Timeless games, list em

howdy system warriors, what are some of the games you consider to be timeless masterpieces? gameplay so good that it holds up to the modern standard or games that have yet to be topped.

i think the first franchise that jumps to me is mario. i can still play the snes games and be amazed by how perfect it is. all mario games hold up extremely well, mario galaxy for example is probably the greatest platformer ever made, the controls, level design, artistic style etc. is just masterful. ninty games in general hold up very well over the years.

also age of empires 2, desparados wanted dead or alive are great games.

Timeless titles:

Sonic CD (Sega CD)

Jurassic Park (Genesis)

Comix Zone (Genesis)

Ducktales (NES)

Ninja Turtles (Genesis / SNES)

Mario World (SNES)

Shenmue (Dreamcast)

Resident Evil (PS1)

Dino Crisis 2 (PS1)

Tomb Raider (PS1)

Destruction Derby (PS1)

Oddworld (PS1)

Final Fantasy 7 (PS1)

ICO (PS2)

Zelda Twilight Princess (Gamecube)

Resident Evil 4
Metroid Prime
Super Metroid
Ninja Gaiden

I could go for awhile to be quite honest, tons of great games.

Custer's Revenge.

Shadow of the Colossus

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2

Mario and Luigi SuperStar Saga

Pokemon's third generation, and to a degree, its second

Gears of War

Uncharted 1

Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow

Halo 3

Hotline Miami

Spelunky

Like others said Mario is a perfect example , but I would like to add TMNT games from the old titles like manhattan project to the early 2000's ones from KONAMI .

i have yet to play any of these, actually i played ninja gaiden for a few min not my cup of tea

got to disagree with those, uc1 especially, it wasnt even a masterpiece to begin with. gears 1 has aged very well but i wouldnt call it a masterpiece, same with halo 3. hotline miami is a great pick though

Super Castlevania
Super Metroid
Metroid Prime
Zelda a Link to the Past
Final Fantasy (SNES games)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
original Tomb Raider
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Halo CE
Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2
Mass Effect trilogy
Batman Arkham series

Dark Souls and Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Chrono Trigger.

FF6

System Shock 2

Half Life 2

Thief 2.

(Yeah these games are also in my top ten best games list)

• Streets of Rage 1-3
• Sonic 1-3 & Knuckles, CD, Adventure, Advance, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, Rush, Rush Adventure, All-Stars Racing
• Gunstar Heroes
• Guardian Heroes
• Contra: Hard Corps
• MUSHA, Robo Aleste
• Herzog Zwei
• Thunder Force II-VI
• Galactic Attack
• Grind Stormer
• DoDonPachi, Resurrection
• Radiant Silvergun
• Raiden IV
• Shinobi III, Shadow Dancer
• Batman (Genesis)
• X-Men 1-2
• Castlevania: Bloodlines, Symphony of the Night
• House of the Dead 2, Typing of the Dead
• Rocket Knight Adventures I-II, Sparkster
• NFL 2K5
• NBA Jam T.E
• Street Fighter II: SCE, III: Third Strike
• Power Stone 1-2
• Soul Calibur I-II
• Virtua Fighter 2
• Ninja Gaiden Black
• Marvel vs Capcom 1-2
• NiGHTS into Dreams
• Panzer Dragoon, Zwei, Saga, Orta
• Omega Boost
• Strider 2
• Mega Man 1-10, X1-X5, Zero, ZX, ZX: Advent
• Jedi Outcast, Academy
• Tie Fighter, X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter
• KOTOR
• Age of Mythology, Titans
• Quake III
• Chrono Trigger
• Pokemon gens 1-2
• LoZ: ALttP, OoT, MM, TP, SS, Ages/Seasons
• F-Zero GX, Maximum Velocity
• Metroid Prime Trilogy, Super, Fusion, Zero Mission
• Super Mario Bros., Land, Galaxy 1-2
• Snafu

The Last of Us.

• super metroid
• mega man x
• street fighter ii
• ninja gaiden (3D)
• dragon quest xiii
• chrono trigger
• final fantasy 6-7-8-9
• metal gear solid 3
• uncharted 2
• parasite eve
• silent hill 2
• valkyria chronicles
• mario bros 3
• suikoden ii
• zelda ocarina of time

this is all I can think of for the moment. And yes, most of them aren't very complex games except for maybe Super Metroid (level design), Ocarina of Time (puzzles and design), Valkyria Chronicles (battle system), Silent Hill 2 (puzzles) and Final Fantasy VIII (junction system). Street Fighter II could be said has intricate gameplay.

The reason why Nintendo games hold up so well is because they generally focus on the two most timeless aspects of gaming: gameplay and level design. Good level design will always be good level design.

I can tell you right now that Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze will never age. It's a modern day masterpiece with unrivaled level design, artistic visuals, soundtrack and a grand amount of content that should keep you playing for well over 100 hours with a level of challenge and satisfaction that is extremely rare these days. It's the pinnacle of the platforming genre and it may be a very long time before we see another game of this quality again.

A list of games that generally age poorly are

-open world games. Advancements in tech almost always make the past generation of open world games obsolete.

-practically every N64/early 3D game. It was a rough transition and while it was a game changer back then, it's hard to play most of those pioneers of the 3rd dimension.

-cinematic games. Again, these games tend to rely on spectacle and with the advancements in tech, what impressed us before won't seem so impressive now.

@ghostwarrior786:

Cant argue there. Mario games are timeless. I would add, Zillion for the Sega Master System, Kenseiden, Starflight for Genesis, MGS, Blood Omen, Half Life, Jade Empire. And I am sure I am missing more.

Half Life 2

Just Cause 2

Most early Mario games

ANY SCOOBY DOO THEMED GAME

Souls series

err

Idk, 2d games in general that aren't tooo thematic.

@ghostwarrior786: Vagrant Story was one of my favorites, am still comparing games to it today.

so many. too many to list.

@cainetao11:

Got to give you props for throwing Zillion in there. I played that and Zillion II so much back in the day when I was into the anime. The opening theme song still randomly pops into my head now and then.

I will add.

Castlevania series

Contra series

Mario series

Duck Tales

Resident Evil series

Legen of Zelda series

Phantasy Star series

Psycho Fox

Some personal favorites that aren't as well received

Rygar NES

A Boy and His Blob

Little Samson

Vector man

Spiderman Genesis

Tetrisphere

Inteligent Qube

I disagree with these three (for the sake of debate). Sands of Time hasn't aged well and from what I played actually never seemed to be a good game, Mass Effect 1 exists and is a shitty game, and Arkham Asylum is mind numblingly boring at first.

That's a good question, let's see:

• Any Civilization game, really (although obviously, the newer ones are better, mechanically speaking, than the older ones)
• Chrono Trigger
• Final Fantasy VI
• Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island
• Super Mario Galaxy and 2
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 2
• Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal and their remakes
• Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
• Counter Strike (the very first one)
• Resident Evil 4
• Portal
• Super Smash Bros. Melee

Just off the top of my head right now, I am sure there are more, and I will continue to add them as I remember them.

Okami

TLoZ: Wind Waker

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Super Metroid

Rayman Origins/Legends

Chrono Trigger

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

The Last of Us

Just to name a few.

• Doom
• Quake
• Team Fotress
• Half Life 1
• Half Life 2
• Unreal Tournament
• World of Warcraft
• Starcraft
• Diablo
• Deus Ex
• Thief 2
• System Shock 2
• Civilization
• Age of Empires
• Portal
• Counter Strike
• Grim Fandango
• Duke Nukem 3D
• New Vegas
• Chrono Trigger
• FF7
• SuperMario Bros
• Sonic
• Mortal Kombat
• Street Fighter
• Zelda
• Tetris
• Baldurs Gate
• Full Throttle
• Monkey Island
• Planescape
• Kotor
• Morrowind
• Fallout
• Divinity Original Sin

As far as always being approachable and enjoyable:

Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 - apart from the resolution, which can be a non-issue with Dolphin, they just don't age at all, and are the prime example of games that are eternally fun to play.

Fantastic list, i agree with the bolded.

@cheesie253:

My brother!!! So many have asked me what is that? But I loved them from day one. Zillion more than 2 but still loved both.

original tomb raider is heavily dated imo, virtually unplayable if u have experienced modern tps. mass effect 1 is terribly dated, it was when i first played it back in 07. very clunky game and riddled with bugs

too early to say

portal is a solid pick, that game will never age

brah i love just cause 2 but by the time just cause 3 releases chances are it will already look dated. its a very fun game but not a masterpiece. souls is a nice pick though, those games i can see people coming back to

agreed, nice breakdown. for n64 it could be argued mario 64 is timeless. i was playing it a few months back and the controls/deisgn are still brilliant, only the graphics look terrible

mgs1 is literally unplayable for me, i cant stand the camera. even mgs2 feels dated when i bought the hd collection.

@ghostwarrior786:

Sorry for you. As a film buff, its like hating Dracula-Lugosi; Gone with the Wind; A Street Car named Desire. All timeless pieces of the beginnings of an art form that a student must see, imo.

Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Blaster Master, Bionic Commando (Nes), Tecmo Bowl (Nes), Tecmo Super Bowl, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Arcade, Combat Tribes (Arcade), Double Dragon 1-2, Street Fighter 2-3, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Mega Man X4, Mega Man 1-3, Contra and Super Contra (Nes), Life Force (Nes), Freedom Force, Samurai Showdown 2, Dead Space 1-2, Twisted Metal Black, Shadow of The Collossus, Castlevania SOTN, Zelda Nes- OOT-ALTTP-MM, Metroid-Super Metroid-MP-MP2, Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64), King of Fighters '94, Mortal Kombat 2, Guilty Gear X2, Final Fantasy X, Left 4 Dead, Perfect Dark (N64), Super Mario Bros 3, Uncharted 2, God of War 2-3, Half Life 2, Mass Effect (all of them), Grand Theft Auto 3-VC-SA-5, Gears of War (all of them), Eternal Darkness, and about a hundred more I can't list.

I'm not listing things that people have already listed.

Pretty much every top franchise Nintendo game.

**** tons really, a lot of them already listed in this thread. And so many of them are from the 16 bit days.

Like you said- Mario. They control very well and the gameplay is always fun/interesting. To me those are the two most important factors in calling a game "timeless"

If you add a good soundtrack on top of those two then you're solid. Good graphics are always more welcomed, but usually not a huge factor (why games like N64 Ocarina and Mario are timeless imo).

Super Mario Bros 1-3, Super Mario World 1 and 2, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario 3D World

Zelda LTTP, Ocarina, Majora, and Windwaker

Super Metroid, Metroid Prime

Pokemon gens 1+2

Final Fantasy 6 7 and 10

Shadow of the Colossus

Dark Souls

Halo 3

Smash Bros

Paper Mario

Megaman X

Basically no 3d games because they never age well in terms of graphics and camera. No fighting games because the rosters are small and they tend to get better with age by user feedback for balancing and stuff (same for racing games). No games with voice acting because voice acting can age (sounds good today, sounds lousy later)

Mario world

Link to the past

Super Metroid

Hotline Miami

Symphony of the night

Megaman 2 or megaman x

Chrono trigger

Metal gear msx version

These games I pick up now an then after a few years and I still get enjoyment out of them for their music and overall game design. I hope to one day make a game with even 1/10 the greatness of the games in this list.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 to 3 and Knuckles and CD

Super Mario Bros 1,3,World,Galaxy,64 and Galaxy 2

Metal Gear Solid 1 and 3

Zelda OOT,ALTTP,MM and WW

Shadow of the Colossus

Resident Evil 4

Metroid Prime and Super Metroid

Donkey Kong Country 2

Mass Effect 2

Uncharted 2

The Last of Us

Ratchet and Clank 1 to 3

Jak 1 to 3

Master of Orion II

Doom + Doom 2

Homeworld + Homeworld 2

Heroes of Might and Magic 3+4

Soul Calibur 4

Simcity 4

Project Gotham Racing 4

Guild Wars

EDIT: Forgot about Rome and Medieval 2!

Resident Evil and Tomb are NOT timeless games at all.

So many games I can't think of them all on a forum post. Top of my head list.

Pacman- Timeless as ****. Its still fun.

Goldeneye- The first FPS that got everything right.

DOOM- Pretty much the whole reason why FPS come about.

Mario 64- It changed the playing field for 3D gaming in general.

OOT- Pretty much just like Mario 64, but I loved it more.

Chrono Trigger- Best RPG I ever played in my life. Another than FF7, its GOD to all RPGs.

Super Mario World- Best 2D Mario ever imo. **** 3! Yeah, I said it.

@speedfreak48t5p: Your welcome to your opinion but I disagree. Also, I'm not counting the Wii version of Twilight Princess due to the motion controls.

Valve games
Morrowind
Nintendo games
Civilization

Pretty much anything from the SNES/Genesis era that was highly rated then still holds up now.

Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy XII and Bioshock still stand as pinnacles of video game voice acting.

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil Remake

Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario 64

Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask/Wind Waker/Twilight Princess

Metroid Prime Trilogy

Gears of War 3

Halo Reach

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor

Lollipop Chainsaw

Modern Warfare/Modern Warfare 2/Modern Warfare 3/Black Ops

Tomb Raider 2013

TrackMania: Build to Race

Goldeneye 007 Wii

Just some.

Why... why do you make it so hard for me not to ban you?? >:(

Demon's Souls

Dark Souls

I'd have to go with

• Dark Souls
• Skyrim
• Morrowind
• Kotor
• Kotor 2 (ok maybe not as much as Kotor 1)
• LoZ Majoras Mask
• LoZ Wind Waker
• FF6
• FF9
• Chrono Cross
• MGS1
• MGS3
• Diablo 2 + LoD
• Warcraft 3 + TFT
• RE4
• RE1
• RE2
• ME1
• P4G
• Persona 3
• Doom series
• STALKER series
• Half Life 2
• L4D 1 and 2
• WoW

I was just playing Waverace 64 and thought about this very topic.

Imo there are very few "timeless" games. Wave Race is on an Outrun/Excitebike level of classic. This is one flawless game.

Super Mario Bro "whole franchise"

Karnov

Ms Pacman

Pacman

Donkey Kong

Centipede

Asteroids

Ghost N Goblins

Ninja Gaiden "NES"

Zelda "whole franchise"

Altered Beast

Rygar

Twisted Metal 1,2

SSX 1,2

Resident Evil 1,2,3

Tomb Raider 1,2,3 and new remake

Halo Ce

Medal Of Honor "whole series" PC

Unreal Tournament PC/PS2

Little Big Planet 1,2

DDR "all mixes"

Ghost Recon 1,and Island Thunder ..original Xbox

AND hundreds more....from Atari,Pong,TurboGrafx16,Jaguar,Neo Geo,3D0..Just tons..from consoles to pc..Im happy to have grown up in the video game years..

I think Chrono Trigger is well and truly timeless. I played it for the first time fairly recently and its music, art and gameplay have held up beautifully.

the same goes for Super Mario Galaxy, Portal and perfectly executed arcade-style games like Contra and Punchout.