Benchmark games??

I need your help GWJ. My friend and I are sitting here discussing "benchmark games" for different consoles. It may be the wrong term for it, but essentially those games that surprise you when you here someone has never played them.

Our goal is to go back and experience some of the fantastic games that we may have missed along the way. So what I need is your opinions, there are no wrong answers. Any consoles are allowed, but please list the console with the game.

Thanks!

I know what you're asking and why you're asking, but I always find the list of 'gems' you 'have to play' or 'should play' a bit weird. Perhaps it's the way many gamers approach the topic when it comes up, it's almost like an entrance exam to be taken seriously in discussion. There's thousands of games out there, and many of them are great that I'd recommend people play, but everyone is going to have different gaming diets. Similar with books, films, or whatever else.

Do you just mean the platform-specific games? Most of the games I can think of in the "Play it! Play it now!" category from the last few years have been multiplatform.

I agree with Scratched in general but, regardless, here are some games that stand out to me. Keeping to strictly one game per platform.

C64 - Boulder Dash
Sega Master System - Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
Atari Lynx - Gates of Zendacon
TGCD - Ys Books 1+2
Genesis - Streets of Rage 2
SNES - Super Mario World
PS1 - Suikoden 2
N64 - Blast Corps
GBA - Advance Wars
PS2 - Ico
DC - Shenmue
Xbox - Halo
GC - Tales of Symphonia
DS - Lunar Knights
PSP - Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

Some of these have had HD revisions, so worth checking those out instead (Ico, Halo). Ys has been remade for DS, PSP, and PC.

SNES - Super Mario World
N64 - Perfect Dark / Smash Brothers
GBA - Advance Wars
Xbox - Chronicals of Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay

Mr GT Chris wrote:

N64 - Blast Corps

Nice.

This is a fun topic though Scratched raises a good point. There's obviously no right or wrong answers, but it is neat to hear the pulse of past and present gems.

GameBoy Advance - Zelda: Minish Cap
Who would have thought that Capcom of all people would develop the best Zelda title since Link to the Past?

TI-99 - Parsec
A bit of a Scramble rip off, it was one of the best looking side-scrolling shooters of its time.

ColecoVision - Lady Bug
A Pac-Man clone with a puzzler flair via the doored corridors.

Aaron D. wrote:

GameBoy Advance - Zelda: Minish Cap
Who would have thought that Capcom of all people would develop the best Zelda title since Link to the Past?

That's a rather lofty claim. But they did a damn fine job with the GBC Oracle series, so I don't think it should come as a huge surprise.

PS1 - Metal Gear Solid
Mostly on the point of "games that surprise you when you here someone has never played them" because Sony marketed the crap out of this game.

DC - Phantasy Star Online
Duh.

psoplayer wrote:
Aaron D. wrote:

GameBoy Advance - Zelda: Minish Cap
Who would have thought that Capcom of all people would develop the best Zelda title since Link to the Past?

That's a rather lofty claim. But they did a damn fine job with the GBC Oracle series, so I don't think it should come as a huge surprise.

If I'm not mistaken that claim was borrowed from Arthur Gies on this week's Rebel FM. I don't share his disdain for 3D Zelda games. I actually prefer them, and I think Wind Waker and Skyward Sword are the two best games in the series.

Wasn't aware that Gies mentioned this on Rebel FM, but I personally agree with him that LttP/Minish > 3D Zeldas. Though in full disclosure I never played Skyward Sword.

I'll rattle off some for the systems I know best. Gonna try to limit it to three per platform.

SNES - Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG

90s era PC - Wing Commander: Prophecy, Secret of Monkey Island, Diablo

N64 - Super Mario 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Wave Race 64

Playstation - Xenogears, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Gamecube - Metroid Prime (better on Wii in MP Trilogy), Super Smash Bros. Melee, LoZ: Wind Waker

Nintendo DS - Pokemon Black/White, Tetris DS, Professor Layton and the Last Specter

PSP - Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (better on Wii), Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

Wii - Monter Hunter Tri, The Last Story, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Xbox 360 - Dragon Age: Origins, Bayonetta, Vanquish

Hmm, a lot of the hardest cuts came from the Gamecube and 360.

Spoiler:

GC cuts - Star Wars: Rogue Leader, Resident Evil 4*, Viewtiful Joe, Skies of Arcadia: Legends (* denotes better version on Wii)

360 cuts - Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Mortal Kombat, CoD4: Modern Warfare, Syndicate, Mirror's Edge, Dragon's Dogma

And apparently I liked the DS a lot less than most people, very few titles really stick out in my mind. Same for the N64.

I could definitely name some more DS stuff. Above I named Lunar Knights, a Zelda style adventure game but more fun, IMO. Other DS standouts would be Hotel Dusk, the first Professor Layton, and Phoenix Wright. Also, I have a big soft spot for Rune Factory 2.

Sega Genesis - Crackdown! Awesome co-op game from back in the day.

Oh, the memories...

NES: Mega Man 3, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Castlevania III
SNES: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy III/VI, Donkey Kong Country
Turbo Grafix 16: Bonk's Adventure, Air Zonk, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
Sega Genesis: Streets of Rage II, Mortal Kombat, Ecco The Dolphin
Dreamcast: Shenmue
Gamecube: San Francisco Rush, Resident Evil, Star Wars Rogue Squadron II
Playstation: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
N64: Wave Race, Mario Tennis, 1080 Snowboarding, WWF No Mercy, Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye
XBOX: Halo, Knights of the Old Republic, Fable
360: Gears of War, Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Read Dead Redemption, Bioshock

And there are more, so many more...