Super Mario World. I think the mechanics in SMW hold up quite well to modern games. The original Super Mario Bros. on the NES seems like an obvious choice, but I don't think many people new to the game would have the patience to deal with its limitations.
@LibraryDues: Yeah I recently played mgs again and was surprised how well it had aged! I think my personal pick would probably be X-com, still so absorbing.
I don't think many games stand the test of time, when you look past nostalgia. I know many people who recently got into gaming and weren't impressed by games like Ocarina of Time or Mario 64..
And I played Deus Ex a few years back for the first time and wasn't really impressed with it either. I enjoyed it enough, and I'm sure if you played it at the time it would have been amazing, but now it just doesn't feel particularly special.
Games that are more focused on the actual story tend to stand up better. I only played Monkey Island for the first time a few years back as well, and although it has very dated graphics, sound and no music at all.. It was hilarious, challenging and just all around very fun to play.
Donkey Kong, Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros, still play these till today, I also play Crazy Taxi a lot.... And this generation of systems I would probably say the Dead Rising games, I just love the whole hack and slash style in it.
-Conker Bad Fur Day -Duke Nukem 3D (I actually think I prefer the N64 version to the PC one) -Prefect Dark -Dues Ex -Civilization 2 -Heroes of Might and Magic 3 -WcW Vs NWO -Banjo Kazooie 1 (never played the second)
Regardless of the quality of the above games at this time, they certainly hold a special place in my mind and I can still go back every so often to these games.
Conversely the worst is probably Goldeneye. Mainly because it is remembered with massive nostalgia, but also because the N64 fps controls are absolutely horrendous.
I recently bought Arcanum from GoG.com, and it still holds up really well. In fact, you could just add the list of most popular games on that site. Seems like adventure and RPG games stand the test of time best because they are not reliant on gfx.
KOTOR. Fallout. Even without the nostalgia it's a great game. Pretty much every fighting or RTS game. Sure the genres evolve but i have found that many games of these genres don't lose their appeal in the same way lets say shooters do.
Chrono Trigger for everything that makes it better than regular JRPG's (court scene anyone?) and Half-Life 2 (the only first person game I think I love).
I just think certain genres or game ideas got nailed pretty much first time, and the simplicity of a lot of them lends them that timeless quality. So yeah, the hoary old list of things like Pac-Man, Galaga, Defender, and Robotron. 30 years on I still fire these up on a regular basis. Once you add complexity into the design or ask more commitment from the player than five minutes with a joystick and a couple of buttons, you get further away from that pure, repeatable experience.
Most of the good stuff like Tetris and Zeldas have been mentioned already, but I'm surprised I'm the only one who is mentioning Contra for the NES. I haven't in a long time, but I"ll always load it up on an emulator and do a run through, usually on road trips on my GBA.
I think a big key for actual replayable titles to be timeless and still playable for multiple passes, is that the game has to be pretty short. A lot of the classifiable 'timeless' games that are RPG's or are lengthy like Metal Gear Solid are fun but the length of it is restricting to pick up time and time again. It's why I think Tetris and even Contra fare a bit better because they have that 'pick up and play' mentality.
-Most of the Street Fighter games, depending on your preference. Super Turbo for the old school, Alpha 2 or 3 for those into super combos, etc. -Maybe a weird pick, but Rez never loses its charm on me. It is minimalist by design, so it never really feels dated. Plus, all you're really doing is locking on to things, which is something that one never forgets how to do. -Two personal picks: King of Fighters 98 and Capcom vs SNK 2. The pinnacle of fighting games for me.
Way too many of these responses are just games that people adore. As someone who came to both Final Fantasy 7 and Ocarina of Time several years after they initially rattled the community, I can say with some authority that neither of these games are as fun now as they were at release. I think its almost impossible for a polygonal game to meet the standard of "timeless"--aging is the price you pay for 3D. I truly wish Perfect Dark and the original Ratchet & Clank were as amazing now as they were at launch; they're not, and in its own way that is a good sign that the medium is still evolving.
Criticism aside, I'd go with...
Super Mario World (I love 3 to death but it has aged in a way World has not)
Tetris
Link's Awakening
Katamari Damacy
Advance Wars (the lack of change to its core formula over the years speaks strongly for its timelessness)
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