Gaming

Katamari Damacy for the spectacle of it. Wait for a switch sale and let your mind be blown.

Edit: it's actually 75% off right now in my region.

Portal

Super Metroid because it's amazing, and Castlevania Symphony of the Night for the same reason. I may be biased because those are two of my favorites ever but I swear they legit hold up.

There are entire genres that I think in many ways have passed younger gamers by.

Point and click adventures were the biggest thing in the world at one point. The classics are the Lucas Arts entries, like Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, The Dig (both based on unused Spielberg pitches), the Monkey Island games, Full Throttle, Day of The Tentacle and Loom. You've also got Myst and Riven (Riven being the far superior of the two), and my personal favourite, The Longest Journey, which has an absolutely stellar story and really compelling protagonist with a lot of depth to her. Also, positive queer representation in a nineties game, holy shit.

The next lost nineties genre is the space sim. The kings of the genre were Wing Commander and X-Wing/Tie Fighter. Then you've got Privateer and later Freelancer. For the Wing Commander games read a summary of 1 and 2, then jump in with 3, the first to feature FMV with Mark Hamill as the player character (genuinely an excellent performance too, he took the role really seriously and saw it as every bit as important a scifi property as Star Wars). John Rhys Davies (Gimli) and Malcolm McDowell also make appearances.

And of course, the classic nineties FPS, a genre that feels very, very different from modern FPS games, though there have been some good attempts to recreate it. You know Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D (the latter does not hold up; the former absolutely does), but also check out Heretic, Hexen, Rise of The Triad, and most importantly, IMO, the Marathon games. These were the precedessors of the Halo series, and they combined really solid action with a genuinely amazing story. It's the kind of big, high concept that you rarely get in movies, TV shows and games, with a world that the writers clearly put a tonne of thought into, and some characters who will stick with you long after the game is over.

Finally, some stuff that doesn't really fit any of the above. Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret are isometric action shooters with some fun storytelling and LOTS of explosions. If you get them on GOG be sure to download and read all the supplementary material, it really fleshes out the world and the characters. System Shock probably doesn't even need mentioning with the recent remake, but the originals truly hold up, especially with the UI and controls polish Nightdive added. Syndicate and Syndicate Wars are very hard to explain, but they're really fun (That said, I'll give an even stronger recommendation to their modern spiritual successor, Satellite Reign, which deepened the gameplay significantly while still retaining all of the spirit).

There's plenty more, obviously, but that's what immediately comes to mind as worth checking out.

Starwars Knights of the old Republic 1 and 2 they are on steam and kotar 1 can be played on a phone. AC blackflag. Dragon age origins. If you want a more specific recommendation based on a old gaming system let me know.

The Bard's Tale - Hilarious, and I am a sucker for anything that involves summoning a squad to fight for me.

Psychonauts - Absolutely delightful. Just cute, funny, weird and imaginative. The platforming itself is good, though it gets really hard towards the end.

Eternal Darkness - By far my favorite horror game. None of the terrible controls, bad cameras, or bullet sponge enemies beating you with a wet noodle to give the impression of danger. Just a lovecraftian horror story full of great atmosphere and character, with the twist that as your character's sanity meter goes down, shit gets weird, and sometimes breaks the fourth wall.

Skies of Arcadia - I cannot stress enough just how much I love this game. Sky pirates flying between floating islands in endless sky during an age of adventure and exploration.

The Zelda Series - The original is still worth playing, but you'll want to look up the map that it came with. A link to the past is beloved, but Link's Awakening is the real nostalgic one for me (I have the switch remake and haven't had a chance to try it yet). I still think Ocarina of Time holds up, but I understand that many disagree. Majora's Mask is great in many ways, but it is a game that works best when you have a lot of time to explore and discover things on your own, and as a grown ass adult with a Job and responsibilities, I had trouble going back to it and not just looking stuff up in a guide, which diminishes things... I also don't have time to list my thoughts on the entire series.

KOTOR 1 & 2 - Pretty much what I wish every new iteration of Star Wars would aspire to be. The second one is a bit more uneven, as it had a vision that was truly inspired, but was forced out on an extremely rushed time frame, so a lot of things got cut, and even the restoration mods can't add everything back in. (Also, Dragon Age Origins, as long as we're talking classic Bioware)

Star Wars Republic Commando - A great FPS with a squad that actually knows how to do their jobs, and which does a good job of showing the clone wars from the perspective of a soldier. (Honorable mention to Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy which are still the best Jedi based action games but which had some technical issues the last time I tried to play them)

Castlevania Circle of the Moon - Everyone talks about Symphony of the Night, and I won't argue with them, but my all time favorite in the series has to be Circle of the Moon. Refined Castelvania gameplay with a unique magic system that is simple but satisfying.

Punchout (with or without Mike Tyson) - The original is a classic and it holds up surprisingly well.

Halo 1, 2, 3 ODST, and Reach - They each hold up in their own unique way. The first one is immersive and is extremely well polished mechanically. The second has a stronger story and adds the bonus of being able to swap weapons with teammates (give them the scoped weapons, keep them alive, live or die as a unit), the third has awesome mechanics but weaker storytelling, ODST is Halo 3 Band of Brothers Edition, and Halo Reach actually tells the best story while taking the gameplay back to its roots.

Cursed Halo - It's Halo 1, but completely insane. It manages to actually be fun while also being completely ridiculous.

Eh, that's enough for now.

Rollercoaster Tycoon. Super chill game, you just manage amusement parks and build rollercoasters. Openrct2 is an updated engine for it, which supports modern high resolution screens, but requires a copy of the game for the art assets.

Age of Empires II

• Tron 2.0 - A FPS game set inside computers from the early 2000s. There were a lot of great weapons in the game but I always went back with the Disc throwing weapon.

• Homeworld 1/2/Cataclysm- An 3D space RTS series 1999/2000s. During the campaign all units made carry through to the next mission.

Thief 1 - 3.

Lots of great suggestions here, but if you've never played the original Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, you should. There is a reason they're considered classics and everybody should experience Mario's roots. My 8 year old plays them every so often and he keeps progressing.

SMB 2 is a good game as well, but it's quite different from the others. It is the origin of a few series staples, though.

parasite eve

vagrant story

fable

command and conquer

starcraft

castlevania - all of them

devil may cry series

kid icarus

mega man series

metroid

metal gear solid

Diablo series

doom

unreal tournament

ultima

morrowind

bladurs gate series

planescape

kotor 1/2

twisted metal black

ico/sotc

deus ex

and on and on and on

The sheer amount of games available today probably makes it hard to get into many of the older gems. Hell, even I have a 30 year backlog.

I think everyone should explore:

• The Secret of Monkey Island (1, 2 and return)
• Loom
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Street Rod
• Prince of Persia
• The Incredible Machine
• Pokémon yellow/red/blue
• Chrono Trigger
• Worms
• Mega Man II
• TMNT: Turtles in Time
• Diablo II
• Burnout 3/legends/takedown
• Skyrim

Morrowind is hands down the best elder scrolls. If you want a TRUE sandbox where you can do whatever the hell you want, that's your game. Some issues include graphics, no quest markers (you have to read the quests and follow directions), the leveling system is not intuitive at all, and combat is heavily stats based.

Upsides are you can craft any spell or enchanted item using any spell effects you know. Ring of permanent invisibility. Spell of lock every door within 50 feet. Summon 3 different daedra at once. Conjure a whole set of bound armor. Explode yourself in fire. Literally anything.

The elder scrolls renewal project is working on recreating morrowind with skyrims engine and I really hope it comes out soon.

TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES

Look up a top 25 list for the SNES and play every one of them

Tetris

Need for Speed Underground 2 was a great game. Not sure how much nostalgia ia in there but it just felt good for a racer.

Bloons TD holds a special place in my heart and so does Runescape.

This will probably get buried but I got a few of em for ya.

Syndicate Wars: Game was mind blowing for the time it was released.

Black and White 1/2: I know, more Peter Molyneaux. Everything else has been mentioned.

Jade Cocoon 1: Not 2. One was extremely unique and you won't find another game like it. It's the coolest monster merging game I've seen and has an endless dungeon.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup: It's old but not old. Went open source and has been developed over some time by the community. It's much more newbie friendly these days.

Warlords Battlecry 3: Holy cow the races, persistent hero progression in an RTS. It's age shows though.

That's all I can pull of the top of my head right now that I haven't seen mentioned, though I didn't skim every single comment.

Edit: Just remembered Tyrian existed. Oldschool Schmup that had a good SP campaign and multiplayer.

It's not super old, but the original BioShock is one of those games that you can point to and say "this is art". It's an amazing exploration of Ann Rand, capitalism, addiction, art, deregulation, unions, and greed, all with the most beautiful art deco levels. The mechanics of the powers you get are tied into the themes and your choices of how to acquire them are in themselves a statement of the self vs others. It's well thought out from the ground up, from aesthetic choices to narrative ones, and one of the few games that absolutely nails it.

I enjoy the gameplay of the second one even better, though I feel the attempt to explore collectivism doesn't fit as well by using the same motifs as the first one, the dlc Minerva's Den has the most tragic exploration of identity and the singularity out there.

The third is fun to play but I think they were trying to explore too much of everything at once, between America, racism, classism, quantum states and everything else, and unlike the first two, the mechanics of the plasmids didn't really lend anything to the story. The dlc is fun, but rewrote a poignant lesson from the base game and watered it down.

Most good platformers from the 80s and 90s still hold up: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, the Donkey Kong Country Games...

The Atari 2600 was before my time, but I bought one at a flea market when I was a kid and was actually impressed by how fun a lot of those games were: Laser Blast, Outlaw, Warlords, and Missile Command, to name a few. The problem is that the hardware is pretty important to the experience. The responsivemess (or lack thereof) of those old controllers is part of the design, so I'm not sure they'd emulate well.

Once you get into the early 3D era, it's hard for me to say what's actually good and what's nostalgia. I love Goldeneye, and it revolutionized the FPS, but it's probably a pretty bad experience if you didn't grow up on it. I'm pretty sure Mario 64 is still a legitimately good; it seems like it was still well received on the Switch, and it's core mechanics have remained basically the same through Sunshine, the Galaxy games, and Odyssey. I think Legend of Zelda: OoT is still legitimately good, but it's hard to tell. I certainly still enjoy playing it, and it think it's worthwhile just to see the origins of Z-Targeting, but I'm sure it does feel dated. Either way, you should play the N64 version of Majora's Mask for sure. It's still the strangest, darkest Zelda game, and the 3DS version was shit.

Finally, most turn-based RPGs are going to hold up, but I want to make special mention of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and (especially) Crystal. It's become trendy in the last few years to say these games are actually bad because of a bad level curve, a bad post game, and some other assorted complaints. The level curve criticism is fair, but the post game is great, and most of the other issues are just people who are upset it didn't follow some of the conventions set by later games. I could say a lot about it, especially if I got into it's connectivity with RBY, Stadium, and Stadium 2, but I'll just say it's still one of the highlights of the franchise, and a contender for greatest sequel of all time. Every fan of the Pokémon should play Crystal at least once.

warcraft 3 and half-life 2

Xenogears - My favorite RPG, a little rough in the later acts because of publisher shenanigans, but the story is still good and the gameplay, other than turn based being uncommon now still holds up. (Nier Automata is one of the few more recent games that taps on some of the feelings and concepts Xenogears has in spades)

Worms Armageddon - Less common suggestion, but a fantastically fun game to play with multiple people, even with one controller, since you can pass it around by turn.

Quake 1 - despite my two turn based suggestions FPS is my favorite genre. Quake 1 blends things like lovecraftian and body horror into the environment. And the re-release Bethesda has done is really well done.

Doom 1 + 2 - just for the history lesson. Also has a re-release now that makes it much more playable. Still fun too.

Planescape Torment - You'll want to be a particular person for this one. I don't have the patience for isometric rpgs like this one, but the story is great.

Diablo 2 - Pinnacle of isometric action RPG. Wasn't my cup of tea but if you like the genre, it'll be a winner.

Day of the Tentacle - point and click adventure, but fun and not quite as obtuse as a lot of them. Will make you think still and the evil tentacle is funny imo. Remaster available on steam too.

Freddy Pharkis Frontier Pharmacist - Another point and click, this one is a selfish add, I mostly add it because I played it a lot and liked it. It may not be the pinnacle of anything, but I found it fun.

Half-Life 1 and 2 - fantastic and fun both. They tap into some things that other FPS still today can't touch. Really fantastic games.

Vagrant Story - It's hard. It won't hold your hand. But it is a good story and interesting leveling/armor/weapon system.

Solstice - NES wizard game. It's a fun and somewhat difficult dungeon crawler/platformer.

Sonic 1,2,3 - Classics.

Chrono Trigger - Classic RPG

Final Fantasy 6 and 7 - Classic RPGs

Age of Empires / Age of Mythology - Great Real-Time Strategy

Thief - The original games have some clunk to them but they are still fun.

Descent - Probably my favorite 6DOF game.

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 - probably the best of the Heroes games. Good fun turn based adventure game.

The Incredible Machine - A puzzle game where you figure out logical components, I played the Incredible Toon Machine a lot as a kid which is a cartoonish version.

System Shock - Another classic game. I haven't actually played the original, but am playing the remake. You cN look at both and decide what you'd prefer.

Lemmings - another unique puzzle game. Save the lemmings from themselves, they will walk to their doom.

Yakuza - The series is great and I'd recommend the remakes over the original. Starting on zero isn't required (It's a newer prequel) but it's a good start. The games are all similar in play, so take breaks between them. And the best parts are all the side stories. Seriously, all the fun is there imo. Main story is fun but side stories are more of a draw to me and generally hilarious.

Elder Scrolls III - New TES games are still fun, but they lost a lot of the soul the series had and it gets worse every time. Still fun for what they are, but Morrowind was a unique gem. Fair warning though, it does have it's rough edges.

A few newer ones because I can't tell where to cut things off lol:

STALKER - FPS, a bit buggy, but really excellent game. Especially with difficulty mods added. Blends in spookiness, the feeling of being alone, and fun action. Part 2 is set to drop within the next year or so. The invasion of Ukraine has made dev difficult and slower.

FEAR - FPS, this first game is still good fun, the sequels aren't worth the piss I would take on them.

Mirror's Edge - The first one is fantastic, just don't focus on fighting (you're a runner not a fighter). The first and best First Person Runner game. I replayed it not long ago and still loved it.

Portal - Unique, fun, funny.

Metro 2033 - start of an excellent series. Loved the games, and then the books.

OK I should stop. In general I would suggest playing the remastered versions of any of these games. Many of the originals are victims of their times and did they best they could with what they had while defining what made a game good. The older the game the more likelihood you'll run into immersion breaking or game ruining designs. We had to tolerate that to find the gems in the rough. You don't have to do that.

Commander keen

I'll recommend games to younger gamers but the graphics look like shit compared to today's games.

Unreal

Unreal Tournament (if you can find others to play with you)

Duke Nukem 3D

Sid Meyer's Civilization (the original one put out by Microprose. No DLC. Just one complete game.)

Doom

Quake

Might & Magic (yes there is no "Heroes" in the title)

Baldur's Gate (The very first one)

King's Quest

Simon the Sorcerer

MDK (Murder Death Kill)

Orcs vs Humans (when Blizzard were not a corrupt asshole of a company)

Star wars Jedi Knight: Outcast and Jedi Knight: Academy.

one of my favorite games of all time: Prince of Persia 1989 (1990 on PC). it's a "cinematic platformer" where the animations take priority over responsiveness.

once you get the hang of it, it's incredible what Jordan Mechner could fit into a ~1MB game controlled with just 5 keys. the realistic platforming and sword fights were unlike anything I'd seen. still impresses me to this day.

it's kind of notorious for being a hard game you have to finish in an hour, but I think it's a must play. I always felt like it was one of those zero-fat games. no filler, no repetition without a curveball thrown in every now and then.

flashback and blackthorne were two more in the genre that i really really enjoyed before 3d games came along and ruined the momentum of the genre. other people will suggest another world (aka out of this world) but that one, while iconic and unique, will feel more antiquated by today's standards and works more like a puzzle than the rest.

I just finished X-COM Enemy Within for like the 3rd time. One of my all time favorites.

Portal, Final Fantasy, StarCraft, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Half-life 2, Portal 2, COD Modern Warfare… to begin with

Shadow of the Colossus

Serious Sam first encounter

Warcraft 3

Starcraft 1/2

Medieval 2 Total War

Chrono Trigger

These would have to be my top ones.

NES:

1. Super Mario 3
2. Duck hunt (with original guns)

SNES:

1. Zelda a link to the past
2. Mega man X
3. Chrono trigger
4. Super Mario world
5. Super Mario kart (with friends)
6. Earthworm Jim
7. Starfox

GB: Pokémon red, blue, or yellow

GBA: Zelda minish cap

N64: Zelda ocarina of time

Star control 2

- Little Big Adventure 2
- Total Annihilation (Best RTS)
- Earth 2150
- Empire Earth
- Patrician 3
- Crysis
- Half-life
- SimCity 4
- The Sims 3
- The Incredible Machine

I still think Metal Gear Solid 1,2, and 3 hold up very well in terms of story and gameplay. The controls take a bit of getting used to, if you're used to how modern games play, but once you get the hang of it they are really an experience.

If you're into the '90s extreme aesthetic, I'd definitely recommend Comix Zone to get you neck-deep in it.

You play Sketch Turner, a comic artist who- along with his pet rat, Roadkill- gets sucked into his own comic by the comic's villain, Mortus, who wants to trap Sketch forever so he can exist in the real world or something.

It's a side-scroller beat 'em up where you move across the panels and pages of a comic book, punching and kicking mutants while the Sega sound chip blasts (occasionally grating but still awesome) grungy rock at you. If you're into '90s shit, there's nothing not to love

Here is my list:

*Final Fantasy Tactics

*Devil May Cry

*Resident Evil

*Nightmare Creatures

*Psych - Ops

*Legend of Zelda (SNES)

*Tetrishpere

*Portal 2

There are many I am forgetting from age. But those are the highlights.

I would heartily recommend Worms 2

Spend an hour or two tweaking everything to the max, without disintegrating the entire map with one banana, then a couple of hours of practice, and you've got the ultimate party game