I was extremely late to the party with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, never having played any of them until 2016 or so. Having long missed the zeitgeist, I figured it would be one of those instances where the games were massive in their time but are simplistic or clunky to play now. But man, was I wrong.
These are mechanically deep games with a crazy high skill ceiling, rewarding skillful execution and mastery of the controls. They have much more in common with combo-oriented action games like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry than anything in the “Sports” category they’re often lumped into (and as a fan of those action games, I felt right at home). THPS 3 and 4 are just sublime to control.
Admittedly, the first two entries show their age a bit due to lacking the mechanics that flesh out the gameplay in 3/4, but they’re still solid. The 1+2 remaster is outstanding by the way, bringing in all those later mechanics for the full THPS experience. It’s a near-perfect example of a remaster done right.
Tetris. That game has aged extremely well. I played it on the original Gameboy. I last played it on a VR headset.
When I first heard the concept of VR Tetris I though “wow that’s dumb” but it’s sooooo good. One of the most zen experiences I’ve ever had. Tetris Effect freaking nailed it.
Looooove Tetris Effect. I’ve never tried VR but I’m real curious about it.
Neo Turf Masters. Picked it up recently for the first time and it’s the first time everything in a golf game has just intuitively clicked with me in terms of “oh, that’s what each club does”. Throw in fast pacing and simple controls and I got really hooked in a way I never do with sports games personally.
Symphony of the Night. I played it for the first time a few years ago, and it holds up really well next to modern metroidvanias, better than Super Metroid IMO.
Agreed. Absolutely gorgeous sprite work too. I’m so glad gaming has moved past the era where anything 2D was automatically considered inferior, because ironically many 3D games from that time aged far worse than SotN.
I never get tired of playing Kaamari Damacy. I do not know why. It’s just utterly bonkers fun.
Capcom vs. SNK 2. It’s good to the last drop, no matter when and where you play it. Bloody Roar: Primal Fury/Extreme also holds up far better than Sega’s Fighting Vipers series.
I almost always have a new run of Knights of the Old Republic I or II going. It’s almost 20 years old and the replayability still amazes me.
Talking on the nes era, original super Mario bros series still holds up.
Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!
