Resident Evil 2, PlayStation

Capcom‘s Resident Evil 2 really elevated the survival horror genre to great heights, way back in 1998 when it was first released.

Mostly because it was more gritty and serious than the first game, but also because it was a much more complex storyline in this one: with two different characters playing the same scenario, but from different perspectives (and provided on two different CD-ROMs). Effectively giving you two games in one. So you play one character on a ‘A’ game, and the other on a ‘B’ game, by loading your save in from having completed one half of the game.

And the actions of one character in the game have an effect on what the second character experiences in their game later.

This – in itself – is a dazzling feature, but there is so much more to Resident Evil 2 than that.

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Resident Evil HD Remaster, PC

Let’s face it: Resident Evil (one) was never the best game to begin with…

When you make a story-based game, the first thing you start with is a script. And Resident Evil‘s script (mostly notably: its dialogue) has always been laughable.

With such memorable lines as: “Thanks for saving my life! Now, shouldn’t you be elsewhere?” and character mood swings bordering on the insane, you’d be forgiven for writing Resident Evil off with derisory laughter.

But a lot of people think that it’s still a great game.

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Luigi’s Mansion, GameCube

Luigi’s Mansion was first released in 2001 on the Nintendo GameCube, and was a launch title if I remember correctly (meaning: it was available when the GameCube was first released).

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Super Tennis, Super Nintendo

Still my favourite tennis game of all time. On any system.

Super Tennis on the SNES is so good; so much fun to bend shots around the net; such a good balance between cartoony-ness and realism, that it is always a joy to revisit.

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Top Spin, XBox

PAM Development‘s 2003 release, Top Spin, was the moment when tennis games came of age and went full 3D.

From Match Point on the ZX Spectrum, via Super Tennis on the Super Nintendo, to this… Arguably the pinnacle of all modern tennis games.

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Super Mario World, Super Nintendo

Mario games may be looked down upon by some gamers as “for kids”, but this game proves otherwise.

Super Mario World (1990) may look and sound like a kid’s game on the surface, but – underneath the hood – the gameplay is for pros…

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Daikatana, Game Boy Color

Not the infamous Ion Storm first-person failure (also known as John Romero’s Daikatana), but a Japanese, Zelda-style implementation of the Daikatana franchise on the Game Boy Color, first released in 2000.

And it is surprisingly good too!

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The Sacred Armour of Antiriad, Commodore 64

Released by Palace Software in 1986, The Sacred Armour of Antiriad (known as “Rad Warrior” in North America), is an action platform game featuring a half naked hero, called Tal, who must find a set of armour (called “Antiriad”), wear it, and go off on an adventure looking for trouble.

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Super Mario Sunshine, GameCube

Games-players will always argue among themselves about which is the greatest “retro” Mario game of all time.

For me it is a toss-up between Super Mario Sunshine (2002) and Super Mario World (1990) on the SNES.

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