I didnt mention

All games by the Bitmap Brothers (Xenon2, God's, ...)
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Very unique style Jump,n,Run and action games.

Quote:Original post by Darkneon
I would add: Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the SNES.

That's a real HARD f*cker of a game!! I can't even get past the first screen.

Well this is another 'I like this game best' thread but I would like to add (if anybody actually reads this): Rayman 2 by Ubisoft. My favorite DirectX 3d game of all times, mainly because of the story, game play and level design.

I read it :) Another one:

Gex Enter the Gecko (the 3D version)
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Great comic-style-feeling in a 3D game.

Well, with the exception ot the tekken games and counter-strike, this is more of a "top 10 games every turn-based strategy/RPG game devloper should play" list. Not that I'm complaining, you've listed some of my all time favorite games.

Oh, and...

Quote:
8) Tekken 3, 4 and tag – PS1 and PS2 -The Tekken series is an excellent series of games that does it job very well. It has easy to use controls, intuitive moves, plus a larger variety of different characters, and moves to learn and use. All and all it is well balanced game, with no obvious flaws and is good place to look if you want to see what a well polished game should look like.

I have a serious flaw for you. Fighting (gameplay) is reduced to getting the first hit and juggling your way to victory. I've always liked the Tekken series for its graphics, characters, and story line, but as far as fighting goes these games are simply terrible. You want a real fighting game, play the original Super Smash Brothers (N64). While it doesn't have the amazing character animations and graphics of DOA or the variety and freakin' sweet levels of melee, it is simply an unparalleled experience in the fighting game genre. The game comes down to pure skill.

Granted I didn't read every post word for word, but I've only seen mention of computer games.

Computer (or console) games are not a league of their own- they have close cousins, and often ones they are more nearly related to than other computer games, in table top and live games. It's important for a designer to have a good grasp on what's out there in the computer world, but if you play one of each category you'll have a fine idea of what they're about- and generally realize how unimpressive most of them are. Clones, replicates, derivatives- almost all of them are- of the classics. There are only a couple game genres quite unique to computers; most notably simulations (like sim city) and to some small extent twitch based games found in the early platformers (sonic, Mario, etc)- though twitch games also derive themselves from real world games like pinball and its predecessors (if sonic spinball isn't obvious enough a throwback to their origins I don't know what is).

Otherwise, there are RPGs- hailing from novels, and the oldest story telling among bored groups of friends. Play some of the original table top RPGs and even look into larping. You'll learn more about the raw mechanics behind the predecessors of all Computer RPGs that way than examining their computerized clones- times have changed quite a bit, and the simplification and mutation that occurred in the transfer from pen and paper to computer needn't be further embraced; re-evaluate the roots of these games, you may be surprised with what you find. Even 'play' some choose your own adventure type books (there are quite a few of them) and experience storytelling in the raw.

And for puzzles, sure, games like Zelda are awesome (IMO among the best computer games there are), but evaluate table top puzzle games too- there are a bunch of really wacky ones out there. The complicated simplicity of these games is incomparable, and often easily integrated into a computer game without exasperating the game rules and frustrating the player.

For strategy, fall back on the oldest strategy games there are- chess, go, checkers- learn how they work, what makes them so fun, and most importantly why they have sustained for hundreds of years.

1&2. simulation (Sim City, and maybe a FPS of some kind)
3&4. twitch based (Sonic, Mario)
5&6. pen and paper RPG (D&D, Shadowrun)
7&8. puzzles (Zelda, Lemmings)
9&10. strategy- (Chess, Go)

That's what I'd say for ten games... Just don't forget the classics.

Quote:Original post by logain
ummm....no one likes Total Annihilation and everyone likes Starcraft? Pfft... I like both of 'em.

And does no one like the Baulder Gate series? I enjoyed those more then Bethseda's games.

I havn't played Total Annihilation, so I can't really make any judgement on it, although I've heard a lot of good things about it, so it's probably something I'll try to pick up a copy of sometime. Any particular features you'd recommend I look out for?

I listed the BG series.

Quote:Original post by Oluseyi
Not a single sports game on anyone's list. Interesting.

I don't really like the whole concept of sports games personally - these are things you can attempt in real life - sure, you might not be as good as you could be in a game, but you'll get real benefits in fitness in addition to the fun of playing.

That being said, I'm sure there's some excellent sports games out there, with some very interesting features.

Quote:Original post by Oluseyi
*snip*
There's a much bigger audience out there that clearly hasn't been captivated by any of the games you've mentioned. Why? What do they want? How can we deliver it? Can we deliver it?

Some excellent points there. Some excellent designs could probably be created by starting with absolutely no reference point, finding a single idea, and expanding from there into something with workable gameplay, without trying to fit it into a genre or category, or comparing it to existing games. On the other hand, this could equally as easily produce some very bad games.


Also, an addition to my list:
Pente: A two player boardgame (apparently it can be played with additional players, but I havn't tried this, and aren't sure if there are additional rules). Players take turns placing tokens on the board. Victory conditions are either being the first to get 5 tokens placed in an unbroken straight line (running in any direction including diagonals), or capturing 5 pairs of the other players tokens. Tokens can be captured by placing a token on each side of a pair of the other players tokens, as illustrated here (player one takes a pair of player two's pieces in each diagram):

* = p1 token, @ = p2 token, - = empty space--*--           -----           ---*-            --@--           -----           --@----@--           *@@*-           -@-----*--           -----           *----

Although the rules are very simple, the game is quite challenging, and can require quite a bit of thought, particularly if both players are of roughly equal skill.