Retro Wishlist

A few years ago I decided to repurchase the consoles and games that I used to own as a child, so I bought a Megadrive, Saturn and a few games, but after a while I just stopped collecting.  Recently, I  decided to start collecting again.

Now, I  plan not to go overboard with collecting (I do not desire to possess a full game collection for any system) but I would like to have physical copies of games I previously owned, friends games I enjoyed and games that I wished I played but never had the chance to experience when they were originally released.

Below, I list the games I am looking out for.  I would like to find each of these games boxed, complete with instruction manuals and in good condition, however I will not pay an excessive amount for any of the retro games (e.g complete copies of Super Metroid tend to be priced between £74 -£100 on eBay - whereas a cart only version is priced at around £25).  I own each console below unless stated otherwise, so it is mostly the games themselves that I need to purchase.

MEGADRIVE

I originally owned most of the games in the list below, but games such as Road Rash 2 and Aladdin, I remember enjoying at my friend's house.  The Megadrive list would be a lot more extensive if it was not for various Megadrive retro collections on the PlayStation 2 and 3 that I own.  

I do not really want to own the original Megadrive cartridges if I already can play them on a compilation disc (Megadrive boxes just take up so much space) - however there may be a few exceptions to this - depending on how much the game means to me.  For instance, I would like to own the original boxes for the old Sonic games - especially for the lock on technology feature that came with the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge, which allowed Sonic 3 to be played with Sonic and Knuckles for one long game and also allowed knuckles to be played through Sonic 2 stages.

 Megadrive wishlist

• Sensible Soccer
• Castle of Illusion
• World of Illusion
• Quackshot
• Road Rash 2
• Lemmings
• Fifa series
• Aladdin
• Micro Machines
• Spiderman vs Kingpin
• Game Genie cheat cartridge
• Paperboy
• Mortal Kombat II
• Earthworm Jim 1 and 2
• Stargate
• Terminator vs Robocop
• Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
• Sonic 2 and 3
• Sonic and Knuckles

Saturn

When I originally re-bought a Saturn, I managed to find most of the games I had previously owned (this was not difficult as I only owned around 10 games when I first had the system).  The Saturn wishlist is quite minute and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is the only game in the list that I have previously owned.  Most of the games I played on demo disc, but never did purchase them.

Sonic Jam is a game I have wanted to try for a long time.  It is essentially a compilation of the Megadrive Sonic games (I already have a few compilations with the Megadrive Sonic games), but Sonic Jam's version of Sonic 1 implements the spin dash move from future Sonic games and also incorporates an 'easy mode' option, two features that were never implemented into other compilations that contained Sonic 1, at least none that I have ever played.

Saturn wishlist

• Sega Rally
• Sonic Jam
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
• Virtua Fighter 2
• Clockwork Knight 2
• Myst
• Manx TT

PlayStation 1

I thought I had stopped buying games for the original PlayStation a long time ago, but recently I have been remembering that there were a few titles on the PlayStation that I wanted to experience, but I never did.  I do not own an original PlayStation any-more, but I can still play PlayStation 1 games on my PlayStation 2 or PlayStation 3 consoles. 

The first two Grand Theft Auto games and Alien Trilogy are high on my list.  I remember playing a demo of the first old-skool top down perspective Grand Theft Auto game.  I thought it would be interesting to purchase a Grand Theft Auto game before the series went 3D, just to see what it is like to play from a post-2D perspective on the series. 

I remember renting the Saturn version of Alien Trilogy and recently, I found a demo of the game on the Saturn.  After playing the demo, I thought I would purchase the whole game, as it reminded me just how much of an enjoyable experience it was.  Alien Trilogy, even now, really captures the atmosphere of the Alien films.  I intend to purchase the PlayStation 1 version rather than the Saturn version, as apparently the Saturn version is missing some effects and the lighting of the environment is worse on the Saturn.

PlayStation Wishlist

• Grand Theft Auto 1 and 2
• Final Fantasy VI
• Klonoa
• ISS Pro Evo
• Alien Trilogy
• Crash Bandicoot
• Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey

PC

There are a few 'retro' games on the PC that I would like to own.  Grim Fandango is an old Point and Click adventure game that is regarded as a classic and one of the best games of all time.  Grim Fandango is a game I have always wanted to play, but never been able to thanks to it being designed to work on Windows 95 and 98, and I think a later version was released for compatibility with Windows XP.  Finally, I think I can play it without any hassle, as a fan made installer has been created allowing the game to be run on Windows 7 PCs.

Lemmings is a game I used to own on the Megadrive and I would really like to play it once again, but I think the game works better with a mouse rather than a controller - I just hope that a PC version will run on Windows 7.

PC Wishlist

• Grim Fandango
• Lemmings
• Wolfenstein 3D

GameBoy Advance

I do not own a GameBoy Advance, but I recently bought a GameBoy Advance player for the GameCube, thus it is my intention to purchase the games that I always wanted to try.  My main reason for purchasing a GameBoy Player was to own the various 2D Metroid games, Metroid Fusion is the only one I am currently missing, but there are also some other games I would like to own.

I would like to eventually own the three 2D Sonic Advance games that were released on the GameBoy Advance, as they seemed to receive many favourable reviews in a time when many 3D Sonic games were subject to a lot of negative press.

GBA Wishlist

• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Sonic Advance 1, 2 and 3
• Metroid Fusion
• Sonic Pinball Party

GameCube

I am not a huge Zelda fan, but I own two zelda games for the GameCube, which both came in the same case.  I have the limited edition of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which came with a port of the N64 zelda classic Ocarina of Time (which many gamers regard as the best game of all time).  I also recently bought Skyward Sword for the Wii and the SNES classic, A link to the Past for the Wii Virtual Console (both games, I have still yet to start).

The legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition, was originally, as I remember it, released as part of a bundle with the purchase of a GameCube console in the UK.  LOZ: Collector's Edition contains four different retro Zelda releases; The original NES Zelda game, Zelda II (Snes), Ocarion of Time (N64), and Majora's Mask (N64).  I never managed to obtain a copy, upon original release, as I already had a GameCube and did not want to buy another GameCube just for one item.  Thanks to eBay, it looks like I will now be able to finally obtain a copy.
 

GameCube Wishlist

• The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition
• Ikaruga

DS

Not strictly 'retro' but the successor to the DS has been released and thus I thought I would include it in my retro wishlist.  I plan to eventual buy a 3DS (I am glad I have waited, as the 3DS XL has been released) and DS games are compatible with the 3DS system.  I have never owned a DS, so when I purchase a 3DS I can catch up on all the DS games I missed out on.

The list will probably become bigger as I learn of more titles that were released for the DS.  Probably the main game of the DS wishlist is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which seems to be a mixture of the old 2D GTA games and the later 3D GTA titles.  It is presented in a old-Skool bird's eye view kinda like the old GTA games, but has a nicer graphical look.

DS Wishlist

• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Metroid Prime Pinball
• New Super Mario Bros.
• Sonic Rush

N64

I do not own a N64, but I am thinking about picking one up soon.  My wishlist of N64 games is not very long, but I think it would be worth buying an N64 for the games I want to play.

The two most desired games on my list are Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.  Both games are developed by Rare and they are considered to be killer apps for the Nintendo  64.  I have always wanted to try Goldeneye, but this game will likely never be released on 'legal' download services due to the James Bond license.  Perfect Dark was released for Xbox live, but I do not own an Xbox 360 at the moment.

I may also possibly purchase games I have downloaded on the Wii's Virtual console, such as Super Mario 64. 

N64 Wishlist

• Goldeneye
• Perfect Dark
• 1080 Snowboarding
  

PlayStation 2

Similar to the DS, the PlayStation 2 is not strictly 'retro,' as there are still a few titles that are released for the PS2, but as far as I am concerned any console that is 'last gen' (despite still releasing titles) should be classed as a retro system.

Similar to the PlayStation 1, I thought I was finished purchasing games for the PlayStation 2 system.  Some of the key games I want in the list are Devil May Cry, Half Life and R-Type Final.

I played a demo of Devil May Cry that came with a copy of Resident Evil Code Veronica X that I bought.  I remember really enjoying the demo, but never purchased the full game.  The upcoming Devil May Cry reboot reminded me of the original game, thus now I must buy the original PS2 version.

Half Life, a game that is probably overshadowed by it amazing sequel, but the original Half Life is also a great game.  I already have the PC version of Half Life and I just want to check out the PS2 version out of curiosity to see what the differences are.

R-Type Final is an old style 2D space shooter; I used to play a lot of these type of games on old systems such as the Megadrive.  Again, I was meant to purchase the game when it was originally released, but never did, so it is now on my current wishlist.

PS2 Wishlist

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
• Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut
• Sega Classics Collection
• Okami
• Simpsons: Hit and Run
• Devil May Cry
• Half Life
• Hyper Street Fighter II
• Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
• Maximo and the Army of Zin
• R-Type Final
• Shadow of Rome

After writing out my wishlist of retro titles, I realise that there are more titles than I originally thought - this may take some time.