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I remember really enjoying throwing "time bombs" in Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. For context, robotic companion Clank is assigned to take care of "The Great Clock' by his creator and "father" Orvus (voiced by Mr. Mario himself, Charles Martinet). Several Clank-exclusive levels take place in that area, where you can slow down obstacles to solve various mind-bending puzzles. These time-altering utilities became even more invaluable when you were reunited with your buddy Ratchet! Now, you could slow down particularly tough enemies that were giving you a hard time. And then (per the game's weapon-based system) you could blast, freeze, or simply whack them to bits with your trusty wrench!

My favorite usage of time in a game is definitely Chrono Trigger. That game is one of my favorites of all time, and the ability to travel to different time eras of the world added so much variety. From the simple prehistoric world to the technology rich future and everything in between, there was just so much to do and see. If I could travel through time, I would want to visit the future to see how everything progresses from where it is today. I would want to travel about 50 or 60 years ahead to compare that world with the current one.

1. I really like games that are tied to real world time a la Animal Crossing or Tomodachi Life. It gives me an incentive to check back daily, or at multiple times in a day. It also usually limits unlocking large amounts of content at once, which makes things easier to digest and keeps a nice pacing.

1. I'm really hooked on Picross! I cashed in some My Nintendo coins for the Twilight Princess edition and I haven't been able to put it down. Your score is the lowest time that you can pass a level in, and even making one tiny mistake adds two minutes to the clock. I'm trying to get the lowest times possible without making a single mistake on all the levels!

2. This one is kind of personal. When I was about 2 years old, my mom took me to a doctor who diagnosed me with a...learning disability. Suffice it to say, he specifically told my distraught mother that I would never be able to read, write, or perform basic math in my entire life. So if I had a time machine, I would travel back to the day after that doctor gave my mom the diagnosis, show him my Bachelor's degree, my A+ certification, the 8-page essay I wrote discussing Chopin, and the vacation fee calculation program I wrote in Python and shout "In your face!".

1. My favorite usage of time manipulation thus far is in Braid. There are a few time-based powers and levels in the game than your standard rewind function, but the instance I remember the most is the level where you controlled the flow of time whenever you moved your character. If you moved to the right, time moved forward. If you moved to the left, time moved back. This meant you had to be very precise about your movements in order to reach the end. It threw me for a loop for a bit, but once I figured it all out, I felt incredibly accomplished for having solved this puzzle.

1. My favorite usage of time in a game is The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. While immensely stressful as a kid, I have grown to really appreciate the 3 day time frame. Termina as a world feels amazingly alive, and reliving the same 3 days repeatedly as Link tries to both prevent the apocalypse and help out townsfolk with their personal issues is a great experience. Learning as you go to slowly make a larger impact on the world and accomplish more with the time you have is such a unique game mechanic. 2. The future of course! If I skip ahead to early next year, I can get my hands on the NX before anyone else. My plan is foolproof.

While not true time travel I loved controlling the speed of battle to augment your attacks in Viewtiful Joe.

If I could go back in time, I'd go 30 years or so so I could experience the glory days of Nintendo and get physicals copies of games like Earthbound and Chrono Trigger for a decent price (instead of the $300ish they go for now) along with collectors' editions of things.

1. My favorite use of time has to be in Wario Land 4. You go through a level at your own pace to find treasure and then reach the end. However, at the end, you find a frog switch, which activates a time limit and you have to run back to the beginning of the stage! There are cool twists as well, such as blocks that appear or disappear once you've hit the switch, or a lava stage that freezes over, and the last level has you hit the switch at the start! It's got to be the most creative use of time limits I've ever seen. 2. If I could travel through time, I would go about 20 years into the past, and maybe invent this website before anyone else can. Maybe I could call it "Google", or something?

I'm still waiting for a response to an email I sent you on April 17. I like how the New Play Control version of Pikmin 1 allowed you to travel back in time if you messed up. If I could travel in time, I'd go 100 years into the future when all the existing video games are in the public domain, and are available as free downloads (similar to free public domain Kindle books).

Chrono Trigger has the best time travel, period. The ability near the end of the game to travel to different points in time to complete missions and then jump to the future to reap the benefits (hey, Robo, where did the desert go) are still fun today.

1.) My favorite usage of time in a video game is in the Pikmin series. The first Pikmin game had the 30 day time limit to gather all of the required parts to repair Olimar's ship. Many people were turned off by the 30 day limit, but I thought the game was designed perfectly to make it easy to complete while still being rewarding. Pikmin 2 and 3 abandoned the strict time limit, but what Pikmin 3 added was the ability to graphically compare your completion time with everyone else in the world via the internet (including mission mode times/scores for the more hardcore crowd). The Pikmin series is so interesting because it would stand perfectly well on its own without there being any notion of time keeping in the games, but the decision to include the element of time brings an added level of depth to the experience that allows you to choose whether to challenge yourself or just enjoy the beautiful environments casually. 2.) If I could travel in time I would travel to March 2017 and pick of a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on NX :D.

While Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is my all-time favorite game, and would be an obvious choice for best usage of Time, I would actually have to pick the original Metroid for NES. I can still remember the first time I defeated Mother Brain, a hard enough challenge, and thinking the game was over. Then all of a sudden, finding out there was a Time Bomb set and having the final challenge being to get out of Tourain alive. It was completely unexpected, and I can recall my pulse racing and the satisfaction I felt trying to climb out in time before the bomb went off! Then, of course, you have the additional surprise bonus of gaining the knowledge that Samus Aran was in fact female (a pretty big deal at the time), but only as long as you defeated the entire game in the appropriate time. So, Metroid had 2 very successful usages for time in a video game!

It might be because I've been playing the 3DS remake lately, but I'll have to go with Majora's Mask. It's great: the futility of solving people's problems only to travel back and undo everything, the time sensitive events that make the side quests some of (if not the) best in the series, and the slowly creeping dread of the falling moon. Remember, the inverted song of time is your friend!

In retrospect it's probably a small detail, but the addition of the clock and the night/day cycle in Pokemon Gold and Silver was mind blowing for me at the time. Not only did it matter where you looked, but when you looked affected what 'mons you could find.

My favorite usage of time in a video game is simple, but it's Animal Crossing! I've always loved that the time in the game is a reflection of what time it is in real life. So, when I get on in the early morning hours, the villagers are still sleeping, the music is relaxing, and the sun is just barely peeking over the edge of the screen. Not only that, but I really appreciate the events that only take place during a certain time. It helped teach me good, real-life time management skills.

My favorite use of time is in Eternal Darkeness. Using multiple time periods to drive the story was insanity!

If I could time travel, I would go to the future to see how far technology has come, and maybe bring some of it back to the present day.

I think Chrono Trigger has the best usage of time travel. It was ahead of its time in terms of having decisions made in the past affect the present and future, and the use of multiple endings based on when/how you beat the game was excellent.

As for the second question, I would rather go back in time to relive the good times, since I'm such a hopeless nostalgic.

I'd rather have the ability to manipulate time than to travel through time. I would sleep as long as I want, then make it so that when I only have 10 minutes left to get to work, I'd either stop or slow time until I get there (I would be very responsible with my power).

There are so many good games with Time mechanics. Superhot, Majora's Mask, Archron...SO GOOD

My favorite use of time in a game (sorry, Partner's in Time!) has got to go to Majora's Mask. The idea of needing to replay the game over and over, seeing the impacts your actions made and how things changed with each route you took was really cool and innovative. Until the very end of the game, you have to go through this world where, unlike most Zelda games, it's impossible to save the world. People have given up, they're in denial, their angry, and you don't have enough time to help everyone. Upon reset, each time you complete the 3 days and make progress, someone's going to still be left with a problem unsolved. It really makes you think about doing the most you can with the time you have in the world, both in the game and outside of it. I'd love to see a similar mechanic return with even more depth to the effects of the actions in modern day.

Noah Goodman

1: I think my favorite use of time in a video game is going to be Braid; manipulating time and dealing with aspects that are immune to time rewinding is really brain bending. Combine that with the rest of the aesthetic presentation of the game, we're left with an incredibly surreal, and yet still elegant game. 2: I would absolutely travel to the future and skip all the waiting for all the pop culture stuff I want to consume. I'd go on a Best Buy shopping spree to get the entire Star Wars sequel trilogy on 4k, an NX, every first party title for it, etc.

I'd go forward to March 2017. There's the new Legend of Zelda game, the NX, and I'm getting to go to London!

Joseph Stanichar