David Hunter
Growing up as a kid in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, I had a front row seat (along with hundreds of thousands of others) for the Nintendo/Sega war and later the entrance of the Sony Playstation. Along with the console war, which has continued today between Microsoft/Sony, came a slew of hundreds of memorable games that populate Top 100 and Top 50 lists all over the internet.
With that said, I thought I would highlight the Top 5 games I practically wore out playing as a kid from roughly 1990 – 1998 when I started entering my teen years and played fewer games as a result. Some of these titles were mentioned previously on this site.
Honorable Mentions
– James Bond’s Goldeneye 007 for the N64. This was the multiplayer game of the N64, just above the wrestling game WCW/nWo Revenge among my friends and I. The single player was solid and the soundtrack was one of the best parts of the game but it was all about gathering friends at sleepovers, running a quasi-tournament, and killing one other via the 4 way split screen with rocket launched grenade bombs pinballing off ceilings and walls.
– Cool Boarders 2 for the PS1. The first game was a fun one but limited in its game modes. Cool Boarders 2 hit the scene with a solid (albeit limited) single player mode but where it made its name for me were the Moves Competition (completing as many tricks as you could before the timer ran out speeding downhill) and the Halfpipe Competition. I spent hours first trying to top the 30 point barrier to unlock Gray the alien, then trying to see how many twists and spins I could pull off with him. My best trick accomplishment was a 1440 McTwist.
Now let’s get on to the countdown!
Number 5: Excitebike
System: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Release Date: November 30th, 1984
The art design was okay and the track designs were cool (as was the single player mode) this is here solely because of the track creator. I would spend hours trying to design tracks that were insanely tough only to then play through them and constantly be tweaking them. The most fun thing for me were the jumps including trying to space out the jumps for improbability (e.g. two in a row very close together that irl would lead to an instantaneous death via crash) or set up a jump so I could land over the speed jumps Evel Knievel style.
Number 4: Super Mario Brothers 3
System: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Release Date: February 12th, 1990
The first game was a classic and the second game was okay for what it was but this was the game that really pushed Mario over the top for me. You have to traverse worlds each with their own unique set ups and stylization, control different individual Marios thanks to varied caps that gave him different powers, and face new baddies throughout. Being able to play as Mario or Luigi was exciting and little details such as sliding down slopes was a blast all in its own.
Number 3: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
System: Super Nintendo (SNES)
Release Date: August 1992
Released on the SNES via adaptation from the Arcade Version, I had an absolute blast playing this and it’s still held up well. The sound track is fantastic, the varied levels are gorgeous in design, and swinging the Foot Soldiers at the screen is one of the most genius inventions (even tying into a level plot!) to ever hit a video game in my opinion. The characters are pretty interchangeable for me but I’m a huge fan of Donatello so it was fun getting to make him into a Foot Soldier kicking badass compared to his mostly nerdy television personality.
Number 2: Mutant League Hockey
System: Sega Genesis
Release Date: 1994
Oh, man… you take a sport like hockey and combine it with monsters and I was so there! This actually followed up Mutant League Football, which was fun, but this was just so much better suited for the entire concept. Fast skating, players blowing up creating holes in the ice, players being able to dismember opponents for forfeit wins, and gigantic mouths for nets were just a part of the excitement and fun. The close up fight scenes are a neat concept given real life hockey (and in a way, reminded me of an onscreen Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots type fight) and the blathering of the coaches may’ve been my favorite part of the entire game. The lineup of teams was also rather impressive as there were 20 teams (12 spoofing NHL teams) and 3 All-Star teams.
Number 1: Tecmo Super Bowl
System: Sega Genesis
Release Date: 1993
This was a major upgraded version of the NES 1991 release with the ability to play 3 seasons consecutively, a cut scene for an automatic dive play, and the ability to edit playbooks during the game. While the NES Tecmo Bowl is probably more fondly remembered for BO, this game included every single NFL Team with a larger roster, far more varied plays, and varied weather conditions such as rain and snow. Without really realizing it, I was all over the Run and Shoot in this video game as I loved being the Houston Oilers and just stat padding the yardage and scores against opponents. Tecmo Super Bowl II followed and was forgettable while Tecmo Super Bowl III was okay but never quite capture the fun vibe of the original games.
So there you have it, my Top 5 childhood videogames. Thoughts? What would your Top 5 be? Comment below!
