Oof, very tough to narrow down. It might be nostalgia, but there's still several games I go back and play on my *very* yellow SNES once a year or so.
-Mega Man X is the only great game in the series. (My opinion only, probably, but I'll stand by it.)
-Super Punch-Out was the first game I ever tried to speedrun, back before I'd heard that term..or had the internet.
-Super Mario World kinda goes without saying.
-Final Fantasy II (I know, I know), was maybe the first time I noticed a game having a story, or as I told my brother "Man, you play Darth Vader if he grew a conscience and turned back to the Jedi."
-Brain Lord! The puzzles made me think my brain was defective. It's pretty terrible, I love it!
-Link to the Past is still my go-to Zelda. I finished OoT because my friends had played it, but I've never much liked the series in 3D.
-Illusion of Gaia has your generic boy dreaming of adventure unjustly arrested and sentenced to execution. Later, a fish monster eats your friend, and you spend an unbelievably long time doing nothing on a raft while you and a girl slowly starve. Also, there's a meteor coming and the world is doomed. This game made me think about death a lot, and when great-grandma passed a year later, I had worked out how to feel. If EGM had reviewed this, I think it would have averaged a 3.5 out of 5, and Sushi-X would have told you to play Final Fantasy instead. He would have been right.
-X-Men Mutant Apocalypse! Capcom made a side-scrolling platformer with fighting game inputs, boss fights, and Psylocke. This and it's spiritual follow-up, Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems (9 word title, love it), are tantalizingly close to being great games. The beat 'em up mechanics have enough Street Fighter 2 in them to be fun and nuanced, but the platforming feels like trying to clear a Mario stage with Street Fighter 2 walking speed and jumping.
-Bahamut Lagoon was the first fan-translated game I played through once I had access to a computer and dived into emulators. It's also still an almost unique game, a monster-raising SRPG with terrain you can change with magic, and a protagonist who gets so little respect, it's nearly Dangerfield-esque. Though, the princess simply growing up and being attracted to the guy who's Cooler Byuu is refreshing. Games (books, movies, etc.) bend over backwards to make your dreams come true, it's nice to occasionally get a story that says "Keep dreaming." We can find more! R.I.P. Near.
-7thActraiserBreathofTriggerContraKongCountryMightMorphinTurtlesinTime....little known game, think I rented it from Blockbuster a few times.
Yeah just ten is tough, but I think I killed my darlings and got the essentials.
