Note: I think the final five or so on this list could be ranked in anyway possible and I'd be completely fine with that. The top five were pretty quick for me to come up with after that I struggled a little bit. I guess I've always had fun with the games I've played a lot with other people. I play PS2 now, which is fine, but basically I play alone. So I had a hard time putting those games on the list, because while I enjoy playing, I don't have the same memories attached to them as I do one's I played with others growing up.
10. NBA Jam – Nintendo
This was the first game I brought home that I really felt like I was standing in an arcade and playing. It had a ton of catchphrases and a ludicrous pace. Lots of dunking and lots of shooting from half court, but all-in-all it was fun. Plus it had tons of codes to get hidden characters and such. Always something to pop up to keep the interest.
9. Return of the King – PS2
I am not sure that I had really sat down and beat a game, as I did with Return of the King, since the first Mario that came with my first Nintendo. I’ve never been the kind of guy obsessed with beating games; usually I’d get interested in another game or something else about half way through and never really get going again. Return of the Kings made me want to get to the end. I wanted to see the graphics and take on some of the monsters of Middle-Earth. It wasn’t super hard and didn’t get too bogged down with storyline. It was straight to the point fighting.
8. Golden Eye – N64
This is probably the game on this list that I really sucked at. I could play through a lot of the levels alone fine, but put me against some of the wizards of Grant Tower C at NIU and I didn’t stand much of a chance. But nonetheless, it was a fun game where you could shoot at Russians (I think they were Russians) and how often do you get to do that anymore.
7. Madden Football 1994 or 2008 – Sega or PS2
I am cheating a bit here. Not too many people that like sports games could build a video game list without a Madden game one here. This two versions are the one’s I’ve played the most. For its time, the 94 game on Sega made you really think more about football strategy and study formations. By the time, I got around to the 2008 version that part of the game had been taken to a completely different level. They both deserve recognition on this list, but I didn’t want to take up two spots for the same brand of game.
6. Mario 3 - Nintendo
I just liked playing this one. I did want to beat this one, but I wanted to play every level also. I never did get to the end, basically because I didn’t use the cheats, but there was enough levels to keep me entertained for hours. I thought this strongest of the first three Mario adventures and the most in depth. I don’t know why I never bought this game, because I probably rented it a 100 times.
5. Breakout – Atari
We used to play this on the little TV in my kitchen when I was very young. We had the paddle which made breaking through pretty easy, but my siblings and I still spent a ton of time seeing who could go the farthest. Now I spend a lot of late Friday nights early Saturday mornings after work playing the adapted version on one of little battery operated systems that carry a handful of games. It’s a lot harder with joystick, but theirs is something relaxing about trying not out that screen of brightly colored brick, one brick at a time.
4. World Series Baseball ’95 – Sega
This still is the best baseball game that I have played. It didn’t take a super long time to work through 9 innings, unless you were on like easy mode and hit a home run on every at bat. It was good to play against the computer and great to play against a real person. Snake and I spent a lot of hours trying to get our teams through full seasons and seeing who could put up the best stats. My guess if we could find a similar game for a new system and both became independently wealthy, we’d give it another go through a 162 game season. We’re baseball freaks, what can I say.
3. Techmo Super Bowl – Nintendo
People always remember that you could throw the length of the field on this game and how unrealistic that was, but never give this game the credit it’s due. This was the first game really to inject NFL names and stats into it. You could play as your favorite teams and players and work through and entire NFL season. I loved this game. I wanted to take the Bears to the Super Bowl. I wanted to put up huge stats. I spent whole days going through season whether someone was there with me or not. I wish they still made games like this. I still be playing it.
2. NWO Revenge – N64
I read somewhere once that computers might teach kids to learn how to think, but mostly they teach kids how to think like computers. This is applies here, because while subsequent wrestling games that built off this games wrestling style never got the play time from me that this one did. Basically here Snake and I were able to create our on wrestling federation with storylines, pay per views and title scene. All it took was our own ingenuity within the game. Later versions (all WWE games) still had the same easy game play stuff, but the advanced season modes and career modes made our own ingenuity rather pointless. It was easier just to do what the game wanted us too and thus eliminated our need to think for ourselves.
1. Mario Kart – N64
I lived off this game through college like I did dorm food and alcohol. This was a daily thing among a group of us for four years. Not bad for a game with only 16 courses to keep our attention. Again, this game just let you play and it was best played with three others for bragging rights. We even had our own trophy made, a empty handle of Captain Morgan, for the times we’d play a cup or two to determine the room champion. The best part you could play and it’d only take 20 to 30 minutes and then you could be on your way. Which was good because I had a lot of food to eat and booze to drink during those days.
Honorable mention: Duck Hunt - Nintendo, Techmo Basketball - Nintendo, Excite Bike - Nintendo, NHL Hockey 96 - Sega, NFL Blitz - N64, Raw vs. Smackdown 2006 - PS2, March Madness 06 - PS2, X-Men Legends - PS2, No Mercy - N64
Showing posts with label Favorite Video Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Favorite Video Games. Show all posts
Monday, September 22, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Snakester's 10 Favorite Video Games
Videos games have grown from a geeky obsession into a multi billion dollar industry. Console and game sales continue to rise every year almost holding up our economy it seems. They are a big part of pop culture and a big part of my life from my childhood on. I read Game Informer Magazine which futures a small section each month where someone from the industry and a reader both list their top 5 video games. I have always thought with each month that I read them what mine would be. Well, we are taking it a step further and here is my top 10 favorite video games.
10. Earthbound (SNES): The graphics were cartoonish but the story was immense. This is not a very well known game but anyone who has played or seen it will be able to share their story of strife trying to complete this monster. I have never been a big fan of RPGs but this one struck a cord with me. It isn't the normal fantasy fair that usually comes with these games. It is an adventure of a boy named Ness who discovers a meteor has crashed near his house where a bee creature from the future instructs him to go on this quest. The game was sold with the strategy guide. That should tell you something right there to the size and complexity of the mission. It took be several long winter and spring months after receiving this one for my b-day in order to complete.
9. Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64): This one is aided just by the fact that finally on the N64 you could play with four players! It was as simple of a racing game that could be made and that added to the fun of getting everyone involved. The thrill or despair (depending on which end you were on) of the leader of the race getting wiped out by a turtle shell just before they would have won the race. That was always fun.
8. God of War (PS2): This is one of the most perfect games I have ever played! The graphics are amazing even on a standard definition TV and the gameplay was smooth & flawless. You play as Kratos, a spartan warrior, who is enlisted by the gods of Olympus to help them betray the god of war, Aries, who has become power hungry. The story is the most amazing part of this game and the way they reveal the back story of Kratos from how he became indebted to Aries to the point where we finally find out why he is soul is so tortured & is skin as white as a ghost. The fighting style is amazing, the graphics are bloody and the puzzles challenge yet delight. Still, the first time through seeing the scene on how Kratos evolves in the Ghost of Sparta is truly amazing and saddening at the same time.
7. Faxandu (NES): My uncle gave me this game after he had beaten it during his service in the Marines. I would consider this a cult gem from the glory days of the NES. This dark fantasy adventure had some truly weird looking monsters and a very challenging code system for continuing games. I remember being very frustrated when I couldn't get my codes to work until I could finally tell the difference between a script O and 0. You return from a long trip to your elvish town at the bottom of the World Tree to find it partially destroyed and overrun with dwarves. An evil as inhabited the World Tree poisoning the water supply and mutating dwarves into evil monsters. The original play took me several months but after I knew where I was going it could be beaten in about 3 hours. Which was very useful considering how hard it was to decipher the script code.
6. Metal Gear Solid (PSOne): I would describe this as a 4 hour movie with a game built into it. This series has been know for long cut scenes telling an amazing story. Some of them have gotten a little out of hand as it has gone on (I read somewhere a cut scene in MGS 4 is 90 minutes long!). This one had just enough back story from the original Metal Gear games on the NES to give it some depth before we dove into the Alaskan tundra as Solid Snake infiltrating a terrorist base. This is the ultimate espionage, sneaking game. The focus is always on hiding and avoiding conflict rather than just blasting everyone as in most games. This gave it a more realistic feel and made it more of a puzzle to try to figure out how to sneak through hangars without being seen. The many plot twists throughout can leave your head spinning.
5. Guitar Hero (PS2): I like to think I was an early adopter to this now craze. I remember reading about it as kind of a novelty in a magazine and knew I had to try it. I still remember the most songs from this one including No One Knows & Crossroads which I was never able to 5 star even on Medium. I remember practicing more than I ever had when I tried once to learn how to play a real guitar. The characters were cool and the songs were a good selection that introduced me to some new favorites. Whenever I hear them I can still see those notes flying at me and the way I had to move my fingers to play it. The series adds things with each installment and adds to their song catalogue, but the original will forever remain dearest in my heart.
4. Super Mario World (SNES): All of the Mario games have been great (except for the weird Mario's Time Machine). But this one always stands out to me because I spent alot of time finding all the hidden levels and learning how to fly with a cape. I remember the Star Road that lead to the hard levels called Tubular, Awesome, etc. It was the first Mario gave that could actually save your progress in order to alleviate those gruelling game play session where beating Super Mario Bros was more a test of endurance then game playing skill. The addition of Yoshi was the coolest thing to me and probably any other kid. This one also got my dad back into playing Mario with me, at least for a little while.
3. Red Dead Revolver (PS2): I don't think I have replayed a game as much as this one. I remember a long time ago seeing a commercial for it long before I even had a PS2 and I said I wanted that game. Well if you don't know by now, I am a western fan (see earlier posts). This was an old Clint Eastwood spaghetti western come to life, right down to Red wear a poncho and barely talking. The showdown sequences are wicked fun, staring down your opponent and then flicking the controller sticks to draw and hit the sweet spots. The story is well crafted and reveals enough of the past as you go. Riding the horse to run down and attack a train full of Spanish soldiers is the highlight for me, every cowboy's dream sequence.
2. NWO Revenge (N64): For me, this was the greatest wrestling game I ever played mostly for its simplicity. It was from the height of WCW's popularity before its inevitable collapse. The character models were still crude and the game fairly rigid, but it was still better than anything else we had ever played. The title challenges are the most gruelling test of gaming I have ever seen. You could not save and you had to win 7 matches I think before you got the title shot. The tag team title took literally 4-5 hours easy! All to just have your initials on the screen and your team wearing the belts in the exhibition matches. Still four wrestlers in the ring at one time was a big treat over anything else there was out there and it made the player be more creative in our match structure. It was pretty much all I played for about 2-3 years.
1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64): Really I just wanted to say the whole Legend of Zelda saga but realized that would be a cheap way out and I didn't want to flood my list with the original Zelda & Link to the Past from the SNES so I have chosen the best. Just the fact that you start out as young Link and the game is in 3D make it one of the best. The adventure is pretty massive, the story is solid and the puzzles are very unique. I never got tired of replaying this game and just riding the horse across Hyrule field watching the sun set. This game had two unique features for its time in the concept of time passage from day to night and the different characters and monsters that were in the fields during those times. Also further into the game comes the object of time travel as Link is teleported into the future ruin of Hyrule as an adolescent. Then of course the puzzles that come with jumping back and forth in time to unlock dungeons etc. I would still challenge anyone to debate on a better adventure game than this one.
Honorable Mention:
Gears of War - Xbox 360 : beautiful game and fun gameplay
Warcraft II - PC: got me started on war strategy games
Manhunt - PS2: kind of scary how much fun killing people is
Tecmo Super Bowl - NES: the real football game
Donkey Kong Country - SNES: a good time with lots of secrets
007: Goldeneye - N64: fun gameplay and 4 person mutliplayer
10. Earthbound (SNES): The graphics were cartoonish but the story was immense. This is not a very well known game but anyone who has played or seen it will be able to share their story of strife trying to complete this monster. I have never been a big fan of RPGs but this one struck a cord with me. It isn't the normal fantasy fair that usually comes with these games. It is an adventure of a boy named Ness who discovers a meteor has crashed near his house where a bee creature from the future instructs him to go on this quest. The game was sold with the strategy guide. That should tell you something right there to the size and complexity of the mission. It took be several long winter and spring months after receiving this one for my b-day in order to complete.
9. Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64): This one is aided just by the fact that finally on the N64 you could play with four players! It was as simple of a racing game that could be made and that added to the fun of getting everyone involved. The thrill or despair (depending on which end you were on) of the leader of the race getting wiped out by a turtle shell just before they would have won the race. That was always fun.
8. God of War (PS2): This is one of the most perfect games I have ever played! The graphics are amazing even on a standard definition TV and the gameplay was smooth & flawless. You play as Kratos, a spartan warrior, who is enlisted by the gods of Olympus to help them betray the god of war, Aries, who has become power hungry. The story is the most amazing part of this game and the way they reveal the back story of Kratos from how he became indebted to Aries to the point where we finally find out why he is soul is so tortured & is skin as white as a ghost. The fighting style is amazing, the graphics are bloody and the puzzles challenge yet delight. Still, the first time through seeing the scene on how Kratos evolves in the Ghost of Sparta is truly amazing and saddening at the same time.
7. Faxandu (NES): My uncle gave me this game after he had beaten it during his service in the Marines. I would consider this a cult gem from the glory days of the NES. This dark fantasy adventure had some truly weird looking monsters and a very challenging code system for continuing games. I remember being very frustrated when I couldn't get my codes to work until I could finally tell the difference between a script O and 0. You return from a long trip to your elvish town at the bottom of the World Tree to find it partially destroyed and overrun with dwarves. An evil as inhabited the World Tree poisoning the water supply and mutating dwarves into evil monsters. The original play took me several months but after I knew where I was going it could be beaten in about 3 hours. Which was very useful considering how hard it was to decipher the script code.
6. Metal Gear Solid (PSOne): I would describe this as a 4 hour movie with a game built into it. This series has been know for long cut scenes telling an amazing story. Some of them have gotten a little out of hand as it has gone on (I read somewhere a cut scene in MGS 4 is 90 minutes long!). This one had just enough back story from the original Metal Gear games on the NES to give it some depth before we dove into the Alaskan tundra as Solid Snake infiltrating a terrorist base. This is the ultimate espionage, sneaking game. The focus is always on hiding and avoiding conflict rather than just blasting everyone as in most games. This gave it a more realistic feel and made it more of a puzzle to try to figure out how to sneak through hangars without being seen. The many plot twists throughout can leave your head spinning.
5. Guitar Hero (PS2): I like to think I was an early adopter to this now craze. I remember reading about it as kind of a novelty in a magazine and knew I had to try it. I still remember the most songs from this one including No One Knows & Crossroads which I was never able to 5 star even on Medium. I remember practicing more than I ever had when I tried once to learn how to play a real guitar. The characters were cool and the songs were a good selection that introduced me to some new favorites. Whenever I hear them I can still see those notes flying at me and the way I had to move my fingers to play it. The series adds things with each installment and adds to their song catalogue, but the original will forever remain dearest in my heart.
4. Super Mario World (SNES): All of the Mario games have been great (except for the weird Mario's Time Machine). But this one always stands out to me because I spent alot of time finding all the hidden levels and learning how to fly with a cape. I remember the Star Road that lead to the hard levels called Tubular, Awesome, etc. It was the first Mario gave that could actually save your progress in order to alleviate those gruelling game play session where beating Super Mario Bros was more a test of endurance then game playing skill. The addition of Yoshi was the coolest thing to me and probably any other kid. This one also got my dad back into playing Mario with me, at least for a little while.
3. Red Dead Revolver (PS2): I don't think I have replayed a game as much as this one. I remember a long time ago seeing a commercial for it long before I even had a PS2 and I said I wanted that game. Well if you don't know by now, I am a western fan (see earlier posts). This was an old Clint Eastwood spaghetti western come to life, right down to Red wear a poncho and barely talking. The showdown sequences are wicked fun, staring down your opponent and then flicking the controller sticks to draw and hit the sweet spots. The story is well crafted and reveals enough of the past as you go. Riding the horse to run down and attack a train full of Spanish soldiers is the highlight for me, every cowboy's dream sequence.
2. NWO Revenge (N64): For me, this was the greatest wrestling game I ever played mostly for its simplicity. It was from the height of WCW's popularity before its inevitable collapse. The character models were still crude and the game fairly rigid, but it was still better than anything else we had ever played. The title challenges are the most gruelling test of gaming I have ever seen. You could not save and you had to win 7 matches I think before you got the title shot. The tag team title took literally 4-5 hours easy! All to just have your initials on the screen and your team wearing the belts in the exhibition matches. Still four wrestlers in the ring at one time was a big treat over anything else there was out there and it made the player be more creative in our match structure. It was pretty much all I played for about 2-3 years.
1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64): Really I just wanted to say the whole Legend of Zelda saga but realized that would be a cheap way out and I didn't want to flood my list with the original Zelda & Link to the Past from the SNES so I have chosen the best. Just the fact that you start out as young Link and the game is in 3D make it one of the best. The adventure is pretty massive, the story is solid and the puzzles are very unique. I never got tired of replaying this game and just riding the horse across Hyrule field watching the sun set. This game had two unique features for its time in the concept of time passage from day to night and the different characters and monsters that were in the fields during those times. Also further into the game comes the object of time travel as Link is teleported into the future ruin of Hyrule as an adolescent. Then of course the puzzles that come with jumping back and forth in time to unlock dungeons etc. I would still challenge anyone to debate on a better adventure game than this one.
Honorable Mention:
Gears of War - Xbox 360 : beautiful game and fun gameplay
Warcraft II - PC: got me started on war strategy games
Manhunt - PS2: kind of scary how much fun killing people is
Tecmo Super Bowl - NES: the real football game
Donkey Kong Country - SNES: a good time with lots of secrets
007: Goldeneye - N64: fun gameplay and 4 person mutliplayer
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