Retrogaming

For video game purists, more advanced technology does not necessarily mean a better game or a better gaming experience. Sometimes, the older games are still the best. The reason so many new games fail is because they lose sight of what a video game should be. Realistic 3D graphics are great, but if there is no decent story to back them up, if game play is too convoluted, or if failing one task sets you back 3 screens and 30 minutes, we won't want to play and we won't recommend the game to our friends. When we are looking for a video game, for the most part, what we want more than graphics is fun. It is, at heart, a game, right? With that in mind, here is a list of games that got it right.

In the early 1990's, video games experienced what is regarded by many to be the swan song of 2D gaming. The NES built up a lot of steam in the late 1980's with its 8 bits of processing power, but their competitor Sega wasn't going to just sit back and watch Nintendo cash in on all the console sales. Instead, they began a new generation of video gaming known as the 16-bit era by releasing a console known as the Genesis. It was inevitable then that in order to maintain their foothold in the home video game industry, Nintendo would have to release new hardware as well. In 1991, Nintendo launches the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES.

The 1990s were a great time to be a kid, and one reason for that was because the Super NES, often considered one of the best systems that Nintendo has ever made, reigned supreme even as the Sega Genesis tried constantly to dethrone it. With its enhanced graphics and audio, as well as titles with addictive game play, the system became a favorite among players. Many of its games are still enjoyed today, and indeed, even I go back to the SNES from time to time in order to enjoy the best that the system had to offer. Today, I would like to share with you ten SNES games that I feel are the best ones ever released on the system, many of which have been favorites of mine ever since I was a kid. The games are as follows...

Dreamcast is hailed by video game players as the machine that could have been great, but thanks to the mass popularity of Sony and its push for more advanced hardware (in some ways) Dreamcast was killed coming out of the gates; doomed to suck the smoke of the Playstation 2 and X-box. The machine itself was impressive though and brought console gamers on to the Internet before Internet gaming with consoles was even the big thing. I owned a Dreamcast and thought it was awesome, though my game collection was not a list of titles hailed by purist. However, I can still name my top five games, regardless of the mass opinion on any of these, they brought me a lot of fun for a long time.

Some of you reading this are going to remember weekends and summer vacations spent in front of the living room TV with the clickity-clack of your Super NES controller buttons firing away as you fought desperately against the friend sitting next to you, the insults that your mother never quite understood flying between you, and the victory slam of your fist in the air accompanying the shouts of superior skills. Others may remember lining up a string of quarters along the top of the machine at the arcade you passed on your way home from school, and willing any skillful challenger to step into the ring.

I remember my first video game experience - camped out in front of my best friend's Nintendo playing Megaman 3 while he played. It was something that absolutely dazzled my mind, and several years later for Christmas, my parents bought my brother and me a Nintendo 64 - complete with Mario 64. The experience of a long-time gamer was just getting started, and as the years passed by I collected a plethora of games that were kept on my shelf as my 'favorites'. They range through age, system, and even rating. However, if you're a girl looking for a game, or you know a girl who may be looking for a game, I have compiled my favorite games from mostly the Adventure and Role Playing Game (RPG) Genre.

The First Decade in the 2Ks Saw Great Releases that Changed the Game

On September 9th, the Sega Dreamcast turns ten years old. Although the video game system was short-lived and lead to Sega leaving the console manufacturing business, it holds a special place in the industry thanks to its many innovations and especially great titles. Here are five Sega Dreamcast games that still hold up well ten years after the system launched.

The Sega Dreamcast is everyone's favorite hardcore system. Even when the mass market shunned it and went for the Playstation 2 instead, hardcore gamers still loved the Dreamcast to death. Although the games were some of the best and innovative of the era, sales were lacking. For the games that sold well, they were repackaged with a "Sega All Stars" label and released for a budget price. Here are the top five best games of the Sega All Stars for the Sega Dreamcast.

Many consider the Super Nintendo the best 2D gaming console ever; some even call it the best ever period. It's hard not to see why as the system was packed with many instant classics. Those that sold well were repackaged with the "Player's Choice" label and sold at a budgeted price. Here are the best "Player's Choice" games of the bunch...

The only game console I ever owned was Super Nintendo and I spent hours glued to the television monitor swinging through the streets as Spider-Man in Maximum Carnage or destroying robots in any of a number of Mega Man games. I'd say some of the best Super Nintendo games ever are extensions of Nintendo's popular properties such as the Mario Brothers and Mega Man. The top ten Super Nintendo games, in no particular order, are...

Remembering the Greatest Games of the Super Nintendo - Part 2

Remembering the Greatest Games of the Super Nintendo - Part 1

These Games Are Action Packed, Heart Pounding Monuments in Video Game History

Sega is a multinational video game software and hardware development company founded in 1940 as Standard games. Sega's biggest marketing push for video games between 1989 and 2001 was to launch an anti-Nintendo campaign to carry the new generation of games with a slogan of "We do what Nintendon't". In 1991 Sega changed their slogan to "Welcome to the next level" and the console war continued. As a result of these campaigns some very popular games became available for players to entertain themselves with. These are ten of the most popular ones that Sega Genesis was involved with.

Not so very long ago, two consoles dominated the market Nintendo's Super Nintendo or SNES and Sega's Genesis. Though the Genesis lacked the competitor's graphics and power. Sega made up more ground in the realm of software support and addictive game play. The good, old three button controller (revamped for six buttons for Mortal Kombat) provided gamers with many different options. The top ten games for the good system, in no particular order...

My choices for the Top Ten Games on the Sega Genesis video game system are not aligned with any popular vote or critical ratings from gaming sites. These are the games I recall having the most fun with, regardless of mass popularity.

I've been doing a series of articles counting down the top 10 selling video games on each video game console. I've only been taking into account video games that sold over 1 million copies because it's easiest to find information on those video games. Unfortunately the Sega Genesis only had nine games sell over 1 million copies so this list will have to be a Top 9 highest selling Sega Genesis games.