Getting Obsessed. . .

On 03/09/2024 at 10:25 AM by KnightDriver

. . .about Generation 3 in console video games, but more specifically the years '84-'89. It's my theme for March this year. I couldn't resist expanding it to include arcade, PC and board games too. I thought I'd share it here.

Arcade:
Gaplus - Namco sequel to Galaga on Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2.
Grobda - Namco spinoff of Xevious on Namco Virutual Arcade (360) or Megamxi (Wii)
Super Xevious - Namco updated Xevious on Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2.
1942 - Capcom shmup on Capcom Arcade Stadium.
Marble Madness - Atari physics based action game on Midway Arcade Origins.
Gauntlet - Midway published Atari game on Midway Arcade Origins.
Sky Kid (and Deluxe) - Namco 2D flight combat game on Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1.
Arkanoid - Taito's take on Breakout on Arkanoid Eternal Battle.
Xybots - Midway published Atari game on Midway Arcade Origins.
Splatterhouse - Namco beat 'em up on Arcade Archives on PS4 and Switch.
Golden Axe - Sega fantasy beat 'em up ported to Genesis and on Sega Genesis Classics.

Console:
H.E.R.O. - Actvision rescue game on Activison Anthology.
Pitfall II - Activision action game as hidden game in COD: WWII.
Final Fantasy I-II - Square RPG as part of Pixel Remaster on Swtich.
Phantasy Star I-II - Sega RPG on Sega Genesis Classics.
Dungeon Master - FTL Games RPG on TurboGraphx and SNES.
Dragon Quest I-III - Chunsoft RPG on NES and GBC.
Legend of Zelda II Adventures of Link - Nintendo RPG on Switch.
Mother - Nintendo RPG on Switch as Earthbound Beginnings.

PC:
Choplifter - Broderbund helicopter rescue game ported to Atari 5200/7800.
Sid Meier's Pirates - MicroProse simulation reimagined on OG Xbox available digitally on XS.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Pool of Radiance - SSI game ported to NES.

Board/Table Top:
Axis & Allies - Milton Bradley published strategy war game.
Toon: The Cartoon Role Playing Game - Steve Jackson game mashing up DnD with cartoons.
Advanced Squad Leader - Avalon Hill strategy war game update of Squad Leader.
Warhammer 40K - Games Workshop minatures scifi wargame.

I'm not mentioning that all, or most, of these games can be played on PC in various ways. I'm just focusing on the most recent console availability.

As if that wasn't enough, I'm also trying to play from IGN's Top 100 NES games. I'm working on the top 10 games right now. Here they are:

1. Super Mario Bros 3
2. Legend of Zelda
3. Super Mario Bros
4. Mega Man 2
5. Castlevania III
6. Metroid
7. Punch Out
8. Dragon Warrior
9. Bionic Commando
10. Duck Tales

Phew! I'm always searching for ways to limit these lists. I may use Metacritic when I hit Gen 5 because they only cover as far back as Playstation. But it's hard to resist the wealth of info on wikipedia.

Cary Woodham

03/10/2024 at 09:24 PM

Marble Madness is a standout game on your arcade list as it's my favorite Atari arcade game. Shame we never got the sequel.

I love DuckTales on NES. I like pretty much all of Capcom's Disney games.

KnightDriver

03/15/2024 at 10:20 AM

I loved the original Marble Madness cabinet but console versions haven't been that great. I need that roller ball controller, which is, I guess, like a mouse, really. I should play it on PC.

03/16/2024 at 08:05 AM

I think the NES version of Marble Madness turned out pretty decent. I had it as a kid.

03/16/2024 at 09:34 AM

I know I must've tried it once, but maybe I'll try it again.

SanAndreas

03/12/2024 at 03:36 AM

Lots of good NES games. Zelda, FF, DQ in particular. I'd love it if they had Faxanadu and Ultima: Exodus on NSO, but the latter is never gonna happen. It's a Western game owned by EA, which holds a long-standing grudge against both Nintendo and Richard Garriott.

I've been playing a lot of Dragon Quest lately. I have the original trilogy on cartridge on Switch and XI S, which is absolutely stuffed with content. Part of it is me feeling sad about the death of Akira Toriyama. He and Sugiyama are gone now, and of the original trio only Yuji Horii remains.

03/15/2024 at 10:26 AM

I guess DQ is only on the Japanese version of Switch. Is that right?

I heard about Toriyama on reddit a few days after it happened. My friend and I just watched all the original Dragon Ball movies this week.

03/17/2024 at 01:38 AM

The colorzied versions of the original Erdrick trilogy are on Switch. I happened to find a cartridge version of them in Maine.

03/22/2024 at 10:13 AM

Erdrick! I just came across the screen in Final Fantasy where a headstone says, "Here lies Link" and queried reddit about it. Apparently in the cartrige version of FF the headstone says, "Here lies Erdrick" refering to a series I'm unfamiliar with. Someone else said that "Link" was in the Famicon version and they changed it to Erdrick for the US release. Now it's back to Link in the Pixel Remaster version I'm playing now. I'll have to look up this "Erdick trilogy" though.

Oh, I get it now. Erdick is your Dragon Quest's character's predecessor.

04/04/2024 at 01:15 AM

Square and Enix were rivals back when FFI was first released. When FFI was released on PS1, Square was in the midst of being bought by Enix and wasn't on great terms with Nintendo.

The NES version of Ultima III also mentions Link.

04/06/2024 at 09:22 AM

Interesting.

PixlBit