Friday the 13th (NES) - Get Ready to Walk and Stab!

Next up in the Virtua Month of Marz SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKIES!!! We'll be delving into a classic video game for both video game and horror fans. Friday the 13th stands as one of my favorite movie horror slasher series of all time. While this game is not based on the first Friday the 13th movie, it's based on Jason. So, you're playing as multiple camp counselors walking around Camp Crystal Lake and looking in the cabins for the killer in the hoekey mask. 

This game is a little ahead of its time in some regards. When you enter the cabins, it goes into a first person 3D perspective that you wouldn't expect from a Nintendo Entertainment System. These are the places you meet Jason first. You meet him in a third person perspective in the battle against him and it's really not all that difficult to kill him. That's not to say you couldn't have a bad run, but he's fairly easy to read. You can also run into him on the road around Camp Crystal Lake and fight him in more of a fighting game style perspective. 

Remember to get the knife. The rock and every other weapon in this game pales in comparison to the straight shooting knife. It kills Jason in a hurry and keeps you alive through a lot of conflicts. The battle system in this game isn't all that terrible. It's actually fairly dynamic and are the best parts of this game in general. 

The problem is that the rest of the game is rather boring, and very slow. Walking around the camp to find Jason is a dismal experience and it grows very tiresome because you need to defeat him multiple times. If they did a more linear experience, rather than running around a camp trying to search for some killer, this could have been a very effective horror game. 

It is kind of effective, mostly because when you're in the 3D parts of the game in the cabin, the soundtrack and the slow movement speed can create a very creepy environment. Jason can pop out of nowhere and scare the skin off of you. That is his best advantage. If he jumpscares you well enough, you may become a little frantic and lose your concentration. 

While this game is not very good, it did bring about quite a few awesome memes, both from its goofy nature of being a horror game for kids in the 80's, but also from the reviews including but not limited to the Angry Video Game Nerd, a Youtube series by James Rolfe. That was actually my introduction to AVGN video game reviews and I have been watching him ever since. The quotes from the game are iconic now, but so is Jason's silly color scheme with the blue and purple combination from the NES system's limited pallet. It can be a very creepy experience, but it can also be a big fat bore. Just don't tell Jason I said any of these things in the Virtua Month of Neptune SPOOO---AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! 

Splatterhouse 2 - Bash and Smash the Cool Way!

 

Next up in the Halloween Virtua Neptune SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKIES we have an old green blood gushing beat'em up! Splatterhouse has been an old gaming favorite for a very long time and when you play it for yourself, you can actually see why. Splatterhouse and all of its sequels have a theme and they have their mechanics and Splatterhouse 2 uses both very well. The scenery is disgusting, horrific and you're not really much better. In fact, you look like that one Freddy Michael Kruger Vorheese guy. You're going into a haunted toxic house and go through the worst of the worst toxic monsters with your fists! 

That's right, you're just punching your way through monsters. At first, they're just one hit wonders as you punch them in half. Then, they begin to become more and more grotesque and it takes more punches and some improvised weapons to kill them and splatter them across walls. The horrific creatures are just as macabre as you could want and punching them apart is very satisfying. 

Now, the levels can get very challenging, but your punch is very powerful. It not only does damage, but it pushes the monsters back. It's really all about timing. Either having to jump or punch at the right time, you can prevent damage from happening. This is very helpful when the creatures LUNGE at you at a moment's notice. It's all about reading their cues and just making them burst with monster juice. 

When you get the weapons, things get even more interesting, as it makes damage multiplied and often kills the smaller monsters in one shot. The bloody gory manner with which it happens is hilarious. Still, even with the weapons, you need to be on your guard and time your attacks. That is a constant throughout levels and you need to know which color monsters punch first or jump first or what happens. Then you need to avoid spikes on the ground, both stationary and perpetually contracting and retracting into the ground in a pattern that you either jump to, or down you go.

Bosses are no different, other than the fact that you just need to learn a different pattern of attack and when you can do damage. The monsters you face are really cool looking, though they can also be a major pain in the ass. Sometimes, you just make tiny mistakes and they end up costing you an entire heart. Thankfully, it doesn't start you at the very beginning if you die, but it will set you back. The game isn't too unforgiving, but some runs will always be better than others and you just need to give it that old gamer elbow grease. 

Splatterhouse earns its place in gaming legend as an old horror favorite beat'em up. If they are your jam, this one doesn't waste your time and it makes you want to play it. It is one of those fun, addictive games that can possibly take up your quarters if you caught it at an arcade back in the 90's. It's a simple story with a simple set of mechanics that lavish in that arena of easy to learn and hard to master. Give any of the Splatterhouse games a try and make it gush with Virtua Spinal Fluid!!!

Top 160+ Favorite Games of all time! (Pt 8 Final)

19 Sonic and Knuckles 3

"Sonic and Knuckles 3" is not even the proper title for this game. This is Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with one of the first expansions in console gaming. It's at least the most popular expansion in the industry. This opened up all kinds of new gameplay options for the original Sega Genesis Sonic games. With the addition of a new character, you can reach new areas with his gliding skill in different ways. It also gave Sonic 3 a new layer of greatness, as Knuckles opened up all new content overall for the game. They finished the game itself and had no time to impliment Knuckles, so they just sold off that portion as a separate cartridge attachment. This was a genius move for the time, but it was a double edged sword when it came to the idea of paid DLC in gaming.

18 The House of the Dead 2

When it comes to the Dreamcast, this one hit number one after hours and hours of gameplay. There came a time when all of the secrets came unlocked and the urge to kill zombies increased to brand new levels. The graphics, the co-op play, the badguys and tons of features were improved and added to The House of the Dead. There are new bosses and returning bosses, but they did everything they needed to make it a unique gaming experience all around. The terrible voicing for the English version is parallel in greatness with the original Resident Evil and gave it that slice of cheese that made it so entertaining.

17 Metroid Prime

The Gamecube, in all of its greatness, reached its peak early on as far as I'm concerned.  You are put into the armor of Samus and throughout the game, you are given access to all of her weapons! This includes the ability to turn into a ball and plant bombs in three dimensions. The combat shines in first person, especially for a console game, and it does so with such an amazing style. The graphics really pushed the envelope for the GC and showed off its true capabilities from the very start. 3D adventuring and exploring while dodging deadly aliens has never felt so awesome before this title and that really is saying something. 

16 Metroid

It's hard to beat the original. The Metroid title for NES killed it with exploring and getting lost in levels while surviving pitfalls and listening to such an amazing and memorable soundtrack. Enhance Samus's armor, or even put in the code to give her no armor, which revealed that she was a woman in the first place. This blew our minds as kids, but it did nothing to take away from the experience. Samus is amazing and this game is where her journey began. Platforming in this game brings you to new heights in 8-bit gaming and it has earned its place in gaming history.

15 Katamari Forever

When you want a nice satisfying collect-a-thon game where you go from tiny as a softball to the size of an entire planet, this is your sauce. With a catchy music lineup and the simplest graphics, this game brings both the old and the new of Katamari to the forefront and gives you that sensation of being a tiny little giant that can roll up the entire cosmos. The king is annoying, but that only makes it better when you prove his negativity wrong and show him that you can score with the best of them. It's fun to collect all of the characters and get all of the collectibles for your shrine. Not to mention, it even has a two-player mode! If you have heard anything about this franchise and need a place to start, here you go!

14 X-men Arcade

This was a hard choice, but if I had my pick of the Konami Triforce beat'em ups, this one beats TMNT and the Simpsons. None of these games buckle under the pressure, and all of them are great in their own way. This one has the Colossus roar, though, and it is just all kinds of fun to use the X-men's many powers. Wolverine's slicing power is a close second favorite, but all of them are fun to play to some extent. The levels are memorable and Magneto's stupid dialogue has reached iconography. This is a satisfying experience and this game has gone through so many efforts to save it from obscurity, even when it was only on the arcade cabinet for the majority of its existence. It is just too valuable to lose.

13 Panzer Dragoon II

People will disagree with me up and down about this favorite in the Panzer Dragoon franchise, but the experience and the fun that this game gave me with my original Sega Saturn is something to behold. It is a wonderful experience that is only compounded as your dragoon continues to grow and evolve throughout the playthrough. The graphics are grungy and beautiful, with enviroments that show off the true 32 bit nostalgia. All three of the Saturn titles are great in their own way, but this is my piece of the pie for a very good reason.

12 Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart has stood the test of time for a reason, and this is where the franchise peaked in absolute greatness with the simplest elements. The graphics are fantastic without being overblown and the gameplay keeps itself without overburdening itself with flab. There are just too many characters to choose from at this point with Mario Kart 8, but 64 kept itself at a core roster. This bore some of the best levels and some of the most memorable tracks. This was such a huge improvement over the first game on the SNES, it basically eclypses it in every sense of the word. The Wii version and WiiU version were still awesome, don't get me wrong. This one is just what it needed to boost the franchise to greatness.

11 Quake

This is the final game that was made by the majority of the original crew at ID. After this title, John Romero was gone from the company. As much of a disappointment it was for the developers, it was a dream come true for gamers. Death Matching, rocket jumping and 3D gaming in general was brought to this peak from the very beginning thanks to the hard work of our Doom makers. Quake is gothic, and beautiful in its simplicity, even if there weren't a lot of vibrant colors. Even if the levels look very similar, they don't play the same by any means. This was not always a great thing, and sometimes you can really feel the limitations on the number of monsters, especially compared to Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. While the solo game is still great, it was the multiplayer Death Matching that made this title truly great. 

10 Doom Eternal

It's not surprising to see how many Doom titles are on this list. Doom Eternal came when it was needed the most and it delivered on its promises to give us an experience very close to Doom 4. The graphics are astounding with just the right amount of spice and detail. Killing the demons by blowing meat off of their bones with a shotgun is so satisfying, especially when you get to rip their heads and limbs off with your armored hands. This was all brought to a head with the return of the Icon of Sin, who was beautifully implimented! It's not perfect, but even with some of the more irritating parts of the game, it's a wondrous fight through Hell and Earth.

9 Doom

The advent of Knee Deep in the Dead was met with such a rousing success, it put video gaming on the map. With such an iconic title, everything after was just gravy on the taters. Thy Flesh Consumed didn't do such a great job of ending the Ultimate Doom collection, but everything within is still amazing to behold. Killing demons and creating a blood bath took what Wolfenstein 3D did and brought it to brand new heights with new capabilities in elevations and lighting graphics. Doom was a milestone in gaming, like ID would cause over and over throughout their early career. This title is still iconic, and people continue to make new levels for it to this very day as the Doom Mapping community is still running very strong. May they make until forever. Rip and Tear!

8 Spider-man

Spider-man 2 for the PS2 and Gamecube walked so that Spider-man for the PS4 could run. Coming out after Batman Arkham Asylum only made this game that much greater with its own take on such a great combat system. This game has the story, has a likeable Peter Parker, and even makes you want to 100% the whole thing for all of the spider suits. Swinging on the web feels crisp and nastural. Finding and fighting the Sinister Six feels like you're coming right out from the comics. The sequels may not be as great, but this game stands on its own merits of greatness. It's replayable, especially with New Games + and you're a webhead with some extra awesome points if you do!

7 Resident Evil 7

The loss of P.T. was terrible, but it did inspire Capcom to make this game first person and scary. The story and progression had some hiccups and the ending of the game isn't as great, but overall, this is a beautiful title. Playing this game gives you some real fear, especially when you're running from a maniac with a shovel! It's so satisfying to finally meet him in the subsequent boss battles, especially with a chainsaw fight! This game has some very memorable moments, even some that I wouldn't mind going back and playing over and over again. That's how you know you have a gem on your hands.

6 Doom (2016)

Somehow, the reboot to the franchise jumped its way up my favorites totem. It game when it was needed and it did everything it set out to do. The experience was new but also very nostalgic. The vast majority of the awesome guns were back and so many of the demon roster returned so you could put your fist through their faces! They thought that the multiplayer Quake 3 Arena type shooter and the map creating capabilities were going to be the selling point, but it was proven that the singleplayer won out tenfold! The Doom Slayer demon voice clips and the soundtrack all became iconic and this game made the power fantasy real and fun, also real fun.

5 Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This game came free with Sega Genesis 2nd Gen, and changed Sonic's fortunes forever. This game was leagues above the first title and made platforming legend comparable to the Super Mario Bros franchise! Sonic and Tails became household names and Sega truly had their mascot set in stone. Sonic 2 even threw a bone to the younger brothers in 2nd player, making sure they could help without getting in the way and local multiplayer exploded! The soundtrack, the gameplay and the level designs became iconic and this franchise was boosted to the point where Sonic games had a brand new standard to reach.

4 Virtual On

This game got 3D fighting right on so many levels. Getting great at this game is not exactly hard, but it does require a good deal of sharpening. It's just fun all around and offered a free wielding style that made you feel like you were a mech pilot trying to destroy the mech suit in front of you. This is compounded when you take on bigger machines and truly tests your mastery of the controls and maneuverability while using your unique set of weapons. You need to think fast and get accurate, so learn your machine and have a ball while doing it. This game is awesome on both Sega Saturn and Dreamcast.

3 Doom 2

This is another point where many will disagree. So many people consider these new levels a huge downgrade, but I can't see where they're coming from. There's just some great levels and some not so great levels. What you get, though, is brand new weapons and brand new demons with new level designs that not only did wonders for its own game, but made the level modding that much more fun. Doom 2 brought us the Super Shotgun and a barrage of other things like the Mancubi, Pain Elementals and the Archviles. This only built upon the foundations of an already great game and magnified the ways to play it. Doom 2 is keen as far as Planet Virtua is concerned.  

2 Mega Man 2

With one of the most iconic soundtracks, levels and boss robot battles, Mega Man 2 is hailed as the greatest Mega Man game of all time. The weapons you get, like Metal Man's band saws and Wood Man's leaves, are just flat out fun to play throughout the game. Even when Mega Man X hit the market, this is still held up as the best in the franchise. The game can get frustrating in the Dr. Wiley levels and in the Quick Man stage, but that's all just par for the course in terms of an 8-bit game. Even Mega Man 11 couldn't reach this level of greatness, just think about that for a moment.

1 Dragon Warrior

The word "simplicity" has been used a lot on this list and that is this game's greatest strength. It is a simple story with an open world map that gives you quests in order to beat the Dragon Lord. Dragon Quest's humble beginning aged like a fine wine and made its way to the top of this list. Rescuing the princess, defeating the first green dragon and axe knight, all of it is chiseled in legend. You're put in the place of a true hero and you fight your way through slimes, metal men and all forms of magical beasts trying to kill you. Search out the fabled metal slime to get lot's of experience points and look for Erdrick's ultimate weapons to defeat the most powerful foes in the final dungeons beyond the rainbow bridge. Nostalgia goggles be damned, this game wins.

So, there you have it. It took me a solid year, but I'm glad I finally got all of these lists out for one big grand ranking of my favorites. As said in the first post, this is not a perfect list and there are some games who can interchange between rankings. It's still a very complete list, even if there are a few titles that deserve an honorable mention because either I didn't think of them for the master list or I've played them since the list was originally created. Here's a nice short list of those games.

Doom The Dark Ages

A solid addition to the Doom franchise, despite the lack of notable demons and the employment of a pale BFG replacement. The shield and the weapon roster is still solid for the gameplay and it is still a fun time all around. The story doesn't really spark any inspiration, but it frames the demon killing fine. It can wrestle Doom Eternal for one of the higher spots on this list, more because it doesn't have all of the unnecessary platforming and lore heavy items throughout the entire runtime. Many will disagree, as usual, but those are my thoughts.

Retro Rewind

Management games are just plain fun work. This one, however, hits home with a wondrous return of the VHS rental store that you can customize and decorate to your own tastes. This is just busy work with a good deal of interaction with customers and time management. It's very easy to gain up to level 20 and you can even work toward 100% achievements without a lot of effort. The movie titles are a lot of fun to see and it's a joy to get new releases that are obvious stand-ins for some very iconic movies. 

No Man's Sky

It's hard to earn back the trust of your customer base, but the game devs for this title battened down and did just that over years of development after its official release. The space exploration is relaxing and you can pump up the difficulty by fighting space pirates and drones. This is not a free pass to screw up your launch and patch it after the fact, but if you're going to do it, earn your communities respect by patching it for free and listening to what they're saying. Now, you can explore new galaxies and planets, naming them and building your own base on their surface. There's a lot to do and craft throughout the game and you could do worse than giving it a look now that it's fixed.

Helldivers 2

A game that is fun to play and fun to advance. The trolls and the unhelpful players in the game can dampen the experience, as can some of the difficulty of taking on an entire army by yourself. Still, when you get into the groove, you can be killing Terminators and Starship Trooper bugs while finishing your primary missions. Get it done, kill the opposition and extract yourselves back to your own giant ship. Make Democracy proud.

Plants vs Zombies

What started as a simple PC/Mac game ported to every other system and took the tower defense community by storm. While the franchise would kill itself with greedy microtransactions in later sequels, the first game remains a solid experience that you can poor hours into. It's just fun to experiment with plants and powerups to get the most effective build in your rows to take down the zombie opposition. It's fun to see all of the plant options you can build, as well as how they affect the many types of zombies. It's just mindless fun you can play wherever for super cheap. The franchise sadly never reached this level of greatness afterward, but it's still good to have such a great title.

So, yes, I went through just over 160 games I would consider my favorite. Why did I do this? That's a fairly good question. Who really knows? Maybe I'll post another list if there's another 10 or 20 titles that make it to the list some how. Either way, this was just a lot of fun to think about and finish in exactly a year. You'll probably never agree with the rankings and that's fine. These are games I grew up with or just took a shine to as they worked their way into my constant play list. Do yourself a favor and start a tier list, you may be surprised at what you think of. Be true to yourself and don't forget to drink water.

Enter the Gungeon - We put Guns in your Guns!!!

What happens when you enter the Gungeon? Do you think you’re ready for what goes on in the Gungeon? Well, you’re wrong! You’re not there to survive, you’re there to conquer! You’re there to kick in the door and throw down! Set your lasers to kill, rain your bullets, and start shooting those bullets that shoot guns! And…wait, what? 

Yes, that’s right, after you very quickly enter the Gungeon, you are transported to a world that is solely based around armaments and firearms. All of your opponents are bullets, shotgun shells and grenades of some assortment. The gameplay is so high octane, if you’re not getting your pulse going, you better do it fast! The game is so fast paced you have no choice but to dunk your head in the deep end and start shooting it up! 

The rules and controls are simple and explained to you using a very quick and easy tutorial. In fact the tutorial is fun and innovative. The humor the game uses is not exactly subtle, but then, neither is the game. It throws you for a loop and starts shooting pretty damn quick. The controls are intuitive and easy to manage, so long as you keep shooting and dodge rolling. 

The guns you pick up is half the fun! Seriously, I was not kidding when I said that there is a bullet that shoots guns. There’s a meat gun that shoots blades, there’s even an AK-47! Well I guess that last one isn’t exactly new, but still! You are given all that you need in the beginning to win this game, so long as you use it right. You will be put through bullet hells, explosions, destruction of all kinds, and come out feeling more awesome because of it. You get better at the game because you want to get better at the game, you want to explore the tunnels of the Gungeon and find out what other guns you can shoot, and what other weird hostiles you will encounter.

As soon as you think you’ve seen it all, BOOM! There’s so much more to see! More bullets, more bombs, more explosives flying all over the place and you’ll even see a bird with a gatling gun! Don’t try to understand it! Don’t think too hard! Logic has no place here! The time you take trying to think is time you should be firing that weapon into your enemy’s face! Every level has its own quirks that you can have a nice chortle at. Not only is it enjoyable from a gamer’s point of view but anyone watching you play can have fun too.

The wild running and gunning gameplay is so charming that you won’t even worry about the graphics, which are more of a new age 16-bit style. If anyone is concerned about the graphics then you are missing the point entirely! The artstyle and environments are so well placed and atmospheric that they do not distract you. Though, that is also a downfall for you, the player. As the background also has pitfalls and water that you either need to jump over or teleport over. If not then you fall down them and lose a life, oh well, this stuff happens.

You have several classes to choose from in the beginning, and half the fun is trying to find one that suits your type of gameplay that you enjoy. Try them all, or try one if it suits your needs, it doesn’t matter. All these classes do is promote replayability, and that is important when you look at purchasing a game. Each one of them have their own perks, pros and cons that you can use to your advantage. The game is also a rogue-like, so anytime you die and come back to a level, the entire level has changed and you're back to square one. Every time you get to the boss, the boss has changed and they get rather ridiculous in their punny names. It's all so childishly charming, you can't help but laugh at a few of these weird moments.

If you haven’t noticed, this game is awesome on pretty much all levels. It controls well, it’s colorful, it’s high intensity, it’s challenging, funny, and just all around a great time. It involves guns and explosions but it is not gory or overly violent. Anyone can play it. So wait, since you’re still reading this review, that probably means you haven’t bought this game yet. What are you waiting for? If you haven’t gotten this game you are missing out on a pulverizing piece of powerful punch that you don’t want to pass up! In fact, you’ll need to start practicing your ambidexterity right now, so open a new tab, and get on steam while still reading this review in a different window! Get the game! Get the collector’s edition!  

Top 160+ Favorite Games of all time! (Pt 6)

This is getting to the real meat of favorite games throughout the ages. Are they perfectly in order? Not so much. Do they all belong on this list? Oh, yes, they do. You'll notice as you go along, a lot of the games come more and more from the 1990's. That is not an accident and it will not be brought with an apology. This is still a very definitive list. Whether they be 2D or 3D, they are still great in my eyes. We're chugging on through this list, so hold onto your hats!

59 Daytona USA

I have heard plenty of shade thrown at the Sega Saturn version of this game, but I still stand by the fact that it is far better than the Championship Edition. The soundtrack itself gives it a long lasting life by itself, and it's just an all around good racing game. Yes, there are graphical lag problems here and there. That doesn't really take away from the gameplay all that much, though, as you still are able to race efficiently enough to keep up. The pit stops are useless, yes, and are probably just there as an extra mechanic to perk up the difficulty. If people give this game a try, it will show that the game devs knew what they were doing, even with all of the horrible limitations they were given. With the Sega Saturn version, no quarters or checkpoints needed. Just have fun.

58 Final Fantasy VI

Everyone points to FFVII as the greatest game in the series, but I very much disagree. Lacking in graphics, probably, but it doesn't let that limit it. The story is where this game flies like an eagle and gives us something more than worth while. The locations are vast and diverse and the characters are truly relatable. You want to see these people succeed and become involved with the rest of the group. If you have love for a good story in your video game and even more so, a Final Fantasy fan, then I can't imagine why you haven't played this yet. Pick it up, it's on basically every console they could throw it at.

57 Wolfenstein: The New Order

A fantastic return to form after the great Return to Castle Wolfenstein and the divisive 2009 title. This one is very heavy with the story and that works both to its favor and against it. BJ starts in battle against the Nazis and unfortunately, in this reality, we lose against them. Well, now we need to join the resistance with our new friends and take down the third reich. The love story between BJ and his former nurse is probably one of the more relatable elements here, but the weapons, the strategies, items and missions are definite highlights of this game. It's just plain fun to traverse through the very detailed maps and get your spy information to infiltrate their base. You go to the moon and you keep fighting Nazis, even against their giant mechs and robot wolves. Yes, it gets rather weird, but give it a try!

56 Unreal

If you were there back in the Quake era when 3D games started taking over, Unreal was something of a need-to-play. We still knew it as a Doom Clone, even if it was actually a Quake Clone, but the strange thing about it is that the normal game with the normal story is actually one of the low points. Where this game shines is the arena shooting mechanics that allows you to go through bot matches and fight against other players. You go through some of the most awesome weapons in FPS history, even if the shotgun isn't great, the 8-ball rocket launcher is amazing. The Mini-gun slices through enemies like butter and the flak cannon is DEVASTATING when shot up close. Take down Sky Troopers and don't miss out on Deck 9! With the advent of Unreal Gold on new computers, there is no excuse to not play this gem!

55 Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

My favorite RPG on the SNES was very close to being FFVI, but then I'd be forgetting a place where you can play both Mario and Bowser while fighting an evil blacksmith named Smithy. If you love to follow a long story with interesting explorations through strange and interesting worlds, this game has what you want in spades. You start simple enough, saving Princess Peach, but then Peach starts fighting with you and you fight anything from Power Rangers knockoffs to Boos and Goombas. This game is rather long, but it never really gets boring or monotonous. There is some grinding involved, but it's an RPG, if you didn't expect that, what are you doing with your life?

54 GoldenEye 007

If you love this game more than Perfect Dark or whatever else on the N64, do not let people tempt you otherwise. I don't know where the stigma that this game was overrated came from but it was completely unfounded. No other game will ever replace the GoldenEye parties, the rocket matches and the search for the Golden Gun. A lot of people think that the best way to win is to pick the shortest guy because he's the hardest to hit. They don't seem to know that you can very easily lean your gun downward, making this a moot point. What you need is an AK-47 or an automatic pistol to take down anyone who stands in your way. 

53 Ghostbusters (2009)

If you are a Ghostbusters fan, this is now a sacred staple in our collections for a vast number of reasons. Not only did they get the proper pandering down, but they made this FEEL like a Ghostbusters property. Just playing it brings back those beautiful feelings of watching the original films back on VHS. Harold Ramis made this his final appearance as Egon Spangler (as a voice) and that by itself make this game irreplaceable. All of the main cast came back for this, sans Rick Moranis, and that is another gigantic reason this game rules! The graphics are not the greatest, but they're great enough to keep the game going and even when the game glitches, it still proves that this stands the test of time. Take down the librarian from the first movie and even take down Slimer! It doesn't matter, this game rules.

52 Crazy Taxi

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah! Crazy Taxi is 90's nostalgia released when the 1990's were leaving out the door. It encapsulates everything we love in an arcade driver. The controls are very sensitive, but that's mostly because you're trying to go at top speed toward a taxi stop and sometimes need to make a sudden U turn. This game is hard, that much is for sure. Trying to get a Grade A or Grade S when you're first starting off is a chore, but just sitting and playing the game is among some of the best experiences on the Dreamcast or the arcade. You've got this many CRAAAAAZY minutes to get this game and start the chaos on the road!

51 The Simpsons Arcade

Among the Konami triforce and the greatest arcade games of all time, The Simpsons came out of nowhere and showed us what we didn't know we needed. The story is dead simple, Mr. Burns sends Smithers to get a diamond, Maggie has it in her mouth so he kidnaps her and now you must play one of the Simpsons to get her back in an arcade-style beat'em up. This game is among the greatest beat'em ups for a very good reason. You get all kinds of Simpsons cameos from the show and working together as a team to take down the boss battles like the hot air balloon or a boxing body builder. If you love the Simpsons and random silly violence, your ship has arrived!

50 Wolfenstein 3D

This is quite the fitting #50 spot. Wolfenstein 3D started me on the FPS genre, as it did many before me. I still play this game whenever the bug hits me and I still love it unconditionally. As stated before, my father, brother and I completed this entire game 100% after around a year or so of playing. We'd beaten it before, but playing it to absolute completion is a serious accomplishment, as any fan will tell you. Killing Hitler, Hans Grosse, and the fake fireballing Hitlers has to be on the forefront of the experience. The mutants suck and hinder the game quite a bit, but they can be conquered with enough willpower and gunpower. The more you kill Nazis, the better the world gets. So, have at it.

49 Warcraft II

Another game that is easily accessible on current PC's, but good luck finding it at a decent price on Sega Saturn or even PS1 for that matter. This is probably my favorite RTS, but I do also very love Warcraft 3. this game was an overall improvement over the first Warcraft, and it's honestly a shame that people remember this game series because of World of Warcraft. It runs by its own merits and came up with several of the mechanics we know and love today. The Death Knights with their Death and Decay, the Ogre Mages with Blood Lust and so many other tropes of Azeroth we know today started right here. This was an amazing addition of the series and it deserves another look.

48 Super Mario 64

So few games capture the essence of the original platformers of old while also bringing about the future of gaming through the third dimension. Many games tried but Mario 64 blazed the trail for all others to follow. It brought the goombas, boos, bones, koopa troopa and even Bowser! You couldn't ask for a better introduction to both the 3D realm and the Nintendo 64 than this. The music is iconic to the Mario franchise and the level designs are absolutely gorgeous! From high flying with the wing hat to the bottom of the sea with the metal hat, this game's got it. It has been ported to the DS and to the Switch through Mario 3D All Star. This game answered everything just in time to become a legend. 

47 Mike Tyson's Punchout

When you fight against Glass Joe, you may think that you've got this game down pat. Well, I've got news for you, after fighting King Hippo and Great Tiger, even then you've only scraped the surface. From someone who never got past Soda Popinski, I can tell you that this game gets hard. The boxers become faster and more disorienting with different techniques to take you down, no matter how much you think your control skills are the greatest. Good luck putting in the cheat code to get straight to Iron Mike Tyson himself. If you can best him in a fight, you deserve a title. For real, though, get ready to get knocked down more than once.

46 Super Street Fighter II Turbo

This is Street Fighter II but faster! Your control of the situation becomes null when going against these fighters. The roster is bolstered and your options are bigger, but the game itself gets tough. This is the game that started the modern fighting game along with Mortal Kombat and it is the bar that every fighting game wished they could reach. M. Bison is rough to fight in this game, but for some reason, more than that, Sagat is ridiculous! This series needs very little introduction and it is a go-to for so many gamers who just want a solid fighting game experience. 

45 D

The horror puzzle games are nothing new, even when this game came out. However, the atmosphere, the point and click adventure through a haunted mansion with the Sega Saturn at the reins really elevates this to an experience. It's not a long game, especially if you know what you're doing with it to begin with, but there are some scares that are real. If you're playing through it for the first time, or even after a long stint away from it, it can surprise you in the best way. Horror games could really benefit from trying the creepy vibe this game gives you. Just remember that you've got a flintlock pistol and all evil should beware!

44 Saints Row 2

A game series that has been celebrated on this very site on several occasions. This game is where it started. GTA 3 boosted up the 3D sandbox and Saints Row had a rough start, but this title catapulted them to true gamer stardom. Saints Row 2 gave you brand new options for guns, vehicles and missions of every sort. You can go on killing sprees and sometimes you NEED to go on killing sprees! Finding ways to blast through entire missions using your own skills and hardware you collected along the way became the name of the game throughout this entire slugfest. Creating your own gang boss to play and seeing you bring your posse back to relevance through blood and sweat of your own is just a rewarding experience all its own. 

43 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

The best Mortal Kombat in 2D, bar none. Between this and Trilogy, you're looking at the best 2D roster and the core of what MK truly stood for: Awesome fighting mechanics and extreme amounts of blood. Gore became Mortal Kombat's boon and the fans ate it up! This game came about because of the mistake that was Mortal Kombat 3. While the original third iteration had its own strengths and fans, this game was the correction that sparked greatness. Through the arcade and Sega Saturn, this became my absolute favorite in the early franchise. With the code CRAZYCYRAX, you can unlock a TON of extra content, i.e. Cooking with Scorpion! 

42 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

As terrible as both Star Wars and Bioware have it now (like being dead), this has to be the peak of both. Not only do you get to customize your own light saber and fighting style, but now you can choose which side of the force you want to be on. Whether you go into the light side or dark side completely changes the story and the gameplay! Where some interactions would have been peaceful and over with a bit of talking, now you piss them off and kill every single one of them with or without mercy. The choice is yours! This level of morality was very rare to see in any game and KOTOR brought it all with amazing gameplay. It really feels like Star Wars at its true summit. 

41 Tetris

You really cannot get simpler than Tetris. The theme song is iconic to retro gaming, the gameplay is satisfying while also being very challenging. Hell, no one truly beat this game until a child made it cry just by slamming the shapes into place instantly and made the game completely freeze! This game is HARD as you climb through the levels, and it is a true test of your concentration along with your hand-eye coordination. With twenty million clones and even 3D iterations, you are looking at one of the cornerstones of being a gamer geek. Now make them disappear!!!

40 Batman: Arkham Asylum

When no one asked about Batman games, Batman games came to us in the form of Rocksteady. We got a beat'em up game with pure Gotham City DNA and you really feel like Batman traversing Arkham Asylum and fighting the inmates as they come. The plot is so simple and yet the gameplay make stealthing and using Batman's gadgets feel as natural as spring water. Arkham became its own universe and had a series that captivated Batman fans and gamers alike. While the last "title" in the series did everything wrong, we at least got three or four games that did it with Bat Style. Fly down from the ceiling or pop up from a trap door and break a criminal's face. You're Batman, now act like Batman!