Jens' favourite games - part 4, sports, racing, fighting & puzzle games
I'm not sure it's fair to bundle these genres together like this, but it would have been a very short section otherwise.
Jens' favoruite Sports, Racing, Fighting & Puzzle games of all time
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (Amiga) - The sequel may have been the one that became famous, but this is the first car-game I got hooked on (and the sequel was too forgiving for my taste). I fought long and hard to beat the game but I never managed to win the final race, no matter how close I got (but one day I will).
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Amiga) - Another title that was perfectly balanced for my taste and I still remember the sense of accomplishment when I beat the game at its hardest mode. An Xbox Live Arcade version was recently released, but seems to have received a cold reception.
Runner-ups
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (PS2) - A close to perfect game, but I'll never forgive how it made the challenges more and more boring until it was too much work to enjoy it.
Pinball Dreams (Amiga) - The legendary first game by swedish Digital Illusions/DICE. It may have made me skip school, but it also inspired me to become a games-developer.
Tekken 3 (PS) - Probably my first true Playstation experience, and the adrenaline kick it gave me every lunch-break for a year is a found memory.
SSX 3 (Xbox) - While the original SSX was probably the most memorial experience, the technical excellence of SSX 3 made me choose that one and also put it high up on my list of perfect games.
The Incredible Machine (PC) - It was a fight against time trying to complete each level at my school's computer-room. The prize of winning was to walk over to my friend and mock his progress until he also completed it and the race could start again.
Lemmings (Amiga) - Another close to perfect game that became an instant classic with a type of game-play you had never seen before.
Tetris (PC and other) - While I never considered this to be an exceptional game, I've spent far too much time on this not to include it in this list.