Classic Video Games Bucket List

Kudos points for driving with style through Yokohama, Sydney and Edinburgh, on a soundtrack you rip yourself.

Six characters, a killer whale and the Dreamcast's launch.

Pick up fares and drop them at the door before the meter runs out, to a soundtrack of The Offspring.

Sega polygons in 1992, with a button to switch camera mid-race; the board that led to Daytona.

Jet packs, polar bears and the best of the original trilogy.

Shao Kahn, better fatalities and the arcade cabinet everyone crowded.

Link shrinks to the size of a Picori; Capcom's handheld Zelda.

Getaway jobs in a 1970s San Francisco, behind a car-park tutorial that stopped thousands of people playing.

Fifty years of one manufacturer in an evolution mode that starts in 1950; the most careful game in the series.

Neon underbody kits, drift events and a city that is always night; the tuner era begins in 2003.

The mod platform that ran online leagues for a decade because anyone could build a car for it.

One of a linked pair of Game Boy Zeldas, with a rod that changes the season.

Cars, hovercraft and planes in an adventure mode with a boss whale; Rare on the N64 in 1997.

Hoenn, double battles and a plot about the sea and the land.

Branching paths and three companions; the best of the NES Castlevanias.

Le Mans, drift and demolition in one career, with a flashback button that rewinds a crash.

Square and Nintendo together in 1996, with Geno and a timed-hit system.

A motorbike race where you swing a chain at the rider alongside you and take his bike when he falls.

The PlayStation 2 launch showcase: licence tests, replay cameras and 150 cars running at sixty frames.

Mode 7 at three hundred kilometres an hour with no weapons and no second chances; the SNES launch racer.

Ageing, genetics and wants; the Sims sequel that gave them lives.

The harder, prettier sequel to the rotoscoped original.

Three generations, a marriage you choose and monsters you recruit; the fans' favourite.

Sid Meier's 1991 original: settlers, huts and one more turn from the beginning.

Squall, junctioning and a card game better than the combat.

El Alamein, Stalingrad and Normandy, with regenerating health for the first time.

Salt the chips, water down the drinks and watch the queues; Bullfrog's management sim.

The 2003 original: three armies through the Second World War, and squads that shout.

Soviet squids, psychic beacons and a full-motion cast having a wonderful time.

The job system at its most flexible, and a tree that talks.