I went through a rut where I played and purchased a lot of games but didn't really beat any of them. I'd dabble for an hour or two and than lose interest. This pretty much lasted most of the PS/N64/Saturn generation and for a good chunk of start of the PS2 era. Needless to say, there were tons of great games that I didn't finish. As I got older, I got a lot more focused and that problem ended, so now I'm trying to prioritize the classic titles that I really have to play through, because I don't have time to play all the good games that I missed; I have to focus on what I consider the best. Some of my time ones that I have on my to do list:

Earthbound
Breath of Fire 2
Donkey Kong Country 2
Super Mario 64
Ocarina of Time
Majoras Mask
Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie
Paper Mario
Shining Force 3
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Klonoa
Tomba
Vagrant Story
Final Fantasy VIII
Xenogears
Valkyrie Profile
Chrono Cross
Dragon Warrior 7

Those are what I'm focused on clearing first. There are countless other titles, but these are the ones I think I enjoyed the most but never really gave a fair shot.

Originally Posted by rewindtimegames Adventure of Link. I almost beat it as a kid, but never finished. I started playing it again recently and it is much more difficult than I remember. Time to buckle down.

I just finally finished that this year. Is it the greatest Zelda game? Definitely not. However, it was a completely rewarding experience. It's not exactly great by Zelda standards, but it's head and shoulders above 99% of games from that generation.

My to-do list is a mile long - I recently bought my first Super Nintendo (I had all Sega stuff back in the day). I am starting off with Super Metroid and taking it from there

I actually bought the Hyperkin Retron 3 - SNES, Genesis, and NES all in one. It does s-video out and the emulation seems really good. The included wireless controllers are a joke, but can be easily discarded (there are ports to use original hardware wired controllers for each system included)

I really need to play panzer dragoon saga and burning rangers.

Originally Posted by M_Carp I am starting off with Super Metroid and taking it from there

That is the correct way to start a journey into retro gaming. Arguably the high-water mark of the 16-bit generation. I would suggest moving onto a Link to the Past next.

Originally Posted by Richard Kain That is the correct way to start a journey into retro gaming. Arguably the high-water mark of the 16-bit generation. I would suggest moving onto a Link to the Past next.

Super Metroid and a Link to the Past are both games that I get an itch to play every couple years. I've beat them both multiple times, but there is always something that brings me back to them. There are definitely other games like that for me, but you definitely can't go wrong starting your journey off with those. Both are definitely well up my list of greatest games of all time.

Donkey Kong Country for SNES. I got it for my 6th birthday and it's always been my favourite game of all time. Haven't beat it or played it in a good 5 years and I can't wait to play it again. Just bought a used SNES so hopefully I'll get to play soon.

Looking at my backlog, I still need to sit down with:

Harvest Moon 2 GBC
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
Breath of Fire
Wonder Boy in Monster Land

Ocarina of Time. Still haven't gotten around to it. Just bought a N64 again so it looks like it'll be happening soon.

I've been thinking of doing a run of all the SMB games with no warps. I fired up SMB the other day and it was really hard

Other than that...
Kid Icarus (been on the list for years and years)
Xenogears
Vagrant Story
Dragon Warrior 7
Far Cry
Half-Life 2

I've finally started playing grandia II after like 12 years of wanting to

Panzer dragoon saga is atop of my to-do list. I played half way through and stopped so I can play my new system at that time, dreamcast.

I've been getting back into the Sega Saturn in a big way. I was introduced to the world of import gaming by way of the Saturn back in 1997 and overall I think the system still has my favorite library of games of all time. Most of my Saturn stuff is buried in my parents basement but after buying another Japanese Saturn off eBay, I'm back into collecting and playing the games. I even got an old CRT TV off Craigslist to play the system on. An S-video cable is in the mail. The stuff that I'm bidding on on eBay ranges from rare variants of games that I already have (looking for that standalone Street Fighter Zero 2 Dash), games I stupidly sold back in the day (hello D&D collection), and stuff that will be new to me (Saturn port of Metal Slug, Saturn port of Strikers 1945 II).

All I have here in my apartment with the Saturn right now is the still-great Samurai Shodown/Spirits III. Love that RAM cart.

I've been working on FF VIII since 2008 or so. I'm at the end of disc 3 but I'm still not done yet.

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Originally Posted by rewindtimegames Adventure of Link. I almost beat it as a kid, but never finished. I started playing it again recently and it is much more difficult than I remember. Time to buckle down.

Finally finished off Zelda 2: Adventure of Link. Man, that was rough! Cant imagine beating dark link without using the cheapskate method. It was fun, but it definitely is a black sheep among zelda games deservedly so. More stressful than fun imo. Now i think im going to work on the master quest from Zelda 1. Never really gave it much of a chance

Mainly just all of the classic point-and-click adventure games.

Monkey Island series, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, King's Quest, etc.

Wasn't really into those types of games until recently. Aside from that, I've also recently gotten into games like Saints Row, Sleeping Dogs, Grand Theft Auto, etc. so need to play some of the older stuff like GTA1-2, Yakuza series, so on and so forth.

And the Half-Life games. Need to play those at some point.

Originally Posted by whataboutbob? Finally finished off Zelda 2: Adventure of Link. Man, that was rough! Cant imagine beating dark link without using the cheapskate method. It was fun, but it definitely is a black sheep among zelda games deservedly so. More stressful than fun imo. Now i think im going to work on the master quest from Zelda 1. Never really gave it much of a chance

I think Adventure of Link is very underrated. It stands as the one Zelda game that is actually difficult. All the rest can stump you here and there but you can always FAQ your way through them. The combat in Adventure of Link is just something that you have to practice at. It isn't my favorite in the franchise (LTTP wins that I think) but it's probably in second or third.

I just finished playing through the original Bard's Tale again. I also want to get a Wasteland play through done before Wasteland 2 comes out.

I also recently bought a Tankstick that unfortunately arrived damaged. Can't wait for the replacement to show up so I can play some classic arcade side-scrolling beat 'em ups. First on my list would be Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and Spider-Man the arcade game. Neither is the best in the category but I haven't played them in a looooong time.

I own every Zelda game, some multiple times over when you factor in Virtual Console, the Gamecube Collector's Edition, re-releases... I think I actually own OoT in 5 forms (N64, CE, Master Quest disc, VC, 3DS)...

But I never really played any of them. I've started them and messed around a bit, but not really "played" them. I was looking through all the VC games I've bought and not finished when I just decided to dive into the original LoZ.

I didn't want to use a walkthrough, even though in the past I've been confused about where to go and whatnot (which is why I've given up on the game so many times, after finishing the first dungeon). Thankfully on the GameFAQs board, I found some links to scans of the original map that came with the NES version. Those were a good starting point. I started the game up last night, and played all the way until I finished the second dungeon. I'm looking forward to keeping at it until I finish it.

LoZ update: I got to the seventh dungeon last night, all the way up to the point where I realized I needed to buy some food to get past the "Grumble, grumble" part. I'll have to try to get that today, and hopefully finish the game in the next couple days.