Gotg

[aubergine]

super_deformed wrote this in the Batman Arkham Asylum thread:

Favourite game 8 bit generation: Super Mario Bros 3
Favourite game 16bit generation: Super Metroid
32/64 bit generation: Zelda OoT
Last generation: Shadow of the Colossus
And now....

-which struck me as a good thread in itself!

For convenience's sake, I'm calling every console before the NES "Ist Gen" - mainly thinking Atari 2600 etc.

I've based my choices on: What I have the fondest memories of: what I spent the most time playing or most replays: what I went the most nuts for in terms of anticipation of release.

Console

1st Gen - Pitfall (Atari 2600)
2nd Gen - Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)
3rd Gen - Super Mario Kart (SNES)
4th Gen - Goldeneye (N64)
5th Gen - Resident Evil 4 (GCN)
Current Gen - Bioshock

Handheld

Tetris
Gargoyle's Quest (Gameboy)
Advance Wars 2 (Gameboy Advance)

PC

System Shock 2

[Blob]

1st Gen - ??? Before my time :p
2nd Gen - ??? Still before my time.
3rd Gen - Earthbound (SNES)
4th Gen - OOT/MM - Donkey Kong 64 - Banjo Kazzoie (Way to hard to choose) (N64)
5th Gen - Skies Of Arcadia (GCN/Dreamcast)
Current Gen - Farcry 2/Fallout 3 (Once again way too hard to choose) (360)

Handheld

Pokemon Silver (Gameboy)
Pokemon Leaf Green (Gameboy Advance)
Pokemon Diamond (Ds) (I buy my handhelds for pokemon pretty much)

[Stevorooni]

Console

1st Gen - Pirates! (Commodore 64)
2nd Gen - Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System)
3rd Gen - Super Mario World (Snes)
4th Gen - Banjo Kazooie (N64)
5th Gen - Wind Waker (GCN)
Current Gen - Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)

Handheld

Double Dragon (Gameboy)
Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA)
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
GTA: Liberty City Stories (PSP)

PC

Warcraft 3

[TrinityJayOne]

1st Gen - Pitfall (Atari 2600)
2nd Gen - Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System)
3rd Gen - Power Drive (Mega Drive)
4th Gen - Final Fantasy VII (PSX)
5th Gen - GTA: San Andreas (PS2)
Current gen- GTA4 (Xbawks)

[Afrogamer]

4th Gen - Final Fantasy VII (PSX)


Hell yeah! :D

[Jickle]

1st Gen - Galaga (Arade, wherever else it appeared)
2nd Gen - Super Mario Bros (NES, ho ho ho originality, although honestly this is before my time anyhow)
3rd Gen - Chrono Trigger (SNES)
4th Gen - Perfect Dark (N64, although the answer would probably change if I took off my rose-tinted glasses)
5th Gen - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
Current Gen - GTA IV (360)

And I suppose I might as well do handheld...

GB: Pokemon Red/Blue (finished it 11 times)
GBC: Metal Gear Solid
GBA: WarioWare
DS: Ouendan 2

[sausage]

1st Gen - Defender (arcade)

5th Gen - KOTOR II (xbox)

Current Gen - Bioshock

PC - STALKER.

[ScToTeE]

I don't like forcing out opinions, so I'll keep my list to those generations I experienced.

Second Gen: Wonderboy and the Dragon's Trap (SMS)

Third Gen: ...
(I was still playing WBATDT during this generation haha.)

Fourth Gen: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

Fifth Gen: Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (PS2)
(Zelda: Wind Waker would've taken the spot had I actually got around to finishing it. Alas as I obsessed over it, and completed it numerous times, GTA SA gets the nod.)

Sixth Gen: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)
(Very close competition, plus there are a LOT of highly-praised games I haven't touched yet e.g. BioShock.)

My requirements are the same as aubergine's i.e. anticipation, nostalgia and most played.

EDIT:

Forgot handhelds!

First Gen: Pokemon Red (GB)

Second Gen: Pokemon Gold (GBC)

Third Gen: Pokemon Leaf Green (GBA)
(Lawlz! Common theme much?! If remakes don't count, then Golden Sun I guess.)

Fourth Gen: Mario Kart DS

[AranchineD]

Deus Ex

[Allick]

3nd - Harvest Moon (SNES)
4rd - Crash Bandicoot (PSX)
5th - Jak 3 (PS2)
6th - MGS4 (PS3)

[igotnewsuper8systemWRONG!]

Deus Ex

thread over

[NiB]

1st Gen - Pacman (Atari)
2nd Gen - The Legend of Zelda (NES)
3rd Gen - Zelda LttP (Snes)
4th Gen - Zelda OoT (N64)
5th Gen - GTA: San Andreas (PS2)
Current gen- GoW2 (X360)

[Xanafalgue]

1st - I'm FAR TOO YOUNG
2nd - Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap (BARELY THERE)
3rd - Phantasy Star IV (I so wanted to say Sonic 3 & Knuckles but...)
4th - Panzer Dragoon Saga (so many others though..)
5th - Sonic Adventure
6th - Mass Effect

[BB2K]

Console

2nd Gen - Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)
3rd Gen - Super Metroid (SNES)
4th Gen - Majora's Mask (N64)
5th Gen - The Wind Waker (GCN)
Current Gen - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

Handheld

GameBoy - Pokemon Red
GameBoy Advance - Pokemon Emerald
DS - Mario Kart DS

PC

Deus Ex, WTF else?

[ScToTeE]

2nd - Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap (BARELY THERE)

:D

Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking this. I have some great memories playing that game, watching Dad try and beat that final bloody dragon, being absolutely obsessed with the monster character design, really craving those latter protagonist transformations etc. Honestly, that game had more of an impact on me as a gamer than anything else ever.

Well, that and Pokemon. But Wonderboy came first!

[JubeiSaotome]

1st Gen: The Great Giana Sisters (C64)
2nd Gen: Wonder Boy in Monster Land (SMS)
3rd Gen: Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
4th Gen: Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PS1)
5th Gen: Phantasy Star Online (DC/GCN/PC)
Current Gen: Street Fighter IV (PS3)

[StorminNorman]

For convenience's sake, I'm calling every console before the NES "Ist Gen" - mainly thinking Atari 2600 etc.

Actually there are two distinct generations prior to the NES (which is a 3rd Generation console).

The delineation comes with the use of microprocessors. The first generation of game consoles (things like the Magnavox Odyssey) all used discrete components, while the second generation (Atari VCS et al) use microprocessors and ROM chips.

This is a surprisingly important distinction, as the complexity of games increases a lot with the move to microprocessors. We might think the Atari 2600 looks primitive today, but it was a vast improvement over the Odyssey and the hundreds of "Home Pong" systems that were around before it.

With that in mind, I'm going to skip the first two generations because I've never had enough interest in them to form a list of decent games.

3rd gen: Super Mario Bros 3.
A sprawling, entertaining platform game that is a masterpiece of level design and technological achievement.

4th gen: Tales of Phantasia
It's a close call between this an Earthbound, but the technical achievement of Tales of Phantasia is far above and beyond anything else of the entire generation. If you don't believe me, plug the cartridge in and listen to your Super Famicom sing.

5th gen: Radiant Silvergun
Another game that pushes its host system to the limit. Radiant Silvergun is an epic shooting game that is well worth its often high asking price. Beautiful graphics, stunning music and utterly unparalleled shooting gameplay make it the game of its generation.

6th gen: Shenmue/Shenmue II
Yes. The Dreamcast is 6th gen (and also Shenmue II was released on the XBox). This game was so far ahead of its time that it couldn't be contained by the console that ran it. It sets the standard for all the "free-roaming" action games that have since followed, and is, to this day, better than every damn one of them.

7th gen: Rockband/Rockband 2
This is more a personal choice than because I think it represents an entire generation of gaming. I'm a huge music fan, so, for me, Rockband is a great way to experience music. I've put more hours into this than any other game this generation, and playing it with mates is one of the best experiences available in video games.

[Xanafalgue]

:D

Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking this. I have some great memories playing that game, watching Dad try and beat that final bloody dragon, being absolutely obsessed with the monster character design, really craving those latter protagonist transformations etc. Honestly, that game had more of an impact on me as a gamer than anything else ever.

ME TOO. Have my babies! When I was a rather gormless child I used to get large cheets of paper and draw my own Wonderboy levels :rolleyes: And the dragon's were ****ing awesome!

[SOX]

2nd Gen: Super Mario Bros (NES)
3rd Gen: Marathon 2 (Mac)
4th Gen: Goldeneye (N64) + Diablo 1 (PC - probably stretching it a bit)
5th Gen: Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
6th Gen: Street Fighter 4 (Arcade/360/PS3/PC - it's allll good)

[ScToTeE]

ME TOO. Have my babies! When I was a rather gormless child I used to get large cheets of paper and draw my own Wonderboy levels :rolleyes: And the dragon's were ****ing awesome!

Okay, creepy. Because I drew my own levels too. I spent almost the same amount of time staring at the manual as I did actually playing the game; drawing all the different enemies and dragon bosses depicted in it; thinking up (rather basic) stories based on the game-world and its characters ... Ha. Now I want to play that game again! It has been a while. :p

[Xanafalgue]

Okay, creepy. Because I drew my own levels too. I spent almost the same amount of time staring at the manual as I did actually playing the game; drawing all the different enemies and dragon bosses depicted in it; thinking up (rather basic) stories based on the game-world and its characters ... Ha. Now I want to play that game again! It has been a while. :p

I'm so firing it up tomorrow :D

[jawsy]

1st Gen - Galaga (Arade, wherever else it appeared)
2nd Gen - Super Mario Bros (NES)
3rd Gen - Super Mario Kart (SNES)
4th Gen - Perfect Dark (N64)
5th Gen - Animal Crossing (GCN)
Current Gen - Batman: Arkham Asylum (360)

These choices are based purely on the excitement generated by a title, before release, while playing and afterwards during discussion with friends. If I were to sit down and try to figure out what my favourite pure gaming experiences were, I'm sure I would have to find room for Super Metroid, Zelda: OoT, Metroid Prime and GTAIV.

Actually, I've now been staring at the screen for about ten minutes pondering this, so here goes.

1st Gen- Galaga (Arcade)
2nd Gen- Super Mario Bros (NES)
3rd Gen- Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
4th Gen- Zelda: OoT (N64)
5th Gen- Metroid Prime (GCN)
Current Gen- GTA IV (360)

Well, didn't find room for Super Metroid.

[Tukenstein]

3rd Gen - Super Mario Bros (NES)
4th Gen - World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (Megadrive II)
5th Gen - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
6th Gen - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Current Gen - I can't decide between Arkham Asylum and Mass Effect. DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE! (360)

[ScToTeE]

I'm so firing it up tomorrow :D

I wish I still had it ... Is it on Virtual Console?

[Xanafalgue]

Rom >_>

[ScToTeE]

Rom >_>

Indeed. ;)

[Spazzallo]

2nd Generation- Double Dragon 2 (NES)
3rd Generation- Super Mario World (SNES)
4th Generation- Zelda: Oot/Lylat Wars (N64)
5th Generation- Zelda: WW/Tales of Syphonia (GCN)
6th Generation- Batman: AA (X360)

[RunningMild]

Gargoyle's Quest (Gameboy)

HOLY ****! I loved Gargoyle's Quest! But I thought I was the only one... :(

I wouldn't call it the best game of an entire generation though, especially with GB games like Metroid II and Link's Awakening...

[aubergine]

HOLY ****! I loved Gargoyle's Quest! But I thought I was the only one... :(

I wouldn't call it the best game of an entire generation though, especially with GB games like Metroid II and Link's Awakening...

Metroid II was pretty great. When I was thinking up my answers though the only two GB games I could even remember was Gargoyle's Quest and of course Tetris, which probably shouldn't even be counted just like how they don't count The Complete Works of Shakespeare and The Bible on bestseller lists, as they are incalculable.

[consoul]

1st Gen - H.E.R.O. (2600)
2nd Gen - Wonder Boy III The Dragon's Trap (Master System)
3rd Gen - Snatcher (MegaCD)
4th Gen - Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
5th Gen - Resident Evil 4 (GC)
Now Gen - Too early to call


Picking a single GOTG for the 4th Gen is HARD! So many great games. OoT, RE2, FF7, Silent Hill, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve, Oddworld, etc. Truly a golden age of gaming.

[ThePhotoshop]

How do I classify PC generations?? :(

[TheMixta43]

3rd - Sonic the Hedgehog (SMS)
4th - Sonic 3 and Knuckles
5th - Super Mario 64
6th - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
7th - Prince of Persia (360)

Handheld:

GB/GBC - Pokemon Blue
GBA - Dragonball Z: Legacy of Goku II
DS - Super Mario 64 DS

PC - Oddworld Abe's Oddysee

[Vindik8or]

Yeah, to reiterate what Stormin said, the current generation of consoles is the seventh. Count backwards from there with all of your posts. I demand everyone correct their glaring mistake now.

That said, I haven't played enough of each generation to really form an opinion of my favourites. On PC however, I simply cannot choose between Deus Ex and The Witcher.

[JubeiSaotome]

I will go back and further bastardise mine, just for you Vin.

[Queenie]

This gen: I haven't actually played many from this gen yet, actually. In fact, I can't pick it.
wait, erm, the inevitable update to Empire:Total War. That will likely be my GoTG. If it's what medieval II was to rome, it'll be awesome (honestly it's more for me about giving some individuality to the units more than anything else).

Last Gen: So many greats, on each console. On those I own, I loved Wind Waker, Resident Evil 4 and ToS to bits.

The 64 Era: Majora's mask. of rareware's titles, I'll say Banjo-Kazooie or JFG was up there.

Supar-Nintondo- Shin Kidou Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Duel (wasn't given ENG release, the jap text translates as new mobile report). It's pretty much a gundam version of SF alpha, but also REALLY well made. REALLY well. With unique gameplay prospects.

NES: Original Zelda. Easy.

Before that: I haven't played.


Handheld:

GB ERA: Pokemon Yellow
GBC ERA: Pokemon Silver
GBA ERA: Golden Sun
The Current Generation: Pokemon Soul Silver. It's awesome. It's everything you could have wanted, and MORE.

[StorminNorman]

How do I classify PC generations?? :(

The best way is probably graphics adaptors/cards:

CGA
EGA
VGA/SVGA
First-gen 3D cards
Second-gen 3D cards (probably draw the line at the first GeForce here)
Third-gen 3D cards (not sure where to draw the line here, probably DX7 or so?)
Fourth-gen 3D cards (The ones with fully programmable "stream processor" GPUs.)

It's probably not perfect, but graphics hardware tends to be the most important element of PC gaming.

[9warbane]

Console
1st Gen - Did Pacman exist yet?
2nd Gen - Earthbound (Nes)
3rd Gen - Super Mario All Stars (Snes)
4th Gen - OoT (N64)
5th Gen - MGS3 (PS2)
Current Gen - don't have PS3 or 360 so probably Brawl+ when I install it.

Handheld
pokemon blue (Gameboy)
Mario and Luigi SSS (GBA)

PC
Orange box/Oblivion

[Nintendork]

Earthbound was on SNES. Unless you're talking about Mother, in which case that was a Jap only release.

[9warbane]

Earthbound was on SNES. Unless you're talking about Mother, in which case that was a Jap only release.

Yeah my bad, would have been translated rom.

[Nic Xtreme]

I've only been playing games since the NES days, so I'll go from there and select games that have truly found a place in my heart:

Consoles
NES: Metroid (NES)
SNES/Genesis: Earthbound (SNES)
N64/PlayStation: Perfect Dark (N64)
GCN/PS2/XBX/DC: Animal Crossing (GCN) (The hardest era to decide!)
Current Consoles: Mass Effect (360)

Handhelds:
Game Boy: Pokemon Red
Game Boy Colour: Pokemon Silver
Game Boy Advance: Rhythm Tengoku
Nintendo DS/PSP: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

PC:
Arrrgh! Would Doom II, Xargon and Age of Empires II (hell, and Age of Empires) be in different eras?

[cfj]

1st Gen - H.E.R.O. (2600)


Great call!

Probably one of the more underappreciated games from that era IMO. You don't hear much about it these days in comparison to its contemporaries, but I still think it holds up really well!

1st gen: HERO (A2600)

2nd gen: Golden Axe Warrior (MS): In hindsight it was probably a rubbish Zelda clone, but I played it before I'd had a chance to play Zelda. Haven't played it in years, and wouldn't mind giving it another razz sometime soon

3rd gen: A Link to the Past (SNES)

4th gen: Final Fantasy VII (PSX)

5th gen: Resident Evil 4 (GCN)

6th: GTAIV (Xbox_ with apologies to Fallout 3. Like Fallout 3 give a shit what I think

PC: Baldur's Gate 2. Had I played Planescape when it came out, though, I suspect I would have preferred that (didn't play Planescape until it was about 7 years old I think; by then the interface was ridiculous. Still thoroughly enjoyed it, but I can't go back to it like I can go back to Baldur's Gate 2)

Handheld: Pokemon