Games released on July 21
Nine games that still hold up, from Ys: Wanderers from Ys in 1989 to Splatoon 2 in 2017
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Ys: Wanderers from Ys 1989
Turned 37 this year
Adol's third adventure turns into a side scrolling action role playing game, where he swings his sword at the press of a button and casts spells through rings powered by Ring Power.
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Mole Mania 1996
Muddy Mole tunnels between the ground and the underground of a farm to rescue his family from the farmer Jinbe, pushing and throwing a ball toward the exit of every screen.
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Mario Tennis 2000
Turned 26 this year Nintendo 64
Mario, Luigi and friends play tennis with two buttons and a mix of shots, on courts that change how the ball bounces, with a Piranha Plant challenge and a Bowser court, in a 2000 Nintendo 64 game that introduced Waluigi.
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Mario Kart: Super Circuit 2001
Turned 25 this year Game Boy Advance
Mario Kart on the Game Boy Advance, with eight Mario characters racing across forty tracks drawn from places in the Super Mario platformers, and a battle mode in which the last one standing wins.
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Rhythm Heaven Fever 2011
Strange scenes play out to the beat, from stabbing peas with a fork to midair badminton, and your only job is to press A and B on time, in a Wii rhythm game without motion controls.
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Freedom Planet 2014
Turned 12 this year
A platform game that began as a Sonic fan game, in which Lilac, a dragon, Carol, a wildcat, and Milla, a basset hound, defend the Kingdom Stone against Lord Brevon, a warlord from space.
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Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana 2016
Turned 10 this year PlayStation Vita
An action role playing game in which Adol's ship sinks near the Isle of Seiren and he searches the island for other survivors while dreaming of Dana, a woman from an ancient civilisation.
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Splatoon 2 2017
Turned 9 this year Switch
A third person shooter in which Inklings, who can turn into squids, fight with ink, in Turf War matches where two teams paint the ground.
