This post is part one of my “Games of 2023” series. You can read the Introduction here.
I placed a heavy emphasis on playing NES and GameBoy games from my backlog in 2023. Also, I got around to playing some SNES games from it. For the sake of organization, I have deemed “Retro” games to be any game originally released before the year 2001. To even things out, I have included remasters, re-releases, and remakes.
The Weird
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
Release date: 02/01/1992 Last played: 02/26/2023 Session hours: 11.75 Gaming sessions: 6 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 75/81 (92.59%) Screenshots taken: 49 Acquisition date: 07/01/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $65.00 (List NA)
I come back to The Legend of the Mystical Ninja from time to time. It had been a while, but a friend and I decided to do some co-op together. We got to the final boss, before we had to call it a night. I decided to play through it few more times to get some Retroachievements.
Mystical Ninja is such a unique game. It has a top-downish view in town, but the action zones are 2D. Doing so allowed the developers to implement many fun ideas. The game is filled to the brim with challenging platforming, satisfying combat, fun minigames, and complex boss fights. I thought I knew everything about this game, but I ended up finding new secrets while hunting achievements.
The story is weird, but fun. I am not even going to try to summarize it. The graphics are slick. And the music is outstanding. The game, especially the later bosses, can be very difficult. Otherwise, the game has aged elegantly, and I recommend everyone give it a shot.
The Weirder
Goemon’s Great Adventure (N64)
Release date: 09/15/1999 Last played: 07/29/2023 Session hours: 15.75 Gaming sessions: 8 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 65/70 (92.86%) Screenshots taken: 48 Acquisition date: 02/22/2023 Acquired from: Borrowed Price: $0.00 (List NA)
After Mystical Ninja, my friend and I felt compelled to play Goemon’s Great Adventure. It is basically a sequel in the U.S. It plays similarly to Mystical Ninja with some upgrades for the N64. The graphics are pretty good. The game is 3D, but it sticks to the 2D perspective. The backgrounds are detailed, and have a lot going on. There is a lot more verticality to the levels, which is neat. The music is just as great as the SNES version.
Throughout our adventure we were able to switch between four characters. Each character has unique abilities, which allows them to find secrets, or overcome different obstacles. The story is just as weird as Mystical Ninja, and does not take itself seriously. The boss fights are even weirder. Each boss fight is separated into two phases. I tended to like the first phase, but the second phase does not work well. In the second phase we jumped into giant robots to fight the boss. It has a cockpit view, and the controls are very bad. My friend and I scraped our way through those fights.
Bosses aside, I enjoyed the game. The secrets, platforming, and combat is a lot of fun. I even did some grinding to pay a certain someone for the last pass.
The Legend
Chrono Trigger (PC)
Release date: 02/27/2018 Last played: 04/24/2023 Session hours: 46.00 Gaming sessions: 19 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 13/13 (100%) Screenshots taken: 121 Acquisition date: 03/26/2023 Acquired from: Steam Price: $0.00 (List $14.99)
I finally played Chrono Trigger. You can find my thoughts in my full review here. I am not a fan of JRPGs, but Chrono Trigger is an outstanding game.
The OG
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Release date: 11/30/1988 Last played: Session Last Played: 07/14/2023 Session hours: 3.00 Gaming sessions: 3 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 42/78 (53.85%) Screenshots taken: 7 Acquisition date: 07/01/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $7.00 (List NA for Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt)
I think I can finally stop playing Super Mario Bros. My thoughts are the same as last year’s. The game is important to history, but Mario moves like a tank. I just played through it again to get some Retroachievements, and mark the NES version as completed. I am not a big fan of revisiting it, but I do appreciate the level design.
This game was the first game I played on my Steam Deck, which is a neat distinction for it. I played through it once, and was going to play through it a second time for achievements. However, I pressed the wrong button, and I ended up resetting the game. Oops.
The Perfect Game
Tetris (GB)
Release date: 07/31/1989 Last played: 12/25/2023 Session hours: 3.75 Gaming sessions: 7 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 2/13 (15.38%) Screenshots taken: 4 Acquisition date: 06/09/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $12.00 (List NA)
Tetris was the second game I played on the Steam deck. I had not played the game since I was a little kid. I was bad at it. I still am, but I love it.
Tetris might be the perfect game. As a kid, I did not recognize the beauty of this game. It constantly keeps the mind engaged. It feels good to clear lines, and it has me saying “just one more game” after inevitably failing. I can listen to the Russian music all day while watching blocks fall.
I am glad I revisited it. It is the perfect handheld game, and is right at home on a Steam Deck. I have already picked it up a few times. It is a game that is easy to just pick up, and pour a few minutes into. I just wish I was better, so I could get more Retroachievements.
Another OG
The Legend of Zelda (NES)
Release date: 08/22/1987 Last played: 07/09/2023 Session hours: 5.75 Gaming sessions: 3 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 40/69 (57.97%) Screenshots taken: 10 Acquisition date: 08/05/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $45.00 (List NA)
Like Super Mario Bros. I vowed to never play the original The Legend of Zelda. Again, those darn Retroachievements are compelling. I used a guide to get through it as quickly as possible, while getting achievements.
I was surprised by how much fun I had. The dungeons are smart and fun to explore. However, the last two dungeons are hell. They are way too hard, and I made heavy use of the save state feature built into the emulator. The last dungeon is especially bad. Killing enemies was tedious. Without a guide, I would have shut off the game in frustration.
But those first few dungeons are pure magic. I would stray from the guide, just to see what was on another screen. If it were not for the last two dungeons, I think I would revisit this game more often.
Could Use More Tentacles
Maniac Mansion (PC)
Release date: 03/12/1988 Last played: 07/09/2023 Session hours: 3.00 Gaming sessions: 2 Completion status: Complete Achievements: NA Screenshots taken: 17 Acquisition date: 07/12/2022 Acquired from: Amazon Prime Price: $0.00 (List $5.99)
Maniac Mansion has a weirdness to it that only Ron Gilbert could deliver. A mad scientist has kidnapped my girlfriend. He employs tentacles to help guard her. For some reason there is a meteorite. It is up to me and two friends to save my girlfriend. So I trespassed into his mansion and started messing with stuff.
That is pretty much what I did. I just poked at things to see what worked. This did not work well. I ended up using a guide, because I got stuck. Many of the solutions to puzzles were abstract, and made no sense. Luckily, Ron Gilbert’s writing saves the game. The game is dated, but still very worthwhile to play for the writing alone. I suggest using a guide. Maybe we will see a remaster with a robust hint system.
The Best NES Game
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Release date: 02/12/1990 Last played: 07/17/2023 Session hours: 8.00 Gaming sessions: 6 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 49/52 (94.23%) Screenshots taken: 14 Acquisition date: 08/05/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $24.00 (List NA)
I have played Super Mario Bros. 3 so many times, and I do not have much more to say. To me, it is the best NES game ever created. It is one of the best games, period. I love playing it, seeing all the secrets, and using the powerups. If I had better coordination I would have gotten all the Retroachievements. I love the game.
The Mini Game Collection
Game & Watch Gallery (GB)
Release date: 05/01/1997 Last played: 07/23/2023 Session hours: 2.00 Gaming sessions: 2 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 3/27 (11.11%) Screenshots taken: 12 Acquisition date: NA Acquired from: Gift Price: $0.00 (List NA)
I did not know what to expect from Game & Watch Gallery. I had not played it since childhood, and I did not remember exactly liking it. I think I mainly sucked at it. I say that, because I still suck at it. There are four games with variants, and I am bad at all of them.
They are not complicated games. I found them quite boring. The games move slow, but my reflexes were not fast enough to react accordingly. It is strange. I had a little bit of fun with the octopus game. I played through each game and variant, and called it a day.
Fun, But Thin
Duck Hunt (NES)
Release date: 11/30/1988 Last played: 07/22/2023 Session hours: 0.75 Gaming sessions: 1 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 21/31 (67.74%) Screenshots taken: 17 Acquisition date: 07/01/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $7.00 (List NA for Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt)
Duck Hunt is pretty fun, even with a mouse. I would say it is harder with a mouse, but it works if you want to give it a go on an emulator.
In Game A the ducks move slow. I got a little bored by round 10, so moved on to Game B. The ducks moved way more erratically. I swear those bastards could sense my mouse, especially in the later rounds. Game C was very relaxing. I fell into a groove, and hit round 20 before realizing it.
It was fun revisiting this game, but there is not much to it.
The Suckiest
Kirby’s Dream Land (GB)
Release date: 08/01/1992 Last played: 07/29/2023 Session hours: 1.75 Gaming sessions: 3 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 27/35 (77.14%) Screenshots taken: 15 Acquisition date: 06/09/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $18.00 (List NA)
I was surprised how tough Kirby’s Deam Land could be. The series has a reputation for being easy, but I had to be careful on my bonus playthrough for this game.
Kirby has a cool move set. He can fill himself with air and float around. He can suck in enemies and blocks, and shoot them out. There are various other powerups. The bosses require a little bit of thinking, and can be challenging. It is short, but overall, the OG Kirby is a great game!
The Most Secrets
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Release date: 11/21/1994 Last played: 11/16/2023 Session hours: 4.25 Gaming sessions: 2 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 36/71 (50.70%) Screenshots taken: 16 Acquisition date: 09/01/2022 Acquired from: eBay Price: $19.95 (List NA)
Donkey Kong Country is another game my friend and I played through. From a platforming perspective, it is good. The mechanics are pretty standard. It did not take us very long to just play through it. However, the secrets make it special.
The Retroachievements pointed us in the direction to find the secrets. There are a lot of them! My friend knew about some, but even he was surprised by the amount. We found some detailed maps online, and started using them.
The platforming feels good. I like the levels, and the biomes look nice. Of course, the music is outstanding. We beat the game, but we might try for more Retroachievements at a later date.
The Newest Retro Game
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PS5)
Release date: 03/26/2021 Last played: 09/10/2023 Session hours: 14.00 Gaming sessions: 6 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 12/37 (32.43%) Screenshots taken: 34 Acquisition date: 08/26/2022 Acquired from: PlayStation Plus Price: $0.00 (List $49.99)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a blast from the past. I like it, because it is a weird 3D platformer. I like skating around, collecting letters and other stuff, and finding secret areas. It is a good time. However, the skating gets in my way.
The skating is not bad. It is easy to pull off tricks, and made me feel like a pro. I just suck at combining the moves into combos for big points. I really do not have the patience to practice, because I would rather be exploring.
This package is a great way to revisit these two great games. The new music mixes nicely with the old. The graphics look great. Most importantly, the games feel like the originals. I wish they would have removed the requirements for unlocking levels; they were tough for me to achieve. The added cheats and mods help, but they locked me out of some achievements. Maybe I just need to get good.
It Might Be The Best Game Ever
Super Mario World (SNES)
Release date: 08/23/1991 Last played: 09/10/2023 Session hours: 4.25 Gaming sessions: 7 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 58/68 (85.29%) Screenshots taken: 27 Acquisition date: 07/01/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $40.00 (List NA)
I always think about replaying Super Mario World. Even after replaying it, I still think about starting again. It is one of my favorite games. I remember playing as a kid, and not knowing how to run. My brother told me about Top Secret, and showed me how to get it. Over the years, I learned a lot of secrets. I remember two eluded me until high school: Soda Lake and Bowser’s Backdoor. After finding those two secrets, I thought I finally knew everything about the game.
This latest playthrough I did not unlock any new achievements. I set out to pay attention to the level design and ponder. I did for a few levels, but I soon found myself just getting lost in the game. Even 30 years later the game manages to just bring me joy.
I ended up finding something I had never seen before. I stumbled upon this variation of Chocolate Island 2. Super Mario World is a cool game.
Maybe It’s Nostalgia, or Maybe It’s the Best
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (GB)
Release date: 08/06/1993 Last played: 09/13/2023 Session hours: 10.00 Gaming sessions: 4 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 30/30 (100%) Screenshots taken: 34 Acquisition date: NA Acquired from: Gift Price: $0.00 (List NA)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is another game I repeatedly come back to. Because it is my first Zelda game, I have a lot of nostalgia for it. As a kid, I was able to find the sword, get the first key, and complete the first dungeon. However, I struggled finding Bow-wow. This did not stop me from restarting the game, and doing the same thing over and over. It was not until high school I beat the game.
Since then, I have beaten the original, DX, and Switch remake. This time, I decided to get some Retroachievements, and enjoy the game. I was surprised when I got all of the achievements! On nostalgia alone, Link’s Awakening is my favorite Zelda.
Taking A Pit Stop
F-Zero (SNES)
Release date: 08/23/1991 Last played: 09/16/2023 Session hours: 1.25 Gaming sessions: 2 Completion status: Early Achievements: 1/62 (1.61%) Screenshots taken: 22 Acquisition date: 09/01/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $22.00 (List NA)
I remember just messing around with F-Zero as a kid. I remember driving backwards, damaging my car just to repair it, and ramping off the track. I am not a huge fan of SNES racers, but I decided to give F-Zero a proper shot.
This game has a lot going on. Hitting walls in most racing games hinder performance, but in F-Zero they can absolutely destroy you. On top of damaging my car, walls bounced me around the track. There are healing strips, but I had to drive slowly to get any benefit. I had enough time for a quick boost, but not much else.
I thought the game felt responsive. There is a lot of dodging, so this is a huge plus. I had to read the manual, because I got stuck with a jump. Luckily, the book solved my issue, plus it had a comic!
I had more fun than I thought I would. However, it is still a SNES racing game. I played the beginner races, and stopped.
The Puntiest
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (GB)
Release date: 03/13/1994 Last played: 10/18/2023 Session hours: 7.00 Gaming sessions: 4 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 17/26 (65.38%) Screenshots taken: 52 Acquisition date: NA Acquired from: Gift Price: $0.00 (List NA)
I played one other Super Mario Land game, but I cannot remember it very well. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 is a different story. I played this a lot, and remember it. I never did beat it for some reason. It is not a difficult game.
Mario likes coins, but Wario loves coins. In this game, I collected as many coins as I could. Punting enemies makes coins fly out in a very satisfying way. I wish stunning enemies had a little more control. When jumping on enemies, Wario seems to make them go flying a lot further than they should. It makes it difficult to collect coins from enemies in tight spots.
The levels are cool. Some levels have secrets. Secrets can change the overworld and other levels. This encouraged me to playthrough levels multiple times just to see what was different. Usually, a treasure could be found.
The story is light, but I was impressed that Nintendo was able to tell a story using speech bubbles without text. It is very well done. Wario Land is a solid platformer.
The Myth
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Release date: 10/03/1993 Last played: 10/23/2023 Session hours: 29.25 Gaming sessions: 10 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 69/85 (81.18%) Screenshots taken: 89 Acquisition date: 07/01/2022 Acquired from: Rock 30 Games Price: $65.00 (List NA)
This is my second time playing Secret of Mana. I remember liking it the first time. Now, I am not sure why. You can read me full review here. I like some aspects of it, while other parts I detest. Mainly, it is too grindy for my tastes.
The Ugliest
Grim Fandango Remastered (PC)
Release date: 01/27/2015 Last played: 11/05/2023 Session hours: 7.50 Gaming sessions: 3 Completion status: Complete Achievements: 44/47 (93.62%) Screenshots taken: 43 Acquisition date: 12/28/2015 Acquired from: Steam Price: $2.99 (List $14.99)
Grim Fandango has been sitting in my “games I have got to play” list for a long time. Grim Fandango Remastered offered a good excuse, but it still took me a few years to play it. I figured right after Halloween would be a good time to get it off the list.
Despite being 3D, Grim Fandango is definitely a LucasArts point-and-click adventure game. I have never been good at them, but I always like the story. I used a guide for Grim Fandango. Some of the puzzles felt extremely obtuse. I did a lot of backtracking with a guide, but I would have had to do even more if I tried to solve them myself. I still deviated from the guide to interact with everything I could just to hear the dialog.
Tim Schafer’s (Psychonauts, Secret of Monkey Island) writing shines throughout the adventure. The premise is one of the most unique in all of gaming. It has a cool Día de los Muertos meets Noir feel. Of course, it is funny and charming.
As much as I enjoyed the story, the remaster is a mess. They were able to smooth out the 3D assets, but the backgrounds remain low-res. The contrast looks bad on modern systems. I ran into a lot of bugs. I was softlocked three times during my playthrough. Luckily, Googling found a way around the glitches. It is particularly annoying, because the game has no auto-save functionality. After redoing a large section, I learned to save often.
Overall, I came away disappointed. The writing, setting, and characters are all great. The re-recorded music for the remaster is outstanding. However, the graphics and glitches really bring this classic down. I would be very happy if they remake this rough gem.
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