First off, a little history. I came up with this idea while perusing 1up and someone stated that a certain NES game should be considered Gaming 101. I decided to ask the advice from about five dozen different sources on what games would be appropriate in a gaming console curriculum for those not yet exposed to retrogaming. The advice I was getting was too widespread so I narrowed this to first-fourth generation consoles (through 1995, ending at the 16-bit era). Below is what I consider to be a 'must play' list of games for one who has yet to be exposed to older gaming.
FOR GAMERS NEW TO RETROGAMES: I have found that there are some gamers who refuse to give anything previous to the year 2000 a fair shake seeing as it doesn't have the stellar graphics and soundtrack of later generation consoles. That being said, the intention of this is to give suggestions for those with an open mind about retrogaming and give them a chance to experience some great gaming without an instant, "this game sucks" simply because it doesn't have the graphics and sound qualities they have grown accustomed. Of course, these would be best played on the original consoles however, I know that may not be possible. I have marked off the games available on Virtual Console (more than half) in the categories section. Also, with a little querying of a search engine, you should easily be able to find emulators and ROMs of these games (not that I condone such things).
FOR RETROGAME FANS: I assume that you have played the games listed below but if you have not, I highly recommend giving them a try. And, for fun, go ahead and run though them again, I plan to.
I did make some stipulations:
1.) Only one game for each series of games. In other words, does Metroid and Super Metroid both deserve to be on here? Yes. However, I tried to make this concise and not scare off anyone by having all of their game play be on one series of games. This was probably the hardest call I had to make - picking which was the best in a great series (i.e. Zelda, Metroid, etc.). By using the term 'best' of a series I used several different considerations seeing as, of course, 16-bit versions would be higher in quality (in most cases) in graphics and sound. I looked into the game's innovation of the series, playability, and overall enjoyment.
2.) Yes, Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 are both on the list which goes against everything I just said in stipulation 1. That is because, a.) Super Mario Bros. is clearly the CLASSIC NES game and not having it on any list of this type would be a severe misstep in judgment and b.) Super Mario Bros. 3 is easily in the top 5 of any seasoned NES fan's favorite games so it also has to be on here.
3.) The classics category can be played on any console even current generation systems. Since gamers who haven't been exposed to 8-bit and 16-bit systems will probably have to adjust their means of gaming from their XBox 360, PS3, or Wii so I figured forcing them to break out an Atari 2600 game or Commodore-64 would be too much of an adjustment and may make them scrap this whole concept.
4.) Defeating each of the games isn't a requirement. You will choose the games you enjoy and wish to finish. These are my recommendations to get a clear overview of these generations of gaming. Also, since a great deal of these are available on Virtual Console, now you know what you can do with those left over points.
5.) I included three games that suck for the NES. I had a suggestion that it would be worth showing people not used to the old NES games some of the types of games we would have to succumb to. These are listed in the categories section.
6.) As I mentioned above, there were a lot of difference of opinions of what games should be considered 'must play' games. I tried to be as unbiased as I could but I am sure some of my opinions still reared their ugly head. If you disagree, please feel free to use the comments and let me know.
Classic Game Console Curriculum (recommended order broken down into tiers):
Tier 1: Super Mario Bros. - NES Donky Kong - Any Tetris - NES John Madden Football - Any year (up to 1995)/any platform Contra - with Konami code | Tier 5: Galaga - Any Dr. Mario - NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time - SNES Mega Man II - NES NHL Hockey - Any year (up to 1995)/any platform |
Tier 2: Alex Kidd in Miracle World - SMS PacMan - Any Columns - Genesis/SMS Mike Tyson's Punch Out! or Punch Out! - NES Golden Axe - Genesis | Tier 6: Super Mario Bros. 3 - NES Gradius III - SNES Mortal Kombat - Genesis Super Metroid - SNES Dragon Warrior - NES |
Tier 3: Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis Space Invaders - Any Gunstar Heroes - Genesis Tecmo Bowl - NES The Legend of Zelda - NES | Tier 7: Shinobi 3 - Genesis UN Squadron - SNES Super Mario Kart - SNES Y's Book I & II - TG-16 Adventures of Bayou Billy - NES |
Tier 4: Bonk's Adventure - TG-16 Joust - Any Strider - Genesis Thuderforce IV/Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar - Genesis Street Fighter II - SNES/Genesis | Tier 8: Bionic Commando - NES Ninja Gaiden - NES Phantasy Star II - Genesis Super Castlevania IV - SNES Silver Surfer - NES | Chrono Trigger - SNES Final Fantasy - NES Karate Kid - NES |
Classic Game Console Curriculum by Category:
Action: Bionic Commando - NES Golden Axe - Genesis (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Ninja Gaiden - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Shinobi 3 - Genesis (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Strider - Genesis Super Mario Bros. 3 - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time - SNES | Adventure/RPG: Chrono Trigger - SNES Dragon Warrior - NES Final Fantasy - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Phantasy Star II - Genesis (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Super Castlevania IV - SNES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Super Metroid - SNES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) The Legend of Zelda - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Y's Book I & II - TG-16 (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) |
Classic: Note: These can be played on any console. Donkey Kong - Any (NES Version Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Galaga - Any (NES Version Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Joust - Any PacMan - Any (NES Version Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Space Invaders - Any (SNES Version Available on Wii's Virtual Console) | Sports/Fighting: John Madden Football - Any year (up to 1995)/any platform NHL Hockey - Any year (up to 1995)/any platform Mike Tyson's Punch Out! or Punch Out! - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Mortal Kombat - Genesis Street Fighter II - SNES/Genesis (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Super Mario Kart - SNES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Tecmo Bowl - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) |
Puzzle: Columns - Genesis/SMS (Genesis Version Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Dr. Mario - NES Tetris - Any platform | Shooter: Contra - NES (Konami code ok) Gradius III - SNES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Gunstar Heroes - Genesis (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Mega Man II - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Thunderforce IV/Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar - Genesis UN Squadron - SNES |
Signature Character Game: Alex Kidd in Miracle World - SMS (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Bonk's Adventure - TG-16 (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) Super Mario Bros. - NES (Available on Wii's Virtual Console) | Poorly Designed Games: Adventures of Bayou Billy - NES Karate Kid - NES Silver Surfer - NES |
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