In the 15 or so years I've been playing videogames, I've come across a lot of great titles. I've also had the misfortune to have played even more duff ones. So, for your enjoyment, I've gathered together a few "Classic Picks" of mine. Some of these games are considered (by myself, at least) to be the best/most fun/most addictive/most daft videogames ever made.

SO...kick off your shoes, grab a cold one and join me on a trip down memory lane...should be pretty dull for you actually, because it is my memory after all...

Dungeon Master - FTL

Genre: First Person RPG/Adventure

Atari ST, Amiga, PC, SNES, PC Engine

A real oldie this, but a goodie. One of the first games I really got my teeth into. It was way ahead of its time - many still look upon it as the inspiration behind modern first person shooters such as Doom and Quake. It was one of the first games to offer real time, first person movement and combat, along with character development and a fully interactive interface. It was also a massive game, and swallowed up months of my life. The much hyped follow up was a huge let down, but if you can't find a copy of the original, it does offer a taste of the classic gameplay.

Dungeon Master was also released on the SNES and PC Engine consoles - I've only played the SNES version which was a pretty good conversion, provided you make use of the SNES mouse and don't use the joypad.

Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure - Sega/Studio Pierrot

Genre: Platform

MegaDrive
The MegaDrive upgrade of the Master System classic, Psycho Fox. This featured a guy with magical pants that allowed him to fly for a short period of time by "wiggling" them. Don't ask. The gameplay is perfect, the graphics nice and bright and the music catchy. The game was actually released here in the West, but the visuals were changed and it was renamed Decapattack. If you can't get your hands on the Japanese original, then get that - the graphics aren't as good but the gameplay is still there.

Warsong/Langrisser series - Masaya/Treco

Genre: Turn Based Stragegy/RPG

MegaDrive, PC Engine, SNES, PSX, Saturn, Dreamcast
Chances are you won't have heard of the Langrisser series, but in Japan this turn based RPG is a big name. The first game, for the MegaDrive, was released in the US under the name Warsong (check out the awful US cover art on the left). However, it bombed and therefore none of the other Langrisser games have ever made it to the West. The follow up was released for the SNES and PC Engine, the third was Saturn-only, and the fourth and fifth made it onto the Saturn and PSX. The most recent addition, Langrisser Millennium, was released in Japan in early 2000. I wouldn't advise playing the Japanese versions - the language barrier makes it impossible to really enjoy the game - but if you find a second hand copy of Warsong lying around (you'll be lucky though - it's very rare) it's well worth buying.

J-League: Perfect Striker - Konami

Genre: Sports

N64

Many of you will be more familar with this title under the name of International SuperStar Soccer 64. This version has always been my favorite though - it was the first game I ever really played on the N64, and the first soccer title that impressed me since ISS on the SNES. I'm a fan of the Japanese League too, so having the actualy teams and strips is pretty cool - much better than having the made up names in the Western version.

You can pick this up for next to nothing now second hand. If you've never played any of Konami's soccer series, then this is as good a place to start as any.

AeroBlasters/Air Buster - Kaneko

Genre: Shooting

MegaDrive

The MegaDrive was never short of a few 2D shooters - in fact, they swamped the machine during the early stages of its life. AeroBlasters was largely ignored in favour of titles like HellFire and Gynoug, but it's still a quality product, if a little short. The graphics and sound were arcade perfect, which was quite something back then in the early 90's.

AeroBlasters was released in the US, but it never made it to Europe.

Strider Hiryu - Capcom

Genre: Platform/Action

MegaDrive
An absolute classic. Strider was one of the first games that really drove home the fact that the MegaDrive was THE console to own. Stunning graphics, great sonics and killer, "old school" gameplay all ensured that it a firm favourite of many early 90's gamer. The MegaDrive follow up, programmed by US Gold, was awful, but then it wasn't the true sequel - that was released by Capcom in 1999 and has just made its way to the PSX.
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