Perfect games

[mbd30]

I was watching this week's "James & Mike Mondays" on Youtube and they were playing "Mega Man 2" which they described as a perfect game. No flaws.

 

 

 

 

What games would you say are closest to perfection? I was thinking that "Contra" is damned near perfect. The graphics and music are excellent for a NES game. Control is tight. If you die then it is your fault. Challenge is enough to always keep you on your toes, but not so much as to be frustrating, and you can always use the Konami code if you suck.

 

It also has an excellent difficulty ramp. It doesn't have an easy first level and then smacks you with an insurmountable second or third level. Difficulty gradually increases from level to level. As opposed to "Contra III" where the first two levels aren't that bad and then the third level is insanely difficult.

 

I haven't played "Super C" in a long time. That might be even better. But the 16-bit Contras up the difficulty to a high degree at the expense of some of the fun. "Metal Slug" for the Neo Geo is like the true successor to the NES games. It's still hard, but at least I can make it to the fourth level with limited continues.

Edited December 11, 2014 by mbd30

[Austin]

One word:

 

DOOM.

[+wongojack]

Perfect is tough. Games are bounded by their platform, so a C64 game is likely going to have some load times. While I absolutely love Sid Meier's Pirates! waiting for the game to load is not exactly what I would call the perfect experience.

 

HERO is pretty incredible, but there are some 2600 limitations that might prevent it from being "perfect."

[Zap!]

Ys: Book I and II on the TurboGrafx CD-ROM. Perfect in every way, and that includes music.

[Keatah]

Doom, Raptor, and a selection of VCS and classic-era games.

 

There can never be a perfect game that fits all. For example, mega man loses out here because I do not like it.

[BillyHW]

Ys: Book I and II on the TurboGrafx CD-ROM. Perfect in every way, and that includes music.

 

I have also heard that from others. I've been meaning to play that for 25 years. Eventually I'll get to it.

[Zap!]

I have also heard that from others. I've been meaning to play that for 25 years. Eventually I'll get to it.

It's a shame the TG-CD-ROM didn't have a bigger user base, but that is one awesome game. I was lucky to be a spoiled kid. Never met anyone else besides me who even had the CD-ROM when it was new. I got that game whenever it was first released (1991 I think), and loved every second of it. Going into 1991, my favorite game ever was Phantasy Star 1. Ys eclipsed it.

[+save2600]

I have also heard that from others. I've been meaning to play that for 25 years. Eventually I'll get to it.

I played and beat it BITD - incredible game that left an impression on me, that's for sure. My brother just picked up an Y's game for the PS2. Didn't even know it existed until recently!

[Zap!]

I played and beat it BITD - incredible game that left an impression on me, that's for sure. My brother just picked up an Y's game for the PS2. Didn't even know it existed until recently!

Ys: The Ark of Napishtim? Fantastic game. A shame the PS3 skipped the Ys series.

[BillyHW]

Mega Man 2 qualifies. It's quite unbelievable how every single track on that game is a perfect 10 = A+.

 

Here are my others, in no particular order:

 

NES:

 

Mega Man 2

Super Mario Bros. 3

 

 

SNES:

 

Super Mario World

The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past (I've heard Ocarina of Time is perfect, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.)

Final Fantasy II

Street Fighter II: Turbo

Super Mario Kart

 

SMS:

 

Phantasy Star

Wonder Boy III

 

Genesis:

 

NHL '94

 

PC:

 

Doom

Quake (online multiplayer)

Civilization

 

N64:

 

Goldeneye

 

Arcade:

 

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting

Snow Bros.

Robotron 2084

Ghosts'n Goblins

Ghouls'n Ghosts

[+thegoldenband]

The game that immediately comes to mind is the Tengen (not EA!) port of Marble Madness for Mega Drive. It's a flawless port of a masterfully designed arcade game, and I actually prefer the gamepad controls vs. the original trackball.

 

I have a hard time thinking of many others, though I suppose Galaga, Robotron: 2084, and Super Metroid are all lurking at the edges of my list.

 

I'm also tempted to name Air Fortress, which might seem like an odd choice but is one of those games that (to my mind) achieves every goal it sets out to do. The fortress missions are very close to perfect, with thoughtful stage design and nerve-racking challenges. However, there are some forced hits, the side-scrolling outdoor stages aren't as inspired, and the graphics are a bit simplistic, so I don't think it makes the cut. (I love the tunes, though I wish there were more of them.)

 

Still, I often prefer flawed-but-interesting games to "perfect" games. In fact, I even like the original Mega Man better than MM2, in part because it's weirder and tougher.

[cimerians]

No flaws for me:

 

Tetris

Ultima IV

Archon

Skool Daze

Nethack

Street Fighter II

Doom

 

I can pick a lot more but those are the ones I always think about...

[Zap!]

Some of mine are:

 

PC/Atari/Amiga/Apple: King's Quest 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, Conquests of Camelot

NES: Legend of Zelda, Metroid, The Goonies II, Rygar, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - Super Mario 3 just misses because of no save feature

Sega Master System: Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd In Miracle World

Genesis: Revenge of Shinobi

SNES: Super Castlevania IV, Super Mario World, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Street Fighter II (original version, not Turbo which I always thought was too fast), Act Raisor

Wii: Zelda: Twilight Princess

Edited December 11, 2014 by Zap!

[BillyHW]

Some of mine are:

 

PC/Atari/Amiga/Apple: King's Quest 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, Conquests of Camelot

NES: Legend of Zelda, Metroid, The Goonies II, Rygar, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! - Super Mario 3 just misses because of no save feature

Sega Master System: Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd In Miracle World

Genesis: Revenge of Shinobi

SNES: Super Castlevania IV, Super Mario World, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Street Fighter II (original version, not Turbo which I always thought was too fast), Act Raisor

Wii: Zelda: Twilight Princess

 

You can control the speed on Turbo. 4 stars is too many if I recall, and 3 stars is just right. I believe 3 stars is arcade speed. (You can input a code for 10 stars.) You can also set no stars or play the included Champion Edition for slow speed. Hence, perfect game.

Edited December 11, 2014 by BillyHW

[TheObscureGamer]

[BassGuitari]

Bubsy 3D.

It's perfect in how it's bad in every way.

[Nebulon]

Games that I consider to be perfect (there's nothing I could see them do to improve them -- except maybe add more levels in some cases):

 

Arcade:

 

Mr. Do

Marble Madness

Gauntlet

Gravitar

Defender

Space Duel

TRON

Discs of TRON

Time Pilot

Joust

Moon Patrol

Star Trek : The Strategic Ops Simulator

Galaga

Tac/Scan

Major Havoc

 

 

Amiga:

 

Hired Guns

Assassin

The Killing Game Show

Robocod

 

 

Atari ST:

 

Oids

Moon Patrol

Asteroids Deluxe

 

 

SNES:

 

Operation Logic Bomb

Metroid

 

 

GBA:

 

Metroid Zero Mission

 

 

Color Computer II:

 

Color Car Action

Time Bandit

 

 

Dreamcast:

 

Soul Calibur

Flag to Flag : Cart Racing

 

 

XBOX:

 

Gun Griffon

Rally Sport Challenge

Riddick : Butcher's Bay

 

 

XBOX 360/PS3:

 

Bioshock II

 

 

 

ColecoVision:

 

Super Donkey Kong Jr.

Frenzy

Edited December 12, 2014 by Nebulon

[Zap!]

Games that I consider to be perfect (there's nothing I could see them do to improve them -- except maybe add more levels in some cases):

 

Arcade:

 

Mr. Do

Marble Madness

Gauntlet

Gravitar

Defender

Space Duel

TRON

Discs of TRON

Time Pilot

Joust

Moon Patrol

Star Trek : The Strategic Ops Simulator

Galaga

Tac/Scan

Major Havoc

 

 

Amiga:

 

Hired Guns

Assassin

The Killing Game Show

Robocod

 

 

Atari ST:

 

Oids

Moon Patrol

Asteroids Deluxe

 

 

SNES:

 

Operation Logic Bomb

Metroid

 

 

GBA:

 

Metroid Zero Mission

 

 

Color Computer II:

 

Color Car Action

Time Bandit

 

 

Dreamcast:

 

Soul Calibur

Flag to Flag : Cart Racing

 

 

XBOX:

 

Gun Griffon

Rally Sport Challenge

Riddick : Butcher's Bay

 

 

XBOX 360/PS3:

 

Bioshock II

 

 

 

ColecoVision:

 

Super Donkey Kong Jr.

Frenzy

Some sleepers over some big hits in that list. Interesting, and I would love to hear your opinion on some perfect NES, SMS, and Genesis games.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Zap!

[high voltage]

Star Raiders (A8), 100% perfect

[82-T/A]

Starflight

 

[Bill Loguidice]

The ones that come immediately to mind are the games that constantly get re-released with few revisions. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Doom, etc. I'd say the percentage advantage would go to arcade games through the 80s since those were generally designed for extracting quarters from pockets by being addictive to play even in short bursts. In any case, I think the list of games that can be called perfect - depending of course upon how you define it (I'd define it as no changes are needed for it to be enjoyed exactly as-is today, including changes to any of the technology or audio-visuals) - is probably pretty extensive.

[Lost Dragon]

I'm going for:

XCOM (PC/Amiga/PS1 etc) often copied, but to this day, never bettered.

Llamatron (ST) and Tempest 2000 (Jaguar).Whilst i 'wish for' improvements to be made to the latter in terms of frame rate, there's not a god damn thing i'd have changed to gameplay on either.

[+wongojack]

This thread has become pretty liberal with the word "perfect." A lot of submissions there. I mean, I love arcade Tron, but I'm not sure it has the lasting appeal of some other arcade games, especially since 2 of the minigames are virtually the same. It also doesn't really stand as well on its own outside of its arcade cab. But these are opinions, so whatevs

 

I tend to find things wrong even with my favorite games (like I did in my first post with Pirates!), but I have a very high opinion of The Legend of Zelda, Wing Commander, Resident Evil 2, God of War 2, and Guitar Hero (III? Rocks the '80s?) along with Pirates! and HERO from my first post.

 

Games I really love but I KNOW are not perfect include Pitfall!, The Bard's Tale, Tecmo Bowl, and Mass Effect 3

 

About arcade games. I can't get over the intended purpose they have to take my money. That itself removes perfection because the designer isn't really considering my experience - they are actually trying to get me to die so I will give them more $$. While I love MANY arcade games, I can't say I've ever really experienced anything as enjoyable on an arcade machine as I have on a home system.

[SegaShooters]

Close to perfect (basically no complaints, no bugs):

 

Sega Genesis: NHL '94, Sonic 2

Atari 5200: Star Raiders

Atari 7800: Joust

Colecovision: Super DK Jr, H.E.R.O., Galaxian

Atari computers: River Raid, Frogger 2

Commodore 64: Raid Over Moscow, Maniac Mansion

[Nebulon]

This thread has become pretty liberal with the word "perfect." A lot of submissions there. I mean, I love arcade Tron, but I'm not sure it has the lasting appeal of some other arcade games, especially since 2 of the minigames are virtually the same. It also doesn't really stand as well on its own outside of its arcade cab. But these are opinions, so whatevs

 

I tend to find things wrong even with my favorite games (like I did in my first post with Pirates!), but I have a very high opinion of The Legend of Zelda, Wing Commander, Resident Evil 2, God of War 2, and Guitar Hero (III? Rocks the '80s?) along with Pirates! and HERO from my first post.

 

Games I really love but I KNOW are not perfect include Pitfall!, The Bard's Tale, Tecmo Bowl, and Mass Effect 3

 

About arcade games. I can't get over the intended purpose they have to take my money. That itself removes perfection because the designer isn't really considering my experience - they are actually trying to get me to die so I will give them more $$. While I love MANY arcade games, I can't say I've ever really experienced anything as enjoyable on an arcade machine as I have on a home system.

 

I guess it depends on what you're into. In my case, TRON has survived the test of time. And of course I'm talking about the arcade cabinet (since I've yet to see a setup other than the arcade units that actually works properly as an interface). That machine puts me into the zone, and after I hit around 200,000 points, it continues to be almost an altered state.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by two of the mini-games being the same though. ?

 

Arcade games aren't just trying to be so tough that they make you lose quickly. They're intelligently designed to be difficult enough to get coins out of you but not so difficult that you give up and play something else immediately. There's a fine balance there, and the good ones achieve this. Plus, the coin-per-play approach does influence design considerations and has resulted in some truly great games. Consider that, ultimately, you're expected to pay money for home games too. $60.00 buys you a lot of quarters.