For me, it’s easily Diablo (PC). I used to loop that game over and over again, probably 100 times. Funnily enough, it doesn’t stand out today as one of my favorite games of all time, but I certainly do think of it fondly. I remember amassing huge amounts of gold on the ground all over the town, because it only stacked to something like 5k in your inventory.
Other than that, I’ve played through a few other games multiple times.
Link to The Past (SNES) - I play through this once every 5 years or so, and I consider it my favorite game ever.
MDK2 (PC) - I’ve played through this one about 3 times. It’s always fun, hilarious and a ripping good time.
Dishonored 1 and Dishonored II (PC) - I played these each twice not only because they are extraordinarily good, but also because the games are vastly different, depending if you play them stealth mode without killing people, or chaotic and killing everyone. These are the only games I have ever went right back in for a second playthrough immediately after finishing. (Other than Diablo).
Jackal (NES) - My favorite NES game. Played it through many times solo and co-op with friends. Always a great time.
Contra (NES) - Only ever played through once as a 1CC, but I’ve played through it countless times with friends with the Konami code.
Super Mario World (SNES) - Once again, many times with friends, but also several over the years by myself. Gotta get them 96 stars!
Doom & Doom II (PC) - Classics. I think I prefer the first game, but that super shotgun in II is oh so sweet!
I guess it would be Sonic The Hedgehog for MegaDrive. As a kid it was the only game I owned for a long time. Next to that, Streets of Rage 2, similar to Sonic, it was the nth game I owned for a while and since it’s still a classic, I play through it every other year or so.
For a single player game, by hours, it would be Breath of the Wild. Never before have I put multiple hundreds of hours into a single game.
Multiplayer: Street Fighter Zero 2, Third Strike, King of Fighters 97, Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64…
For number of replays it would likely be some of my early Game Boy games just because of lack of anything else available as a child. Probably beat Mario Land and Batman 50+ times a year for a few years, but they’re 10-15 minute playthroughs.
Super Mario Kart and Streets of Rage 2 are up there in terms of number of times around the block. I feel like Street Fighter II should be in there as well, those endings were all so goofy and fun to watch.
Star Fox 64. The alternate routes and short length make it a fun one to revisit and try to beat the high score. Getting all of the medals on both normal and expert difficulty was also a nice challenge.
I really should get back to that one… I have only really played it twice, and the second time I felt like I could have finished it if it weren’t for some stupid mistakes.
Sega Rally and Streets of Rage 2 for me too for sure. Played hours upon hours of Daytona across various formats. “Played through” is doing some work there as racing games aren’t exactly “play throughs”, but if we include them there’s probably others. Formula One from Domark on Sega Genesis, Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II also on the Gen, Gunstar Heroes, Thunder Force III, Street Fighter II (and many of its updates), Street Fighter Alpha and Alpha 2, Decathlete, Virtua Fighter 2, Hang On GP (Saturn), Virtua Racing, Soul Calibur, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island… probably a bunch more. I should stop. lol!
Pretty much all my gaming time is now spent on revisiting my favourites.
Some that I’ve replayed several times in the past (and still plan on revisiting again) include Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem : Path of Radiance, Super Ghouls and Ghosts and Actraiser.
To that, I would add a few of my favourite shooters to the mix such as Thunder Force 3, Batsugun and Donpachi among many others.
I seem to have an infinite backlog, so revisiting a game is a bit of a tough sell, but Chrono Trigger is the one I can always replay without any guilt. Also Final Fantasy V whenever the the Job Fiesta rolls into town.
