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Cake day: June 29th, 2023

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  • I’m going to stay retro because I’m on a retro kick right now. I’m also a big fan of chunky old-school graphics, so most of these are available in some form or another on GB, GBC, GBA, GG, or my personal favorite, NGPC.

    I stuck with mostly mindless action or traversal, leaving off things with complicated puzzle solving or exploration and what to do/where to go challenge, hence things like Sonic and Mario yes but Metroid and Zelda no. That said, there’s plenty more if you’re up for some light exploration thinking. Shantae for GBC is a delightful example.

    Puzzle/Tetris-like:

    • Puyo Puyo/Puyo Pop/Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
    • Magical Drop (I played this so much my brain would zen out and I’d have crushed all of my friends in a row without breaking a sweat)
    • Dr. Mario
    • Puzzle Bobble/Bust A Move

    Mindless Action/Adventure:

    • Metal Slug series
    • Contra series
    • Gunstar Heroes (IYKYK - if you haven’t played this before but you like Contra-type games, play the Genesis version, be blown away, then try the GG version and be impressed as hell with that too)
    • Streets of Rage series (The GG ports are pretty incredible for the platform)
    • Smash TV (SNES or Arcade version probably though, since retro handhelds never had the controls for it)
    • T2: The Arcade Game is on Game Gear and it’s an impressive port to dink around with.
    • Like, the entire shmup genre, but if you want retro portable, there are some Gradius and R-Type ports, GG Aleste/Power Strike 2 on GG, and probably a ton more on GBA.

    Pure Platformer:

    • Any early Mario mainline game
    • Any Sonic mainline game
    • Lion King or Aladdin, but these are so difficult you might want to save scum them just to brainlessly get past the brutal challenge

    Sports:

    • NBA Jam (I loved my dinky little GG version)

    Other:

    • Ms. Pac-Man and other retro arcade games/collections
    • More Pinball! I don’t know any actual “normal” pinball games for retro systems that were all that great, but Sonic Spinball is awesome, plus there’s Kirby Pinball, Metroid Prime Pinball (DS), and even Pinball of the Dead.