My Retro Games
So as you can (probably) tell from my Laptop page, I enjoy going to estate/garage sales and other places where old crap gets sold. I've been doing this with my dad for as long as I can remember, and my first game console from one of these sales was my OG Dot Matrix Gameboy that we got in a lot with a shitload of Thomas the Tank engine toys for like $2.
I have a ton of old consoles, even the variants of some like all 3 main Sega Genesis revisions and an XBox 360 Fat model I got when my Slim died (yes my slim died and my Fat model is still going), so I think keeping it to my favorites from each company is the route to go.
Sega - The Genesis
Sega is a game company many need no introduction to. I should know, I played the hell out of my Mini Sega Genesis 3 model after my first ever surgery in 2017.
My dad's main console in the 90s was his Genesis (He still has the box and strongly recommends Kid Chameleon btw), and his love of it has sort of passed on to me. While yes, the Super Nintendo has a better library, when you find a good Genesis game, you find a good genesis game. While yes, I have a Dreamcast, the scarcity of games for it and the really lackluster controller makes it less than ideal for me to play, especially since it won't read burned games for some reason.
One of my favorites on the console is Rocket Knight Adventures, which I unfortunately haven't found the time to beat, but I for sure love what I've played. I've somehow wound up with about 3 copies over the years, so I definitely have no shortage of ways to play it.
Another game I like is Spider-Man and Venom: Absolute Carnage. Again, haven't beat it, but it's very difficult and I usually run out of continues. I know it had a SNES version, but seeing as how it looks identical to the Genesis version, it's not worth paying more just to play it on the "better" system. I'm probably gonna get my Spider-Man obsessed buddy to sit down with me and down the whole thing in one sitting.
Another classic Superhero Game is The Adventures of Batman and Robin. I didn't beat this one either but if you know anything about this game you know that it's basically Contra but with Batman, which is where all the difficulty comes from. Absolute classic, I love it, fully recommend.
One that I absolutely remember from after my surgery was the original Mortal Kombat. I was recovering and I had just watched the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie (a really good choice to watched while stoned out of your mind on painkillers btw) and I saw this game a week or two later nad gave it a shot. I remember beating the ladder a couple times (only as Johnny Cage, the best character save maybe for Raiden), and being a tad scared to use the blood code and eventually relenting on a night my parents went to bed before me. I remember getting into an argument with a friend at the time about whether or not it's the best home version of MK, and pro tip. If you emulate your retro games on your pc, can you shut the fuck up if someone wants to play it on old hardware? No Owen. I'm not going to install MAME on my family's living room PC just for Mortal Kombat. That's dumb and you should feel dumb for even thinking that.
Where was I? Oh yeah, my absolute favorite game is Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Yeah, I couldn't go without bringing up a Sonic game but it's undoubtedly important to the console. I actually did beat this one, at least a couple times through. I remember Tails was my favorite and I was bummed I couldn't get his Super form until I got all the Mega emeralds or whatever they're called. I specifically wanted it because S&K was the only Genesis Sonic game my dad didn't have, and seeing as how I couldn't play it on my iPad I excitedly sat down and played it. I remember being blown away by how the story was told. Obviously the story wasn't that big, but having cutscenes the way it did was really cute and it made the game even more memorable to me. I absolutely adore how it depicts Knuckles' redemption. Overall, one of the greats, there's a reason it's so widely regarded, and play it AS SOON AS YOU CAN.
Nintendo 64
Admittedly, my history with the N64 is a bit special. At the time I got mine, it was the oldest Nintendo console I owned, and I already had Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on 3ds, so I didn't feel the need to get those games immediately for it. What it did have, however, is a crisp copy of Mario 64, an EA Sports controller (honestly not that bad of a placeholder while waiting on my real one to come in), and a dream.
My second game was Goldeneye 007. That game is honestly one of the main reasons why I love me some boomer shooters. I vividly remember playing Half-Life and feeling a hint of Goldeneye in bits and pieces of the gameplay. I grew up with Goldeneye on my DS, so playing the original version was such a magical experience that I wish I could go through again. Also the movie it's based on is also really good. Pierce Brosnan is my favorite Bond and it's a shame his last movie was Die Another Day. Any movie that starts with the concept "James Bond didn't stop 9/11 because he was in a Korean torture camp" is doomed to fail.
A first person shooter that does everything Goldeneye does and does it, dare I say, a lot more impressively is Perfect Dark. Full voice acting, an original campaign where choices made in the levels will actually effect the rest of the story, AND it all runs on this nugget from 1996? Goldeneye has it's place in my heart but Perfect Dark also shares that space. Remember kids, Polyamory is great, especially when you start cheating on your partner with someone just like them but better in every way.
It's kinda hard to talk about the N64 without mentioning it's must haves, it's a console that really relies on it's exclusive titles. It's really easy to go "my favorite games are Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, etc., etc.". So if you're looking for an N64 with game recommendations, you really can't go wrong with the classics.