What's the one game you call a "masterpiece"?

[theaveng]

http://www.psxnation.com/Forum/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=5e4408f3c141483cec63df70ac33e3e3&act=ST&f=1&t=419&st=0&&#entry22


(I can't limit myself to just one...sorry!)

Asteroids - awesome 2D shooter with realistic gravity and intertia effects. I still play this at work. (shhh)

Pac-Man - graphics, siren sounds, challenge... this game is perfection. I play it whenever I need a quick stress relief.

Elite - NON-linear adventure through space. Be a trader. Be a killer. Be a government spy. It's your choice! Now available for Windows with suped-up graphics.

Populous - Part strategy, part adrenaline, all fighting. Your goal: Build a strong mini-civilization, gain god-like power, and then wipe out your opposition with earthquakes, floods, and other nasty attacks!

Tetris Attack - When I first started this game I didn't think it would be much, but it's very addictive. Strategy, impulsive decisions, precision eye-hand-coordination, and adrenaline... along with great graphics and sound effects. This is the best of the tetris-style puzzle games.

Super Mario RPG - cartoony role-playing game. Cute and a lot of fun that puts a smile on my face. :)

Final Fantasy 6 (aka FF3 on S-NES) - WOW. This game keeps coming up with surprises: Divide your group and go in three different directions at the same time!, set up 3 different groups and take them into a full-scale war!, tailor characters with magicite for summons and other magic, control *14* different characters each with *unique* abilities! And of course, a compelling story to wrap everything together. I can see why fans say FF6 is the best of the series.

Final Fantasy 9 - Basically this is an FF6-style RPG. Great story, great characters, great 3D graphics. It grabs you instantly with the opening scene and continues to hold your attention until the very end.

[Sylentwulf]

Dragon Warrior 4 - The best RPG Ever (BESIDES the graphics and sound)

Final Fantasy 6 (SNES)
Final Fantasy 7
Parasite Eve
Resident Evil (GC)
Madden 2003 (PS2)
Sould Edge (Arcade)
Tekken 2 (Arcade)

[Ascending Wordsmith]

Gunstar Heroes pretty much is the way 2D shooters are supposed be made. Instead of getting individual weapons, you could combine weapons to create whatever kind of attack you wanted. There's also a life meter. Most 2D shooters are one hit/one kill. Innovative (and numerous) enemies are another part of the game's greatness; you gotta have diversity to be a good product. Stage design comes to mind. Gunstar Heroes introduced the one and only Dice Palace; pick who you fight, and where you fight, all with the roll of the dice. No such concept has been repeated by any other game. SFX were a little grainy but you could never notice thanks to the kick ass gameplay. Which brings me to the soundtrack; I think the game had some of the most vibrant and original tunes for its time. Throw in a little humor, an M. Bison clone, and a spaceship shoot'em up segment... now you got yourself the perfect game!

http://www.ciudadfutura.com/gamesworld/g-gunstar.gifhttp://www.ciudadfutura.com/gamesworld/ggunstar.gif

[Revolt]

Resident Evil- PS1
Tekken 2,3- PS1-arcade
Mortal Kombat 2- arcade, snes
Streetfighter2- arcade, snes
Killer Instinct- arcade
Defender Stargate-arcade

[GENESISNES]

Resident Evil-GC
Metal Gear Solid 2-PS2
Harvest Moon 64-N64
I like games that look cartoony.(sly cooper, VII) im excited about those games.

[TheRedEye]

The one and only game I'd call a masterpiece would be Lucasarts' Grim Fandango for the PC. That game is ART. Nothing comes close for me.

[WiseSalesman]

There are several, but the one that foremost comes to mind is Super Smash Bros.. The original, not Melee. My best friend and I literally played that game until we had it down to an art, where we were equally matched, but no one else even came close. Either one of us could easily take on a team of three level 9 coms without dying. And when I went to college the year after that summer, I found that people that thought they were really good would go entire matches without landing a hit on me. For me, visual style has nothing to do with it; the programming and balance of this game IS art. I never got tired of it, and played straight up until the new one came out (which didn't hold my interest near as long).

Other honorable mentions would include: Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, FF4, FF6, Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, and Eternal Darkness (I have my reasons).

[mattpfeil]

The Lufia Sets for snes.. rpg/strategy game..you cant beat it.

[kevincure]

"Masterpieces"

Grim Fandango, as someone said earlier in the thread, is amazing.
Pac-Man, of course.
Vagrant Story is almost perfect.
Gunstar Heroes is a masterful shooter.
Mario 64 is the best 3d game ever made.
Civilization II is the best strategy ever.
Sim City 2000 (PC) was incredible.
Super Mario Bros. changed videogames.
The Madden games have still not been topped - in the last 10 years, it's been the best sports game out for all but one or two years (96/97).
Street Fighter II created a genre, though I still don't think the perfect fighting game has been invented.
Dance Dance Revolution gave videogames a new meaning.

[geelw]

pc
DOS: daggerfall
windows: half-life

console stuff (based on systems i have or have had):
atari 2600: tie! combat/pong
lynx: tie! battlewheels/crystal mines II
jaguar: alien vs. predator
coleco: donkey kong
vectrex: polar rescue
nes: dragon warrior (series)
famicom: warp man
game boy: legend of zelda: link's awakening
gb color: metal gear solid
gba: advance wars
snes: super metroid
super famicom: lord of elemental
n64 (u.s.): goemon's great adventure
n64 (jpn): sin & punishment
game cube (u.s.): super monkey ball
tg-16: magical chase
pc-engine: devil's crash
turbo duo: lords of thunder
pc-engine duo: dracula x
arcade card duo: kabuki ittouryouden (sp?)
neo geo pocket (b+w): gun pey
neo geo pocket (color): metal slug 2nd mission
wonderswan (b+w): clock tower
wonderswan (color): final fantasy
sms: phantasy star
game gear (u.s.): ristar
game gear (jpn): gunstar heroes
genesis: shining force (1 & 2)
mega drive: panorama cotton
sega cd: keio flying squadron
mega cd: shin megami-tensei
saturn (u.s.): panzer dragoon saga
saturn (jpn): enemy zero
dreamcast (u.s.): test drive le mans
dreamcast (jpn): soul calbur
psx (u.s.): silent hill
psx (japan): moon
ps2 (u.s.): ico
ps2 (japan): ico
xbox: halo/elder scrolls III: morrowind

i'm missing some stuff, but i'm at work, and this is off the top of my head

[ashbourn]

hmmm this a hard one Tetris, Apperion (a mac game), Final Fantasy series, super mario bro, pacman, zelda links awakning, super mario 64 all come to mind.

[Captain Wrong]

I was going to say Gunstar Heroes but PC Kwajalein beat me to it.

I think masterpiece is WAAAAAAY overused, not just in videogames, but in everything. However, Gunstar is one of the few games that meets my standards.

I'd also consider Robotron 2084 and Tetris in that category.

[BenT]

Gunstar. Ikaruga. Contra III.

[briskbc]

Asteroids (arcade, vector)
Jackal (arcade, I need a working MAME ROM for this)
Missile Command
Metroid
FF9
GTA3
Doom
Super Mario Kart

and many many more

[ubersaurus]

Super Mario Bros 3...if you ask me that game was the PINNACLE of the 2d platforming genre. It used the tried and true SMB 1/2j formula and improved on it so much...even mario world was, if you ask me, a step down in quality.

[GENESISNES]

oh yeah, most lucas arts games.

The secret of monkey island
Return to Monkey island
The curse of monkey island
Escape from monkey island
Maniac Mansion
Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle
Grim Fandango
and any other game like that.

[johnny arcade]

Devil's Crush -TG-16
Blazing Lazers -TG-16
Revenge of Shinobi -Genesis
WCW vs. nWo: World Tour -N64
Double Dragon -Arcade
Super Dodge Ball -NES

[buttasuperb]

Twisted Metal 2 - i think its the best 2 player co-op game ive ever played.(well maybe besides contra and metal slug) the game is simply pure destruction. when you throw napalm then turbo into the car so both you and the napalm hit at the same time, you see the true fun in the game.

Street Fighter 2 - started a whole genre of greatness. not much else to say.

Super Mario 3 - all i can say is that i played this game for hours and hours on end when i was a kid. i dont know how many times ive beat the game.

Samurai Shodown 2 - in my mind the best fighter ever. this game just has so much style.

Age of the Empires 2 - i thought id throw a pc game in here, (honorable mention: unreal tournament) aoe2 to me is plain out fun. choppa!

[Marc4242]

Super Mario World. The only game to this day I can play through over and over again. It has infinite replay value for me. Most early 3D games look dated to me now (Mario 64) but this game just never will! In my mind it is the perfect game.

[RJ]

For me it's Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain for PSX. I'm a big fan of vampire games, & this game has it all: A HUGE world, decent FMV (for 1996!), a great story & characters, great voice-acting, puzzles, realtime combat (no "taking turns" for me!), blood, gore, violence, spells/armor/weapons combos, changing weather & day-night cycles (which actually affect gameplay), shapeshifting, the WORKS! It's an excellent start for the Soul Reaver saga & possibly the best game I own. The only problem is the slow load times, but the wait is well worth it!