Among some of the few podcasts I listen to casually, My Perfect Console With Simon Parkin is a gem. Every episode makes me discover a different guest with an interesting background, who presents 5 games that had an impact on their lives, and fictionally gathers them on their own “perfect console”. Some of my favorite episodes so far are:

• Felicia Day
• Lucas Pope
• Jason Schreier

And so naturally it made me reflect on the 5 games that I would also put on my “perfect console” (which I would call The GameCone).

1. Alex Kidd in Miracle World

This is the first game that I remember playing so clearly it had to be here. It came bundled directly inside my mom’s Sega Master System and would launch immediately if no cartridge was inserted into the console. And since we didn’t have a cartridge for the longest time, it means that’s the only game we could play.

The game was incredibly hard for me, and I could barely finish the first level. My mom had to beat the underwater octopus mid-boss for me to access the second level. I think one time I got to the third level by chance? But I cannot be sure. I loved the colors and the variety of enemies and situation. The game felt so alive to me back then.

After a while, I bought Enduro Racer at a yard sale and that became my default Sega Master System game, mostly because I was tired of getting my butt kicked. And many years later, with emulation and the rewind feature, I was able to see and show my mom the end of Alex Kidd in Miracle World. We both immediately concluded that never in our lifetime we would have been able to do it on original hardware.

2. Metroid Fusion

The Game Boy Advance was my first real console. I had to beg so hard for it. And because I was a big fan of the movie, the first game I asked for was Disney’s Lilo & Stitch. Honestly it could have been worse, but I never saw the end as a kid and felt a bit demoralized. (Funnily enough, I didn’t learn my lesson because the first game I got for my PS2 years later would be Disney’s Stitch: Experiment 626). But one day at my local electronics store, I got to try Metroid Fusion on a demo GBA stand. It was completely unlike anything I had played before. In just 5 minutes, the atmosphere came across as so mature and oppressing. The environment was outwardly hostile, not in the sense that there were enemies laid out for the player to beat, but rather that the space station actively didn’t want to be explored.

I did more begging and got the game for myself. It was my first foray into the Metroidvania genre, which is now maybe my favorite? But I don’t think I ever beat it as a kid. Some of the bosses were too hard, and Samus’s stalking evil clone was too scary. But my only regret is not getting Metroid Zero Mission back then. I only got to it years later through emulation and I think it would have really blown my tiny mind back then.

3. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I got my PS2 pretty late into the console life cycle. Which meant that it came with an amazing demo CD (which included the amazing Ratchet & Clank demo which almost made this list), and a little booklet of “must-have” games curated from the console’s heavy hitters. And out of this booklet, no game stirred up my curiosity quite like “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”. I think the combination of platforming and time rewind really appealed to me, maybe as a way to compensate for the trauma that Alex Kidd had inflicted.

And boy did the game not disappoint. It is truly a masterpiece. I’m having a hard time isolating it from its two follow-ups, which I consider the best video game trilogy out there (yes including Warrior Within and its emo-goth-cringe and no I’m not sorry). The game honestly mesmerized as much as it terrified me. Some of the monster design and sound effects haunted me. I’m pretty sure I beat it back then but it took me literal years of slow progress.

4. Dark Souls

This might be the game that consumed me the most in my life. For two months straight, I breathed “Dark Souls.” I read the wiki non-stop at work; I planned my routes ahead of time; and I reviewed enemy patterns in my mind. But it didn’t start that way at all.

The game completely put me off in the first 20 minutes and I didn’t touch it for over a year. Then for some reason, I was drawn to pick it up again. I didn’t remember how to play, I kept dying at Undead Burg, and I broke my starting sword from swinging it at walls. But somehow, I made it to the first dark knight that I mistook for a friendly NPC. Upon realizing my mistake and running away frantically, I fell into a pit. From what I could only assume to be zeal, the knight followed my path into the pit and proceeded to die a fraction of a second before me somehow, gifting my character his great sword! I took this as a sign and spent the next hour grinding my stats to be able to wield it. From that point on, I never un-equipped it and proceeded to beat the game with it!

I think “Dark Souls” is the perfect vessel for that kind of emerging narration with its opaque lore and gameplay that invites the player to explore mechanics and limitations. My little sword story is deeply personal and made me feel so special playing it.

5. Slay the Spire

In short, this was my COVID game and it totally obsessed me. I always liked card games (especially Yu-Gi-Oh), and I always liked roguelikes, so this was MY match. The game kicked my butt for the longest time, mostly because I didn’t understand it was possible to pass on adding cards to my deck which would inevitably end up too bloated. But even struggling I enjoyed every run.

The second coming for me was the Android version which I never uninstalled and has now run for 400 hours on my phone. On there, I got every achievement and beat ascension level 20, which might be one of the proudest achievements of my life. Team Silent forever!

I dabbled really quick with the sequel, but as I’m writing these lines it is not out of early access yet, so I will be patient. I would only find it very frustrating to invest time in it to then find the balance changed later on (as devs should feel empowered to do). In the meantime, I will keep starting some fresh runs, or mix and match with Balatro and Monster Train which also got fantastic Android ports that never leave my phone.