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Boss Rush Banter: What’s Your Favorite Retro Game to Play?

1–2 minutes

The graphics on next-gen systems are nearly perfect. Gameplay has been finely honed to maximize player experience. Connectivity has advanced to the point that online multiplayer games are an expectation. Despite all these truths, retro games will always hold a special place in the hearts of gamers.

Sure, defining “retro” can be complicated. For some, it comes down to the graphics capability; for others, it’s the era of release. However one may define it, all retro games have the nostalgia factor, the “I used to play that” vibe. These classics recapture the feeling of a lost era, one that took a beloved experience with its passing.

For today’s Boss Rush Banter, we want to know: What’s your favorite retro game to play?

The Legend of Zelda
Image courtesy of Nintendo

For me, few retro games hold the must-have nostalgia that The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. franchises have. When I play the original Nintendo Entertainment System titles, my boyhood imagination returns, and I’m transported to a time when anything was possible.

The medium was fairly new in the NES days, and I felt like I was holding the future in my hands. There was this shared sense of wonder among kids my age, an understanding of the awesome power of video games, and the collective skepticism of our parents. Now as an adult and a parent to my own children, video games are mainstream. But after the kids are in bed and my adulting is done, I’ll slip away to 8-bit Hyrule or find another castle in the Mushroom Kingdom, hoping to capture a piece of the past.

Tell us what you think! What’s your favorite retro game to play? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.

Featured Image: Nintendo

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6 responses to “Boss Rush Banter: What’s Your Favorite Retro Game to Play?”

  1. moogLu Avatar

    Admittedly I’m a born and raised Sega kid so Sonic will always be my go to, purely for nostalgia alone. I just recently started playing the classic Zelda games however, and wow. I wish I grew up with those games too.
    I’ll add Crash Bandicoot & Tomb Raider too, because I did eventually become a PlayStation kid, and 20-odd years on, that hasn’t changed!

    1. David Lasby Avatar
      David Lasby

      Have you played A Link to the Past yet? One of my all-time favorites!

  2. DDOCentral Avatar

    Reblogged this on DDOCentral.

  3. Jonathan Leung Avatar
    Jonathan Leung

    Weird that you used the id Software prototype of Super Mario Bros. 3 for that image, the game that would become Commander Keen:

    1. David Lasby Avatar
      David Lasby

      Yup, honest mistake haha. Thanks for the heads up and the link. Didn’t catch that at the time.

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