super smash bros melee *64 ok- there’s a near endless tech knowledge about it and 4man ffa made for a fun party game
mariokart 64 *other versions are ok - it dosen’t matter how good you were at this game, there was always that fucker with the blue shell to mess up your 1st place
pokemon stadium - the minigames really made it for this one. the button mashing and joystick toggling burned through my controllers but it was worth it
dota- i was hesitant to pick up dota 2 when it came around because of all the casuals flowing in but its shaping it to be a great game with an excellent community. the random select makes every match unique and fun
street fighter 4- i haven’t been able to put this game down for the past 3 years. sometimes matches play by textbook but shenanigans still manage to trump even top players. you really get pulled into the meta of a match without having to know much tech.
Chrono Trigger - unique battle system without transitions to some random place that kinda looks like your surroundings, nice story with time travel shenanigans that you can actually play with, lovable characters and multiple endings.
Puyo Puyo/Pop Fever - One of the best puzzle games ever IMO, character choice has an effect on the game, the mechanics are simple to grasp but really rewarding when you start intentionally making chains, etc.
NiGHTs Into Dreams - Flying has never been so fun, the only thing that lets it down is when you play as the kids but you can completely avoid that.
Unreal Championship 2 - Deathmatch perfection. Nice selection of fairly balanced weapons, amazing movement potential and character choice + abilities allow you to actually have a play style. Also the arenas are sci-fi gorgeous and the various modes and mutators are a lot of fun.
Alien Soldier - If Gunstar Heroes is a scrappy kid causing mischief on the streets then Alien Soldier is John Connor. Skill based, boss battle platform shooter with diverse weapons and abilities (you can parry, nuff said).
Puzzle Fighter - If I had to choose between Puyo and Puzzle Fighter as the one puzzle game I could play for the rest of my life, I would kill the motherfucker making me choose. If you don’t know Puzzle Fighter, you are living wrong.
Meteos - Perfect use of the DS touch screen, different planets play differently and the way the music and sound interacts with the gameplay is charming. Kinda want to buy another DS just to play that and The World Ends With You (which I’m not going to put on this list, but you should play regardless).
Xenoblade Chronicle - Seriously, this game is the resurrection and redemption of SNES (golden?) era JRPGs with an insanely big world, awesome battle system (not perfect, but VERY good), a decent story and lush visuals.
SSX3 - Split screen gravity defying superhuman tricking will never get old. Cool soundtrack and looks pretty too.
Gotta have a fighting game on here and it’s gotta be Marvel 2. Fun at all levels of play, got all dem characters and screen filling beams erryday. Just make sure you hack/mute the music, that shit was atrocious back then, defo NOT timeless.
Too many kids answering with no appreciation of the true classics. I’ve had bowel movements older than some of these “classics” that have been named.
720 Degrees. Still the greatest skateboarding game ever, probably the greatest sports game ever. If I’m ever sentenced to spend my life on a secluded island and only get one video game to take with me, this’s is it. Skate or Die!
SNES Super Mario Kart. Started the Kart genre and was never bested, closest was SMK64, everything else has sucked in comparion.
Phantasy Star 2. Best RPG franchise of the 8 and 16 bit era, and this was the best of them. Love how people reflect on that moment when Aerith died in FF7 and I have to interject that Big N straight stole that scene from PS2.
Outrun. Not realistic, not the greatest graphics, just straight fun. Great music and the first really cool racing cab that I can remember.
Marble Madness. Several reasons, there aren’t too many trackball games that aren’t golf games, and this is the best of them, also, there was never another game like this. It is it’s own genre.
Rondo of Blood. PCE version, the SNES version sucked. Took everything that was good about castlevania and added the enormous open world exploration aspect from Metroid. Much better than the derivative “Symphony of the Night” sequel.
Star control 2. The greatest PC sci-fi game ever, probably the greatest PC game ever. Luster was dulled a bit because of ohm much the sequel blew.
Killer Intinct. Nobody who spent anytime in arcades in the mid-nineties can forget the experience of walking in and hearing the KI cab blasting. “killer…select your…Fulgore…ready!” ultra combo baby!!!
Out of this world/another world. Way ahead of its time. More tension than all of the MGSs put together.
OP didn’t say the games had to be old. If they are timeless, then it doesn’t matter if they just got released today or were played by Jesus on his MSX1.
Anyway, came in to say:
HOW THE FUCK DID I FORGET TO PUT SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS ON MY LIST!?!?
Yeah, except you can’t decide that something is timeless until it has actually stood the test of time. Prince of Persia, Dragons Lair, Tetris are on like a thousand different platforms. Hence, timeless. Devil May Cry is not. Is it even on two? Let’s have this talk in ten more years and you can make the case for the MGS series and anything else post 2000.
Metroid Prime - Most interesting use of FPS imo. Large world that’s expolarable, plenty of lore, and non linear game play.
Super Metroid - This along with Megaman X are the perfect plat formers in existence.
Streets of Rage 2 - classice beat em up that just has great everything, it’s the best beat em up out there.
Ninja Gaiden - It’s the best action adventure/hack and slash game in existence. Better than Devil May Cry, better than God of War, better than you.
Geometry Wars Evolved - It’s simple, it’s fun, it’s addicting. What else could you want
Dark Souls 1 - It captures the essence of old school game ideas regarding difficulty really well, and combines them well with modern open world design, and a well thought out and interesting story. Once you understand the game, it becomes easy, like any classic hardcore game. It’s the best marriage of old and new.
Secret of Mana 2 - This is what FF or many JRPG hope they ;wish they can be.
Golden Sun 1 - This is imo the best JRPG in existance. Great music, awsome animation, fun for a turn based game.
but still fun and always will be.