I track my backlog of games on backloggery, and I try to keep it up to date, but it’s mostly for games that I have finished. I don’t usually add new games to it that I haven’t finished, as I’m always trying out new games to see what sticks.
This list is different. These are games that I’ve put a significant amount of time into, and for some reason or another put them aside.
They nag at me. I think about them in passing during my day and want to go back to them. Like thorns in my side. Some I think I can beat if I put some more time in, and others I wonder if I have the capability of beating them at all.
Some I have seeked out and played on my own, some were high score battles on highscor.es, and some were games that I set out to play alongside friends at a retro gathering.
Looking at your list, Out Zone stands out as a game I could never get tired of playing. When it comes to classic arcade games, the way I look at it is, if you’re having fun, you rack up the hours without realising it. Then, if the clear comes, it comes. In the end, it’s important to enjoy the process.
I see you also listed Treasure Tracker. Obviously, it’s a completely different type of game. I got hooked on the Switch version early last year and played it to 100%. I highly recommend returning to it as it’s a modern-day masterpiece. In some ways, it evokes the Game Boy, or even Game & Watch, era of design. I’m sure Yokoi would have approved of its toy-like feel.
Yeah Out Zone is a great game, I enjoyed it more than expected for sure. I’m pretty sure I got to the last stage, I just need to put in some more time to get the 1CC.
Treasure Tracker is great, I’m finished the first couple chapters 100%, but I don’t tend to play it much unless I’m traveling. It works so well for that, as it’s great in short bursts.
When I have specific consoles hooked up to play a new purchase or revisit an old game there’s always cartridges or discs I have to do the rounds on. off the top of my head:
Nintendo 64
Super Mario 64
Wave Race 64
F-Zero X
Famicom
Castlevania III
Ninja Gaiden II
Takahashi Meijin no Boukenjima
Solomon’s Key
Game Boy
Cave Noire
Lucle
GameCube
Super Monkey Ball
Saturn
Cotton 2
Cleopatra Fortune
Wii
Excite Truck
Rhythm Paradise
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Family Ski
Go Vacation
Nintendo 3DS
Pilotwings Resort
Soul Hackers
Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball
Nintendo DS
Ouendan
Rhythm Tengoku
PlayStation
Runabout 2
Super Pang Collection
Digital Glider Air Man
Umihara Kawase Shun
Game Boy Advance
WarioWare Inc
Rhythm Tengoku
PS Vita
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f
Taiko no Tatsujin V Version
Shinobido 2
Minna no Golf 6
Virtual Boy
Jack Bros
There’s probably way more and I didn’t want to jump down the rabbit hole which is arcade games but these games are always top of mind when I think about a specific system and what I might be in the mood to play. Whether I make time to play is another story entirely, though, but the more arcade friendly a game is the easier it is to get stuck in…
My backlog on Switch alone is so insane I have had to completely let go emotionally. No time for games until the kids are older probably.
I keep a list of ‘games to play’ but it seriously has 50 things on it and could have 200 more, so I just wing it.
Currently I think of UFO50 while working, meanwhile I’m too tired to play once everyone is in bed. I’m also keen to get into the Shin Chan games since Boku no Natsuyasume is now one of my favourite games of all time, but no rush on those.
This is the problem I have…I keep deleting the entire list and then realising I’ve rewritten one a year later.
It’s a great point though. In modern times with the sheer amount of available content, really, the actual games that nag at me are the games I wish I would make time to play…
Another one I forgot is Baldur’s Gate 1 on PC. I am about half way through the game and stopped playing for some reason. Really great game, and I need to get back to it.