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No One Can Stop Mr. Talking Time's Top 50 32 & 64-Bit Video Games!

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
And here's mine. Got a lot more than I expected.

  1. Megaman Legends
  2. Final Fantasy 9
  3. Grim Fandango
  4. Valkyrie Profile
  5. MisAdventures Of Tron Bonne
  6. Brave Fencer Musashi
  7. Paper Mario
  8. Final Fantasy 7
  9. StarFox 64
  10. Ghost In the Shell
  11. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
  12. Street Fighter Alpha 2
  13. Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger
  14. Incredible Crisis
  15. Star Wars Episode 1: Racer
  16. Panzer Dragoon
  17. Pocket Fighter
  18. Rival Schools
  19. Dance Dance Revolution
  20. Bust a Groove
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Oh what the heck, here's my list as well... TT tends to be pretty inline with my tastes, especially from that point in my life, so I had a lot of hits with the Top 50 this time around.


*01. Chrono Cross
*02. Final Fantasy Tactics
*03. Castlevania: SotN
*04. Final Fantasy IX
*05. Legend of Mana
*06. The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
*07. Vagrant Story
08. Myth: The Fallen Lords - My RTS (or RTT if you wanna be picky) - the combo of being streamlined to battle (no resource/building loop) and actual 3D physics got me into the genre for the first and pretty much only time.
*09. Breath of Fire IV
*10. Bushido Blade
~11. Incredible Crisis
*12. Xenogears
13. Marathon Infinity - My FPS. I think I picked Infinity to line up the dates but M2: Durandal has a smoother campaign. But editing levels was what I really spent a long time on.
*14. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
~15. Wild Arms
*16. Super Mario 64
17. Tempest 2000 - There is no better "it's 3am in the college dorm lounge" game.
18. Tekken 3 - My 3D fighter; this entry pulled me in and I stayed with the series for the next several as well.
*19. Final Fantasy VII
20. Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2 - The most adorable console roguelike, from before rougelikes were cool.
*21. Parappa the Rapper
*22. Parasite Eve
*23. Mario Kart 64
24. Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure - Someone wanted to make a musical and they went for it. I appreciate that.
25. Sexy Parodius (Honestly I was stretching for a joke entry this time. I had Typing of the Dead here but it's really in the next gen.)


Now I just need to remember to get in my office supplies list before the deadline...
 

YangusKhan

does the Underpants Dance
(He/Him/His)
I'll list the games on mine that didn't make it anywhere. It's pretty short!

14. Panzer Dragoon - PDS and Zwei are certainly more meaty than the original, but I love the evocative graphics and music of the original so much. It was also one of my first memories of seeing this generation's games: I used to stay at an after school program in elementary school, and one time someone brought in a Sega Saturn somehow with Panzer Dragoon. This was before I started really getting any info about the Playstation or N64, and seeing this game as one of my first 3D games ever certainly left a strong impression.

16. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Full disclosure I've only played this for like a dozen hours, so it was mostly a vote for its reputation and off the strength of those few hours.

21. Tekken 2 - I may have voted for the wrong Tekken, but I honestly couldn't remember if the one I owned was 2 or 3 but I think 2 was it so that's what I put. I didn't really stick with this franchise after the PS1 and didn't come back to it until Tekken Tag 2.

24. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - I've never beaten this game and I really should get around to it, but I always reached a point where I couldn't figure out where to go next. Anyway, this game is the premiere example of a 3D Adventure Game to me; perhaps if I had been more into Tomb Raider, it would've lost its spot to that. But it really is an excellent evolution of 3D platforming and action, with obviously a compelling story, atmosphere, and voice acting to go along with it.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Sounds like it was closer than expected, but good to see SotN get the top spot. It's definitely my favorite from that era. Funnily enough, I wasn't completely sold on it back in the day. I'd enjoyed the classic games, of course, but I wouldn't say I was an absolute mega-fan like I was for some other series. But I did eventually read several glowing reviews, and coupled with the Greatest Hits release (I didn't get a PSX until Christmas '99), it was too tempting to just give it some run. To say I was floored was an understatement. I still run through the game every now and then, and I'm still finding out little ridiculous touches either through happenstance or other people discovering said touches. It's absolutely a labor of love. And the lack of difficulty really doesn't bother me much - I love the wealth of attack options and how so many of them completely unbalance the game in the player's favor. For me, sometimes just the simple act of movement done right makes a game a blast to play, and what's here is remarkably smooth and responsive (with a few quirks here and there).

As for my list and how much actually got on it, I reckon it went pretty well. (Bold made the Top 64, italics were honorable mention.)

EDIT: Looks like most are bolding the games that didn't make it, so I'm swapping to that format.

1) Symphony of the Night
2) Paper Mario
3) Valkyrie Profile
4) Panzer Dragoon Saga
5) Arc the Lad II
6) Alundra
7) Breath of Fire IV
8) Suikoden II
9) Metal Gear Solid
10) Vagrant Story
11) Ape Escape
12) Street Fighter Alpha 3
13) Descent II
14) Mario Tennis

15) Grandia
16) Star Ocean 2
17) Radiant Silvergun
18) Dragon Warrior VII
19) Mega Man X4
20) Parasite Eve
21) Final Fantasy VIII
22) Ocarina of Time
23) Shining the Holy Ark
24) Legend of Dragoon
25) Legend of Mana

Surprised that Alundra didn't make it on in any capacity. It's one of the absolute best action-RPGs of the era, even with Working Designs mucking around with it!
 
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Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Assuming I haven't missed anything, I believe this is the final list. Will remove if Issun would rather post somewhere instead of my quick and dirty job of it.

1) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
2) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3) Super Mario 64
4) Metal Gear Solid
5) Final Fantasy VII
6) Final Fantasy Tactics
7) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
8) Super Smash Bros.
9) Chrono Cross
10) Goldeneye 007
11) Star Fox 64
12) Final Fantasy IX
13) Xenogears
14) Banjo-Kazooie
15) Suikoden II
16) Final Fantasy VIII
17) Vagrant Story
18) Mario Kart 64
19) Resident Evil 2
20) Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
21) Legend of Mana
22) Mega Man X4
23) Paper Mario
24) Street Fighter Alpha 3
25) Perfect Dark
26) Diddy Kong Racing
27) Breath of Fire IV
28) Radiant Silvergun
29) Rogue Squadron
30) Starcraft
31) Marvel vs. Capcom
32) The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
33) SaGa Frontier
34) Diablo
35) R-Type Delta
36) Silent Hill
37) Grim Fandango
38) Sin and Punishment
39) Valkyrie Profile
40) PaRappa the Rapper
41) G-Darius
42) Street Fighter Alpha 2
43) Parasite Eve
44) Bushido Blade
45) Dragon Quest VII
46) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
47) Panzer Dragoon Saga
48) Grandia
49) Half-Life
50) Shining the Holy Ark
51-52) NiGHTS Into Dreams/Dance Dance Revolution
53) Suikoden
54) Um Jammer Lammy
55) Klonoa
56) Kirby 64
57) Bomberman 64
58-61) Resident Evil/Ape Escape/X-Men vs. SF/Threads of Fate
62-64) King's Field/Ghost in the Shell/Worms Armageddon

Honorable Mentions: Koudelka, Tomb Raider, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, Incredible Crisis, Arc the Lad II, Wild ARMs, Decathlete, You Don't Know Jack, Civilization II
 

WildcatJF

Let's Pock (Art @szk_tencho)
(he / his / him)
Here's my list:
  1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
  2. International Superstar Soccer 98
  3. Street Fighter Alpha 3
  4. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
  5. Suikoden II
  6. Super Mario 64
  7. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  8. Perfect Dark
  9. Resident Evil 2
  10. Suikoden
  11. Deus Ex
  12. Body Harvest
  13. Marvel Vs. Capcom
  14. Silent Hill
  15. Goldeneye 007
  16. Banjo-Kazooie
  17. Wave Race 64
  18. 1080 Snowboarding
  19. Bushido Blade
  20. Blast Corps
  21. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter
  22. Strider 2
  23. Darkstalkers 3
  24. Worms Armageddon
  25. Super Smash Bros.
I would tag out Smash for G-Darius, totally forgot about my fandom for that game, lol.
 

4-So

Spicy
Thanks. Here's my list, highlighting those that didn't place:
  1. Super Mario 64
  2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
  3. Final Fantasy 7
  4. Metal Gear Solid
  5. Chrono Cross
  6. Banjo-Kazooie
  7. Diddy Kong Racing
  8. GoldenEye 007
  9. Resident Evil 2
  10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  11. Xenogears
  12. Alundra
  13. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
  14. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
  15. Final Fantasy 8
  16. Perfect Dark
  17. Beetle Adventure Racing
  18. Street Fighter EX + Alpha
  19. Mega Man X4
  20. Mario Kart 64
  21. Legend of Mana
  22. Excitebike 64
  23. Pokemon Snap
  24. Star Fox 64
  25. Final Fantasy Tactics
 
Do we have a final list?
I'll post a link to the spreadsheet tomorrow.

My list:

  1. Xenogears
  2. Suikoden II
  3. Final Fantasy VII
  4. Final Fantasy VIII
  5. Legend of Mana
  6. Final Fantasy IX
  7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
  8. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  9. Final Fantasy Tactics
  10. Suikoden
  11. Thousand Arms
  12. Chrono Cross
  13. Metal Gear Solid
  14. Super Mario 64
  15. R4: Ridge Racer 4
  16. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
  17. Civilization II
  18. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
  19. Threads of Fate
  20. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
  21. Paper Mario
  22. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
  23. Cruisin' USA
  24. Final Fantasy Origins
  25. Mega Man X4
 

Peklo

Oh! Create!
(they/them, she/her)
Thanks for running the list, Issun. Here are my picks; those bolded didn't rank.
  1. Koudelka - PlayStation, 1999
  2. R-Type Delta - PlayStation, 1998
  3. SaGa Frontier - PlayStation, 1997
  4. Cotton 2: Magical Night Dreams - Arcade, 1997
  5. Tekken 2 - PlayStation, 1996
  6. Sin and Punishment - Nintendo 64, 2000
  7. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile - PlayStation, 1997
  8. The King of Fighters '96 - Arcade, 1996
  9. Parasite Eve - PlayStation, 1998
  10. G-Darius - Arcade, 1997
  11. Um Jammer Lammy - PlayStation, 1999
  12. Bulk Slash - Saturn, 1997
  13. Vagrant Story - PlayStation, 2000
  14. Burning Rangers - Saturn, 1998
  15. Ape Escape - PlayStation, 1999
  16. Ghost in the Shell - PlayStation, 1997
  17. Dark Savior - Saturn, 1996
  18. Armed Police Batrider - Arcade, 1998
  19. Threads of Fate - PlayStation, 1999
  20. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - Nintendo 64, 2000
  21. King's Field II - PlayStation, 1995
  22. The Misadventures of Tron Bonne - PlayStation, 1999
  23. Shining the Holy Ark - Saturn, 1996
  24. Silent Bomber - PlayStation, 1999
  25. The Rapid Angel - PlayStation, 1998
Nothing I really would've changed in hindsight, except absolutely everything, I think. There's too much stuff to ever work out a neat and organized canon, and that's not interesting to do in the first place. My hope with these lists is always that people will learn about or be emboldened to try something new to them.
 

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
Re: Symphony of the Night. I distinctly recall asking my parents for the Spawn game on PS1 for my birthday that year (I was an edgy '90s teen, we all make mistakes). But I rented it and SotN together and promptly was like "no, no, I have decidedly changed my mind." And I was absolutely correct to do so. I spent a lot of that winter making my way through Drac's castle. And I still have my original 192% save file on my memory card!

Nowadays, when I pull it out every couple of years, I always play with the Luck Code on. It bumps up the challenge in the early-going and makes the late game quite interesting, given how much weird stuff you have by then. I'm continuously shocked at how well it holds up, and how many ways there are to just crack the thing wide open. Last time I played it, I stuck mostly to Shield Rod combos, but you can use the Crissaegrim, the Fist of Tulkas, or if you're like this crazy bastard, level up the Muramasa (the "bloodthirsty sword") to an obscene degree so you can kill almost everything in one or two hits. What a game.

My list (bold didn't rank):

1) Resident Evil 2 (PS1/N64)
2) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
3) WWF No Mercy (N64)
4) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
5) Gradius Gaiden (PS1)
6) Mega Man X4 (PS1/Saturn)
7) Super Mario 64 (N64)
8) Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
9) Guardian Heroes (Saturn)
10) Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Arcade)
11) Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (Arcade/Saturn)
12) Sexy Parodius (PS1/Saturn)
13) Fire Pro Wrestling S: 6Men Scramble (Saturn)
14) Resident Evil (PS1 Director's Cut version, if we're splitting this up to its 4 separate releases? PS1/Saturn if we're not)
15) Goldeneye (N64)
16) Radiant Silvergun (Arcade/Saturn)
17) Tekken 3 (Arcade/PS1)
18) Time Crisis (Arcade/PS1)
19) Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
20) Bushido Blade (PS1)
21) Einhander (PS1)
22) Point Blank (Arcade/PS1)
23) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (PS1/N64)
24) NFL Blitz 2000 (Arcade/PS1/N64)
25) Star Fox 64 (N64)

Like Peklo, I suspect I would come up with a largely different list if asked again tomorrow or next week or next year, and getting a PVM last year with some Guncons definitely shaped this list, because, wow, Point Blank and Time Crisis rule incredibly hard. (House of the Dead II also could have found its way to this list, but since it didn't get ported to systems of this generation, I suppose it didn't really belong here.)

It's hard to be shocked at the non-inclusion of wrestling games here, but it merits mentioning that WWF No Mercy is still broadly considered the best 3D wrestling game of all-time, to the point that AEW sought out the director to oversee their first videogame. It has a thriving mod community working continuously to bring in both modern stars and pre-Attitude Era wrestlers. I rank it only behind two touchstone games and, yes, above OoT. It's really that good.
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
13. Marathon Infinity - My FPS. I think I picked Infinity to line up the dates but M2: Durandal has a smoother campaign. But editing levels was what I really spent a long time on.

Ha, same here. I initially thought Durandal then realized the timing issue and put Infinity. So can't be too heartbroken it didn't rank since I wasn't super invested in it.
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
sotn is the only one of this top three i voted for, although all three are connected by a common theme through my time in the speedrunning community in the 2000s. mario 64 and ocarina of time are two of the most deeply understood and mastered games of the era, if not all time, with zelda in particular feeling like a huge turning point for that community: the point where large sub-communities collaborating and competing in a single title shifted from a relative exception to something of a norm. obviously these were extreme examples in that case but they've definitely become something special even if i haven't come back to play them very often.

with respect to mario 64 specifically, there's definitely a lot to be said for the area layouts. they're often dense and not too linear, even more so due to the powerful movement, although that stuff is definitely pretty hard to master. it's probably my favorite mario game overall, even. i feel like oot on the other hand represents the kind of paradox of having a "series-defining" game by a team that's always pushing a new frontier, and it certainly feels "the most" zelda in the long term, in terms of the common recurring elements and the way they're arranged. although to peklo's point, i do have to wonder if part of the reason that majora's mask leans more directly into those surrealist and horror elements is because the team realized that its predecessor already evoked them so freely. (though, really, just given the way games of this era often dealt with their technical limitations, i feel like that's a common reaction to games of this era in general. still though...the skulltulas alone...)

anyway, i've probably spent more time watching it than playing it. that's not a dismissive thought at all, though, there's lots of games i love like that.

and symphony is obviously a gorgeous, detail-rich game with some highly memorable mechanical and localization quirks, even at face value. when i first joined the community, there was a rather notorious speedrun where the player lucked into the crissaegrim almost instantly (as this was the "original" speedrunning strategy for the game) despite a huge number of mistakes-including forgetting to equip the alucart equipment, which at the time was picked up to try and get it faster. a year or two later, the effort to actually develop the game began in earnest, and the earliest skips, most notably the demorphing potion trick to avoid needing the spike shoes and the "wolf jump" to reach the upper left exit of the central clock room before getting the double jump, arrived. of course as soon as i heard about that stuff, and how simple it really was, i had to put in my copy and check it out, really my first sincere effort at speedrunning despite being familiar with some of the stuff in super metroid and metroid prime (both of those games are at least somewhat harder at a base level...). even if i never finished a Really Fast proper playthrough at the time, it was a really central moment in my appreciation of this game, and really games as a whole. my #4, but of the likely #1s it's definitely my favorite, and i did totally think it was obviously a favorite for the spot given the general tastes here.
 
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Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
I don't know what I could say about SotN that hasn't already been said other than calling it a sumptuous 2D sprite-based game. I had placed FFT as higher than it (which matches Kirin's relative rankings) for reasons that seem arbitrary in hindsight but this is another case where my rankings could easily change as the wind blows.

Here's my list:
  1. Final Fantasy Tactics
  2. Castlevania Symphony of the Night (PS1)
  3. Diablo (PC)
  4. Lunar Silver Star Story Complete
  5. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (arcade)
  6. Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PS1)
  7. Final Fantasy 8
  8. Chrono Cross
  9. Breath of Fire 4
  10. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (PS1)
  11. Final Fantasy 9
  12. Final Fantasy 7
  13. MediEvil
  14. Capcom vs SNK Pro
  15. Final Fantasy Origins (1&2)
  16. Breath of Fire 3
  17. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (arcade)
  18. Ehrgeiz
  19. Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete
  20. Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
  21. Battle Circuit (arcade)
  22. Battle Arena Toshinden
Toshinden was not a game I owned but I did have a friend who goLIPS1 long before I did and we and our other friends would often square off in it.

MediEvil is a game I borrowed from a different friend. It's a fun little 3D hack&slash action adventure game with an aesthetic that mixes goofy and spooky.
 
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Tomm Guycot

(he/him)
Keeping in mind I already acknowledged that Silent Hill belonged on my list and I screwed up...


1. Metal Gear Solid
2. Lunar: SSSC
3. Zelda: Majora's Mask
4. Lunar: EBC
5. Smash Bros.
6. Snatcher
7. Vagrant Story
8. Klonoa
9. Einhander
10. Mega Man Legends 2
11. Strider 2

12. Symphony of the Night
13. Harvest Moon 64
14. Chrono Cross
15. Super Mario 64
16. Dewprism / Threads of Fate
17. Policenauts
18. Final Fantasy VII
19. Pocket Fighter
20. Doom 64

21. Incredible Crisis
22. One Piece Mansion
23. DDR: Konamix (sort of, right?)
24. Dragon Quest VII
25. Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
 

spines

cyber true color
(she/her, or something)
my full list:

1. radiant silvergun (treasure, 1998)
2. puchi carat (taito, 1997)
3. darkstalkers: vampire savior (capcom, 1997)
4. castlevania: symphony of the night (konami, 1997)
5. g-darius (taito, 1997)
6. saga frontier (square, 1998)
7. beatmania (konami, 1998)
8. valkyrie profile (tri-ace, 2000)
9. final fantasy vii (square, 1997)
10. battle garegga (raizing, 1996)
11. devil dice (shift, 1998)
12. guwange (cave, 1998)
13. moon: rpg remix adventure (love-de-lic, 1997/onion games 2021)
14. mischief makers (treasure, 1997)
15. megaman x4 (capcom, 1997)
16. super smash bros. (nintendo, 1999)
17. the legend of zelda: majora's mask (nintendo, 2000)
18. star ocean: the second story (tri-ace, 1998)
19. money idol exchanger (face, 1997)
20. vib ribbon (nanaon-sha, 1999)
21. street fighter iii: third strike (capcom, 1999)
22. legend of mana (square, 2000)
23. nights into dreams (sonic team, 1996)
24. persona 2: eternal punishment (atlus, 2000)
25. parappa the rapper (nanaon-sha, 1997)

other thoughts that didn't come up:

puchi carat: well, i wanted this in my top 10, since i've played it a lot, i'm still terrible at it, and i think it's hilarious and infuriating; like silvergun it's had a somewhat disproportionate impact on my online presence so it felt easier to justify this high than some other stuff. sadly enough it probably really is my favorite taito game of this era

vampire savior: a fighting game that captured my imagination from the first time i saw it, and really the one that i've stuck with and been interested in the longest. it's definitely my favorite in the genre even ignoring the personal side of what it's brought to my life, haha. would be as much a worth #1 as any game on this list for me.

devil dice: brilliant puzzle game, that uses the kinds of spatial/character elements in a really unique and clever way. the dice concept is both familiar yet complex, and there's all kinds of subtleties and chances for sudden, even unexpected reversals of near-game-over situations. i know i love this game because i was thrilled when it appeared for two seconds in a playstation 4 promo video years ago, and still remember that even now

guwange: one of my favorite cave games, though aside from the extremely harsh scoring mechanics it doesn't exactly feel like one, with the unique movement and scrolling. actually while i'm sitting here typing this i realized that castle of shikigami basically reused the mechanic heavily a few years later...anyway, it's cool and bloody and horrifying, and it does feel pretty sweet when the mechanics really start to come together. the unusual control really does push this one over the top for me, like silvergun it's just got such a unique and compelling feel through the oddities.

moon: i played this when the english version came out. it's fascinating and weird and was fresh enough in my mind that it felt easy to include, even though it also feels strangely ahead of its time conceptually and i certainly wouldn't have finished it before recently; i can't help but wonder if this was an influence on majora's mask in particular, as the oldest japanese and console game i know of with this kind of fully fleshed-out day/time structure

mischief makers: super weird game that i feel, especially now that i've finished it, really epitomizes treasure's approach to "weirdness" in game design, where any one-off concept can justify an entire level. even if it's like fifteen seconds long. that's it, you got the point, onto the next thing. the bosses are cool but frustrating in how confident the game is in letting you flail in completely wrong directions constantly. in 2005 or so when i first saw my reaction was "why does this look like that?" now that i am older and understand art better, i'm confident in my current answer: "because it does." this game just makes me laugh harder the more i think about it and i'd probably rate it quite a lot higher if i made this list any time between now and the next few months

star ocean: the second story: maybe the one jrpg of this era i truly feel could never have happened at all a different time, a weird and janky mess that uses its technological power entirely on absurd loose ends and strange ideas that only make sense for the 5% of people who play this game and become wholly enraptured by its nonsense. why are there a thousand random items to get via endless gachapons? because they can. why are there like a hundred ending scenes featuring every possible combination of two characters, even the ones that are absurd to get to a point of nearly impossible? because they didn't have to voice act them. obviously. even compared to other oddities on the platform this one feels unbalanced and unpolished in every way, to a comical extent. it's simply incredible

money idol exchanger: a somewhat obscure ripoff of magical drop with slightly different rules (the pieces upgrade by combining five 1s to make a 5, two 5s to make a 10, and so on, with the leftover coin available to make a new combo). it wasn't enough to prevent its creators from being sued by data east and going bankrupt. it's brilliant and bizarre and tried to become a multimedia property, as one does. i spent an entire semester of school playing this on my vita on very long bus commutes. i'm not very good again, but come see my everyworker

persona 2 eternal punishment: i feel like i've grown out of the phase of my life where this really spoke overwhelmingly to me, but i will always remember that this was the game i needed to play when i was 19 years old. in some ways its central conceit-that if enough people believe something absurd about the world, it is true-has come to more and more reflect reality, in a very stupid and annoying way. but at the same time i feel like it's something that pushed me to understand that i could also change my view of things and become a little happier and truer to myself and the world

street fighter iii: third strike: have to wonder if this is the case where i associated this as a 90s game and other people as a dreamcast or ps2 game (although the port is bizarre and has a lot of stuff that doesn't work the same on arcade). anyway, it's stupid and cool. obviously not my favorite capcom fighter, but my favorite street fighter easily

ended up with almost half of this list making it, at least as honorable mentions! gosh. early on i was guessing barely half of that, at least as a lock, though with a few obvious ones from my top 10 doing much better than i expected that rose pretty quickly in the end. pretty great list, and reminded me of some stuff i'm really excited to try soon.
 
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Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Oh, and I forgot to thank @Issun earlier for running this! It was an absolute blast watching the reveal of new entries each day and the chance to weigh in on some favorites. I know these things are a lot of work, so it was very much appreciated.
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
Great work, Issun. This one was a lot of fun.

1. Goldeneye 007
2. Super Mario 64
3. Final Fantasy VII
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
5. Banjo-Kazooie
6. Super Smash Bros.

7. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - This is one I actually played pretty recently. Pretty great platform puzzler.
8. Yoshi’s Story - Its the Yoshi platformer. I liked it.
9. PaRappa the Rapper
10. Mario Kart 64
11. Um Lammer Jammy
12. Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
13. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- I played this one quite a bit.
14. Final Fantasy IX - It might have been higher if I played more. I just rented it once.
15. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (the fighting game one) - Played this one several times in Japanese arcades. Pretty great Capcom fighter.
16. Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater
17. Conker’s Bad Fur Day - Great game from a technical standpoint and certainly ambitious but even at the time it seemed pretty self-satisfied to be the "rated M" game. But I won't lie, I had fun playing it.
18. Star Fox 64
19. Diddy Kong Racing

20. Donkey Kong 64
21. Bomberman 64
22. Perfect Dark
- I rented it once. I kinda liked it.
23. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - Oh, I did vote for this. I wasn't sure.
24. WWF Wrestlemania 2000 - I just liked makin' dudes to wrestle
25. Waverace 64 - This was... just one I remembered.
 
1. Suikoden 2
2. Castlevania: SotN
3. Chrono Cross
4. Street Fighter Alpha 3
5. Metal Gear Solid
6. NiGHTS: Into Dreams

7. Saturn Bomberman
8. Mega Man X4
9. Breath of Fire 4
10. Misadventures of Tron Bonne

11. Wild Arms
12. Star Fox 64
13. Thunder Force V
14. Legend of Oasis
15. Suikoden
16. Final Fantasy VIII
17. R-Type Delta

18. Torneko: The Last Hope
19. Vagrant Story
20. Fighters Megamix
21. Ehrgeiz
22. Marvel Super Heroes
23. Soul Blade
24. Die Hard Arcade
25. Guardian Heroes
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
A lot of mine made the cut early on, and I thought for a while this was going to be a list very aligned to my tastes. Which is still broadly true, but I didn't have many make the upper reaches. I never owned a N64, nor played much of it, and I didn't get a PS1 until probably 2001 or so. Those that didn't make it in bold, those that did with where they placed appended:

1 Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Arc/Saturn) #42
2 Grandia (Sat/PS1) #48
3 Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn)
- Genuinely surprised mine was the only vote for this. I guess the first game and Saga must have split the vote a little, but to me this is a towering icon of the era.
4 King's Field (PS1) #62
5 Christmas NiGHTS (Saturn) #51, as NiGHTS
6 Resident Evil 2 (PS1) #19
7 Die Hard Arcade (Arc/Saturn)

8 Worms Armaggedon (PC) #62
9 Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn) #47
10 Silent Hill (PS1) #36
11 Shining The Holy Ark (Saturn) #50
12 Princess Crown (Saturn)
13 Tales of Eternia (PS1)
- I thought briefly maybe I'd robbed this by using the Japanese title rather than Tales of Destiny II, but nobody else voted for either.
14 Virtua Cop 2 (Arc/Saturn) - Not exactly a vision of police work I currently approve of, but I had a heck of a lot of fun playing this in arcades back in the day. Such excess!
15 X-Men Vs Street Fighter (Arc) #58
16 Vagrant Story (PS1) #17
17 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1) #1
18 Tomb Raider (Saturn)
19 Decathlete/Athlete Kings (Arc/Saturn)
20 Rival Schools: United By Fate (Arc/PS1)
21 Tokyo Wars (Arcade)
- I knew this was a wasted vote, but I loved it in arcades.
22 In The Hunt (Arc/Saturn)
23 Chrono Cross (PS1) #9
24 Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)#6
25 Street Fighter 3: Third Strike (Arcade)
- Not my favourite fighting game, but probably the actual best fighting game I've put any time into at all. I'm terrible at fighters, though.

I think all of my comments from my submitted list made either the main list or the honourable mentions, except for this one:

7 Die Hard Arcade (Arc/Saturn)
The greatest licensed game of all time:

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These were all either painful cuts, or embarrassing omissions, and thanks/sorry to everyone who did vote for them:
Brave Fencer Musashi
I loved this game, it was so fun and quirky. But I barely played any of it, it was one of those games you watch your siblings play. I tried to keep my list to only first-hand experience with games, regardless of how fondly I think of them.

1080 Snowboarding
Probably the best snowboarding game out there that isn't Snowboard Kids (another embarassing omission). Tony Hawk never clicked with me all that well, as did most X-TREME sports games of the era. But for whatever reason 1080 Snowboarding was an addiction for a good 4 or so months. I'm pretty embarrassed I forgot this one.

Ape Escape
Another love the idea, but have very little experience with the games themselves. Always enjoyed watching others play them, but never could justify using my limited gaming budget on it. It's honestly a shame that Ape Escape is one of those abandoned franchises, because I always thought it was one of the best things the PlayStation brand had going for it in the 90s.

My brother's favorite game, and I had an immense amount of fun watching him play it. It just had a lot of character and a really quirky design sense - both artistically and gameplay wise. Definitely list-worthy, but it was only a 2nd hand experience so I couldn't list it.

Tomm, did you play the PSX or Saturn port or something? I love Snatcher. It definitely would have made my list, but the only version I played was the Sega CD one, which didn't quality for the 32bit era.

devil dice (shift, 1998)
Another vicarious experience of mine. I used to go over to a friend's house and just marvel at his puzzle solving acuity. It was a simple yet complex game with a great look. These days it would just be a f2p mobile game, but that's what I love about the 32bit era. Games like this got a chance to be something big.

vib ribbon (nanaon-sha, 1999)
My very first online screen name was vib ribbon inspired. The game itself is not much, but it's just so charming and cute. And while the game's dedicated OST is short, it's fantastic and addictive. Definitely would have been list-worthy, but I've never played the game outside of an emulator once well after the fact on account of Sony Computer Entertainment in America being notorious sticks in the mud.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
how many ways there are to just crack the thing wide open. Last time I played it, I stuck mostly to Shield Rod combos, but you can use the Crissaegrim, the Fist of Tulkas, or if you're like this crazy bastard, level up the Muramasa (the "bloodthirsty sword") to an obscene degree so you can kill almost everything in one or two hits.
Besides the Muramasa there are some other late game katanas which can tear through things with their special moves/attacks. The special move of the moon rod also does a decent job of wrecking things. And of course there is the duplicator + consumable weapons on a clear save (once you have grinded or cheated enough money to buy it).

SotN does have a lot of weird and interesting weapons. One of my favorites that hasn't been mentioned are the blue knuckles which hit in an arc in front of Alucard and can hit short enemies without having to duck. Meet your blue doom you little frog bastards!

One other thing I don't think anyone else has mentioned about SotN is the variety of enemies you face and the amount of "personality" that was put into them.

I thought I was the only one...
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Ehrgeiz and Vib Ribbon were also both games I had fun with but didn't think of for my list. (Also Vib Ribbon always makes me think wistfully about TheGIA... that was a time.)
 
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