Gaming Question of the Month - Best Game Each Generation?

[scaryness]

SNES: Super Metroid
Genesis: Sonic 2
GameBoy: Pokemon Yellow
N64: Ocarina
GameCube: Super Smash Bros Melee
PS2: God of War
Wii: Super Mario Galaxy
360: Red Dead Redemption

 

[SugarShane]

I'm super late to the party but here's mine.
My list is a little different, these games are probably very unlikely to be the games that will top the “Best Games” list. But they’re what defined the gen for me. Multiplayer is huge for me, back in my school days most of my gaming was done either with my sister or my mates so most of my all time favourite memories of games are playing multiplayer. And these days, I don’t really have the time to play through the latest platformers/RPGs, opting instead to go for the quick fix Sport/Racing/Fighting games. But basically these are the games that, if I plugged the console back in right now, I'd chuck in first.

Atari/ColecoVision
Outlaw.

This was Goldeneye for us in the late 80's/early 90's. Good clean shootout fun. Loved it.
HM: Donkey Kong, Gorf

NES
Aussie Rules Footy.

Not the greatest depiction of Aussie Rules, but i played it to death. Great multiplayer, and gave us the infamous soundbyte, "Out of bounds... On the full." Not to mention being able to make your opponents wear pink guernseys for laughs. For the record, i never owned a NES, and this is the only game we ever played at my bro's house. Even now it's the only rom i ever bother to load on the NES. Except maybe Hollywood Squares.

SNES
Super International Cricket

Simple, yet challenging enough if you got serious about it. And when playing against someone, diven the right level of seriousness, this game can get ultra heated. Started many an argument. Great fun.
HM: Rock n Roll Racing, WWF Wrestlemania Arcade, Nigel Mansell F1

N64
Mario Kart 64

For the first 10 months of my N64 life I only had 2 games. Lylat Wars, and MK64. After a couple play throughs of Lylat Wars (and no save game feature so having to play the same shit first level over and over) it got old quick and started collecting dust. From then on, it was all Mario Kart. 4 Players, Battle, Double Deck, it’s on. Next Christmas I got Goldeneye which nearly toppled it (and technically was probably the better all round game), but in terms of what is N64 in my eyes, it’s Mario Kart.
HM: Goldeneye 007

PSX
Rally Cross

For my best mate and I, this game used up many a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Good physics, good tracks, and just all round fun. Once all the tracks and cars were unlocked it was plenty enough to keep it fresh in the late 90’s. With bumps and obstacles always around on the tracks you were never out of the race until it the other guy passed the finish line. There was never a shortage of one of being infront and forgetting a turn or something and ending up on our roof as the other guy zoomed past for the win.
HM: WWF SmackDown 2, Dave Mirra BMX, THPS2

GameCube
Goldeneye: Rogue Agent

The single player mode was serviceable, but not great. But the multiplayer in this game gets it the gong. It was mostly an overlooked game and didn’t really get its due but it had great simple 4 player action that was closer to the vintage Goldeneye than the COD clones you get today. 4 players, one shot kills, first to 10. Let’s do it.
HM: Mario Party 4, WWE Day of Reckoning

PS2
Guitar Hero II

The games that redefined the music genre. Before the over saturation of the games, the first 2 did it right. Challenging, but achievable. Polished presentation. Great games. Number 2 gets the nod over the first because of the addition of bass, more songs, and better multiplayer options.
HM: SingStar, Tiger Woods 05

Wii
Donkey Kong Country Returns

Easily the best game I played on the Wii. Such a great game, frustrating at times but that only spurred you on to keep playing. Pretty much all I did between Christmas and New Year of whatever year it came out.
HM: Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports

PS3
AFL Live

I know, it’s not even close to the “best” game on PS3. But simply put, it’s the game I’ve put the most hours into, and the only game that after 2 years, I still play a lot. It’s easily the best AFL game ever, and if I had to sell every game except one, this is the one I'd keep. It’s not without its problems, but it’s easily my favourite.
HM: GTA IV, Dirt 2, Mortal Kombat, F1 2011

 

[Spudregus_87]

SNES: Super Mario All Stars (Mario Kart, Super Mario World & Donkey Kong were close);
N64: Mario Kart (just edges out Goldeneye);
PS1: Shane Warne Cricket 99 (Anyone else start Excel spreadsheets to do scorecards/stats before a world cup?)
PS2: Call of Duty 3 (Loved the nostalgia of Kingdom Hearts though)
PS3: Mass Effect 3 (Strong contenders in ME2, Red Dead & Skyrim)

 

[Eth]

Go me for never answering this.

From what I owned;
N64: Donkey Kong 64. Just edges out Mario Kart and Super Mario, for mine. Played it to death.
PS2: GTA San Andreas. Fantastic series and the PCM of the bunch. Never really got into Vice City.
PS3: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Great campaign and awesome multiplayer.
PC: Age of Empires 2. Probably my first love. Edging out Minecraft with longevity.
GBC: Pokemon Yellow. Because Crystal's save battery thing died first.
GBA: Yoshi's Island. Something just ridiculously addictive that I found with this.

 

[Polo]

My first console was the Nintendo 64, so I'll start there. Wii gets its own generation because it wasn't really competing with the PS3/XBox 360 in my eyes.

PS1: Final Fantasy 9
Honourable mentions: Banjo Kazooie, Mario 64, Majoras Mask, Ocarina of Time

PS2: Jak and Daxter
Honourable mentions: Final Fantasy X, Windwaker

Wii: Xenoblade Chronicles.
Honourable mentions: Super Mario Galaxy, Skyward Sword

XBox 360: Mass Effect (All of them)
Honourable mentions: Fallout (3 and New Vegas), Uncharted (all of them) and Demon's Souls/Dark Souls.

 

[Sub_Zero]

PC: Star Wars: Dark Forces II Jedi Knight
Honourable mentions; Max Payne, Carmageddon, Blood, Star Wars: Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast, Jedi Knight III Jedi Academy, NFS III: Hot Pursuit
N64: Tie between Goldeneye & Ocarina Of Time
Honourable mentions; Perfect Dark, Mario Kart 64, San Francisco Rush, Shadow Man, Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Super Smash Bros
PS2: GTA: Vice City
Honourable mention; Tekken 5
Gamecube: Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Honourable mentions; Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros Melee, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leader, Mario Kart: Double Dash
Wii: Super Smash Bros Brawl
Honourable mentions; Mario Galaxy 1 + 2, Mario Kart Wii, Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
PS3: Elder Scrolls: Skyrim atm but will be GTAV when it comes out
Honourable mentions; FIFA13, Battlefield 3, Far Cry 3, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare

 

[beta_condition]

NES: Metroid - Unbelievable map design despite being an 8-bit side scrolling map, it was one of the first game that go you fully absorbed into its world, heart breaking level difficulty that grinded you into the ground, the only thing which you will spend more time doing than dying is searching around like a headless chicken.

SNES: Donkey Kong country - Pre-rendered 3d graphics! Not only was thing one of the best looking game of its generation with an amazing soundtrack it holds its own even today, variety in level design with artistic creativity that every bit matches the advanced graphics. It also happened to launch the golden era of RARE.

N64: Goldeneye - One of the best Multiplayer modes only out done by its single player, something modern shooter could only dream of. One of the games which said shooter not only could work and be interesting but could work on a console and not just be a crappy half asked dodgy remake.

PS1: Spyro the dragon - One of the games in the 32-bit area which transferred platforming properly, heaps of side mission and tricky mini games complemented the game perfectly, spent many hours trying to uncover all the dragons, just the design of the game made you want to collect everything and it never felt like a chore.

PS2: Jak and daxter 2: Another game which rewarded for collecting everything but wasn't the reason we did. But that's only skimming the top off what is a big cake, the world design is certainly a treat, replaying the hd collection made me really appreciate the effort naughty dog went to in the original. Some of the funniest cut scene in a game.

GameCube: f-zero gx: Short and simply~ The best racer Nintendo has ever produce and I cant for one express enough how annoyed I am that they refuse to make another entry into the series "Done all we can" they say yea clearly stops them rushing out countless mario kart/party games.

Wii: Donkey Kong Country Return: When i first heard Retro was taking develop of this game I was little optimistic if they could capture the magic that Rare implemented into the series. Thank god it was all paranoia, some of the best controls on the wii which just felt natural and in no way felt compromised for being on the wii.

Xbox 360: Halo 3, It was a decent follow up the halo 2 and should have been where halo ended (excluding reach) The online for the first half of the 360 life cycle was near on untouchable for popularity and for good reasons. Game types to suit everybody's taste and what was one of the best console shooter communities.

PS3: Uncharted series, Naughty dog again as the past 2 generation before have stolen the show on the playstation. Created 3 unbelievable franchises and not only have they done this without out a fail in-between they've improved on each game with out ever taking a step. Truly a credit to them.

GB,Gbc,GBA,DS: Pokemon, if I had to choose it be Yellow.

 

[Cory]

PS1: Spyro - My love for this game was endless, loved playing this as a young boy and put many hours into it.Pretty much the game that summed up my childhood.Roaming around collecting gems and flying around was just awesome.

PS2: GTA San Andreas - The best GTA imo, every mission just awesome to play, great music on the radio, good cities just am overall great game.

PS3 Mass Effect 2&3 - Two amazing games which both outdid themselves, really loved the futuristic aspect of it along with a fantastic storyline.

Nitendo Wii Wii Sports - I'm cereal, so much fun using the motion controller with the console and playing mostly bowling and tennis was very cool.

 

[The Big Sauce]

PS2: GTA San Andreas - The best GTA imo, every mission just awesome to play, great music on the radio, good cities just am overall great game.

Does this mean you enjoyed the missions for the rc dude?

 

[Cory]

Yes

 

[MarcusP2]

And the flight and driving school?! You craaaaaaaaaazy.

 

[SnakePlisskin]

Atari . HERO
C64 . Last Ninja 1and 2
Sega MegaDrive . Mortal Kombat ( was arcade perfect ) HM: Altered Beast , NBA live 95
PS1 . Tenchu , HM: Gran Turismo , Tekken
PS2 . ManHunt , HM: Tekken 2 , Gran Turismo 2
Xbox360 . Gears of War ( didn't have the 360 for long )
PS3 . CALL OF DUTY 4 Modern Warfare MP ( GOAT )
I'm sure I've forgotten a few .

 

[Sub_Zero]

Atari . HERO
C64 . Last Ninja 1and 2
Sega MegaDrive . Mortal Kombat ( was arcade perfect ) HM: Altered Beast , NBA live 95
PS1 . Tenchu , HM: Gran Turismo , Tekken
PS2 . ManHunt , HM: Tekken 2 , Gran Turismo 2
Xbox360 . Gears of War ( didn't have the 360 for long )
PS3 . CALL OF DUTY 4 Modern Warfare MP ( GOAT )
I'm sure I've forgotten a few .

both ps1 games

 

[SnakePlisskin]

both ps1 games

Ah ok my mistake , bad memory

 

[Freak Dodgeball Accident]

Coleco Vision: Venture.
C64: Boulder Dash.
Master System: Alex Kidd in Miracle World. HM: Psycho Fox, Basketball Nightmare.
NES: Mario Bros 3.
Mega Drive: Sonic the Hedgehog 2. HM: Toejam and Earl.
SNES: Donkey Kong Country.
Sega Saturn: Athlete Kings. HM: Pebble Beach Golf Links with Craig Stadler, Need for Speed.
Game Boy Advance: Advance Wars.
Dreamcast: Shenmue 1 and 2. HM: Phantsy Star Online, Quake 3 Online, Jet Set Radio, Resident Evil: Code Veronica... Damn, just about every game.
Xbox: Halo. HM: Project Gotham.
Game Cube: Resident Evil 4. HM: Super Monkey Ball.

 

[JR#8]

Sega Master System 2: Alex the Kidd
NES: Super Mario Bros. 3
Sega Mega Drive: Sonic 3
SNES: Donkey Kong Country
Sega Saturn: NiGHTS
Playstation: Crash Bandicoot
Nintendo 64: Super Mario 64/Goldeneye (Couldn't split)
Playstation 2: GTA: San Andreas
Dreamcast: Shenmue 1 & 2
Xbox: Halo
Gamecube: Super Smash Bros Melee
Wii: Donkey Kong Country Returns
PS3: Motorstorm Apocalypse
Xbox 360: Gears of War 3

So many titles to choose from, just picked my current favourites as they always change!

 

[Papa Juggs]

PC: Age of Empires 2. Probably my first love. Edging out Minecraft with longevity.

Why you build so many walls? Time for elephant rush.

Anybody got a trebuchet?

Ahhhh here come the Teutonic Knights

Eth

 

[Dazb86]

Master System - Wonderboy 3 Dragons Trap. Easily the best game on the master system hands down. Music and gameplay ahead of it's time.

Mega Drive - Shining Force 2. Awesome game and tops a list of very solid contenders. Not a very popular game but I played the **** out of it. (honourable mentions... Street Fighter 2, Sonic 3, Rock and roll racing.)

Ps1 - crash bandicoot 3. (honourable mentions... Shane Warne cricket, FF7)

Ps2 - GTA San Andreas. Racked up plenty of hours playing this. Edged out FFX marginally.

 

[Bender_]

Atari Lynx: Rygar
HM: California Games

Gameboy: Bubble Bobble
HM: Tetris

DS: Worms
HM: Guitar Hero: On Tour

NES: Aussie Rules Footy

HM: Duck Hunt

SNES: Donkey Kong Country
HM: Super Star Wars

N64: Killer Instinct
HM: Goldeneye

Game Cube: Mario Kart Double Dash
HM: The Simpsons Hit n Run

Wii: Wii Sports
HM: Mario Kart Wii

Play Station: Medal of Honour
HM: Tekken 3

PS2: Red Faction
HM: Tekken Tag

PS3: Borderlands
HM: Batman Arkham Asylum

PC: Quake
HM: Duke Nukem 3D

 

[Cruyff14]

Atari Lynx: Rygar
HM: California Games

Gameboy: Bubble Bobble
HM: Tetris

DS: Worms
HM: Guitar Hero: On Tour

NES: Aussie Rules Footy

HM: Duck Hunt

SNES: Donkey Kong Country
HM: Super Star Wars

N64: Killer Instinct
HM: Goldeneye

Game Cube: Mario Kart Double Dash
HM: The Simpsons Road Rage

Wii: Wii Sports
HM: Mario Kart Wii

Play Station: Medal of Honour
HM: Medal of Honour Underground

PS2: Tekken 2
HM: Red Faction

PS3: Borderlands
HM: Batman Arkham Asylum

PC: Quake
HM: Duke Nukem 3D

Tekken 2 is Playstation.

 

[Bender_]

Tekken 2 is Playstation.

Was supposed to be Tekken 3 anyways. updated.

 

[Cruyff14]

Was supposed to be Tekken 3 anyways. updated.

That was on PS1 as well.

 

[Bender_]

That was on PS1 as well.

Yeah, that's what I updated it to.

 

[Freak Dodgeball Accident]

The lack of Dreamcast in this thread makes baby Jesus cry

 

[GoldenHodge]

NES: Super Mario Bros 3. Not much to say here, obvious decision for me to pick this one.

SNES: Super Mario World. I would have put Super Mario All-Stars but thought it'd be best to nominate a single game rather than a collection of games. Honourable mentions go to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Lost Vikings (love that game, wish they would re-release that), Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Donkey Kong Country.

Sega Megadrive: Sonic 2. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the very first games I ever played and Sonic 2 would have been one of the very first games I owned. This was another easy decision because of the nostalgia I have playing it nowadays and the many hours spent playing this game. Honourable mentions go to Sonic 1, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, World of Illusion (not technically brilliant but I game I spent many hours on as a kid).

Playstation: Tekken 3. This was a hard decision, it was either one of the Spyro or Crash games or Tekken 3. I went with Tekken 3 because like some of my other choices, I spent many hours playing Tekken 3 with friends and family.

Playstation 2: Mortal Kombat Deception. Not one of the best games on the Playstation 2 but for some reason during the PS2 era I didn't get many good games unfortunately.

Playstation 3: Metal Gear Solid 4. A hard decision to come to but I went with my gut and chose Metal Gear Solid 4. Having played Metal Gear Solid 1 & 3 somewhat briefly years ago, Metal Gear Solid 4 was my re-entry into the franchise and I was not disappointed. People complain about the cutscenes but I really enjoyed the story (although a bit complex for someone just getting back into the franchise). Really want to buy the other games in the franchise but have had a big backlog of games to complete at the moment.

Xbox 360: Halo 3. Having only just gotten an Xbox 360 recently, I am only limited to the small amount of games I own. Like with the PS3, I could have nominated PC games I've played that have a console version but that would be cheating. So it was really a choice between Halo 3 or Halo 4. Have to go with Halo 3 because I've spent more time playing it.