Does /vr/ believe there are "must play" games?

I personally don't, but there are definitely go to games when you give a recommended games list. But they're all mostly the popular games that are generally still sold in digital form.

I do, I believe Super Mario Bros is one of those games that everybody should at least be familiar with

>>3785847
lula 3d

If you like certain genres then there are games that should be played since they are well regarded to that genre.

>>3785847
Personally no, but because this subject entirely falls into a subjective light.
Everything mentioned here will be a personal opinion no matter how much the general consensus agrees.

>>3785847
Not "must", but "should". You'll simply get the context for games if you play them. It's not necessary to beat them, just be familiar with what they did.
I'd say that for more popular genres, these were probably SMB1/3 and Dragon Quest 1/3 (or at least Final Fantasy). These help greatly to understanding games that followed them.
For slightly less popular genres and games, I'd call Contra, Mario Kart, Street Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter 2 (or any Tekken), Double Dragon (plus preferably Final Fight), Tetris; any Civilization, any Diablo, any C&C (or Dune 2), Doom and Quake.
And if you want more "modern" games, definitely start from FFVII, MGS, Goldeneye 007, Half-Life, Ultima Online and Counter-Strike.
That's from the top of my head.

Pac Man
Frogger
Popeye
Donkey Kong
Dig Dug
Tetris
Joust
Asteroids
Space Invader
Defender
Galaga
Gauntlet


And many more