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For Dolphin I'm going to recommend both of the Bomberman Gamecube games, Megaman X Command Mission, and the Pikmin games. I would say only the pikmin games are must plays though but I did have plenty of fun with the others.
Mandatory Super Metroid reccomendation for the SNES. DKC 1+2 are awesome platformers as well. Never played 3 though.
I also played the Shining Force games a lot on a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive emulator. In fact, it was the first turn based rpg I played. There was a Shining game that was a dungeon crawler, I believe it was called Shining in the Darkness. It seems those games are on sale on Desura and Steam, but I never tried those versions.
Contra: Hard Corps was arguably better than Alien Wars (3).
PS1:
Suikoden 1 and 2 - strongly recommended if you like jrpgs, I'm not a fan of the genre but I really enjoed these games. IMO best combat as far as jrpgs go (I have limited experience but still...)
Xenogears - Jrpg (squaresoft). I enjoyed it back then but I don't know how I would react to it today. Kind of original story, also kind of retardo 2deep4you. The setting is p.cool. The combat is retarded, similar to final fantasy but you have to punch in combos. Also a lot of kawainess. And mechs. This is a perfect game for an edgy teenager who likes animu.
Front Mission 3 - Fun tactical jrpg with mecha. Kawainess is kept on the minimal level.
Einhander - A FUCKING AWESOME sidescrolling shoot'em up. My favourite game in the genre. Nice visuals and electronic music.
Omega Boost - arcade space shooter, you control a flying mech and kill everything that you encounter.
Wipeout 2097/Wip3out - best future racing games ever. It's a must play if you are into this sort of stuff. Also AWESOME music (if you like electronica)
Colony Wars series - space combat games, more arcade-ish than 1990's PC spacesims. I don't know how would they appear from today's perspective though.
Armored Core games - if you like toying with mechs, customising equipment, weapons...It's not a game "for everyone" though.
Gamecube:
Eternal Darkness -lovecraft inspired horror game, never played it but a lot of people praise it.
It depends on which games (genres) you prefer, but I think V's wiki (CK posted link to it) should be enough to make your own "must-play" list yourself.
Bigger shit here.
I don't think asking other people for help in creating a "total musthave list for each console" is a good idea - everyone will just babble about the games they liked / played / heard good things about.
So, DIY.
If I had to choose only a few games from each platform (exclusives, great examples of a genre) that I COMPLETED, I would go with:
Snes: Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Shin Megami Tensei
Nintendo 64: Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time, Legend of Zelda - Majora's Mask, Conker's Bad Fur Day
Nintendo Gamecube: Eternal Darkness - Sanity's Requiem, Resident Evil 1 Remake, Resident Evil 0
Nintendo GBA: Metroid - Zero Mission, Rebelstar - Tactical Command
TurboGrafx CD: Akumajo Dracula X - Chi no Rondo (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood)
Playstation 1: Crash Bandicoot 1-3, Final Fantasy Tactics, Front Mission 3, Grandia, Silent Hill, Vagrant Story, Vandal Hearts
Skipped old computers (C64, Amiga - played way too many games) and newshit consoles (PS2, Wii, DualScreen - played only a few games so far).
*Edit: comments @ your list:
Metroid NES:
Metroid - Zero Mission for GBA is a very good remake of 1st Metroid
Super Castlevania 4 SNES, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night PS1:
IMO Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is much better than both of them.
Zelda: Windwaker & Twilight Princess for NGC:
Wind Waker is worse than both N64 Zeldas, TP is supposedly shit (haven't played it, though).
List of old console games I would still play and enjoy without nostalgia.
NES
Castlevania 3 - the best of the pre-SoTN style, imo. Branching paths, multiple characters to play.
Lifeforce - if you like shmups. Think of it as Giger-Gradius.
Double Dragon 2, a beat-em-up that holds up surprisingly well
Blaster Master - Metroid in a tank, with top down shooter sections. Sunsoft was one of the top devs back then.
Bionic Commando - one of the most unique gimmicks of its day. But you may prefer the remake.
Legacy of the Wizard -Action RPG platformer from Falcom (creator of Ys). Huge game, suffers from un-intuitive design and hidden items/paths, but very memorable. And dat music.
Shadowgate - I don't care if you played other versions. This is the One.
SMB3 - I shouldn't even have to put anything here. Play it, love it, or suck multi-headed demon dick for all of eternity
Sega Genesis
Contra: Hard Corps - Best Contra, imo, which makes it one of the best run-and-gun games ever. Balls out.
Castlevania: Bloodlines - Very solid Vania that I prefer to Super CV4. Again, dat music.
Thunderforce 3 - Classic shmup, one of the best of the era. Another dat music. In fact, it applies to nearly every game I list.
Road Rash 2 - Motor cycle race where you beat up your competitors.
PS1
Vagrant Story - Possibly my favorite Squaresoft game. Detailed systems, Demon's Souls-ish ambiance. Have bought this game 3 times.
Final Fantasy Tactics - No brainer if you like SRPGs. Top 3 material in that genre, imo. Believe the hype.
Chrono Cross - But don't believe the hate on this. As good as Chrono Trigger, imo. The visual and aural artistry on hand is immense. I personally think the battle system was kind of clever. Just a charming JRPG from Square's prime.
Castlevania SotN - was my favorite console game until Metroid Prime. No brainer. Dat fucking music.
GC
Metroid Prime - No country for shit game taste. Play it or continue to suckle.
Metroid Prime 2 - Less so, but still brilliant
REmake - Best RE game, probably. You know you have good graphics when they still look gorgeous two generations later.
Eternal Darkness - Stellar Lovecraftian console adventure. Silicon Knights, what happened to you?
Btw, Zero Mission has some hand holding in it. I suggest you still play NES Metroid because it's a different, more demanding experience, and one I prefer.
I'm always seeing Eternal Darkness getting its knob slobbed, so I started playing it and...I found it to be p. mediocre. I don't see what the hype's all about.
For emulators, you should check out retroarch, which is an attempt to combine many independent emulator cores into a multi-system emulator with a unified gui and system for save states and graphics filters. It currently supports Nintendo consoles up to the N64, Sega up to Genesis, MAME, and there's also a dosbox core. PS1 might be included too, but I'm not sure, not a big Sony fan. http://www.libretro.com/
And here's some of my favorite games that aren't recommended often.
NES
Adventures of Lolo/Eggerland series - great puzzle games, it starts out easy but gets really hard towards the end (the bonus levels in the Japanese games are insane); perfect for a bus ride or whenever you need something to keep you entertained for 5 to 10 minutes
Battle of Olympus - A mythology themed cross of Zelda 2 and Metroid, great soundtrack and creature design, dungeons that are huge mazes; fairly challenging, but my favorite 2D ARPG
Bucky O'Hare - action platformer where you can change between multiple characters with great graphics and an awesome soundtrack; levels are varied (flying stages, jumping on snakes that move across the screen, scaling a tree, breaking out of a prison, etc.) but can require quite a bit of memorization
Guardian Legend - Another Metroid-like, with Zelda-style overworld exploration, but also flying stages, weapon upgrades, huge boss fights, excellent graphics, extremely varied areas, and flying eyes in all shapes and forms; I don't think there's any game I've played more often, be it console or PC (although RoA 2 is a close second)
Holy Diver - imagine Castlevania with the option to change weapons like in Mega Man; very hard (still haven't beaten it), released only in Japan
Journey to Silius - one of the best action platformers on the NES, and arguably the game with the best soundtrack; you can switch between multiple weapons, the controls are tight, and the game oozes atmosphere; it's pretty short though, only 5 levels
Kickle Cubicle - probably way too cutesy for the average codexer, but a nice action puzzle game nonetheless
Little Samson - action platformer with excellent production values and cool level design, including some branching levels; you can change between 4 characters, similar to Castlevania 3
Puzznic - another puzzle game, this one is sort of like a turn-based version of Tetris; some levels require incredibly fast reflexes, though, and are hard to finish at normal speed on an emulator nowadays (damn input lag)
Robowarrior - pretty unusual game, a strategic overhead action game where you have to bomb your way through linear corridors and fight off a neverending barrage of enemies while your energy slowly ticks down; you must find a hidden key and make it to the exit before you die; the challenge mostly comes from managing your resources and the little maneuvering room you have most of the time
Startropics - another Zelda-like, but the dungeons are more complex, almost on the level of A Link to the Past; the story is also a lot more fleshed out, and at some point you even undergo a gender change
SNES
Demon's Crest - my favorite action platformer on the SNES; incredible gothic atmosphere, excellent level design and enemy variety, metroid-style upgrade system with backtracking and hidden items, and you can change between attacks Mega Man style; unfortunately, the difficulty is very uneven, with some bosses being disappointingly easy while others will make you tear your hair out; the game also has multiple endings (and I'm not just talking about different cut scenes, you actually get to fight different final bosses)
Live a Live - interesting JRPG where you get to play a variety of different characters: train your students as a wise martial arts master, fight of bandits in the Wild West, infiltrate a fortress as a ninja assassin, kill biker zombies in the future, flee from an unstoppable monster onboard a spaceship (Alien-style!); the focus is on atmosphere and setting, there's not much of an overall story and the mechanics are very shallow (although fights can be challenging since every character requires a different set of tactics)
Rock'n'Roll Racing - awesome isometric sci-fi racing game where you can drive around in futuristic tanks and hovercrafts and take out your opponents with rockets, mines, and lasers; and as the name suggests, the soundtrack includes awesome renditions of Rock classics like Paranoid and Highway Star
Star Fox 2 - this game was canned by Nintendo even though it was almost finished, in favor of the N64 Star Fox; it's not too different from the first Star Fox, but has great tunes like Eladard Inside; mostly listed here as a curiosity for major nerd cred
Umihara Kawase - very challenging platformer that takes the grappling hook from Super Metroid and turns it into a fully fleshed out game mechanic, including a very basic physics engine; equivalently, Bionic Commando minus the shooting, but on steroids; a very unique game, I don't think there's anything else like it even nowadays
Most of these are shoot em ups, run n gun and a few hack n slash, but they're my fave genre from these gens so here goes:
___Genesis___
M.U.S.H.A
Lords of Thunder
Gunstar Heroes
Contra Hard Corps
Alien Soldier
Gaiares
Castlevania: Bloodlines
___SNES___
Contra III
Hagane
Demon's Crest
Front Mission
Gradius III
Cybernator
Super Castlevania IV
Super Metroid
___Saturn___
Guardian Heroes
Radiant Silvergun
___TG-16/PC Engine___
Soldier Blade
Gunhed
Final Soldier
Super Star Soldier
R-Type
Legendary Axe I and II
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
___Neo Geo___
Metal Slug
Shock Troopers
Pulstar
Blazing Star
Last Resort
A few of these games are fucking hard, but most of them are still pick up and play and exhibit technical proficiency or mastery of the systems for which they were coded (prime example: Alien Soldier).
For this, you would want to play the DS version. It's essentially the PSX re-release that never came out to the West, but translated. It came with an extra story and a couple of changes. Most of the gameplay was unchanged.
Otherwise I agree with Spekkio. This is just gonna be a discussion of games people liked on consoles, not necessarily "must plays" or games signifying any importance. Just stick to whatever you usually like and go from there.
No one calling for the original Legend of Zelda over LttP? I'd go ahead and say LttP is seriously damned boring. The rooms/map screens in LoZ are so much better crafted to be interesting combinations of enemies/layout. Zelda 2 is better, too, although it's not really comparable. The main problem of original Zelda would just be that it might be too obscure to play without spoilers.
I like the original Zelda, but you really are going to need a guide to finish it in less than 100 hours, otherwise you get to play the 'try burning every tree in the world' game. Zelda 2 is even worse, mind you. Fucking NES era text limits and translation.
I don't think asking other people for help in creating a "total musthave list for each console" is a good idea - everyone will just babble about the games they liked / played / heard good things about.
So, DIY.
That's actually what I'm hoping for. The possibility of trying something outside of my comfort zone that genuinely surprises me would be ideal, along with experiencing other games that are more to my liking. Keep them coming.
@ spekkio How would I go about playing Castlevania Rondo?
To reiterate, thanks for the games bros. I'll be slowly adding them to the list.
edit: holy shit Metroid (nes) is kicking my ass. Don't know where to go, can't aim diagonally. Going to play Zero Mission instead and see how it goes.
I like the original Zelda, but you really are going to need a guide to finish it in less than 100 hours, otherwise you get to play the 'try burning every tree in the world' game. Zelda 2 is even worse, mind you. Fucking NES era text limits and translation.
I actually played LoZ recently for the first time since the 80s. The only thing I remembered was the location of the blue ring, and I still finished it in one evening. The game isn't straight-forward and relies on trial and error, but I didn't strike me as excessively cryptic. There's only one tree you need to burn, the entrance to one of the last dungeons, and
it's in a position that you'll end up burning sooner or later anyways, since the tree blocks your way if you want to quickly move from west to east
The other essential part is
bombing a rock in the overworld to get access to the very last dungeon, but this rock looks suspicious anyways,
and one of the wise men also gives you a hint.
And then there's this point in one of the last dungeons where you can't proceed unless
you have the bait. I didn't even realize that this is an issue, hoarder that I am I had already bought that item without knowing what it's good for.
Now if you want to find all items, hearts, and also do the second quest, then things get more tedious, but that's not required for beating the game. Zelda 2 is somewhat worse. Not only are there parts where you really have no idea what item to use or where to go, the dungeons are also huge mazes that you can easily get lost in. But that also makes them a lot more fun than LoZ's dungeons, which don't offer much beyond killing monsters and sometimes pushing a block or bombing a wall, even the bosses are recycled --- LttP is the best of the three in this respect imho, the dungeons have very differerent settings, enemies, and modes of exploration (slippery ice, swimming through water, falling into pits to reach new areas, boomerang switch puzzles, timed switch puzzles with bombs, invisible bridges, hookshot action, teleporters, lighting candles in a given amount of time, travelling on moving platforms, and so on). Anyways, even if the OP doesn't want to play deliberately cryptic games, the first Zelda is worth a shot, and Zelda 2 is borderline. Castlevania 2 is a big no-no, though.
iirc the only real cryptic part in Castlevania 2 was the time you have to crouch on that spot on the cemetery (because the hint was sloppily translated), isn't it? The shit the villagers say is just blatant lies for the most part.
iirc the only real cryptic part in Castlevania 2 was the time you have to crouch on that spot on the cemetery (because the hint was sloppily translated), isn't it? The shit the villagers say is just blatant lies for the most part.
Imho the important difference to Zelda is that Castlevania 2 requires you to do this to finish the game. Zelda 2 can also be very cryptic --- e.g. using a specific spell at a dead end to make a house appear, but that is only to get an optional item. I've also heard that the translation of Castlevania 2 isn't actually all that bad and that the original Japanese is just as incomprehensible --- it sucks by design. I don't know whether that's actually true, but at least there is a romhack that makes the hints clearer and also fixes some annoyances like the slow day-night transitions: http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Games/Hacking/Hacks/SimonsRedaction.html
