Over the years I’ve owned many different computers, consoles and handhelds and played and discovered many great games, a lot of which I’m rediscovering now thanks to the wonders of emulation so thought I would do my Top 50 all-time favourite games. I should stress that these are my own personal choices (you will no doubt have your own!) and they’re in no particular order so here we go……
Nights into Dreams (Sega Saturn)
I loved my Saturn and am thoroughly enjoying re-discovering many of the titles on my emulation handhelds, it was a great machine with some truly innovative and original games and excellent arcade ports, the first game in this list is a truly beautiful game, the landscapes look fantastic, the music is a perfect match for the game and it’s a lot of fun to play, I’ve done a full review of this game on this blog, I absolutely love this game, very highly recommended.
180 (ZX Spectrum)
I’ve played a few darts games over the years and this unquestionably is still my favourite, with a catchy musical score, fun graphics, humour (the dog cocking it’s leg against the bar) and easy to use aiming this is a winner.
Kirby’s Pinball Land (Nintendo Gameboy)
As with the above entry I’ve played a few pinball games over the years and this is still the one I keep coming back to, there’s lots to do including spelling out various words by hitting different parts of the table. There are three different tables in all which can be reached with a well-timed use of the flipper, the music is excellent, great graphics and it all makes up for a really fun pinball experience.
Wario Ware Inc. (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)
This was the first Wario Ware game I ever played and was instantly hooked, simple but addictive mini-games which got progressively harder and faster, great Wario graphics and music, this is still one of the best in the franchise.
Stunt Race FX (SNES)
One of the few games to utilise Nintendo’s Super FX chip and it shows, this is a terrific cartoony racing game with a style all it’s own, there are different difficulty levels and tracks to race around and time bonuses can also be earned. This is one of the best racing games on the SNES and in fact any console and it enormous fun!
Sega Rally Championship (Sega Saturn)
As I’ve already mentioned the Saturn was home to some excellent ports of Sega’s arcade titles, the first in this list is Sega Rally Championship a terrific port from the arcade, the tracks are well designed with just the right difficulty level and a good selection of cars to choose from too, I always preferred to race in the Toyota!
Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64)
Another game already reviewed elsewhere on this blog, I LOVE this game, everything about it is brilliant from the stunning circuits and wave effects to the fantastic music and excellent controls, this is the best racer on the N64 and if you’ve not played it you’re missing out on something really awesome!
The Simpsons : Hit and Run (PS2 / Gamecube)
I’ve only recently discovered this game on my emulation handhelds and wish I’d known about earlier as it’s amazing, literally the whole of Springfield has been faithfully recreated in this game and also features the actual actor’s voices for the characters. The game is basically a series of missions you must complete, the game is laced with the Simpsons humour, and as a huge Simpsons fan am having a blast playing it.
International Karate (Atari 8-bit)
I’ve fond memories of playing this on my friend’s Atari 800XL over the road many years ago and it still stands up today as a great fighting game, the graphics may look a bit dated by today’s standards but the gameplay is terrific and is still worth playing today on either an Atari 8-bit or I believe it was released on other platforms too.
Densha de Go series (Sony PSP)
When I owned a PSP and being a lifelong railway enthusiast I had to track down a copy of this game to enjoy and I duly did so courtesy of an eBay seller in Hong Kong. Only released in Japan and massively popular the Densha de Go series of games are basically train driving games taking place on various lines in and around Tokyo, however the additional challenge is you have to time your braking into stations perfectly to stop at the marker as well remembering to dim your headlights and sound your horn for passing trains, I instantly loved this game and am now enjoying it again thanks to a recently released Densha de Go game on the Nintendo Switch.
MLB 9 Innings (iOS / Android)
There are many baseball games around and this, along with MLB The Show is my favourite, with all the real ballparks, teams, players and uniforms this is just like the real thing, the only letdown is the slightly limited and repetitive commentary but other than that, if you’re a baseball fan this is a great choice.
Pac-Man (Arcade)
One of the most famous and iconic games of all-time this is an absolute classic, it’s seen a number of incarnations over the years but for me, nothing beats the arcade original, a simple but addictive game, eat the dots and destroy the monsters, a true giant of a game and deserving of a place in this list.
Donkey Kong (Game and Watch)
I’m a huge fan of the Game & Watch series (see my previous blog post of the amazing recreations of all 60 titles on Mame) and even though DK was one of the first double screen Game and Watch units to be released it’s still the best one in my opinion, and was the first time we saw the Nintendo d-pad which went on to be featured in many different Nintendo machines and controllers. The object of the game is the same as the original arcade version - jump over the barrels and advance to the top of the screen to rescue the princess from the clutches of Donkey Kong, an excellent addition to the G&W series.
Donkey Kong Jr. (Game and Watch)
A single screen Game and Watch machine this time, I particularly like this one for it’s graphics, gameplay and the general look and feel of the machine, the objective is similar to the above (minus the barrels) but this time you must dodge birds and swing across to free Donkey Kong from his cage. One of the best single screen titles in the G&W series.
Fighting Vipers / Fighters Megamix (Sega Saturn)
Another two excellent arcade ports Fighting Vipers was the first to be released followed by Fighters Megamix, both have some great looking characters to fight as, terrific graphics and are both some the best fighting games to have graced the Saturn,
1944 : The Loop Master (Arcade)
I do enjoy a good scrolling shoot-em-up and this is one I play regularly courtesy of the Mame emulator, it’s a great looking, fast and fun shooter and well worth a look.
Gauntlet (Arcade)
I’ve fond memories of playing the ZX Spectrum version of this game years ago but the arcade version is the best (playable through the Mame emulator), the digitised speech in the game adds to the experience with many levels to explore and ghosts to slay, addictive fun.
Space Invaders (Arcade)
Like Pac-Man another incredibly iconic game, sure everyone has heard of this game, a true classic which has stood the test of time and will continue to be a highly playable classic for years to come.
Frogger (Arcade)
The object in this game is to guide your frog across two busy roads to the lily pads on the other side, sounds simple but dodging the oncoming traffic and timing your landings on the lily pads make this a real challenge. A highly original and fun title.
Virtua Racing Deluxe (Sega 32X)
At the time it wasn’t thought possible that a game with such advanced graphics could be ported over to a home console but Sega managed it on the 32X and they did a terrific job, this is a brilliant game, good selection of tracks and looks great.
NBA Jam (SNES)
Released on a number of different machines this is a massively over-the-top basketball game featuring real NBA teams and players at the time. In NBA Jam you can pull off frankly ridiculous and gravity-defying dunks and shots, the commentator’s quotes are instantly memorable - ‘he’s on fire!’, ‘he’s heating up!’. OK, it’s not a truly realistic basketball game but man it isn’t half fun!
Virtua Tennis 4 (PS Vita)
I enjoy all the Virtua Tennis games but the most recent addition to the series on the PS Vita is the best, great graphics, a comprehensive selection of players and courts, a satisfying selection of shots, this is a top choice if you’re looking for a realistic handheld tennis game.
Tetris (Nintendo Gameboy)
No list of favourite games would be complete without Tetris on the Gameboy, massively addictive with one of the best musical scores in any game (even released as a single and performed on Top of the Pops!), a simple idea, rotate the blocks to fit and clear a line and achieve as high a score as possible before reaching the top of the screen and it’s Game Over! A truly iconic and defining game of the time.
Game & Watch Gallery Advance (Nintendo Gameboy Advance)
A number of Game and Watch Gallery games were released across the Gameboy machines but this is the game which features the largest number of G&W titles, most of them are playable either in the original classic mode or in the modern mode with updated graphics. A few titles are included from the start with several more unlockable once enough stars are earned in the game, a convenient and portable way of playing the G&W series.
Aladdin (SNES)
For me the SNES version of Aladdin was always better than the different MegaDrive version, catchy music, laced with humour throughout and with highly realistic graphics this is a quality game still worth discovering today.
Well there you have it, the first 25 in the list, hope you found my choices interesting, any comments, disagreements or thoughts welcome and stay tuned for part 2 coming soon!
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