In your opinion, which is the best retro game for you?

[Merlloosos]

Hello guys, after I asked y'all which emulator is the best I will have to ask y'all what is the best retro game in your opinion? Thanks:)

 

[ShadowBadger]

Super Mario World for me. Probably played through it two dozen times. Love everything about it from the gameplay to aesthetics.

 

[daughter of janus]

Serious:
I would have to say any of the old school Castlevania games. I love them, and honestly I couldn't pick a favorite. I prefer the NES/SNES versions over titles like Symphony of the Night. I do enjoy the Metroidvania Castlevanias, but I would say Super Castlevania IV is probably the best for me.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight]

The best retro game is Super Mario All-stars + Super Mario World. My favorite however is Kirby Superstar

 

[MrChester]

Serious:
I would have to say any of the old school Castlevania games. I love them, and honestly I couldn't pick a favorite. I prefer the NES/SNES versions over titles like Symphony of the Night. I do enjoy the Metroidvania Castlevanias, but I would say Super Castlevania IV is probably the best for me.

Man, I love classic Castlevania before they went Metroidvania and you're the first person I've ever seen to share a similar sentiment. My friend legit audibly scoffed at the idea. I respect the later games for what they did, I just prefer the absolute cbt obstacle course vibe of the originals. Super Castlevania IV though....? /j

Favourite retro videogame though? Mouse in the Maze (1959). Can't get much more retro than that, right?

 

[daughter of janus]

Man, I love classic Castlevania before they went Metroidvania and you're the first person I've ever seen to share a similar sentiment. My friend legit audibly scoffed at the idea. I respect the later games for what they did, I just prefer the absolute cbt obstacle course vibe of the originals. Super Castlevania IV though....? /j

Favourite retro videogame though? Mouse in the Maze (1959). Can't get much more retro than that, right?

Serious:
I understand what you mean. The classic side-scrolling Castlevania games have a certain charm and difficulty that many players find more rewarding. They feel more challenging and raw compared to Symphony of the Night, which some see as more accessible or simplified, like training wheels for a harder game.

 

[TotzOnGaming]

Can't choose just one but as for lasting impact on me, I'd say it's Symphony of the Night and Zero Mission that made me love metroivanias and FF4 and 6 for Turn-based and Ys for Action jrpgs. Got me into VGM as well.

 

[Bonkers225]

Kirby Adventure on the NES

 

[stealthRUSH]

Gradius (1985) by Konami

 

[WesternYokai]

Pokemo Red

 

[MrChester]

Serious:
I understand what you mean. The classic side-scrolling Castlevania games have a certain charm and difficulty that many players find more rewarding. They feel more challenging and raw compared to Symphony of the Night, which some see as more accessible or simplified, like training wheels for a harder game.

There's a name for that idea in game theory known as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from mechanical mastery like wanting to beat a game "because it's tough" such as with Castlevania, or to improve and compete like in fighting games. Extrinsic motivation comes from things outside of the core gameplay like leveling up your character in Symphony/Aria, or getting a higher number in a clicker games. Obviously both styles have their merits and there's a lot of middle ground that covers both, but as you put it, those older castlevanias had a certain charm, and I think it relates to motivation

 

[Evil Pope]

ridge racer type 4

 

[valosagutas]

When someone says "retro" I directly remember the days I wasted so much time and money but gained so much fun and friendship in arcades so my answer: Missile Command.

I have a love-hate relationship with this game. It's relatively easy for a long time but suddenly on a certain level it starts to make you act faster and perfectly so if you start losing cities on that particular level just make your peace, calm down and accept your defeat lol.

For a video game that has no dialogue, no people, no story, just you and the sense of protection and the enemy you have to protect your people from the game really teaches you a lot. The value of sacrifice and the fact that you can't save everyone and you can't always win but I tried anyway. This is rather something not many video game can make you feel despite having days worth of conversations, tons of people and movie-length nonsense cutscenes in every 10 minutes of walking simulator "gameplay" fueled by the new generation sense of "I'm an artist, so love my artistic video game" BS.

Playing Missile Command and imagining all the people you couldn't save who could have a great future ahead of them if you didn't fail them like a kid who aspired to be an astronaut, newly met couple who were eager to start their new life and old couple who wanted to enjoy the rest of their life with their grandkids and whatever people could be living in these cities but because I failed all their memories and hopes being lost in the explosions that erased cities from existence like their lives never mattered makes the game too immersive to me instead of nonsense forced character dramas in new video games that digital people dying without even blood pool despite they are shot down and whatever and they just die after some cheesy cringe lines and badly animated dying animation lol. I'm sorry but I laugh a lot when after such character drama scene models of these characters falls in ragdoll ayy lmao.

And do you know the worst part of Missile Command? After all the cities you have to protect are destroyed into rubbles the game doesn't end. I call this a digital walk of shame: "play the damn game with shame and if you keep playing the game you are a very dishonorable person". But no this is not the worst part of the game. If certain conditions are met, the game gives you more responsibility to protect new cities despite you failed hard and caused millions of people to die before. I never saw this as a 2nd chance or some BS, this is not a gift. This is a pure curse. You know you'll fail again. That's the point of the game, people just die. No happy ending in Missile Command. You can only hope people in the cities could spend more time with their loved ones by delaying their inevitable death. It must be how being a medical doctor feels like when you are not so corrupted by focusing only on the money you earn and the social flex you feel lol.

I'm not that serious but it was another layer of fun in retro games that you could imagine what's the story behind them lol.

 

[ciro64]

If we're going for the most favorite among the oldest games, then I guess Super Mario Bros 1 is it.

This game has a very serene aesthetic, specially some of the romhacks.

 

[χKai]

I just can't pick; I like all of them.

 

[nobitakun]

I am in the same situation, I can't possibly pick one among all games I've ever played. I have very fond memories of many of them.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's iconTamagotchiTamaHero24]

I gotta pick my baby.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of the best things I have in my life. Odd to say, and I value the people I love most in life more, but Sonic 3 has nearly everything I love in a piece of media. Aesthetically, it’s perfection. Gameplay wise, it’s very very fun. Secrets wise, I’m always finding new things in it. It’s my favorite game ever made, and it has held that position since I was little. I’ve never STOPPED playing this game. Last guess, I’ve done around 7 or 8 full playthroughs? Like, full on “get all the super emeralds” playthroughs.
Please play the Classic Sonic games. Pick one and play, they’re all great. And they’re all wildly different, so just because you don’t like one doesn’t mean you won’t like another.

But, I have to give shoutouts to another.

Shinobi 3 is a game you NEED to play. Thankfully, it’s on most of the classic SEGA collections, so there’s no reason not to hop in and play it! The game is a fast paced, classic action game where you play as Joe Musashi as he battles enemy samurai, large robotic foes, and horrific genetic abominations in an attempt to finally bring down the shadowy Neo Zeed. It’s you, as an awesome ninja, versus an army of monsters and enemies… and they ALL fear your swiftness. There’s amazing chases, a variety of locations, and the game just IS Genesis. It’s what the Mega Drive aesthetic is all about, all wrapped into one, beautifully put together package, and it’s something you need to play.
Quite frankly, it should be held in the same regard, if not higher than Super Metroid. But, because it’s SEGA, for some reason it only seems to be recognized among SEGA fans. A true shame, as this is a game for EVERYBODY.

Both of these are on Genesis, but I love games from EVERY platform! I wanted to talk about Yoshi’s Island here! I was writing up paragraphs on Solaris from 2600! I have Neo Geo on the mind as we speak! And I feel like I’ve done a disservice to the arcade, whose games hardly get the respect they deserve from people in my age bracket (lots of arcade games are incredible to this day).
Great games don’t age, they just mature like fine wine. And thankfully you won’t get a DUI if you drive after playing them!

 

[NekketsuFighter]

In my heart the is only one retro game that not only was the most amazing experience back in the days, but it's still better than most modern games: Chrono Trigger. Before discovering Chrono Trigger, I used to play a lot games like Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star and The 7th Saga. Most had their back story told before presenting the characters, and then you are out fighting all sort of monsters while uncovering more about what was happening in the world and who was the culprit. But then, in Chrono Trigger your character is awakened by his mother and told to go to the fair. I was like: "I don't know was going on, but OK". Then, instead of going where I was told, I decide to explore first was is outside, and for my surprise there was no random battles (that's weird, I thought). So I decided to go to the fair, and I expected that it was going to be an area with the only purpose of meeting a certain character or event in order to proceed with the story, but no. The fair was an actual fair! You could play many minigames like hitting a bell, betting in a race, participating in some Horror show hosted by a ¿floating clown mask?, dancing, a drinking contest and beating the hell out of a giant cat robot!

After that, you are giving the task of traveling through many eras uncovering mysteries until you realize what really is going on (sorry for being so vague but I don't want to spoiler the story for those who haven't play it yet).

As a bonus, being a Dragon Ball fan and discovering that Akira Toriyama (RIP) worked on this game was enough to make me consider Chrono Trigger as the best videogame ever made.

 

[χKai]

As a bonus, being a Dragon Ball fan and discovering that Akira Toriyama (RIP) worked on this game was enough to make me consider Chrono Trigger as the best videogame ever made.

I'm surprised you didn't pick one of the Nekketsu games, tbh