The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda the classic Nintendo franchise next to Mario produced by Shigeru Miyamoto. 

The first Zelda game, "The Legend of Zelda" originally came out 1986 on the NES. This was the game that brought console gaming to a whole new level of complexity. Up until that point people were used to play simple games such as jump and runs on their consoles, and usually having to beat them in one sitting. 

Just by taking note of the fact that "The Legend of Zelda", being sold in a golden cartridge, was the first (and only?) NES game to include a battery for saving your progress you can get a sense of the amount of hours of gameplay you can get out of this game.

It's huge. 

The player takes control of Link, a young boy in a green robe.

The game gives you no tutorial whatsoever, you start in a valley without any goal or instructions. Soon you will get your first sword handed to you, giving you the tool to progress further and onto the first dungeon you will eventually come by.

In each dungeon you'll find one new weapon or tool and heart container, guarded by the dungeon's boss. You don't necessarily need to beat the dungeon's bosses, but the extra heart containers will come in handy the further you progress in the game.

You do however need the weapon/tool to make your way to the next dungeon. It may bombs that let you destroy a rock blocking a passage or a raft, helping you to get over a lake.

This mechanic (which was later copied in the Metroid series, also by Nintendo) allows each player to play at his own pace. The game doesn't rely on scripted events to let him continue and it brings up a great open world feeling.

This formula was kept in every game of the franchise to be released since then (except for Zelda 2), no matter if it was a 2D or 3D game.

If you haven't already played a Zelda game (I bet by now everybody and their grandma has) you should crawl out from under your rock and give the franchise a try.

You don't have to start with the first one (which is also by far the hardest (except for maybe Zelda 2)) as the franchise offers  no continuos story anyway. 

If you want to start with a 2D Zelda try either "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" on the NES or "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" on the Game Boy (which was by the way my first Zelda game).

If you'd rather try a 3D Zelda go give "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" or "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" a try. 

I don't think the other installments are bad, but it's just my personal recommendation.

DooM

Not gonna lie, I haven't played Doom back when it was released. My father always told me stories about how he used to play Doom with his friends back in 1994. He told me about factory halls and abandoned space stations. It really creeped me out as a kid.

I never got these pictures out my mind until I finally decided to pick up Ultimate Doom about 3 years ago. It really blew my mind. 

You can still play this game today, and this is no fake nostalgia speaking here. 

It's quite a simple and easy shooter compared to todays games, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game. By no means at all. 

The soundtrack is my favorite from any game or movie up to this day. The game also offers fair amount of different enemies and environments.

The stages are recognizable and you'll know them by heart pretty quickly. They never get boring though. One reason for that are the many secrets (such as hidden rooms with guns you normally have at that point in the game) the developers put into the levels. 

One thing I really like about the game is the huge number of difficulty levels to choose from. 

You decide wether you want to do a quick easy run through the stages on "Hurt me plenty" or a challenging experience on "Ultra-Violence".

Today there are thousands of custom maps and mods available on the internet, in case you ever get bored with the original stages.

I never really got into Doom 2 but for all I know it seems like a pretty good follow-up for the great game that is Doom.

If you never tried Doom I'd recommend playing it using the Doomsday engine or zDoom if you want try the multiplayer mode.

By the way, I made the 800x800 cover for the soundtrack up there a few months ago. Feel free to use it in case you want to add it to iTunes.

P.S.: I know Doom's not really a S/NES game but technically I think there was a SNES version of it


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The Castlevania Series

Another classic series by Konami that originates on the NES.

In the early Castlevania games you're playing as the whip swinging, demon slaying Simon Belmond.

As you towards the end of the stage you fight monsters not by shooting or jumping on them, but by hitting them with your whip. 

Unlocks are found in torches spread throughout the stages. 

The main difference between Castlevania and other games from its time you'll notice is the setting. 

Unlike in games like Mario or Contra (Probotector in Europe) you won't find yourself walking through colorful mushroom worlds or futuristic cities, but rather old, european castles and forests with a creepy atmosphere.

The music is once again excellent.

Everyone should try a Castlevania game once, 'cause this ain't your run of the mill jump and run.

If you've never played a Castlevania game I'd recommend to start with one of these (in that order)

1) Castlevania (NES)

2) Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

3) Castlevania 3 - Dracula's Curse (NES)

The Mega Man series

The Mega Man series by Capcom has always been one of my favorites when it comes to 8 bit games.

They offer a good level of challenge and that special arcade feeling.

And by "arcade feeling" I don't mean the gameplay, but the difficulty level.

The Mega Man games have always been some of the most challenging ones on the system. It's impossible to beat them without dying dozens of times, even for experienced "gamers" (hate that expression). 

After getting though each stage you get to fight an endboss. After each boss you unlock a new weapon or skill.
There are only 9 Stages (and 9 bosses) in each game. They're that difficult.

The soundtrack is one of the most recognizable ones on the NES.

The series kinda went downhill on the SNES but it's not like there aren't enough games on the NES alone.

If you've got a few hours go try them. I'd recommend to start with Megaman 1, 2 or 3 on the NES. 

The Metroid Series

What I really like about the Metroid games is the way the games don't rely on story to bring you through the game.

Maybe you see a short intro "cutscene" of you landing on a planet but that's it, you don't need anything more.

"Here, that's you, that's your ship, you're in space, go explore."

You walk a little and eventually you'll come by a powerup. Using this powerup you often can proceed to new areas in which you'll find more powerups. But the powerups aren't a mere alternative to keys, no, they're also fun to use. The rockets for example, great way to access new areas and at the same time give you a strong weapon against bosses. Or the grappling hook, I'm not even going to bother talking about it here.

Anyway, if you havn't already checked out the Metroid games, do it. My recommendation is to start with either Super Metroid or Zero Mission (kind of a reimagining of the NES Metroid).

Can't recommend Metroid for the NES though.

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