Over the last year and a half, we've looked at the best games from a variety of systems, and in that time more than 1000 games at least got some attention. The lists focused on retrogaming, and with nearly all the lists specific to a particular system, it meant that there wasn't many opportunities to compare games between systems.
For this list, though, we've looked at the best 2D platforming games, regardless of console. Mario vs Mega Man vs Samus vs Sonic and others in a match outside the Smash Bros Universe. One of the challenges in a list like this is to decide what it includes, so the question was left open-ended. Because of this, there were some interesting choices, including what to do with games that cross genres but include heavy doses of platforming.
So after taking much of 2020 to look at some of the best games for several different home console systems of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, it only seemed natural to kick off 2021 with a list of the best of the best.
The results are based off of 5 participants:
Crabmaster2000 EZ Racer DisposedHero Fokakis79 Wempster
Voters were encouraged to list all their best games if they couldn't get it cut to 20, and a few lists took advantage of that. Games from all systems released as 5th generation consoles (N64, Playstation 1, Sega Saturn) and prior were eligible. Japan exclusives were also eligible, along with PC titles released in 1999 or earlier.
In all, there were 89 games that were considered among the best of the early video game generations, and rather than list the also-rans separately, I thought it woulld be fun to list every game in order. My thought is that all these games are considered exceptional by at least one person, so if your looking for ideas for something to try, it might be for you as well.
Before getting to it, thanks to those who participated this month, and all who made lists in 2020. It's been a lot of fun, and look forward to a lot more in '21! If you're a GameCube fan, check out the link for the next list coming up- http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=19495.0
So here are your Top 20...er top 89 games as voted on by RFGen members!
Those of you who watched the progress videos for the 2019 RFGeneration NES Challenge may recognize this track as it was included in one of the medleys I recorded. This was always one of my favorite segments from those medleys, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before I revisited it with a full cover. I really enjoyed being able to flesh this one out a bit more, and it's really cool to compare the two recordings and see how far I've come in regards to recording quality and production values. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Posted on Jul 16th 2020 at 12:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under video, review, NES
Today I'm reviewing a game that has been a little overlooked due to it being a late release on the NES and being preceded by a much less memorable game. Have you played this one? It's Super Spy Hunter.
One of the things I love the most about my retro gaming hobby is feeling the waves of nostalgia rush over me like a surge of whimsical adrenaline when I play a game that I adored from my childhood. Being swept back to a time that was safe, happy and innocent is an addictive pleasure of mine; it is one of my defining characteristics and is my preferred form of escapism. More so than movies or toys from my youth, video games have always potently stimulated that magical feeling in me.
For obvious reasons, a typical child from the 80s didn't have every video game released for his or her favorite console. In fact, most kids would only ever play a small fraction of the hundreds and hundreds of games that may have been produced for a particular system. Admittedly, speaking specifically of the NES, I had a pretty healthy collection and experienced most of the more popular franchises from the 8 bit era. Contra, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania... yeah, I had all those. And not only did I have them, I beat them. You see, I was the type of gamer who would usually only play one game at a time until I beat it, and then move on to the next. I would cherish the games I beat like trophies, and often revisit them and experience them in different ways or explore new areas. Needless to say, this method of playing my games was, in part, what fueled the intimacy and fondness I have for them today.
This year has been a good year for me in regards to making progress on beating my NES library. In January and February, I was able to pump out some serious completion numbers. For the first couple weeks of March, I was able to tackle a few games from my sublist of games that I anticipated to be the hardest ones for me to complete. Before all this COVID-19 stuff, I planned to continue putting time into these challenging titles specifically. Things are stressful enough at the moment, so I decided to change my tactics and go with some comfort food instead. My stress reducer of choice was the original Final Fantasy. Now I've beaten this game before, but not before I started keeping records and recording my plays.
2019 was probably the personal best year for gaming that I have had in a very long time. I played nearly all of the NES games for the RFGen NES Challenge for fun (and even finished some), got a new game system (a year earlier than anticipated), and per usual ended up playing a completely different subset of gaming than I anticipated. So, please join me as I take a final look over 2019 as we take our first steps into this year.
To get straight to the point, we did not make our goal of beating every North American licensed NES game in the year 2019. Is that a disappointing outcome? Heck no! We ended up conquering 514 of the 669 game list in a single year. We had 30 members participate throughout the year! Some of which I havn't really had a good opportunity to interact with before and it gave me a chance to get to know them better. Beyond those 30 players we had several other members offer advice and support and simply cheer us on. Even though we fell short at the end we had an incredible time exploring new worlds, gritting our teeth over challenging areas, mashing buttons faster than ever before and most importantly, sharing our accomplishments with our peers.
It was quite heartwarming to see people scratch games off their backlog, overcome childhood hurtles and discover new favorites. Every game is not a winner, but I do feel there is something valuable to learn even from playing a stinker. I hope that every player feels that the time they invested in this community challenge was as worthwhile as I did. Whether you joined us for 1 game or 100 I'm incredibly thankful for your participation.
The RF Generation community of collectors and players has committed themselves to demolishing the entire licensed NES library in the year 2019. Is that even possible you say, with your help it totally is!! Check out the RFGen 2019 NES Challenge thread to see how to join in at anytime throughout the year. There is plenty of opportunity to participate regardless of your skill level, favorite style of game or the amount of time you have to invest. Come over and play with us here:
Here we are everyone. The final month of 2019. It's fairly obvious at this point that we will not reach the goal of beating the entire licensed NES library in 2019, but we gave it a valiant effort and have put a monstrous dent into it. However, I and a few others still plan to keep taking down NES games this month to see how close we can get. Please join us if you want to mess around in the weeds of what's left of the Nintendo Entertainment System library.
Posted on Nov 15th 2019 at 01:00:00 PM by (Pam) Posted under video, review, nes
Today I'm looking at DuckTales! It's got an interesting history, from the creation of the Scrooge McDuck character, to a partnership between Disney and Capcom, similarities to Mega Man and changes made by Disney producers. Here's some history of the game along with my thoughts on how it plays.
Two months ago I smack-talked Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road in the review of SNK 40th Anniversary Collection on Switch. At the least I called it annoying, at the most I called it garbage (in one of my older articles), stating that I would rather eat three year-old hotdogs than play that game again. But something happened after getting SNK for the Switch that had never happened before: I enjoyed myself playing Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road.
It all started more than thirty years ago, back then I would troll the suburbs of Metro D looking for returnable bottles to play arcade games. I've said it many times before, no doubt, but I loved this period of my life, despite the beatdowns I would sometimes have to endure due to my... geeky appearance. One of my most cherished games from this era was Victory Road, a sci-fi flavored sequel to Ikari Warriors. It certainly wasn't at the 7-11 for very long, but regardless I had put this game on a pedestal, from which it refused to budge for thirty-two years. So one day when I happened onto the NES port with the appropriate amount of money in my pocket, the cash couldn't couldn't fly out of my pocket fast enough, and I am pretty sure I set speed records for tearing off plastic and removing the game manual from the box. Wonder I didn't tear it to pieces like an animal. And the results? Not good, though I always felt I tried. The NES port of Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road felt unfinished at the time, and I am afraid that I delegated it to the "Budget Wall" bin along with Hydlide and King's Knight, somewhere deep in my room. In retrospect I probably played more Urban Champion then that game.
The RF Generation community of collectors and players has committed themselves to demolishing the entire licensed NES library in the year 2019. Is that even possible you say, with your help it totally is!! Check out the RFGen 2019 NES Challenge thread to see how to join in at anytime throughout the year. There is plenty of opportunity to participate regardless of your skill level, favorite style of game or the amount of time you have to invest. Come over and play with us here:
With the year rapidly closing in on us we need all the help we can get! The list of remaining games may be smaller than ever, but boy is it dense. We need all sports stars, adventurers, action heroes, pilots, drivers, puzzle masters, strategic geniuses, arcade wizards and cartoon characters on hand to beat the remainder of the NES library.
Check out the list of remaining titles or even just pop in the thread to share tips or encourage our players to keep on going. With everybody banding together we can accomplish this lofty goal!
The RF Generation community of collectors and players has committed themselves to demolishing the entire licensed NES library in the year 2019. Is that even possible you say, with your help it totally is!! Check out the RFGen 2019 NES Challenge thread to see how to join in at anytime throughout the year. There is plenty of opportunity to participate regardless of your skill level, favorite style of game or the amount of time you have to invest. Come over and play with us here:
4 months left in the year and we are still going strong! 461 games beaten through January to the end of August 2019. That means we've got 208 titles left to beat in the next 4 months. With the community working together that's definitely an achievable number. We have taken down pretty much all the classic games at this point, but there are still a lot of great games, a lot of short games, a lot of easy games and of course several big challenges. If you're up for taking on a time consuming RPG or sports title, a much neglected Strategy game, maybe an largely ignored genre like a flight sim or even a hard as nails shmup we'd love to have you join our quest to beat the entire NES library in 2019.
The RF Generation community of collectors and players has committed themselves to demolishing the entire licensed NES library in the year 2019. Is that even possible you say, with your help it totally is!! Check out the RFGen 2019 NES Challenge thread to see how to join in at anytime throughout the year. There is plenty of opportunity to participate regardless of your skill level, favorite style of game or the amount of time you have to invest. Come over and play with us here:
We are back and stronger than ever!! After an extremely slow May I was having my doubts about our progress in this challenge. But after a crazy productive June and July we are back on track to make this challenge a reality!! As of July 31st we've collectively beaten 432 NES games which leaves us with an achievable 237 games to beat in the final 5 months of the year. With our selection of games dwindling we are getting into the weird, the bad, the ugly, the seedy underbelly of the NES. If you really want to deep dive into this amazing library now is a great time to join us in the NES Challenge.
The RF Generation community of collectors and players has committed themselves to demolishing the entire licensed NES library in the year 2019. Is that even possible you say, with your help it totally is!! Check out the RFGen 2019 NES Challenge thread to see how to join in at anytime throughout the year. There is plenty of opportunity to participate regardless of your skill level, favorite style of game or the amount of time you have to invest. Come over and play with us here:
With May being our slowest month to date thing's where not looking good for us to pass the halfway mark of the NES library by the halfway mark for the year. But with some very impressive June participation from several members we are more than 30 titles past the 50% mark of the entire licensed NES library! Starting July off with an impressive 370 NES games beaten by our own community members since January 1st 2019.
Join us for July as we press forward to our next milestone!
