Gaming Forums => Nintendo Gaming => Topic started by: UncleBob on October 01, 2016, 09:38:04 PM
Title: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: UncleBob on October 01, 2016, 09:38:04 PM
So, every system (well, most every) has its 'system sellers' and your absolute favorite games, but for you, personally, what games really 'define' a particular Nintendo system for you? It doesn't have to be your favorite, your first, or even a particularly good game - just the game that really speaks for the system it was originally on?
I'm going to pick two (for now). Nintendo 64 - Mario Kart 64. If you try to play this game now, it's horribly ugly and near unplayable (particularly in 3/4p modes 1/2p isn't *that* bad) - but the 3/4p modes where what sold this game (and, in my case, the system) It was a quck pick-up-and-play game that up to four people could play with virtually no skills needed *and* really showed (in my opinion at the time) a huge difference between the previous iteration without completely changing the game itself. When most people list off the 'must have' N64 titles, they go with the Zeldas, Mario 64, Goldeneye/Perfect Dark, Smash Bros., and if Mario Kart gets mentioned, it's usually in a list of various Mario spin-off titles (Tennis, Party...) that are worth getting if you get a good deal. And with good reason - it just hasn't aged well. But it's still what I consider a defining experience for the N64.
Then, Game Boy. Now, everyone knows the indisputably best game of all time ever (Link's Awakening) came out on the Game Boy - and, of course, there's Tetris and Pokemon, two completely different types of games that changed the landscape of gaming for years to come (until they were merged into Pokemon Go) - but there's really one game that, strangly, defines what the Game Boy is for me, even though I still don't own it to this day (and thus was kinda the inspiration for this post) - Motocross Maniacs. I wasn't even sure of the title and had to google "Game Boy Excitebike" to find it. I played a metric crapton of this game... at Target, on the display unit, before I was lucky enough to get my own Game Boy. Easy to play in spurts, fun, addicting, and the graphics hold up better than MK64... Crazy challenges (as far as my under-10 year old self recalls) that kept me glued to the screen for the infinite hours my mother would spend walking the aisles. Honestly, I don't know if this game is any good now - and I'm going to have to track down a copy on eBay (surely it can't be much) - and it's not one I hear a lot about... but it is about *the* game I think of when I think Game Boy (mostly because I've played Link's Awakening on six systems that aren't the Game Boy... like, there's not a doubt in my mind that it's a GB title... there's just sooo much packed into it that it doesn't seem like one. :)
What individual titles define a particular system for you?
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: ThePerm on October 02, 2016, 06:04:35 PM
NES Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros 3. River City Ransom Wizards and Warriors 3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3
Super Nintendo Super Metroid
n64 Super Mario64 Goldeneye Ocarina of Time Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon Mortal Kombat 4
Gamecube Resident Evil 4 Eternal Darkness Prince of Persia: Sands of Time The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker
Playstation Metal Gear Solid Resident Evil
Saturn Nights into Dreams Daytona USA Virtua Fighter 2 Virtua Cop
Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic and Knuckles Mortal Kombat 2
Dreamcast Shenmue Shenmue 2 Seaman Powerstone
Wii U Pikmin 3 Mario Kart 8 Mario Maker Call of Duty: Ghosts Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
Ps3 Little Big Planet
ps4 Last of Us:Remastered PT Demo
Xbox Fable
Xbox 360 Gears of War Dead Rising Trials HD
Xbox one Max:The curse of Brotherhood.
Ouya Organ Trail
These are games on all systems that I thoroughly enjoyed, and represent what to expect from the system.
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: Adrock on October 02, 2016, 07:18:39 PM
None of these games are my favorite on any system. Rather, I tried to pick titles that say a lot about Nintendo or where it was in each generation as a developer, publisher, or hardware maker.
Nintendo Entertanment System: Super Mario Bros. Gameboy: Tetris (Pokemon was a close second) Super Nintendo: Mortal Kombat II if we're counting third party, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island otherwise Nintendo 64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Gameboy Advance: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames GameCube: Super Smash Bros. Melee Nintendo DS: Nintendogs Wii: Wii Sports Nintendo 3DS: Find Mii Wii U: Splatoon
This was more difficult than I thought it'd be.
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: Agent-X- on October 02, 2016, 08:35:44 PM
These are some games that are definitive titles for me.
NES: Super Mario Bros 3, Legend of Zelda
Super Nintendo: Super Mario World, A Link to the Past
Nintendo 64: Mario 64, Ocarina of Time
GameCube: Super Smash Bros Melee, Super Mario Sunshine
Wii: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy
Wii U: Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Maker
I feel the GameCube has more definitive titles. Better titles. Than any Nintendo console that came after it.
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: lolmonade on October 03, 2016, 01:19:44 PM
My list is more based on how the games of each console defined it for ME at the time. I'll try to limit to no more than 3/4 each.
Gameboy: Tetris Wordtris Warioland Kirby's Dream Land 2
Sega Genesis: Sonic The Hedgehog Gain Ground Toejam & Earl Ristar
Super Nintendo: Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past Super Mario All Stars Super Punch Out Super Mario World
Nintendo 64: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Mario 64 Mariokart 64 (Don't care what you say Unclebob, still great game) WCW vs. NWO
Playstation 1: Metal Gear Solid Spyro the Dragon Final Fantasy VII Chrono Trigger (Yes, this was the first time I was introduced to the game)
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: ShyGuy on October 03, 2016, 08:28:15 PM
Tetris SimCity Pacman VS Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Bayonetta 2
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: Spak-Spang on October 03, 2016, 09:42:37 PM
NES Super Mario 3 SNES Super Metroid /Super Mario World / Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past Nintendo 64 Super Mario 64 / Zelda / Goldeneye Gamecube: Wind Waker / Mario Kart / Smash Bros Wii: Wii Sports / Super Mario Galaxy / Zelda Wii U: I do not own the system
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: rygar on October 04, 2016, 12:20:27 AM
Nintendo Arcade Punchout!! Kung-Fu Master (I know this is cheating) Donkey Kong
NES Rygar Metroid Legend of Zelda
3DS Animal Crossing New Leaf Pokémon X Fire Emblem Awakening
Collecovision Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator Zaxxon Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle
80s PC Defender of the Crown Zork Mystery House
90s arcade NBA JAM X-Men Samurai Showdown II
Genesis John Madden Football Golden Axe Street Fighter II
Sega Game Gear Mortal Kombat The Majors: Pro Baseball Prince of Persia
90s PC Doom X-Wing Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Xbox Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Halo Knights of the Old Republic
Xbox 360 Mass Effect Saints Row Fallout 3
iOS Steve Jackson's Sorcery! GodFinger Pocket Pond
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: ThePerm on October 04, 2016, 02:24:54 AM
hmm getting into Arcade and PC? I kinda want to see your list of early 80 and late 80s,and early 90s and late 90s
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: rygar on October 04, 2016, 11:58:25 AM
If it qualifies as a “system”, early 80s arcade would be my favorite by a mile. There’s certainly a nostalgia factor, but it’s also the particular experiences they offered that can’t be replicated at home (like the harmony of disparate sound effects and music or the public challenge of putting your quarters up on the cabinet). I loved the NES and played it into the ground, but if I had to pick, I’d choose Punchout!! and Donkey Kong over the NES catalog.
Arcade
80-84 Tron Wizard of Wor Punchout!!
85-89 Ghosts n Goblins Gauntlet Double Dragon
90-94 NBA JAM X-Men Samurai Showdown II
95-99 Star Wars Trilogy NFL Blitz House of the Dead
PC
80-84 Zork Mystery House Dr. J vs. Larry Bird: One-on-One
85-89 Defender of the Crown Pool of Radiance War in Middle Earth
90-94 Doom X-Wing Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
95-99 Quake Baldur’s Gate Planescape Torment
I cheated a bit with this last category. I didn’t have a PC capable of running Baldur’s Gate or Planescape and didn’t play either. But those were the two games I wanted the most.
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: supermario2k on October 04, 2016, 01:47:15 PM
To me nothing defines the original NES more than Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt. For SNES it's a tie between Super Mario World (still my favorite game of all time) and Donkey Kong Country. N64, Mario Party defines the console for me. My go-to game is Super Mario 64 but everyone I knew played Mario Party, even those that openly hated Nintendo. Game Cube it's Smash Bros. Melee for me followed closely by Star Fox Adventures, the game that really divided the Nintendo fans almost as bad as Wind Waker. Wii, who cares I don't know Wii Sports, Wii Play, Chicken Shoot, **** the Wii. Wii U, um Super Mario 3D World is the best game on the console so that one. Game Boy, Tetris and Pokemon are synonymous with Game Boy. GBA, all the Mario Advance games Nintendo DS, I only had one for like 2 years so my experience is limited. I would say New Super Mario Bros. or that online Tetris game Nintendo made. 3DS, never owned one, never played one so I don't know. To me there is one game that defines PC gaming, Doom, it is basically the game everyone points to when you want to start a conversation about PC gaming. Then it devolves into World of Warcraft, Steam, and the thousand different Sims games. That should to it for me I can't comment on Virtual Boy. The game that defines the NX, so far, I think is Vapor Ware DX edition.
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: Order.RSS on October 09, 2016, 06:23:44 PM
Ok I'll play! Just doing a few consoles because I don't wanna make an endless list.
N64: while Robotron 64 is my favourite on here, I'm gonna predictably say that Mario Kart 64 and Smash Bros. were the defining games for me on it. Gamecube: oh man. Smash Melee for sure, but Metroid Prime, Beyond Good & Evil, Wind Waker, Super Monkeyball, Star Fox Adventures, F-Zero GX and honestly Spider-Man 2 are all games that instantly spring to mind when thinking about this console. My favourite system. Wii: I mean, Wii Sports was a phenomenon and it felt like the future to me. Haters to the left. Wii U: took me a while to warm up to the system, but Shantae & The Pirate's Curse was the first time I got hooked on a Wii U title. Sure there's better games on it (Severed, Affordable Space Adventures, Mario 3D World) but Shantae convinced me it wasn't gonna be an expensive dustcollector after all.
Title: Re: The Definitive Nintendo Title
Post by: Evan_B on October 12, 2016, 01:40:49 AM
Game Boy: I'm going to lump in GBC as well, and admit that some of my choices were played way after the Game Boy went off the market. The two games that really nail the feeling of the GB and the GBC to me are Donkey Kong 1994 and Wario Land 3. DK94 is a pocket-sized DK at first that evolves into something even more incredible and content-jammed, which is truly magical in comparison with some of the most iconic GB games, which are, in some ways, poor man's iterations of console-sized games. It's an incredible achievement and one of my favorite games of all time. Wario Land 3, on the other hand, is a lush, colorful game that encapsulates the development of the Game Boy as a whole- Mario Land started as a bare-bones representation of the franchise and spawned something completely new and charming that is regarded just as highly as the franchise it came from.
N64: Super Mario 64 is undoubtedly the defining title of the N64. It is the joy of movement in 3D perfectly encapsulated in a game. I'd also argue that Super Smash Bros. is the joy of all of Nintendo's IPs in a madcap fighting game, and it defines the platform fighter genre.
GCN: This is a hard one for me and I have to fall back on two predictable answers- Paper Mario TTYD and Pikmin. I talk about these two games in specific because the GCN was all about either being as weird and new as possible (Pikmin) or it was taking something traditional about Nintendo's classic IPs and giving them a twist (Paper Mario). You took Mario and put him on an island, Metroid turned into an FPS, and Zelda went the opposite direction from realism and darkness (before going right back into it). Paper Mario is Mario, but the corner of the Mushroom Kingdom is really sleazy and the plot is bizarre and varied. It's truly joyful storytelling and RPG.
My honorary third choice would be Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, which is another facet of the GCN that Nintendo tried to push- its weird fascination with the GBA connectivity, but also its multiplayer focus.
Nintendo DS: I'd argue that Super Mario 64 DS is a defining title because it showed the flip-side of the Game Boy argument- now a console game could be on a handheld, and it could be enhanced. Unfortunately, the ports that would follow wouldn't be as impressive and would largely fall into RPG territory. So, what I would argue instead is that, for better or worse, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It's a game that reinvents the control scheme for the touchscreen and utilizes the features of the system to their fullest extent. Seriously, the fullest. Extent.
Oh, and since I can, I'll nominate Chrono Trigger DS because it's a port of the best SNES JRPG, which is what the DS was all about.
Wii: I think about a lot of the stuff I played on Wii and there's this really weird bitterness. Like, there were definitely some things I liked in there, but I can't quite put my finger on them. So, I'll go with three odd titles- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, Mario Kart Wii, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
The Crystal Bearers is a passable Action RPG title with a fully-interconnected world that has great music, a decent plot, and mediocre motion controls. Throughout the Wii's lifespan, I searched (in vain) for a game that expertly blended motion controls and the kind of gameplay I really enjoyed. Super Paper Mario didn't have it. Super Mario Galaxy didn't have it. All the Sonic games DEFINITELY didn't have it. A lot of what showed up on the Wii was an attempt at adding depth to the simplistic fun of Wii Sports, and there weren't many games that did it proper.
The two exceptions to this would be Mario Kart Wii, a relatively surface-level implementation that was absurdly fun, and Skyward Sword, which was extremely integrated and ultimately the perfect execution for what I hoped motion control would be. I book ended my discussion with The Crystal Bearers and Skyward Sword because it encapsulates the struggle of the Wii- in many ways, The Crystal Bearers is Skyward Sword. It is motion(even in its mini games), character, and world focused, but never on a massive scale.
Of course, Xenoblade would be the alternative to this- a game that pushed the hardware to its extremes and didn't need any motion controls. Ah, well. We can't win them all.
Nintendo 3DS: The 3DS is arguably Nintendo's best handheld because of its shared library, online store, and enhanced wifi, but I'd argue it is Nintendo's best console since the SNES, as well. It expanded on the idea of portable gaming and sharing those experiences, and that's really what is so special about it. I mean, it also has a fantastic game library, too.
Of course, what games perfectly encapsulate the feeling of sharing with other gamers, while also having pretty decent gameplay, themselves? I can think of no other example that does it as well as Monster Manor, the weird map-filling, ghost-killing title from Prope. What Monster Manor executes perfectly is the feeling of progression and the cooperation regarding your Streetpasses- rooms can be made bigger and net larger rewards when they're built with the same colors, so you want to choose your pieces carefully. The gameplay isn't terribly difficult (not in comparison with Mii Force, for example), but it does favor strategy, and has a fairly impressive sense of progression in its own right. While Find Mii was an exciting taste of Streetpass gameplay, there was often the feeling of "wasted" passes because of the strict enemy limitations and limited character growth. Monster Manor was a more impressive implementation of the concept, and it was all the better for it.
However, we aren't simply talking about Streetpass, as the system also gave players the opportunity to share with one another online. Another example of the joy of the 3DS has to be Pokemon X and Y. While these games introduced 3D in more than a few ways, X and Y streamlined player connection and communication more than ever before with the Player Search System, O-Powers, and Wonder Trade- a joyous addition that was high risk and reward.
One last title I'd like to mention would be Kid Icarus: Uprising. Again, this is an example of Nintendo (or rather Sora) getting the most out of the system- AR functionality, touchscreen gaming, online capabilities, and Streetpass weapon sharing. It's a very divisive title for a number of reasons, but the experiences I had with it were absolute joy.
Wii U: Ah, and here we are. The Wii U is on its last legs (well, leg, with Zelda not being out just yet), and while I can't rightly say that it is my favorite Nintendo console, it has a number of specific charms that make it memorable in its own right.
First things first, I have to give an honorary mention to Nintendo Land. Adding complexity to the mini-game structure of Wii Sports was a daring move that ultimately didn't pay off for Nintendo, but it struck the precise balance that I so desperately had hoped for with the Wii, unfortunately coming a generation too late. When you have the right crowd, these games are a blast to play- but they really need the right crowd. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is another example. In a crunch, Nintendo can still deliver a quality experience- one that offers charm and inventive situations without a huge budget. If they had realized that concepts like this and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse were viable from the start, they could have perhaps buffed their library a bit further. Xenoblade Chronicles X is a massive technical achievement and arguably the best game on the Wii U, but it is very niche and stands alone in its own way.
The true victors in the example of the Wii U are the only games that truly stand on their own in its meager library, those being Pikmin 3 and Splatoon. While Splatoon seems like something that will eventually pop up in portable form, it was unique, bold, and fun, and worked in a way that truly felt like a Nintendo product. Pikmin 3, on the other hand, is a gorgeous, HD Nintendo game that actually benefits from the Gamepad's mapping capabilities immensely, enhancing the core gameplay's strategic elements while helping push the challenge mode to its extremes. These two games use the Gamepad as an interactive map, which is unfortunately the best that Nintendo could muster for the Wii U, but they are fantastic games in addition to that.
