Formative Games
After discovering this golden NES cart at a friend’s birthday party, I saved money for months so I could buy my own copy only to get it home and discover how much of a challenge it really was. I went to bed in tears of frustration only to wake up the next morning with new resolve. I got graph paper and spent months mapping out the entire game including which bushes could be burned and continued to explore its massive world for years after beating it.
The Legend of Zelda
My neighbor Jason and I figured out how to hook up the Sega Genesis to a VCR so we could record an entire season of this game while playing as our favorite team, the Deathskin Razors.
Mutant League Football
Despite having a lot of gamer friends, I somehow managed to avoid the twist in this game until I played it in 2012 at the recommendation of a friend who asked if I would kindly let him know the minute I completed it.
Bioshock
I met this auteur at PSX in 2016 when he engaged me in conversation while playing the demo of one of his newly remastered games. It wasn’t until I finished the demo that I realized I was having a conversation with the writer behind some of my favorite point-and-click adventure games.
Tim Schafer
When this game was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 most of my friends asked me to come over to their house, not because they knew it was the first 3D installment in my favorite franchise but because they needed help with the infamously difficult water dungeon.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Many of us spent our Christmas breaks in 1996 getting our first real taste of what 3-dimensions were capable of thanks to this ubiquitous N64 platformer despite the fact that it wasn’t a pack-in for the first time in Nintendo’s home-console history.
Super Mario 64
Neighbor Jason and I took turns playing this impossible NES game but I always played the underwater dam level because he couldn’t find and disarm the bombs quickly enough.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Between having to buy a new system to play it and the childish graphics, I had no interest in this game despite it being the newest in my life-long favorite series. But my friend Brad made me a sweetheart of a deal. If I bought the Gamecube bundle and didn’t enjoy this sea-faring adventure, he would reimburse me. By one hour in, I knew he would never have to.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
I am deeply fascinated by and have an extensive knowledge of this legendary game-maker’s body of work despite the fact that the only one of his projects that I’ve ever played was the Playable Teaser he released on the PSN in 2014.
Hideo Kojima
I got a Super Nintendo late in the generation so I received a bundle including Donkey Kong Country. Luckily, my mom also bought me this game which made amazing use of Mode 7 graphics, tons of clever mechanics, and has been referred to by Phil as one of the greatest platformers ever made.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
To this day, my Gameboy has a series of arrows written on its face in Sharpie so I don’t have to revisit the library for directions through the final dungeon maze in my favorite game of all time, this recently-remade island adventure.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
With the help of a Game Genie (from Galoob!) I turned on high jumps while playing the snake-themed stage of this classic Capcom side scroller and made my friend Shaan laugh so hard that he had an asthma attack which led to pneumonia. Though he made a full recovery, he never saw the titular blue hero the same way again.
Mega-Man 3
Given to me on the 3DS as a birthday gift, this retro side scroller was a fantastic mashup of Mega Man and Ducktales and I loved it so much, I bought it again on the Switch because, with plenty of replay value and new game modes still being released, it is every bit the Treasure Trove the Switch collection claims it to be.
Shovel Knight
This former president of Nintendo of America is the most terrifying nice guy I’ve ever met. Undeniably kind, his intensity made him an imposing figure. I only shook his hand but, without a doubt, his body was ready.
Reggie Fils-Aime
As part of my duty as the guest curator at a bi-monthly Nintendo museum, I have done custom artwork featuring mashups between classic Nintendo games and movies. I gave CJ one of these posters at PSX a few years ago that combined Back to the Future with this SNES favorite chosen for its time-themed title.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
I had to join a dating app after losing a bet in which I claimed I could beat this game glitchless in under 35 minutes. My total runtime came in at 35:12 due to a single unfortunate death against the Yellow Devil. Three weeks later I met Dawn. We're getting engaged this Christmas.
Mega-Man
When the old Intellevision started getting a little long in the tooth, my Dad brought home an Action Max and this single spooky game, hoping he could get out of buying an NES. While we only played the game once, we kept the VHS for years, watching it every year while carving pumpkins.
The Rescue of Pops Ghostly
When I finally got a PS3, my first non-Nintendo console since the Sega Genesis, God of War composer Bear McCreary told me that I had to prioritize this series claiming it was like a modern Indiana Jones.
Uncharted
Despite my numerous warnings about plot holes, wooden dialogue, and insane control schemes in this designer’s game, my girlfriend thought it would be a good idea to play through his most recent ham-handed crack at narrative-based-storytelling when it was free on PS+ a few months back. Within an hour and a half, she gave up and asked if HE is a robot.
David Cage
After hearing former Game Informer Podcast (and current MinnMax) host Ben Hanson jokingly say that nobody had beaten this impossibly lengthy Atlus game about a mystery group of Phantom Thieves, I took up the challenge and not only beat it, but platinumed it despite it being my first real RPG ever. Meanwhile, last time I checked, Greg is still working his way through it on twitch.
Persona 5
This game about a dog detective and his psychotic rabbit sidekick hunting down a bigfoot began my lifelong love of adventure games thanks to its inclusion in The Lucasarts Archives Volume 1 alongside Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis.
Sam & Max Hit the Road
My friend Drew and I pulled an all nighter in junior high playing this spooky FMV PC puzzler which allowed you to wander around a 3D rendered house trying to discover the evil deeds of demented and disgraced toymaker Henry Stauf.
The 7th Guest
During a bit of downtime while working on a horror-themed sitcom, assistant editor Josh tried to convince me to play this Disney/Final Fantasy mashup though I wasn’t sold until our conversation was overheard by rock legends Dee Snyder and Oderus Urungus who joined him in singing the praises of this bizarre series.
Kingdom Hearts
Historically, none of you can remember this composers name despite his notable contributions to the video game industry which include famous themes for games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Without a doubt, he is singlehandedly responsible for starting my love of video game music.
Koji Kondo
This 2010 third person cover shooter from Airtight Games and published by Capcom was not only the first, but one of the best scores I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on and featured odd instruments like the Ondes Martenot and even a bouncy chiptune cover of the theme that was so fun it spawned a mobile game.
Dark Void