What classic game series should I play?

Lately I've been getting the itch to go play some older games from certain game series that are still going. I'm not very old so I haven't had much experience with things from the PS1 era and earlier, and I wanted to try to fill in some of my video game blank spots (My first console was an original XBOX, how depressing.).

The series I have in mind at the moment are:

Mario (Basically everything pre-64), The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy and Resident Evil.

So I was just wondering if there are any other series you guys would recommend? Or conversely, anything I should avoid?

I totally recommend MGS.

Final Fantasy only ends in tears........

You know, you could reverse this and it would still make complete sense.

@tonylope: The best series is Metroid. Mario is probably number 2 and Final Fantasy is number 3 (on your list). Resident Evil 4 is better than almost every game in history but every other Resident Evil is merely pretty good or terrible. Metal Gear Solid is Good then bad then awesome then alright then good (Peacewalker). Zelda is one really fucking good game (A Link to the Past) and some alright other games, though the 3D ones are all essentially the same exact game (except the dark horse Majora's Mask). Innovation when it comes to Zelda is remaking a Link to the Past instead of making another Ocarina clone. Chrono Trigger/Cross probably have the best music overall considering Cross is the best and Trigger is top 10.

I propose a truce: One game can still be a series in the sense that one season of a show is a series. Therefore Vagrant Story is the best choice.

@video_game_king: MGS is above average on the whole, Final Fantasy is excellent more or less.

It seems weird to me to treat Final Fantasy as a series. Every installment has different mechanics, different characters, a different world, and often different tones and themes. They also have large differences in quality game-to-game. Why, besides the names, would you treat it as a series?

Play through the 2D Zeldas. A lot of them can be found on the eShop.

Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, The longest journey, The monkey Island series (except maybe Escape from Monkey Island which is not that great), The Dig, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango

I played a lot of PC adventure games as a kid. At the time there was a lot of side scrollers too, but not much really memorable or holds up that you could go back to.

On Nintendo I loved Rygar, and of course the Mario games, but I cant really think of any others worth mentioning there either. Maybe the Zelda games but I was never a huge fan of those myself.

Sega has a decent emulator on steam with a ton of old Genesis games as well- I got it once on sale. Its not quite the same as playing it on an actual Genesis but it's not bad and supports xbox controller if I recall which helps. Kid Chameleon is my favorite Genesis game of all time, but there was a lot of great Genesis games (a lot of which are in that collection).

Except MGS results in gleeful tears of happiness, opposed to disappointment.

@viciousbearmauling:

Really? Nothing disappointing?

Yeah, yeah.... Fine. The overall direction the MGS 4 story took was a total bummer. He should have pulled that trigger. Big Boss shouldn't have shown up. Also, Kojima went kinda nuts with the Nano-Machine retcons...

Still though, MGS 1-3 and Rising (In it's own ridiculous way) are fantastic rides.

@viciousbearmauling:

Agreed on everything except Rising (since I have yet to play it).

Mario will be the most immediately rewarding. There are no bad Mario games from the pre-polygonal era. Zelda is also a good bet.

If you haven't played Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI, you should. Tactics as well, if you missed that one.

MGS is great, but for pre-N64, that might be the only MGS in the series that you'd play. I think original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 (not Solid) are bit dated.

There are many great Final Fantasy games pre N64, and I think you can get many of them on PSN.

There's also Persona 1 and 2, but those are considered cult classic, so you might not like it.

Resident Evil series is good, but you need to adapt yourself to tank controls first.

There's also King Of Fighters '99 which I like a lot, but I don't think that's an answer to your question though...

SNES-era games hold up well, early 3d stuff can be quite difficult to stomach. So of course Super Mario World, Super Metroid, F Zero and other classic Nintendo series like Zelda, Fire Emblem and so on hold up nicely. There's loads on the Virtual Console to get your teeth stuck into also. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Earthbound. Castlevania Symphony of the Night is a must - there's a version on XBLA and also on PSN.

Have you considered some classic PC gaming, like Baldur's Gate? Or what about JRPGs from the PS1/2 era like Dragon Quest, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Phantasy Star, Grandia?

Megaman series (NES/SNES)

Based on my experiences, you should totally try out the Gabriel Knight games. The first one is just good while the second is corny FMV goodness, but the third just seems... amazingly haphazard and insane.

I say MGS or Legend of Zelda.

I have played through the main Solid series games and they are fantastic. Great stories and gameplay got better over time, MGS is pretty weird and crazy for playing it a few years ago for the first time.

The original Zeldas are classic and worth playing regardless. I'm working through all the Zelda games slowly, trying to beat 1 or 2 a year and recently beat the original one and A Link to the Past and they are amazing experiences. Still very fun and engaging.

Coming from a predominantly pc background I'd suggest the fallout series starting with the first two isometric ones, the warcraft rts series, the half life series.

Can't go wrong with Resident Evil or the NES Mega Man games.

Hmmm...

• Super Metroid
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Super Mario 3
• Super Mario World
• Super Mario 64
• Final Fantasy VI
• Chrono Trigger
• Metal Gear Solid

I'd say that's a good list of the 'must play' games of Gens 3 - 5 that have aged well.

People would like to add personal preferences, but those are all accessible, very well known, very widely played, and rare is it for someone to not enjoy them.

Castlevania SotN as previously mentioned holds up reaaaaally well and that game is everywhere.

If you want to go further back than that though, Dracula X Chronicles is refresh of Rondo of Blood, which only appeared in Japan, which is a prelude to SotN, kinda. Gameplay was still stage based, so don't expect SotN style pseudo-open world. SotN is included in that game as well, though its hidden, but its not a bad way to play that game.

If you want to step further back, Castlevania III was pretty tops, as is Super Castlevania IV. One of those is the most accessible ones in the franchise for the time period, and the other is pretty tough. Can't remember which is which though...

Extra points for that sweet-sweet Mode 7 on Super Castlevania IV

If you're going back to the PS1 then Suikoden is a must play. Sure, the series could only loosely be considered "still going", but if you're considering playing any JRPGs from that generation I consider those a necessity.

If you are going the PC route at all I would recommend.
Deus Ex: If some blocky graphics don't bug you, the story and decision making in that game are top notch still.

Fallout 1: Still one of the best post apocalyptic games out there, 2 is alright, but it can get super overwhelming at times, the 1st is smaller scale comparatively but in a good way

the original NES Ninja Giaden trilogy games, they hold up really well

Super Mario definatly

actually, Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake is on the MGS3 Subsistance disc, it's a good translation, controls have been tweaked for a modern controller, plus it has key plot points that go onto the Solid series that are just infered and nor explained. Like the whole fight with Snake and Gray Fox.

it's a good game, I recommend it and it holds up well. The series reference this game a lot, so it's good to know.

Play FFVI. It is the best Final Fantasy by a fair margin. I am playing through the original SNES version (although I hear advance is good if not better) and it holds up really really well.

• Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4
• Parasite Eve 1 and 2

Resident Evil ,Resident Evil 2,Resident Evil 3. You should be able to download those games off of psn.

Super Metroid. Pls do.

The Dragon quest games on the Ds are really good.

Metal Gear Solid is my favourite game series, so I say play that one. I think the original MGS looks ok with smoothing on, the rest have HD versions I think.

If you can get your hands on a GameCube (they are pretty cheap) the Resident Evil remake is a perfect video game. You can also get Ocarina of Time (as Master Quest) for the GameCube and that's the best way to play that game today unless you have a big ass CRT and 64 around.

But wait. Are you saying you haven't played Super Mario World?

If that's so than you just answered your own question my friend. GO PLAY IT.