Refusing to be considered a troll on this blog, I thought I'd make a quick post of games that I've loved over the years, since starting out on my little handheld football game whose graphics consisted of blinking red lights. Yes, my gaming career started out on a handheld device, neither on PC or the console. We would laugh at the toy today but it was amazing back then. All this big red dots were the football players and the tiny red dot was the ball. I remember how hard it was but I kept at it until I could destroy the enemy AI with ease. I can't believe I had such determination back then.
Anyways, without getting distracted, I'd like to compile a list, though not complete, of some of the games I've really enjoyed over the years and sunk some serious time into. Some of these I'll lump together...
1. Doom, Doom II, Wolfenstein - I remember spending hours on my SNES or on friend's computers playing these games and how their impact back then has led me to still enjoy the FPS genre today. Buying Doom on the 360 was still just as enjoyable today as it was back then.
2. Marathon (Doom for MAC) - This game was indescribable. My neighbor friend, Steve, probably hated me for coming over to his house and ignoring him for hours while I took up his PC and beat this game.
3. Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger for the SNES - 3 classic RPGs for the SNES (that I went back and purchased a couple years ago just to have). I can still go back and play these and have a blast. Chrono Trigger especially with the time travel and the MAIN HERO DYING! It was so shocking... :P
4. FFVII - another amazing game. The cartoony graphics were awful but the world was huge, the backgrounds amazing, and the story priceless. Sephiroth is still one of the best bad guys ever.
5. FF Tactics - A game that has never been equaled, it was soooo challening in the beginning but once I started getting the hang of it (and bought a guidebook), it became one of my all time favorite games, if not the favorite. By the way, if anybody knows of any games like this one, please let me know. I've considered buying a DS just to play some of the other tactics games (which I've heard aren't as good).
6. GTAIII - this game made me go out and buy a PS2 the very next day after playing it. At the time, it was like nothing that had ever been done before. And then Vice City was better and then San Andreas was even better than the previous two. And let's not forget how much GTA2 was...
7. Tony Hawk 1 to 4 (the early years) - Being one of the worst skateboarders in real life (I could barely ollie though I could pull of a sweet boneless off a ramp), this game let you do all the tricks you could only dream of in real life. Playing HORSE in this game ate of hours of my time a decade ago.
8. Syphon Filter - another great PSONE game. I was able to pull off headshots in this game like no other, a skill that I have lost over the years to my hours spent on the PC. :(
9. Elder Scrolls & Oblivion - A game that was so deep at the time, it blew my mind. Although it was insanely annoying trying to find some locations in this game (objective arrows are a great invention), it sucked me in and wouldn't let me leave. Oblivion built on and expanded the world and just made it all better. They took out flying, a minor grievance, and Oblivion ate up hours of my life anyways.
10. Starcraft - never good at RTS games, I learned quickly when I would have LAN parties with an old roommate who had several PCs set up in his house. I remember finally beating his friend (who rage quit and stormed out of the house, haha) and it was a proud gaming moment for myself. The student had now become the teacher.
I realize how long this list could be so I'll just cut this short of descriptions...
Titan's Quest, Battlefield 2 & 2142, Bad Company 1 & 2, Call of Duty 1 & 2, Half-Life 1 & 2, Diablo, Diablo II, Fallout 3, Rise of Nations, Age of Empires, Freelancer, FEAR, Far Cry, Crysis, Lego everything, FFXII, Gran Turismo, Killer Instinct, Spiderman 2, GTAIV, World of Warcraft, Fable 1 & 2, Starcraft 2...
And the list goes on and on... for every bad game that I play, there's probably several that I enjoy. But there are definitely some games where one tiny feature can kill it for me. One hit kills from AI on the easiest difficulty setting, glaring bugs or glitches, awful physics, bad controls, etc., etc.
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I must say, I've always wanted to see a list of people's top 10 games but when I tried to come up with mine, I realized I would never have a perfect list because my opinion constantly changes based on whatever game I'm currently playing. I like your semi-Top 10 idea so I figured I'll use your format give it a go as well.
ReplyDeleteIn no specific order this is some of my favorite games...(some of this will surprise those who know me)
Legend of Zelda (NES), A Link to the Past (SNES), Illusion of Gaia (SNES), Ocarina of Time (N64)
Oblivion, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 1 and 2 (360)
Uncharted 1 and 2 (PS3)
Warcraft 2, Empire Earth, Sim City 3000 (PC) - yes, grouped together
Assasins Creed 1 (360) and 2 (PS3)
Tony Hawk 1 (N64???), SSX Tricky (PS2), Fifa 01 (PS2)
Mirror's Edge (360), Portal (360)
Quake 3, Need for Speed 2 (PC)
Resident Evil 4, Geist (Cube)
OK, my lunch is over so I'm cutting this short. I'll add more later. 3n3my... I know I'm forgetting some, help me out.
SimCity 3000? Nice! Did you play 4? Another classic I forgot to add...
ReplyDeletebrjahu: Sunset Riders (Genesis/SNES)
ReplyDeleteHow could you forget a game that awesome that we've raved about again and again? You cut me deep.
I knew I missed some big ones.... I'M SORRY!!!!!!! I was rushed. It was a busy day, and my lunch was over.
ReplyDeleteAs I was driving home last night a couple of other games came to mind that I definitely should have included:
ReplyDeleteHalo 1 (Xbox), Golden Eye (N64)
GTAIV, Bioshock, Guitar Hero 3 (360)
Lolo 3, California Games (NES)
NBA Jam, Super Mario World (SNES)
Mario Kart 64, Mario Tennis (N64)
Bad Fur Day (N64)... come on. That multi-player was genius!!!!!
and this last one definitely requires a place on my list: Tetris (Game Boy). I still have a copy in a Game Boy Pocket at sitting in my work's bathroom!
Alright I'm going to have to call it quits. This just had me really thinking about the games I grew up with and the games that mean the most to me. Good idea Juniper.
Juniper, you mention Secret of Mana...that's one that I rented multiple times (probably 4 or 5) but due to the length of the game I never got too far (this was back in the day when you only got game rentals for 2 or 3 days). It was always frustrating because I would have to either start over or pick up someone else's game at some random point in the game (which I would never do). I really liked it and wanted to finish, but alas....
ReplyDeleteAnd Chrono Trigger was great, too. I really liked the magic (or Techs) in that game. It was cool how you could do double and triple techs where all 3 of your party members would join up for 1 attack. And I don't remember Crono dying, but weren't there 13 or 14 different endings? Of course, it doesn't hold a candle to Final Fantasy 3/6, though.
Here are a few of my games, just off the top of my head, divided by system:
NES: Contra, Super C, Zelda, Punch-Out, Final Fantasy, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Mega Man series (but esp. 2 and 3)
SNES: Contra 3, Final Fantasy 3/6, Super Metroid, Castlevania 4, TMNT 4, Zelda, Mario World and Yoshi's Island, Donkey Kong Country series, Super Punch-Out, Mega Man X, X2, X3
N64: Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Resident Evil 2, Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Blast Corps (NOBODY played this but it was awesome), Star Fox 64
Cube: Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime and Prime 2, F-Zero GX, TimeSplitters 2, Rogue Leader, Mario Golf, Twilight Princess
DS: Contra 4 (I've had my DS for 2.5 years and it's really the only game I play. Once I manage to beat it on "Hard" maybe I'll try something else)
PlayStation: Resident Evil, Castlevania: SotN
PlayStation 2: Contra: Shattered Soldier, Onimusha, Devil May Cry
PlayStation 3: God of War series, Uncharted
Xbox: Prince of Persia series, Halo, Ninja Gaiden
Xbox 360: Bayonetta, Left 4 Dead and 2, Alan Wake, Prince of Persia, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War and 2, Ninja Gaiden 2, Halo 3
PC: Rollercoaster Tycoon, Final Fantasy 7, King's Quest 6
Okay...I thought this post had died, but it hasn't so here are mine...divided up like Lead Salad (with systems I played the earliest in order) since his is the cleanest looking.
ReplyDeletePC: Mech Warrior 2, MDK, Sanitarium, Tomb Raider, The Neverhood
Turbo Grafx16: Keith's Courage and Bonk's Adventure
Genesis: Sonic, Shinobi, Sunset Riders, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage 2
N64: Mario 64, Ocarina (of course), Banjo Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing (still beats the piss out of Mario Kart IMHO), Goldeneye, Resident Evil 2, Perfect Dark, Wave Race, Super Smash Bros (prob best MP game of all time)
Dreamcast: Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Shenmue, MDK 2, Soul Calibur
Cube (thanks Lead Salad): Metroid Prime, Tony Hawk 4 (HORSE ate most of my life with Lead), ALL the Resident Evil's except for ZERO, Time Splitters 2, Splinter Cell, Wind Waker
XBOX (Thanks Mario Sunshine): HALO, Jade Empire, KOTOR, Soul Calibur 2 (XBOX version had Spawn!), Morrowind, Ninja Gaiden Black, DOOM 3, Project Gotham Racing 2 (best racer to this day), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
360: Condemned 1 and 2, GOW 1 and 2 (campaign and Horde...screw mp), Call of Duty 2 (brjahu played this with me many many months before anyone else had thier 360), Battlefield 2 (brjahu again), Mirror's Edge, Prince of Persia, Dead Space, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Oblivion, Fallout 3
PS3: Uncharted, Just Cause 2, PoP: TFS
Now that I've laid out pretty much every game I've played that meant more to me than just "another game" I'd like to tell you the games that made me the gamer that I am. The games that elevated gaming out of a fun thing to do and into my heart as my favorite past time.
Mech Warrior 2: I played this game as a kid in the 7th grade. I'd never played a game like it before and I haven't since. Your keyboard WAS your cockpit. Complete with Ejection Button and throttle. Almost every button had a use. I still remember sitting in my math class and daydreaming about playing more missions as "Skull Crusher."
MDK: First game I'd played that had a "soul" or "spirit" outside of just being a game. Still one of my all time favs.
Ocarina: Nothing I can say about this amazing game that hasn't already been said.
Resident Evil 2: Changed how I looked at games in high school. It was so "mature" and pants poopingly scary.
Shenmue: This game made you feel like you lived in an actual world. Not a huge GTA world, but a town that was realized a bit more realistically than GTA. Need to kill time? Can't quick sleep to wait so you go burn some time at the arcade full of old SEGA games. Get a job at the docks as a forklift driver. It was the closest I've ever seen to a game fully mimicking a real day to day life....and it blew my mind.
Metroid Prime: Probably the closest thing to a perfect game I've ever played.
KOTOR: THE game that got me into RPGs and it packs the best story I've ever seen in a game and possibly movies.
Morrowind: You mean I go wherever? I do what I want to whomever I want whenever I want? Are you serious? Still better overall IMHO than Oblivion.
Congrats if you made it through the whole list!
You guys posted some I had forgotten about. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteAnd Lead, yeah, Crono died in the game! It blew my mind at the time. The hero never dies.
From wikipedia...
"Crono stands up to Lavos but is vaporized by a powerful blast, after which Lavos destroys Zeal.
Crono's friends awake in a village and find Magus, who confesses that he was prince Janus of Zeal. In his memories, the disaster at the Ocean Palace scattered the Gurus of Zeal across time and sent him to the Middle Ages. Janus took the alias of Magus and gained a cult of followers while plotting to summon and kill Lavos in revenge for the death of his sister, Schala. As Crono's friends depart, the Ocean Palace rises into the air as the Black Omen. The group turns to Gaspar for help, and he gives them a "Chrono Trigger", an egg-shaped device that allows the group to replace Crono just before the moment of death with a Dopple Doll."
They found a way to bring him back but he technically died and you play without the hero for a short time as you find a way to bring him back.