Curated playlist

Virtual Console games

Street Fighter II TurboStreet Fighter II Turbo reached arcades in 1992 as an upgrade kit.
Super Street Fighter II TurboIn Japan, no arcade game earned more in 1994 than Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Capcom built it for arcade cabinets as the fifth installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series, following Super Street Fighter II from 1993. Oddly, it did…
Final Fantasy Mystic QuestIn Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, players see enemies coming and choose whether to fight.
Metal Gear (video game)In the 1987 game Metal Gear, Snake's own commander tells the player to switch off the console.
Final Fantasy VJapan asked Square not to release Final Fantasy V on a school day.
Street Fighter II: Champion EditionStreet Fighter II: Champion Edition let players become the bosses. The four final opponents became playable in 1992.
Final Fantasy IIIFinal Fantasy III's developers followed a programmer to Sacramento after his work visa expired.
Super Star WarsIn Super Star Wars, Luke fights up a Jawa sandcrawler to reach the droids. He does not simply buy them.
Super Mario Bros.Super Mario Bros., Nintendo's 1985 platform game, had only about 20 bytes of cartridge space left once its music was added. Shigeru Miyamoto spent them on a small crown. The crown appears beside the life counter, and only for players who…
Final Fantasy Tactics AdvanceFinal Fantasy Tactics Advance was first planned for the PlayStation 2. It ended up on the Game Boy Advance.
Final Fantasy IIFinal Fantasy II replaced experience points with stats that grow by use. Its designer felt it went too far.
Super Street Fighter IISuper Street Fighter II let eight players compete in one tournament across four linked arcade cabinets.
Metal Gear 2: Solid SnakeIn Metal Gear 2, a cornered Solid Snake turns a lighter and an aerosol can into a flamethrower.
Pac-ManPac-Man was first called Puck Man, until executives feared vandals would change the P to an F.
Final Fantasy (video game)Final Fantasy got its name because its creator planned to quit if it failed. Square was also facing bankruptcy in 1987.
Final Fantasy IVFinal Fantasy IV began with a Formula One race. Hiroyuki Ito saw cars pass at different speeds and got an idea.
Final Fantasy VIFinal Fantasy VI lets its hero fail to save the world. The story's second half is called the World of Ruin.
Final Fight (video game)Final Fight, Capcom's arcade brawler, began as Street Fighter '89. Operators said the name was misleading.
Super Mario 64Super Mario 64 is a 1996 platform game from Nintendo for the Nintendo 64, and a sealed copy of it holds the record for the largest sum ever paid for a video game. That sale happened in July 2021. Heritage Auctions' specialist said: "It…
Chrono TriggerChrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing game that Square developed and published for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It began with a research trip. In October 1992, three veteran creators traveled to the United States to study…
Space InvadersSpace Invaders sped up as aliens vanished by accident, and its designer kept the quirk.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's MaskA grimacing moon looms over the land of Termina in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Nintendo released the game for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. The moon is predicted to strike at dawn on the day of the Carnival of Time, an annual harvest…