Your Most Played Game in Each Genre

[NeoZeedeater]

I'm sure favourites lists have been done a million times but I don't recall there being a most played list (for some people those two lists might be the same but for me they're not).

What is your most played game in each genre? If you're not sure, list the ones you think it could be. I find it hard to guess the amount of time put in since perception of time varies a lot by age.


Platformer - I spent a huge amount of time with the first platform game I owned (Donkey Kong) but Sonic 1 on Genesis took the crown. I played it almost everyday until Sonic 2'sday. That was a mistake as it made me a bit burnt out on the series early on.

Racing - Probably F-Zero on SNES. Having hardware scaling made it more appealing than earlier home racing games I had.

Sports - NHL Hockey. The sequels didn't allow for as much entertaining quirky glitchy stuff so my friend and I kept playing the original instead of updating yearly in the 16-bit era.

Shooter - Maybe Space Crusher which was my only handheld game for a while. Or Omega Race on Vic 20 or Thunder Force III on Genesis.

Light Gun - Safari Hunt by far. I probably would have beaten it way sooner had I known to turn up the brightness on the TV for maximum accuracy.

Adventure (graphic and text) - It's hard to tell. So much time was killed with Maniac Mansion; without a walkthrough I wasn't able to beat it back in the day. It's possible the amount of time was surpassed by Shenmue II which I played through three times (twice on DC and once on Xbox). For pure text games, I'm guessing my most played is the first one I owned, Pyramid on C64.

Action-Adventure or ARPG - Assuming Deus Ex doesn't count here, it might be Fist II: The Legend Continues (which very cruelly doesn't have a save function), The Legend of Zelda (1 or OoT), or Impossible Mission.

Puzzle - It's either Tetris (mostly Game Boy), Logic Levels, or Penguin Land. So many hours were put into Penguin Land's level editor. I wish the battery hadn't died as I would have loved to revisit the levels I made as a kid.

Rhythm - Guitar Hero III on 360. I didn't fully appreciate music games until the current gen. It's not the best game in the genre but it was the one that happened to come with my first game guitar.

Roleplaying - I rarely replay RPGs but I have played through Phantasy Star 1 a few times. And Phantasy Star Online happens to to be my most played online RPG.

Maze Chase - Serpentine.

Pinball - Alien Crush.

Fighting - I think Street Fighter II (mostly the SNES port) might have surpassed World Karate Championship for time sinkage. SF2 was my primary college drinking game and I'll always remember it for the first time I got double vision.

Beat 'em up - Golden Axe on Genesis. Or maybe Double Dragon if you combine several versions together.

Strategy - This is one of my least played genres. I suppose my most played would be Archon on C64 for all the two player battles against my cousin but that's arguably more action than strategy. Pikmin 2 might be my most played but that's not a traditional RTS.

FPS - Like with Sonic, I played Doom almost every day for over a year and it reduced my interest in the sequel. Still, I think I managed to overtake that time put in with my addiction to Unreal Tournament (deathmatch and CTF mostly). Despite the laggy 56k connection, it became my most played multiplayer game ever.


Also what's your longest continuous session of game playing? Mine's Blades of Steel for multiplayer and Snatcher for single player, at around 7 hours each.

[Cornholio857]

Also what's your longest continuous session of game playing? Mine's Blades of Steel for multiplayer and Snatcher for single player, at around 7 hours each.

About 9-10 hours playing GoldenEye with my cousin and friends BITD. We had a box fan aimed at the N64 "just in case".

[eddiespruce]

Platformer - That's a tough one, but I'd say probably "Adventure Island II". I played that game so many times I can't even count, although I think my Mom may have played it even more than me.

Racing - I used to play "Rush 2" on my N64 a lot, and I think I spent more time on the Stunt Track more than anything.

Sports - I don't think I really spent any prolonged length of time playing a sports game, although I did rent RBI Baseball for my NES a few times back when I was 4 years old.

Shooter - "Thunder Force III", with "Bio-Hazard Battle" at a close second.

Light Gun - "Duck Hunt". I'd probably enjoy "Safari Hunt" more, but my SMS Light Phaser doesn't work.

Adventure - Definitely "Maniac Mansion".

Action-Adventure - "Startropics".

Puzzle - "Columns", with "Puyo Puyo" at a close second.

Rhythm - I've never played any games of this genre.

Roleplaying - This is a tough one. I've played a very large amount of RPGs in my time, but I'd say I've played "Final Fantasy VI" & "Lufia II" more than anything.

Maze Chase - "Pac-Man", which was also the first arcade cabinet I ever played back when I was 3 years old.

Pinball - Either "Nintendo Pinball", or "Pinball Dreams".

Fighting - Back in the day, I'm sure "Street Fighter II" was my most played fighting game, but in the last few years, I've really enjoyed playing "Advanced V.G".

Beat 'em up - That would definitely have to be "Streets of Rage 2".

Strategy - If Tactical RPGs count, then "Shining Force". If they don't count, then I've never played a strategy game before.

FPS - While It's my least favorite genre, I'd have to say either "Doom", or "Duke Nukem 3D".


And my longest continuous session of any game would possibly be some RPG, as I can easily sink 8 to 10 hours a day on any RPG.


By the way, great thread! The only category you didn't have, that I would have liked to see would've been "Run 'n Guns", in which my most played would've been "Mega Man 3".

[j_factor]

Adventure: Broken Sword
Action-Adventure: Flashback: The Quest for Identity
Music/Rhythm: Samba de Amigo
2D Fighter: Street Fighter Alpha 2
3D Fighter: Virtua Fighter 2
Puzzle: Columns
JRPG: Phantasy Star IV or EarthBound or Final Fantasy III/VI (not sure)
Action-RPG: Shadowrun (Genesis)
Strategy-RPG: Final Fantasy Tactics
First-Person RPG: Shining the Holy Ark or Eye of the Beholder (not sure)
Rogue-like: Toejam & Earl
Real-Time Strategy: Starcraft
Turn-Based Strategy: Civilization 2
Real-Time Tactics: General Chaos
Turn-Based Tactics: Military Madness
2D Side-Scrolling Platformer: Sonic 3 & Knuckles
2D Vertical Platformer: Rainbow Islands
2D Static Screen Platformer: Bubble Bobble
3D Platformer: Psychonauts
2.5D Platformer: Skeleton Warriors
Racing (arcade): Out Run
Racing (sim): Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2
Racing (sci-fi): WipEout 3
Racing (combat): Road Rash II
Shooter (vertical): Galactic Attack / Layer Section / Rayforce
Shooter (horizontal): Lords of Thunder
Shooter (FPS): Powerslave
Shooter (Run n' Gun): Contra Hard Corps
Shooter (tank/mech): GunGriffon
Shooter (rail): Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Shooter (screen-based): Robotron 2084
Shooter (objective-based): Colony Wars
Shooter (tunnel-based): N2O: Nitrous Oxide
Platform Shooter: Vectorman
Sports (fake): NBA Jam T.E.
Sports (realistic): NBA Action '98
Sports (multi-event): Decathlete
Sports (extreme): Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Beat 'em Up: Streets of Rage 2
Light gun: Virtua Cop 2
Survival Horror: Resident Evil Code Veronica
Pinball: Devil's Crush
FMV game: Night Trap
Sim/God-game: Populous
Board game conversion: Risk (genesis)
Minigame collection: Wario Ware (gamecube)
Maze: Ms. Pac-Man
Dating sim: Sprung
Metroidvania: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Rollmup: Katamari Damacy
Unclassified: NiGHTS: Into Dreams...

[j_factor]

Toe Jam & Earl ??? LOL

Huh? I like that game.

[bgvanbur]

Platformer - Probably Super Mario Bros. Grew up with it putting a lot of time in it, and will do a quick run through time after time.
Racing - Mario Kart Double Dash. Used to play for long periods with friends during college.
Sports - NHL Hitz.
Shooter - Star Fox, if it doesn't count, then Galaxian.
Light Gun - Duck Hunt, though recently Wild Gunman has been trying to beat my Duck Hunt play time.
Adventure - King's Quest V (never play adventure games for very long)
Action-Adventure - Link to a Past
Puzzle - Tetris (I even programmed a Tetris clone and played tons of that testing it)
Rhythm - Just Dance 3
Roleplaying - Gekkeiju Online, put in way too many hours in this
Maze Chase - Pac-Man, can't even think of any other games I played in this category (besides Ms Pac-Man).
Pinball - Sonic Spinball
Fighting - Marvel vs Capcom
Beat 'em up - TMNT IV: Turtles in Time
Strategy - Starcraft
FPS - either Quake II or Unreal Tournament, played both heavily for a few months with different groups of friends

Longest play time in single session is probably around 8 hours.

[QuickSciFi]

Platformer: Disney's Aladdin on the Sega Genesis; followed extremely closely by Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
***The number of times I've played platformers, and the amount of hours I've put through them individually (particularly on the Genesis) is so immense, they would all make my mention of the other genres seem moot.

Shmup: I'll save myself the trouble and throw-in all the sub-genres in this one. It used to be Space Harrier II on the Genesis, but now seems to be a battle between Fire Shark and Truxton. They're just about the easiest to pick-up and go in my collection. I'd throw-in Giga Wing on the Dreamcast, but, appart from the dissatisfying fact that you cannot loose in a coin-up port, starting-up a lidded CD system is a far more delicate and sluggish affair than with a top-loading cartridge-based system. Nothing beats the ruggedness and ease of use (in terms of home console gaming) of the Sega Genesis.

RPG: How does one define a most-played RPG? My most played-ones are surely the ones I haven't finished, but have put hundreds of hours into anyways. In the case of Phantasy Star II on the Genesis, I've only beaten it once, but remember putting hundreds of hours into it before that (it was my first in the Genre, and it was just so addicting). I've played through Grandia II on the Dreamcast at least three times, and have started it at least six times for an equal number of hours. If Shenmue was considered a true RPG, then Shenmue on the Dreamcast would be the answer (I've finished this game at least five times and have started it at least 10). If finishing the game doesn't matter at all, then Skies of Arcadia will have to be it, as I've played through the Dreamcast demo at least 20 times and have put hundreds of hours into it altogether; yet have never opened my sealed real game-disk. You'd be the judge.

Run N Gun: Believe it or not, Atomic Runner on the Genesis.

Fighter: Mortal Kombat II on the Genesis (Alongside Disney's Aladdin and Sonic 2 on the Genesis, MK II is one of my most played games of all time, period).

Beat 'em Up/Hack 'N Slash: Streets of Rage 1, Golden Axe 1 and Golden Axe 2 on the Genesis. All three to approximately-equal amounts.

Puzzler: Tetris (on multiple platforms). I've played other puzzlers hundreds of times, and yet nothing will come close to how many times I've played Tetris.

Racing: Road Rash II on the Genesis

Light-Gun Rail Shooter: The House of the Dead 2 on the Dreamcast.

Weird WTF genre: Seaman on the Dreamcast.

Pinball: Sonic Spinball (also one of my most played games of all time).

Sports: Probably NBA Jam and T.E. on the Genesis.

FPS: Doom. I'll never tire of it.

Early Arcades: Ms. Pac-Man, followed closely by Frogger (both of them mostly on the Genesis, but also in other platforms).

[Zoltor]

Platformer: SMB 3 no doubt

FPS: Goldeneye

Strategy: The original Romance of the Three Kingdoms(some tomes companies get it right the very first time around, and this game is a prime example of that).

Beat' em up: Double Dragon 2

Puzzle: Probally Tetris, although I also played a lot of the Lolo games as well.

Sports: RBI Baseball 2

Action/Adventure: The original Zelda

Adventure: Probally Uncharted Waters new horizons(There's multiples stories to play, the world is huge, and there's tons of things to do/find)

Run' n Gun: Contra

shooter: Gradius

Pinball: Pinbot

Racing: F-Zero

Fighting: Marvel Vs Capcom 2

RPG: The real Dragon Warrior 3(I beat that game with like every combination of party members, treasure hunted for super rares as a non ending crusade, exc).

Dungeon Crawler/RPG: Wizardry 5(It's a masterpiece to say the least, nothing coul;d even hold a candle to it, for a whopping 17 years).

Rpgue-like: for the time being It's still Torneko, but I imagine Shiren the Wandering(the wii game, not to be confused with the DS game. Despite having the exact same name, they are completely different installments in the series) will over take it.

Monster capture/training: Dragon Warrior Monsters 2(It's the holy grail of the genre)

Action/RPG: Crystalis most likely(it might actually be Willow though, because I got stuck big time. In my first time through, I didn't know the proper way to cross the lake, so I grinded until I could survive all the damage you take when crossing the lake without the breath seeds, damn it took forever).

MMO: It's got to be Ragnarok Online

Tactic/RPG: Too hard to figure out, the differances can't be much at all.

Old Arcade styled: Break out on the 2600(omg I loved that game), don't really consider that as a puzzly game.

Simulation: Simcity 2000

[Kollision]

Platformer - Sonic 2
Action/Adventure - X-Men Legends
Sports - Super Volleyball
Racing - Need for Speed Underground
Fighting - Super Street Fighter II (SNES and MD) or X-Men Next Dimension
RPG - Beggar Prince (for 5 minutes)
Puzzler - Columns (SMS)
FPS - Cybercop
Beat'em up - Streets of Rage 2
Shooter - Zero Wing or Darius II (MD)

[StarMist]

FPS = don't really like this genre so it's Goldeneye against a couple PS3 games. A great amount of multiplayer along with total completion of the solo mode.
Strategy = don't play RTS cz they're the dullest thing on Earth. For SRPGs it would be the Vandal Hearts games which I rue like some drunken orgy--total killtime slop.
Racing = Wipeout on Playstation. And it ruined me for other racing games. Totally worth it.
Fighter = SFII Turbo in the arcades, SFAII at home.
Brawler = tie betwixt GA2, SoR2, and TMNT2. Not much playtime here.
Sports = Tiger Woods 04. Excellent arcade like game.
Alt Sports = anything skateboard. Let's go with Tony Hawk 3 though it'll be eclipsed by Skate on PS3.
ARPG = Blood Omen in hours, LoZ in number of plays (not all thorough). ----- but see next
Adventure = Morrowind by far. It's just not nearly stylized enough to consider an RPG of any class.
RPG = Final Fantasy 7 in hours (I've bred more Counter materia than I could equip on a single character...), Phantasy Star II in plays (not a long game by any means).
Platformer = for time I couldn't possibly say as most of the best are shortish. Abe's Oddysee seemed pretty long but maybe that was just the loading... In plays it would be Sonic 2, Aladdin, Kid Chameleon, and Mario 3.
3D Action = Nights. Too bad I suck at it.
Puzzle = Tetris GB and New on 64. Fair amount of Hanagumi Columns too.
Shooter = spread very thin here. Probably Mars Matrix though I'm even worse at it than at Nights.

[sheath]

This is tough to gauge for all genres, but I can probably guess on my favorite genres.

Action-Side Scroller:
Tie: Revenge of Shinobi - Shadow Dancer - Shinobi III

Beat-Em Up:
Tie: Golden Axe, Streets of Rage 1+2, Final Fight CD

Fighting:
Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition/Turbo, Virtua Fighter 2 (Saturn)

Arena Combat:
Virtual On 1+2

Shooter:
Tie: R-Type (SMS), Whip Rush, Thunder Force III

Rail Shooter:
Tie: Space Harrier (SMS), Panzer Dragoon Zwei

Racer:
Tie: Super Monaco GP and Sega GT

RPG:
Tie: Phantasy Star III and Panzer Dragoon Saga

Action-Adventure:
Tie: Golvellius Valley of Doom, Zelda II Adventures of Link

Run n' Gun:
Target Earth

FPS:
Tie: Doom (32X), Halo

[NeoZeedeater]

Adventure = Morrowind by far. It's just not nearly stylized enough to consider an RPG of any class.

This makes no sense at all. Being "stylized" isn't a requirement of the RPG genre.

It's an awesome game anyway and definitely an easy to one to sink a ton of hours into.

[Curryman123]

Platformer -Dynamite Headdy
Racing -Super Mario Kart DS
Sports -NHL 96
Shooter -Violent Soldier (Sinistron) and Sapphire
Light Gun - None
Adventure -None
Action-Adventure - Super Metroid and Metroid (Nes)
Puzzle - Tetris Attack
Rhythm - I've never played any games of this genre.
Roleplaying - Chrono Trigger
Maze Chase - ??????
Pinball - Alien's Crush
Fighting - Street Fighter II
Beat 'em up - Final Fight
Strategy -Advance Wars series
FPS - Blood (Build Engine FPS) and Doom/Doom
RUN AND GUN:Contra series (2d games)

[QuickSciFi]

This thread is teaching me a lot about imaginary genres.

[AD2101]

My favorite genre are shumps, and Zero Wing and Dodonpachi are definitely my go-to games whenever I need a fix.
Racing: Outrun <--- Ok maybe its more "driving" than racing but shit do I love it.
Platformer: Sonic 2, by far.
RTS: Age of Empires II & Conquerors Expansion