I do not have much time anymore to play video games. I try to make it count when I do. I want to get every penny out of the game now a days. I played through the original Bioshock and earned every achievement for example. I "completed" my goal almost through my third play through. There are tons of great games that I neglected over the years that I really wish I had time to play through and truly enjoy.
If any of you don't know about my obsessive video game collecting.... look HERE. I had a problem with buying video games that I never played/completed. The "Pile" made it over three feet tall of games that I never played and completed.
Here is a list of games I owned or tried to own, and would love to revisit if time allowed.
Kid Icarus - NES
Kid Icarus is one of those awesome old NES games that did not mess around on the cover. They displayed actual game play graphics. I loved that NES games did this. I think it is because it sets a date for the game. Its not like the Wizards & Warriors 2 box that featured Fabio, but the game only had a hero in head to toe armor.
I rented Kid Icarus a few times but never "played" it much. I never even completed the first level. I remember seeing Kid Icarus on the Captain N tv show and thinking he was kinda dumb. There is going to be a new Kid Icarus game on the 3DS and was on the last Smash Brothers' game. Pit is definitely one of the most neglected NES franchise characters that deserves some more games.
Final Fantasy Adventure - Game Boy
I consider myself very lucky to have even gotten to play this game on the original Game Boy. A local Software Etc. (now known as Game Stop) had one copy available in mid 2001 or 2002. I didn't hesitate to pick it up. I also picked up Final Fantasy Legends I, II, and III, but never gave them a play through for good reasons.
FFA was the first in the "Mana" series. I played the heck out of Secret of Mana, and the original in the series was pretty good. However, I did rush through the game and never actually completed it. I made it to the final level, got halfway through it, died, and never tried again.
The game has been re-released on the Game Boy Advance as "Sword of Mana". I've played through "Sword of Mana" three times and it doesn't have near the challenge the original has.
Final Fantasy V - SNES/PSX/GBA
Final Fantasy 5 was one of the few Final Fantasies that didn't make it across seas until way after its original release. I was fortunate to get to play it on PSX in "Final Fantasy Anthologoy". It was bundled with Final Fantasy VI. I wont deny that I mainly purchased the game to play FFVI and only played FFV because I was on a quest to complete every FF game released.
I really did rush my way through the game and had two or three very large gaps between game play. I never fully understood the story line. I brushed up on it later through Wikipedia. The game contains many of the awesome features of FFVI and beautiful colors from FFIV. I've been listening a lot to the original and remixed soundtrack. The Black Mages do some really awesome covers for the game.
Earthbound - SNES
Earthbound is a truly unique experience for an RPG. It is a present day themed RPG with a bunch of silly characters and very bazaar bad guys. Two really stick out in my head. Car Painter and Master Belch. Master Belch is a boss that is a giant pile of puke. Totally awesome, huh? The party travels from Onett, to Twoson, and then to Threed, and Fourside. Then you finish off with Summer and Winters. That's just the tip of the iceberg with how unique and awesome this game is.
I consider myself fortunate to own the game. I sold it on Amazon.com for $75.00 a few years ago. The game sold in fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, Earthbound was one of the most neglected games I have owned. I originally planned to purchase the game on release, but was talked into getting the Super Gameboy instead. Not a bad purchase, and I finally picked up Earthbound in high school for $19.99.
Why do I feel like I neglected this game? I only played through it once!!! I've played through all of my SNES RPGs at least five times each.
Harvest Moon - SNES
Harvest Moon is the the first SNES game I sought after that was truly rare. I've only seen new five copies in a store. They were all at Game-X-Change at the same time. I went back the next week to buy it and they were all sold out. I purchased Secret of Evermore instead. I eventually lost interest in the game due to it's rarity and didn't bother looking for it again. I was able to rent Harvest Moon 64 several years later.
Harvest Moon 64 fixed a lot of issues I had with the first game... even though I never played it. The original game ended after "two" years in game time. The 64 version went on forever and you never had to restart all of your hard work.
Resident Evil 2 - PSX
I was a late bloomer in the Playstation world. I purchased the original Playstation after the Playstation 2 came out. I borrowed Resident Evil from a friend and embraced its uniqueness. I loved the Maniac Mansion style of random item grabbing and unique perspectives. I picked up the game new at a Circuit City $5 game sale. By this time, I had played through Resident Evil Zero.
I know that RE2 is arguably one of the best Playstation games made. It is highly replay-able. You can play through the game as Claire first, then Leon or Leon then Claire. Your choices and items used determine the outcome of the second character. Very cool if you ask me.
Resident Evil has a very unique and confusing story line. I've read the book series and some of the "background reports" and there is a great conspiracy going on behind the scenes. Oddly enough.... I've only completed two of the seven Resident Evil games I've owned (RE, RE2, RE3, RE4 X 3(on GameCube, Wii and PS2), RE:Code Veronica X2 (purchased twice), RE:Zero, RE:Remake X2 (also purchased twice).
My feelings for RE2 transfer to RE3. I picked up a copy in mint condition in 2005 and never played through it.
Elder Scrolls 3 - Morrowind - XBox/PC
I was a late adapter to the Xbox and I didn't start PC gaming until Elder Scrolls Oblivion came out. Fable bummed me out and my brother pointed me to Morrowind. I played through the Thieves Guild quests and did some random cave exploring. Oblivion came out a year or so later and I didn't play Morrowind again for a while. I put 120 hours on Oblivion, but only around 30 on Morrowind.
Oblivion had a few small features that made Morrowind. Auto-saving is a feature that I definitely wish was in Morrowind. Maybe in a few months I'll gather enough desire to play the game on PC again.
Dark Cloud 2 - PS2
Dark Cloud was one of the early games on the Playstation 2. I picked it up (along with about 15 other games) at a Circuit City $5 game sale. Dark Cloud was one of the better games that I picked up. It has the city building similar to Actraiser and a battle system that reminded me of Illusion of Gaia (both on the SNES).
I had to hunt very hard to find a new copy of Dark Cloud 2 for under $75. I played through the first several dungeons and really enjoyed the game. However, this was during a time that I had tons of other games and I eventually lost interest in the game.
Final Fantasy IX - PSX
Like Final Fantasy 5, I played through Final Fantasy IX when I was in the "Beat all Final Fantasies" mode. I played FF IX before I played Final Fantasy Origins. There are TONS of nods to previous Final Fantasy games. I had no idea until a year later that the Four Fiends from Final Fantasy I were in the game. Yeah I'm dumb. I'd like to play this game again now that I have a firm grasp of all the FF games up to XI. I still haven't played FF3 all the way, but I will in due time.
Metroid Prime - Game Cube
I loved playing Super Metroid on SNES. Metroid Prime came along and I couldn't wait to dive into the universe again. I got the game in the mail about a week before I had my wisdom teeth taken out. I played about 10 hours of the game totally drugged up on pain killers. Unfortunately the controls weren't like other first person shooters so I had a real hard time trying to get through the game.
Final Fantasy X got in the way and I eventually forgot about the game, same as many of the others. I think I may hunt down a copy of the Metroid Prime trilogy and give this an honest try again. It's definitely a first person exploring game. I love games that you can step back from all the explosions and focus on exploring and enjoying the environment. Prime and Oblivion are two great games to do this in.
Honorable Mentions
Sonic The Hedgehog - Genesis
I was raised on Nintendo games. I never game Sonic a fair chance. My wife LOVES playing Sonic and played it a lot as a kid.
Resident Evil Remake - Gamecube
- I've purchased this game... twice... I can't finish it. It scares the crap out of me. I'm not kidding. I can't complete half of the game. Between Lisa Trevor and Crimson Heads opening doors and breaking through walls ..... shudders
Congrats Capcom! This game is a masterpiece! I'll try to buy it again on Wii and actually play through it some time!
I'm sure most gamers have been in this situation. There are so many great games out there and there just isn't enough time to play them all the way they should be.