The Gamer's Quarter

[Ketch]

What games do you playthrough everynow and again, because it is comfortable like an old pair of shoes... rather than being the hottest newest, most challenging game on the block.

For me it has to be Prince of Persia Sands of Time, I really enjoy the ambience of the levels, the whole feel of it. The general fluidity of the moveset. And I love the cleverness of the levels (even though I've played them before). Before I get the dagger I try to see the different ways I can get through the level, like avoiding the guards by jumping pillar to pillar so they can't get at me.

What are your games (if you have them) and what is it that has you play them so often?

[dessgeega]

i play through super mario land whenever i need something comforting. it was designed around the limitations of the original gameboy, making it a pretty laid back experience on a gameboy player or sp. it's short enough to finish in one sitting. and the level design is so familiar and so good.
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[Pijaibros]

Outrun2006.

Blue, blue skies.

Wonderful environments, hot cars, an open road, smooth drifting, a cheering girl by my side. It's really a perfect vision of what driving should be. Chasing down Rivals seeing the many little touches that populate that beautiful sky. Dragons, flamingos, jets, all are gorgeous.

Just looking at Outrun2006 makes me happy

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

I sit in front of an electric fan whilst playing Outrun 2006 to simulate the wind going past me.

San Andreas seems to have become my comfort game over the past year, before that it was Mr. Domino or something, which seems to suit the status of 'comfort game' more.
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[player 2]

It'd be Or2006 for me, too, but I don't know where to get it for my American XBox. My blue skies racing drifting game is the regular Or2

Also, Double Dragon II
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Swimmy]

Chrono Trigger. The End of Time is my videogame home.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

[dongle]

Metroid or SMB3, just because I grew up on them. Sorry I don't have better reasons but emotions aren't always (or often) intellectual

[Pijaibros]

[Tim]

Mawaru Made in Wario (I only have the JP one) because it's easy to play, and hella fun. I don't have to reread the instruction book to figure out how to play the damn thing.

Actually I made that up. I haven't replayed the game yet...

BUT, I want to erase my game save of Mawaru and start fresh from the beginning. I should do the same with the original, too. I haven't touched that game in ages.

But Darkwing Duck. I love that in the Hi-Def era of 3D video game playing media centers I can still enjoy Darkwing Duck. This is one of those games that you can beat twice in one sitting and still have fun with.

[Six]

Bionic Commando. Last time I played it, though, I kind of felt awful afterwards. It really made me sad that the game had become so familiar.

[player 2]

also: wii sports
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Scratchmonkey]

It used to be GTA3 and then San Andreas. Now I've gone through the early parts of each game too many times for them to really hold my interest.

Right now I'd say that Football Manager fills that role pretty nicely. I've got an exceptional team, so it's a fairly easy ride and since players age and retire, there are always new challenges and decisions to be made. I do feel like a bit of a chump for having bought the two most recent editions of FM when I still spend most of my time with FM2005.

[helicopterp]

Super Mario 64 ALL UP IN YOUR EYE-EYE DRACKO

But yeah, playing through the first few levels just long enough to get the wing cap and race the penguin a couple times and listen to the great water music in the secret level and actually get all the music stuck in my head, and triple-jumping right off the bat as I approach the castle for no reason more compelling than that I like hearing Mario say "Wah-hahhh!"
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[DonMarco]

Doom.
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Collector of over 1,538 strategy guides. That's weird, right?

[dhex]

half life 2. i'm gonna go play some now.
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[a_plus]

mario 3!
super c! (which i've never beaten, actually. can't get past the boss in the level with the elevator)
tetris and/or puyo puyo!

[antitype]

Super Mario Bros. 3, Link's Awakening, The Secret of Monkey Island, X-Com: UFO Defense, Chrono Trigger, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus.

I also wrote about Dragon Quest VII's merits as a "comfort game" a while ago.

[professor_scissors]

I use Tetris Attack for this. It helps that my old skills have somewhat reawakened, meaning that I never, ever lose against the computer anymore on Hard+.
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SUPER GAME BAKEDOWN 2007 IS COMING.

[dark steve]

symphony of the night

man that would be just what the doctor order if i had any time to actually go and play it right now
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

[a_plus]

oh, yeah, sotn fer sure.
also, i'll play a battle or two in final fantasy tactics and set it down for a month every so often.

[dessgeega]

[internisus]

I have been hoping for years to make Ikaruga my comfort game, but I find that it is akin to chess and I will likely need two or three more decades before it is actually comfortable to me.

[Mesmerize]

odd as it may seem, Mega Man IV. one of the first videogames I ever played. final fantasy VIII, too. I feel at home in that game.

[vision]

--

[Laco]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. It's very relaxing, while not being trivially easy, since you can always try taking just one run at a level and beating as many goals as possible.

Failing that, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed. Easily the best NFS title, and the Factory Driver mode is just the right mix of challenge and pick-up-and-playability. Evolution mode is also good, but starts out very slow and requires several hours at least.

I also agree with dessgeega's Super Mario Land. It's just so pure and friendly. That music..

[Harveyjames]

[Lockeownzj00]

Usually classic SNES rpgs--final fantasy 6 and the aformentioned chrono trigger. specifically, zeal in ct. I'd have a special save just for zeal so i could 'visit' whenever i wanted to. it's so serene, and utopic. you know, except for the whole evil secret behind it all thing. but otherwise...

but i can't tell you how many times i (used to--before i sold my n64, stupidly) play through the goldeneye missions through. Sometimes I'd just spend time chilling in Frigate, touring the boat with invisibility on and trying to fuck with the guards.

i'm sure there are others. oh! super mario land 1 + 2 for the gameboy. kirby's dreamland.

[Shapermc]

PN03 is a game I play through at least once a year, if not twice.

It use to be SMB3, but about 5 years ago I stopped and then last year when I tried to play it again I sucked at it.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[OtakupunkX]

So I'm seeing a lot of people mention Outrun 2 and 2006, but I have to say, Outrun 1 is my comfort game. That, or Oblivion.
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[Pijaibros]

I also like to play DDR to relax. Yeah, I'm one of those people.

The presentation is just so bare. Arrows on the screen a simple background.

I have to put a lot of effort (twisting, jumping, stomping around) into getting very little feedback (points, combo, Marvelous!). Pretty much the opposite philosophy of the videogamey simple action (push a button), big reaction (kill slimes).

It's my personal actions that will decide how much I'll enjoy it. I get a kick out of improving on previous high scores and seeing that grade improve.

It's my guilty pleasure.

[ApM]

For "Old Pair of Shoes" comfort, nothing beats Out Of This World for me. I'm still kind of proud of my much-younger self for struggling through it the first time. I think it ends up being successful at allowing me to re-live my original triumphs even though I know the game cold because no matter how good you are at it, you're going to die a thousand goddamn times before it's over.

Bionic Commando comes close, but I don't actually get all the way through it that often. Certainly not every time I sit down with it, like I do with OOTW. I can see how it could be horrible to realize you really knew it cold -- there's a certain bleakness that it needs in order to work, a certain sense of barely scraping by while knowing that the game is only going to get more cruel.

For "slumping down on the couch after a hard day to relax" comfort, I usually pop in one of the Katamari games. We <3 Katamari frustrates me if I play it to win (because I have no idea how to finish it -- ashamed of a videogame non-accomplishment!), but if I just sit down for a half hour to roll up the biggest goddamn snowman you've ever seen, that can be very nice indeed.

[Mr Mustache]

Mega Man 2. It is just an incredibly smooth experience; focused, elegant, and consistantly satisfying.

Mega Man 4 is also really good, if a bit less concise...also I don't have a copy of it.
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Straight up

[Mesmerize]

I think the charge shot that appeared in MMIV is vastly underrated. I also love the design of all the enemies, and the music, and basically everything else about the game. Ring Man's stage is classic.

[FortNinety]

[Isfet]

being that i'm a complete whore for most Mega Man-related games, i think an argument could be made about the merits of any of the games (aside from maybe the EXE series). all of the NES ones are appealing to me for various reasons, especially 3, but...

Mega Man 2 is the game i find myself playing at least once a month. it's not too long and not too short; just the perfect length to play through in one sitting.

[Joe]

Kirby Superstar
beatmaniaIIDX (Yes, I'm one of those people too.)
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[fuzzylogic]

[xvs07]

Earthbound. Every time I play, I feel in love and harmony with my species. This is special because it doesn't happen often otherwise.

If I want to remember what it was like to be eight, I play Wonderboy in Monster Land or Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap. I imagine Cave Story might eventually join this group.

[kirkjerk]

Bangai-O.

And www.isketch.net , chatroom pictionary

[Redeye]

The Penguin Game.

The landmine version is fun, too.


Very relaxing.


Here kitty-kitty.

Cadbury
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I felt sheer anarchic joy when I ran over my first pedestrian.

[TheRumblefish]

Brahma Force relaxes hell out of me, but only during Winter.
Resident Evil 4
Grand Theft Auto 3
Red Faction
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[Karoshi]

Tony Hawk games, with the exception of the Underground titles.
I'll spend hours doing lines on self-designated gaps and obstacles.

I can also ride around Kirby Air Ride's City Mode forever.

[sawtooth]

[Lestrade]

MK1 and 2.

[Dracko]

Invisible Vision, usually on full volume, Tetris Classic (though that's more of a boredom game, really), N, Rolling Thunder, though the second one seems to be more popular these days, the original Prince of Persia, Ski Free, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Half-Life 2 and its Minerva: Metastasis mod.

It seems Knytt is growing on me, but I'll have to see for how long, the Marathon series is now pretty cool to browse through, as in the past it was just plain frustrating not knowing where to go or what to do, interactive fiction is always popular and Invader and Gamma Bros. are neat on occasion.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Cycle]

DooM series, Marathon series and Duke 3D since I can finish all the levels without really thinking about it these days. I used to play through DooM II every weekend for about a year.
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[Lestrade]

Good call, Cycle. Doom is another of those games for me.

[dongle]

Symphony of the Night and, recently, Rocket Slime.

Rocket Slime is just so happy and carefree and fun! Cheery overworld music, easy and relaxing, lots of things to toy around with.

[GSL]

DooM definitely ranks along the top of the list. Also Goldeneye 007, Gradius on the PC Engine, and Resident Evil 4.