Here are 10 games that might’ve made my top 100 list, but just ended up not making the cut, and why! These games are in no particular order, as a heads up.
The Games
10. Pokemon Pinball
Leaving out Pokemon Pinball for the Gameboy Color (and the below Pokemon TCG) were concious decisions on my part. I already had too many Pokemon games on the list. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t give them at least some love.
Pokemon Pinball is a fairly straight-forward Pinball game, with two boards, one for Pokemon Red and one for Pokemon Blue. You use the paddles to hit a Pokeball and try to catch Pokemon! It is a lot of fun! The Pokemon Sprites and music are also excellent.
The other interesting fact about Pokemon Pinball is the rumble motor! If you add a AAA battery to the cartridge, it rumbles as you play. It feels surprisingly good, even to this day.
If you’re a fan of Pokemon, and a fan of Pinball, this one is a no-brainer.
9. Koudelka
I really love the theme and atmosphere of Koudelka, but it simply didn’t make the list because it is so damned slow. It is the only game I’ve ever emulated and played primarily on fast-forward, I hate playing games with fast-forward.
The world, story, interesting combat mechanics, and even the cheesy 90’s voice acting, all make the game worth playing, however I can’t recommend it often due to the abysmally slow pacing in the combat.
You play as Koudelka Issant, a psychic woman who is exploring a monastery in order to find and quell a spirit. You get two party members, Edward Plunkett - a burglar, and James O’Flaherty - a Catholic Bishop. You get to build these characters with different (unfortunately destructible) weapons, and fight spooky monsters in a turn based battle system, with a grid.
I love Koudelka, but I just can’t re-play it. I am excited to eventually get to the sequel, Shadow Hearts.
8. Trip World
A short but memorable Japan-only Gameboy platformer that I somehow forgot about entirely when making my list. I don’t know if it would’ve made the top 100, but I should’ve at least considered it.
You play as a small bunny-like creature, and your goal is to collect a flower to solve the world’s problems. The game mostly plays as a standard sidescrolling platformer, with one caveat, you can transform! One form you can take is almost bat-like, and you can glide, the other being a water transformation that allows you to swim around.
Sometimes you find power-ups for other transformations, and it helps the game to feel fresh and unique.
I’d love to own a physical copy of this one some day, but I doubt I will find one at a reasonable price!
7. Pokemon Trading Card Game
I played Pokemon Trading Card Game for the first time on my Analogue Pocket this year, and I fell in love. It handles the mechanics of the physical trading card game so well, although the UI is hard to take in at first.
You play as a new Pokemon card battler, and have to travel between the different type gyms to collect badges and eventually take on the league. Sounds familiar, right? The game involves a lot of battling certain trainers repeatedly to get cards you want for decks. But once you have a deck or two that you enjoy, the battles are quick and fun.
Big recommend to this game, even if you don’t have any knowledge of the physical card game, it does a great job with onboarding.
6. Everquest
Everquest didn’t make the list because I already have plenty of MMOs on it, and I have more nostalgia for Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft. However, I have a lot of fond memories of Everquest, and it deserves a shout.
Truly creating the MMO genre, Everquest is a piece of beauty. You select a race, class, and stats to a character (D&D style, in fact the game was almost D&D licensed) and explore the world of Norrath. Compared to modern MMOs, Everquest is incredibly free-form.
Iconic music, an interesting world to explore, but horribly difficult mechanics to parse as a modern MMO player.
Everquest Legends is releasing soon, which is a re-imagined take on Everquest, which is releasing with the base game, and a lot of quality of life features. I will be playing Everquest Legends, I hope we can meet up in game!
5. Tetris
Is there anything I can say about Tetris that hasn’t already been said? Everyone’s played it, most people love it, and because of that it slipped my mind to add to the list.
In Tetris you move falling “Tetrominoes” to fit together into lines, to clear. That’s it. It sounds simple, and it is, but it is quite hard to master. You are trying to last as long as possible, and get as high of a score as possible.
I would recommend Tetris, but let’s be honest, you’ve played it already.
4. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
From the jump I can say that Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance should’ve made it onto my list, and I feel shame for leaving it off.
A Diablo-like, set in the world of Faerun, specifically the city of Baldur’s Gate (in chapter one anyway) you play as a Human Ranger, Dwarf Warrior, or Elf Sorceress, and descend into dungeons, initially to get revenge on a gang of thieves who attacked you when you arrived to the city. The plot goes much deeper, much like a D&D campaign.
This game originally released on consoles, however, and it translates the Diablo style gameplay into something a bit slower. As a huge bonus, it has couch co-op, which is excellent.
You should find a Playstation 2, and a copy of Dark Alliance, and have fun with a friend or significant other. It’s a blast.
3. Wetrix+
Wetrix+ for the Dreamcast sounds like a fever dream of a score-attack puzzler, and that’s because it is. It didn’t make my list, but I honestly can’t tell you why.
At the beginning you would assume the game is a 3D Tetris, placing falling blocks on a grid. However, you slowly realize that you are not clearing lines, in fact you are building terrain. As the game proceeds water will fill the board, and your goal is to contain as much of it as possible. You build terrain, make puddles/lakes, and try not to let it spill. Every few block are interrupted by meteors, however, which you place to destroy part of your terrain.
The stress of managing your ponds while also trying not to spill water when you destroy terrain makes the game frantic and unique. I would give it a few rounds, the mechanics are arcane at times, but my god does it feel FUCKING good to get into a flow-state once it all clicks.
2. Plants vs Zombies
Before EA decided to ruin the IP (and Popcap Games in general, RIP Peggle) Plants vs zombies was an innovative take on a tower defense game. It didn’t make the list purely due to EA’s fuckery, but I have a lot of fondness for the original release.
You play the game by clicking on falling suns to collect them, and spending those suns to plant… plants! Except these plants fight zombies! From the humble Peashooter, to the devastating Winter Melon, and the sacrificial Wall-nut, these plants all serve a unique purpose, and have charming personalities. You unlock more plants as you progress through the game, even getting unique plants for the different boards, Day, Night, Pool, etc.
If you haven’t played the original Plants vs Zombies, you absolutely should, just ignore the mess EA made of the IP after the original.
1. E.V.O. The Search for Eden
E.V.O. places you in the role of a creature, tasked with moving through time periods to ensure history happens properly by the deity Eden. She grants you the power to evolve into different creatures along the way to ensure you can keep up. It is a side-scrolling platformer, but the real charm is in the evolutions. Initially you are a fish, but as you eat food, you gain evolution points, and can really change it up! The first few stages are a bit limited, but eventually you get the chance to be dinosaurs, horses, birds, and even humans!
My last playthrough I comitted to staying a dinosaur until the end of the game, and it was fun (albeit a bit challenging, especially on the ice levels). I would recommend giving E.V.O. a shot, but be warned it can be fairly hard, and the platforming can be a bit… unforgiving at times.
Outro
Hi subscribers, this is my final Substack subscriber post! I am packing up and moving to a combination of Tuhat and Patreon. I will send you a message with that information when I am ready, but for now say goodbye Substack (aside from the article releasing Friday night)