Good 2D games needed - NES/SNES/PC

[TheKruzdawg]

I have a friend who would really like to get more into video games, but the 3D, first-person nature of a lot of games makes her ill. I believe it has something to do with her motion sickness. In lieu of having to take pills all the time for counter those feelings, I want to recommend her some good 2D games she could play.

So what games should I recommend to her? She owns a NES, a SNES and a decent PC. Not sure how "hardcore" she wants to go, but if you could provide a brief description of the game (in case I haven't played it) so I could describe it to her, that would be much appreciated.

EDIT: Also she has a Wii. So those games are welcome as well.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Uh, terraria or bastion? for a start =\ That sounds like a crap condition to have.

TROGDOR.

 

[TheKruzdawg]

Uh, terraria or bastion? for a start =\ That sounds like a crap condition to have.

TROGDOR.

I have recommended bastion and I think she'd love it. Don't know if she's tried it yet.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Uh, terraria or bastion? for a start =\ That sounds like a crap condition to have.

TROGDOR.

I have recommended bastion and I think she'd love it. Don't know if she's tried it yet. And I feel bad for her, since the games she has for NES/SNES she loves. But those are mostly Mario games.

Super Mario 3D land works well in 2D =D Except for the "puzzle" rooms

 

[TheKruzdawg]

Unfortunately she doesn't own a DS. Otherwise I bet she'd like it.

 

[ChildishLegacy]

Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac. Hell yeah.
Also if you max FoV on PC games that can help with nausea/headache problems.

 

[kyogen]

What about all those older pc games at GOG.com? Puzzlers, platformers, old-school isometric rpgs, point-and-click adventures, etc. Good prices, decent catalog. She can browse at her leisure, and there are screen shots, descriptions, and user reviews for every game. GOG even has a reasonably active and reasonably well-behaved forum if she has questions.

SNES: Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Well if she is willing she could get herself a nice PS1 emulator and if she does that I highly recommend Abes' Oddysee and Exoddus, Heart of Darkness, Tomba, and Skull Monkeys! Really fun 2D platformers.
other than that what could I recommend for the SNES that anyone else here wouldn't?
Kirby Superstar, Donkey Country trilogy, hmmm Blackthorn? That's a good one. The Magical Quest Staring Mickey Mouse is a fun charming side scroller.
Zombies ate my Neighbors is really fun and funny she might wind up having a good time there.
Just to name a few.

 

[Launcelot111]

Super Mario World, though I'm gonna guess she has that. Super Metroid? Outside of RPGs, I didn't do too much SNESing. Does she do RPGs?

Good adventure games? Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Beneath a Steel Sky?

Cave Story? It's free

EDIT: Just saw the Wii part, so Super Paper Mario (or the N64 Paper Mario off the store)? or Muramasa, which is a super pretty but mildly repetitive hack and slash sidescroller?

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

If she has a Wii go for the obvious, the original Super Mario Brothers.
Since 3D games make her motion sick is it safe to assume that graphics have little importance.
That would be the only put off. A very microscopic put off.
It is one of the best ways to make a new gamer.

Edit: on reread, a Mario anything would be best.

 

[oplinger]

I have a million suggestions.

What is she interested in? I'll give you a list based on that..

To not be completely useless I guess I can come up with a few like:

Fallout 2 (PC)
Jackal (NES)
Crystalis (NES)
Alien/Zombie shooter (PC)
most RPGs on the SNES..

Among the usual classic hits for the platforms.

 

[BishopofAges]

Tetris Attack (SNES) - Neat little upward moving puzzle game involving Yoshi from the Mario universe, as he battles and helps out his friends during a seedy plot by Bowser and his minions.

Act Raiser (SNES/Wii Download) - Literally a 'God sim' in a manner of speaking. The world is full of evil, monsters, and mayhem. You as 'The Master' must warp down to the ground and fight off monsters to purify the lands, then as his servent, 'The Angel' you must take care of the lands themselves and the people who live on them, leading humans to monster portals to seal them and become self-sufficient. It gets a lil hard after a bit, but is damn addicting and fun.

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Complete (PC) - A tactical game, kind of like RISK only you build towns, forces, and seek out other lands to conquer, monsters to destroy, or secret artifacts to uncover. Play as one of several castle-types, Castle, Dungeon, Tower, Inferno, Necropolis, Rampart, Stronghold, Fortress, or Conflux, each with their own setup of creatures, spells, abilities and defenses.

The Legend of Zelda (NES/Wii download) - Nothing like the original to get someone started on the path to gamerhood. Travel the lands as Link, a warrior whose soul quest is to defeat the 8 dungeons, gather the triforce, slay Ganon, and rescue Princess Zelda. All the while, gathering new weapons and equipment to make your travel easier or to find secrets hidden in the walls, rocks, or shrubs.

These are just a few and I am told I am good at describing these sorts of things, let me know if you want more suggestions.

 

[Eric Morales]

I have a friend who would really like to get more into video games, but the 3D, first-person nature of a lot of games makes her ill. I believe it has something to do with her motion sickness. In lieu of having to take pills all the time for counter those feelings, I want to recommend her some good 2D games she could play.

So what games should I recommend to her? She owns a NES, a SNES and a decent PC. Not sure how "hardcore" she wants to go, but if you could provide a brief description of the game (in case I haven't played it) so I could describe it to her, that would be much appreciated.

EDIT: Also she has a Wii. So those games are welcome as well.

In a way, she's in luck, the SNES had/has a great library, I'd go so far as to call it the high water mark for JRPGs.
On that note: Final Fantasy IV and VI both came out for the SNES (though in the US SNES release they were listed as FFII and FFIII respectively). If you have to pick one, go for FFVI, it's easily the best in the series.

Earthbound: This one's kind of hard to get a hold of, but its tons of fun. Another turn based RPG. Quoting Yahtzee, it plays like a cross between the Cthulhu mythos and the Charlie Brown Snoopy show.

Chrono Trigger: Another classic JRPG. Time hopping to prevent the apocalypse.

Secret of Mana/Secret of Evermore if she doesn't care for turn based RPGs

The Mega Man X series (I think Xs 1-3 are on the SNES) are good for some fast paced action platforming. A bit on the difficult side, not for the faint of heart

Super Metroid: Another classic

Zombies Ate my Neighbors: Top down shooter where you fight a variety of shlock movie monsters to save your neighbors. Also not for the faint of heart.

 

[Sangnz]

S.P.A.Z

Top down space shooter rpg strategy game, no seriously you move your space ship of choice blowing up other ships, doing jobs for resources, building up your mother ship, developing your tech tree and building up your fleet all while following a loose over arching plot.

For PC available on steam for $10

 

[Solo-Wing]

Lone Survivor if you want a bit of Horror. Silent Hill 2... but 2D.
Terraria If you are feeling creative. It is a 2-D minecraft with Castlevania mixed in.
VVVVVV For a great soundtrack and solid and innovative gameplay.
Cave Story+ For a damn good time. Good story with great and challenging gameplay.
Cthulhu Saves the World for laughs. It is the ultimate parody of all the old 8-16 bit JRPG games. It is freaking hilarious at parts.
Super Meat Boy For a challenge... Seriously. This game will break you. It broke me. Fuck Hell's dark world.
AI War if you want a good RTS. Games are long though. average game is 10-15 hours long. Thank god for saving mid-game.

 

[Torrasque]

Hmmm, it is kind of tricky to recommend games that she can play because some 2D games emulate aspects that are common in 3D games. I'd have to know specifics about her condition to be able to recommend games better.

For instance:
Does depth bother her?
Does rapid motion bother her?
Is it the blurry kind of motion you see in FPS games when a player looks left to right quickly?
Or is it when the graphics are 3D polygons (no matter how rough) ?

It would be very hard to find a game without depth, that would mean she is stuck playing mostly side scrollers and basic turn based games. That isn't entirely bad, most of my favorite games are turn based games.

The Advance Wars series offers a lot of fantastic games that are strictly 2D (Days of Ruin has a little bit of depth, but it is mostly shadow), and Fire Emblem is the same. Both are among my absolute favorite series. Secret of Mana is an amazing game as others have said, but if she can't emulate it, it would be expensive and hard to find. Legend of Mana is the better game imo, and a bit easier to find (both in physical and emulation). Donkey Kong games are strictly 2D (the recent one has 3D aspects) and so are most pre-N64 Mario games. Mario Tennis for the Gameboy Colour is a fantastic game and shouldn't be hard to find online (physical or emulation). I'd recommend Paper Mario, but it has a lot of depth pseudo-3D graphics, that may be a problem for her.

Lol, most of the games I can think of suggesting for the SNES or NES are super rare and even I have trouble finding D:

 

[TheKruzdawg]

I'm not sure what games she already owns, been awhile since I've seen her collection.

Anything Mario would be a win for her, as I know she already has Super Marios 1-3 for NES; World for SNES; and New Super Mario for Wii. She also has Aladdin and I believe Lion King for SNES as well.

Not sure how she feels about RPGS. She's not too into the super fantasy stuff, likes things more grounded in reality (ex: not a fan of Lord of the Rings, thought Star Wars was ok).

Zombie games would be right up here alley, so "Zombies Ate My Neighbors" and Plants vs Zombies" she'd probably love.

She's also very much into the horror genre. Those are her favorite kind of films. So don't shy away from those kind of games in your suggestions.

You've all been super helpful so far and I really appreciate this.