Loopz's Ten Best......EVER.
Super Mario World- The pinnacle of Mario titles. Some will say Mario 3...they should be bitch-slapped. 96 worlds of incredible platforming, tons of secrets, amazing music...it doesn't get better than this.
Ridge Racer- The original powerslide king. Great early 90's rave tuneage, graphics that were a brilliant glimpse into the promise of 3D, and the sweetest, most subtle race handling ever. I know this title doesnt do a lot for most people, but for me it held a unique, hypnotic sway. Lord knows how many hours I blew trying to just eke out a better lap time.
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo- The fifth evolution of the game that revolutionized the modern fighting game. A great roster, tight mechanics, and some solid borrowed ideas from SNK make this THE classic Capcom fighter.
Final Fantasy IV- Has a better, tighter story ever been told in an RPG? No other game epitomizes the greatness of 16-bit RPG's like this masterpiece. Great, great music, and the epic tale of Cecil, Rydia, and Kain against the evil Golbez.
Samurai Shodown II- Yeah, it's got some occasional bad sprite collision. Ukyo is a cheap little fucker too. So what makes Samurai Shodown II such a hailed Neo classic? It's a work of art baby. One of the finest soundtracks of all time, an incredible roster of characters, great new ones, old standbys made better, beautiful backgrounds...there's a reason SSII is maybe the most commonly owned Neo title of all. It's fucking awesome, and you're not a Neo fan if you don't own one.
KoF'98- It doesn't have the best backgrounds, or the best tuneage. What it has is a sickeningly deep roster of very capable characters, a move list as long as your arm, and just like Super Turbo, is the fifth evolution of a truly great fighting franchise. If you're someone who plays fighting games to get better and beat people, KoF'98 is perhaps the best example of an ultra-playable tournament-caliber fighting game.
Bare Knuckle 2(Streets Of Rage 2)- Gasp as your Genesis produces unearthly furious beats you didn't think it could cough up. Then revel in the slick gameplay that offers you tons of options for beating the shit out of your opponents. Bare Knuckle 2 is the single best console beat-em up ever made.
Metal Slug 3- Yeah it's got aliens. So fucking what. It's also the longest Slug game, with endless replay value thanks to the branching paths. The music will make you ask how many souls SNK sacrificed to create such audible delights. The backgrounds and insanely animated attention to detail will make you wonder if the artists' wrists still hurt from drawing all that shit. The Slug series at its finest, military purists be damned.
Final Fight- The seminal arcade beat-em up, still endlessly playable today. Timeless characters, super fun gameplay, and a memorable soundtrack. I still remember watching the Japanese guy at my local college arcade beat that shit down with one quarter. Guy's infinite triple-jab combo OWNS you!!!!!
Zelda/Link To The Past- After enduring the less-than-awesome Adventure Of Link, many fans frothed at the mouth when seeing screenshots of the third Zelda, since it seemed to be returning to the roots of the third game. Little did they know they'd be getting that old-school buzz and a WHOLE lot more. LTTP still stands as perhaps the best action-RPG of all time, a perfect specimen of the genius of Miyamoto.
Honorable mention-
Castlevania SOTN
Musha Aleste
Halo
Gunstar Heroes
Contra III: The Alien Wars
