the fourth generation was the first time i had a video game system and i could play modern games. the only platform i had was the game boy, and it was a christmas gift in 1994. at this point, the generation was entering its twilight years - the jaguar was out, sega and sony were a year away from releasing their 3d systems. i was a clueless kid to all of that though, aside from a fuzzy recollection of a commercial for the atari jaguar in 1993 or 1994. the super nintendo and sega genesis were, what i thought, the final video game systems you would ever need.
aside from the game boy though, basically everything on my list, i played to completion first in 2000 or later. at that point, i was a teenager and i had a job, so i could afford a super nintendo and some games. i consider this generation to be the one where there were some real classics. after the nes era, 2d gaming really matured in a way that felt like developers were taking risks. bigger games, longer games, and for rpgs, new twists on old formulas. i have a special appreciation for what came out during this era, not just because i find it nostalgic, but because it feels so damn important for what came next.
10. sonic the hedgehog 3 & knuckles; as a kid, i really liked the sega genesis despite not having owned one, and this game was a big reason why. playing it at friends houses and at kiosks at best buy was how i was originally acquainted with this game. years later, when i finally owned it, i love the save feature (get it together sonic 2), the multiple paths, the look of the game, and the music. theres almost too much stuff to do in this game, and it really feels like the tip of what sega could do with the series before they completely lost control.
9. day of the tentacle; i forget how we ran across this one, but it was the first game i played where a games story could be humorous instead of serious. the time travel aspect, the puzzles, the voice acting, and the wonderful sprite work bring to life a wonderful, strange, unforgettable point-and-click adventure.
8. final fantasy vi; this was my first final fantasy game. i think if it had been final fantasy iv or final fantasy vii, i might have really different tastes in rpgs. final fantasy vi is this really big story that gets told through 12 characters and what feels like about a year of in-game time.
7. tetris; tetris was, strangely, a game i never played until 1997 until i received it as a spontaneous gift on a family vacation (real nice of my folks too as the car ride took 10-12 hours). for years, it was a mainstay in my handheld collection, even on the gba where it was an easy way to kill a couple of hours on long family trips.
6. donkey kong country 2: diddys konq quest; donkey kong country never appealed to me, and donkey kong country 3 is kind of weird. i actually got into this series through the game boy donkey kong land series, and when i finally played the dkc games, i loved dkc 2s vertical platform design. i feel like dkc 2 is the only one in the series to really nail down what it was. the pirate theme ties everything together while everything just uses the original dkc as a template and builds something a little bigger and better than that. also
bramble scramble, man. thats
that level is hard. that music is dope though.
5. super metroid; for the longest time, i had thought metroid was more like mega man. going in, i expected some kind of level-based platformer. instead, what i got was this moody sidescrolling action game. going back to it almost a decade after originally playing it and its remarkable just how well it holds up. a one-of-a-kind classic that seems to fortunately have been a product of its time.
4. chrono trigger; this game has everything: multiple endings, time travel, several characters to team up with and unlock special attacks
its a hell of a game to be introduced to the rpg genre with (actually it was pokemon, but i didnt realize this until years later).
3. sonic the hedgehog 2; sonic 2 is basically my super mario bros. 3 to sonic 3s super mario world. yeah sonic 3 and super mario world are bigger, have a save feature, have more characters and more power ups, but sonic 2 and super mario bros. 3 hit a specific balance where they encourage replayability despite no power ups. sonic 2 isnt what super mario bros. 3 was versus their respective original games, but theyre both to me that pinnacle of what their 2d series means. when i wanted a sega genesis, it was so i could play sonic 2. when i got sonic mega collection, i played sonic 2. when the sonic games were on virtual console, i only got sonic 2. theres something almost arcadey about how its made that just keeps me coming back to it again and again.
2. terranigma; i forget how i stumbled across this thing, but i dont know what i was expecting. terranigma was my first action-rpg and the bitterest game id played up until that point. as a game, this had everything for me - a fun battle system, a great sense of reward and progression as ark saves the world, and a pretty surprising plot twist that turns everything on its head. a special and unforgettable experience.
1. the legend of zelda: links awakening; after years of asking my parents for an nes, or a super nes, or a sega genesis, or a game gear, or a game boy, they finally bit the bullet and got me a game boy. not only did i get a system and super mario land, but it came with the legend of zelda: links awakening. zelda was a series i knew about thanks to marketing efforts for a link to the past and from the incredibad 1980s cartoon, but i had never had the chance to play it. at some point after having run through super mario land, i gave this a shot, not knowing what to expect, and it actually took a long time to beat. my dad even played his own save file for a couple of months before we both hit a brick wall with the second boss fight (we didnt have internet at the time). but i pushed onward and eventually completed the game. and then i replayed it immediately under the name jerk since i thought it was hilarious. and then i replayed it again half a decade later as links awakening dx to see if it held up.
it did. a link to the past is the bigger/better rendition of legend of zeldas world, but links awakening was the one that actually felt like an adventure. i know that part of it was that it was the first game id ever played with an explicitly-told story, but there was more than that. theres a sense of resourcefulness when link isnt forced to always carry a shield and a sword. the fact that you can map out whatever he is going to use at any given time and that it can actually be nothing, is the game telling you something. 30 years on and i think that links awakening is the most consistently good game in the series.
