1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ; Such a startlingly unique choice I know, it almost feels pedestrian to say my favourite game is Ocarina of Time, a position its held since I first played it all those years ago and hasnt looked to relinquish it any time soon.
At the time Id played nothing quite like it, the sense of adventure and scope blew away anything Id played prior, that barren Hyrule Field that would be considered a knock against the game these days was something to behold for me back in the day. The clutch of nostalgia may be strong but OoT endures because its simply one of the very best games to this day, even among numerous sequels that have brushed up on the Zelda formula in 3D OoT still commands the throne on the strength of its pacing and variety that sidesteps the pitfalls future entries would fall into.
To this day I still get a buzz from experiencing the same moments that Ive replayed well into the double digits, its my video game equivalent of returning home, its the game where comfort is king.
It arrived at exactly the right time to capture my imagination, to leave the lasting impact, the defining game of my childhood and Im gonna stop here before I just continue with the full on gushing.
PS: Kaepora Gaebora is awesome, haters can suck it and read that again.
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ; The greatest character in this game? Why its the castle itself, each area lavish with detail and a compendium of creatures from the many myths of man, suitable map layouts that match with the locations in question as well as helping create further variety in actual structure and not just being a series of overly similar rooms. SotN just got this so very right, Draculas Castle is heavy with the weight of atmosphere from its creepy catacombs to the hallowed halls of the chapel because even monsters got to pray every now and then I guess. Its all elevated further by a top tier soundtrack, a true sense of discovery and a whole host of tiny details that make the game truly feel like a labour of love.
The difficulty is a bit all over the place marking another shift from the series action platforming origins, the true appeal lies in the exploration and with so much to see theres always intrigue as to what lies beyond the next pair of distinct doors that totally arent there for loading. By the time you reach the (inverted) endgame the game has practically dared you to break it, from your weakened beginnings after Death swiped your stuff to the finale where you have the capability of laughing your way to a complete squash match against Drac himself SotN truly shows the power scale of how far youve come.
And lets not forget that deliciously campy dialogue, who doesnt love voice acting that sounds like it was recorded in a cave?
3. Perfect Dark ; I dont know how Perfect Darks cart managed to cram all its content in there without erupting from the overload, I have to come to the obvious conclusion that Rare were wizards, maybe they went to Stonehenge and performed some arcane ritual to the British gaming gods or perhaps theyre just damn good at their job.
Well whatever it was they did an admirable job of almost living up to the Perfect in Perfect Dark. The spiritual successor to beloved classic Goldeneye with only a fraction of the fame but those of us in the know are aware that PD pretty much expands on GE in every possible way and is the superior game for it.
To try and succinctly summarize the joys of this game is a tall order indeed, so many little details are pouring into my mind right now like the psychosis gun that caused enemies to become your lackeys in the single player which then made me remember how you could give commands to your CPU allies in multiplayer so throwing a bunch of mines on them and then setting them loose as your personal bomber was a thing you could do. And this could be occurring in a game of capture the briefcase where theres 5 different teams each with their own base (unbalanced as heck but hilarious), filled with gimmick bots like the classic Fist Simulant that wont ever shoot you, hell just disarm you and punch you to death complete with screen shattering dizziness.
Everything but the kitchen sink was like a mantra for this game, thats surely how they ended up including a version of the single player campaign where player two can take control of the enemies to thwart you, heck theyd have let you shoot your friends faces with game boy camera integration but I guess Nintendo figured that wasnt exactly a pleasant idea.
Of course the march of time probably makes some of the people picking up the recent Rare Replay collection and discovering it for the first time find the game a touch unusual and outdated in playstyle and structure even with its 360 re-release polishing. Understandable, Its from a different era of console shooters thats not everyones cup of tea with the lack of that newfangled dual analogue aiming but dammit its my tea and Ill still happily drink from this pot.
4. Banjo-Kazooie ; Collectathon became something of a dirty word towards the end of the 5th console generation, lets not so quickly forget the game that made the subgenre of explorative 3D platformers even more popular in the first place after SM64 set the stage, enter Banjo-Kazooie.
Colourful as they come, the visual style that BK employs still holds up well today for a relatively early N64 title sidestepping the messy puddle numerous other games from the era splash into muddying their graphics (see what I did there, oh Im so proud). Banjo revels in the bright and bold, even stages taking place in a sewer or grimy bay burst with vivid visuals, then youve got areas like Freezeezy Peak offerings Christmassy colour explosion.
Speaking of the worlds, they strike a sweet spot in size offering exploration without getting overwhelming, while one could indeed point out that the actual platforming within isnt nearly as robust as say Super Mario 64 theres still variety within each and every world courtesy of the bear and birds diverse range of abilities.
The way the whole package comes together with its quirky British humour, wonderful soundtrack and googly eyed goodness creates a blend that truly embodies its aim of being a fantastical fairy tale adventure. Plus its endgame involves a quiz based on the game itself before the final boss, thats two different takes on the final test of what you picked up on over the course of the game and I love it.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ; Built off the Ocarina of Time base reusing a fair amount of assets be it music, NPCs and even the musical Ocarina mechanic, on paper it should be the most samey feeling of 3D Zelda sequels being the only one that's truly a direct one.
Yet the 3 day structure changes everything, the entire dynamic of the world design, its bevy of side quests and its atmosphere helps make it wholly unique.
What I love about Majora's Mask is it presents itself as the perfect companion package to Ocarina of Time offering its own twist on something near and dear to my heart.
As the years have gone by Ive grown to love how human the game feels with the various ways characters react to the looming annihilation. This gives the game undeniable character that endures to this day, it pulls me into the troubles of Termina with an urge to help as many as I can yet accepting that victory is bittersweet when time resets and a mask was my only memento of that possible future.
Compared to some other Zelda games Majora's Mask feels so tightly packed and condensed with little wasted space. While the world design is effectively four wildly diverse branches sticking out of a central hub where sand gives way to snow at a moments notice they're connected enough to feel like a complete whole. And that grim atmosphere, the final hours never fail to send a tingle down my spine, its magnificent.
The overworld in general has a nice run of tasks and obstacles to overcome before reaching the main dungeons, this softens the blow of only having four dungeons by making the journey to each feel like a series of quests as opposed to just sprinting from one dungeon to the next late game AlttP style. And this is without factoring in all the sidequests, effectively this game feels like the most free and liberating Zelda title of the 3D series where you've got options in what you might like to go and do next, it handles that sense of exploration and discovery very well which is a point where other 3D Zelda games struggle a bit.
MM carries this dare I say almost mature subtext that mostly stays in the background for those who seek it while a standard and easily understandable motivation is given for the games main mission. The N64 Zelda duo are the series peak for me, even in the early days of jumping to 3D these entries just nailed it, a killer one-two punch of adventuring goodness.
6. Starfox 64/Lylat Wars ;Housing that newfangled Rumble Pak, Lylat Wars made its arrival one Christmas morn in a box that dwarfed other N64 titles, thats making a statement before even putting the cart in the console.
Its about time you showed up Fox. Youre the only hope for our world.
And what a statement it was, furious vibrations erupted from my controller like wizadry, muppet like heads spewed gloriously campy voiced dialogue and I had the ability to move around the Starfox logo on the title screen which I probably spent far too much time with.
Ah, so this is Star Fox?
It may be on rails but just like a rollercoaster its a wild ride in spite of that. Though its a ride that can take many different paths to reach its final destination, in that sense you can break free of the rails and choose your own route.
Jeeze Laweez! What is that?!
On occasion the game flings into all range mode, freedom of movement is given to tackle more mobile bosses or a ship filled combat arena diversifying the gameplay further. Each planet offers a memorable and unique stage, seeing them all is a reward in itself but little did I know the true game was just beginning
Dont get too cocky Star Fox!
The medal collecting elevated the game even further, before it was just a case of surviving, now it was about figuring out how to best reach each stages high score, Lylat Wars was a master of replayability. Even so it took me years to finally achieve my ultimate goal here.
Never give up. Trust your instincts
Years later, after numerous runs through the Lylat system I finally earned the novelty of running around on foot in the admittedly ho-hum multiplayer mode, oh and unlocking Expert Mode which means that it was time to go through once more, I almost certainly made sure sure to swing by Macbeth that time around.
I cant stooooop IT!
7. Rollercoaster Tycoon ; I may not have known how my park value was measured (actually, I still dont), I took entirely too long to make use of advertising campaigns and I probably had food stalls right next to vomit inducing rollercoasters but none of that mattered. Even with my minuscule understanding of the simulation genre I brute forced my way through the early stages of the campaign to slowly understand just how things worked in RCT and soon enough I was having coasters entwine with each other as Elephant fountains erupted on the sidelines, a surefire recipe for excitement right there.
Theres just something magical about the sandbox that is RCT, like sometimes you just demolish everything and make the mother of all Go Kart tracks winding around an entire park and place your bets on which racer will win. Or you go for that perfectly cohesive theme that elevates your park to the next level. And maybe sometimes you inadvertently delete a bit of path over the water and grit your teeth as a bunch of park goers drop to their watery graves (pfft, they were grouchy anyway, you can find the park exit, you have a map!)
It still endures as well, I can happily play the game today and it feels like it hasnt aged at all, the sneaky thrill of jacking up umbrella prices when the rain falls is just something that ages like fine wine I suppose. Added Attractions/Corkscrew Follies was one heck of an expansion that imbued the core game with greater life. Alas its last upgrade Loopy Landscapes was too much for me, I barely made a dent in those twisted trials.
As a heads up with insider info gained from two parks I made with a friend of mine earlier this year naming your rides after the movie Wild Wild West is akin to placing a hex on the rides that will cause them to crash. Even the replacement known as Jim Wests Ghost crumbled like its parks predecessor. Said curse followed from one park to another because we foolishly created the necromancy of Jim West in honour of our previous blunders and well Im just saying that things quickly went downhill.
And thats why I love this game.
8. WWF No Mercy ; Arguably the best year of WWEs in ring product also gets arguably the best WWE game even to this day, how very fitting.
AKI had tackled a number of wrestling games across WCW and WWE on the N64 alone at this point and No Mercy was effectively the culmination of all their efforts, in fact me and my brother got into watching the sweaty spectacle based upon No Mercys predecessor Wrestlemania 2000, thats the power these games had, especially in multiplayer.
You didnt need to be a wrestling fan to enjoy No Mercy but being one certainly elevates the whole thing further where you appreciate the ability to work over an opponents limbs to increase the effectiveness of a submission finisher and you notice that for some reason Steven Richards has filled Big Shows role in the WWE title story mode which on occasion drew upon the product itself for its multiple paths (actually Big Show was booted from the game mid development for not losing enough weight in real life, not being in this game is a grim punishment to be sure).
No Mercy could toe the line of being a sim like wrestling game that was slow and methodical understanding how to represent the flow of an actual match while also being capable of the complete stupidity that comes with the territory. Which is why you can pull a giant cheese wedge out of the crowd as a weapon for your stupidly dressed obese Created wrestler whose finisher is to spit a fireball in your opponents face complete with leaving burn marks, now thats attention to detail.
Sure the Christmas fun took a bit of a hit with a widespread bug in early PAL copies that caused the game data to delete itself but me and my brother kept on playing anyway because it was that damn good.
And after all this game allows me give Kane the WWE title runs he so richly deserves so it was hard to stay mad.
9. Wario Land 2 ; Wario doesnt have to worry about death, crush him, zombify him, set him on fire, Wario can take it, heck he can spin it to his advantage. But he does have to worry about losing all those coins and thats the funny thing about Wario Land 2. An explorative platformer with time for puzzles, action and of course some well timed jumping yet the shadow of death never looms over the player, though youll still fear the foes as spilling coins hinders your chances of nabbing a stages treasure and thats what Wario is all about, the treasure.
This is a game where bosses do something worse than deal damage, they inconvenience you by knocking you out the room so you have to run back for the next round, somehow this manages to be far more punishing. Of course what bosses youll face can vary, Wario Land 2 splits itself into branching paths with multiple endings further emphasizing its explorative style of gameplay.
Really what I love about this game is that its a collectable focused platformer thats not only filled with plenty of nooks and crannies to discover hiding more gold to line Warios pockets but that it doesnt ask the player for EVERYTHING so its not like missing a few coins makes a wasted run. Factor this in with how taking damage is effectively spilling some coins it all comes together to make a perfect formula for Warios greedy self and the open level design. WL2 effectively coined (hah!) the style of gameplay that the WL series would be defined by, if the original was a kinda rough idea of making a platformer that was a twist on Mario this here is almost more like an antithesis of Marios focus and this marks where the true split from Mario Land and Wario Land occurs.
Basically this is one of Nintendos most underrated platformers.
10. Pokemon Gold/Silver ; If anyone has actually remembered my thoughts on the various generations of Pokemon that Ive dropped on GAF over the years you might be surprised that a Gen 2 game has snuck on here, Im not one to shy away from pointing out the things that irk me about how Gold/Silver handled various aspects of its content and I certainly dont consider it an unbeatable entry in the series by any stretch.
BUT as classic and dear to my heart as Red version may be I cant ignore just how mechanically messed up those original Pokemon games are, Gen 2 swoops in like the master mechanic fixing the glaring faults and sprucing up the series with landmark features that endure to this day (not that the series changes all that much). Ultimately its the definitive take on the Game Boys most defining franchise and its still very much playable to this day, no more diving through menus to cut a bush here, now thats evolution right there.
Otherwise you know the drill, its pokemon and this was peak time for the franchise, following up on the phenomenon was a tall order but Game Freak met expectations and then some, they called it a fad and yet here we still are with like 700 plus of the buggers to catch, if they bungled this sequel I wonder how different things couldve been?
x. Super Mario 64 ; A landmark title that absolutely nailed the strange new world of controlling a character in a 3D space, to this day SM64 may still be one of the best examples of character control in its genre even more so than its sequels. Unfortunately I do find that as fun as the game is a lot of its objective and level design has taken a big punch to the nads from father time. But make no mistake, at the time this was the Bees Knees.
x. Rayman 2 ; One of the most focused platformers of its generation that I imagine couldve got on the main list if Id revisited it more thoroughly in the last month, well I still think The Precipice is a great stage off the top of my head.
x Metal Gear Solid ; Disc 1 is rad, Disc 2 is unfortunately kinda plodding especially on replays where it cant use the numerous twists to hide the lacking gameplay side of things. Still this here is another landmark title of the generation.