What are the top 5 games you currently enjoy playing the most on your Pi and why?

flamnel

Currently I've been really in to discovering fighting games I never played back when I was younger. It's been a fun journey so far! I guess my top 5 would be:

Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (Dreamcast)
This game is just wow...I've played many other Street Fighter games, but this one just feels so smooth. Unbelievably good.
King of Fighters '99 (PSX)
I never touched an SNK fighter until just the last week or so and I must say I really like this one. I know '99 isn't one of the better KOF games out there, but I really like the gameplay mechanics (team play, super combos, etc.). Similar in feel to Street Fighter but I think just a little deeper.
King of Fighters '99 Dream Match (Dreamcast)
I'm planning on immersing myself fully in this series because I'm really impressed with it. Living in the US, KOF didn't seem very popluar outside of the more hardcore fighting game fan circles...which I am shocked by because these games are fantastic.
Tobal No. 2 (PSX)
Obscure-ish sequel (that was never released outside of Japan) to a little-known 3D fighter from Squaresoft for the PSX. I had no idea Square made a fighting game back in the late 90's but like everything they put out at that time, it's pure gold. This one came out in '97 and it still looks fantastic to this day. Fun fact - many members of the team that developed Tobal 1 & 2 went on to work with teams that developed the later Tekken games and later Virtua Fighter games. There's also a really cool Quest mode where you can progress and any monsters you capture can be used in the Arcade mode. There's something like 250 playable characters in this game!!
Resident Evil Code Veronica (Dreamcast)
Not a fighting game, but I've always wanted to play this one...also I had a hankering for an old-school RE. Just started it, but I'm still surprised at how good this game looks despite being 20 years old

Zering

@flamnel Code Veronica is my favourite classic RE, and a huge game to boot.
There's a hack for the Dreamcast game that also incorporates the improvements from the PS2 version.

IanDaemon

@zering The "Code Veronica" sections of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (Wii) were nice to relive.

sirhenrythe5th

The PS3 Port of the Darkside Chronicles is also great.
Improved graphics + Trophies + MoveController = awesome gaming experience.

Zering

@sirhenrythe5th Actually I have to correct myself, Code Veronica X on Dreamcast isn't a hack but a translation of Dreamcast Code Veronica X, which was only released in Japan for that machine. It seems there are no notable improvements over the original version, apparently the differences affect mostly some of the cut scenes.

IanDaemon

@sirhenrythe5th The move controller was pretty much just the wiimote with "motion plus", no real difference.

sirhenrythe5th

@iandaemon Sure, but it looked much better :D

IanDaemon

KINDA OFF TOPIC:
@sirhenrythe5th I miss the "on-rails renaissance" we enjoyed with the Wii console. The world needs more light-gun games (with accurate motion aiming).

sirhenrythe5th

@iandaemon also unforgotten: House of the Dead: Overkill. Marvelous! :D
EDIT: and Dead Space: Extraction of course.

mth75

Commandos 1
Broken Sword 3
Lamplight City
Age of Empires 2
Simcity 3000

Because I loved those games in the early 00's (except Lamplight City from 2018)... and now I'm able to play them on the Pi4! thanks to Box86 and Wine.

WeirdH

@iandaemon said in What are the top 5 games you currently enjoy playing the most on your Pi and why?:

KINDA OFF TOPIC:
@sirhenrythe5th I miss the "on-rails renaissance" we enjoyed with the Wii console. The world needs more light-gun games (with accurate motion aiming).

Have you checked out the Sinden light gun? Looks pretty good.

Zering

Chourensha (Sharp X68000), in my opinion the most addictive shmup ever crafted.
Panzer Dragoon (Sega Saturn), one of the most enthralling rail shooters out there.
Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast (Sony PSP), crazy addictive, extremely relaxing. The sense of speed is sublime.
Genocide Square (Fujitsu FM Towns), I suck at it and I don't think I quite understand the way the game works, but I find myself coming back to it.
Sin and Punishment (Nintendo 64), I play through the game regularly, I think the first two thirds are some of the most spectacular stuff of their generation.

mediamogul

Capcom vs. SNK 2 - Dreamcast
I've been a avid Mortal Kombat guy my whole life. After an embarrassingly long time I wanted to see how the Capcom and SNK fighting games feel to play and I figured this would help with both at the same time. Funny thing is, the game is so good, I honestly don't think I'll ever be going back to MK seriously outside of the occasional nostalgia trip.

Enduro - Atari 2600
I'm not a programmer, but I have and will watch/read/listen to any interviews done with original Activision employees. What they were able to do with a machine that was only ever meant to play 'PONG' and 'Tank' is flat-out amazing. With 'Enduro' you get a, 'Outrun'/'Rad Racer' gaming experience that cycles through day and night, as well adverse weather conditions such as snow and fog. It's every bit as impressive as it is fun to play.

Jr. Pac-Man - Atari 2600
This is by far my favorite version of Pac-Man. It's undeniably challenging and proves that an early 80s video game programmed for a late 70s console can really get the heart racing. Its been a mainstay of mine for a while, but currently I'm trying to break down the ghost behavior to manipulate it rather than remaining evasive at all times.

Space Duel - Arcade
The gorgeous color vector presentation would be enough of a reason to play this, but this 'Asteroids' sequel is steeped in history, with its roots going back to the first coin operated arcade game, 'Computer Space', which was itself an adaptation of one of the earliest video games ever, 'Spacewar!'. I never really liked that the best strategy for 'Asteroids' was to remain in one place and fire. Here you're forced to move around the screen to survive.

Tetris - NES
What's to say? It's Tetris for the NES and I want to git gud. Currently I'm almost half way to maxing out the score and I'm drilling the DAS system to move the pieces faster. I honestly don't know if it's even possible to max the score under emulation, but it won't be for a lack of trying.

pjft

@mediamogul logging in just to say welcome back - great to see you're still doing well!

mediamogul

@pjft

So, you're just gonna act like nothing happened? After stealing the woman I love and then having the unmitigated gaul to insist that my children, the very lifeblood of my family line, call you father. How dare you, sir! Wait... Come to think of it, I'm reasonably sure that was an entirely different pjft. I am of course very happy to see that you're doing well also.

Once I get a little more free time, I'm looking forward to trying out all the new advancements in RetroPie. I'm especially interested in Box86 and whether or not it would run the x86 arcade 'Polybius' and 'Fix-it Felix Jr.' Not to mention the brilliantly bananas 'Pacapong'. Those have always been pretty high on my wish list and they actually seem possible on the Pi now. Truly amazing!

thelostsoul

@mediamogul Intersting titles. You made me curious about Space Duel. Which Tetris are you playing, the original from Nintendo, which is also the main game played at Tetris world records. Or do you play the Tengen one, which people claim to be the better Tetris. About Pac-Man, I never played one of the games seriously and don't know all the differences. While digging on roms recently, I found out about a 2 player Pac-Man Arrangement from 1996. While the graphics and sound changed drastically, its still interesting that there is a multiplayer Pac-Man game.
Enduro is really fascinating. It is incredibly fast and fluid, sound design is excellent and never gets annoying and the other stuff you already said. You have a good taste.

mediamogul

@thelostsoul

Very, very-very cool! I'd love to know the name of that two player Pac-Man arrangement. In answer to your Tetris question I am playing Nintendo's own version of Tetris for the NES. A lot of what seems to dictate popular opinion on the best NES version comes down to game options, of which Tengen's Tetris trounces Nintendo's. It has two player competitive, two player cooperative, as well as versions of both against the computer. The latter of which is surprisingly rare in puzzle games of that time. However, despite its unique multiplayer offerings, the Tengen version's lack of a marathon mode ironically limits its value for competitive play.

The main problem is that Tengen's gameplay is broken up into individual rounds that arguably disrupts the flow of progression. This forces you to start every new round cold from memory with your stack still in place from the round before at a higher difficulty. This is mitigated somewhat by Tengen's version having a difficulty ceiling that does not progress when reached. However, this is another factor not suited to competitive play, due to the fact that once the difficulty limit is reached, it's trivial to just keep playing forever, making high scores somewhat meaningless.

All that said, with all the countless different versions of Tetris, I'm of the opinion that the game is so perfect at its core, the only way to make an objectively bad version is to render the control scheme unintuitive in some way. Bulletproof Software's original version for the Famicom unfortunately suffers from this, where pressing down rotates the pieces and the 'A' button hard drops. As an aside, I really should mention a recent effort to finish and reinstate the hidden two player mode in Nintendo's Tetris found here. Some may be familiar with the 'Tetris Zero' hack that first attempted the same feat, but this new one outdoes it in every way by implementing same seeded pieces between players, the option for garbage and even the ability to mimic CTWC tournament conditions with no garbage or game endings for the first player out.

thelostsoul

@mediamogul From the modes of both Tetris, I would conclude (categorizing is the best I can do) Nintendo Tetris best for single player and Tengen Tetris best for multiplayer fun. But I wonder if there are fundamental differences like the logic when and how the Tetrinos (aren't the Tetris blocks called like this?) appear or other non visible differences of gameplay have any impactful meaning.

I love the romhacking community in general. Looking through the list you linked, there are really cool mods, but never looked too much into Tetris mods yet. Actually I know about this 2 player hack and find it very cool and odd too (because its not included in the final game): https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5076/ - Tetris - Two Player Mod. I wasn't aware for all the options! Very interesting those variations of this mod (I keep calling it mod instead hack).

The Pac-Man game I was talking about actually is named "Pac-Man arrangement" from 1996 (for the Arcade). It has the new style of diagonal 3D fake optic (not classic Pac-Man unfortunately) and I have no clue how good the game plays: https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Pac-Man_Arrangement_(1996) The GBA and WIIU ports lack the 2 player mode. It is released as part of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namco_Classic_Collection_Vol._2

Not to be confused with the 2005 game of the same name seen in Namco Museum Battle Collection.
...
A fifth, yellow ghost who wears glasses named Kinky is introduced in this game.
...
The game also incorporates two-player simultaneous play. A second player can join in anytime during gameplay, and will control a green Pac-Man, in which the player can help the other player complete the stage or compete for the highest score. At the end of every round when two players are present, a score total screen will appear and the player who scores the most wins per round. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score total overall wins the game. The game also features continues, however unlike the other arrangement games featured, the player's score is reset when they continue a game after losing all their lives.

Sounds good to me. And it is developed and published by Namco.

dankcushions

tetris battle gaiden is by far my favourite multiplayer tetris - it's tetris with magic spells :) eg, reverse opponents controls, swap your playfields, randomise their playfield, and so on.

and what's hilarious is that all the spells are titled in japanese so my opponent and i typically have no idea what spell we're about to use, and many of them are more of a hindrance than a help. there's probably a translation hack but IMO it's better with the added chaos. i refuse to play with my japanese gf as she has the advantage :D

tetris effect on ps4 (etc) may not a be a 'pure' tetris experience but it is incredible in VR.

(welcome back @mediamogul !)

thelostsoul

@dankcushions I have discovered Tetris Battle Gaiden just recently when researching the best SNES games and never had the chance to play it against a friend. Really like the game so far. Besides Tetris Effect, the newer NSwitch exclusive Tetris 99 looks fun too (in other words Tetris Battle Royale), essentially a 100 player at the same time game mode. And I have heard really good things about the Tetris: The Grand Master series on Arcade and its ports to the newer consoles.