Inspired by this thread about games you’re currently playing by @ohm and this post about game soundtracks by @ted thought it would be nice to have a thread about our favourite video/arcade games of all time.
What are yours? Which games have you really really loved!?
YouTube vids always welcome!
My all-time favorite arcade game is probably The Addam’s Family pinball table.
It’s somewhat forgiving for beginners, there’s plenty to do, and it has a multi-ball announcement that stops traffic.
My all-time favorite video game is probably Bionic Commando (NES).
In 1988, three short years after Nintendo brought Super Mario Bros into our homes, game publisher Capcom brazenly released a game in which the protagonist can’t jump.
Instead, Nathan “Rad” Spencer must infiltrate enemy territory using his bionic grappling arm to ascend ledges and cross dizzying chasms.
The game is pretty challenging, but the once it clicks the sense of flow and mastery is very satisfying.
I’d kinda like to see a rebuild of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (aka Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer’s Call in Europe) even though I’ve lost most of my previous affection for proprietary video games and game consoles.
Good call!
I’ve been gravitating more and more towards the convenience of handheld consoles, so I’d be happy to see it on Switch.
SMT is such an interesting series in general. Of the titles I’ve played, I like Strange Journey the best.
I really wanted to like Strange Journey, but I was afraid that the DS would give me RSI.
Didn’t get much into what y’all would think of as arcade games. Got thoroughly hooked on Pong when it came out (like I said elsewhere, yes I’m old), even often playing it solo! The only real arcade game I ever got much good at though was Battle Zone. By the time the modern stuff with fancier graphics came out, I was too busy to hang out in arcades much; the fanciest graphics I think we had while I was in school was probably Joust.
In no specific order, my favorite video games of all time, almost all exclusively because of fantastic gameplay (I’m not really focused on visuals):
No doubt missing many others, but those are what’s had the biggest impact in my life to me and all of which I still play on occasion (some of them a whole whole lot more often then just ‘on occasion’, lol).
“Legacy of Kain” for me, all 5 parts (even if the first one is basically a 2D arcade game).
The time travels plot is one of the best I’ve ever read and experienced (and even it has a few plot holes). The music is quite good, too.
Picture of one of the protagonists (Raziel):
I enjoy modernised arcade games: they are still lowdef but they look much less grainy and pixelated – they simply don’t add much details but are much better looking overall.
I occasionally play 5-6 shmups (bullet hells) on my Switch – shmups are my favourite type of game ever. I have tried 3-4 platformers which I also liked quite a bit.
Derek Yu talks about Dwarf Fortress in the first few pages of his book about Spelunky in order to introduce the driving concepts behind the roguelike genre.
He makes the game sound equal parts fascinating and intimidating.
I’m not too experienced with shmups (the last one I played was Jamestown, which I thought was a lot of fun) but I’ve been considering picking up Ikaruga the next time it goes on sale.
Any thoughts?
Ikaruga is fun, I loved it and is one of these I play every now and then. It has a very unique feature – polarity – which allows you to swap immunities against certain enemy projectiles, adding one more skill lane for people to master. It’s one of the best modern shumps.
That being said, I enjoy Sky Force Reloaded a lot as well. Although have in mind that it doesn’t have that many levels but the fact that you can constantly upgrade your craft by grinding the levels you already passed made the game better for me. Mind you, that’s not an intellectual activity at all; it’s mindless fun where you practice reflexes and timing.
Disclaimer: I bought the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller which many deem to be not cheap (it was about 85 EUR for me). It makes the shmup experience much better. To be fair, it makes all Switch games better. 
Sky Force Reloaded poster:
Great, I’ll keep an eye on both; thanks!
I opted for the 8BitDo SN30 Pro+.
I like the symmetry of the analog sticks, plus the form factor reminds me of the Super Nintendo, of which I have a lot of good memories.
Your wish (and mine) has been granted (coming in Spring 2021) 
Also, SMT V sometime next year:
Great. Now I finally have a halfway decent excuse to buy a Switch.
I remember Ikaruga. You’ll want to play it on a portrait-mode display if you can.
Bubble Bubble 2.
100 stages and the game supports two players.
Ultima VII, an open-world RPG from the early 1990s. Quite a few bugs and problems (like party members fleeing in combat and dropping essential quest items, never to be found again), but as a teenager I played this on my friend’s 486 PC for a year without even advancing the plot – the world was just that immersive and fun to explore.
The closest thing I’ve seen to it since then was Skyrim, which is also fun but feels emptier in many ways.
Golden Axe 2, can co-op too.
Same here, loved that game. Played it a lot with my brothers.
