There exists far more art that I want to experience than I will ever feasibly have the time to experience. But at the same time I have this inescapable drive for (an impossible) sense of thoroughness and completion. This is how I find myself spending the last few weekends sampling the entire (I think) US NES library.
And it's great! There was no shortage of absolute treats, whether they were gameplay quirks, visual flairs, or other little surprises. It also reinforced why I have disliked the idea of "retro games" for a while (I've on occasion subbed in 'lo-fi'). It flattens a breadth of expression into the few dominant 'canonical' designs and can present game design as a linear progression.
And this is also within the extremely limited scope of the English language NES library, which doesn't come close to containing the totality of games made between 1985 and 1995.
But this is just an intro of sorts to a game diary that I actually want to start keeping this time of the games that I play, old and new.
Below are some of my favorite screenshots/gifs from my playthrough. These are not my favorite games and not all my favorite games are pictured. These are just bits I liked.
Arch Rivals - It's likely that I simply do not play enough sports games, but I hope mildly enthused audiences are a regular staple.
Astyanax
Conquest of the Crystal Palace - I love that the shop doubles as a news broadcast about the game's plot with the shopkeeper as the anchor
Dragon Spirit The New Legend
Dreamworld Pogie - I don't care for whatever Pogie but I want other people to live in this world with me.
Godzilla 2 War of the Monsters
Golgo 13 Top Secret Episode
Journey to Silius
Krion Conquest - Doubled up because I think the ducking sprite is very cute.
Mafat Conspiracy - or: You Know, More Golgo 13
Metal Mech Man Machine
Monster Party - After seeing it in snippets for a while, I can (very likely) confirm that Monster Party rules
Panic Restaurant
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom - It's Percy!! I'm curious if there is a "best" version of this because I really loved the little I played.
Star Trek 25th Anniversary
Swamp Thing
Swords and Serpents
The Great Waldo Search
The Immortal - "give up, wizard!" has unfortunately entered my brain as one of those things I too often think to myself.
Thunder Warrior
Tom Jerry The Ultimate Game of Cat and Mouse
Vegas Dream
Wall Street Kid - I can't remember the last time I was so downright envious of a line of video game writing.
Werewolf The Last Warrior - Fun with dialog and flipped sprites.
Xexyz
Xenophobe
Kabuki Quantum Fighter
Total Recall
Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston - Almost everything in this game feels like it has 1-2 more frames of animation than I expect.
The Untouchables
Legacy of the Wizard - Honestly, the cutest little instance of fall damage I think I've ever seen.
Kirby's Adventure - Another stellar level intro from Kirby "The King" Kirby
