Top 10 "Gameplay over Graphics" games

[jollyrancher]

In other words what games do all of you think have the best GAMEPLAY, regardless of how they look? I'd say the following:

1. NHL '94 (Genesis) - To this day has the best gameplay in any hockey game.
2. King of Fighters '98 (Neo-Geo) - Um.. why are these guys still putting out games on an outdated 1990 console? Maybe because this probably has the best fighting gameplay ever... but only for hardcore fighting fans... sure Soul Blade, Tekken 4, SF3 have better gfx, but I'll take this game over them anyday.
3. Tony Hawk I (PSX) - Jaggies galore, but the fast and fun gameplay are amazing!
4. Zelda: Link to the Past (SNES) - Hard to choose this over FFIII, but they both show that well-done games always beat out glitz.
5. GTA3 (PS2) - Sure it has decent gfx... but if you really look it's not any better than Crazy Taxi... you just get so immersed in whacking that it doesn't matter.
6. Civilization I/II (PC) - Like chess, reinvented and better.
7. Sky Shark (also called Flying Shark) (arcade) - MIGHT be the best shoot 'em up ever made.
8. Galaga (arcade) - See above, but is PROBABLY the best.
9. Tetris (Game Boy) - If I had actually had my own Game Boy way back, I would have been walking into walls playing this.
10. Super Mario World (SNES) - Still might be the best platformer ever.

 

[Hexidecimal]

1) Zelda: Link to the past - My all time favorite zelda game

2) Magical Drop 3 - Just a great puzzle game regardless and an awsome way to pass time

3) Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 - Because it was fast, hella fast, and because they threw in all the crazy stuff you wanted

4) GTA:VC - It had a better story line then GTA3, your player talked, and the sound track owns so much.

5) Chrono Trigger: I don't know what it was about this game, but I loved it, maybe it was the story, or the fact all the characters were desgined by the DBZ guy.

6) Super Mario Brothers 3 - The best selling NES game, ever, and for good reason, what a freakin great game

7) Sonic Adventure 2 - Probably the prettiest of the dreamcast games, had a slightly less crappy camera then the original, and who doesn't love grinding things, though the sound track was kind of bad.

8) Metal Slug - Any of them, they're all the same, the have no plot, it's run around and kill stuff, but hey, it's still a good game.

9) Metroid Fusion - The only Metroid game (thus far) I truly liked, it sucked me in, I had to see what happened

10) Metal Gear Solid - The true tactical 3rd person shooter, I've played through it a dozen times, it just doesn't get old, ever.

 

[Moose Jr.]

I can't rank these in any particular order. I love them all.

Super Mario 64 - 3D platforming at its finest.

Super Smash Brothers - Wild, fast-paced and fun for all ages. Heck, I play it with my 5-year old sister.

No One Lives Forever (original) - Ugly gfx at times, but when was the last time you played a game where you fought off attackers while skydiving? And the script is priceless.

No One Lives Forever 2 - Two words... Tricycle Chase

Max Payne - Story and gameplay are top-notch. Bullet-time that out-does "Enter the Matrix". Go figure.

Super Mario All-Stars - Relive the birth of mario in 16-bit color!

Need For Speed II SE - Really ugly by today's stadards, but it's still a blast in multiplayer.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - Best sports game ever.

Metal Slug - Like Hex said, no plot, but a ton of fun.

Super Metroid - Perfectly designed and paced. It's primarily an exploration game, but you never get bored.

 

[Xade]

Try my Top Ten for size...

1. Transport Tycoon (PC) - One of the greatest games I have ever played, simpy put.

2. OutRun (Arcade) - Yeargh! The feeling of sheer speed on this game is like no other. That, and it's incredibly hard.

3. Civilization II (PC) - Any better true strategy game... ever? Nah.

4. Command and Conquer: Red Alert (PC) - Yes. Played this for, like, days on end in my younger days.

5. UFO: Enemy Unknown (PC) - Eurrghh.... did anybody, like, ever get to the end of this game without cheating? Utterly quality, though.

6. Flying Shark (Arcade) - Played it on the ZX Spectrum? Thought it was tough? Get yourself MAME and play the ORIGINAL bad boy of scrolling shooters. Easily the hardest game I've ever played.

7. Theme Hospital (PC) - Too right. Although fairly dull after, say, 10 hours' SOLID play, the game was (and still is) terribly addictive.

8. WipEout 2097 (PSX) - Hasn't been a better one since. I loved the thing.

9. Need for Speed (PC) - Unlike its' modern (fairly dull) counterparts, the first in the series was non-stop thrills... even if your opponents were on 'rails'.

10. Chase HQ (ZX Spectrum) - Let's go, Mr. Driver.

... every one of them amazing, regardless of appearances.

 

[DuDe]

Max Payne - Story and gameplay are top-notch. Bullet-time that out-does "Enter the Matrix". Go figure.

Dude, Max Payne had amazing graphics for the time, and it still looks fairly well today... That choice is really weird in my humble opinion.

 

[pandamoan]

Dude, Max Payne had amazing graphics for the time, and it still looks fairly well today... That choice is really weird in my humble opinion.

please, so many of the listed games had good gfx. super mario 64 gfx were AMAZING at that time.

there are some phenomenal games with crap gfx though:

civ 2 no questions asked, that is a great game.
smb 2/3 i loved em both, they are both great games, and the gfx on every NES game sucked.
gargoyles on gameboy and gargoyles 2 on NES : i think the best game on either platform, play it for an hour, it is really quite good.
tetris : any incarnation, tetris doesn't need gfx at all hardly.
dr. mario : all very good gameplay, none good gfx.
doom : this game is still fun even though the gfx are now craptastic. you can try modern gl ports, though like doomsday, but they make me nautious after a while, with their 3d weaving, and stuff.
solitaire : most people bought windows at the time for this game. gfx : horrible.
mortal kombat : crappy 2d sprite junk, great GAME!
chess : gfx can be 2d, and the game can still be fun. i would like a nice open source 3d chess game for windows though... strange how hard this is to find.
gauntlet: the original arcade version. I probably spent rolls of quarters on this when i was a kid.

that's it, consequently i have every one of these on my machine RIGHT NOW.

 

[Steveman610]

Tyrian(DOS) : for DOS, but a hella fun shooter ill tell you that.
Starcraft(PC): great rts game, I think its better than warcraft
Bomberman(SNES) : No plot, but hella fun just blowing people up.
Metal slug 1, 2, 3, 4, X (Neo-Geo): Just kick ass in this game. Best side scrolling shooter ever
Zelda (ALL): great rpg. Ive played all of them, link to the past, links awakening, oracle of ages, oracle of seasons, oot, mm, ootmq, ww, 4swords, and i will play any other games that come out.
CBFD(n64) : HELLA FUNNY RPG, And great gameplay.

And more...

 

[DuDe]

Errr... Neither CBFD nor Zelda are RPG's...
Anyway, Super Mario Bro's, definitely a kickass plaftormer, despite the pixelization.
Enemy Territory, duh, it uses a 4 years old engine but kicks major butt as far as gameplay goes.

 

[Moose Jr.]

Dude, Max Payne had amazing graphics for the time, and it still looks fairly well today... That choice is really weird in my humble opinion.

I agree, they still look pretty decent even today (except for Max's polygonal head, heh). But this is why I still listed it as well as NOLF 2:

In other words what games do all of you think have the best GAMEPLAY, regardless of how they look? I'd say the following:

(emphasis mine)

Regardless means without regard to, not factoring in... you get the point.

 

[URAMetroid]

please, so many of the listed games had good gfx. super mario 64 gfx were AMAZING at that time.

there are some phenomenal games with crap gfx though:...
smb 2/3 i loved em both, they are both great games, and the gfx on every NES game sucked.

I see some contradiction here...first you say that Super Mario 64's GFX were amazing "at the time" (IIRC, 1996) then you say that the GFX sucked on every NES game (about 1983-1994), so are you forgetting the NES's hardware limitations?
So no, the GFX on SMB (1985), SMB2 (1988) and SMB3 (1990) and other NES games were some of the best GFX AT THAT TIME!
OK, maybe not the best when compared to other early 90's consoles.
But the NES is a mid 80's console.

But since I'm here:

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) The first game I have ever played, back in 89.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) My second Mario game, I still play this game on my NES.

Zelda II, The Adventure of Link (NES) My first Zelda game for a long time.

Ice Hockey (NES) I love Hockey, and this is a good ol' Hockey game.

Spot (NES) 7Up game, something deferent, plus I got this game for free!

Star Tropics (NES) Grate adventure game.

Star Tropics 2 (NES) A new twist to the story, but still a grate game.

Zelda 3, A Link to the Past (SNES) The best SNES game IMHO.

No One Lives Forever (PC) One of the best FPS games I have ever played, and as Moose Jr. said, there's nothing like a free fall while fighting off attackers.

No One Lives Forever 2 (PC) Also one of the best FPS games ever! Both NOLF games have grate single player modes, something I like, along with humor.

 

[Doomulation]

Super Metroid has *GOT* to be on the best games ever. So mysterious and so good...just listening to the mysterious music in the beginning gives you creeps...ah, love it. :naughty:
SMB3 was not bad at all! Although I also loved SMW.
I think, however, zelda 2 for nes was the best zelda game...zelda 3 comes straight after, not far at all.

 

[pj64er]

No One Lives Forever (PC) One of the best FPS games I have ever played, and as Moose Jr. said, there's nothing like a free fall while fighting off attackers.

No One Lives Forever 2 (PC) Also one of the best FPS games ever! Both NOLF games have grate single player modes, something I like, along with humor.

Are you sure gameplay is above graphics?

 

[NeTo]

Super Mario RPG & Kirby DX . =p

 

[FAR]

It's not a console game but just a week ago I played MDK over again and it was still cool!

 

[Xade]

... is it just me, or has nobody mentioned Sonic The Hedgehog yet? Jesus, that was amazing. It doesn't look terrible today, either. I play it on Gens often enough.

 

[URAMetroid]

Are you sure gameplay is above graphics?

Yes, I'm sure, I know that the graphics in both NOLF games are the best on my list, but don't let that foul you.
It's the gameplay and voice acting that keep me coming back for more!