As always:
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.- Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Third time's the charm
Mario returns with a bang and an all-new platforming adventure. Eight themed worlds filled with contrasting amounts of athletic levels, fortresses, toad houses, and airships. This game consistently threw players curve balls. Originally, did you honestly expect the sun to come down and attack you? Wowzers!
Many consider this to be the pinnacle of 2-D gaming, and I'm hard-pressed to disagree. I loved this game on the NES, then on the Super NES in Super Mario All-stars, and then the GBA remake, Super Mario Advance 4 which had e-Reader support allowing you to download new levels. Pretty cool for someone jonesin' for new 2-D Mario levels! Whichever platform you played it on, Super Mario Bros. 3 is honestly a game to be reckoned with, but is it my favorite Mario?
- Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mode 7 Magic
Super Mario Kart pulled a wheelie onto the Super Nintendo with a racing title like none had seen before. This one was in Mode 7, the type of graphics used in F-Zero, for example. This gave players the ability to drive around in 360 degrees of kart carnage.
Besides obvious reasons, Super Mario Kart could be considered to be a precursor to Mario Kart DS as Super Mario Kart had two horizontal halves of the screen. One half of the actual race while the other was a map of the track. In two player races, one half was player one and the other-- you guessed it-- was player two.
The multiplayer fun was limited to two players, but it was fun competing with a sibling or friend in one of four cups-- each with five tracks each-- or blast the balloons out of each other in battle mode.
No matter what mode you choose you'll have a fantastic time as I still do coming back to this decade-old classic!
- Mario Kart DS (DS)
Let's Kick Asphalt
Take the frenetic action of Super Mario Kart, add the handheld fun of Super Circuit, mix in the fantastic level design of Double Dash, and bring the true 3-d racing experience from Mario Kart 64 to a handheld, and you get Mario Kart DS. This game is the meatiest Mario Kart to date with 32 tracks-- 16 retro and 16 new-- new items such as the Bullet Bill and Blooper, 12 characters (four of which are unlockable), and numerous graphical touches that are becoming of the DS's abilities.
The biggest addition to Mario Kart DS was that it kicked off the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (for better or worse). This meant that for the first time players could race one another from across the globe. The online system was archaic even by 2004 standards. And then there's snaking-- don't get us started on that.
Nonetheless, Mario Kart DS remains my favorite Mario Kart/kart racer period, and Mario Kart Wii is shaping up to be even better.
Let's Kick Asphalt
Take the frenetic action of Super Mario Kart, add the handheld fun of Super Circuit, mix in the fantastic level design of Double Dash, and bring the true 3-d racing experience from Mario Kart 64 to a handheld, and you get Mario Kart DS. This game is the meatiest Mario Kart to date with 32 tracks-- 16 retro and 16 new-- new items such as the Bullet Bill and Blooper, 12 characters (four of which are unlockable), and numerous graphical touches that are becoming of the DS's abilities.
The biggest addition to Mario Kart DS was that it kicked off the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (for better or worse). This meant that for the first time players could race one another from across the globe. The online system was archaic even by 2004 standards. And then there's snaking-- don't get us started on that.
Nonetheless, Mario Kart DS remains my favorite Mario Kart/kart racer period, and Mario Kart Wii is shaping up to be even better.
X marks the spot.
I didn't really give the VC version of F-Zero X its fair share due to the fact that I very much prefer playing the game with the standard Nintendo 64 controller with rumble. Regardless, whichever version you played had a great sense of speed, thirty pilots with different craft to choose from and to compete against, multiple cups of varying difficulty, tracks that twisted and turned on top of themselves, a sensational soundtrack, and multiple rewards for the persistent gamer. Death Race was a phenomenal minigame in which you tried to destroy the other 29 pilots in a set amount of time while you race on a short, oval track.
This game had some of the coolest tracks, too. One cup was completely random-- meaning it created random tracks on the fly. There was also a version of Mario Kart 64's Rainbow Road created in all its glory-- just watch out for the sides! F-Zero X was a nice game to look back on for the Wii Virtual Console, but where it truly shined was on the Nintendo 64 where your friends could come over for some 4-player racing action without needing to invest in Classic Controllers. I love F-Zero X. XOXO
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS, SAT, DLC)
Music to My Ears
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was the first Castlevania game to follow a new Metroid-ish formula-- that is, you journey through a giant, explorable castle, gaining new abilities, to reach new rooms and castle areas. This is all the while earning experience from slaying monsters and the undead to gain levels giving you new skills, health and attack boosts, and other helpful bonuses.
The formula proved to be a rousing success as many Castlevania fans look back on this title as the best Castlevania, and for good reason. This title was originally released on the Playstation and Sega Saturn, the latter getting bonus content. Currently you can download this game from either Xbox Live or the Playstation Network. It's definitely worth it, especially if you're a fan of Dawn of Sorrow (which I'll get to later) or any of the Game Boy Advance Castlevania titles.
We'll see you next week, everyone! Have a great one!
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