My Top 10 Favorite Video Games From My Childhood
This is by no means a top 10 of THE BEST games from that era, just my personal favorites which hold a lot of meaning to me.
#10 - Quackshot - 1991 - Sega Genesis
I grew up with the Genesis, and this was one of the first games my parents bought for it, along with Sonic 1 and Talespin. And to tell you the truth, I hated it at first. I had no idea what the goal was, and to my knowledge there were only 3 levels (I'd get stuck in this endless loop in the Transylvania level). But since I was somewhere around 5 years old at the time, my problem solving skills weren't quite as developed. This was back when I needed my dad to beat Robotnik in Sonic 1 for me. I remember playing the game a few years later, and being blown away by how fun the game actually was when you knew what to do. That's one of the main reasons why I put that game on this list. It was right in front of me all along, and once I gave it that second chance I was rewarded with a game in one of my favorite genres (Adventure/Puzzle).
#9 - Super Mario World - 1991 - Super Nintendo
(who gave Yoshi the weed?)
I never gained possession of a Super Nintendo, so I was mainly stuck on the other side of the console gaming market as a kid. But luckily I knew many people such as friends and cousins who had the sexy sleek console. Each and every one of them had this game, mainly because it came bundled with the console (practically making it a requirement). Due to only being exposed for short periods of time, I'd get maybe through Yoshi Island, into the first few levels of Donut Plains. I didn't get the full game experience for many years until I bought a Gameboy Advance. Despite this, it still brings back memories of getting a small taste of the other side
#8 - The 7th Guest - 1993 - PC
Up until the Christmas of 1995, the computer at my house was this crappy old thing with green font and a black background, and that was about it. Just playing around with Windows 95 was entertaining in itself. Rodent's Revenge and Chip's Challenge were all I needed. My dad, however, picked up The 7th Guest along with the strategy guide. It was DAD'S game. I wasn't allowed to play it. Not because he thought it was too graphic, but because he didn't want me getting further in it than him. He really had no reason to worry, this game was HARD. The 3rd puzzle with the cans in the pantry was hair pullingly difficult, and don't get me started on the microscope puzzle. Just look up “Microscope puzzle 7th guest” and you'll see how tough it is. Finding the little secret cutscenes was great though, and it was a pretty spooky game. A pretty good intro to the point-n-click genre, I must say.
#7 - Twisted Metal 2 - 1996 - Playstation
By the mid 90's my Genesis was getting pretty old. It was time to move on to the next generation. But which one to choose? Due to being on team Sega for the past 5 or 6 years, my bias against Nintendo was effective, so N64 was right out. So my choice was between the Sony Playstation and the Sega Saturn. THANK JEEBUS that my sister and I had a sitter who brought over her boyfriend/ex-boyfriend (I can't remember). He brought a Playstation over and booted up Twisted Metal 2. The sheer originality and concept of that one game made up my mind. So thanks to TM2, I might have been stuck with an EXTREMELY dusty old Saturn with a single copy of Knights into Dreams.
#6 - Kirby's Super Star - 1996 - Super Nintendo
In the time frame between getting bored with my Genesis and before I got the Playstation, my parents would sometimes allow me to rent a Super Nintendo from Video Magic. Kirby's Super Star was the game I always rented along with it (as well as Super Mario All Stars). In fact Kirby games were a standard whenever I rented Nintendo consoles. I don't think I have to explain why I liked it so much, its just fun and that's all.
#5 - Duke Nukem 3D - 1996 - PC
You might be surprised to know that I didn't grow up with Doom on my PC. Instead I had Rise of the Triad. ROTT was extraordinarily violent, with guts and eyeballs flying everywhere when you hit them with a bazooka. Some of the creators of ROTT went on to create Duke Nukem 3D. My young mind fell in love with the game's ridiculousness, violence, and of course the boobies. I went on to even buy the Washington DC and Caribbean expansion packs. I also like to think that DN3D even got me to watch Army of Darkness and the other Evil Dead movies.
#4 - The Even More Incredible Machine - 1993 - PC
This was my first game that I got for the PC (aside from the Microsoft Entertainment Pack, but that doesn't count). Anyone who has ever played a game in this series knows how great it is. The puzzles in The Incredible Machine really brought out the problem solving side of me, and kept my brain from rotting away too much during the summer. Plus the music is pretty damn good too. And now I really want to play it again. Also, the recently released German game, Crazy Machines, doesn't quite match up with the oldies.
#3 - Sonic 3 & Knuckles - 1994 - Genesis
When Sonic 3 came out I was quite pleased. When Sonic & Knuckles came out later that year, I was also quite pleased. But when I first combined the two to form the full game, my brain melted. To this day the lock-on technology in the S&K cartridge amazes me (Especially since they got it to work with Sonic 2, which came out 2 years earlier). The music is superb, and the variety of levels and baddies was astonishing for the time. Super Mario World was Mario's crowning achievement of the 90's, and this one is Sonic's.
#2 - Streets of Rage 2 - 1992 - Genesis
I remember playing Double Dragon on NES and enjoying the heck out of it. Years later I thought to myself “Is there anything like Double Dragon on Genesis?”. There sat Streets of Rage 2 on the shelf at Video Magic, beckoning me forward. The moment the music started in Round 1 I knew it was going to be a great game. Yuzo Koshiro knows his way around a soundcard. The music in this game alone puts it on this list, but the addition of the great gameplay puts it at number 2.
#1 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - 1997 - Playstation
Why is this game #1? Music. Sound Effects. Gameplay. Story. Replayability. Design. Oh the game is done? Well that's a shame you better fi- SECRET UPSIDE DOWN CASTLE! I love this game.