Gaming

Let's see if I can offer one suggestion for each of these platforms. 😀

• Batman for the NES was the best Batman game until Arkham Asylum came out something around 20 years later. Sunsoft was pretty amazing in that era.
• Earthbound is my favorite JRPG ever. It was pure wish fulfillment for a tween boy, but even though I'm no longer that, it still holds up because it's weird and charming as hell.
• I didn't care much for the N64 — it always looked like a bunch of blobs with blurry textures to me, and the release cadence was abysmal — but I do fondly remember Blast Corps. It was great fun, and I never hear anyone talk about it.
• OK, four in, and I've already failed. 😅 I never owned a Master System.
• I'm not sure if Panic for Sega CD was actually any good, but it was cute and silly and that was enough for me. The correct recommendation here is probably Sonic CD, but that's a boring recommendation.
• Uh oh. I never owned a 32X either. 😞
• I hardly remember anything on the Saturn. Someone has already recommended Nights, so maybe give Christmas Nights a shot. Games with a Christmas theme are relatively rare. 🤷‍♂️
• I can't recommend my favorite Dreamcast game Samba de Amigo because you won't be able to play it properly without the maraca peripherals, but the Dreamcast lineup was absolutely loaded so it's not a problem. I feel like Shenmue embodies the promise of the Dreamcast: unbridled ambition but without the pieces necessary to quite meet that ambition. It might be rough today, but it's one of very few games where you'll be able to spend hours driving a forklift around. That's gotta count for something. 😅
• I'm pretty sure Windjammers is the best Neo-Geo game.
• We're spoiled for choice again on PS1. I have to go with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It's a classic that holds up better than just about anything else on the console.
• I always thought most of the Game Boy's library was garbage. Qix was neat, albeit simple. Oh, wait. You like JRPGs, right? You should try Pokemon!
• I'll go with the 800 pound Gorilla for my GBC pick: Link's Awakening
• GBA was another one of those killer platforms with tons of great games… but the best one is WarioWare.
• DS just had a near endless library of hits. Rhythm Heaven is one of my favorites. Bonus JRPG pick: Bowser's Inside Story
• The only PSP game I played much of was Lumines, but it is actually really good.
• When I was a kid, arcade games were incredible because the tech was years ahead of what I had at home. Now, I see how predatory they were and have trouble feeling good about many of them. Here are a few I like that fly under the radar sometimes. Tapper is a really good game that's fun for 5-10 minutes. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is one of those 90s beat-em-ups, but with an interesting theme. If you like those, you might also like the D&D beat-em-ups. They have some really light RPG mechanics. Shadow over Mystara and Tower of Doom. Was there another one? I'm not sure. Then, I know there's near zero chance you haven't played NBA Jam, but it's just my all-time favorite.

Hope that helps!