New Hall of Fame - Must Play "Games of the Day"

[pinzach]

There are now almost 200 GOTD posts on my blog. Since there are always new folks finding the blog, many of them have told me that they find it difficult to plow through all of them in any sort of timely manner. So I thought I'd take a crack at narrowing them down to a list of the cream of the crop. These are CURRENTLY (it's always changing) my favorite games that have been featured as one of my Games of the Day. Remember that a game has to have already been a GOTD on my blog to make this list, that's why some other classic, great games aren't on it. Indeed, the whole point of the GOTDs is to ferret out lesser known, more obscure games that folks might enjoy. Hope you find a game you love.

http://mamezach.blogspot.com/

[Rob2600]

I've been scrolling through the posts on your site and have left a couple of comments so far. I'd never heard of Power Drift before. I just looked up videos of it in motion on YouTube and I'm blown away. If I had seen these graphics in 1988, my head would've exploded. I've always loved the look of sprite-based scaling 3D graphics (Power Drift, Blue Lightning on the Lynx and Jaguar CD, the end credits in Yoshi's Island on the SNES, etc.).

If the Sega Genesis had sprite scaling capabilities built into the hardware, that would've been a *huge* game-changer in my book. If games like Power Drift came out on the Genesis, I would've begged my parents for one in 1989. But instead, Sega skimped and I was more impressed with the SNES.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I've been scrolling through the posts on your site and have left a couple of comments so far. I'd never heard of Power Drift before. I just looked up videos of it in motion on YouTube and I'm blown away. If I had seen these graphics in 1988, my head would've exploded. I've always loved the look of sprite-based scaling 3D graphics (Power Drift, Blue Lightning on the Lynx and Jaguar CD, the end credits in Yoshi's Island on the SNES, etc.).

If the Sega Genesis had sprite scaling capabilities built into the hardware, that would've been a *huge* game-changer in my book. If games like this were coming out on the Genesis, I would've begged my parents for one in 1989. But instead, Sega skimped and I was more impressed with the SNES.

Power drift was a great arcade cabinet experience. ESPECIALLY the sit-down model with the pneumatic tilting

http://planetemu.net/php/articles/files/Image/gonzo/powerdrift/powerdrift_deluxe.jpg

Always loved that dangling Sonic from the rear-view.

[Rob2600]

Power drift was a great arcade cabinet experience. ESPECIALLY the sit-down model with the pneumatic tilting

Always loved that dangling Sonic from the rear-view.

Thanks for the info. Looking back, I feel like arcade games peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s (concepts, creativity, graphics, aesthetic, etc.). I love that old-style sprite look and I love how during that time, the 2D hardware became powerful enough to allow developers to play around with 2D sprites in 3D space.

I just saw the post about the (unreleased?) 1992 arcade game Riot (http://mamezach.blogspot.com/2011/12/game-of-day-riot.html). If that had been released on the SNES, I would've been all over it. I love the concept, the look of the graphics, and again, the use of 2D sprites and backgrounds to simulate 3D space.


I just read the Tac/Scan (http://mamezach.blogspot.com/2011/10/game-of-day-tacscan.html) post and looked it up on YouTube. It's a beautiful game and another one I never knew about. I'm always amazed by how impressive and advanced those early 3D vector games look, even in 2012. This might sound weird, but I enjoy the graphics in a game like Tac/Scan or Star Wars Arcade more than in a graphically "superior" game on the PS3 or Xbox 360 from today. There's something about the color scheme in the old color vector games I find very pleasing and mysterious.

Evidently, it was ported to the Atari 2600. After seeing a video of the arcade version I didn't have high hopes, but when I looked it up on YouTube just now, it seemed pretty good considering the hardware limitations.


Damn...just came across the Gunlock (http://mamezach.blogspot.com/2012/01/game-of-day-gunlock.html) (RayForce) post. Another awesome 2D game that simulates 3D space. (Reminds me of the "3D" chasms in Crisis Force for the Famicom - video (http://youtu.be/fg0LJDpPdS8).)

Here's a video of level 6 (http://youtu.be/KWTixTnFqjE) and level 7 (http://youtu.be/xmfxMA13O-I). Beautiful. Graphically, how does the Saturn port compare to the arcade?


Okay, last update right now: I just read the Aqua Jack (http://mamezach.blogspot.com/2012/02/game-of-day-aqua-jack.html) post. Absolutely stunning graphics (video (http://youtu.be/8p4tZZpw7Zk)). I can't believe how many arcade games I've never heard of!

[pinzach]

Hey Rob,

Thanks for all the good comments. I'm equally amazed when I find these old great games that I had no idea existed before.