Bucket List
Not the regular kind.....it struck me recently that when I retire, I will probably be just fine in a retirement home as long as there is a television with multiple input options. I have so many games backlogged that it would probably take the last few years of my life to get caught up(and by that time the list will surely only be much much larger). So in this frame of reference I wanted to come up with games that I had to play to completion before I die, either because I never played them or, much more the common instance, never finished them. If I go all the way back to begin, this list begins with the NES. So after some contemplation with the help of Wikipedia, these are the top five NES games for my bucket list:
1)Dragon Warrior III - I was completely geeking out in anticipation of this game. The first in the series were two of my most played and replayed of the NES era, and even though the term prequel had yet to be coined, this game was chronologically set before the original, telling the story of the hero the first game's protagonist was descended from. There was a short lived run of the Japanese series based on this game that I was totally glued to, even though they ceased airing it here 13 episodes in. I wanted this game like no other....and never actually got it. I did eventually begin the game via emulation, but to this day haven't finished it.
2)Bionic Commando - This was one of those games I really dug, but never had a copy of my own to chow down on. I didn't get the mechanics well enough to be able to clear the game during a rental, and simply wasn't skilled enough to do it years later in emulation.
3)Blaster Master - I didn't rent it enough times. I think I was really, really close and simply never went all the way.
4)Metal Gear - This game was so far ahead of its time, I didn't even comprehend as a ten year old that I wasn't supposed to engage the enemies in combat. It never dawned on me as a child that there was a stealth mechanic built into the game so that you could avoid detection to get through guarded areas. I want to clear the game legit one day, as well as the true sequel.
5)Ninja Gaiden - The game that actually got me thinking bucket list in the first place. The game was so ridiculously hard, and the final boss was simply unfair. I never made it to the third form, if in fact there was one, I thought I remembered hearing there was another after Jaquio. It is my one greatest regret in all of gaming that I never conquered this game.
There are of course many honorable mentions and throw-ins such as Battletoads, but I will save those for the next entry.
1)Dragon Warrior III - I was completely geeking out in anticipation of this game. The first in the series were two of my most played and replayed of the NES era, and even though the term prequel had yet to be coined, this game was chronologically set before the original, telling the story of the hero the first game's protagonist was descended from. There was a short lived run of the Japanese series based on this game that I was totally glued to, even though they ceased airing it here 13 episodes in. I wanted this game like no other....and never actually got it. I did eventually begin the game via emulation, but to this day haven't finished it.
2)Bionic Commando - This was one of those games I really dug, but never had a copy of my own to chow down on. I didn't get the mechanics well enough to be able to clear the game during a rental, and simply wasn't skilled enough to do it years later in emulation.
3)Blaster Master - I didn't rent it enough times. I think I was really, really close and simply never went all the way.
4)Metal Gear - This game was so far ahead of its time, I didn't even comprehend as a ten year old that I wasn't supposed to engage the enemies in combat. It never dawned on me as a child that there was a stealth mechanic built into the game so that you could avoid detection to get through guarded areas. I want to clear the game legit one day, as well as the true sequel.
5)Ninja Gaiden - The game that actually got me thinking bucket list in the first place. The game was so ridiculously hard, and the final boss was simply unfair. I never made it to the third form, if in fact there was one, I thought I remembered hearing there was another after Jaquio. It is my one greatest regret in all of gaming that I never conquered this game.
There are of course many honorable mentions and throw-ins such as Battletoads, but I will save those for the next entry.