Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
So what would everyone come out and say is their favorite 3rd party game on each of Nintendo's systems? You can do consoles and/or handhelds as I don't mind.
PREFACE: I counted 2nd party stuff like Eternal Darkness as not 3rd party so that stuff couldn't make my list. Also just cause say Capcom developed Oracle of Ages doesn't mean it isn't a Nintendo title. So also off the list.
Consoles
NES - Castlevania II Simon's Quest
This is actually my favorite game of the series. I just really like the look, feel, and importantly scope of the title. Actually just replayed this for the Holloween season, and I still love it!
SNES - Street Fighter II Turbo
Going with SFII Turbo, but man this was hard. I loved the hell out of this game, and it helped spawn my love for the genre as a whole. Man this was close with some other big name games though.
N64 - WCW/nWo Revenge
While not a ton of great 3rd party games this was actually tough for me. It was between either one of the AKI wrestling titles or one of the Gretzky Hockey titles. Eventually gave it to Revenge. While I realize No Mercy is probably the superior title Revenge got more play as it released earlier in the N64 life cycle. Haven't really played any wrestling games since the N64 days, but many 4 player AKI wrestling titles on the N64 were amaze.
Gamecube - Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II
No brainer for me here. PSO was an amazing experience on the Gamecube. It might be my favorite game of all time. I put countless hours into this game both online as well as offline with my best friend. This was a transformative gaming experience for me despite having played online games since the early 90s on PC. The gameplay, the music, the level design, the co-op just everything about this game was top tier to me. Still is frankly.
Wii - Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
Let me preface this by saying I almost put Rockband, but I played that on so many other systems to I couldn't think of it as my favorite Wii 3rd party title. That being said Tatsunoko vs Capcom was a great Wii title that just stands out from the crowd. Both as there are many Wii titles like this and it just feels like a game that should never happen with the crazy Japanese characters in the West. Still top tier from Capcom fighting wise. Game begs for a rerelease, but I have a feeling it was also licensing hell!
Wii U - Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
First real forray into the MH franchise. I tried the Wii game for a bit, but not very long. I never checked out the PSP titles. This was a franchise I wanted to really give a shot though, and I grabbed it as my 1st Wii U title actually not counting NSMBU that was in the bundle. Put a ton of hours into this and even convinced a few friends to get on this as well. Great title with a ton of content and honestly a relatively easy onboarding process. Not to say it isn't long to get what the game really is and all of it's systems. Nothing crazy hard though, and a good recommend if you've never played the series before.
Handhelds
Gameboy - Mega Man V
Loved this game as a kid. Great MM gameplay on the go, and V was the first truly all new title for the Gameboy as oppose to remixing console entries. It also held up in the gameplay department unlike say Castlevania on the Gameboy making the handheld jump. MM V was a later GB release too so it looked really good, and gaming in general had learned a lot.
Gameboy Color - Dragon Warrior I&II
I'm gonna cheat and go with the rerelease. Never owned or played a ton of GC stuff except when I went back on my GBA. Just the wrong time in my life for handhelds. That being said I love the OG Nes DW games, and to have both I&II on the same cartridge in color rocks.
Gameboy Advance - Castlevania Circle of the Moon
Shit gets really on the GBA as there are a fuck ton of great 3rd party titles like the SNES. In the end I went with COTM as it was the game I got at launch with my GBA, and it spawned my love for the series. I also grew to like the added difficulty that the later 2 GBA games lacked. AoS might be the better title, but CotM's difficulty appealed to me
DS - The World Ends With You
Best Square Game of this century. Really unique and inovative while putting the touchscreen to use. Plus the soundtrack was top tier. As much as I loved Castlevania OOE and it's ilk TWEWY provided a gameplay experience like none other before it or since quite frankly. Once in a generation type title.
3DS - Tales of the Abyss
Okay I'm gonna get shit for this one, but whatever. It's my 2nd most played 3ds game behind Street Fighter of all things, but I still think of SFIV as a console title despite all of my handheld time. Clocked in at 76 and 14 mins so I must have liked something in this Tales title. Sure it didn't run the best nor was the 3d great, but it also didn't retcon everything (
) half way through either. Tales in my current favorite JRPG series releasing new games, and this portable entry hit the spot for me!
PREFACE: I counted 2nd party stuff like Eternal Darkness as not 3rd party so that stuff couldn't make my list. Also just cause say Capcom developed Oracle of Ages doesn't mean it isn't a Nintendo title. So also off the list.
Consoles
NES - Castlevania II Simon's Quest
This is actually my favorite game of the series. I just really like the look, feel, and importantly scope of the title. Actually just replayed this for the Holloween season, and I still love it!
SNES - Street Fighter II Turbo
Going with SFII Turbo, but man this was hard. I loved the hell out of this game, and it helped spawn my love for the genre as a whole. Man this was close with some other big name games though.
N64 - WCW/nWo Revenge
While not a ton of great 3rd party games this was actually tough for me. It was between either one of the AKI wrestling titles or one of the Gretzky Hockey titles. Eventually gave it to Revenge. While I realize No Mercy is probably the superior title Revenge got more play as it released earlier in the N64 life cycle. Haven't really played any wrestling games since the N64 days, but many 4 player AKI wrestling titles on the N64 were amaze.
Gamecube - Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II
No brainer for me here. PSO was an amazing experience on the Gamecube. It might be my favorite game of all time. I put countless hours into this game both online as well as offline with my best friend. This was a transformative gaming experience for me despite having played online games since the early 90s on PC. The gameplay, the music, the level design, the co-op just everything about this game was top tier to me. Still is frankly.
Wii - Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
Let me preface this by saying I almost put Rockband, but I played that on so many other systems to I couldn't think of it as my favorite Wii 3rd party title. That being said Tatsunoko vs Capcom was a great Wii title that just stands out from the crowd. Both as there are many Wii titles like this and it just feels like a game that should never happen with the crazy Japanese characters in the West. Still top tier from Capcom fighting wise. Game begs for a rerelease, but I have a feeling it was also licensing hell!
Wii U - Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
First real forray into the MH franchise. I tried the Wii game for a bit, but not very long. I never checked out the PSP titles. This was a franchise I wanted to really give a shot though, and I grabbed it as my 1st Wii U title actually not counting NSMBU that was in the bundle. Put a ton of hours into this and even convinced a few friends to get on this as well. Great title with a ton of content and honestly a relatively easy onboarding process. Not to say it isn't long to get what the game really is and all of it's systems. Nothing crazy hard though, and a good recommend if you've never played the series before.
Handhelds
Gameboy - Mega Man V
Loved this game as a kid. Great MM gameplay on the go, and V was the first truly all new title for the Gameboy as oppose to remixing console entries. It also held up in the gameplay department unlike say Castlevania on the Gameboy making the handheld jump. MM V was a later GB release too so it looked really good, and gaming in general had learned a lot.
Gameboy Color - Dragon Warrior I&II
I'm gonna cheat and go with the rerelease. Never owned or played a ton of GC stuff except when I went back on my GBA. Just the wrong time in my life for handhelds. That being said I love the OG Nes DW games, and to have both I&II on the same cartridge in color rocks.
Gameboy Advance - Castlevania Circle of the Moon
Shit gets really on the GBA as there are a fuck ton of great 3rd party titles like the SNES. In the end I went with COTM as it was the game I got at launch with my GBA, and it spawned my love for the series. I also grew to like the added difficulty that the later 2 GBA games lacked. AoS might be the better title, but CotM's difficulty appealed to me
DS - The World Ends With You
Best Square Game of this century. Really unique and inovative while putting the touchscreen to use. Plus the soundtrack was top tier. As much as I loved Castlevania OOE and it's ilk TWEWY provided a gameplay experience like none other before it or since quite frankly. Once in a generation type title.
3DS - Tales of the Abyss
Okay I'm gonna get shit for this one, but whatever. It's my 2nd most played 3ds game behind Street Fighter of all things, but I still think of SFIV as a console title despite all of my handheld time. Clocked in at 76 and 14 mins so I must have liked something in this Tales title. Sure it didn't run the best nor was the 3d great, but it also didn't retcon everything (
cough cough BD cough cough
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