Your favourite games from the 8bit / 16 bit

Minime2.5

As much I enjoy playing games today it was the 8/16 bit era where I got most of my enjoyment . It was the time of the Nintendo v Sega rivalry and I was firmly in the Nintendo camp. Games were alot more challenging back then . Some of my favourites back then were the castlevania series with Cas 2 Simon's Quest being my absolute favourite since it was the first to incorporate the metroidvania style . I also loved Shadow Warrior also called Ninja gaiden which was rock hard but I managed to complete it . On the snes I loved Zelda 3 FF 6 Chrono Trigger Castlevania 4 Super Metroid Super Ghouls and Ghosts Prince of Persia Actraiser but my absolute favourite was Shadow Run . A cyberpunk rpg that was ahead of its time and oozed atmosphere . Looking back what games would you remember foundly?

Retr0gamer

Gunstar Heroes is the best game on the megadrive and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise.

Minime2.5

Contra 3 ( renamed Super Probotector here ) because they replaced the men with rebots as they thought the idea of men being killed was inappropriate was also class . As too was Cybernator

Minime2.5

Mega man 2 another nes classic

Ray Donovan

Sonic The Hedgehog (MD)
Mortal Kombat II (MD)
Street Fighter II (SNES)
Fifa 95 (MD)

gmisk

Streets of rage 2
Micro machines 2
Super Tennis
Desert strike
Dynamite headdy
Super Mario world

Vicxas

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Gunstar Heroes is the best game on the megadrive and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise.

Sonic 2 you heathen.

But yeah, Gunstar Heroes is the tits.

nix

Does Celeste count?

But eh, hard to pick a fav, theres stand out memorable games, Gauntlet, Double dragon 2, Sunset riders, Smash TV, Kid Chameleon, Altered Beast, Chrono Trigger.. I could go on but those are my stand out favs off the top of my head..

Alot of them were multi player co-op too which made it great playing with friends, you dont get much couch co-op games anymore, outside Nintendo anyway..

Greyfox

Ive played absolutely loads of games from that era, fond memories of all the Mario games and the underratted rock n roll racing in particular but I'd personally rate Zelda 3 (link tt past) as far better than any other game of that era. I love nintendo but Botw is the only Nintendo game that's better than it.

We'd have been best pals at school OP I loved Shadowrun and Actraiser.

Myself and my brother played Zombies Ate my Neighbours quite a bit.

Rattlehead_ie

Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Rock N Roll Racing (SNES)
Sonic The Hedgehog (MD)

Minime2.5

Deleted User wrote: »

We'd have been best pals at school OP I loved Shadowrun and Actraiser.

Did you complete them

peter4918

I had the NES and then the SNES so loved Mario, Zelda, Street fighter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the DK games. Super Tennis on the SNES was great craic to play with brothers and friends.

My friend had a Megadrive so we used to go over to his house for a bit of Sonic and Streets of Rage 2 and I used to love Echo the Dolphin aswell. Good times!

Tom Mann Centuria

Most of the EA Sport offerings on the Megadrive are way more fun to play than their modern equivalent. So I sank an awful lot of time in to NHL 95, PGA European Tour, John Madden football, FIFA 95 and Rugby World Cup (though I'd have preferred the Rugby League version I could never find it bitd). Also Brian Lara cricket was a good laugh.

Ridley

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is my favourite game across any era. *cartwheels*

Minime2.5

Minime2.5 wrote: »

Did you complete them

Only in recent years on retroatch. I got stuck/glitched in shadow run a couple of times late on.

Canis Lupus

Zelda Link to the Past. Felt genuinely sad when that was all over.

DK country.. Apart from the revolutionary graphics the music and sound effects were perfect. That haunting feeling watching the rain getting closer as you progressed througha map to the clinking of the mine carts. Even the stupid underwater maps had a beautiful tune.

DeSelby83

I remember being introduced to American football through John Madden 92...I think. Still keep an eye on the NFL because of Madden.

Hellfire on MD, remember it being very f'ing difficult and never did finish it but have great memories of it.

Landstalker, no idea how or why we had that game, think I was around 10 at the time, but it definitely started my interest/fondness for RPG games

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Gunstar Heroes is the best game on the megadrive and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise.

Poor man's Alien Soldier.

:pac::pac::pac:

Retr0gamer

o1s1n wrote: »

Poor man's Alien Soldier.

:pac::pac::pac:

Alien Soldier needs a 3 year Diploma course to understand how it works!

Super Metroid easily

Completed it 3 times

3rd time was only last year. Timeless classic.

Same goes for SMW

quokula

I only owned a Megadrive, my favourites at the time were:

Micro Machines 96
Theme Park
Syndicate
Road Rash
Jungle Strike
NHL
FIFA

I've since gone back and played many of the revered games mentioned above on both platforms, but never found any of them really held up by modern standards, when you don't have the nostalgia factor.

nintendoo

Really, none of the Megadrive games I played clicked with me. And that was that for a few years, until I bought a SNES and Super Mario World was a revelation. Sonic was painful to play, dull and lifeless in comparison. SMW is still golden. Got Super Mario All Stars. SMB3 fantastic. Just stuck with Nintendo since.

McFly85

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Gunstar Heroes is the best game on the megadrive and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise.

I remember specifically being brought to the gaming section of Quinnsworth in Nutgrove by my dad when he asked If there was any of the games that were on sale that I wanted. Gunstar Heroes was £15, so was Alien 3.

It was one of the few times in life where I actually made the correct call:)

Retr0gamer

McFly85 wrote: »

I remember specifically being brought to the gaming section of Quinnsworth in Nutgrove by my dad when he asked If there was any of the games that were on sale that I wanted. Gunstar Heroes was £15, so was Alien 3.

It was one of the few times in life where I actually made the correct call:)

Unlike Edge magazine who in their first issue gave the game a 6/10.

At least they were consistent in giving baffling review scores in all their issues and started as they meant to go on.

Mario Cart, f117 stealth fighter, SWOS, speedball 2, premier manager.

Many many hours.

Have a raspberry pi with retro pi installed and about 200 old school games from snes, mega drive, PlayStation 1 and 2 and a few dos classics.

Time to play is the issue

Mr.Saturn

I got into gaming pretty late in life, so wouldn't necessarily have a lot of the context others would when naming their shout for BESTs. That said, if we'd collectively decided the later SNES era 1, 2 of Super Metroid then Chrono Trigger couldn't be topped and games stopped there and then, I would've understood the decision.

Minime2.5

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

I got into gaming pretty late in life, so wouldn't necessarily have a lot of the context others would when naming their shout for BESTs. That said, if we'd collectively decided the later SNES era 1, 2 of Super Metroid then Chrono Trigger couldn't be topped and games stopped there and then, I would've understood the decision.

And FF6

I recall Super Metroid coming in a big box with a book. Loved that game too. Couldn't get into the later ones at at all. Played the prime 1 and half of 2.

CalamariFritti

Kick Off 2 / Player Manager
Speed Ball 2
Battle Isle
Elite
XWing vs Tie-Fighter (may have been 32 bit?)

Chris_Heilong

nintendoo wrote: »

Really, none of the Megadrive games I played clicked with me. And that was that for a few years, until I bought a SNES and Super Mario World was a revelation. Sonic was painful to play, dull and lifeless in comparison. SMW is still golden. Got Super Mario All Stars. SMB3 fantastic. Just stuck with Nintendo since.

lol, looking at your user name I would say you are a little biased.

_CreeD_

8 Bit
The Last Ninja (1+2)
Parallax
Boulderdash
Elite
Delta

16 Bit
Carrier Command
Sentinel
Dune
Turrican

Potential-Monke

Before reading the thread, only 1 game (series) came to mind, and that was Mario, specifically Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES. I had forgotten about most other games until I read them here, which to me means they weren't good enough for me to remember, or I didn't play enough of them compared to the Mario games for them to stick. I also find it hard to go back and play the older games, and even modern games with the 16-bit graphics I can't play. Suppose I'm just a visual quality whore...

Greyfox

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Before reading the thread, only 1 game (series) came to mind, and that was Mario, specifically Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES.

For my first year of gaming Mario all stars was the only game I had, it was such an amazing collection at the time that I didn't need or want another game. I had brothers and didn't have a tv in my room so any time playing it was precious.. me and my brother use to sneak down at night to play it. We didn't want our Ma to know so if she came downstairs we'd have to turn it off and hide.. one night when this happened my brother hid under the sofa so I had to hide behind the curtains.. I still remember the scream of fright I gave my mum when she seen me.. I got absolutely battered.. and all the time my brother was under the sofa trying not to laugh

Chris_Heilong

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Before reading the thread, only 1 game (series) came to mind, and that was Mario, specifically Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES. I had forgotten about most other games until I read them here, which to me means they weren't good enough for me to remember, or I didn't play enough of them compared to the Mario games for them to stick. I also find it hard to go back and play the older games, and even modern games with the 16-bit graphics I can't play. Suppose I'm just a visual quality whore...

I actually much prefer modern games with old style graphics to AAA games as I find AAA games in a lot of ways are just nice graphics that lack any real skill to finish, most people can finish them as they are made for a general audience.

Homelander

For me it would have to be Streets of Rage and the first sequel on the Mega Drive. Absolute classics.

The recent Streets of Rage 4 game is extremely good as well.

Another game I played a lot was Zombies Ate my Neighbours, great game.

Markitron

Top 5 is a bit more out there than most I assume but I love these games:

Wiz n' Liz
Sunset Riders
Alisia Dragoon
Zombies ate my neighbours
Super Star Wars/Empire/Jedi

CalamariFritti wrote: »

XWing vs Tie-Fighter (may have been 32 bit?)

Yea that was a PC game from 1997, IIRC it required an graphics card too, so would be light years ahead of the Megadrive and SNES

Retr0gamer

X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter was well in the 32-bit generation. Was a bit of a disaster if I recall as it only had a few single player missions, no campaign and the focus was on multiplayer but it didn't really play well in Ireland as it was a bit ahead of it's time and you really needed some form of broadband or a LAN set up, not the 56k modems we had at best.

The expansion pack which had an actual campaign was supposed to be great.

Now the preceeding games X-Wing and Tie fighter (1993 and 1994 respectively) were mind blowing. Full 3D polygonal graphics that blew the likes of Starfox out of the water. Bastard hard though!

Markitron

Retr0gamer wrote: »

X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter was well in the 32-bit generation. Was a bit of a disaster if I recall as it only had a few single player missions, no campaign and the focus was on multiplayer but it didn't really play well in Ireland as it was a bit ahead of it's time and you really needed some form of broadband or a LAN set up, not the 56k modems we had at best.

The expansion pack which had an actual campaign was supposed to be great.

Now the preceeding games X-Wing and Tie fighter (1993 and 1994 respectively) were mind blowing. Full 3D polygonal graphics that blew the likes of Starfox out of the water. Bastard hard though!

I was obsessed with X-Wing and TIE Fighter in the 90s and was crushingly disappointed with Vs being a multiplayer-only game. I didn't even bother with it until I bought the CD boxset of all 3 in 1999 or thereabouts. That at least had the single-player expansions (and yes they were fantastic).

At least they came back strong with X-Wing Alliance.

Vicxas

Homelander wrote: »

For me it would have to be Streets of Rage and the first sequel on the Mega Drive. Absolute classics.

The recent Streets of Rage 4 game is extremely good as well.

Another game I played a lot was Zombies Ate my Neighbours, great game.

Holy balls i forgot about Zombies ate my neighbours!

I also used to love General Chaos, Herzog Zwei for the Mega Drive and the Strike games.

K.O.Kiki

Honestly I prefer Secret of Mana to any SNES action-adventure or JRPG other than Chrono Trigger.

Such a pity the "remake" was jank, I would've loved if Square did a proper version with all the SNES-CD cut content restored!

zetecescort

Shining Force 2. Always more into sports games but this for some reason grabbed me and I've played it through numerous times building up different characters

FrostyJack

Dungeon Master and Nitro on the ST, Skitchin'/Road Rash on the Mega Drive FTW.

Sieghardt

Megadrive:
Shining Force 1 & 2
Alien Storm
Alisia Dragoon
Phantasy Star 2 & 4
Earnest Evans
El Viento
Ghouls 'n' Ghosts
Gley Lancer
Gunstar Heroes
Landstalker
Langrisser 2
MUSHA
Puggsy
Revenge pf Shinobi
Sol Deace
Streets of Rage 1-3
Thunderforce 4
Truxton
Valis 1 & 3


Snes:
Breath of Fire 2
FEDA: Emblem of Justice
Front Mission

ShooterSF

Games I played the most of on the NES probably Punch-Out! and Trog.
Mega drive was Sonic 2 and Toe Jam and Earl (which I finally beat on an emulator one night sitting beside a GF who was very confused at my increasing excitement )

Zero-Cool

Jesus, far far far too many to list, goddamn i loved those days. One that always springs to mind is The Detective on the C64. The Last Ninja, Skate or Die, Toobin, Jack the Nipper. Jesus, i had a wonderful childhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTuW-rW2hBE

eggy81

Flashback

Damien360

C64 - Turrican because it expanded in both x and y direction. Open game of its time.
C64 - last ninja 1 or 2 cant remember. Sneaking around was great fun.
C64 - bubble bobble. Exact copy of the arcade game I put so many coins into in the arcade.
C64 - microprose soccer (particularly side 2 which was indoor and was a hoot in 2 player mode

There is one other I can’t remember the name of and would be grateful if someone can name it. It involved a simple space ship and scrolling was vertical in both directions. Really simple graphics even for the C64. Very physics based. Launch carefully with just enough thrust to not hit the cave top, and then thrust gently down to a box you had to winch. Gravity brought you down but if you allowed no control of descent, you crashed. That box changed your balance and thrust angles as you brought it back up. Quite a challenge at the time. Sunk many hours into it.

Retr0gamer

Think that one was just called thrust.

Damien360

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Think that one was just called thrust.

Good man. Just looked at YouTube and that’s it. The physics were very realistic and I loved it.

mcmoustache

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Zelda Link to the Past. Felt genuinely sad when that was all over.

DK country.. Apart from the revolutionary graphics the music and sound effects were perfect. That haunting feeling watching the rain getting closer as you progressed througha map to the clinking of the mine carts. Even the stupid underwater maps had a beautiful tune.

A link to the past is a perfect game to try on a snes emulator. The graphics don't feel dated at all, especially with popularity of 16-bit graphics today.


Spot on about DK country. The music and sounds were something else and still hold up today. Every environment had a perfect soundscape.

Deleted User wrote: »

Super Metroid easily

Completed it 3 times

3rd time was only last year. Timeless classic.

Same goes for SMW

Like ALTTP and DK, these are very uncontroversial choices and are also perfectly playable today. I spent hours at SMW back in the 90s and loved it.

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Honestly I prefer Secret of Mana to any SNES action-adventure or JRPG other than Chrono Trigger.

Such a pity the "remake" was jank, I would've loved if Square did a proper version with all the SNES-CD cut content restored!

Anyone who hasn't played jrpgs should try chrono trigger. I played it for the first time recently and loved it. I liked the lack of random battles and genuinely liked the characters and gave a sh*t about their stories. I enjoyed the combat but I can't really say if it was any good since I'm still not that interested in jrpgs and can't really compare it to anything. Chrono-trigger was just a joy from start to finish and other jrpgs just don't do it for me. Oh, and the chrono trigger soundtrack is really something special.


I haven't tried Secret of Mana but i've been interested in giving it a go for some time. Might give it a go soonish.