It's hard to pick just one, I feel some games do things better than others and even in their own series, shouldn't be judged together. I definitely don't think 2D Zelda and 3D Zelda should be judged on the same criteria for example, and should be seperated. Metroid Prime and 2D Metroid is a completely different animal as well. But if I absolutely MUST play by the rules, I'll play ball...
Right, here I go.
Can I cheat and say Super Mario All-Stars? I just love the original trilogy so much. If that's not an option, I'll go ahead and say the original Super Mario Bros is my pick. Mario 3 is really good, but I prefer SMB1 since I can clear it in like 2 hours while SMB3 is my whole afternoon. If i'm going to invest my time in a game for longer than 2 to 3 hours, I'd rather it be something that takes several days to a month.
Call me crazy but I like the original DKC the most. Maybe it's because I didn't play DKC2 until it came to Wii Virtual Console and DKC was the first game I ever "beat" without help or cheating so I've got a more personal connection to it, but I just find it a more pleasurable romp than DKC2... You know what my second favorite is though? Diddy Kong Racing. Beats the pants off of Mario Kart... if you're one of those single player kids like I was anyway.
My answer for this changes all the time, but lately I bounce back and forth between the original NES game, and Breath of the Wild. I'm intimately familiar with Zelda 1 after having played it dozens of times in several ways. Even mapped out the game on graph paper. Breath of the Wild reminds me a lot of Zelda 1, and shook off a lot of the dead weight that the 3D games were getting bogged down by, in a time where it needed it the most. Let's call this a tie.
Yoshi's Island. C'mon, you kidding me? Like I'm gonna pick the sequels or spinoffs.
Yeah... Star Fox 64 I guess. I like Assault and Adventures just fine though. The SNES games need smooth remakes. The DS game and Zero can die though.
Kirby's Adventure. Not my first Kirby game, but it was the first one I owned, though technically I owned the GBA remake.
Pokemon Red. Sorry, I'm a dirty genwunner. But Black is a pretty close second.
Metroid Prime. I got this for christmas even though I didn't ask for it, and it wasn't really like any other game I played before... though I did play Metroid 2, the Return of Samus, but again, I don't think you can compared the 2D games and the Prime series.
F-Zero X. SNES game is too primitive, GX is just too difficult. X is an amazing Balance, imo.
EarthBound. Though if you ask me, MOTHER 3 has the more coherent plot, but a lot of the fun of MOTHER is how weird it is. That final boss is also a lot more intense and satisfying to beat.
NGL, this game stinks, and I love retro games... I think romhackers could salvage it though, just tweak a few things...
I don't like this genre. I tried the NES version, the SNES remake, and an Awakening Demo, and I just can't get into it.
The original Game & Watch gallery has the best selection, if that doesn't count, then just FIRE. My brother and I were actually gifted Game & Watch keychains, he got Fire, I got Donkey Kong Junior. Probably because I was a known DK and Mario fanatic... that said, I'd play my Brother's FIRE all the time and usually ignore my own game.
The original NES game for me... it's rough starting up but once you power up, it's amazing. Uprising was fine, but it's not really what I wanted in a new KI game. It feels more like Star Fox with a harem anime skin on it. Those controls are also really rough man. I was hoping mostly touch based controls would have died with the DS.
Warioware Inc. Mega Microgame$. First one's still the best, but Wario Ware Gold is a pretty strong contender.
MGS3. I actually played all four MGS games for the first time, back to back, when I was waiting for Brawl to come out, and MGS3 was the most fun imo.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. I was always a Nintendo kid, never owned a Sega, but I still loved Sonic, and would play it on my Aunt's genesis when I came to visit. I never got to finish it till it hit the Gamecube, but this one made the biggest impact on me. As a side, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle is still my favorite 3D Sonic.
Pikmin 1. I've never got the chance to play 2, but i'm not sure it'll jive with me since I didn't care for swapping between characters in 3.
Uhhh, well I played a hack of Gyromite that doesn't require ROB to play. Does that count? It's fine... it's not bad. Not a top tier NES game by any means but it's still worth a play.
I like the Gamecube version the most. Feels like all the subsequent games have insanely limited dialogue compared to the Gamecube game for some reason. And Dialogue is a huge deal for a game like this.
Megaman 2. Boring answer I know, but it's the one I can consistently beat while having fun. I didn't care for how the X series felt and I haven't tried any of the other series.
Didn't play.
Mrs. Pac-Man
Nintendo Land... the ultimate showcase of Nintendo's untapped potential with the Wii U. Assymetrical Multiplayer should have been explored further than just Nintendo Land and Game & Wario.
I like the Wii version. The NES version is fine, but it's too easy until you reach Soda Popinski, and then it bordered on unfair... or maybe it's just been too long since I've played on a crt where there's no input lag. But the Wii version was such a nice surprise and it filled all the characters with huge personalities, all without me being able to understand more than three or four of them.
Uhhh Duck Hunt I guess?
Didn't play any of them. I might get it if it's ever re-released I guess but i'm not buying a New 3DS, nor am I buying it used at an inflated price.
I like the first one. I haven't played any of the post SNES FF games, or finished any of the post NES games. But I finished FF1.
Don't like this series, too technical for me.
Never played it. I don't think i'm interested. Maybe I'll try it if I can get it for cheap.
Splatoon 1. The sequel is fine, but it's too similar to the first one, so I already knew what to expect. But this was an amazing new IP. It took me a while to be sold on it, but the trailers won me over, and the global test fire got me really itchy to play it some more.
Castlevania. Unpopular opinion, but I only really like Castlevania 1 and 4. 3 is too hard for me and the metroid style is just not for me.
