What games do you play every year?

bvharris

bvharris

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I was reading the "first game you ever beat" thread which got my thinking about games from back in the day that we feel compelled to replay and replay either for the nostalgia factor or just because we love them.

I'm sure many gamers have those one or two games that they make a pilgrimage through once a year (or thereabouts). I'm curious to see what games most commonly pop up as ones gamers love to re-visit.

For me it's Final Fantasy VI, which I still play through on the SNES at least once a year. One because its the game which first turned me into a serious gamer, and second because I feel its the pinnacle of that series, so its a combination of nostalgia and quality.

What games do you keep coming back to, and why?
 
i made a thread like this awhile back, not sure where it went though, its long buried.

there arent many i play regularly, i play final fantasy vii every 12-18 months (im playing it right now on my psp), i play a link to the past every couple of years. im also in the middle of FF9 for the third time, chrono trigger for the i dont know how many times. thats not to mention games i just pop in every once in awhile like super mario bros 3 and golden axe.
 
I looked around to see if it existed but there's only two archived pages.

I play Link to the Past quite often too, though I don't revisit it as regularly.
 
I used to play Final Fantasy III/VI about once a year. I don't think I've played in the past 3 to 4 years though. I'm planning on playing again starting within the next couple weeks.
 
Super Mario World. Greatest game ever made. Every year or so Ill pull it out and get 96* on it.

It is kind of amazing and a bit sad that a game that old is still better then everything else to this day. Then you go back and play Goldeneye 007 which you thought was so good and its terrible now.
 
I go back and play River City Ransom a lot. Also old RPGs such as Shining Force 1 and 2, early Final Fantasy games and Dragon Warrior. PC-wise I reinstall the old War in Middle Earth game sometimes and have replayed Bard's Tale (The original) and Wasteland several times.
 
[quote name='musha666']Super Mario World. Greatest game ever made. Every year or so Ill pull it out and get 96* on it.

It is kind of amazing and a bit sad that a game that old is still better then everything else to this day. Then you go back and play Goldeneye 007 which you thought was so good and its terrible now.[/QUOTE]

The thing is, "greatest game ever made" is entirely subjective. I'm not saying SMW isn't the greatest game ever, but its tough to compare across genres. The reason Goldeneye feels so dated now is because the FPS genre is still evolving and in many ways improving.

On the other hand, SMW really was the "perfect" 2D platformer. I can't think of any way that the genre could possibly be improved from what that game accomplished, nor apparently can those who make video games for a living.

Most of the "great" games of the past from different genres can be improved upon either graphically or otherwise because of advancements in technology, but that game really was the pinnacle of its genre.
 
I have a few games I like to play once every year or two. Mega Man 2, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger & Castlevania SOTN. Of course these games getting launched on diffrent platforms (DS, XBLA, VC) helped in the hype factor.

It's funny how I never do this with newer generation games. I think the latest game I played through for a second time was Suikoden V.
 
A few games come to mind. I can't even begin to imagine how many times I've played through Super Mario All-Stars and Super Ghouls N Ghosts.

I've also gone through Diablo II multiple times... at least once a year I start up and play religiously for weeks on end. I usually get bored once my character/characters are level 90~. Once the newest update for Diablo comes out, I'll probably go through it all again.

Also, if it counts, Tribes 2. I've been coming back to this game for years, even as the userbase has dwindled. It still feels just as fresh as it did when I first started playing... and I'm still waiting for another fps to grip me as much as this game did.
 
[quote name='thekeybladewars']That would have to be GTA: San Andreas... [/QUOTE]

Every time I see GTAIV on my shelf or read about it online it makes me want to bust out SA again to remember how much more I loved that game than its limiting successor. I hope they go back towards the true scope and freedom of SA in the future games. I've played this one a half dozen times since its release too, though not all the way through every time.
 
Wizards and Warriors (NES). I know, it's not the best game in the world, but there's a story behind it. When I was a kid, I got the game and loved it. However, due to the lack of a password system and my sometimes short attention span, I would only get so far then quit. Then, one Thanksgiving, I started playing it after the parade. Just before dinner was ready that day, I finished off the wizard and saved the final princess. Since then, every year on Thanksgiving, I fire up the NES and play my way through Wizards and Warriors again.
 
I still break out Metal Gear and Zelda 2 on the NES...probably not yearly but every so often. The early Mortal Kombat games get some play too.

Several games on XBLA as well (ie Castlevania SOTN, Street Fighter II, TMNT Arcade), but I don't really count those in the same group as the games above.
 
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time on SNES. It's not a yearly thing, more of a "I play it all the time anyway" thing. I could probably play it with my eyes closed, except for that part in Big Apple, 3 A.M with the wrecking balls.
 
I still play Tetris for gameboy, I bought it when it first came out at BEST in the 1980s. My original gameboy died a while back so now I play it on the PC or on my PSP. I still can't get past the mid 100,000s though.
 
My ex's grandma has a mint Game Boy with Tetris. I hadn't played Tetris in years, so I fired it up. Played for maybe seven hours that day. Her grandma ended up giving it to me. She doesn't need it; she upgraded to a DS :D
 
I also play a few other gameboy games that I have kept around but not frequently. Too bad the DS can't play GB or GBC games I'm sure the controls would feel much more natural. After I gave away my GBA I tried playing some old games on the gameboy player but they just don't look that good on my TV.
 
Yeah, GB/C games are the only reason I keep my SP around. I am thinking about getting a Game Boy player, the price is dropping at GameStop and I don't want to play Final Fantasy IV on a tiny screen.
 
I have a copy of Tetris in each one of my bathrooms that gets quite a bit of play :)

I also fire up Starcraft every year or so and play for a month, realize it is the same thing over and over, drop it like a bad habit and then get the urge to play shortly thereafter.
 
[quote name='Chairman_LMAO']Yeah, GB/C games are the only reason I keep my SP around. I am thinking about getting a Game Boy player, the price is dropping at GameStop and I don't want to play Final Fantasy IV on a tiny screen.[/QUOTE]

It's worth getting a gameboy player if you want to play GBA games on a larger screen or if you still play GB/C games. I just checked out your trade list and noticed you had The Castlevania Adventure. I used to love that game but don't play it anymore since I have Castlevania Dracula X for PSP. I would be willing to trade you the manual PM me if your interested.
 
Alot of these games don't really have a long-standing tradition(usually circa 2004 when I got more involved in games), but I always find myself coming back to them.

-Jet Grind Radio/Shenmue. These usually go hand-in-hand, I'll play one and then realize I want to play the other too, probably because I bought these two together when they first came out. I've beat JGR thrice or so, but still haven't finished Shenmue.. as engrossed as I am at the start, I get sorta worn on it after a while.

-Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Ever since it's release I'll play this game yearly, usually exclusively in 2 month stints. I've done so much in the game, but I still haven't even finished the main quest.

-GTA San Andreas. I think SA and GTAIV both have a pretty big scope to them, but GTAIV focuses on finer details while SA is bigger, and in that regard I think I prefer SA. I think one thing that I really like about the game is it's setting, there's something really fun and intriguing about those 3 cities and the various woodlands, deserts, etc that connect them. I feel like I can spend hours exploring the huge world by plane, or doing something smaller like just riding around the block on my bike lifting weights, recruiting homies, etc.


This is gonna sound weird, but although it's not a game per say, every year I read the webcomic "Concerned". For those not in the know, it's a comic about Half-Life 2 which the guy uses the actual game to create the comic(with garry's mod). I come back to read through that comic every year, and I still haven't played Half-life 2, well I played a little bit on the Xbox1 version but not really that much. Everytime I read this great comic I say "I really want to play HL2" but I don't... I think I'm going to need to get started.

Some Runner-Ups
-Resident Evil 4
-Elder Scrolls Morrowind
I come back to these quite a bit, but I'll usually bail not far into the beginning, usually because I'm just not ready to settle into the game.
 
[quote name='BlueWingX']Wizards and Warriors (NES). I know, it's not the best game in the world, but there's a story behind it. When I was a kid, I got the game and loved it. However, due to the lack of a password system and my sometimes short attention span, I would only get so far then quit. Then, one Thanksgiving, I started playing it after the parade. Just before dinner was ready that day, I finished off the wizard and saved the final princess. Since then, every year on Thanksgiving, I fire up the NES and play my way through Wizards and Warriors again.[/QUOTE]

This is actually kind of similar to my FFVI story. I have three cousins who are older than I am (the youngest is 5 years older) and we would go to their house every year for Thanksgiving. They had a SNES before I had one since they were older, and I would spend hours watching them play FFVI or other games (that was the one I remember most prominently) waiting for my turn. I was 8 or 9 at the time, so I sucked, but I begged and begged my parents to buy me a SNES, even saved up my allowance for months to chip in. When I finally got one the first game I bought was FFVI, so it was the first video game I ever owned on my own (aside from SMW, which came with the system at the time). I still have that same copy and play it every year, usually around Thanksgiving.
 
The only game that I've actually played through multiple times is Resident Evil 4. I've probably beaten that six times since I got it, and it's the only game that I've ever re-bought (Gamecube and Wii).
 
Secret of Monkey Island. Pretty much once a year. That game has some of the best writing and humor ever squeezed into a piece of electronic entertainment, and holds up really well.
 
Pokemon Stadium. Once every Easter Sunday. I guess cuz that's the day I originally got it and I jus keep it a tradition.
 
[quote name='Disneyboy']The only game that I've actually played through multiple times is Resident Evil 4. I've probably beaten that six times since I got it, and it's the only game that I've ever re-bought (Gamecube and Wii).[/QUOTE]

I would have to second this. I love this game.
 
I need at least one good Metroidvania game every 6 months, it helps stimulate my post good gaming tension.
 
Once a year I play a Panzer Dragoon game. Shoot 'em ups are good for just playing out of the blue. If I have a few days of uninterrupted vacation time I'll pop in Panzer Dragoon Saga and replay it.
 
Symphony of the Night usually gets a run through every year. I'm going to start a Christmas time tradition this year with a holiday Shenmue run. I'm also replaying Silent Hill 3 right now, I wants that sexy beam!

I've been broke as hell lately and can't afford many games. I'm probably going to be doing a lot more replaying. Also, first time playing because I'm a collector as much as a gamer. Finally I'm going to play Fatal Frame 2 on PS2! (I bought that on launch day btw) But I'm going to beat one of my old favorites since the day my mom bought it for me the day it came out. Toejam and Earl 2!
 
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