The Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)

What I am about to say may not be a shock to you, but is crucial to the understanding of the Nintendo Entertainment System:  It is the single most important video game console in the history of the medium.  Everything that we take for granted, even things that the average layperson will not realize, we owe to this grey box.  It brought us into the modern video gaming world, and single-handedly resuscitated the video game market in North America after the crash of 1983.
There was a period spanning two years where nobody in the United States would dare produce, market, or sell a video game.  The business models of Atari and their contemporaries had proven that it could not sustain itself, and an over-saturated market has collapsed on itself.   In Japan, however, video gaming was just as strong as it had always been.  A software company called Nintendo had created their first console, known as the Famicom (short for Family Computer) and had been met with success.  It was 8-bit, the most powerful piece of gaming hardware at the time.  They wanted to expand into the North American market, and to do that, they knew they would have to be clever.
After a serious redesign (pictured above), the Nintendo Entertainment System was ready to hit store shelves by Christmas 1985.  But who would sell it for them?  Nobody wanted to carry video games because of the negative stigma it carried.  So in a brilliant move of marketing, Nintendo sold their machine as a toy.  It came packaged with a copy of Super Mario Bros, and since then almost every Nintendo console has come with a Mario game.  It was, of course, a huge success, and Nintendo was able to hold a monopoly of sorts for six years until the Sega Genesis started to become popular in 1991.
Now monopolies are obviously bad for any healthy market, but if anyone was going to have one, the best option would be Nintendo.  The way they managed to keep it for so long was by maintaining the highest quality product available.  Sega had their Master System out there, but the far more popular NES was where third party developers wanted to publish their games.  Nintendo was smarter than Atari too, since they created a lock-out chip for NES games.  The Nintendo would only play games that were licensed by the company and had this chip installed.  Another tactic Nintendo used for quality control was limiting third party releases to five games a year.
What this created on the NES was a golden age of experimentation and high-quality games.  Since every software developer wanted to make games for Nintendo, the competition was between them to make the best games.  Heading the competition were Konami and Capcom.  Konami had their Castlevania games, space shooters like Gradius and Life Force, and a solid line of sports games.  Capcom had Mega Man, Disney games, and Bionic Commando.  Nintendo themselves produced high-quality first-party titles, which set the bar high for third parties.
The NES library, over its near ten-year life span, contains over one thousand games.  Most of them are terrible, but there is still a huge number of A+ titles, some of these spawning franchises that still exist today.  In the terms of good NES games, there are two categories.  There are the classics, like Super Mario Bros. 3, Mega Man 2, and The Legend of Zelda, which are the most fondly remembered.  The other kind of NES games are the ones that die-hard Nintendo fans like to talk about today, the underrated gems.  These include wonderful but overlooked titles such as The Guardian Legend, Crystalis, and Blaster Master.
Experimentation was a big factor of game development back in those days.  The quest seemed to be for programmers and designers to find the ways to make their games look, sound, and play the best that they could.  Some of these experiments, like The Legend of Zelda, with its non-linear story progression, and emphasis on puzzle solving and item collecting, have aged remarkably well.  Others, like Castlevania 2, with its confusing navigation, failed RPG elements, and lackluster design and aesthetic have aged poorly.
Some of the most influential titles were those that shifted from the straightforward arcade approach and went toward the choose-your-own-adventure style.  I pointed out The Legend of Zelda, but there was also Metroid, which fostered exploration and atmosphere, and Final Fantasy, an intuitive and incredibly customization RPG experience.  Games were no longer quick hunks of action which you could beat in a dedicated hour, but were now full adventures, which could take days, weeks, even months to complete.  Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Warrior were some of the earliest to include a battery for back-up saves, which is taken completely as a given today.
The NES still lives on in our pop culture.  Anyone can recognize the famous themes from Super Mario Bros., or the line "Thank you Mario!  But our princess is in another castle!"  The movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is full of NES references, from the main character's band being called "Sex Bob-ombs" to one of the rival bands known as "The Clash at Demonhead".  Many sound effects and songs were taken directly from Nintendo games.  How many people have held something they've found aloft and hummed the Zelda theme? How many people will point out their frustrations at the Duck Hunt dog?  The NES is the reason I love retro games so much.  These games are still fun to play, and more interesting when you look at their historical influence.

Kirby's Adventure (NES, 1993)

Unbeknownst to most people, the first game in the Kirby franchise of games was a massive critical failure.  Kirby's Dream Land on the Game Boy was an attempt by Adventures of Lolo creator HAL Laboratory to make a simple game to introduce kids to video games.  It was the story of the titular pink puffball who must reclaim the land's food from the totalitarian King DeDeDe.  Kirby could jump, fly, and inhale enemies to spit them back out at other enemies.  I can praise it for being simple fun and the graphics are quite nice for a Game Boy game, but it is not worthy on its own to be a Great Video Game.  Kirby's Adventure (1993) on the NES, on the other hand, is a different story.
In making a Kirby game for the NES, HAL must have realized that they were going to need more to play with to create a worthwhile home console experience, and what they came up with is a stroke of genius.  Now when Kirby inhales his foes, he can absorb their abilities.  There are over twenty copy abilities, ranging from fire-breathing to becoming a UFO.  Some of them are fairly common and can be used for a variety of fighting styles (such as sword, electric, or fire) and some of them are extremely rare (like backdrop, UFO and bomb).
There are eight main levels with sub-stages and a boss fight at the end.  Kirby starts on a "map" screen where he can roam freely and enter each stage through a door.  Also on this map screen are mini-games that offer extra lives or copy abilities.  There are some areas that are locked away and you must find a secret switch within one of the stages to unlock it.  Some of these switches are simply in a room that is hidden out of sight, and requires some exploration, but others require you to solve puzzles with copy abilities.  For one puzzle you will have to light a fuse and then quickly get into the cannon at the other end to launch yourself to the switch.  For another you will have to get the hammer ability in a different stage, bring it back to another, and use the hammer to break some underwater blocks to get to the room with the switch.
The story, this time around, goes that King DeDeDe is back, and he has stolen the Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams, broken it into several pieces, and given it to his buddies.  The Star Rod is important because it allows the denizens of Dream Land to dream while they sleep.  Kirby battles his way to get the pieces back and replace the Star Rod in the Fountain, but as it turns out, DeDeDe was only trying not trying to hide it from Kirby, but another being known only as the Nightmare, who seeks to corrupt everyone's dreams.  Using the Star Rod, Kirby defeats it and restores peace in Dream Land.
This game represents NES action games at their finest.  In terms of visuals and sound, it has some of the brightest, most colorful, and best animated graphics, and some of the most memorable music on the NES.  The control is tight, the play mechanics are fully realized, and the possibilities for ways to play through each stage are virtually endless.  There would be another game on the Game Boy, Kirby's Dream Land 2, which would take the copy abilities from Kirby's Adventure and combine it with friends Kirby could ride.  On the SNES there would be Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Dream Land 3, and on the N64 came Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which is considered by many (myself included) to be the best Kirby game.  This first game was a big step in the right direction.

Cave Story (PC, 2004)

If Cave Story (2004) were just a good game, that would be enough, but it goes far beyond that.  Beginning development in 1999 by a single man (who goes by the moniker Pixel), it would be consistently perfected for five years before its release in 2004 as a downloadable title online.  Considered to be the spark that would ignite the indie games movement, this game is an excellent conglomeration of the greatest games for the NES, with its own personal touches and a great story.
In the game, you are a fighting robot from the surface who has fallen to the caves below in some battle.  You make your way through the first cave to find Mimiga Village, a micro-society of rabbit-people.  They are in a bit of a civil dispute over the arrival of a mysterious Mimiga girl named Sue.  She is seen as an outsider, only befriended by the young Toroko.  While looking for Sue, you witness Toroko being kidnapped by a sorceress named Misery and her giant henchman Balrog, who are both working for a person known only as the Doctor.
This mysterious figure has been kidnapping Mimiga and forcing them to eat the dreaded red flowers, which cause them to become rabid, violent, and mindless.  He'll use them to wage war against the robots of the surface, in a plot for total conquest.  What makes this villain more interesting that most "take-over-the-world" villains is his complete ruthlessness, and perverse pleasure in corrupting the Mimiga.  You and all else who are able to help you must fight together (and sometimes die together) to stop him.
The game is a 2D platforming shooter in the best spirit of the classics.  The most obvious inspiration for this game is Metroid.  You jump and shoot through a large subterranean world, and collect new power-ups and upgrades as you progress.  When you kill enemies, they may drop pieces of gold which can be used to level up each weapon you have, making them stronger and more useful.  For instance, the machine gun weapon at level three can be used as a makeshift jetpack by shooting straight down.  Each weapon has a specific use that makes them ideal in different situations, like in Mega Man.  The machine gun is great for crowd control.  The fireball works well against ground-based enemies.  The rocket launcher packs a stronger punch than the other weapons.
What is great about this game is the heart and weight behind its story.  There are some genuinely dark, sad, and heavy moments in the game.  One that sticks out to me is when the doctor ravages a dragon hatchery, and the prematurely-born flying dragons madly try to defend themselves, dripping with blood.  Animal cruelty is a huge theme at work here.  Friends you make along the way die, often because of decisions you make.  Every choice you make contributes to the ending of the game.
This game is a miracle of the indie movement.  It was one of the earliest, but came out in a time when there was virtually no way to get publicity for low-budget independent games.  YouTube was still a year off, Steam was brand-new, and most of the social media we use nowadays were still not online yet.  In recent years, it has been made available for WiiWare, Steam, and there is even a 3D remake on the Nintendo 3DS, but this is still a game that is remarkably unheard of.  With all the major releases each year hogging the spotlight and making gaming look bad, it is great to play Cave Story and be reminded of why I play video games.

Illusion of Gaia (SNES, 1994)

It was almost unheard of to have a character driven game back in the days of 8 and 16 bit games.  Quintet/Enix were one of the few companies that concerned themselves greatly with having great plots in their games, which they succeeded at with their Dragon Warrior/Quest series on the NES, and then again with Actraiser (1991) on the SNES.  They wouldn't nail that mark until they made Illusion of Gaia (1994), the second game in their "Gaia" trilogy, which began with Soulblazer (1992), and ended with Terranigma (1995).
The three games, like Actraiser, deal with themes of creationism and evolution, with Illusion of Gaia being the strongest of the three.  In the game, you are a young man named Will who survived a fatal expedition, while his father and the rest of the crew did not.  Back in his home town, he amazes his friends with his gift of telekinesis.  One day a young girl named Kara and her pet pig, Hamlet, come to the seaside village and she and Will strike up an immediate friendship, but she is quickly taken away by guards.  As it turns out, she is a princess, attempting to free herself of palace life in favor of adventure and romance.
Will is summoned by her father, the King, to ask him about a precious artifact that he suspects the boy possesses.  Regardless of Will's answer, the King is outraged and has him thrown into the dungeon.  Sitting in his cell, Will is contacted by a spirit, unknown to him but offering strength.  Hamlet comes to him, with a letter from Kara and a key.  He escapes the prison, ascends to her bedroom, and the two of them make their way out.
Travelling across the globe, Will is contacted by the god Gaia, who tells him of a great evil that will pass over the Earth, in the form of a comet.  This comet has been by the planet before, and when it comes close it changes the whole world and speeds up evolution, at the cost of many lives and entire civilizations.  Will is tasked with preventing the annihilation of life on the planet, but knows that he may not survive.  His friends, especially Kara, with whom he is developing a romance, agree to help him in any way they can.
So the epic tale is in motion.  It is a good thing that the plot is so interesting, because it forgives the game of having somewhat mediocre gameplay.  The actual gameplay is similar to The Legend of Zelda in that you have a top down perspective and you slash at enemies with your flute (not sword).  You have telekinesis, as I stated before, but it is only really used to move objects.  Occasionally Gaia will grant you the form of one of two ancient warriors, but these parts are limited and few.  It is adequate, I suppose, but it would make for a boring game if the story weren't so grand and exciting.
One part of the story that keeps things interesting is the romance between Will and Kara.  This is one of the most realistic and affectionate personal relationships I have seen in a game, especially incredible when you take into account that this was a time when gaming relationships were mostly hero-saves-damsel.  The two of them share a believable affection and chemistry, seen most evidently during one scene that takes place after a shipwreck.  The two of them are alone together, floating through the ocean on a chuck of their vessel. Without the constraints of society and peer pressure, the two of them survive a few weeks adrift, forming a tender closeness.  They very clearly have fallen in love, but whether or not they consummated that love would have been impossible to even suggest in a video game at this time.
Perhaps it is to set them up as the Adam and Eve figures for Illusion of Gaia's other main theme of creationism and evolution.  The god Gaia has clearly defined the effects of the comet as evolution, so perhaps Gaia's illusion is that he has intentionally set it on a course for Earth.  After continuing the progress of creation, Will and Kara shall be the patriarch and matriarch of a new human civilization.  So which is the game in favor of?  Creation or evolution?  I believe that the game is suggesting a symbiosis of the two, where the actions of a deity can be best explained through natural science.
Illusion of Gaia is a criminally overlooked title for the SNES.  Of all of the operatic and melodramatic RPGs of the time (even the best Final Fantasy games were guilty of this), it has the most subtlety of tone and genuinity of characterization and storytelling.  Quintet/Enix obviously took great care and attention to detail in their games, which sadly led to their eventual purchase by Square (forming the current day Square Enix).  On the bright side, many of their great titles made it to the United States because of their insistence.  We have all four Dragon Warriors on the NES, Actraiser, and the first two installments of the Gaia trilogy (Terranigma sadly did not make it over).  Their old titles are a vindication to the medium of video games.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (Multiplatform, 1999)

I will admit that the first time I played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999) was not at the time of its release.  My cousin let me have his old Playstation sometime in the late 2000's, and this was one of the first games I bought for it.  To my amazement, the game was not as dated as I might have expected.  Sure, it reeks of the late 90's, but it more captures the spirit of that time than keeps itself stuck there.  In concept, it should have been a bad game.  It was made to cash in on the popularity and success of skateboarding legend (then a new star) Tony Hawk.  By design, it is one of the best games about the sport.
The game needs not much of a plot, other than you are a skateboarder of your choosing (there are ten to choose from but most people will stick with Hawk) and you are trying to skate your way to fame.  There are a number of city locations where you have several missions to complete to earn tapes (remember VHS?).  Once you have enough tapes, you can move on to the next location.  There are also three competitions where you have to perform to your best ability to get a medal.  Only the most acrobatic will achieve extreme sports glory.
The two big factors that make this game a gem are the control and the level design.  Maneuvering a skateboarder and pulling off tricks could have been an exercise in frustration, but the control setup feels natural and tight.  You move forward automatically, turn with left and right, and stop by holding down.  Press and hold one action button and you will lean to go faster, and release it to jump.  For tricks, hold any one of the eight directions and one of the four action buttons.  You can build a chain of tricks for a maximum score, but be careful, because if you fall you lose all of those points.
Level design complements the control flawlessly.  Each level offers infinite possibilities for trick combinations, as well as secret areas.  To earn tapes, you will have to go around each stage and complete certain objectives within a time limit.  There are some that are similar in each stage, for instance, collecting the five letters of the word SKATE, or getting a certain amount of points.  Others are stage specific, like in San Francisco you will have to grind five police cars.  Beside earning tapes, it is simply a joy exploring each level and finding all the best ways to pull off tricks.
I'm fairly sure that many of the maneuvers you pull in this game are physically impossible.  I suspect that no skater (not even Mr. Hawk) has successfully ramped up a quarter-pipe to grind on a rail at least a story higher, and then ollied back to the ground with no injury.  But I don't play this game (or any game) for stark realism.  This game is about the joy of skateboarding, and the fun and mastery behind it.  There is a certain rush I get from zooming around a level pulling off impossible tricks, boldly defying gravity and physics.
The Tony Hawk series was immensely popular for a while, receiving three sequels and a number of spin-offs, each one successively losing that tremendous feeling of flight.  It had a direct influence on the Skate series of games and other extreme sports games, but none of them feel as right as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.  Skateboarding is still around, but it is not nearly what is was back in the 90's.  Pro Skater perfectly captures its day and age without feeling archaic.  A well designed game is timeless, even if it does reflect a certain time period.

Vectorman (Genesis, 1995)

After Donkey Kong Country was released for the SNES, Sega must have been feeling some degree of embarrassment.  They had for so long claimed that their Genesis was the graphically superior of the two, but still needed to release add-ons like the Sega CD and 32X to give it a little technical boost.  Donkey Kong Country was a game that looked just as good, if not better, than games for either of them, and it required nothing more than what the SNES already had.  So Vectorman (1995) was released as something of a response to that.
Vectorman is possibly the best looking game for the Genesis, as well as one of the latest (by this point, the Playstation was already out and Sega's own Saturn was not far behind).  It uses computer rendered sprites and animations, but still using less frames than in DKC.  The Genesis simply did not have the memory capacity necessary to make a game that good looking.  One trick that is used to mask this is by making characters out of multiple sprites to create fluid animations (a trick also used in great games like Gunstar Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog 3).  The main character is essentially a robot made of orbs.
The story goes that it is centuries in the future, and mankind has been forced to evacuate Earth due to over-population and pollution (games in the 90's seemed to be fond of faux-environmental themes).  They leave robots behind to clean up in hopes of returning to a cleaner planet.  One day, the robot in charge accidentally has a nuclear weapon attached to his head (go with it) and he becomes Warhead, tyrant of the machines.  He gains control over all of the other robots (except for Vectorman, a sludge barge driver) and plans to destroy the humans upon their return.  Only you can defeat him and restore peace.  Quite elaborate for a run-and-gun game.
Okay, so the plot may be a bit more than necessary and completely ridiculous, but the gameplay makes it forgivable.  As stated, your objective in each level is to platform and shoot your way to the end.  It is completely linear, but the stages are huge and sprawling, and there is substantial reward for exploration.  There are also special stages in between the main levels which add some variety.  The control is simple, yet responsive.  You jump with one button and shoot with the other, and Vectorman can perform a double jump.  This is another game where the double jump makes logical sense, since the eponymous robot has boosters on his feet.  You also get temporary power-ups, some that give weapon upgrades, or transform Vectorman to give him special abilities needed to progress at some points.
It is the subtle touches that make this game great.  The attention to detail in this game is extraordinary for a Genesis title.  When you shoot straight down in the arc of a jump, it will slow Vectorman's descent.  Combine that with the double jump and you can make very precise jumps and maneuvers.  If you double jump right over an enemy, they will take damage from the propulsion exhaust.  Some minor graphical details are impressive, such as the lighting effects.  Vectorman's sprite will change shade in accordance with the lighting.  Another amusing touch is in his idle animations.  When you stand still, he will amuse himself by juggling some of the orbs that make up his body.  Stand against a wall, and he will lean against it in a cool pose.
On a system that is famous for high-quality platforming and action games, Vectorman stands out as one of the best.  It would receive one sequel, also for the Genesis, which was vastly overshadowed by both its predecessor and the next generation of gaming.  The first game was barely early enough to have been successful.  Once the Playstation had been released, it was time for both Sega and Nintendo to move on from their 16 bit systems and look forward to an age of polygonal graphics and 3D.  Vectorman can be seen as a fond farewell to the Genesis.

Ducktales (NES, 1989)

It is a generally accepted fact that licensed games will turn out poorly.  A game based on a TV show or movie already comes with an audience, so the idea is to make a cheap product and sell it for maximum profit.  Film companies looking to expand into the video game market would hire a game studio to develop their merchandise, relationships often being fair but producing low quality product.  Lucky for the Walt Disney Company, they had a solid relationship with Capcom, makers of the Mega Man games.  In the days of the NES and SNES, the two produced games based on properties owned by the Disney company which were not just good.  Some of them, like Ducktales (1989) were some of the finest titles for the NES.
Ducktales is based, of course, off of the Disney cartoon where Scrooge McDuck, uncle of Donald and richest duck in the world, goes on adventures around the world in search of treasure.  You play as Scrooge, travelling between five different locations to find a treasure on each.  You go to the Amazon, Himalayas, African Mines, Transylvania, even the Moon in the never-ending search for more money.  You may play the stages in any order you choose (not unlike Mega Man).
There being only five stages, you might think this game is terribly short.  The limited number of levels is made up for by the large size of all of them, and the non-linear approach to their design.  Every area in the game is packed with secret areas and hidden treasure, which ensures that you will not find everything in your first playthrough.  You will need to carefully examine every inch of the world if you want to get the most treasure.
Level design complements the control of the game, which is flawless.  Scrooge reacts precisely to every tap of the button, and attacking enemies is a breeze.  You have two means of attack, pogo-bouncing on toughies with your cane, or hitting stuff with the cane.  The latter is used mostly to break blocks out of the way or break things open to look for treasure.  You will make most attacks by bouncing onto enemies' heads, which you can also use to get to high-up platforms.  The game is very difficult, but never frustrating.  If you die, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Naturally, you will have the help of all of Scrooge's friends and relatives.  The nephews Huey, Duey, and Louie appear to give you helpful hints.  Launchpad McQuack will give you a ride back to your mansion with his helicopter (and true to character, refers to you as "Mr. McD").  Even Mrs. Beakley shows up to give you some food for healing, and extra lives.  Also in the game are some of Scrooge's rivals, like Flintheart Glomgold and Magica De Spell (you fight her in Transylvania).
Capcom is responsible for some of the most iconic and impressive visuals and music on the NES, some of the best of which is found in Ducktales.  The Moon theme is so recognizable that some gamers may not even know it is from this game.  The graphics are bright and colorful, and sprites are drawn and animated to represent perfectly their cartoon counterparts.  This would be the beginnings of a great line of Disney/Capcom games, which would later include Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers, The Little Mermaid, and Goof Troop (none of which will be appearing in the Great Video Games, but are fun, original pieces of software regardless).  There would be a Ducktales 2, but it did not reach the same level of greatness that this first game did.