My favourite games... I'm very much a 2d Platformer guy; it will surprise none to hear that I am a sucker for Sonic 3 & Knuckles .. Or really any of that lot; Sonic 1, 2, & 3 are absolutely solid games. Sonic CD also has a special spot.
MegaMan... Ooh, well, if I'm honest - the full sweep of 1-11. If I had to pick a favourite, I'd be torn between 3, and 5 - just entertaining to play all round. Though I'd assume, like most, I play 2 most often.. It's just satisfying to get a clean sweep of that game, and you can do it in about 40 minutes, if you're good.
MegaMan sort of taught me how to play videogames as a whole - I thought I sucked, but I'd never sat and tried to 'git gud' at a game before. With MegaMan, I picked up MegaMan 2 on the NES, and as I started to play it - dying a lot - I felt ... Well, I'm learning little by little each time I play this level - boy, I'm starting to progress through it! Some of the deaths were unavoidable, until you knew to duck here, slide there, jump over... And then I didn't feel so bad about losing lives; it's how the game is supposed to be played! I'm supposed to lose lives! And it didn't feel so scary.. I didn't feel like I was bad at it at all (though I definitely was!) -- If you weren't supposed to lose lives, they wouldn't give you lives to lose! And quickly, I got better at videogames... Very quickly! I reckoned; if the game was easy enough to beat in one go, it'd only be a 30-40 minute game - how boring would that be?! No, no, it's a skill that I've had to hone to beat it this fast. And oh, how exhillirating it is!
Other than that... Ape Escape is phenominal... 1, 2, & 3 - I think my favourite is probably 2, which I'd consider to be the hardest one.. It's challenging! Plus, you can play as Kakeru in that one, if you beat it - which is such a fun easter egg. My favourite character, though, is Hiroki, who only appears in Ape Escape 1, then again in Pumped & Primed.. And in the back of a comic in Ape Escape 2, joking about how everybody forgot he existed! I didn't, Hiroki! I have a badge of him on my jacket (by some divine miriacle, Sony put out a line of merchandise which included Hiroki in the little designs.. Only Acrylic Stands and Badges, but that's incredible!) -- On that note, Pumped & Primed was great fun. I enjoyed what I played of Million Monkeys. I couldn't get on board with Ape Academy, and the Move controller for On The Move doesn't work with my disability, which was a shame (though I'd picked it up as a rare store demo disk for my partner as a birthday gift - it contains the whole game, somehow! It's no big loss for me) -- I've yet to play PipoRacer or SaruSaru Big Mission.. But I am excited.
Katamari Damacy is another series which has captured my heart; We
Katamari is my favourite one - boy was I excited to see it get a re-master! I would always be willing to put in the effort of puling out the PS2 to play the original... But there's also somethign wonderful about being able to pull it out on the go! It's one of the best 2-player couch co-op experiences I've ever had. I'm also a huge fan of Katamari Forever (I guess I'm still doomed to whip out the PS3!)
And oh, oh, the Mother series... My favourite being Mother 1, and not without it having to struggle its' way there! The first time I'd played it, I was having a good time, but I wanted to get through it - I didn't let it take its' time to express itself. I was impatient. The second time I'd played it, it was beautiful and poignant - that I wasn't rushing it, I was letting myself sit and play for as long as I'd need to. I really find peace, now, in the quieter moments of that game. Mother 2 & 3 are incredible games; but Mother 1 has clawed its' way up into my heart. (Now, if only I could forgive it for Mt. Itoi.......)
And.. Oh, I've written so, so much