Top 10 Best Retro Games

Many video games today seem to lack the memorability factor that so many retro games possess. Some of the best video games of all-time are now considered retro. For the purposes of this top 10 list, “retro” includes any games at least two generations removed from the current generation. As usual, keep in mind that this list is based on opinion so yours may be way different. In order to make this list, I have to have personally played the game as well.

10) Super Mario World (Super Nintendo)

Super Mario World is by far the best-selling title on SNES with over 20 million copies sold worldwide since its release in 1990 - 1991 (Donkey Kong Country is second with nine million copies sold). Not only is Super Mario World one of the most fun Mario games, it also had some very memorable gameplay innovations which sets it apart from other games in the franchise even to this day. The most obvious difference is the top-down overworld map reminiscent of RPGs. This added an element of exploration and also made it easy to go back and re-play any world you wanted at any time. Although playing through each level felt the same mechanically, Super Mario World just felt different from other Super Mario games and the map played a big role in that.

Super Mario World also introduced the Yoshi character to the series who quickly became a fan favorite. Yoshi soon got his own video game series which itself includes some best sellers like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Story.

One other feature worth noting is the cape feather power up which enabled players to fly for extended periods of time, sometimes across entire levels.

9) Streets of Rage 2 (SEGA Genesis)

Beat 'em up games used to be very popular in the 90's and Streets of Rage 2 is probably the pinnacle of that genre. The game had a freaking sweet techno soundtrack, great gameplay mechanics, and a high replayability factor. Streets of Rage 2 featured and impressive variety of enemies for its time with over a dozen bosses and sub-bosses, various different types of punks, bikers, ninjas, kickboxers, robots, and whip-wielding chicks.

Streets of Rage 2 was originally released for SEGA Genesis and arcade in 1992 but has since been ported and re-released for a variety of different platforms including Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network. Despite the fact the game is 12 years old at this point, it still holds up and is a lot of fun to play with friends online.

Streets of Rage 2 had four playable characters: Axel, Skate, Blaze, and a wrestler named Max. Each character has their own special attack and a pretty in-depth technique list which is definitely a good thing because beat ‘em games could get very repetitive over time. Each character played quite differently which added a lot of replayability to the game. The story was pretty standard but who plays a beat ‘em for the plot anyway?