If you are anything like me, you’ve been around the gaming world for a long time. The first console I owned was a Atari/Colecovision dual console, and soon thereafter got myself a Nintendo Entertainment System.
After that point, I was completely hooked, and continued on with gaming up to current present.
Over the years, I’ve owned some great consoles like the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Playstation. I’ve unfortunately lived through the demise of some other consoles that just failed to succeed like Sega’s Dreamcast and the Panasonic 3DO. With a lot of up and downs, there’s still a handful of titles that stand out in my mind as some of the greatest ever. Many will put the likes of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3, and Ocarina of Time on their list, but mine differs a little bit. I have great memories of these games I grew up with, and occasionally reflect on them, wondering if the possibility of a relaunch or some unforeseen sequal will emerge that will just blow my mind.
Many are worthy, but there’s a few I feel that deserve to be modernized, if not just revamped and re-released like Gamecube did for Resident Evil, or create a completely new game from the original. Maybe someone will hear my pleas, and hopefully others will agree with some of my choices. These are some of the historical gaming masterpieces that I’d be ecstatic to have in my hands again.
Goldeneye, Nintendo 64
This one is almost a given. Anyone who lived during the N64 days remembers this one to be the greatest party game of it’s time. Endless hours of you and your buddies sitting in front of the television split-screen killing eachother in the greatest shooter of it’s time. Who hasn’t played Goldeneye? It was perfect in just about every way, was extremely fun and addictive, and had some fun features as well. Bond Paintball anyone? I think this title deserves a facelift, don’t change anything about it, keep the maps, the variety of weapons, just smooth it over a bit, make it HD, add online multiplayer, and release it as an arcade title for $10. Considering this was a Nintendo exclusive game, some say that this release is impossible, but Microsoft did have Rare’s perfect dark as a 360 launch title, the same company that developed Goldeneye and Perfect Dark exclusively on the N64. It could happen
Killer Instinct, SNES, Arcade
I still hold this game close to my heart as my all-time fighting game. You could bust out some wicked combos, especially with Orchid and her 80+ hit combos. This was THE fighting game of it’s time and was hugely successful, and it’s very difficult for me to understand why it died back in those days. A new Killer Instinct on current consoles would be a big hit, and I’d grab it up in a second. Keep the original characters, add some new ones, make it look and play as good as the original, and ship it out like the recently modernized Street Fighter. People who never played the original may not appreciate it quite as much, but it would still sell regardless. This is a gem waiting to emerge, someone needs to pick up the license and make it work.
Out of this World/Flashback, Sega Genesis, 3DO
Arguably, Flashback was the greatest game of my lifetime. It was so ahead of it’s time, the animations were as close to 3d and realistic as 16 bit consoles could ever process. It was a brilliant game, played well, sounded great, and had a phenomenal story. It was the unofficial sequal to Out of this World, another unusual but innovative title released previously. Even if they kept it as-is, released it as an arcade game or packaged it with one of those “Sega’s Greatest Hits” games, it would bring many of us older gamers great joy. I’ve probably beaten these games thirty times in my childhood, and will gladly replay them again if someone remembers they existed and decides to give us one more go through. A remake in itself would set it apart from other games, it’s how innovative it was for it’s time that made this one so special.
Mutant League Hockey/Football, Sega Genesis
Probably the greatest sports game spinoff ever. Mutant league sports played like a normal sports title would, but there are a few twists. You can win by score, you you can win by killing the other team before they kill you. In the sports areas are spiked walls, bottomless pits, and other fatal hazards. In hockey, the fighting was great, and you’d get a second penalty for losing the fight. Great fun. Either of these would work well as a re-release or a new next-gen title. The brutal concept was simply hilarious, and added a fun and gory twist to sports games. I haven’t been able to find much of anything about these games on the internet, and any hopes of a reunion are slim to none. One can always hope.
T&C Surf Designs, NES
I can imagine this is the one that no one has heard of, as I’d be shocked to find another person who recalls playing this one. In the shadow of “Skate or Die”, T&C was a combination of surfing and skateboarding that rotated between levels. Fact is, It was fun, and was good enough to stick around in my memory for this long. You basically skated/surfed through obstacles and collected coins along the way, while wearing a tiki mask. I’m assuming it had thick Hawaiian influence, due to the environment and graphics, and maybe it’s one of those rare games that’s worth hundreds of dollars these days. I can’t even say there’s any chance of ever seeing this game again, and I’d be equally as shocked to hear that anyone else out there besides myself has played this one.
Crystalis, NES
This is one of two original cartridges that I still own. In a gaming world of turn-based role playing games and Final Fantasy clones, Crystalis was one of the rare few true action RPGS on the console. It was long, surprisingly deep, had a good variety of weapons, and regardless of popular opinion, it’s still one of my favorite RPGS to date. You were a purple haired hero wielding element based swords that helped you progress through the Crystalis world. Each of four swords could be upgraded for a more powerful charge attack, that assisted you in eliminating enemies and obstacles. This is a game that I can play again when I want to, but it should be re-released to the world so other people can enjoy it as much as I did.
Straying from popular opinion, I see potential in a lot of older games that new titles just never quite matched up to. I’d drop money into any of these again, although hope for most ever seeing the light of modern gaming again is very dim. Maybe retro gaming is better left in our memories, and we do need to move past them and enjoy the present. It could even result that replaying these titles after so many years may prove to not be nowhere near as fun or how you remembered them. Perhaps though, if they are revisited, more innovations will emerge, or a franchise can begin for a long and forgotten title. Some hold higher potential than others, but I am only one voice and we are more than likely going to see more of the popular classics again. Regardless, I hold my opinion high, if the majority agrees or not, and these will forever be enshrined in my personal Retro gaming hall of fame.
