rome: Total War | Creative Assembly
No More Room in Hell | NMRiH Team
They Hunger | Black Widow
Tomb Raider II | Core
Parasite Eve | Square
Sakura Wars ('96) | Sega/Red
Conan Exiles | Funcom
Hedon | Zan
SSF II: Turbo | Capcom
Sims 3, The | Maxis
Windjammers | Data East
Elevator Action Returns | Taito
Breakers Revenge | Visco
Ghoul School | Imagineering
Outlaws | LucasArts
Doom II | id
Incredible Machine, The | Jeff Tunnel Productions
Dracula X: Chi no Rondo | Konami
Kirby's Adventure | HAL
Forest, The | Endnight
Stardew Valley | ConcernedApe
7 Days to Die | Fun Pimps, The (worst studio name in history)
Mario 64 | Nintendo
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars | Revolution Software
Deus Ex | Ion Storm
Ys: The Oath in Felgahana | Falcom
Pirates! Gold ('93) | MicroProse
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | Bethesda
Dragon's Crown | Vanillaware
Lunar: Silver Star Story | GameArts
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 | Midway
Shock Troopers | Saurus
Sutte Hakkun | Indieszero
DoDonPachi | Cave
Umihara Kawase | TNN
Vampires: The Masquerade - Bloodlines | Troika
RollerCoaster Tycoon | Chris Sawyer
Double Dragon (NES) | Technos
Age of Empires II | Ensemble
Talos Principle, The | Croteam

[Searchlike]

Blue Sky (CHEEAAAAATING???)

It does seem like Blue Sky and Looking Glass are one and the same, but I'm going to let it slide because I'm thrilled you just saved this topic from ending up in Other Gaming, page 2 hell. This thread still has some life in it. Thanks, drauch!

Fun Pimps, The (worst studio name in history)

I don't know man, have you heard about Sick Puppies? Anyway, these cold-hearted developers made an interesting looking game where you command a bunch of ghosts in order to scare the Sims out of their homes. Looks funnish. Perhaps you've played it?

Some updates since my last post:

I'm replaying Shadow of the Colossus after more than a decade and that game still totally holds up, I should have included it on my list too. I know it's a stretch to call it a 3D platformer, but there aren't enough games in the genre that have a similar focus on vertical movement to properly define that subgenre, I think, so I'm doing that anyway.

On a similar note. Snake Pass owns indeed and we also need more platformers without jumping, or at least games that focus on a different aspect of the genre be it unique movement systems, enemies treated as obstacles instead of combat opportunities, speed as a reward for mastery, etc.

Monkey Ball, Bionic Commando, Koro Koro Post Nin, Rodea and NiGHTS (I'm not counting the children segments) do some or all of the above points without the need of a jump button and they all kick ass.