Anybody else have extremely mediocre tastes in video games as a kid? Not bad per say, just nothing except the biggest hits and sports games? Yeah, that was me. I don’t regret it because Mario Kart sleepovers and marathon Ken Griffey Jr. Presents sessions are some of my fondest childhood gaming memories, but it’s safe to say that I missed out on a lot of the best games.
Fear not, younger self, adult you is here to fill in those gaming gaps!
For this exercise I will consider the three consoles that I most associate with my youth: SNES, N64, and PS1. As it so happens, I also have small collections for each of those three now.
There is a lot to choose from because I basically missed 90% of the classics on this one. No Super Metroid, Mega Man, or any RPG to be found in my long since traded-in childhood collection.
3) ActRaiser
This game is weird and we definitely need more weird games in today’s video game landscape. It starts with an entirely serviceable 2D action platformer which has you earning and using some cool special abilities, this is pretty normal for a SNES game. The other half of the game, however, is a top-down civ building exercise. But wait, there’s more! Half of that civ building is actually a tower-defense style shooter as you will spend much of your time blasting monsters to protect your towns and their people.
It is truly a bizarre mix of mechanics, but when you throw them all together you end up with some of the most enjoyable five or six hours you can find on the Super Nintendo. Not bad for a game that hit North American shelves just a few months after the console’s launch.
2) Earthbound
Like the rest of this list, I only played Earthbound for the first time within the last few years. My primary aim going in was to see what all the fuss was about. It seemed like the more JRPG-inclined folks out there did not think terribly highly of it compared to the reputation it has gained over the decades since release. A very old JRPG with a constantly growing reputation because of its mass appeal? That seemed odd.
What I found in Earthbound was an entirely unique setting and story wrapped around a very straightforward JRPG. A SNES JRPG set in a normal, boring Western town? The main protagonist uses a baseball bat while other party members use a frying pan and toy gun. This wasn’t quite like the typical image of JRPGs I had in my head. The gameplay stripped away customization, upgrades, and other “meaty” decision making portions other games featured proudly. You find a stronger bat? Equip it and sell the old one. No need to be concerned with specific stats, magic you’ve embedded in it, or any upgrades you’ve made. The most complicated party setup aspect here is the inventory management as each character has limited carry slots.
To me, Earthbound represents one of the most straightforward JRPG experiences I’ve found and is presented in a delightful setting with a fun story and memorable characters. Sometimes, simple can be better.
1) Final Fantasy VI
Throw all of that stuff about simplicity in JRPGs out the window. Final Fantasy VI (III in the North American release) gives you the chance to recruit up to 14 characters to your party, each with their own skills, some of which are fairly complicated. Such as Gau who has to learn enemy abilities by using his Leap command, which will cause him to leave the party for a while. You must continue to fight in this area of the map until he decides to rejoin you with his new abilities in tow. You can also recruit a ninja, yeti, mog, etc… It’s quite the list of characters, allowing for a wide range of options as you select the four to take in your active party.
Story and pacing are top notch here. The game is split into roughly two halves. The first is technically open world but it is always very clear where you need to go next to advance the story. Then, one of the best bad guys in gaming (Kefka) does the unthinkable and the entire game is flipped on its head. The second half lets you work at your own pace in any direction you choose. You must rebuild your party, maybe even add a few new faces, and strengthen up for the final showdown. I typically don’t like entirely open ended JRPGs like this, but the amazing twist FFVI offers is that you will be able to find something constructive to do in pretty much any town you head to in the second half. If you’re not going to give me any real direction other than “the bad guy is very clearly HERE, approach when ready”, then making sure no matter what direction I go is going to be productive sure is a nice way to go about things.
Final Fantasy VI presents a fantastic story, is both open-ended and linear at times, offers customization without making it an overwhelming part of the experience, and, most importantly, is a joy to play from start to finish.
Much like SNES, this is a very difficult list to make except for entirely different reasons. There were TOO many choices for me with SNES, but the dirty secret of N64 and its small release lineup, is that everyone knew the good games! They mostly had Mario, Zelda, or Rare on the box and sold millions of copies. This was not a console full of hidden gems.
3) Diddy Kong Racing
This game takes some popular characters from Rare games (Banjo, Conker, and the titular Diddy Kong), throws them into a kart game but adds way more interesting twists than Mario Kart ever dared to. Karts are fun, but why not add planes and hoverboards? Throw in a hub world to work through and unlock all of the new tracks while mixing in kart bosses (!) in a true single player mode and you’ve got yourself a kart stew! Gameplay wise, the game trades the wild variety of Mario Kart power ups for a few simple options, but allows you to strengthen them by picking up more balloons of the same color. Two red balloons take you from a straight rocket (nay, green shell) to a homing version (red shell), for example.
Adding a robust single player mode is the defining touch here for me, but the changes at every corner all add up to a really great kart game, one I wish I was bold enough to ask for instead of Mario Kart 64 as a kid.
2) Banjo-Tooie
My N64 was long gone by late 2000 when this was released. Banjo-Kazooie was, and remains, a personal favorite so I was happy to dive into the sequel many years later. It has a lot of solid ideas and outperforms BK in many areas, but ultimately it isn’t quite as good as the original. See my way too thorough breakdown of the two for more of my thoughts there.
Still, this is a really fun 3D platformer collect-a-thon. It’s a nice reason to spend 25 more hours with our favorite bear and bird combo.
1) Beetle Adventure Racing
N64 racing games are well represented here! A licensed racing game which features Volkswagen Beetles as the only car in the game? That sounds like a recipe for an entirely forgettable game. It, despite everything going against it, is actually a very fun, straightforward racing game. I am inflating it a bit putting it at number one here, but I have enjoyed many hours of this game playing with my young son so it immediately has some personal memories tied to it that give it an unfair advantage.
The game itself is very well done if you want a straightforward racing game. The cars control well, and you’ll unlock a few variants with different stats as you progress in single player. The slow car with great controls, vice versa, and eventually the all around beast. The only real standout part about the game itself, aside from simply being a darn good racing game that feels great to play, is that the tracks are littered with various shortcuts that make the game worth exploring for quite a while. If you see anything that looks slightly off in the game, try to drive there and you’ll likely find yourself a short, or long, cut.
It’s certainly not the best game on the system, but Beetle Adventure Racing provides a great multiplayer experience that holds up to this day.
The PS1 has a ridiculously strong catalog and my younger self with no income and infrequent visits to the rental store did not get to experience a whole lot of that catalog. Resident Evils, Metal Gear Solid, and Final Fantasies (VII, VIII, and Tactics) were some of the headliners I did get to spend time with way back when, but that still left a lot of room for exploration.
3) Parasite Eve
This is a fascinating mash up of survival horror, action game, and RPG elements. I feel like the combat would have been especially innovative when this was released. It is a turn based system using charge timers, but as you wait to select your action, you can freely run around the battlefield area to avoid getting hit and positioning yourself in range so you can attack an enemy. Each gun has its own characteristics and firing range which will drastically change your strategy depending on which you are carrying and which you have bullets for. There is a magic aspect as well which adds to the fun.
Outside of the combat, the story is captivating and features some of the coolest early game CGI scenes I can remember. It really does a great job of pulling you in from the start and then keeps you hooked for the extremely reasonable runtime (you can finish a straight run of the game in about 10-12 hours). If you want to play this one and don’t know anything about it; don’t look up any videos on the game, they will certainly ruin the surprise.
2) Spyro
I was exactly the right age when Spyro came out to say something like “that’s a kid’s game, I’m going to go play Final Fantasy instead.” I was an idiot.
Spyro is pure 3D platforming, collect-a-thon goodness. It is a joy to run and glide around the levels, gobbling up the gems and rescuing dragons to unlock the next area. The game is mostly very simple but towards the end a few of the dragons get quite difficult to locate, a nice bit of added difficulty for any completionists out there.
I had never played a Spyro before but from the moment I started it felt like a game I had played a dozen times. It has the extremely ‘90s, early 3D platformer feel to it, a feel that I am particularly nostalgic for. I am aware that many consider Year of the Dragon to be the superior game in the PS1 trilogy, and I do own that one now, but have yet to play it, so Spyro 1 gets the nod here.
1) Brave Fencer Musashi
This game checks too many of my boxes to list. It is about a lovable jerk named Musashi who begrudgingly agrees to rescue people in a foreign land. It’s beyond refreshing to see a protagonist act like a total jerk to the people who need their help, not something you get very often and Musashi really isn’t interested in helping for most of this game. The game is a 3D action platformer and it pushes both of those aspects pretty hard in certain sections. It features extremely challenging timed platforming sections which could potentially be off putting as they arguably push a bit too in terms of being unforgiving. The fights here are great, with the final boss being an absolute beast that took me a couple of hours to beat. Both of these bumped right up against my pain tolerance, but I was enjoying the game so much I pushed through and am certainly glad I did.
Combat is aided by the assimilate ability which allows you to steal certain abilities from enemies and use them against them. These have a wide range of usefulness, ranging from entirely useless to giant grenades you can use to take out tough enemies. If you’re ever stuck, there’s a good chance that assimilating a nearby enemy will provide you the solution to moving forward. There are also two different swords, each with their own abilities and moves.
The game goes light on the things I kind of like (puzzles, inventory management) and heavy on the things I really like (being a ‘90s 3D platformer, fun combat, memorable characters). It is a fantastic 15ish hour adventure and very easily my favorite ‘90s game I never knew existed until 20+ years later.
