21 Games Everyone Should Play Before They Die

[Emehr]

I didn't see the list as "Of all the games ever released, only 21 are 'must-plays' before you die", but more like "Here's a batch of 21 games you should play before you die. There are more, definitely, but here's 21".

 

Is Last of Us really that groundbreaking? I don't care about the cinematics. Strip away whatever cutscene bullshit there is and take it down to core game play mechanics where you are actually controlling the game. Does it do anything different or better than any other survival horror game? I haven't played it so I'm genuinely curious.

 

Speaking of survival horror, I'd rather see Alone in the Dark over Resident Evil. The AitD trilogy held my attention for a lot longer than any RE game I've tried. Especially AitD 3 with its western theme.

 

I could never really give a rip about Pokemon but the one thing I gotta give it some credit for is making a role-playing game accessible to a broad audience.

 

Oddworld was a nice surprise to see on the list. I spent many hours on that one (and the sequel). One of the best puzzle action games I've played with great presentation.

[Pixelboy]

Not a bad list in general, but I would have included Super Metroid in there somewhere.

 

EDIT: But he did include Castlevania SOTN, so I guess that type of 2D gaming is covered.

[CatPix]

 

Yeah. lots of genre-defining titles are missing. But genre-defining titles aren't automatically the best titles ever.

You're right, this is why I didn't mentionned other "genre defining titles" that were innovative at their time, but also were underestimated and/or had little impact at their time.

 

But Alone in the Dark fit the needed characteristics for being a landmark.

 

It was innovative, using 2;5D graphics with detailed (for the time) textures, the "pseudo 3D" environments expanding the possibilities of exploration; the lack of weapons and lack of attack adding to the different gameplay; the punishing nature of the game that kills you at every hallway corner until you understand the nature of the traps.

And more importantly, it spawned numerous games, including other games in the series, that will first copy it, without bringing real novelt to the genre (and even worse, in the AITD series, all games would get WORSE than the original, even modern installment).

And it would lsat up until 1996 and Resident Evil, that's 4 years for a game to do better and add up to the genre.

 

So, IMO, AITD totally deserve to be remembered

Edited August 15, 2015 by CatPix

[darthkur]

I've only played 4 out of that list and couldn't really care less for most of the others mentioned.

[+wongojack]

Is Last of Us really that groundbreaking? I don't care about the cinematics. Strip away whatever cutscene bullshit there is and take it down to core game play mechanics where you are actually controlling the game. Does it do anything different or better than any other survival horror game? I haven't played it so I'm genuinely curious.

 

 

No it isn't.

 

 

 

I agree with you that Oddworld is a good pic

[ledzep]

Now that I've read this fully on my laptop, it appears the author is only listing titles still available legally on modern platforms (VC, port, or otherwise), hence the lack of many retro titles. Still, it's not the greatest list I've ever seen, far from it.

 

Yes, this is more accurately described as a list of 21 games you should play before you die but don't have to get your fat ass off a sofa to get to. "Before you die" makes them seem necessary or important, which I would think would allow for more effort than just what's easily available or within reach of a few mouse clicks. I would say that any "gamers" out there who haven't gone to an arcade/pinball convention yet haven't "gamed" and they should be required to attend one now (even if they're still in their teens), otherwise they shouldn't be called gamers. Get in your car/on a plane and go play some of the greatest video games ever designed. After that, work on the console/PC games, they're easier to deal with, not as rare (mostly).

[omegadot]

 

Yes, this is more accurately described as a list of 21 games you should play before you die but don't have to get your fat ass off a sofa to get to. "Before you die" makes them seem necessary or important, which I would think would allow for more effort than just what's easily available or within reach of a few mouse clicks. I would say that any "gamers" out there who haven't gone to an arcade/pinball convention yet haven't "gamed" and they should be required to attend one now (even if they're still in their teens), otherwise they shouldn't be called gamers. Get in your car/on a plane and go play some of the greatest video games ever designed. After that, work on the console/PC games, they're easier to deal with, not as rare (mostly).

 

If you play games you are a gamer. It's basically as simple as that.

[CatPix]

I would say that any "gamers" out there who haven't gone to an arcade/pinball convention yet haven't "gamed" and they should be required to attend one now (even if they're still in their teens), otherwise they shouldn't be called gamers

With all emulations, ports, and SuperGun things (or just gettong a Neo Geo AES) what make you say that going to an arcade con would make one a "real" gamer?

 

Every one can have his definition of a gamer.

[ledzep]

 

If you play games you are a gamer. It's basically as simple as that.

 

That's like saying that if you're male then you're a man. No, it takes more than that.

[ledzep]

With all emulations, ports, and SuperGun things (or just gettong a Neo Geo AES) what make you say that going to an arcade con would make one a "real" gamer?

 

Every one can have his definition of a gamer.

 

Sure, have that emulation argument with purists (I'm not saying I agree with them, just that it is an easy argument to get into). Simulate driving a sports car, same as driving an actual sports car, right? Or drive a kit car version of a Lamborghini, now you can tell people you actually drove a Lamborghini. Uh, no. You have an idea what it's like, but no. Some things have to be done for real, not simulated or emulated. You haven't skied the Alps unless you ski the Alps (I haven't).

 

I bring up the convention as the easiest (though not least expensive) way to get to loads of games (and pinball machines) like back in the glory days of arcades every 2 blocks. If you have an arcade nearby then that's far easier (though there will of course be far less variety to choose from). This is also in terms of "before you die", meaning this is something that needs to be done unlike that arbitrary list of 21 average video games that can easily be swapped for better games. If you're a gamer you need to play real arcade games once (hopefully more than once). You don't have to like them or own them, but if you haven't played any yet (or classic 8-bit game consoles) then you aren't yet a gamer. You don't have to play them all, either, but get your feet wet. It's not that goddamn hard.

[Rhomaios]

 

That's like saying that if you're male then you're a man. No, it takes more than that.

 

If you drive cars, you're a driver. If you make a Geocities webpage, you're a web designer. Are kids all artists because they do art in school? Does a light drink with dinner make you a drinker? I like to go fishing, but I would never call myself a fisher.

 

Something is amiss when it comes to people and games, though.

[CatPix]

Sure, have that emulation argument with purists (I'm not saying I agree with them, just that it is an easy argument to get into). Simulate driving a sports car, same as driving an actual sports car, right? Or drive a kit car version of a Lamborghini, now you can tell people you actually drove a Lamborghini. Uh, no. You have an idea what it's like, but no. Some things have to be done for real, not simulated or emulated. You haven't skied the Alps unless you ski the Alps (I haven't).

 

I bring up the convention as the easiest (though not least expensive) way to get to loads of games (and pinball machines) like back in the glory days of arcades every 2 blocks. If you have an arcade nearby then that's far easier (though there will of course be far less variety to choose from). This is also in terms of "before you die", meaning this is something that needs to be done unlike that arbitrary list of 21 average video games that can easily be swapped for better games. If you're a gamer you need to play real arcade games once (hopefully more than once). You don't have to like them or own them, but if you haven't played any yet (or classic 8-bit game consoles) then you aren't yet a gamer. You don't have to play them all, either, but get your feet wet. It's not that goddamn hard.

 

This is why I added the Neo Geo. it's THE real arcade ROM, on a physical support, that you play with a stick.

 

And also, what about getting one cab at you home? You didn't mentionned that?

You can't compare playing a video game and driving a car. A car is a physical item, that interact with the physical world (because you can get crazy and buy a real Lamborghini and link the controls to a video game; you'll be in the real car, but you'd still not drive it for real, and on this we agree, I think).

 

Video games doesn't have a physical existence. They are virtual things. They aren't real. An emulator on a PSP, a computer, the original arcade board on a SuperGun, the Neo Geo cart, or the real arcade cabinets are just ways to make those virtual informations being displayed and interacted with.

 

Arcade rooms aren't "more true" than making you a MAMEcab. They are "more authentic" but it's like saying that video games made before the HD era should be played on CRT TV because LCD TV were not exisitng at the time, therefore people playing on LCD TV aren't "true gamers".

And on a personnal note, arcade rooms, no thanks. I haven't been in one at the peak of them, but I have been into some, and no thanks no. Noisy, crowded. Call me a fake player then, but for me, a video game is like a book, or a movie : it's something between the game and you. An intimate moment, facing your screen, with the pixels moving and the chiptune flowing to your ears. Or it's with your friends around the table, but it's a diffferent thing going on here as well.

There is none of those magics to me in a public place like an arcarde room, and even a retrogaming even barely carry that magic when you face a 30 years old cabinet.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Yes, this is more accurately described as a list of 21 games you should play before you die but don't have to get your fat ass off a sofa to get to. "Before you die" makes them seem necessary or important, which I would think would allow for more effort than just what's easily available or within reach of a few mouse clicks. I would say that any "gamers" out there who haven't gone to an arcade/pinball convention yet haven't "gamed" and they should be required to attend one now (even if they're still in their teens), otherwise they shouldn't be called gamers. Get in your car/on a plane and go play some of the greatest video games ever designed. After that, work on the console/PC games, they're easier to deal with, not as rare (mostly).

My fiance and I went to the Texas Pinball Festival in 2014 and had a blast! Someday I will make the trip down to the Austin or Houston expos. I can't travel because money is tight atm...

[ledzep]

This is why I added the Neo Geo. it's THE real arcade ROM, on a physical support, that you play with a stick.

 

And also, what about getting one cab at you home? You didn't mentionned that?

I didn't mention that because that is, for some, stupid expensive and unnecessary (I own a small number, they're each the size of a medium fridge). It's not necessary to own them, just play them. I never owned a 5200 or Vectrex as a kid but my friends had them, I played the hell out of them back then. Now I own them but I already had the experience (and I knew it was going to be worth the expense of collecting them and I'm glad I did but I don't expect everyone to go that far).

 

You can't compare playing a video game and driving a car. A car is a physical item, that interact with the physical world (because you can get crazy and buy a real Lamborghini and link the controls to a video game; you'll be in the real car, but you'd still not drive it for real, and on this we agree, I think).

 

Video games doesn't have a physical existence. They are virtual things. They aren't real. An emulator on a PSP, a computer, the original arcade board on a SuperGun, the Neo Geo cart, or the real arcade cabinets are just ways to make those virtual informations being displayed and interacted with.

Are you sure you know what "real" means? If I tipped over a Defender cab onto you are you saying you wouldn't feel it? What I'm getting at is that emulators are good if you have nothing better, but you need to play the real hardware with all their quirks and unique aspects (at least once to see what the emulator is missing). Playing Space Wars on a real cab is a different experience than playing on a MAME cab (unless you have faithfully recreated all the buttons and have a vector monitor in that cabinet), playing Time Crisis or Silent Scope or Seawolf on a PC or Playstation is a different thing than playing the actual arcade hardware as well.

 

Arcade game controllers are unique (Defender, Robotron, Tron, Missile Command, Major Havoc, Tempest, Battlezone, etc.). So are video game consoles, at least before the dawn of the near-universal joypad. Compare a 5200 joystick (or trak-ball) to an Intellivision controller or a Vectrex controller or a 2600 paddle. Yes, you can force an emulator to use buttons or a digital stick for everything but now you're playing something different. Make the effort to play the game or system the right way at least once is all I'm getting at. There are still systems I haven't played because I have no access to them (or don't care to play them) but at some point I'll need to track down a, say, TI-99/4 and try out some of its games, or a C64 and play some of its killer apps (never got around to it, none of my friends at the time had one). the Atari 800 version of Star Raiders isn't the same game as the 5200 version, similar as they may appear to be to the casual observer. I have purchased some of those Atari adapters so that when I get the emulators running on my computer I can use the actual 2600 and 5200 controllers as Odin intended (I own the real systems, too, but why do it wrong when you can do it right?).

 

Arcade rooms aren't "more true" than making you a MAMEcab. They are "more authentic" but it's like saying that video games made before the HD era should be played on CRT TV because LCD TV were not exisitng at the time, therefore people playing on LCD TV aren't "true gamers".

 

Well, they ain't doin' it right. Close, but not right. LCDs, haahaha, please, that's all kinds of wrong. It's effort and dedication, how much of it are you willing to dedicate to this? I'm far away from making my own MAME cab(s) but I'm collecting the necessary, rare parts as I go (easier now than later) to make at least one vector MAME cab with a goddamn vector monitor because why bother otherwise, might as well play Atari Greatest Hits on my Android phone (the only app I've paid for but it ain't right). I have the Zector Vector board to drive the monitor, I have a repro Major Havoc spinner, Oscar Controls repro Tempest spinner, a few of those Asteroids/Missile Command cone LED switches, when I get that MAME cab assembled it's going to be done right (as right as MAME can get), otherwise why make the effort.

 

I also own an actual Tempest (cocktail), Star Trek SOS, Space Duel (cocktail), Red Baron, a few others. But there's no way I'll ever get in front of a real Aztarac (for example) or Demon vector game. And I don't have the room or money to collect all my favorite games so while I've played them many times, if I want to have the actual games and controls I'm going to have to fake it with a few MAME cabs to cover them all (horizontal CRT, vertical CRT) with the right controllers (analog, 8-way, trak-ball, buttons, etc.) to get close. Or win the lottery. I don't give that plan good odds, though. A friend of mine owns one of those 4-player cocktail Warlords cabs, that thing is great at parties and is a far more entertaining experience than the stand-up version even though it's the same damn game. 2600 Warlords isn't the same. Good, really fun, but not the same.

 

And on a personnal note, arcade rooms, no thanks. I haven't been in one at the peak of them, but I have been into some, and no thanks no. Noisy, crowded. Call me a fake player then, but for me, a video game is like a book, or a movie : it's something between the game and you. An intimate moment, facing your screen, with the pixels moving and the chiptune flowing to your ears. Or it's with your friends around the table, but it's a diffferent thing going on here as well.

There is none of those magics to me in a public place like an arcarde room, and even a retrogaming even barely carry that magic when you face a 30 years old cabinet.

Ya, it's an acquired taste. I grew up with arcades so I'm used to them. Some were not the horrors that you've seen, they were clean and not too crowded or noisy but the bulk of them were the stereotype. But so what, you can say the same thing about going to a rock concert back then (too crowded/noisy/dirty), listening to the live album or watching the live DVD is nowhere near seeing the band live. Do it right. If it's not your thing, it's not your thing but try it a few times first. If it was easy then everyone would do it. Sacrifice a little bit to experience it correctly (whatever "it" is). Emulators are great but they aren't the actual thing. What do you have against playing the actual hardware (if you can get to it)?

[CatPix]

I have over 40 consoles and computers with their original gamepads and accessories for the most, along with the real carts (or floppies or tapes or CD). I play them when I can on a 1983 Europhon Multistandard TV, 43cm, or a 36cm Thomson TV from the same era when I feel like it.

Most of my computers have their original screen (Amstrad, Atari ST, Thomson TO7, Exelvision EXL100...).

 

I don't have the room yet but I do plan to get one cocktail table one day and one cable, and probably putting a MAMEcab on it;that wouldnt chang much because that's mostl the way we had games here - as stated by Pierre Tel, the guy at the head of Jeutel that imported many arcades back in the day "I needed 300 Pong machines this year, and planning to get more th next year. Atari said they would ship me 50 a year. So I went, took one of their machines, and we copied it, and made the copies ourselves"

 

I dunno if it's easy to get to an arcade. The closest from where I am is 50km away and it closed after 2 years in operation due to financial losses.

Else the only other way to get to one is once a year there is a retrogaming event. Nothing else that I know of aside from the touristic rooms that are closed outside of summer.

 

I have nothing against the real hardware, but nothing for it either. You don't play an Atari 2600, or the Super NES; you play Combat, or MarioKart. Also you mention real cabs; well once you hav the cab at home, why the need to get to an arcade room? You have the real hardware, the real game and cab. Again, that's my central argument : the arcade room is NOT part of the game.

To more focus on the game argument, (cince you missed the point) that would be like saying that playing a NEs on a CRT TV made in 1999 isn't the "real" experience since well, TV of those years are different from the TV you had in 1983.

 

You focus on the hardware, when I talk about the environment, the surroundings...

[Emehr]

How did this thread go from a recommended list of games to play before you die to some dick measuring contest on what makes a "real" gamer based on some bullshit metric?

[ledzep]

How did this thread go from a recommended list of games to play before you die to some dick measuring contest on what makes a "real" gamer based on some bullshit metric?

 

Because the list of recommended games was quickly seen as being arbitrary (why only 21/why nothing earlier/why those games) and limited to post-'80s. Inevitably the the discussion moves to better/more important 21 games and from there, which versions of those games are "should play before you die". If there can be assembled such a list of should play games then the better or truer versions of those games comes into question/debate (Atari 2600 Pac-Man is most definitely not Pac-Man, for example). And so you end up roughly at the "bullshit metric" you are complaining about.

 

This will happen each and every time some jackass puts together an artificially-restricted (only 21 in this case) list of should do/must have experiences or things without including a reasonable or acceptable justification for the restriction(s). Cars, bands, cities, foods, books, strip clubs, whatever, putting a top 10/20/50 list together gets you very quickly to the same comparison/bullshit metric. Get used to it, it's not hard to understand.

 

The alternative is a slew of "great list" or "meh" responses (don't want to raise the ire of the vocally anti-bullshit metric). You could code a bot to supply those, what fun.

[ZylonBane]

Halo 3 but no Half-Life? Christ, what a failure of a list.

 

This article would be more accurately titled, "21 Games the Author Remembers Playing".

[7800fan]

Same thing happens when someone makes a top worst game list. Some like Cheetahmen2 I can easily agree with (so badly done it can't be finished at all without cheat device) but some people get their panties bunched up when ET comes up.

 

Yes it's a lousy game but only because it wasn't quite clean with hit detection which made falling into pit much too easy. But when you figure out the hit box, and avoid the 8 pit screen unless you've already searched other 3 pit screens for phone parts, ET is fairly easy to play. There's even a hacked version of ET which fixed a few of the annoyances.

[Emehr]

Because the list of recommended games was quickly seen as being arbitrary (why only 21/why nothing earlier/why those games) and limited to post-'80s.

It's a list posted by a non-videogame website. What did you expect? Seriously. It was by no means an exhaustive list and many of the games that were listed were pretty good. They could've made the list 100 games and it still would not have satisfied most gamers. It was 21 games. Who cares?

 

Inevitably the the discussion moves to better/more important 21 games and from there, which versions of those games are "should play before you die".

A discussion in which you took no part in. You just rambled on about what makes a "real gamer".

 

If there can be assembled such a list of should play games then the better or truer versions of those games comes into question/debate (Atari 2600 Pac-Man is most definitely not Pac-Man, for example). And so you end up roughly at the "bullshit metric" you are complaining about.

The bullshit metric is your assertion that one is not a "real gamer" unless they've played an arcade cabinet. That's some elitist bullshit right there.

 

This will happen each and every time some jackass puts together an artificially-restricted (only 21 in this case) list of should do/must have experiences or things without including a reasonable or acceptable justification for the restriction(s). Cars, bands, cities, foods, books, strip clubs, whatever, putting a top 10/20/50 list together gets you very quickly to the same comparison/bullshit metric.

Make your own list then instead of derailing a conversation with useless talking points about what a "real gamer" is.

 

Get used to it, it's not hard to understand.

Do you have to be so condescending when you talk to people? Do you do that in real life? Get a grip dude.

 

The alternative is a slew of "great list" or "meh" responses (don't want to raise the ire of the vocally anti-bullshit metric). You could code a bot to supply those, what fun.

Again with the condescending remarks. I could recommend you go do something as well but I don't want to get banned from this site.

[carlsson]

I'm waiting for the follow-up article: "21 video games your father played before he died".

[ledzep]

It's a list posted by a non-videogame website. What did you expect? Seriously. It was by no means an exhaustive list and many of the games that were listed were pretty good. They could've made the list 100 games and it still would not have satisfied most gamers. It was 21 games. Who cares?

You care based on your continued complaints, it seems.

 

But, what did I expect? Exactly what happened (and I explained). I think stardust4ever voiced it best with the

 

"There there, as everyone outside of Atariage knows, videogames truly started with the NES... "

 

quote. That's what I was more or less commenting/expanding on. People not in the know (non-videogame website as you say) perpetuate inaccurate perspectives of what they're talking about - in this case, videogames (and "should play before you die" videogames). Again, not difficult to understand. Other people were already pointing out the list's faults (year range, game types), the question then becomes why that happened or what would fix that line of thinking. Part of that is, as I said, including a segment of games that the writer ignored (arcade games/pre-NES).

 

A discussion in which you took no part in. You just rambled on about what makes a "real gamer".

"Rambled on"? It was one paragraph with one point in it (post #31). Maybe you weren't paying attention? That might explain your confusion.

 

But you want me to take part in the discussion. Ok, how about "Most of those games you couldn't pay me to play"? I seem to remember at least one other similar response (which I agree with).

 

The bullshit metric is your assertion that one is not a "real gamer" unless they've played an arcade cabinet. That's some elitist bullshit right there.

No, "elitist bullshit" would be more along the line of one must have played arcade games back in the day in actual arcades or one must have played these 100 best arcade games and mastered them or something. Saying that a gamer should play an actual arcade game (not hard to pull off) is like saying a real muscle car fan needs to have owned or at least driven an actual mid-'60s/early-'70s muscle car (not just the newer/modern versions available now which are fantastic as well), otherwise he's just a casual fan. Of course the more you do the basics, the closer you get. Playing 5 arcades games is better than just 1, owning one (expensive) also adds to it. Playing many/most of the home console/PC games adds to it. Owning one or more adds even more, etc.

 

Make your own list then instead of derailing a conversation with useless talking points about what a "real gamer" is.

Why add to the mountain of arbitrary should play/must play/best game lists? There are more than enough of them already. For what, to generate a bunch of great list/meh responses? Of what use it that other than satisfying your "elitist bullshit" about how to respond to should play/must play/best lists? You seem to have more than enough interest and energy to make lists for everybody, knock yourself out.

 

7800fan seems to understand what I was getting at, why can't you?

 

Do you have to be so condescending when you talk to people? Do you do that in real life? Get a grip dude.

Do you have to be so defensive? You asked how the thread changed, I attempted to explain it to you, you inferred condescension where there wasn't any and started complaining.

 

What is condescending about explaining my reasoning? I'm as condescending as those who condescend towards me. Or did you think "dick measuring contest" and "bullshit metric" were some form of reasoned, highbrow speech?

 

Again with the condescending remarks. I could recommend you go do something as well but I don't want to get banned from this site.

It's not condescending, it's a simple observation supported by loads of data. Just search through AtariAge and read through the many similar lists either linked to or created by forum members. Same kinds of responses. At least the forum members usually know what they're talking about before they start the threads, even if others don't agree with their choices, which then avoids the sorts of things you seem to be so agitated about.

 

Well-formed/supported list of bests/required - discussion about alternatives. Poorly-formed/supported list of bests/required - discussion about alternatives along with observations about how the list was formed, why was this or that obvious choice not included, why the list was arbitrarily restricted in this or that area, etc.

 

If some people want to talk about how off-base the creation of the list was in the first place, what's it to you? Trying to keep a thread that you didn't even start going in a particular direction and complaining about deviations that you don't approve of is, oh what's the word, ah yes, elitist.

[high voltage]

I'm gonna play those games after I'm dead

[carlsson]

What if you reincarnate, does it count so you can play those in your next life?

[Emehr]

"Rambled on"? It was one paragraph with one point in it (post #31). Maybe you weren't paying attention? That might explain your confusion.

Post #31: 'I would say that any "gamers" out there who haven't gone to an arcade/pinball convention yet haven't "gamed"'

 

Post #34 (this is a real gem, by the way): 'That's like saying that if you're male then you're a man.'

 

Post #35: 'If you're a gamer you need to play real arcade games once'

 

Post #39 (this is you talking down to another AA member): 'Are you sure you know what "real" means?'

 

So, I count four posts where you do indeed "ramble on" about what real gaming is, which has nothing to do with the topic besides some bullshit metric about who is qualified to make a video game list. Yes, it's just as ridiculous as it sounds. "Confusion". Heh. Either you are the one not paying attention or you are fabricating facts and hoping I don't notice. Either way, I'm done with you. This conversation is pointless. I'd rather talk about games that are worthy of playing before you die. This list is okay. Yes I'm a "real gamer" (whatever that's supposed to mean).

Edited August 17, 2015 by Emehr