My Favorite Games For My Retired Consoles

In 1988, the four year-old version of me received his first video game console. I cut my teeth on the Nintendo Entertainment System, which kicked off a lifelong obsession with the medium. I've owned 16 different gaming consoles throughout the years, with the only semi-well-known consoles that I never purchased being Saturn, 3DO, Virtual Boy, and Jaguar. Some of my consoles broke down because I played them so much, while others were lucky if they ever got powered on. I decided to go through my gaming history and single out my favorite game for each system, along with some runners-up. Read on to see the highlights of each console, along with some personal stories about my experience with them.

Note: I'm not counting current-gen systems in this list. I'm including the Wii because there aren't any new releases coming out in the future that I plan on buying.

NES: Super Mario Bros. 3

Like many others around my age, my earliest gaming memory was playing the original Super Mario Bros. on NES. While that game blew my mind and its underrated sequel also rates among my favorites, it was the third entry in the series that stands as my favorite NES title. It opened up the world with a map screen that featured multiple paths. Awesome new power-ups like the raccoon, frog, and hammer suits shook up the level-to-level gameplay. Instead of one repeating Bowser fight, we were treated to seven unique battles against his Koopaling children, along with numerous mini-boss fights and the final (nerve-wracking) confrontation with the big baddie himself. To see just how much the final stages wreck me, be sure to check out the insanely-intense fourth (and final) episode of our Super Replay of the game.

Runners-up: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Contra, The Legend of Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, Baseball Stars

Genesis: Mortal Kombat II

I don't remember much from third grade, but I have a vivid memory of going to a gas station after school one day and seeing Mortal Kombat for the first time. Two high schoolers were showing each other fatalities, and I got my first glimpse of the series' trademark over-the-top violence. During recess the next day, I remember running around the playground, breathlessly regaling classmates about the game that lets you punch a dude's head off, tear out his heart, or take off a mask to reveal a freaky skeleton face. None of them seemed as excited as me, but it was all I could think about. News of a sequel came out, and I remember impatiently waiting outside the arcade before its first day on display. Mortal Kombat II didn't disappoint. It featured more fighters, more fatalities, goofy Friendship and Babality finishers, and (most importantly) better gameplay. Everything that made the game great translated well to the Genesis version, which I sunk more hours into than anything else on the system.

Runners-up: Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 3, NBA Jam, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Vectorman, WWF Raw

Super Nintendo: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

If you're a regular viewer of Replay, you know that A Link to the Past isn't just my favorite Super Nintendo game, it's my favorite game of all time. For our 25th anniversary of Zelda celebration in the magazine, I wrote an article dedicated to my love of Link's third adventure. I'll direct you to that link for the majority of my gushing over the game, but it obviously also deserves a spot on this list. On a system with no shortage of classics, A Link to the Past manages to stand above all of them.

Runners-up: Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Super Mario Kart, Yoshi’s Island, Street Fighter II, Mega Man X, Star Fox, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball, Super Mario RPG

Game Boy/Game Boy Color: Tetris

It's Tetris. What do you want?

Runners-up: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Donkey Kong, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario Land 2, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons

Sega CD: WWF Rage in the Cage

Super Mario Bros. 3, Mortal Kombat II, A Link to the Past, Tetris, and...WWF Rage in the Cage? We're obviously getting into the time period where I bought a couple of ****ty consoles. I have no idea why I bought a Sega CD. No games in its library seriously appealed to me, and $300 is a hefty sum to come across for a nine year-old. By trading in a bunch of Genesis/SNES games and mowing a bunch of lawns, I was finally able to afford Sega's ill-fated Genesis add-on. It came with Sewer Shark, which is super stupid. Looking at the various games on display at the store, I knew I had to have something better. WWF Rage in the Cage was essentially the same as the awesome WWF Raw from a gameplay perspective, but with some added bonuses. As an obsessive wrestling fan, I was blown away by the ultra-compressed FMV clips of wrestlers' finishers that could be played from the character select screen. They look terrible now, but being able to queue up a clip of The Razor's Edge or a Tombstone Piledriver at any time was enough of a selling point to me.

Runners-up: Sewer Shark, I guess?

Game Gear: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Game Gear sucked. I'm putting Sonic down as my favorite Game Gear game, but even it sucked. It was way too hard, and it didn't feature the speed and solid platforming of its Genesis big brothers. Considering that my only other Game Gear games were a passable pack-in baseball title and an unbelievably awful Mortal Kombat port, Sonic 2 wins by default.

Runner-up: The Majors Pro Baseball

Playstation: Metal Gear Solid

Whew. I'm glad we're past those Sega catastrophes, because now I can get back to the good stuff. Actually, "good stuff" is a vast understatement for this entry. Metal Gear Solid is easily one of my favorite games ever, and is widely recognized as one of the first games to successfully bring Hollywood-caliber production values to gaming. I remember reading glowing reviews of it in gaming magazines, and picked it up on day one. When I got home, I entered my room to the familiar sight of my stepdad playing Command & Conquer on my PSone. I patiently sat on the couch and started flipping through the MGS manual. As I learned about the different ways Snake could interact with guards and sneak around Shadow Moses, I was chomping at the bit to play it. After the longest hour of my life, my stepdad got off the PSone and the Metal Gear Solid disc was promptly inserted. What follows is one of my favorite gaming memories ever. Guiding Snake through the Alaska compound in an effort to stop his twin proved to be an experience I'd never forget.

Runners-up: Twisted Metal 2, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Resident Evil, Ace Combat 2, NFL GameDay '97, Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Retaliation

Nintendo 64: Goldeneye 007

Objectively, both Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are better games and have stood the test of time better than Goldeneye 007. Despite its poor aging, few game experiences have matched the amount of fun I had playing as Bond in 1997. From the first time I played it at a Target kiosk, I was hooked. Considering I never had the money for a gaming PC, Rare’s shooter was one of my first FPS experiences (outside of the relatively simple Wolfenstein 3D and Doom). I was fascinated with seeing how enemies reacted to being shot in different body parts, and the multiplayer was responsible for countless candy and soda-filled nights that stretched into the morning. I'm surprised that it didn't result in my murder, thanks to my tendency to memorize spawn points and outfit them with proximity mines. Gamers who didn’t experience Goldeneye 007 in the initial years after its release may wonder why it’s so revered, but anyone who played it back then should understand why it tops the 64’s other big guns on my list.

Runners-up: Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Super Smash Bros., WWF No Mercy, Perfect Dark, Star Fox 64, Mario Kart 64 

Game Boy Advance: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

I almost never went to class in college. Months would go by that wouldn't see me step foot in a classroom, as I preferred to sit at home and review games. However, a couple of my required classes implemented strict attendance policies that would make it literally impossible to pass without being there in person every time. Thankfully, the horrible curse of having to attend class was remedied by the release of this addictive strategy game. I'd bring my GBA to class every day, sit near the back of the lecture hall, put in my earbuds and engage in the game's tactical skirmishes until the bell rang. Time melted away when I was playing it, as battles had a tendency to be quite lengthy. I'd like to formally thank Square Enix for their assist in ensuring that I wouldn't have to learn anything in college.

Runners-up: Castlevania series, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, The Legend of Zelda: Minnish Cap, WarioWare, Inc., Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid Fusion

Dreamcast: Soul Calibur

No game in history is responsible for taking more hours of my life than Soul Calibur. When the dust settled on my several years of regularly playing it, my hour count stood at nearly 500. Not only was I playing it for hours daily after school, I was also playing it at work in Funcoland kiosks when we weren't busy. In college, I organized a tournament for the game across all of the dorms (which I then won). A drinking game I created based on the game, known as "Lizardman shots," was responsible for many poorly-remembered nights. We'd set up 8-on-8 team battles, select random characters, and then play. If one of us happened to get Lizardman, our opponent would have to take a shot for every fighter of theirs that we downed. I wouldn't recommend trying this unless you're Keith Richards or feel like getting alcohol poisoning. Thirteen years later, I still consider this to be the best fighting game ever made. Download the XBLA port if you haven't played it, as it still feels sharp as ever.

Runners-up: NFL 2K, Sonic Adventure, Seaman, House of the Dead, Typing of the Dead, Power Stone, San Francisco Rush 2049, Samba de Amigo, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis

Playstation 2: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

In most cases, over-hyping something before its release leads to disappointment. I spent countless hours in the months (and years) before this game's release reading message board theories, analyzing trailers, and even drawing flowcharts of Metal Gear Solid 2 character relationships in the process of bringing my hype levels up to previously untouched heights. I was convinced that there was some "catch" to Snake Eater. Kojima loved messing with fans of the series, sometimes in ways as dramatic as the protagonist switch in Sons of Liberty. Surely they wouldn't follow the cliffhanger ending of MGS2 with a trek back to the 60s, right? Snake must be participating in a virtual reality simulation of an early Big Boss mission...all this 60s stuff in the jungle must be just a small part of the game, then we'll go to the post-MGS2 stuff. Right? Nope. It is what it was advertised as, putting players in the shoes of Big Boss during an early, life-changing mission. Despite rendering my hours of theorizing and forum lurking useless, it still wound up being one of my favorite games ever. Abandoning the techno-babble and general complexity of MGS2, Snake Eater told one of the best stories in the medium and expanded the scope of the iconic series.

Runners-up: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Grand Theft Auto series, God of War, God of War II, SSX 3, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Final Fantasy X, Twisted Metal: Black, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Bully, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 3, TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters : Future Perfect, Shadow of the Colossus

Gamecube: Resident Evil 4

I sucked at the first three Resident Evil games. Badly. While I enjoyed my time with them, I almost always hit a wall that stopped me from proceeding further. This wasn't the game's fault, as I was woefully unprepared for conserving ammo. Remembering which jewel went in which statue's eye or which thing I'm supposed to put the battery in or whatever confounded me for some reason. Longtime fans of the series may have been concerned about RE4's shift in direction, but my ineptitude when it came to its predecessors caused me to welcome the changes with open arms. Sure enough, the heavy focus on action and high levels of polish resulted in RE4 becoming my hands-down favorite in the series. It's also my favorite Gamecube game.

Runners-up: Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Animal Crossing, Metroid Prime

Xbox: Burnout 3: Takedown

Back in the dorms during college, EA used to send reps to set up kiosks in the lobby that would show off new releases. Their strategy was effective, as it directly led to my purchase of a few games. One of them was Burnout 3: Takedown. I went in with no experience with the series, and was blown away within a minute or two. Its dramatic crashes and insane sense of speed were like nothing I had ever seen before, and I drove to Gamestop to buy it immediately (buying the Xbox version because of the ability to create custom soundtracks). Hardcore Halo fans may balk at this statement, but I consider Burnout 3: Takedown as my favorite game on Xbox.

Runners-up: Soul Calibur II, Halo, Halo 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Spider-Man 2, The Chronicles of Riddick, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Fight Night Round 2, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, Mercenaries

DS: Picross 3D

Picross was a mystery to me until I played it on DS. I had heard the word before, but always assumed it was some obscure Japanese fascination. Having always been a fan of logic problems and puzzle games, I was fully onboard once I received Picross DS to review. Hours were spent revealing hidden pictures, and the formula was fantastically twisted for this 3D follow-up. A love of puzzle games isn't the only reason I view this game so highly, however. For over a decade now, I've struggled with a wonderfully fun assortment of anxiety disorders. Many nights have been sleepless thanks to a racing mind, and I've learned that having a singular focus on something is a great remedy for my symptoms. On many of these nights, I pulled out my DS and played Picross 3D in bed until I felt relaxed enough to sleep. It's far from a doctor-given prescription, but the focus and thought that it requires is great for distracting me until panic attacks or general anxiety fades. Even now, I always make sure this cartridge is in my case when I travel with my 3DS.

Runners-up: Castlevania series, New Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart DS, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Picross DS, Tetris DS

PSP: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

It's not on the level of purchase regret of Sega CD or Game Gear, but I don't consider the PSP worth anywhere near the launch price that I paid back in 2005. Quality titles were few and far between, and I tended to prefer the DS any time I was on the road. That said, Ready at Dawn did a fantastic job shrinking the God of War experience down to a handheld. Chains of Olympus was great, but this sequel was even better. With sharp production values and full voice acting, these games didn't feel like they were skimping on quality just because they weren't on home consoles. My first playthrough of the game took place entirely on an eight-hour bus ride through Missouri and Iowa, which I'm not sure I would have survived without having this to keep me occupied.

Runners-up: Twisted Metal: Head On, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Lumines, Loco Roco, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, Mega Man Powered Up, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee

Wii: Super Mario Galaxy 2

In the core lineage of Mario games, there isn't a single entry that I'd deem less than excellent. While each and every one of them is a must-play, the most recent installment is the best platforming game I've ever played. I ranked World and SMB3 above it on this list for nostalgic purposes, but Galaxy 2 is a bigger and better game when I look at it objectively. Getting all 120 stars in any 3D Mario game is a time-intensive pursuit on its own, but Galaxy 2 goes completely bonkers and challenges gamers to collect a whopping 243. It's a perfect platformer, featuring imaginative levels, awesome suit power-ups, and an amazing soundtrack. The Wii is host to two great Zelda games and one of my favorite 2D platformers ever (Donkey Kong Country Returns), but Super Mario Galaxy 2 stands as my favorite on the system.

Runners-up: Donkey Kong Country Returns, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii