Played On: Arcade

Another arcade classic - I loved MK1, but Mortal Kombat II was always the clear choice because of the goofy friendship and babalities, as well as being able to actually play as Reptile.

Played On: PS2

Fuck Eric Sparrow, the most punchable face in video game villainy. I was a fan of Tony Hawk from the first game, but adding in a story made a huge difference in replayability for me. I threw hours into this game trying to become the star skater I was born to be but couldn't in real life...because...well I have no talent.

Played On: PC

One of the most gorgeous games I have ever played, with exciting combat and smooth movement. The story starts out confusing with the player not knowing what is happening, but as everything is revealed turns out to be touching and thoughtful.

Played On: PC

Islets is just pure and simple fun. The exploration is rewarding, the artwork is charming, the characters are funny, and the combat, while simple, has enough bullet-hell wrinkles in it to keep things interesting. I laughed a lot during the 8 hours or so it took me to 100% this game - much more than I expected to. It manages to not take itself seriously while still having a few heartwarming moments.

Played On: Dolphin

9 is the absolute perfection of the classic Mega Man formula. The soundtrack is catchy, all of the boss abilities are powerful and fun, platforming is challenging, and the length of the game is perfect. There are also several paths through the game because the boss weapons are so good outside of just using them on bosses - they can change the way you interact with mini-bosses and platforming.

Played On: MS-DOS

Guybrush Threepwood is my hero and took me on so many adventures as a kid with ridiculous humor and loveable characters. I owe every come-back I've ever used to the sword fighting in Monkey Island.

Played On: Mac OS

Whenever I would visit my Dad, he had a Mac, so there weren't a lot of computer games available to play with. However, he did have Myst, and I became completely enamored with the half-spooky, half-calming worlds - traversing the treetops in Channelwood, or listening to the rain in the Stoneship Age.

Played On: PC

Nazis, supersoldiers, zombies, and demon princes populate the expertly designed levels in this alternate version of World War 2. I had watched my step-dad play the original Wolfenstein and always wanted to play but wasn't allowed, so RtCW was my first Wolfenstein game. It starts off with a bang - throwing you right into the titular castle, and from there taking you on a ride through catacombs and into science labs with flying supersoldiers that scared the shit out of me.

Played On: PC

My step-dad and I used to play this with each other all the time, just building our civilizations and destroying CPU opponents before turning on each other. I loved the aesthetic and vibes so much that I would sometimes just play solo without any enemies on a custom map just to build out a little civilization for fun. Wololo.

Played On: Dolphin

I kind of view Mega Man 10 as a counterpart to 9, like two sides of the same coin. 10 has some amazing robot masters as well (Sheep Man is awesome and there's a baseball level!), but I think the platforming challenges in 10 are some of the best the series has to offer.

Played On: PC

A Jedi adventure with sniper rifles and rocket launchers, Jedi Outcast is equal parts hack and slash and FPS. The story is pretty decent, but the gameplay is what kept me enthralled for hours and hours as a kid - I mean you got a rifle that would disintegrate someone; it was awesome. I also remember a mod where you would fight waves of Dark Jedi while Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up looped in the background. Peak.

Played On: MS-DOS

YOU FIGHT BOBA FETT. How cool is that? Very cool back when Boba Fett was still cool. I had never played a Star Wars game before this one aside from TIE Fighter, so being first person in this universe was mind-blowing fun.

Played On: PC

My fondest memories of Quake III are when we installed the demo version onto the high school's network drive, so a bunch of us would play against each other while in BCIS or Keyboarding or just while we were supposed to be in study hall at the library.

Played On: PC

The Neverhood was so hard for me as a kid, but I just kept playing and playing because the animation, art direction, and soundtrack are all absolutely phenomenal. The puzzles are satisfying and the characters are cute. Who can't relate to the robot that just wants his teddy bear?

Played On: PC

The first thing anyone sees the when they look at Garage is the grotesque art design of the characters and world - it's shocking and hard to look past at first. However, as you delve deeper into the game it becomes weirdly beautiful and comforting in an unexpected way, which mirrors the explorations of abuse's consequences on the human psyche.

Played On: MS-DOS

An adventure to find a bigfoot and his giraffe-necked girlfriend, Sam and Max goes full-throttle (LucasArts pun) from the first moments of the game until the wholesome conclusion. The game-world is a wacky and kitsch version of the United States and feels like an epic road trip with two crazy friends. It's like Americana, the game.

Played On: PC

The hand-drawn art is phenomenal and gives the game such a unique atmosphere that complements the simple gameplay. The ability to quickswap back and forth between the original 1989 graphics is a fun feature too and just adds to the classic feel of the remake.

Played On: PC

Riven takes the atmospheric mystery and puzzles of Myst and turns it up to 11 while also focusing on environmental storytelling to really bring the Age of Riven to life. The puzzles also feel organically woven into the world which provides cohesion and a lived-in quality to the game world, something that I think a lot of puzzle games struggle with.

Played On: Arcade

I was always drawn to this one, and the other Darkstalkers games, because of the amazing artwork and theme obviously, but the combo system's simplicity makes it a joy to play as well. Easy to play match after match and not feel like you're outplayed because you didn't memorize a 12-hit combo string.

Played On: PC

One of the best looking point-and-click games of all time with hilarious jokes and more pirate shenanigans. If anyone wanted to get into the Monkey Island games, this is the one I would recommend. Just an absolute classic. Even without Ron Gilbert, the game manages to retain the vibes of the originals.

I'm a mongo footed professor gnar gnar! One of the first computer games I owned, I spent hours upon hours in it just building cars, jetskis, and riding around town as Pepper on my skateboard. I am ashamed how long it took me to even realize there was a "game" outside of the sandbox, but countless time was poured into just walking around the island and vibing.

Played On: PC

I guess I'm one of the few weirdos out there that actually really enjoys the main NWN campaign. It has some interesting ideas and zones like Charwood, a living snow globe, and an inn with an adventurer's dungeon beneath it, as well as a sleepy, dreamy atmosphere that I really enjoy. The two expansions are wonderful, and Shadows of Undrentide introduces one of my favorite NPCs ever - Deekin the Kobold Bard.

Played On: Arcade + SNES

Playing as mascots was the funniest thing ever to me - I really loved the Hornets one, and they were awesome in this game. This was the ultimate just pick up the controller and play game, and we all loved it.

Played On: MS-DOS

My mind was blown when I played this game, comparing it to the first one with just the sheer amount of new polish it had. It was absolutely stunning at the time. Then, I hit the ending and I think my little child brain melted.

Played On: Sega Dreamcast

Yeah, I had a Dreamcast. I barely had any games for it, and for the longest time the only ones I did have were House of the Dead 2 and NFL 2k, so I played the absolute crap out of both of them. House of the Dead 2 is ridiculous B-movie fun with insane voice acting and protagonists that respond to everything as if they are aliens. The monster designs are creepy and weird, and the whole game feels like a fever dream. I love it.

Played On: PC

Playing this game for the first time, the dark jedi were terrifying (Maw really freaked me out) and amazing, and getting to battle them with my own force powers and lightsaber was mindblowing. The shooting in Jedi Knight is fun too - toggle auto-run and it's so fast that it's almost a twitch shooter. The levels are fun to run around in, and Kyle Katarn is one of the best characters in Star Wars.

Played On: PC

This game absolutely blew my mind when it came out with how good it looked both from a technical standpoint and the art design with industrial sci-fi mixing against alien landscapes and architecture. Running through the world of Unreal really did feel like I was on another planet.

Played On: MS-DOS

Having played some of Maniac Mansion on my step-dad's old Commodore 64, seeing this game was a holy shit moment for me, and I played it over and over again. I loved the characters, the humor, and the time travel puzzles were very fun and satisfying to pull off. It's also one of those games I kind of grew up with - I kept playing it even as I got older and more and more of the jokes started to make sense with lots of little "aha" moments along the way.

Played On: Arcade

It was always super hard to find this arcade game, but there was a pizza place that had a machine and I would drag my step-dad there so we could eat pizza and play together. I loved the artwork and blasting away at DnD monsters with spells, or using the cleric's shield to block attacks and heal the party.

Played On: MS-DOS

Classic LAN party game - we'd get together and add the max number of players into the game between us and CPUs. The game was work together to destroy the CPUs and then turn on each other to determine a winner. Zug zug - I still have the peon responses stuck in my head.

Played On: PC

Beautiful and serene, Icewind Dale's freezing atmosphere provides a backdrop for an epic, yet solemn, adventure. The world feels alive, and while the player's party does not have any personality (outside of personal rp), the characters and setting drive the story as the party makes their way through the world.

Played On: PC

Incredibly charming with bright vibrant colors, Monster Boy offers some challenging platforming with creative puzzle solving. The animal forms are all fun to play around with as you explore volcanoes, pirate coves, haunted houses, and the clouds.

Played On: PC

Don't be fooled by the tiny, minimalist pixels on the screen, as this is actually one of the most ambitious Metroidvanias I've ever played. It is chocked full of secrets, power-ups, and sequence-breaks, all powered by eldritch horror that doesn't become apparent until the post-game.

Played On: Nintendo Switch

The map design and exploration in Astalon is absolute perfection. The amount of shortcuts packed into the Tower is staggering, and unlocking them gives endorphin rushes from hour one to hour thirty. The ability to swap between characters creates fun wrinkles in exploration, and while ultimately you do end up with a favorite, all three are fantastic and powerful when upgraded.

Played On: Arcade

This was the game that I always raced for at the arcade. I was a huge fan of the X-Men cartoon series and whatever comics I could get my hands on, and so getting to play as them was a dream come true. Plus, I just loved that era of costumes. Classic.

Played On: MS-DOS

I remember when we first got this game, I thought it was based on the Batman the Animated Series game "The Riddle of the Minotaur," but when the hours long, eight disk install completed, instead I was rewarded with a vibrant pixel world of puzzles and magic. Stills from The Hand of Fate are burned into my memory, like the Octopus outside the pirate bar, or the giant rabbit statue along a cliff.

Played On: Sega Genesis

Flashback to me playing this on my Sega Genesis over and over again without having any idea what I'm doing or where I was going, but having a blast getting completely lost and immersed in the world and art. Such a cozy, beautiful game that has stuck with me forever.

Played On: PC

Following in its predecessor's footsteps, Icewind Dale II is full of gorgeous art and creative locations that pull you in with mystery and poetic intrigue. The narrative also has its twists and turns, but it's full of interesting vignettes that flesh out the world as you journey your way through puzzles and combat.

Played On: PS2

The last NCAA game I bought, my favorite past time was finding some random FCS school and then coaching them up to eventually win the FBS National Title. Of course, you had to swap out a real team to add the FCS one, so goodbye Notre Dame - every time.

Played On: Arcade + SNES

So much time spent on this between the arcades and a friend's SNES just playing all day. He was always Leonardo and I was always Donatello, and we always kicked ass, ate pizza, and wasted hours away as kids should. Turtles in Time also had a lot of good mix-ups between the sewer levels, normal brawlers, and fun moments like having to throw enemies at Shredder's screen.