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[VGEsoterica]

I love the concept of a "perfect' game. A game so incredibly solid in every single aspect that you can't help but consider it a perfect example of what it's trying to be. Perfect gameplay, amazing art and a killer soundtrack all rolled up into one!

For me...that's Metal Slug 3! A game so damn enjoyable that I cannot manage to find a single thread to pull at and complain about. It's just SNK, Neo Geo and Nasca at their absolute best both as developers and as artists. The sheer amount of fun and detail they packed into 3 just makes it the GOAT of the Metal Slug franchise in my opinion and one of the best games of it's genre I have ever played.

But that got me thinking...about other perfect games! I know we all have them. Games so fun and nostalgic that we just think they can do no wrong

I'll start with a second; Grim Frandango

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Super Metroid. The control, the soundtrack, the graphics, the design... amazing.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Journey. SMB3. Tetris

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Resident Evil 4
DMC1
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic CD
The Wonderful 101
ZombiU
Megaman X4
Bloodstained Ritual of the Night

 

[VGEsoterica]

I will add

The Talos Principle
The Witness

 

[jimmypython]

Hollow Knight
Final Fantasy IX

 

[TintoConCasera]

Sorry OP but I'm not gonna write yet another post about Ikaruga.

Kind of a tricky question since most games have some flaw or at least some kind of nitpick.

Think I'll go with Metal Gear Rising, game's just pure fun.

 

[01011001]

have you ever played Metal Slug 3 without infinite lives? yeah... if you do you'll know it's not perfect. like many arcade games it is designed to eat quarters

it's great but far from perfect.

the only, truly perfect game, I can think of from the top of my head might be Dark Souls 3, I can't think of anything to criticize it for that wouldn't be highly subjective.
it has very thoughtful Leveldesign, good gameplay, great art design, well made boss fights...

 

[VGEsoterica]

have you ever played Metal Slug 3 without infinite lives? yeah... if you do you'll know it's not perfect. like many arcade games it is designed to eat quarters

it's great but far from perfect.

the only, truly perfect game, I can think of from the top of my head might be Dark Souls 3, I can't think of anything to criticize it for that wouldn't be highly subjective.
it has very thoughtful Leveldesign, good gameplay, great art design, well made boss fights...

lol how are you going to talk about quarter munching then say Dark Souls 3. If that game took quarters you'd lose your house and savings to it!

 

[anthony2690]

Mushimesama Futari 1.5
Sonic 3 & knuckles (if we ignore the ghost level)
Metal Slug X
Blazblue Chrono Phantasma Extend (probably my fave fighter ever made, later blazblue games are not as good imho)
Tetris Effect Connected




Really hope city connection pick this game up and re-release it on everything like they did with deathsmiles

 

[AV]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2). An incredible game formula refined to perfection.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

I have a very different definition of a "perfect game". I don't look for arcade perfection. To me a perfect game is when I fully immerse myself while playing and forget, even if for a brief moment, about real-life world. Prey (2017) is this kind of game.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Half-Life 2

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Knack

 

[VGEsoterica]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (PS2). An incredible game formula refined to perfection.

Agreed but for me its THPS 2. Just a straight up gem

 

[VGEsoterica]

Half-Life 2

I still remember getting a new PC and the OG HL for Christmas one year as a kid. Damn does that memory hit hard

 

[01011001]

lol how are you going to talk about quarter munching then say Dark Souls 3. If that game took quarters you'd lose your house and savings to it!

not really, Dark Souls 3 is mostly perfectly fair and you can in theory beat every boss first try. and attacks are timed to be slow enough to react to them and dodge in time.
you can also most of the time take a step back and study the boss and enemy attack patterns by simply staying at a distance

in most arcade games, including Metal Slug, there are parts that are so overwhelmingly hard that it's nigh impossible to actually not get hit due to being flooded by enemies.

I think the Metal Slug games are less egregious than most games of the genre but still not perfect... also it's locked to 30fps!

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Diablo1 and 2. Especially 1 though. It was much simpler in its perfection.

 

[AV]

Agreed but for me its THPS 2. Just a straight up gem

I love 2 also, but the original does feel much rougher to play today than 3 does on PS2.

That said I would hear the argument for the recent THPS1+2 remakes being perfect because they took the content from 1+2 and made it feel amazing to play.

 

[Son_of_Zardoz]

Star Control 2

(Star Control 1 is pretty good also)

 

[Graciaus]

Chrono trigger
Final fantasy tactics

All these years later most srpgs are still trying (and failing) to create something like it.

 

[marquimvfs]

Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Metroid
Crash Bandicoot 2
Castlevania SOTN
007 Goldeneye
Banjo Tooie
Mario Kart 64
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Metal Slug 3
Streets of Rage 3
Burnout 3
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Diablo 2


And many more...

 

[VGEsoterica]

2D JRPG's peaked with Chrono Trigger and I don't think that magic can ever truly be captured again

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Shining Force 1 and 2 for me.

 

[STARSBarry]

Honestly just play this masterpiece, it's what really opened my eyes to indie titles.

 

[GymWolf]

 

[brian0057]

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Resident Evil 4
DMC1
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic CD
The Wonderful 101
ZombiU
Megaman X4
Bloodstained Ritual of the Night

(re4 is excellent though)

 

[GymWolf]

Knack

Knack 2 is better.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Since you use "perfect" (in quotes), I'll go with that, since there's no such thing as a truly perfect game.

For me, there are two that fit that category:

Resident Evil 4 - level, enemy, and encounter design are immaculate. Weapons are varied and have a great feel/feedback. For me this is truly the greatest video game of all time.

Soulcalibur (Dreamcast version): a practically perfect fighting game. Great varied cast. (Not one of those street fighter games that, while fun, half the cast are "shoto clones.") Still looks beautiful, even to this day. Plenty of extra modes, unlockables, etc. Great fighting system.

Those are my two votes for now.

 

[93xfan]

Super Mario Bros 3.

Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

 

[Jigsaah]

Phantom Dust
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
Super Mario 64
Zelda Ocarina of Time
Tekken 3
Ninja Gaiden NES
Ninja Gaiden Black
Tenchu Stealth Assassins
Tetris
Gradius/Life Force
Contra
Mortal Kombat II (2, not 11)
Grand Theft Auto Vice City
Dark Souls
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Arcade
Xmen Arcade
Forgotten Worlds (Sega)
Herzog Zwei
Double Dribble
Shinobi III
Metal Gear Solid 1, 3 and 4 (hard to choose, I loved Old Snake)

I had more but I gotta get back to work.

 

[John117]

Zelda BOTW, Half Life Alyx, MGS, Halo Combat Evolved

 

[Dr Bass]

I agree with some of the stuff here so I won't repeat it but I didn't see this one so I am listing it.

Returnal. Yeah, that's right. That game is a masterpiece IMO. Took 50 deaths to beat it the first time. Beat the entire game in one sitting after that without dying. The perfect example of actually getting good at a game over time to a point where you feel "mastery" over the mechanics. Add the great visuals, perfect controls, fantastic soundtrack, and IMO very well done story.

I wouldn't change a thing about it. Best game of 2021 without question for me.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

For me it's Quake III Arena. No arena shooter has ever surpassed this masterpiece.

 

[BigBeauford]

My definition of this is a game with no fat on it. Only game I can think of in this regard is Rocket League.

 

[Captain Toad]

Rocket League

 

[SpiceRacz]

This deserves to be mentioned among the greats of the action-platformer genre.

 

[DGrayson]

Dark Forces I
Doom II
Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past
Super Mario Bros 3
Mario Kart

 

[Belthazar]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Dragon Quest V
Final Fantasy V
Castlevania Symphony of the Night

Those are mine

 

[VGEsoterica]

Since you use "perfect" (in quotes), I'll go with that, since there's no such thing as a truly perfect game.

For me, there are two that fit that category:

Resident Evil 4 - level, enemy, and encounter design are immaculate. Weapons are varied and have a great feel/feedback. For me this is truly the greatest video game of all time.

Soulcalibur (Dreamcast version): a practically perfect fighting game. Great varied cast. (Not one of those street fighter games that, while fun, half the cast are "shoto clones.") Still looks beautiful, even to this day. Plenty of extra modes, unlockables, etc. Great fighting system.

Those are my two votes for now.

Soulcalibur was a perfect launch game. When so many launch games straight up suck it nailed it

 

[A.Romero]

Not the biggest fan of some of these but can recognize they were very good products:

MGS2 (it's only sin was switching MC but it had a purpose)
Chrono Trigger
Marvel vs Capcom 2 (I only wish the DC version didn't have that unlock character shit)
Marvel's Spiderman
Burnout 3
Halo 2

 

[SidViscous]

Phantasy Star Online

Awesome music, graphics, core gameplay loop plus it was super innovative.

PSO, Mario 64 and Warcraft 3 all fill that special “perfect game” criteria for me

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Ikaruga

Yes.

Maybe the one game where every single frame is exactly as it should be, and 100% at the service of gameplay.
Ikaruga’s perfection is almost scary.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Yes.

Maybe the one game where every single frame is exactly as it should be, and 100% at the service of gameplay.
Ikaruga’s perfection is almost scary.

I really wish I was better at shmups. Probably because I don't have that much experience in that genre yet though, and haven't learned how to "properly" play it.

I do own both Radiant Silvergun (on Saturn) and Ikaruga (on PC) though, and looking forward to playing them both soon.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Yes.

Maybe the one game where every single frame is exactly as it should be, and 100% at the service of gameplay.
Ikaruga’s perfection is almost scary.

Right? I've always said one thing about this game, and it's that I don't know if they made the music to match the level design, or the level design to match the music. It's just peeerfect every moment, and not just with the music but with everything else.

I really wish I was better at shmups. Probably because I don't have that much experience in that genre yet though, and haven't learned how to "properly" play it.

I do own both Radiant Silvergun (on Saturn) and Ikaruga (on PC) though, and looking forward to playing them both soon.

Just go for it! I'm no shmup expert by any means (in fact I think I haven't beaten a single one) but Ikaruga somehow managed to capture and hook me at first sight.

Final Fantasy V

What a total chad. Best in the series imo.

 

[jufonuk]

Super Mario world
Sonic 2
Breath of the Wild
SoR2 and 4

 

[Filben]

Stardew Valley.

Hundred hours in and still discovering something new. Ultimate relaxing, charming visuals and music, loveable characters, so much content and many thing to explore and try out.

 

[UnNamed]

Bubble Bobble. After 36years, it's still funny to play.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Gravity Rush 1 and 2 the thread.