NilkadNaquada
1988
The gold standard for NES run and guns, Contra is a near-perfect game. The one flaw on its mirror sheen is the overly strict number of lives given to the player, but fortunately the game features a cheat code which fixes this and makes it a very enjoyable experience.
1988
Pretty archaic in a lot of ways, as you might expect, but it's got some real charm and a lot of genuinely groundbreaking ideas for 1988. Definitely recommended if you're the type of person who can handle DOS RPG jank, and even if these old games aren't usually your type of thing I'd recommend at least giving it a shot (be sure to read the manual first) just to see. It can be played for free in browser on internet archive, so there's no reason not to.
1990
Solid core mechanics and a lot of charm to be found here, but it gets pretty monotonous after a while. Definitely worth a look if you're big on action RPGs, though, and it's very impressive for the NES in terms of visuals, game feel, and smoothing out the play experience with very welcome convenience features.
2002
Please bring it back.
This just kinda sucks honestly
1985
Neat but not quite good enough to make me want to commit to getting good at it
2016
A ballet in movement and violence, Titanfall 2 is a great time and features a really enjoyable campaign that does a good job of consistently switching up the gameplay and level design to remain engaging all the way through.
2016
A pretty competent waveracer, but ultimately fairly bland and with some awkward trick mechanics which prove necessary to win many of the later races.
1997
Just a really solid rail shooter. Sometimes that's all you need.
This game is absolutely brimming with shockingly interesting ideas, especially for an 8-bit platformer, as well as just gallons upon gallons of charm. I was not expecting to be playing an action RPG metroidvania where most of the mechanics are tied to different forms you have to go out of your way to swap between, but I'm glad it ended up being that because it's a lot of fun.
1984
A big departure to be sure but I think it's pretty fun
Aside from a charming aesthetic and writing style, I can't find much to recommend in this game. Boiling down a series of complex political decisions into a simple "yes" or "no" often makes it feel hollow, and the game seems to take certain aspects of modern economic propaganda at face value, most notably how spending and taxation work. There are high points as well, most notably a refreshing amount of honesty about how much money the american government wastes on completely needless military spending, but by the time I finished the round I was left struggling to figure out what the point of it all was.
1999
A fun, charming platformer that makes really interesting use of the dualshocks two analog sticks. Highly recommended.
2018
Lie to your friends! It's fun!
2019
A cute little hand-drawn game about a frog learning ballet, interacting with classmates, and overcoming fear :)