The first ninety games are in NO particular order. For someone with OCD, compiling a list of 100 games in order would drive me absolutely crazy. There's a good mix of titles from multiple consoles, developers, and genres. Hope you leave this list with some fuzzy memories and good times.
~Top 100 - The First Ten~
- Pokemon Blue/Red (GB)
Gotta catch 'em all!
As a seventh grader, I cannot tell you how much I was into the Pokemon craze. It swept the nation like crazy, offering addictive collecting, battling, and trading with friends during lunch hour. The game took what was good about RPGs, added the ability to catch your own monsters to battle others, and made exploring for new Pokemon a treat. Of course, not everyone had Pokemon at my school, so trading was a pain in the ass, but once I got all 150 Pokemon, I was extremely pleased. There was no Action Replay originally to hack your own Pokemon, lazy bastar--kids, so you had to do all the work yourself which made it all the more fulfilling. The first pair of Pokemon titles are my favorite entries of the entire series. Playing with the Super Game Boy = win.
- Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
Karts, crafts, and planes, oh my!
If you were a kid growing up with the Nintendo 64, most often than not you at least tried Diddy Kong Racing in 1997. I was one of those kids who got a preview video from Nintendo Power in the mail back when they had cool subscriber bonuses. I sat down, watched the video, felt it'd be like a racing version of Super Mario 64, and guess what? I was blown away.
With more tracks, more racers, and more vehicles than Mario Kart 64, Rare dominated the racing genre with Diddy Kong Racing. It had everything you'd want, awesome multiplayer races, an addictive adventure mode, and much more.
Sure, a remake was done of DKR onto the DS, but it just didn't feel the same (7.5). There were gimmicks added, racers removed, music that sounded worse than it did on the N64, and many other gripes. But going back to DKR on the 64? Now that's just right....
- Perfect Dark Zero (X360)
A gun for every occasion.
Perfect Dark Zero is just far and away one of my two favorite 360 titles. Yes, this FPS even surpasses what I feel to be an overrated series in Halo. While Perfect Dark Zero stumbled a bit in single-player, the experience was still quite solid. However, multiplayer was where it shined the most. I wasn't playing to get achievements-- I was playing because the game was fun, balanced, and cheater-free. There were a wide variety of maps to choose from, and man, they were expansive. Reread my review at the bottom of this paragraph for more on this awesome game from Rare.
- Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP)
Mega Man Chibi-Style
Mega Man Powered Up is an incredibly underrated title in both reviews and sales. This is one of my favorite Mega Man titles not only because of the great visuals, crisp colors, bonus content, and difficulty, but just because it's a fantastic package. You get the ability to play as all eight Robot Masters (two new in Oil Man and Time Man), there's a Challenge mode, and by far the coolest portion of Powered Up-- Construction mode, where players can craft their own levels filled with obstacles, enemies, and hazards. If you own a PSP (which you should by now since there's so much going for it), you HAVE to pick up Mega Man Powered Up selling for only 19.99 as of now.
- Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X (PSP)
X marks the spot.
The original Mega Man X premiered on the Super Nintendo in late 1993. With it brought new powers to obtain, weapons to copy, enemies to defeat, and bosses to battle all in 16-bit glory. Mega Man X is one of the penultimate Mega Man titles, and remaking it on the PSP serves as a new way to play through X's first campaign.
- Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Clean is Better Than Dirty.
Ahhh... it was like a fresh tonic in the warm summer doldrums as Adam Sessler put it. Super Mario Sunshine was platforming bliss. Some hated F.L.U.D.D., I loved it. The tropical locales were varied as much as they could be on a tropical isle. You had your ghost house, your volcano, your village, your amusement park, and others. It's a shame searching for blue coins was a pain, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed SMS. It was a great Mario platformer in my eyes.
- F-Zero GX (GCN)
The Fast and the Furious
Nintendo gave control of the Gamecube F-Zero installment to Sega's Amusement Vision, and my word, was that a brilliant decision. It not only gave players an incredibly speedy racer, but a difficult one, too. If you persevered like I did (boyo, I was nuts back then), you'd be rewarded with fast times and new racers. This isn't a great F-Zero game. This is the BEST F-Zero game.
Visceral in every sense of the word.
The man behind Twisted Metal, David Jaffe, paved the way for this action-packed take on Greek mythology. Think of it as a blood-soaked, ultraviolent Zelda-- and even then, there's so many other differences that make that analogy moot. Regardless, God of War grabbed you by the balls and pulled you into one adrenaline-raising action game. What made God of War most engaging is the timed button sequences where victory or defeat came from pressing the correct button in the middle of battle. God of War II is one I'm in the middle of, so we'll see how that one stacks in comparison to the original.
The Fast and the Furious
Nintendo gave control of the Gamecube F-Zero installment to Sega's Amusement Vision, and my word, was that a brilliant decision. It not only gave players an incredibly speedy racer, but a difficult one, too. If you persevered like I did (boyo, I was nuts back then), you'd be rewarded with fast times and new racers. This isn't a great F-Zero game. This is the BEST F-Zero game.
- God of War (PS2)
Visceral in every sense of the word.
The man behind Twisted Metal, David Jaffe, paved the way for this action-packed take on Greek mythology. Think of it as a blood-soaked, ultraviolent Zelda-- and even then, there's so many other differences that make that analogy moot. Regardless, God of War grabbed you by the balls and pulled you into one adrenaline-raising action game. What made God of War most engaging is the timed button sequences where victory or defeat came from pressing the correct button in the middle of battle. God of War II is one I'm in the middle of, so we'll see how that one stacks in comparison to the original.
- Hot Shots Golf Fore!! (PS2)
Under par and under-appreciated.
So much charm, so many characters (two of which being Ratchet and Jak), so many courses (14 in all), and many modes to play from, and what you have is one of the best golfing games I've ever played. The courses are designed masterfully, and Clap Handz really did a fantastic job creating an engaging game. Online is dead, but the single-player campaign is so large that you won't even mind.
Stay tuned for next Friday where another ten of my favorites will be posted.
See you tomorrow, everyone!
Under par and under-appreciated.
So much charm, so many characters (two of which being Ratchet and Jak), so many courses (14 in all), and many modes to play from, and what you have is one of the best golfing games I've ever played. The courses are designed masterfully, and Clap Handz really did a fantastic job creating an engaging game. Online is dead, but the single-player campaign is so large that you won't even mind.
- Animal Crossing (GCN)
The minutes turn to hours.
Animal Crossing was NA's first opportunity to be drawn into the world of Animal Crossing. Catch all the fish, catch all the insects, dig up all the fossils, and expand your bank account. Of course, do pay off that debt to Mr. Tom Nook. You would like him when he's angry, would you? No. No, you wouldn't.
The minutes turn to hours.
Animal Crossing was NA's first opportunity to be drawn into the world of Animal Crossing. Catch all the fish, catch all the insects, dig up all the fossils, and expand your bank account. Of course, do pay off that debt to Mr. Tom Nook. You would like him when he's angry, would you? No. No, you wouldn't.
See you tomorrow, everyone!
1 comment:
IMO, Pokeymans should be higher on the list.
Good start, though.
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