no_donatello

With oddballs like the Gamate, Super Vision and Gizmondo on here, I wish the GP32 had been included. Though it didn't sell huge numbers, it was pretty much the grandfather of all the emulation handhelds that exist today, and a lot of the emulators on PSP got their start on GP32. You could even buy digital versions of the few commercial games that existed for it. Really groundbreaking. Wikipedia is claiming 30,000 sold, so on par with the Gizmondo but actually on the market much longer.

What a weird list. I've literally never even heard of Re:Verse, and it's above the original PS1 title! For me, this series kind of ended when RE4 came out. RE4 is a fine game, but they've essentially been action games since then. Revelations was a nice halfway point between the two genres, though I never finished Revelations 2.. some day. My list would go:

1. Resident Evil (PS1/Saturn)
2. Code: Veronica
3. Resident Evil 2
4. Resident Evil 3
5. Resident Evil Zero

At this point, I've played the first game so many times I can complete it in a single evening. I did enjoy some of the side games, too, like the light gun games on Wii. Also Dino Crisis is essentially an RE game with a different theme, and I love it.

I just don't think there's a great need to carry your entire psp collection anymore. 32 gb is fine. I doubt many people are playing emulators on it anymore with much better and more powerful handheld available now. Also I agree the psp 2000 is just more comfortable, and I prefer it over the go.

Indeed the games that utilized the expansion cart might not have been huge draws outside of Japan, but Sega could have... you know, made games that utilized it that would appeal to Western audiences. Haha, yeah, crazy. I know.

I love the Saturn, and I suppose its failure led to the Dreamcast, which is my favorite console of all time, so I shouldn't really complain. But Sega management just lost it during the Saturn days. So many major titles passed over for Western release. Playing the Japanese Saturn library is almost like playing a completely different console compared to what we got in the West. In that respect, It's fortunate how easy it is to bypass region locking on Saturn with a Game Shark/Action Replay. Pretty sure my Action Replay actually has this memory expansion built in (right?), though I don't think I own anything that used it.

Pretty good selection. I'm in for this one.

No, it's stupid. I'm pretty sure the remaster of Yakuza 3 (probably all of them) includes one of these trigger warnings. Yeah, so sorry that this game that came out barely a decade ago about a different culture than yours might not align with your ultra sensitive sensibilities.

An okay cart. They're good, but none of them really stand out. Unfortunately, Pri Pri looks like a pretty basic GB puzzle game. It's a maybe on this one.

Indeed, I think I recall hearing that lag issues sprung up on the latest update and will be corrected, along with restoring the removed built-in games with the next update. No clear date on when that's coming though. The only things I've tested extensively yet are PS1 and Saturn, which seem to run fine.

@jackanape Yeah. Might be a few more days before you see activity. That's how mine worked. But things ARE shipping.

I ordered the Ultra module recently, and it shipped a couple days later, so I can confirm things are working as they should. But I need that light gun now! Then I can play the Saturn version of Policenauts the proper way, with a light gun and the translation patch applied.

@KingMike Yes, indeed there was an English version of Digimon Anode/Cathode. I followed these "rumors" (I mean, they were true, but exactly what to look for was a bit unclear) and found a bundled console on eBay that matched the description. Worst case, I got myself a new-in-box WSC. But yep, entire game in English!

Edit: Looking at my cart, It looks like a Korean release, since it has Korean text on the cartridge's sticker art (yet the game is in English). It's an odd release. Happy I own it!

It is so hard to say. I would say the ones I spent the most time with were Yakuza 0 and probably Yakuza 5, but I did love 6 and the way it wrapped up Kazuma's story. Yakuza 3 took place in Okinawa, which was such an interesting setting and has solidified my desire to some day visit that part of Japan. Dead Souls is the most hated, I think, but it is so silly, and I love it for that. I played through both Kenzan and Ishin using translations off of YouTube and GameFAQs and absolutely loved them. I can't even remember which one I hunted a giant bear in (Yakuza 4??), but that was awesome.

I honestly don't know how to answer. If I must pick one, then it's Yakuza 6!

Xbox won't have to be hardware because it will be an app on every "smart" device. I mean, I don't really pay a ton of attention to modern gaming, but that's basically what "Game Pass" is already, right? I hate it, but it's smart.

I was always fascinated by this console. I remember picking up a magazine that was previewing the device and had an "actual size" image of the device on one page. Indeed, it was tiny, and I wanted it. Of course, it never left Japan. I ended up picking up each version (B&W, Color and Swancrystal) and a smattering of games on eBay when they were all fairly cheap. Klonoa is my favorite title. However, the Wonderswan's library is very Japanese language-heavy, so most of its more notable titles are out of the non-Japanese speakers' reach. Even this hamster-raising game I picked up is filled with text!

There's also a blatant Zelda clone on the console called Star Hearts that looks great and remains high on my "some day I'll get around to it" list.

I mean, you could have called it Until Dawn 2: The Quarry, and people would have accepted it was Until Dawn 2. They play almost exactly the same.

Move Dreamcast to number one and Saturn to number two, and you've got an accurate list, though I understand this order as well. I do wonder who voted for Pico. As an educational toy, it is pretty cool. And since it only has 20 or so released games in the US, it's an easy platform to get a complete collection.

@ChromaticDracula I remember when they announced the original Yakuza, there were a couple screenshots but the description almost sounded word for word like Shenmue. Explore a specific area of Japan, immersive story, minigames, gambling, fighting mechanics. And I do think that the original Yakuza was sort of Shenmue if you sort of zoom out a bit. You can't interact with every object and NPC, but it did follow a similar structure. I love them both (though Shenmue remains my favorite game ever) and have played basically all the games. Not entirely sold on this new RPG mechanic, but they're still making the brawler ones, so it's cool.

The new "Like a Dragon" series is a good starting point if you like RPGs. If you want to start from the beginning — and the first game's story is easily one of the best and most memorable — you should start with Yakuza Kiwami, the remake of the OG game.

I remember being very offended by memory cards in the 32-bit era. Yet another way to nickel and dime gamers! In a world of microtransactions and loot boxes, it's a take that makes me laugh now.

Outside of the VMU, I can't say I have any fond memories of memory cards. They were just something you had to have, and, if you had a third party memory card, something you constantly feared would cut your progress off cold when it corrupts.

The VMU, however, is a special device. I would sneak it to school with me in middle school and play minigames or the homebrew version of pac-man I downloaded off of a terrible-looking Dreamcast web browser compatible website. It was great. Too bad their battery life was kind of bad.

Ghostbusters is a franchise that, like Jurassic Park, seems absolutely perfect to translate to video games, but they've mostly failed. Ghostbusters The Video Game was definitely the closest they came to getting it right. I remember it being a little tedious at times, but I definitely liked it. Still waiting for a Jurassic Park game that captures that movie as well. Trespasser is probably the one that tried hardest to make you feel like you were in that world. I have a weird fascination and fondness for Trespasser, though I can't say it's a good game.

Absolutely I identify games and consoles with certain periods of my life. I bought my Dreamcast in middle school and right around the time my wife and I started dating. I had a lot of time to game, and because the Dreamcast was on the way out, I gathered a collection quickly. The Wii was the first console I bought with my "own money," so I identify it and its games with starting my "adult years." Replaying these games does "take me back."

But while these consoles and games are linked to certain periods of my life, retro games are just better and more interesting than games being released now. I still keep a toe in modern gaming. Yakuza, for example, is a series I continue to enjoy. But by and large, "modern gaming" has moved beyond my taste, and that's okay. I have more games from the third to sixth console generation (and maybe some seventh gen — they were okay) to play than I will ever be able to in a lifetime, especially since I so often replay my favorites. I'm fine with this.

@NatiaAdamo Yes, indeed (At least that's the story). But it's also a completely different 3d platforming game developed by Westone, aka dev behind Wonder Boy, and only released in Japan (despite literally including English voice acting and mostly English text) because Sega. https://youtu.be/HSdQenLqOnI?si=SJgNumE3y5Rl6HDn

Can someone point me to compatible paper for the Gameboy Printer? I have one, but I thought it was basically obsolete tech since the paper is unavailable now. Just as a curiosity, it would be nice to get it running again.

I don't think anyone will ever agree on this list. The Nintendo DS has such a huge and diverse library you're really going to get a lot of opinions.

I am pleased to NOT see Spirit Tracks on this list. Take the freedom of sailing and put it on rails, making it unbelievably boring AND frustrating? FUN! But enough about my contempt for that particular game. I would add Feel the Magic XY/XX to this list, the Sonic Rush series, Yoshi's Island DS.. I could go on, I'm sure.

I've gotta say I thought Nintendo's handheld dominance was going to end when I saw the PSP, but their ridiculous looking and underpowered (in comparison) console turned out to be amazing. (PSP was pretty great, too.)

Did not know about this. According to the link, it unlocks when you press start 15 times per second for an unspecified amount of time. Sounds tough, but if that's all it is, wouldn't any controller with a "slow" mode switch work (which generally just rapid fires the pause screen)? Fairly common feature on third-party controllers back then.

I got the Saturn one. I wasn't able to get my hands on the Master System one, but this one I MUST have! I mean, I have no idea what I'll use any of them for, but that's not important!

I don't really care about any of this at all. But they countersued him for a sum that perfectly matched his high scores? Were they taking this case seriously at all?

These are pretty much what's on Piko's Evercade carts, so once I get my Polymega, it's not a big loss. But what a strange deal to strike. These were advertised as being included games with the units. Unless I missed it, I never saw any note about them being time-limited. It's not what I bought the Polymega for, but that feels like false advertising (again, unless I missed an asterisk somewhere).

With as many great games as Saturn has, it's amazing to me it couldn't achieve at least GameCube/OG Xbox levels of success — as in, probably enough to break even but not much else. I remember, as a kid, I really thought Saturn had no games. That's a failure in marketing. I was a Genesis kid, and they lost me. I regret it now, but at the same time, their Saturn output skewed towards a little bit older demographic than I was at the time (six years old in 1994). I would realize my fatal mistake after picking up a Dreamcast in either 2001 or 2002 and remembering that Sega, at least at the time, simply made the best games. I picked up a Saturn soon after. Thankfully, that meant I was able to pick up a lot of these title before their prices started going stratospheric, though I'm still actively collecting for the Saturn and Dreamcast now.

It was obviously a bad idea to release an add-on that could potentially take sales away from your brand new console. Obviously that did not happen because 32x failed very quickly. Saturn had other problems.

That being, said, there is fun to be had on the 32X. Kolibri is a personal favorite of mine. Hummingbird shmups are not easy to come by!

I would put the Renovation and Jaleco carts towards the top. Can't decide if I like EDF for SNES or arcade better. For some reason, I suck less at the SNES version. Such a great game!

This is the last Xbox console I've felt the need to purchase, owing largely to the fact that this is the last console they made an attempt to woo the Japanese market.

Wow! An entire game hidden behind a password. I wonder if it has any adjustments versus the original release of Clockwork Knight.

I like these games. Like others have mentioned, they may not have been the right games for that time period. If it wasn't full 3D, the gaming press would call it "not next gen." And, indeed, 3D is what gamers were after. Also this game in particular was maybe a bit too cute for edgy 90s gamers. But, nowadays, go back to the 3D games released in 1994 and 1995, and I bet you'll find this plays a lot better than most of those games. haha.

A very underappreciated console in modern times. It's just a major pain to play in its original form. Retron 5 with Master System/GG adapter is the way, imo, if you want to play real carts. It even let me apply the translation patch to Sylvan Tale.

As for the list, happy to see Tail's Adventure and Sylvan Tale. Tail's Adventure is massively underrated. And Sylvan Tale, if it featured a different main character (particularly one that wears green), would probably be considered a classic among early handheld games.

Awesome! Don't care what anyone else says. Death Crimson OX is fun. I haven't spent as much time with Death Crimson 2, though the gameplay looks very, very similar, but it does have a large amount of text for a light gun game. Probably not super essential to understand the story, but the translated menus will be nice. Looking forward to it!

One of my favorite Evercade carts. I was a Genesis kid, but I didn't have any of these growing up.

My personal picks would be Ridge Racer V and Ridge Racer on the PSP. While they might not have the most content, they are the ones that I experienced at console launch and really got blown away by the graphics, and obviously they play great, particularly PSP.

I will note that the best thing about R: Racing Evolution is that the GameCube version came with a second disc containing Pac-Man Versus, one of the best party games ever.

I love looking through old magazines from the 90s-early 2000s era of video games. They are amazing time capsules, and it's really interesting to see how games rated back in the day. It's also nice because I was born in 1988, so my reading ability wasn't so good in the first few years of the 90s, so I missed out on a lot of those magazines. It was just pictures to me at the time! haha.

IMO, The greatest console ever released, and nothing has come close since. The Dreamcast had so much personality, and you can tell that Sega put everything into this thing. They did not play it safe. They released any crazy concept their devs proposed (I mean, Segagaga, an RPG about the financial troubles of your own company). Also shout out to Capcom, who definitely contributed to making the Dreamcast the legend that it is. RE: Code Veronica is still the peak of the Resident Evil series for me.

@dmcc0 Yeah, I have the physical GBA cart ordered, too. I will get over it, but I think it's not the best form to make the game available elsewhere before the backers who made it possible get their copies. But I'm glad to hear it's a good game!

How about you make Grandia IV instead, you cowards! Game Arts has been surviving on rereleases of their classic titles for years. Sad to see. It doesn't even look like they're releasing Japan-only trash mobile games.

@WoottWinds Fishing Resort! I love that game. It's so chill, and the motion controls work quite well. Yuji Naka put out some cool stuff on Wii, with Fishing Resort, Let's Tap (that theme song!), Rodea the Sky Soldier. Ivy the Kiwi is all right, but it's better on the DS with touch controls IMO.

This list is heavy on the first party, but it is a good list. The Wii is not my favorite console, but I do still go back to it. It's also special for being the first console I bought with my own money after becoming an "adult."

Currently playing through Fatal Frame 4 on it with the translation patch. Also a shout out to Elebits. The game doesn't deserve on this list, but it is one of my favorites on the system. The controls can be frustrating, but it is a game like no other.

I like the size and form factor. The triggers look a little uncomfortable, but otherwise, it looks good. I doubt many games in Evercade's library have heavy trigger usage anyway. This is a good replacement for the OG Evercade, leaving the EXP as a premium version. I honestly wonder if this will negatively impact sales of the EXP. I'm in for the Taito version.

I really love this game, but I could never get into its sequels. I just recently revisited Warrior Within, and they really lost the magic.

I actually did enjoy the 2008 reboot Prince of Persia. It prioritized the best part of the game, the platforming, and deprioritized the worst, the combat (though there is still combat, and it's.. okay.). It's also a testament to why modern gaming has become so stale, when a game that sells 2.5 million is considered a "dead end."

@Poodlestargenerica Yes, that would make it a lot easier to emulate. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be full speed on my Retroid Pocket 2s. Kind of surprising since the graphics are fairly basic. Probably going to end up playing it on real hardware.

I appreciate the dev's hard work on this. I've been following its progress on their Twitter, and they even edited signs to include English letters along with the original Japanese text. Very thorough work!

@-wc- Switch plus Steam Deck is a legit setup to cover modern gaming. I don't do a ton of modern gaming, but that almost completely covers you. I honestly can't think of a single Xbox Series or PS5 exclusive that I'm missing, especially since Sony has started PC releases.

@smoreon If you are a fan of Shenmue, Shenmue III is worth your time. I would compare it to the first Shenmue where, arguably, not a whole lot happened plot-wise, as it was just the first chapter in the story (while Shenmue II contained a few chapters). Shenmue III had a couple chapters, but it really felt like it was fleshing out the story for Shenmue IV, which will be more action packed, like Shenmue II. Whether that was the best idea... Well, I love Shenmue, so I ate up every second. The ending was kind of a letdown, but it did get me excited for IV, if that ever happens. -_-

The Sega Genesis is my most nostalgic console by far. It is where my gaming story began, and it is the reason I've been passionate about gaming — and Sega games in particular — my whole life. I go through this list, and I realize how many stone cold classics there are. The list almost makes itself, and it could be twice as long easily!

Edit: Case in point, this list needs more Ecco the Dolphin. But it's still a great list!

I have very little experience with Castlevania. I've tried a couple of the games, but that's about it. After getting the PC Engine/TurboGrafx Mini, however, I played and completed this game. It's very good and held up to the hype I heard for years.

@Porco Frankly, outside of very old consoles like SNES/Genesis, the free emulators are all a pain in the neck to get running. Especially things like Saturn and N64. This is a plug and play emulation option, and it allows you to install your entire collection to the device. I have very, very expensive Saturn games that my one year old will eventually want to play. I will feel much better having him load it on the Polymega than grabbing my copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga. I know that's a very niche use case, but it's a selling point for me. It also plays some very obscure consoles, like the TurboGrafx CD and Neo Geo CD, which is nice.

Now, if there's a market large enough to sustain this very expensive retro console (now $799 for the full set)... well, I just hope I get my preorder.

I love the Sega CD, and I hate when it gets lumped together with the 32X as a "failure." It was a niche product at the time. While CDs would eventually become mainstream, they were pretty bleeding edge at the time. I wanted one badly, but when you're relying on birthdays and Christmases to get these big items, it just never happened back then.

I would disagree with a couple inclusions on this list, like Monkeys Island and Night Trap. Those were significant at the time, but I would not really recommend those to people trying the platform now. But otherwise, great list! The Sega CD is underrated, in my opinion. It just sucks how expensive some of these games have become today.