This week, Danny gave his Top 10 video games of all time:
With sports shut down indefinitely, I have to do something to keep me busy in order to take my attention away from the rapidly changing Coronavirus news. My go-to hobby over the last few weeks has been video games.
Full disclosure, video games has always been a hobby of mine. But with no sports to watch at night, I do have much more time to play my XBOX One these days. I also own a retro system that has nearly a hundred old Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and arcade games.
So, because I can’t write about Opening Day in Major League Baseball — which would’ve been this week — I figured I’d give you a list of my favorite video games of all time.
Here are my Top 10:
10) Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo)
-How can you have a “Top 10 video games of all time” list without at least one Super Mario Bros. game? You can’t. And my favorite? Mario 3 for Nintendo. This is pure nostalgia — as most of this list is — but there’s also no denying how great this game was. It followed a bizarre Mario 2, which goes down as one of the strangest video-game sequels ever made. Mario 3 was more of an upgrade to the original Mario. And a damn good upgrade it was.
9) Ice Hockey (Nintendo)
-Other owners of the original Nintendo might go with Blades of Steel as the best hockey game for the system. But not me. Yeah, I owned Blades of Steel as well. And it was good. But it was no Ice Hockey. This game was 4-on-4 hockey at its finest. Pick a country. Then put your lineup together. My go-to lineup was two medium guys, a skinny guy, and a fat guy. For those who have never played the game, you have absolutely no idea what that means. Just know that it’s nothing to take personal. It’s just how the game was made. Ice Hockey is a pure classic that’s just as fun today as it was in the early 90’s.
8) WWF WrestleFest (Arcade)
-The only reason I know about this game is because they had the arcade cabinet tucked into the corner next to the cigarette machine at the old I.A. in Southie, a spot that is now — get this — condos! The I.A. restaurant was a legendary pizza joint in the neighborhood. But they always had one functional arcade cabinet. WrestleFest was one of the cabinets I remember the most. The other one I remember the most from the I.A. is mentioned later on in this list. But as a wrestling fan, there was nothing better than tossing in a few quarters and playing as Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. I always feel this game never gets the credit it truly deserves.
7) Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade)
-I can’t tell you how many hours I spent playing this arcade game up Southie Bowl back in the day. I also had this game for Sega Genesis. I don’t remember any of the fatality codes, but I can remember everybody being obsessed with them whenever the newest MK game came out. FINISH HIM!
6) WCW/nWo Revenge (N64)
-When this was released for the Nintendo 64, it changed wrestling video games forever. The only reason it’s No. 6 on the list and not higher, is because the same video-game company released an even better WWF version a few years later called “WrestleMania 2000.” Unfortunately, “WrestleMania 2000” did not make this list. But it very easily could have. You’ll see why later on.
5) Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (Arcade)
-This is the other arcade cabinet that I remember playing down the I.A. Only, I can definitely recall playing this much more than WWF WrestleFest. I also had Street Fighter II for Sega Genesis. But there was just something about the arcade version that was better. I still play Street Fighter to this day, but nothing compares to any of the Street Fighter II editions.
4) Goldeneye (N64)
-If you had a Nintendo 64, Goldeneye was a must-have. Single-player mode was really good for a first-person shooter. But the multi-player mode — especially with four players at once — was the best. All the kids who now play Fortnite have no idea what 4-player Bond was like. And even though I have this game at No. 4, if you wanted to call this the greatest video game of all time, I’d certainly entertain your argument.
3) Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out (Nintendo)
-Based on how many times I’ve ran the gauntlet with Little Mac in this game, I could easily have Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out at No. 1. They ended up changing the name of this game to just “Punch-Out” and taking Tyson out of it altogether. I’m assuming that was because of licensing purposes. But I still have the original version. Sometimes I still play it. And I’ve got to be honest. I’ve never beaten Tyson. It’s impossible. Still, it’s a fantastic game, and one of my all-time favorites.
2) NHL 94 (Sega Genesis)
-Any NHL game from EA Sports is good. But nothing was better than NHL 94 for Sega. I still play this game to this day as well. It is better playing against another human, but playing against the computer still works, if you want to get that nostalgic hockey feel. NHL 94 is the greatest hockey game of all time. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.
1) WWF No Mercy (N64)
-If I had to play any video game right now, and I had my choice, this would be it. WWF No Mercy gets all the credit it deserves as being the greatest wrestling game ever made. Sure, the graphics aren’t what they are today, but who cares? It’s all about the controls. This was the sequel to the aforementioned “WCW/nWo Revenge” and “WWF WrestleMania 2000.” And it was great. What would be nice is if they could re-make this game with an entire roster of current and former WWE/WCW wrestlers. That will never happen though, which is why no video game will ever be better than No Mercy.
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