Best games of older platforms

[forumvisitor#451]

I decided to go mobile with PS Vita and since now it runs Max Payne, Heroes of Might and Magic 2, entire PSP and PS1 library, it also emulates N64, GBA, SNES, Atari and NeoGeo.

Apart from PSP games, what are the best games on those platforms - PS1, N64, GBA, SNES, Atari and NeoGeo?

 

[Dramart]

Castlevania games in any of those platforms. That guy with moustache that jumps high Wario I think is his name. On SNES, Chrono Trigger, Megamen X, Ninja Turtles in Time. On GBA, Zelda the Minish Cap, Pokeman Emerald, Fire Emblem games, Shining Force, Metroid Zero Mission. N64 is mostly shit but try the Legend of Zelda games. PSX Castlevania Simp of the Night, Resident Evil Games, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy VII, Guardian's Crusade I reccomen it is not well known but is good. Atari, I heard ET is bad but maybe you will like it. On NeoGeo the King of Fighters gamez are the bes.

 

[Falksi]

I'm just replaying a lot of the 8 & 16-bit era games, and those which I've replayed so far & thought still worth playing for the SNES today were......

• Actraiser
• Sunset Riders
• F-Zero
• Lufia 2
• The Combat Tribes
• Dr Robotniks Mean Bean Machine/Puyo Puyo
• Street Fighter 2 Turbo
• Castlevania 4
• Contra 3
• Biometal
• Final Fight
• Final Fantasy 4
• Final Fantasy V
• Cybernator/ASV
• The Chaos Engine - (Better off with the PC version, but for convenience worth having on SNES too)
• Turtles in Time
• Front Mission
• UN Squardon/Area 88

I've still got games which I's consider classics to play like Super Mario World & Zelda 4, but until I've played them again I don't want to pass opinion.

Those above however I could have legitimately played for the first time ever in the paste few years, and still really enjoyed them.

 

[samuraigaiden]

PS1

• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - One of the best Castlevania games, spawned the Metroidvania subgenre.
• King's Field - The closest thing to the Souls games FromSoftware made before making the Souls games.
• Vagrant Story - One of the most unique RPGs on the PS1, it's combat system still stands out.

N64

• Robotron 64 - My personal favorite N64 game. A simple, classic arcade game, but once you get into it it's hard to stop playing.
• Hybrid Heaven - You fight aliens in an underground dungeon using wrestling moves, combat is a mix of real-time and turn-based, the plot involves the president of the USA. It's very weird.
  
• Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage - Console exclusive turn-based RPG developed by a Canadian studio. Out-of-combat skills like stealth and charisma, permadeath for all party members except the main character, one continuous open world. Not the greatest game but more people should know about this one.

GBA

• Ninja Five-0 - Very good 2D platformer that mixes a bunch of ideas from classic games like Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi and Bionic Commando.
  
• Rebelstar: Tactical Command - Turn-based tactics game developed by X-COM creator Julian Gollop. If you like this sort of thing, also check out Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Tactics Ogre and Shining Force on the GBA.
  
• Mother 1+2 and Mother 3 - This JRPG franchise is very cool. Both games are Japanese exclusive but have professional grade fan translations made by a dude called Tomato. Mother 1+2 is the best way to play Mother 1. Mother 2 is Earthbound, you are better off playing that on the SNES.

SNES

• Actraiser - You play as the Judeo-Christian God. Mix of very streamlined city building and great 2D action platforming. You are asked to name your character and if you use a thematically appropriate name like Yahweh or Jesus, it's twice the fun.
• Soul Blazer - By the same devs as Actraiser, in this one you play as an angel sent by the protagonist of Actraiser to repopulate the Earth after mankind fucked up and got annihilated by Lucifer (renamed Deathtoll in US version). It's a top-down Action RPG - very light on the RPG stuff tho. Again, the right name choice for the main character is something like Azrael or Gabriel. This game has two semi-sequels also worth playing, Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma.
• Shin Megami Tensei (and a ton of other JRPGs) - SMT is probably the best console RPG of the 16-bit era, but the SNES is chock full of great titles like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, Earthbound, Dragon Quest 5, Live A Live and many more.
• Wizardry I-II-III: Story of Llylgamyn - A very nice way to play classic Wizardry games on a console.

Atari

• River Raid - Not gonna pretend I'm an expert on the Atari, but this game is an ageless classic.

 

[Nutmeg]

Cybernator/ASV

Biometal

Seconding these.

Actraiser

The second one removes the Sim City-lite (Just play Sim City instead tbh) and makes the action much better and unique to this day. Less charming for some, objectively better for everyone. Both have amazing Koshiro OSTs that are worth listening to just by themselves.

I'd also like to add The Firemen as a game that, while it does get mentioned sometimes, ends up being overlooked and unplayed. But the reason it always gets mentioned despite having so few players is that it really does impress anyone who gives it a chance. I would say it belongs somewhere in the top 5 of it's sub genre --- multi directional push scrolling shmups.

Also speaking of Actraiser and PAL but not NA releases, there's Terranigma. The last in Quintet's creation trilogy. But Satoru Iwata's (former programmer, turned CEO) Alcahest is probably my personal favorite "ARPG" (I have more autistic genre definitions but lets not get into that) on the SFC.

The PS1 has too many excellent games, but since no one else is probably going to mention them, I'll mention Omega Boost and Ghost in the Shell. Both are the swansongs by former Japanese PC game developer powerhouses, Arcsys and Exact respectively. You're basically playing evolutions of Knight Arms and Geograph Seal on the X68000.

 

[Butter]

They made 2 Advance Wars games for the GBA. I only played the first one but it was really good, and the second one seems like it's more of the same. The SNES had some really good platformers, including the Super Star Wars games, the Donkey Kong Country games, Super Mario World, and Mega Man X. The N64 library was mostly bad, but it does include two Zeldas.

 

[Gregz]

Shadowrun - Sega Genesis

 

[Falksi]

Just a warning with the JRPGs though. They were good at the time, but a lot have aged pretty badly tbh. The only ones on the SNES which I'd say I'd recommend so far are Lufia 2, FFV and Front Mission (I'm still to replay a lot like Secret of Mana)

Here's a few of my thoughts on various others if it helps........

Incline - Revisiting Old Games (Again) | Page 2 | rpgcodex > strap yourselves in, 2021's going to be wild

 

[Nutmeg]

The N64 library was mostly bad, but it does include two Zeldas.

N64 Sin and Punishment is better than Star Successor (why did they have to add that roll with like 1 whole second of i-frames?), and best in genre. Likewise Starfox 64.

Legacy of Darkness is very unique to this day in that it's a 3D character action game (a rarity in the 5th gen), but was trying quite hard to imitate a 2D classicvania.

 

[ferratilis]

I don't play on my Vita a lot nowadays, but the last time I checked, SNES emulation wasn't the best. That was a year ago and situation might have improved since then. Also, N64 and Dreamcast emulators are still in the early stage, with N64 being the better one so far. If I were you, I'd check the compatibility page on dev's github to know which games might run well. Then pick games based on that.

If you're looking for classic games, there were a few decent collections made for PSP that run really well through Adrenaline. SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 , Samurai Shodown Anthology, Sega Genesis Collection (some great classics in this one), Metal Slug Anthology, and there are some others I can't remember right now. You can just scroll through the list on PKGj and find out. I remember there was also some Final Fantasy collections for the PSP. All of these are guaranteed to run well because Vita natively supports PSP and PS1 games. You didn't really say what genres you like so it's hard to recommend games. I hope this is helpful.

And, of course, you have to set up Chocolate Doom. That was the first thing I did after installing henkaku.

 

[Nutmeg]

Front Mission

I love mecha, and I love turn based tactics, so I was quite disappointed by this one. If you want mecha customization, play Armored Core on the PS1 (all 3 games are good). If you want 16-bit sci-fi tactics play Neo Nectaris. If you want a better combination of those two things, later Front Missions are better. I really liked the system in 2 on the PS1, but I ruined it for myself by following someone's advice to use the network feature which is really like a cheats menu. I should play it again some time.

 

[Falksi]

Front Mission

I love mecha, and I love turn based tactics, so I was quite disappointed by this one. If you want mecha customization, play Armored Core on the PS1 (all 3 games are good). If you want 16-bit sci-fi tactics play Neo Nectaris. If you want a better combination of those two things, later Front Missions are better. I really liked the system in 2 on the PS1, but I ruined it for myself by following someone's advice to use the network feature which is really like a cheats menu. I should play it again some time.

Yeah. It's probably my least fave on the list, and I wasn't enamored by it at all. But I think there's a game in there that some will enjoy, so included it.

It did have it's moments, and was worth trying for me.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Absolutely loved this on the Master System.

Video of the superior arcade version


Dat level 1 music

 

[Nutmeg]

Dat level 1 music

It's the stage music. So it's also the level 2 music, the level 3 music and so on. There's just two tracks IIRC, stage and dungeon. Maybe there was a boss theme I don't remember.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

The SNES Shadowrun game, while not as good as the Genesis version, is still one of the better console-exclusive RPGs of the era. There's also a pretty sweet port of a PC puzzle game called SS Lucifer AKA Sink or Swim, but I only played the Genesis version. Further decent console ports of PC games, Humans, Blackthrone, The Lost Vikings, and Another World. These might only be on the Genesis, I don't remember.
On the PSX, the two Alien games are some of the better console FPS, all the Looney Tunes licenses were fun, if you don't mind something a bit kiddie, the Deception series is a weird fantasy strategy game, and if you want some weird crap, there's LSD: Dream Emulator, Psychic Detective and Gadget: Past as Future.
For Atari 2600, the only thing I'd suggest is Dark Cavern, which is a port of the Intellivision game Night Stalker. Well, I say that, but I haven't yet played the Atari version.
Also, if you can play 3DO games on the system and you like survival horror, there's Doctor Hauzer, which was recently translated into English.

 

[Tweed]

For Genesis:

Shining in the Darkness.
Shining Force 1 & 2
Sagia (Darius 2) is a pretty good port of the arcade game.
Target Earth (Assault Suits Leynos) was a great 2d platformer, hard as hell.
Shadowrun was already mentioned, but it deserves mention again. It's much closer to a traditional CRPG than anything else, even has a few decent romhacks.
Chakan: The Forever Man. I mention this simply because it's the best game for suffering on the system, I don't think there's a harder game on the Genesis.

 

[Mexi]

Here are some that I would recommend. Got me nostalgic with the SNES list. I've not played any SNES or N64 game in so fucking long!

N64: Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, Killer Instincts 2, Goldeneye 007, Super Mario Kart 64, Waverace, Turok, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, 1080 Snowboarding, and WCW vs. NWO: Revenge

Turok was really fucking hard. I never beat it as a kid without cheats. Also, Duke Nukem: Zero Hour was really fun, but damn, another one I never beat as a kid. I remember those two games were fucking hard as fuck.

PS1: Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil: 1/2, Saga Frontier (but you might want to try the remake instead)/2, Legend of the Dragoon, Chrono Cross, Syphon Filter, Super Puzzle Fighter (might want to try the HD remake, though), Street Fighter EX: Plus Alpha, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Thrasher: Skate and Destroy, and Symphony of the Night

SNES: Super Mario RPG, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and Donkey Kong Country 2, Battletoads and Double Dragon, the Lawnmower Man, Sunset Riders, Killer Instincts, TMNT: Tournament Fighters, Donkey Kong Country 1, Super Mario Kart, Super Castlevania: IV, Street Fighter: II Turbo, Super Mario World, and Super Mario: All Stars.

Some don't hold up too well anymore like all the FPS games. Just a system that really deteriorates without a great storyline. The RPG games and racing/sports games all hold up really well. Fighting games don't really hold up well unless they are discontinued: KI series and TMNT. DKC still holds up well, but the soundtracks for both games are some of the best ever. I would recommend playing them only because of that beautiful soundtrack.

 

[Mexi]

Just a warning with the JRPGs though. They were good at the time, but a lot have aged pretty badly tbh. The only ones on the SNES which I'd say I'd recommend so far are Lufia 2, FFV and Front Mission (I'm still to replay a lot like Secret of Mana)

Here's a few of my thoughts on various others if it helps........

Incline - Revisiting Old Games (Again) | Page 2 | rpgcodex > strap yourselves in, 2021's going to be wild

If they have a good story, it helps. Never played a JRPG on SNES, though, only PS1. Only RPG on SNES that I've played is Super Mario: RPG and it's worth playing. Crazily enough, it never got a sequel afaik. That's a literal fucking gem that everyone should play before they die.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

DINO. CRISIS. 2.

Might have been my favorite Pee Es 1 title ever. Game never got the strong lovin.

 

[d1r]

For the GBA, get WarioWare. Absolutely great stuff.

Whole Metal Slug series + Magical Drop III are great NeoGeo games. Other than that, NeoGeo was really only famous for its fantastic fighting games.

 

[Nutmeg]

Magical Drop III

If you like this try Money Idol Exchanger.

Twinkle Star Sprites is a great vs shooter and inspired Zun's Touhou 3.

 

[Eirinjas]

Neo Geo has some amazing games. Sengoku, Magical Drop III, Neo Mr. Do!, Puzzle Bobble 2, Last Blade, Waku Waku 7, SNK vs Capcom, Twinkle Star Sprites, Metal Slug....

No Genesis emulation on the PS Vita??

 

[Zlaja]

One of my favorite PS1 games was an action RPG called Alundra. Probably the closest you could get to a Zelda-like experience on Playstation (you even play as a blond elf boy). The sequel was shit, tho.

 

[Dramart]

The only ones on the SNES which I'd say I'd recommend so far are Lufia 2, FFV and Front Mission

The GBA FFV is better, less grinding.

 

[Herzog]

Monitoring this thread.
PSX: Original RE trilogy. First Spyro game, which I hold to be the best one. Dino Crisis for RE with lizards. Gran Turismo is also quite good. Kula World.