Any classics a zoomer might not know about?

[L4wr3nce]

I know this question probably gets asked often, but i just recently just got into emulation and besides the sonic adventure and god of war games i don't actually know what used to be popular back then. I scroll through the library just watching game covers and thinking "one of these must have been some kid's whole childhood" but i don't actually have any idea what or which games a kid in the 2000s(or earlier) used to experience. Is it some weird barbie game port? maybe a random game about tennis?

I know my dad used to play the gran turismo games, and his brothers were into fighting and football games. That's all i can really gather. Is there a really niche game that maybe went for $5 in a gamestop that defined who you turned into? Maybe a game that came with your cracked ps2, or a pirated copy of a game your dad got you for your birthday? Anything helps

 

[Roxanne Orendil]

I grew up playing these on PS1 : Metal Gear Solid, Max Payne, Resident Evil 1.2.3, Alone in The Dark, Parasite Eve, Clock Tower, Dino Crisis, Yu Gi Oh Forbidden Memories, Vagrant Story, Silent Hill, Tenchu, Tekken 3, Castlevania SOTN, Tomb Raider...
PS2 : I suggest Silent Hill 2, Kuon, Rule of Rose...

 

[asco33]

Tony Hawks Pro Skater was released in 1999 for the PSX and absolutely everyone I knew was playing it up and down, lots of them with some prior affinity to skateboarding, but it was very popular with basically everyone.

Best way to experience it today imho is the THPS1+2 remake which is incredibly well done, but if you want to experience the original, it's still very enjoyable!

 

[seifer199]

The Legend of Dragoon for the PlayStation 1 was my first JRPG, and though the original translation was pretty janky (you can get a better translation version of it here), the gameplay and art design were super memorable. It's got some of the most beautiful pre-rendered background art of that era, and a lot of people overlooked it in favour of Final Fantasy 7.

Aside from that, try the original Ape Escape game on the PS1 for an innovative game that was designed around using the PlayStation's new dual analogue sticks in the most inventive ways it could.

As for Nintendo 64, Banjo-Kazooie and its sequel Banjo-tooie are legends in the 3D platforming collectathon genre and were big deals back in their day that still hold up well.
I also really enjoy Snowboard Kids 2 for some fun multiplayer childish racing back in the days when there were serious competitors to Mario Kart. The charm of the game can be easily seen in the single player story cutscenes, and how you can choose your boarder's costume for the race regardless of where it's taking place. It's a game from a simpler time.

For something a little more modern, The legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was controversial for its cartoony visuals when it was released, but it's stood the test of time as a classic adventure game.

Finally, a personal favourite series of mine is Summon Knight: Swordcraft Story on the GBA. If you only try one of them, give the second game in the series a shot. Warioware on the GBA and DS are also great microgame collections that really show off what Nintendo look like when they're not taking themselves too seriously.

 

[RustySK]

I lived the complete center field average of my generation in that the games that defined my early gaming years were all the Nintendo classics the internet has since turned into such clichés that I'm sure most Gen Z kids must be bored to tears hearing about them at this point.

Super Mario Bros. 1-3 and World, Yoshi's Island, Zelda 1-2 and Zelda: A Link to the Past, the whole shebang.
Cliché as they may be - there really is a reason they're as famous and highly-regarded as they are.
One notable exception might be Weapon Lord - a fantastic heavy metal album cover themed fighting game.

https://retrogametalk.com/repository/snes-rom/weapon-lord-usa/

The kids in my neighborhood also played the usual football games - growing up in Europe and all that was kind of a given - but I was never all that into those.

The PSX era was all over the place, that was always the best thing about that system, but even there my most formative memories are pretty in line with what nostalgics have driven into the ground at this point. Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken, Tony Hawk etc.

If I really were to grasp at straws for defining games from my childhood that are more or less forgotten though... I can really only think of stuff I kind of hated but pretty much had to stick with since there just was no actual alternative for what I could play.
Titus the Fox, Castlevania: The Adventure or the Spider-Man games on the Gameboy, for example. Real garbage hours. Discount jank from back then was some real trash.

Post automatically merged: Mar 2, 2025

Tony Hawks Pro Skater was released in 1999 for the PSX and absolutely everyone I knew was playing it up and down, lots of them with some prior affinity to skateboarding, but it was very popular with basically everyone.

Best way to experience it today imho is the THPS1+2 remake which is incredibly well done, but if you want to experience the original, it's still very enjoyable!

Tony Hawk was the series of a generation for sure. That said, the series never clicked with me back in the day - I still maintain that THUG is by far the best game in the series, because it just went into such a bizarre direction with its story.

 

[thanonyx]

Try looking up some old titles, like from the 90s or older, of some series' that are still around today and see when caused them to stay relevant throughout the years.

I'm talking stuff like Street Fighter, The Legend of Zelda, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot, Kirby, Gran Turismo, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Metroid, Pokémon, Doom, and many more.

See what made these games stand the test of time.

 

[Tengu Plant]

Well, a good idea here is to decide on a console or handheld that interests you and then just search "[console] hidden gems". You'll probably get some results from reddit or wherever waxing nostalgic over a few games, maybe a few charts made by users as well.
Honestly, I'm kind of astounded that no one's mentioned Pokemon here yet. You'd have been hard pressed to find a kid who wasn't into the series back in the 90s and 2000s. If you want to try these yourself, please go with Fire Red or Leaf Green over Red and Blue. The originals are just a bit too unpolished in terms of movesets and enemy AI. If you want the Gameboy experience though, Crystal is fine.
As for me personally, my mom got me a copy of Bomberman 64 and it was great.

 

[>pitchshifter]

God Hand, Smuggler's Run: Warzones, Every Burnout game, FlatOut 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, Devil May Cry 3, Hitman: Blood Money, Every Midnight Club game and BLACK.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Everybody and their moms played it at the time but nobody would actually admit it, 'nuff said.

 

[UndeadKnight]

thats the difference about games in the 90s and early 2000s. Yeah you had massive culturally impactful games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Pokemon, and GTA. But there was so much variety of good games back then and no online play, so really kids growing up back then could have completely different childhood memories based on what their moms got them or what they found at rental stores. There was no "Fortnite" or "Minecraft" or "Roblox" type games where literally every kid in the world was only playing those games. You could go to any friends house and they could have a completely different set of games you never heard of before.

 

[DorfleFlorp]

Breath Of Fire 3 and 4 are really great both for PS1.

 

[thanonyx]

Breath Of Fire 3 and 4 are really great both for PS1.

Can confirm on the account of BoF3.

 

[Graw]

Breath Of Fire 3 and 4 are really great both for PS1.

I started playing BoF 3 because i was looking for something with some exploration in it similar To Dragon Quest 3 and 6 and it was recommended to me but oh man the random encounter rate seems excessively high. I got through the first little intro quest thing up the mountain and the encounters just seemed like they were non-stop. Like worse than nes jrpgs. Literally after every single entrance you are guaranteed an encounter within a step or two. I don't normally mind random encounters but this just felt excessive. I ended up switching to a different game. It's too bad. I really enjoyed the art style and the music and it seemed like it was going to be exactly what I was looking for.

 

[DorfleFlorp]

I started playing BoF 3 because i was looking for something with some exploration in it similar To Dragon Quest 3 and 6 and it was recommended to me but oh man the random encounter rate seems excessively high. I got through the first little intro quest thing up the mountain and the encounters just seemed like they were non-stop. Like worse than nes jrpgs. Literally after every single entrance you are guaranteed an encounter within a step or two. I don't normally mind random encounters but this just felt excessive. I ended up switching to a different game. It's too bad. I really enjoyed the art style and the music and it seemed like it was going to be exactly what I was looking for.

It does have a high encounter rate but that soundtrack though. Art style is great as well.

 

[Graw]

It does have a high encounter rate but that soundtrack though. Art style is great as well.

I know. The art's really pretty and the music I did hear sounded great. I did read something afterwards about dashing increasing the encounter rate, I was dashing everywhere, and a bunch of other tricks like walking along walls so encounters don't have room to spawn and things like that so I probably will give it another try at some point. It just really surprised me a playstation game having an encounter rate so high. Most jrpg games by that point had toned it down to a more reasonable level. Dragon Quest VI's encounter rate wasn't even as high and that game's known for being a grindy game with a high encounter rate.