rdrunner

Day 31! Great job to everyone who took the time to make a list. Looking forward to doing this again in the fall! Day 1 Title: Ogre Battle (ookii_risu) Day 2 Opening Level: Shatterhand (fox) Day 3 8-Bit: Strider, Title (TriHart) - Kicking myself for not picking this on Day 1. Day 4 Console Exclusive: Sonic the Hedgehog, Green Hill Zone (ookii_risu) Day 5 Overworld: TMNT (AstralSoul64) - Nice non-RPG choice here! Day 6 Relaxing: Yoshi's Island, Underground (Sumez) Day 7 Indie: Hollow Knight, City of Tears (AstralSoul64) Day 8 Shooter: Gradius 3, Sand Storm (ookii_risu) Day 9 Licensed: Ducktales Remastered, Moon (ZeldaFreak) Day 10 RPG Battle: Super Mario RPG, Fight Against Smithy (ZeldaFreak) Day 11 Puzzle: Tetris the Grand Master 3, Speed Levels 500+ (Sumez) - Still looking for a stateside console release from this series. Day 12 Sad: Mother, Mother Earth (Aguy) - Day 13 Disliked Game: Ikaruga, Boss (AverageOliver98) Day 14 Vocals: Ico, You Were There (Sumez) Day 15 Boss Battle: Final Fantasy 4 (ookii_risu, ZeldaFreak) - If I wasn't going for Maniac mode, I'd pick a bunch more tunes from Final Fantasy (sorry Dancing Mad, not this time). Day 16 16-Bit: Castlevania: Dracula X - Stage 1 (ZeldaFreak) Day 17 Never Gets Old: Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze - Scorch 'n' Torch (Sumez) Day 18 Game Over: Shadowgate (Sumez) Day 19 Cover by Different Artist: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Metal Slug 1 Assault (Sumez) Day 20 Racing: Rad Racer - Sunset Coastline (nesmaster14) Day 21 Frustration: Battletoads, Turbo Tunnel (nesmaster14) - Not just frustrating, but iconic. Day 22 Town/Village: Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link (0xDEAFC0DE) Day 23 Underrated: Super Adventure Island, Beach (nesmaster14) Day 24 Stuck in Head: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, Fight Theme (Aguy) Day 25 Pumped: Freedom Planet, Final Dreadnought 1 (AverageOliver98) Day 26 Haven't Played: Perfect Cherry Blossom, Necrofantasia (AverageOliver98) Day 27 Handheld: Sonic Pocket Adventure, Secret Plant Zone Act 1 (nesmaster14) Day 28 Nostalgic: Street Fighter 2, Theme (Aguy) Day 29 Final Boss: Octopath Traveler, Battle at Journey's End (AverageOliver98) Day 30 Credits: Super Mario Land (0xDEAFC0DE, Aguy)

8/10 for me. I actually read the map from the Players Guide long before I ever played the game (literally had that book YEARS before owning my first NES), so that kinda ruined a bit for me. Still, Metroid was definitely a top notch experience even so. Great memories all around. I'm willing to give it a pass on the issues mentioned above. Honestly I never really used the password system much, as I preferred to start over after dying. The first few scenes are some of the best parts! My only gripes are that the ice beam makes enemies take twice as many shots to kill and that Norfair is too large and a little boring. Would have been nice to see that area split into smaller parts. Best game ever? No, but it definitely deserves all the praises it gets.

Never played Pictionary on NES, but that song reminds me of this... Love the Mr. Saturns!

Now we're talking! Love just about every track from this game. Nice pick!

Yes and yes! This has been tons of fun and would be awesome to do again. I love gaming music and threads like this make me glad to see I'm not the only one.

That sounds amazing. It's even harder to do that kind of trick when the gameplay is unscripted (Rez had it easier).

...and now I officially want this game after listening to this!

Man, I really need to get back into this game. I got through 4 bosses and got distracted. I agree the music from this game is quite stellar!

I would assume you could use both SMB3 and Mario Party for Maniac. Yes, they both contain Mario, but I think it's fair to say these are two distinct series. In the end, this is all for fun anyway, so I would just do what makes sense.

Count me among those that love the Moon theme from DuckTales Remastered! The original tune was great in its own right, but this version was something truly special. As an aside, I love the improvements made in the game itself as well. Voice acting, new levels, extra hidden treasures on harder modes, and less point racking for people (me) who care about high scores. The one gripe I always hear is we could have used an easier way to skip cutscenes, but otherwise the game was extremely well done!

Same. I honestly didn't even consider FPS as a possibility. It's just burned into my old brain: Shooter = SHMUP.

Lol, I almost picked this song. Nice landing after being stuck!

I see Shovel Knight picked a bunch of times already. Good taste, good people!

Ok, I'm in! (Hyperlinks now complete) RdRunner's Picks (Maniac Difficulty) Day 1 Title: Wizards and Warriors (NES) - Like many early Rare games, the music was the best part. Day 2 Opening Level: Super Castlevania 4 (SNES) - Could have picked just about any first area from any Castlevania game. This one gets the nod for my track meet days, where I would listen to this before a race. Day 3 8-Bit: Air Fortress (NES), Title Screen - Hard to get more 8-Bit than this. Had to fit it in somewhere! Day 4 Console Exclusive: Plok (SNES), Title Screen - Game is worth owning for the soundtrack alone! Day 5 Overworld: Willow (NES) - Lots of great stuff on this soundtrack as well. Title screen is actually favorite, but since Wizards and Warriors doesn't have an overworld map...yeah... Day 6 Relaxing: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC), Title Screen - Tops in a short list of "relaxing" songs that even come to my mind when it comes to video games. All my faves are too upbeat to be considered relaxing. Day 7 Indie: Super Meat Boy, Chapter 1 - Obviously lots of awesome indie games to choose from. Mostly just went upbeat as a pick-me-up from yesterday. Shout outs to Shovel Knight, Splosion Man, Battle Kid, and I Made a Game With Zombies in It! Day 8 Shooter: Gradius III (SNES), Fortress Stage (9) - Best song from one of my favorite video game tracks ever. I need to be careful not to get too into the tune when playing this stage. Case in point, this is actually where my TG run ended on loop 4. Careless mistake really. Day 9 Licensed: GoldenEye 007 (N64), Title Screen - Arguably the best licensed video game of all time (again, short list). This is also my favorite rendition of the classic Bond theme song. Day 10 RPG Battle: Dragon Warrior IV (NES) - Despite all the advances in RPG music, I keep finding my way back to this old favorite. Obviously it helps that this is one of the few JRPGs I've played (can count them on two hands, I think). I suppose I could have gotten cute and snuck a Zelda game in this slot, but wanted to avoid the whole "is it an RPG?" debate. Day 11 Puzzle: The Lost Vikings (SNES) Factory - I've only played through this game once, but the soundtrack immediately became a permanent fixture in my playlist. The music from the Factory stages is the cream of the crop. Time to jam! Day 12 Sad: Mega Man X5 (PS1), Death of Zero - It's a robot, not a person. Feelings shouldn't be present when it breaks. And yet, feelings I had. Especially when he just finished fighting his best friend! Day 13 Dislike: Stone Protectors (SNES), Title - TMNT with trolls, poor controls, and bosses with too much health. Rockin' good soundtrack though! Day 14 Vocals: Double Dragon Neon, Credits - Portal may be the original (?) game with an end credits song sung by the main villian, but this one is way better. If you haven't heard this, try not to laugh during the first few seconds... Day 15 Boss: TMNT Arcade - Easily my favorite boss battle music ever. There's just something about it that makes even the earlier fights seem epic (side note: could watch Rocksteady and Bebop run into each other all day). Man, how I wish I could get an affordable copy of the actual arcade game, complete with this exact music! Day 16 16-Bit: Sunset Riders (SNES), Stage 1 - At the risk of getting into a rut with TMNT and they're "cousin" games, here's one more. I thought about waiting until later to post this one, but not sure when else it would fit. Anyway, I love just about everything about Sunset Riders, in all its Western-themed run and gun glory. This tune actually appears on 3 different stages, but it's okay because it's that awesome! Day 17 Never Gets Old: Final Fantasy Legend 2 (Gameboy), The Legacy - You know that a song is good when you can hear it almost constantly during a long RPG and it doesn't matter. Not a huge fan of the breakable weapon system or the weird ways that your characters level, but this is still one of my favorite adventures. One of the few RPGs I've played through more than once (4 times to be exact). Day 18 Game Over: Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) - Sports loophole! Not all Game Over songs involve losing. Great game, with awesome overall soundtrack too! Day 19 Cover: Guild Wars 2, Fear Not This Night (Embrace the Night, by Brandon Strader and Cheryl Norfair) - Seriously, if you only listen to one song from this list, pick this one! It is probably the most epic video game song I've ever heard. Thank you, OC Remix for the random find I would not have otherwise heard. Gives me goosebumps every time (and sometimes tears). Day 20 Racing: Diddy Kong Racing (N64), Title - Not a big racing game fan, but Diddy Kong is easily my favorite. And to think the only reason I ever played what on the surface looked like a baby's game was because my friend had a little sister. Oh, and Mario Kart 64 sucks (had to say it). Day 21 Frustration: Mario Kart Double Dash (GameCube), Baby Park - Just to prove I'm not a Mario Kart hater, I actually own 3 games in the series, including this one (original and 8 are the others). I have a love/hate relationship with Baby Park though. 7 laps around a tiny track with 16 characters chucking items around is funny at first, until you try it on 150cc, with the cheating AI on full attack mode. Makes for one big demolition derby. Day 22 Town: ActRaiser (SNES) - Here's to a one-hit wonder. Developing a new town after clearing away the monsters was one of the best parts of this game. Leaving this phase out of the sequel was a terrible decision that killed what could have been a great series. Day 23 Underrated: WarioWare Inc. Mega Party Games (GameCube), Credits - This "sequel" to the original GBA game didn't do very well (bad idea to just reuse EVERY microgame). I was lucky enough to play this version first, so I never knew there was a problem. The time attack challenges were great and I still dream of hitting a perfect run on Master mode. I also REALLY love the end credits track, which remixes three of the series' best songs. My favorite part is the last two minutes, which is a great version of the main title theme. Day 24 Stuck in Head: Track and Field 2 (NES), Opening Ceremony - For some reason I hear this and imagine some rock star on stage, firing up the crowd. I never watch the opening ceremony during the real Olympics, but this song makes it worth spending a minute on it during this game. Day 25 Pumped: DuckTales Remastered, Mount Vesuvius - If the Moon theme is the #1 song from this game, then for me this is #1B (with the whole rest of the soundtrack being no lower than tied for #2). This whole final stage marks probably the biggest improvement from the original game. Instead of the short, boring retread through Transylvania, we get this exciting stage that is actually somewhat challenging, complete with an unlikely team, and of course this killer tune! Day 26 Haven't Played: Final Fight 3 (SNES), Stage 1 - I once watched someone play this game, back when I was doing referee work for TG. The game itself wasn't all that interesting, but I really liked this song. Day 27 Handheld: Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney (DS), Cornered - I never would have guessed that a game about being a lawyer would end up becoming one of my all-time favorite series, but go figure. The music definitely has a lot to do with it, especially this song, which perfectly captures the excitement from the game's climatic scenes. Day 28 Nostalgic: The Tail of Beta Lyrae (Atari 8-bit), Briefing - You know you're getting old when a gaming song this old is your brand of nostalgia. Honestly what's amazing is that games from 1983 actually had legit songs! This little Scramble clone basically IS my early childhood (pre-NES, of course). The song has a slow start, but it give it time, as it picks up after the intro. Day 29 Final Boss: Chrono Trigger (SNES), "World Revolution" - It had to happen sometime. I would never make a list of gaming songs without including something from this soundtrack, which is pretty much ingrained in my bones at this point. The song's title is quite fitting. I actually heard it before playing the game. At the time, I could picture an entire world rising up to repel its own destruction. Okay, so in the end it was only 6 or 7 people with a time machine, but still... Day 30 Credits: Super Metroid (SNES) - Man, this is a tough category. I could probably fill a top 30 list with just my favorite endings, but if I can only pick one, it's gotta be Super Metroid. This ending song is one of the main reasons I got into recording gaming videos with my old VCR back in the 90's. Something in it just seemed to scream "make me into a movie" to anyone who would listen.

Wow, 38 votes so far and nobody says "they're both great". There's a message here somewhere. Mario 3 all the way for me. I've only even played through SMW maybe a handful of times, but have logged countless runs on 3. Proof is right there!

*As usual, does not count. Decided to play around and ended up hitting a clean run. It's probably beatable with a just a bit more luck (had a couple of lousy barrel stages in terms of ladder drops). Honestly I'm just happy I didn't blow it and hit an elevator spring at the end.

I've always loved the final bosses from Bionic Commando. Even though the Albatross doesn't exactly fight back at you, swinging in to destroy it always felt epic. Then if that wasn't enough, you follow that up with a do-or-die bazooka shot at a helicopter while falling from above. Great stuff!

TG doesn't allow the glitch. Obviously it's not as big of a deal in a shorter game, so it may be fun to try it here. I was just glad I didn't have to milk the clock a ton for the kill screen games I did for TG. That would have probably added another couple of hours to what was already a 7-8 hour game.

Can't help but ask: Are you guys playing with or without barrel jumping glitches? Ex: Stand above ladder, jump straight up as barrel drops down it, get thousands of points.

I picked Final Fantasy 7, just because it's the only game in your poll that I've even played. Ever play any shoot em ups on PS1? I've been trying some for the first time and have been pleasantly surprised. Currently playing The Raiden Project (has 1&2). R-Type Delta and Einhander are also really good

Glad I was able to help! Deadly Towers gets a lot of (mostly deserved) grief, but it's not the worst game ever either. I had a lot of fun figuring the game out, even if it took a few thousand deaths. I never played this as a kid, so no idea what that must have been like. Still, I grew up liking Bayou Billy, so you never know.

*Does not count. Just posting for fun, as always. Did a quick zero death single loop. I think it's one of my higher scores for such a game. Nice job to the multi-loop players on this one. Anything over 2 million is really good!

Thanks for the info. Glad that there are ways to get around this. I would assume it's more difficult to replace a stick on a Switch Lite vs a regular Joy-Con? Not sure what parts would need to be opened up if it came to that?

"A Score" (There, I did it) Seriously, will see what I can do. Maybe the kiddos will go the bed early tonight so I can get in a quick game.

Was just starting to research getting a Switch, but this issue seems serious enough to forget about it. The Lite in particular is really tempting at the price point, but not if the stick will need constant repair over time. Getting other non-Joy-Con controllers sounds like a decent solution, but it seems silly to play a (mostly) handheld system with an external controller. Any other possible solutions? Maybe just wait a couple of years and see if Nintendo fixes things on later models? Or am I just overreacting? Would love to hear everyone's thoughts. Thanks!