To bad MK4 gold was only a Dreamcast exclusive, would love to play as kung lao there.

That's definitely one of the pitfalls I wanted to avoid when I was thinking of my own experiences. I mean, I love a game like Shining Force. But even though I'm sure I'd have a blast if I played it today as is, I'd update the graphics in a heart beat.

I have a couple friends that are literally scared to play fighting games. Then again their typical strategy on any given FPS is to camp so I'm not surprised if that level of vulnerability would make them uncomfortable.

Kids today.

On that note BlazBlue feels really freakin' close to the perfect fighting game. It's hard to put into words because it just seemed to click the instant I started playing. The fights are furiously fast yet extremely smooth, the characters are a lot more well-balanced than most fighting games I've played, and the hand-drawn art is nothing if not gorgeous. I know a lot of people would probably be turned off on the anime-style alone but it's their loss because the mechanics behind it are amazingly solid. The second game actually counts the number of times you had the opportunity to escape a combo and displays it underneath their combo counter, honestly, I've never seen a game so devoted to perfecting its genre.

/gushing

Yeah. It's called DOOM.

What does make a game "perfect"?

An easy definition of a "perfect" would be the top on everything. Immutable. Eternal. For everyone.

Well, I don't think it's possible, so I change the target: the perfect game is the game that is free of mistakes and can be adapted to everyone to fit his desire.

I will choose a nearly perfect game, Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri.

For me, Psychonauts was perfect. Everything about it was sheer joy. I don't think I've felt that way about a game in a long time.

The grooviest thing about this thread is that next to no one agrees with one another. How cool is that? Love the diversity here.

And with respect to Judas because he just did me a huge solid with a fix, but that is a pretty silly thing to base how good a game is on. There are some games that just don't allow for an easy smooth control scheme ie ID War2. And even if their was, who is to say exactly what a good easy control scheme is? I got into an argument in here the other day over the which F key should be the Quick Save key and let me tell you, punches were almost thrown! :P

I totally agree.

Haven't found the perfect game yet, still looking.
I'm damn hard to please...


Though I keep returning to play Alpha Centauri and Master of Orion II.
Maybe Mount&Blade Warband with a set of decent mods...

Hmm, good criteria, I think that's why I tend to gravitate to my 360 controller so frequently, it's easy, gets the control part out of the way, much easier to press B than hunting for my Ctrl key... or C... or what was it again?

I don't know if there are any "perfect" games, but I've played games that were fucking magical, at that time, for me, when I played it.

As you might guess by my avatar, I agree.

I would add The Legend Of Zelda installments A Link To The Past and Ocarina Of Time.

"Perfection" is the sort of label I think is best left as an abstract, intuitive thing. At least in discussions like this. If you start trying to overthink what perfection is, you start getting into all sorts of philosophical, metaphysical confusing mumbo jumbo. And then Vestin shows up and things get existential and the thread's no fun anymore (if Vestin is reading this, understand that isn't meant as a jab).

So, I won't post any of the pseudo-philosophical musings I have on the subject. I'll just say that if it's possible for a videogame to be perfect, then Doom is perfect, and anyone who disagrees obviously hasn't pseudo-philosophically mused enough.

No, I haven't played the perfect game, sadly. However, I've played games that have done certain aspects so well as to seem perfect. Bioshock as a near-perfect plot, with plenty of subtlety, symbolism, and fridge brilliance to go along with the shock and intrigue. The Metroid series (for me, particularly Prime) do atmosphere extremely excellently, portraying lush alien forest alongside bleak ruinous civilizations. No More Heroes (while somewhat choppy) has a superb style, with every level theme, boss, and power-up contributing to the schizophrenic pop Suda51 is so well known for. Fallout 3 (once again, in my opinion) was the most immersive, seeing as I've probably clocked in over 500 hours in its bleak, hazard-filled wasteland. As far as gameplay is concerned, I guess it would depend on the genre. Finally, my favorite game, Paper Mario, isn't perfect by a long shot (its pretty short and shallow for an RPG, especially considering it followed the beast that was Super Mario RPG), however, it definitely has the best aesthetic I've ever seen in a game, lending it to be the most purely enjoyable game I've ever played. It has a kind of kaleidoscopic color scheme that never fails to please, and every character model and animation is just so fuckin' cute! Also, the music is too catchy to describe here (I still can hum the title theme from memory). In short, there is no such thing as a perfect game, and there probably never will be. However, I think some games can do certain aspects almost perfectly.
I agree that if any game is so succinct and beautifully designed, it is Doom. It has aged the best out of any "retro" game I can think of, and it is still a blast to play. Not to mention, it can be modded to hell and back. Definitely not a "perfect" game (seeing as we both agree that label is too subjective to be substantially meaningful), yet if one was to study how to make a game that lasts well, Doom would be an excellent example.

Baldur's Gate 2 almost perfectly accomplished what it set out to do (surely the only meaningful definition of 'perfect' in this context, or possibly any).

Doom 1 is a decent shout, too.

Edit: Ah, you can perfectly accomplish something you didn't set out to do, too, but there you go.

The perfect game for me (because, in the end, no game will ever be perfect for everyone) is Mass Effect 3. Seriously. I love that game, and the Citadel DLC just made it even better. I love the story, the gameplay, the characters, the graphics, and the difficulty level is just right for me. There is not a thing I would want to be changed.