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Hard to go wrong with Chrono Trigger, a classic JRPG that still holds up imo. Earthbound is another classic that's a must play, it hasn't aged as well but is a great little piece of video game history.
Those are the two big ones that come to mind with emulation for me.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and more recently Link's Awakening. Also the older Pokemon gameboy titles.
So I've never played a single Zelda game. Which one do I start on?
I did play like 2 hours of BoTW on switch and just never got back to it.
A Link to the Past is the one you want to start on. It'll get you right to the heart of what makes the classic Zelda games so good. If that's too retro for you, play Ocarina of Time, you can't go wrong with that masterpiece.
Should I do the SNES version or GBA?
If you're doing emulation, just go SNES. GBA is only worth playing if you're going to play it on an actual GBA.
There are exceptions, but for most games, given a choice between SNES and GBA versions, the SNES one is better. Usually sound is severely compressed on the GBA and the visuals are washed out.
Some of the GBA remakes also added in voice tracks, like Mario saying "Just what I needed!" whenever you get a mushroom, or Link doing his grunts and "hii-yahs" whenever you swing the sword. I guess I could see how some people might think those were neat, but I mostly found them annoying, especially given the quality of the GBA audio.
Going by ones I play the most, probably Final Fantasies IV, VI, & Tactics, Link to the Past, Sonic 2, the GBA Castlevania games, and some Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
Golden Sun, Zelda, MegaMan and Castlevania are some of my favourites
Super Metroid on SNES. Amazing, great game. My absolute favorite. And if it interests you, there are a lot of good ROM hacks for the game, giving you near infinite replay-ability.
I've finished it a couple of times as a kid, but playing Golden Axe II again (and again) never gets old.
If you like platformers and haven't done it already you should play both Super Mario 3 on NES and Super Mario World on SNES. Still really great to play but also a good history lesson - a lot of staple design concepts were pioneered in those games!
Staying in the platformer genre, the original Rayman on PSX wil always be one of my favorites. Wonderful, unique art and sound design. Starts off very slow but becomes fiendishly difficult as you keep going. Be advised that it was designed with limited lives and some brutal gauntlets between save points. Save scumming with your emulator is probably going to be good for your sanity here.
It's a bit of nostalgia, personal preference, and just overall masterful developers - but Super Mario World is a solid 10/10, easily the best game I've ever played. SMB3 is excellent as well.
For me, they still stand the test of time. I was a huge Sega fanboy back then, but I also loved Nintendo and the games they had. SMW just always blew me away, so every time I play it I think of that time. How advanced it was, how it played so much better than anything I've previously played. It was a serious masterpiece, and IMO still is.
Definitely a must play. Depending on your age, though, it may seem not as great as I'm claiming. I think it still is, but that's from my point of view. I'd really be interested in younger people's opinion that grew up on the Gamecube, Wii, and later console versions of Mario.
Like @R5N said - a lot of staple design concepts were pioneered in those games. Some that now are very commonplace. That's where I'm curious... Is it just normal for some while for us that played them on release they were so perfect and new?
Well said. I'd also be curious to see what OP thinks about it with his (presumably) young eyes. I'd probably pay actual money to watch him Livestream when he gets to Tubular
My favorites are The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Yoshi's Island. I also like the classic Mario games.
The Dragon Quest series if you're into traditional RPGs (it's the franchise that kicked off the genre basically). DQ1-3 have GBC remakes but are a little dated (3 is a fan favorite. 2 not so much). DQ 4-6 have DS remakes with 4 and 5 being the best entry point in my opinion. Art is by the creator of Dragon Ball too so if you like that it's definitely a plus.
Try Super Mario RPG. Fantastic RPG for SNES made by Squaresoft that never got the remake/remaster treatment.
Donkey Kong for the Gameboy is an outstanding platformer/puzzle game.
Play Gunstar Heroes right now.
Drill Dozer for gba. Incredibly fun beat em up feel game mixed with some platforming.
I always hit up "hidden gems" videos on YouTube. There are so many games out there that were great that for some reason never got a following.
Natsume games on NES have aged well, eg shadow of the ninja, shatter hand, and powerblade. But they're tough games so could be brutal on touch pad controls. Arcon is a cool mix of strategy and action, and had a good NES port.
NES Zelda or the SNES Zelda
Gyruss - NES.
Avenging Spirit - Nintendo Gameboy (B&W)
I used to play Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone a lot with a GBA emulator, and I absolutely adored the game.
Going to show my age here… Fool’s errand and Dark Castle. Mac games of much nostalgia.
I posted some favourite 80s/90s coinop arcades here:
https://lemmy.world/comment/44545
Nearly all of those would be a 9 or 10 for gameplay.
Penguin Kun Wars and Track and Field keep me busy on MAME
Bomberman '94 for PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. Most people know it as Mega Bomberman for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive, but that version is a remake with worse graphics, sound, and controls. The PCE version was never released outside of Japan despite having 90% of the text written in English, but it is much better and really fun.
Whatever companies publish/republish nowadays as ROMs or that include ROMs. Plenty of homebrews, specially on Itchio, and some times (albeit rarely) we get stuff from companies like Capcom, Atari and Konami. It's always nice when that happens.
I really enjoyed playing through Muramasa: Demon Blade on Wii. Surprisingly low requirements.
Also be sure to check out https://vimm.net/?p=emulate if you haven't already. Very reliable.
Yeah I found that site it's really awesome. I downloaded a bunch of Zelda games to try and for my wife. She's played some but I never have.
I also grabbed some old star wars games on PSX and PSP since I'm a huge star wars nerd. And some of the older ace combats that I've never played, I love that series.
I play some Mario games on snes, but mostly I play on dosbox; Prince of Persia, Cannon Fodder, Alley cat, Micro Machines 2, the Settlers, Civilization 1, Dune 2...
Scortched Earth still works really well as a party game.
The lunar rpgs are pretty good on ps1
I usually find myself revisiting the NES and SNES RPGs from my childhood. The original Dragon Warrior (Quest) games hit the nostalgia button for me, and being able to tweak the speed settings through an emulator makes the experience much more enjoyable.
I regularly play shmups so a lot of PS1, Saturn, PS2 and PC Engine games. Mostly from the Raiden series and CAVEs output. Favorite game is Dodonpachi Daioujou. I occasionally break out my Gamecube for some Super Monkey Ball action.
PSP Daxter (2006) - should work smoothly on mobiles as well!
I recently checked out Sonic the Hedgehog and Rainbow Islands on the Master System, they were both pretty dang good
I recommend Legend of Legaia on PSX. It's an RPG with an interesting fight system. The story isn't anything amazing but the overall package is very satisfying.
I played Pokemon Snap for the first time last week. It's not very long and only has like 60 pokemon but it was a good time while it lasted. Just a chill rail shooter about trying to line up the best (photographic) shots.
If you want something more action oriented then I had a blast playing Cybernator on SNES, it's a 2D mech shooter/platformer. Dynamite Headdy on Genesis is also solid time, it's by Treasure and every level always changes things up a little bit.
Lots of great options already, but I'll throw in WarioWare on GBA since I haven't seen it mentioned yet. Lots of super-simple fast-paced minigames that are nice for a quick playthrough if you're on the go.
Considering the fact that you're using a touchscreen device which isn't great for things like platforming or action RPGs, I recommend checking out more turn-based RPGs. The Final Fantasy 4,5,&6 ports on the GBA are fun and look great, as are the first two Golden Sun games. If you get your hands on a good DS emulator I also recommend Dragon Quests 4-6 on that platform
If you can find an emulator and a device with no input lag whatsoever and an ideal control scheme, Kaboom! on Atari 2600 is addictive.