WHAT GAME DO YOU REPLAY YEARLY?

Everyone has a favorite game, heck even a favorite series but that doesn’t mean you’ll always replay that game. In fact few games ever get the replay treatment, only the best of the best. For starters, the replay treatment is different than replaying a game for the rest of the achievements or one thing you missed, NO MATTER HOW FAR you missed that one specific quest/item/whatever.

No, replaying a game yearly is only saved for the true wonders of a gamers heart. For me, considering I don’t buy that many new games per year, I have a very large list for replay games. For starters, Donkey Kong Country 2, Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros 3, and Goof Troop are all things I replay any chance I go to my grandmother’s house with the SNES plugged in. Paper Mario 64 is a classic I can never not play, along with Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga for the GBA. Fighting games, in my personal opinion, do not count although I have logged in some many hours at Marvel vs Capcom 2 it has basically turned into a daily fixture. Last, but not least, in my abundance of yearly replays is that of Ocarina of Time; and yes the N64, GCN, Master Quest and 3D version all count. The same goes for Sonic 3 & Knuckles, be it on my SEGA Genesis or Gamecube I have to replay the game. Funny, I feel more like I’m naming a greatest games all-time list rather than a yearly replay list, but that is what comes with these games; they are just the fantastic in so many ways.

To begin my SNES is basically my replay machine, but I like to choose what games I will replay or play (as I still find/buy SNES games). Last year my games to play were Illusion of Gaia and Earthbound, so in between each game (whether I get stuck or bored for the day) I chose a “side-game”. It’s always a lottery between my Super Mario All-stars, Super Mario World, and Donkey Kong Country 2. They are games I find fun and bring a challenge no matter how many times I’ve completed the game past it’s regular 100% (DKC2 102% etc). I can play by myself or with a friend, and I can complete the levels in a number of ways. In fact, for DKC2 I occasionally do an “all-Diddy” or “all-Dixie” run making sure I complete and only play as either of the two otherwise I have to re-do the entire game/level.

If anyone wants to know why I listed Goof Troop (SNES) on my replay list is because it is one of my favorite co-op games of all-time. Yes, I do own TMNT IV: Turtles in Time but what makes Goof Troop so special is it is a game my younger brother and I play every holiday and have many laughs and memories with it. Be it how we play the game, or the jokes we’ve made, Goof Troop will always hold joyous memories of my brother and I beating the game…or failing to communicate on puzzles and killing each other.

The N64 I used to replay a lot but I have become more attached to my 3DS as of late. The N64 is home of some mega-ultimate-classics like Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, Banjo-Tooie, Star Fox 64, and Paper Mario. As you have probably surmised I used to replay those games all the time on my N64. Problem I have with these games, except Star Fox 64 and Ocarina of Time, is I have practically memorized the entire game so the joy of replaying them is not as great as the first five times. My new plan is to actually let myself forget most of the game and comeback to it when I’m ready, like my plan for Donkey Kong 64 this year. The reason why Star Fox 64 is an exception is because you can play and beat the entire game in about 25 minutes and take an abundance of different routes. I constantly replay the game to beat my former/past-self’s score of 5656 hits/kills…which for some reason I can’t score that anymore and I was only 8 or 9 then!

Ocarina of Time is a different caliber because I feel it is the greatest game of all-time. The game from it’s epic music, to fantastic story, to just overall fun gameplay, and level design is just as fun as the last playthrough. There are so many unique characters, fun sidequests, that you can complete this game in a numerous amount of fashions. Master Quest only adds to the fun, especially Ganon’s castle (the lava part for anyone who knows what I’m talking about).

I don’t really replay RPG’s all that much, because they are like a good anime; the first is always the best. But there is one RPG-game that transcends that limit and that game is: Final Fantasy IX. FFIX, is my favorite in the entire series, and I can and will never get enough of it. Just the entire world and its characters are enough to get you through it but going to Auction House in Treno, playing Chocobo Hot & Cold, or even just annoying Mog with the Mog Whistle is enough to keep me entertained forever.

Wow, there really are so many games I just keep remembering more and more; like I always replay Phoenix Wright Trials and Tribulations every summer (the DS version). I don’t want to keep you guys here all day, just know I replay the game because it actually makes me pumped to go to law-school next year, although I know law is nothing like PW but still!

I’m sure one of these days, I will replay my Gameboy games, but I always tell myself to replay Pokemon Yellow and I can’t bring myself to delete my old file. It’s literally my past and I feel like I’d lose a part of myself if I deleted it.

Well, now you guys know my big list of my yearly or two yearly replay games. It would probably be a lot more if some of the games didn’t have only one save file! One final thing I have to say is I don’t believe multiplayer games count as “replay” games because otherwise Mario Party, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart would dominate a replay list!