Games played: Hyperstone Heist (0:00), Thunder Force III (0:10), Super Mario RPG (0:25), Sonic 2 (0:55), Castlevania III (1:05), Donkey Kong Country 2 (1:50), Donkey Kong Country (3:18)

I didn't really care about them until I was an adult, but I absolutely love puzzle games these days. Even some of the very earliest examples are still as fun as they ever were. The abstract visuals usually mean there's not much need for high-end graphics. If a game opts to use characters, like Puyo Puyo or Puzzle Bobble, it's often really charming as the character animations don't serve any function for the gameplay and are just for fun. They're often quite simple to play, but with really high difficulty ceilings, so they can be a lot of fun to explore.

16 bit RPGs definitely were a special time. Glad to see Octopath breathe some life back into that style of RPG.

Coming from a PC 90s angle, real-time strategy games changed my life. I still play Warcraft 2 to this day. Love all the other genres you mentioned too.

Thank you for explaining how beatem ups require strategy and aren’t just stupid button mashers

I absolutely love your channel Retro Bird. We all here appreciate you keeping retro games alive with these entertaining video’s. Keep up the great work.

While always underrated as a whole, I always thought the puzzle genre peaked in the NES/SNES era: Tetris, dr Mario, Solomon’s key, adventures of lolo, and technically minesweeper are all still fun play throughs today probably due to the “limited ness” of the consoles

Loved fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter 2 (I'm including all of it's iterations), Killer Instinct, and Clay Fighters. I feel like Clay Fighters is a hidden gem. Not a lot of people talk about it, but I highly recommend it. Watching this vid makes me want to play TMNT 4.

I got started on platformers and couldn't get enough of Mario and Sonic. Speaking of which, it's refreshing to see a Sega fan who doesn't hate Sonic as much as he loves Sega.

Parenting 101= let your kids stay up late to watch retrobird

EmpLemon made a good point about "The death of the simple game" in one of his old videos, how everything is either indies or giant AAA games, Survival Horror and 3D platformer thrived in the mid tier, but there is no mid tier, and their is no survival horror or 3D platformers unless your name is Resident Evil or Mario.

There are two other genres that I could think of: 1. Arcade Sports Genres: Nowadays every sports title is sim but back in the days, developers usually made great arcade sports titles that goes all out and invents some crazy new concept of it like power ups etc. And in racing case, the speed and position mattered rather than the slow corner cutting. II. Light Gun Genre: Remember how the light gun games get ported to consoles like Time Crisis? Nowadays, it's only on the arcade scene.

Co-op rail shooters seemed to be relegated to a bygone era now that open world online FPS games have become the standard. They were fun because you could have just about anyone play with you. You just tell grandma to shoot at the zombies and fun was had by all. Now imagine trying to play Halo Infinite and how easy that would be to get going.

Man this guy really likes Rocket Knight Adventures. He references that game in nearly every video.

Man I love your enthusiasm, comedy and charisma I keep coming back entertained and informed each video I watch :D

I really like racing games in addition to the genres you already mentioned. Although, I feel like racing games have improved in quality over the years due to less technical limitations. Some retro racing games haven't aged as well as others. Puzzle games are another underrated retro genre and there were tons of them that appeared in the 90's. My personal favorites are Bust-A-Move, Puyo Puyo, Tetris Attack and Magical Drop.

Don't know what it is but 3D platformers/ collect a thons always take me back to a simpler time. Jak and daxter, Sly Cooper, R&C, Rayman 2&3, many SpongeBob and Scooby Doo games alot of the 90s Disney games were platformers. They also always have couple memorable soundtracks, whether it be the more hubworld area or a specific level/zone.

The only other big genre I'd include, though it's more of a retro PC thing than a retro console thing, are first person shooters. DOOM, Quake, Unreal Tournament, Half Life, Shadow Warrior, System Shock, Turok, Golden Eye 64, Wolfenstein 3D, and a ton of other amazing FPS games came out at the time for PC and some consoles back in the 90's, so those are ones I'd probably include, as well. Just about all of my favorite FPS games were from that time or early 2000's.

I love your videos man

-RPG -2D Plattformer -Extreme Sport Games -Top Down Racer -Future Racer -Water Racer -Space Shoot em ups -Rhythm Games -Beat em ups

Racing & Fighting are 2 genres I always go back to... I'm currently playing through Metropolis Street Racer for Dreamcast & still play Tekken 3 for PS1.

I really love Shantae on the GameBoy Color! Shantae's series of platforming games is super fun and I'm lucky I own a Limited Run copy that can be played on my silver GameBoy Advance SP. It's one of the many gems of my collection!

2:10 I remember one day when I was a little kid I jumped, and I realized I didnt jump very high at all, definitely not as high as ive seen them jump in videogames, and didnt know why that was. I remember trying to jump again and again hoping id start jumping higher.

Fun fact, I went to the highschool where they filmed mean girls in Toronto. You can bet that any time we watched a movie in class it was mean girls. Every time

I've been having a resurging interest in gallery/cabal shooters IE Cabal, GI Joe, Wild Guns, Blood Bros lately -- a mostly forgotten genre I've found has aged really well in general and has lots of gems, specially in the arcade!

Interesting that your list has 6 genres -- my "favorite genre" list also has 6! Though I started gaming in the late '70s, my taste in games leads me to feel that (other than some early '80s standouts in the arcade) games improved steadily until the 90's and were at their best during that decade and just into the early 2000's. So for me, the massive beatemup & run'n'gun games I loved in the '80s have become less important to me over the years, and both genres sort of died down before my favorite 5th gen began. Here are my 6 genres (in alphabetical order): - action-adventure games with a fantasy/sci-fi feel (2D like metroidvanias, 3D like 3D Zelda) - driving/racing games (at their best in 5th and 6th gen) - fighting games (peaked during 5th gen) - rpg's (for me especially jrpg's) - platformers (2D classics from 3rd/4th gen & 3D favorites from 5th/6th gen) - shmups (love 'em all pre-bullet hell -- 80's arcade classics, PC Engine, Genesis/Mega Drive, Saturn...) These are the staples of my retro gaming rotation ... though I play other genres and quirky games often too. All 6 genres still have modern games I like a lot too!

I think it’s difficult to get people to agree on the definition or staple characteristics of each genre so as I list them, I will define them as I best see them. Traditional JRPG - These are character driven, turn based stories where you progress through a plot, equip and level up your character and build what it takes to complete the story through adventuring and making well informed decisions to figure out puzzles and uncover secrets only fueled by paying attention a the willingness to look under every rock. While there might be an action component, like a well timed button press, it’s more focused on managing life and energy totals to outsmart your foes. (Example: Final Fantasy/Dragon Warrior) Fighting Games - Games that would resemble Street Fighter 2… either 2D or 3D. Shooters - Side scrolling or vertical action adventures where you control a vessel or avatar to defeat countless foes and dodge projectiles. (Truxton/Soldier Blade) Action Adventure - Any map driven adventure where progress is usually determined in uncovering or finding something to help you reach a different part of a map to eventually defeat the final threat. These are action based games but have many puzzle components. (Symphony of the Night/Super Metroid, Blaster Master… and I would even exclude a game like Legend of Zelda as it shares all of these concepts) Side scrolling adventure - These games to me are usually (but not exclusively) linear stages in which a hero either slashes or shoots their way to the end of the stage and defeats a boss of some sort. While not a popular opinion… I would say both Contra, or the earlier Castlevania’s and Mario games fit this description. Strategy - These games come in many forms. Some present themselves in sort of a turn based chess match. Some are simply raising resources and building something to beat or out last another thing. Most of these games are set in a modern military or fantasy army or platoon setting. These games are mostly brain games and while they might have action components, they aren’t the defining skill required. Examples being Vandal Hearts, M.U.L.E. or Super Conflict.

I just like going from left to right. It doesn't matter if I have to overcome platforming obstacles to get from left to right, or if I have to beat up a bunch of enemies that are in my way from getting from left to right, or if I have to shoot a bunch of things that are in my way from getting from left to right, etc... as long as I'm going from left to right, I'm happy. Occasionally, I even like to go from right to left.

Fighting games and Arcade Racing games you sit in are always fun.

2D platformers, 3D platforming, racing, party, fighting, schmups, the list goes on. I like a lot of games from several different genres.

I love all genres equally. Also my wife made some banana bread and it was delicious

One of my favorite game genres are shmups, specifically for the TurboGrafx 16. You just can't go wrong with games like Air Zonk and Soldier Blade, they are masterpieces.

The two genres that I miss most are Textadventures (you know, where you have to "tell" the gane what to do) and the point n' click adventures (Maniac Mansion forever!!)

My personal favorite is the action RPG side scroller. The unfortunate thing about this is that very few games managed to do this right until SOTN came along. That said, a few small fixes can make all the difference. Zelda II with infinite lives makes all the difference. The game is still hard AF, but the challenge is fair and stays fair with the low level/exp cap.

I like all of the ones you've mentioned but some other favorite genres of mine include: Boomer Shooters (also formally known as "Doom Clones") another classic retro staple that I frequently return to. You mentioned 3D Platformers, also great. Whatever Zelda is, I guess action-adventure. Metrovanias, which might actually be more prevalent now than they were back then. "Immersive sims" like Deus Ex, Thief, and System Shock are all amazing, those games tend to engage the player in a similar manner to RPGs. Man there are so many.

Car combat games. Oh how I miss Twisted Metal. I still play Twisted Metal 2 and Twisted Metal Black on occasion.

I love Platformers and RPGs for the ones listed. I also love Metroidvania games as well for a genre not listed.

Mascot platformers, action platformers, RPG's of various types, beat em up's, shoot em up's and 2d fighters, specifically Street Fighter's and Mortal Kombat's with an honorable mention to sports games like NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Madden NFL '94 and NHL '94.

I tried to guess your six before watching. Here is what I was thinking 1. Platformers ( Sonic,Mario) 2. Shooters (Thuderforce, UN squadron) 3. Beat 'em uos ( Turtles in time, Streets of Rage) 4. RPG ( Final Fantasy, Super Mario RPG) 5. Puzzle ( Tetris, LOLO) 6. Action adventure ( Zelda, Metal Gear Solid) Mostly the same but some differences. Action platofrmers(great callout) for me personally would replace puzzle games as I'm a huge fan of Mega Man and other titles in the genre. Just thinking how huge Tetris was and what it did for gaming.

Overhead Racing was very unique to retro games. RC-Pro Am, Super Sprint, Rock n' Roll Racing were a lot of fun.

If you could tell, my favorite genre is Metroidvania. (Text only readers won’t see my Hollow Knight avatar). I just love the combination of progression through exploration and platforming.

Good comparison with run & gun and shooters! Metroidvania’s took platformers to the next level without getting caught up in side scrolling and they are still prominent today. Also, co-op arcade racers don’t get much love anymore :(

The focus on foundational mechanics developers used to have led to stretching every ability you had to its limit and not dumping more and more abilities to muddle the field is what I love most about retro games. They may not be as flashy, but when you play them, you can feel the developer ramping up the difficulty and forcing you find new ways of using abilities you’ve had since the start screen!

While sports games are not my usual genre, I like them in the 8 and 16 bit era. They’ve got the nice simple controls, so it’s a little easier to pick up and play. They have an almost arcade feel to them. You can have a complete experience in just 15-20 minutes. Tecmo Bowl is still fun today!

I miss 3D platformers. Dont get me wrong, they're still around, but I do wish there were more of them. Well, more of the higher quality ones that is.

War games was always a love of mine command and conquer, Wings, Cannor Fodder. They always have a good story behind them and are great fun to play

Definitely 3D platformers and third person rail shooters (Star Fox, Panzer Dragoon). Really wish there were more of those types of games.

I miss the graphic adventure game, the kinda games like snatcher, or the space adventure, or eve burst error

Fighting games (beatemup's cousin) and Racing games are great retro genres. Simple in concept, difficult to master, and very time friendly (generally speaking).

Kart Racers got there start in the 90s and are still popular till this day

Arcade style racing is one of my favorite genres of retro games. Games that had exaggerated or simplified physics like kart racers But focused more on the vehicles than the characters driving them. Burnout, Cruisin USA, Hydro Thunder, and Star Wars Racer are some of my favorites.

Another great discussion. My fave genres are shumps , and side scrolling beatemups. The golden age of gaming.

Definitely Beat Em Ups and Fighting games like Tekken, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat

My favorite video game gens are the platformers, jrpgs, and sometimes fighting and racing. those was the type of games I played and still do, Oh I forgot my other favs are puzzles games like Tetris or columns

All these genres are great imo. I think some overlooked ones are action/adventure(Zelda A Link to the Past), Puzzle Games, Fighting Games, Arcade Style Games(Centipede, Donkey Kong), & the most interesting type of all games like NBA Jam; it's not quite a sports game, but not quite an arcade game(entirely)I never know where to classify games like this.

Shoot'em'Ups and pinball games to me define the 90's about as much as platformers and all of them are great. Granted, pinball was more of a PC thing but even so it had some seriously good games like Pinball Dreams, Pro-Tilt and a personal classic, Extreme. And sure, I also love lots of modern games but these three genres give me good nostalgia vibes and make me feel young again.

I have enjoyed modern indie stuff a lot, and VR as well. That said, game design is rarely as tightly put together in modern games (even that I like) as it was by those classic developers working within more constraints. That said, for me the biggest divide (as others have mentioned) in in RPGs. I live 16-bit RPGs to death, and for me it's been downhill since. I've found a few to enjoy in the time that's passed, but nothing that scratches the same itch as Earthbound, Final Fantasy III, Dragon View, Super Mario RPG, etc. A few have come close, but that style of game has changed to the point of being largely unrecognizable for me. I've played good platformers, metroidvanias, shooters, and even point and click adventures that stick with me just as well as the classics, but I'm not sure RPGs will ever be the same for me again... but here's hoping.

Thanks for the great video, your content is always unique, and your humour isnspot on, without being obnoxious haha. Although I'm not big into sports, I love the earlier ea nhl titles, nhl 94 on snes in particular. Especially if you can play with a friend. Racing games have always been a staple in my household as well, burnout paradise party mode and test drive eve of destruction have provided my family with so many good times.

For me JRPGs will always have a spot in my favorite videogame genres, followed closely by Metroidvanias and first person RPGs (like Daggerfall and Morrowind), and also adventure games with more exploration and puzzle solving, like Legend of Zelda and Terranigma. Last but not least, First Person Shooters, but not the modern type, the older games of the genre like Doom, Quake, Blood, Duke Nukem 3D and others.

Whew was thinking there wouldnt be a video today!

I decided today that Banjo-Kazooie is my favourite 3D platformer. It’s so soothing to play and just makes you feel good. What games would you recommend that are similar?

As you likely know from my previous comments. I love platformers. I treat them as a central genre and slowly move out from there. Mascot Platformers --> Action Platformers --> Beat em Up / Spectacle Fighters Mascot Platformers --> Run & Gun --> Shumps / Twin Sticks Mascot Platformers --> Metroidvanias --> Top-Down Adventure / Rougelikes Mascot Platformers --> 3D Platformers / Collect-A-Thons --> Modern Open World Games Most genres seem, at least to me, to be on one of the spokes of the wheel with Mascot Platformers at the centre. Which I'm OK with. The only exception I think is RPGs, which I feel is so far removed from platformers that it's it's own genre wheel (though perhaps connected at points). That's how I see it anyway. Hope that was interesting.

Great video... thanks as always. My genre? Racing games... there were so many great ones on the Super NES: Mario Kart, Uniracers, Rock 'n Roll Racing, Super Off-Road, F-Zero. :)

Classic MMORPGs. I'd consider the ones that came out in the late 90s & early 00's to be "retro" or more generally referred to last "classic" MMORPGs. Once the mid to late 00's hit, they were becoming filled with lots of QoL features like automatic dungeon/party finders, instanced dungeons, easily accessible fast travel, quick leveling, solo viability, less social interdependence, end game focus. Not to mention microtranscations.

I’m a shmup fanatic & an rpg guy. I make it a point to play at least 1 shmup every day before I’m allowed to touch anything else. I enjoy all other things you mentioned too, with the exception of mascot platformers, which I hate with a passion and personally would exchange that genre on your list with frantic puzzle games like Magical Drop or Puyo Puyo.

That look you gave Sonic Mania was hilarious.

I kinda miss top down adventure games, like Link to the Past or the SNES Jurassic Park (not a terribly good game, but it's late and that the example my brain thought of). I also miss 90s style RTS games like StarCraft and Command and Conquer. Turn based or tactical RPGs though, will always be my favorite games. I understand why they aren't for everyone, but good grief I just love them so. I don't mind the action RPGs that we get nowadays, those can be and are great as well, but I wish the traditional styles weren't abandoned. Although having said that, Square Enix's Team Asano is doing great work with HD 2D nowadays and tactical RPGs seem to be making a comeback this year. Especially on the Switch.

Man, I love me some old RPGs. The clunkier, the better. And old-school computer RPGs had maximum clunk. They don't get mentioned very often because one typically needed a pricey computer to play them when they were fresh, but oh man. The Gold Box TSR/SSI games were crowning achievements there. Also going to throw in Mechwarrior-style games. It's been a long time since I've been able to grab a flight stick and go first person in a hulking war machine bristling with death-dealing cannons and missiles.

I agree with every genre you picked but I would like to add one of my own; one that I think doesnt get nearly enough respect today (although, I think its starting to make a comeback): Beat 'Em Ups. Beat em ups were huge in the 16 bit era and IMO, they served as the backbone for Hack N Slash games today. I would even make the argument that Hack N Slash games are just evolved Beat Em Ups in 3D.

Good old Mr. Nutz. I think I rented that game back in the day. Can't remember if it was good or not

To this day I’ll take a good sidescrolling platformer/action platformer over almost anything else most of the time.

Puzzle games and beatem ups are some of my favorite retro games these days. I do still like some turn based rpgs but I’m more into turn based strategy games like the shining force and fire emblem series.

I would say adventure games are good. I really like Zelda. I've heard of Willow and Crystalis, but I'd love to hear some that are similar around the NES and SNES era.

Always been a big fan of mascot platformers, action-platformers & beat 'em ups. Once I played Final Fantasy 2/4 I got hooked on JRPGs & that was a turning point for me as a kid playing games, my mom used to play some games with me like Mario World & Zombies Ate My Neighbours (what genre would you classify that as?), but she didn't like the gameplay of JRPGs. Probably didn't help that they're mostly turn based, involve some quick math & are mostly single-player. Other genres I loved back then that I just feel like I don't have time for now are Real-time & Turn-based strategy games as well as Simulation games (SimCity & Roller Coaster Tycoon were my jam). Luckily I can still always go back to the previous 4 genres & regularly do.

I've always enjoyed games with good co-op. Playing alongside a friend or family member was so much fun!

First person puzzler? Kind of a unique genre. Portal and Portal 2 are the only ones that I'm aware of but I love those games. I wish we could get Portal 3 already. As saturated as the gaming maket is with fps games, it would be nice to see more variety within that genre.

Really enjoy your channel! Great content, intent, info, history and humor, all combined.

Platformers both 2D and 3D will always be the king of video game genre for me. 3D platformers have kind of fallen from grace with a few shining apples that aren't Mario coming out of the woodworks, but 2D platformers are still as plentiful as ever thanks to indies and constant retro revivals. If I could throw out a good genre for retro, I'd say first person shooter. I used to think I hated first person shooters. Turns out I just needed to play some retro ones. Doom64 was my first retro shooter, and I played it in 2018. I fell in love with the series, moved onto Duke Nukem and Quake, and i've got my sights set on more, it seems like there's a huge library of 90's shooters I missed. Though this seems to be more of a PC thing and I wasn't PC gaming until very recently, which explains why I missed so much.. tho I did play Doom64 on real hardware.

Like everyone else who mentioned it I would include Puzzle Games! My favorite Genre was Action Platformer! As that is the game that got me hooked into gaming as a kid...Castlevania! Quick Little Story for Ya, my buddy back in the day blind folded me & told me about this new Castlevania like game on SEGA. He untied my blindfold & I was this knight animal fighting Hogs on Wheels! I would find out seconds later it was called, Rocket Knight Adventures & we had a blast playing it, so I would definitely put it in the Action Platformer of Genres! But that's just me.

Don't see how any genre can be better than another, it's absolutely down to one's taste. I can't stand RPGs but I'm not gonna look at em as lesser than what I do enjoy.

2D Arcade Racers... the likes of Super Monaco GP, Top Gear and Out Run have a timeless simplicity and addictiviness.

My favorite Genres, retro or modern, have always been action platformers like Megaman x4 and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood; JRPGs like Phantasy Star 4 and Final Fantasy 7; or puzzle games like Tetris and Panel de Pon (Tetris Attack).

Will you do a top 10 snes games like you did with the genesis? My favorite gaming genre is the RPG/JRPG genre. The reason is because of the complex narratives, engaging game mechanics that aren't always just the combat, and the scope of the world of these RPG's. Although, I really enjoy most genres in general, since I just love video games. Also, I really am glad you gave beat-em-ups some attention! games that are often really misunderstood!

Hmmm speaking just of video games that bring me back to the feeling of playing videogames of my childhood I'd say, in no particular order the top 6 for me would be: 1. 2D platformers 2. 2D&3D Arcade Style Fighting games (Street Fighter II and Soul Edge in particular) 3. Shootemups 4. Beatemups 5. Turn based rpgs 6. Pinball If I could put a #7 it would be arcade racing games like Cruis'n USA and Daytona

1.) Sports n racing games hold up well. 2.) RPG’s hold up the best because they never tried to be anything special graphically in the first place, and they gameplay is usually technically solid and fun. 3.) shooters do not hold up well 4.) 2d platformers-always consistent 5.) fighting games, same stuff different console generations.

Love your videos ❤️. You should do one that talks about you, who you are, the real you! Would love to that.

JRPGs are games I always dabbled in, but never beat. Legend of Dragoon and Chrono Cross are my favorites and I intend to actually beat one, if not both, this year.

I don't know exactly how to phrase this, but I like weird games. Some kind of different character or different abilities or different goals. Monster Rancher, Cubivore, Spider, Toy Commander, Rhythm Heaven, Wario Ware, things like that.

Beat em ups! Pick and play gaming at it's best and easy level of entry for beginners and more hardcore fans can learn patterns and timing to beat the more difficult titles of the genre

i love shoot em ups now but where's fighting games lol i guess cause they are still relevant today

I know it’s on the border of retro, but the 5th and 6th gen had the BEST extreme sports games. Later on these games focuses more on realism, but in the 5th and 6th gen it was a perfect mid of arcade and sim.

Don’t forget about fighting games! Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and all the games that copied them, some pretty damn well!

I've always liked the stationary screen platformers like Flashback and Abe's Odyssey. Shmups were a dime a dozen but there were some great ones like Ray Storm and Blazing Lazers.

The Mega Man franchise, and especially the Mega Man X series, was always a series that I enjoyed greatly. I guess you would classify them as action platformers, but they have a distinct feel from other action platformers, like Castlevania and Metroid. They don’t have the exploration element to the same extent that those games have. To this day, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I plough through levels in Mega Man X or X2. I feel accomplished when I perform some difficult dash-jump-shoot combination to dodge enemy attacks.

Strategy war games. They dominated the home computing hobby in the 80s and 90s.

I would have liked to see fighting games on a list like this

"They don't make them like they use to" true and I'm fine with that. Retro games as a whole are composed of such an uncountable amount of games that I could probably spend my whole life playing them and would never get to play every single one so I'm okay with less of those style of games coming out even though there are still indie titles being released.

I miss action side scrollers, car combat, and fighting games

This guy will have at least 500 k subs by the end of this year

While there are games from nearly every genre that I enjoy, some of them quite a lot, the games that interest me the most today are the ones that are hard to define in terms of the common genres, fit into multiple genres, or are completely different than other games in a definable genre. I'm thinking of the Marble Madnesses and Q*Berts, Castelians, Lode Runners, and Zaxxons of the world (edit: Snake Rattle & Roll is another good one, but I don't want to go too Isometric heavy on a short list). I kind of feel that the establishnebt of well-defined genres eventually squeezed out many of these more unique kind of games from having success or appeal in the broader market and that's kind of shame because they allowed for a wider variety of gameplay experiences.