What games should I have played?

Explosive_Cornflake

I'm in my 20's now and there are plenty of games I haven't played for one reason or another.
I'm looking for a list of games that I, and others, should have played at this stage in life. I don't want a list of obscure games that a few people found fantastic, but never really were that big.
I'll start by mentioning a few I have never played:
Any of the metal gear solid games,
Zelda's,
Any of the Lucas arts games, like monkey island and so on,
probably every PS1 game.

This probably makes me fantastically lucky that I still have these left to do

Further suggestions of what games have been essential over the last 15 years welcomed.

humanji

Well, pretty much the entire Lucasarts back catalogue is a must. Go to the http://www.the-underdogs.info/ which has loads of abaondonware games that are true gems. But you could easily get lost for the next 20 years, playing all the oldies.

Shiminay

Wolf3d, Doom, Quake.

vasch_ro

Half Life. Half Life 2, Half Life 2 episodes one and two on the PC, Last Ninja 2 and 3 on the C64

Retr0gamer

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

I'm looking for a list of games that I, and others, should have played at this stage in life. I don't want a list of obscure games that a few people found fantastic, but never really were that big.

If you are truly interested in experiencing the games you missed out on it would be a massive shame to deny yourself a wealth of games just because they weren't commercially big. Most of the big games are just commercial exercises by massive multinationals which don't output much games of quality. Even big franchises of quality games like GTA 3, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Metal Gear Solid started out as sleeper hits that gained sales through word of mouth. Most of the best games in the last 15 years have been from small independents or didn't do very well commercially. Videogames aren't all that different from cinema in this way. A real cinema fan wouldn't deny himself 'La Haine' because it's not well known outside of france and even if they ended up not liking it they would at least give it a chance before making up their mind.

Kiith

Off the top of my head....System Shock 2, the complete Half Life series, Homeworld, Command & Conquer series, Age of Empires 1/2, Deus Ex, Psychonauts, Uplink, Bioshock, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Mafia, Knights of the old Republic, Baldurs Gate 1/2, Call of Duty series (except 3), Medal of Honour Allied Assault, the Zelda series (all of them!!), Final Fantasy series, Shenmue 1/2, Chu-Chu Rocket, Freespace 1/2, Syndicate, Warcraft 1-3, Total War series, Operation Flashpoint, Rainbow Six Ghost Recon, Oblivion, Morrowind, Mechwarrior 1-3, American McGee's Alice, Unreal Tournament, Quake series, Jedi Knight, Max Payne 1/2, Gran Turismo, Mario Galaxy, Skies of Arcadia, Mass Effect, Black and White, Assassins Creed, The Sims (*shudder*), Tekken, God of War, Resident Evil series, Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Monkey Island, Football Manager, Darwinia, Starfox, Chrono Trigger, Far Cry, Company of Heroes, Battlefield, Advance Wars, Metriod Prime, Pro Evo, Shadow of the Colossus...

The Bold games are, imo, the essentials.

That should keep you busy for the next 20 years.

L31mr0d

Ok well Kiith has pretty much shot you in the face with great games you should of played.

It would help though if you told us which genres you like best though. Myself being a PC gamer and primarily FPS player i'd recommend:

The Half life series

Seriously, no FPS gamer can hold their head high without playing this series. Personally i'd wait until the black mesa guys get off their ass and release their HL1 Source version. Then after playing that work your way through HL2, Ep1, Ep2 and Portal, then give CS:S a go.

Explosive_Cornflake

I've done most of the half life stuff and associated mods. PC was always my bread and butter, so I grew up with Wolf3d and prince of Persia. Quake and doom, duke nukem, lemmings, etc.
I'm more so trying to spark a debate on an essential games lists for everybody.
There's a lot I haven't played
Retr0gamer: I've not ignored your suggestion.
Hopefully we could break down 100-200 games, into genres basically, that, say, should be on the curriculum for everybody.

koneko

Well played Kiith, some excellent (bolded) games on that list, thumbs up and positive mindrep to you.

I'd also agree with retr0, don't stick to just "big games", there are a lot of great games that didnt sell millions but are must-plays.

Mountjoy Mugger

Another Lucas Arts game: Day of the Tentacle. Really enjoyed that!

Genghiz Cohen

The Settlers 2/3, 3 being better IMO, there is a demo out for the new one, its good too.

Sarky

The old Lucasarts point'n'click games will astound you with just how funny they are, they really will. They'll also make you put a fist through the monitor with their puzzles. A walkthrough would be a good thing to have handy...

If eff-pee-esses are your thing than get Jedi Knight like Kiith says. See if you can track down the prequel Dark Forces as well, no lightsabre goodness but it had pretty awesome level design.
And if you can a) track it down and b) get the bloody thing to work on today's machines, I simply have to insist you play Terranova, a FPS from the early 90's that had some of the most simple and intuitive squad command I've ever seen. Wide open landscapes and jump jets abound!

You simply must play Okami. It seems to have caught a dose of "Planescape syndrome" where one of the best ever games in its field fails to catch on to the general public. While I'm at it, play Planescape. If you've already played it, play it again as a different character!

If you haven't played one of the original 2d Sensible Soccer games then get on it pronto.

Nevyn

Speedball ,
gods,
choas engine,
never winter nights,
thief,
baldurs gate,
diablo, diablo 2,
black and white,
Sid myers Civ and populous,
war craft1, 2, 3 and frozen throne,
Unreal, unreal tournement,
morrowind,
hogs of war,
dungeon keeper 2,

0ubliette

I there was one game that im playing right now, well actually okay make that 2 games, both polar opposites of each other but both games i simply have to recommend anyone to play it would be:

1: LOCOROCO (psp)
This is what gaming is all about. Its so simple, so addictive, so bat**** mental, and so unbelieveably charming that any gamer worth his salt who hasnt played it needs a slap. Locoroco pretty much represents everything that gaming should be about, pure FUN. I challenge anybody to play locoroco without a massive grin on their face.

2: CRYSIS (pc)
And at the other and of the gaming spectrum we have crysis. Ive not finished it, but my god, this is real innovation in gaming. From the astoundingly destructible environments, to the hundreds of possible diferent ways to tackle a firefight, it just ties my head in knots, it really is next gen gaming. (tho i hear the alien bits suck)

And to that ill also throw in SOTC, Ico, Doom, GTA3, Silent Hill 2, Gears of war.

BLITZ_Molloy

Uh oh, everybody is going to start listing every game ever made now. Try playing half of the games mentioned so far and you're talking a couple of thousand hours at least.

I've completed one of the Zelda games, and played quite a few of the other ones for an hour or more. Didn't really enjoy any of them. Can't see what the fuss is about.

Ditto Metal Gear series.

I've also struggled to play through many of the Lucas Arts games. I love the humour and the writing but I find the whole point and click puzzle gameplay a bit of a snoozefest despite really wanting to be able to appreciate it properly.

When it comes to playing old games I generally try and stick to arcade games because you can play them for 20 minutes and feel like you've gotten a good taste of what they're about. I could tell you to go play my favourite game of all time Total Annihilation in multiplayer, but it'd take you a month before you'd have a clue what was going on. For that reason I'd pick these three:

Robotron 1984
Bomb Jack
Space Harrier

Explosive_Cornflake

BLITZ_Molloy wrote: »

Uh oh, everybody is going to start listing every game ever made now. Try playing half of the games mentioned so far and you're talking a couple of thousand hours at least.

I've completed one of the Zelda games, and played quite a few of the other ones for an hour or more. Didn't really enjoy any of them. Can't see what the fuss is about.

Ditto Metal Gear series.

I've also struggled to play through many of the Lucas Arts games. I love the humour and the writing but I find the whole point and click puzzle gameplay a bit of a snoozefest despite really wanting to be able to appreciate it properly.

When it comes to playing old games I generally try and stick to arcade games because you can play them for 20 minutes and feel like you've gotten a good taste of what they're about. I could tell you to go play my favourite game of all time Total Annihilation in multiplayer, but it'd take you a month before you'd have a clue what was going on. For that reason I'd pick these three:

Robotron 1984
Bomb Jack
Space Harrier

Yeah, I was hoping it wouldn't turn into a "My favourite games are" thread. Maybe games that were outstanding and defined a game type.

Maybe I'll start to edit the first post with the top games, democratically selected by people?

If we take our time we could turn this into something special.

stevenmu

One that really needs to be mentioned is Tie Fighter. One of the most perfect games ever created.

The original Ghost Recon on the PC is a pretty special game too, as were the first Rainbow 6 games.

Retr0gamer

If you search the threads I've started I have my own personel Top 100 posted up. Plenty of quality games in that list although I know there's loads I should be kicking myself for not playing (mainly System Shock 2, Deus Ex and the lucas arts games). Have to admit, if you aren't into certain genres there's plenty there that you just won't like.

L31mr0d

yeah OP you really need to define what Genres you like. Like Starcraft is viewed as a landmark game for RTS's but I don't like (as I don't really like RTS's)

The same is true for a lot of MMOs and RPGs

johnny_ultimate

A major problem would be tracking down the 'essentials' (urghh, I hate that word) these days. However, of the material still easily available these are some of the games which, IMO, have really shaped their respective genres. (highlighted entries would probably be the single one to consider)

2D platforming / action: The Virtual console on the Wii and (to a lesser extent) Xbox Live are great ways to discover some of the classic pre-3d games anew. The truly must buy examples are arguably Super Metroid and Super Mario World (on the VC) : the two finest Nintendo 2D games about. Other examples such as Gunstar Heroes, Sonic, and Castlevania: SotN are also available online and in many easily procurred compliations.

RPG: A difficult one. Of course the Final Fantasy series is the most well known. Final Fantasy 7 & 9 would be my favourites, although you'd probably have to ebay them. 6 & 10 would be the two best readily available (the former through the new Gameboy Advance remake). Dragon Quest VIII (PS2), however, I would recommend over both of them. In Western RPG terms, Knights of the Old Republic or the recent Mass Effect are stellar examples.

FPS: the Half Life series all the way. The 1st is a classic and should still be about, and the recent Orange Box is probably the most accomplished gaming package of the last five or more years. Deus Ex and Bioshock would be two other excellent examples, while CoD4 is new but probably the most fully realised multiplayer about (and still an extremely active community, as opposed to some older examples).

Platforming (3D): Either Super Mario 64 or Mario Galaxy: the latter feels fresher, but the former is vintage and almost timeless. Try Psychonauts for something less well known but equally impressive. Ico is also a platformer to a degree, but is one of the most epic pieces of videogame art available.

Action-adventure: Zelda all the way. Just one? Link to the Past (on VC and GBA), or the 3D Twilight Princess. Also: Metal Gear Solid 3 (far superior to two), Resident Evil 4

There are far more I could list, but it would just descend into a list of favourites. The ones I've mentioned are what I would consider the milestones.

Explosive_Cornflake

I'm reluctant to nail in down too much. I've never really played RPG's. I'm assuming I don't like them, but a good one might change it for me.
I want this list to go beyond me though. Maybe there should be a boards "100 games to play before you die" style list that everyone could work towards putting together over some time. If it's good enough it'll extend beyond the forum and you'd never know, could be referred to as "the list" in the future. Released and updated yearly if needs be.
Trying to nail the list will be hard, as there will be disagreements.
What's your opinion?

Retr0gamer

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

I want this list to go beyond me though. Maybe there should be a boards "100 games to play before you die" style list that everyone could work towards putting together over some time. If it's good enough it'll extend beyond the forum and you'd never know, could be referred to as "the list" in the future. Released and updated yearly if needs be.
Trying to nail the list will be hard, as there will be disagreements.
What's your opinion?

It's practically impossible to do up a definitive list. A popular vote will mean only the big commercial and well known games getting on while many of the lesser known games will be left off. If one expert does it it will come down to a personal opinion and a panel of experts, probably the best method, will lead to arguments.

Vikings

I'm just going to slip in here and throw out the word Tribes - to me at least that had some pretty damn unique gameplay and would be on any of my "must play" lists.

4Xcut

I would have to recommend Donkey Kong Country 2. The reason is simply that its a really fun game to play.

Super Mario World is a Must.

Deus Ex is also a brilliant game and the Half Life Series is Great.

Explosive_Cornflake

I've plenty to work with now anyway. Now I just have to source them and find time to play them
Thanks guys.

corcaigh07

i second shadow of the colossus, terrfic game. also ico is made by the same gang but that is rather slow-paced but still good.

CCCP^

Alot of people have put together some excellent suggestions already. All I can say is that if you haven't played any of the Zelda games, then try to get an N64 and Zelda : Ocarina of Time. I remeber the first time I played that game and stepped onto Hyrule field, it was like being there as videogaming made a massive leap forward.

mayordenis

legend of zelda: ocarina of time should be played by every person i reckon.

L31mr0d

Also, if you can stand the pixelation (I personally love isometric pixel maps) give UFO: Enemy Unknown a shot. Its number 1 on my top 100 list.

I believe its abandon ware at the moment, you can find a pretty cool version of it on the net that will run from a USB stick. If you give it a go for an hour or so I guarantee you'll get absorbed into and won't put it down until you've completed it.

Here is the opening cut scene for it, revolutionary for the time it was released imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX0Cm3N_n6k

weemcd

Mariokart 64, goldeneye, all the mgs's, final fantasy X, Portal, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, devil may cry, lego star wars, gran turismo, soul calibour 2, shaddow of the collosus, all the resident evil games, silent hill.... the list goes on

Bubs101

There should really be a game of the week thread TBH