Cross-posting from Twitter to remind people that every classic Nintendo landmark release stands on the shoulders of a myriad of other games. That the impression of Nintendo as the stewards of game history has a lot to do with their aggressive marketing and with the fact that many of the games they were directly iterating on did not see a release in the US. Even when they did release in the US, they often did not have the same notoriety due to indirectly competing with the marketing might of Nintendo of America.
So if you're sick of this bullshit but you love Nintendo games, here's a list of games to try that will expand your world outside of that company:
If you ask for a consensus of what RPG videogame is the best, Dragon Quest V will very likely be the answer if you're asking Japan specifically. It very directly inspired PokƩmon. The DS version looks and plays amazingly and was the first time the game got localized in the West. Prior to DQ5 though, the mechanics of "monster taming" that DQ5 and PokƩmon uses actually find their origin in the Megami Tensei series, of which Persona is a spin-off of. Other than those, there's Digimon Story Cybersleuth, the Monster Rancher games, and of course, DQ5 spawned a whole monster raising spin-off with the Dragon Quest Monsters series.
Super Mario Bros. was definitely a huge deal, and nearly all platformers after it were directly or indirectly inspired by its weight. However, games like Pac-Land and Ghouls'n Ghosts actually preceeded it, so it's not like scrolling platformers began their existence with Mario! With games released after Mario, there's the Sonic series, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (pictured), Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, Rocket Knight Adventures, Dynamite Headdy, Ristar, Rayman Legends, the Megaman and Castlevania games, and the technical platformer masterpieces Gimmick! and the Umihara Kawase series.
Jumping Flash! is a 3D platformer pioneer released a whole 2 years before Super Mario 64 and I honestly like it better! Jumping Flash! 2, the Ape Escape games (pictured), Penny's Big Breakaway, Chameleon Twist 1 and 2, the Ratchet & Clank games and Sackboy: A Big Adventure are all superb too.
Megaman Legends is a fantastic 3D action and dungeon exploring game and actually released before Ocarina of Time, too. You also have the Ys series (started 2D back in 1987 but has a ton of fantastic 3D entries to this day!), Okami, the dot Hack series, Tail Concerto and Solatorobo.
There's absolutely no shortage of great games in this category. Beyond the early Ys games: Beyond Oasis (pictured) is a beautiful top-down action RPG with beat'em up mechanics made by Ancient, the developers of Streets of Rage 2, and the company of legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro. It also had a sequel on the Saturn, with Legend of Oasis. There's also the Mana series (the first game, Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy, I like better than Link's Awakening), Unsighted (developed by two brazillian trans women!), Crusader of Centy, Linkle Liver Story, Soul Blazer, Terranigma, Illusion of Gaia, Sylvan Tale and Alundra.
So there, please try some of these games out. I've not touched a Nintendo game in 10 months and I've cleared over 35 wonderful classic games in that meantime, some of which are listed here. Don't let the one company colonize your mind into believing that's where all the games you like come from, because they're the most well-known in the US, because Nintendo of America indoctrinated whole generations into mostly only consuming their stuff. My focus is on classic games because that's what I like, and also, because it feels like people remember less and less games from a decade+ ago that were not Nintendo.
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