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Posted: Aug 22 2005 03:25 pm

Alright people, here we go:

If you could make a top 5 list of the best video games you've EVER played, how would the list go?

Rate it based on playability, replayability, graphics, controls, story, enemies, and the Wild Card (something a game has that no one else does).

Mr. McCracken's Top 5

1. Mike Tyson's Punch Out (NES) - What ISN'T good about this game? As frustratingly addictive as it is simple, I would often sit for hours carefully timing Piston's Honda's eyebrow twiches so I could sock him in the face when he went in for the kill. I still play that game incessantly. The story was simple: you were Mac, and you wanted the title. Mike Tyson had it; to get to Mike you had to fight stereotyped boxers of varying difficulty. How can you go wrong with fighers like King Hippo, Von Kaiser, and Soda Popinski? That's right, you CAN'T. It was the first game of it's kind and easily the best boxing game on the market. I might even be willing to put it atop the best games for NES. There, I did it.

2. Metroid Prime (GameCube) - The original Metroid was incredible, but Prime shot the franchise through the stratasphere. The attention to detail, the sheer difficulty of the imaginative enemies, the sprawled-out level maps, the awesome storyline...this game had it all. The controls took a few minutes of repetition to get used to, but the training map at the start of the game took care of that transition nicely. the graphics are the best I've ever seen on a game, and I've seen XBox games. It was the hardest game I've ever played that was actually trying to be hard. Most "difficult" games are only that way because of sloppy controls or gameplay. Those gripes are non-existent in MP.

3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2) - Easily the most enjoyable game of the bunch for replayability. Does one ever get tired of stealing cars, blowing up yachts, fighting gang wars, and listening to sweet 80's music? Hell no. I know it's a sequel, and most sequels aren't terribly original, but this game was so far above its predecessors that I decided to include it. GTA III was not very enjoyable. The plot especially sucked. The controls for Vice City aren't terribly smooth, and neither is the frame rate at times. But the quality of gameplay more than makes up for those flaws. The divergent storylines and great characters make Vice City the type of game that you buy a PS2 solely to play this title for.

4. Wrestlemania 2000 (N64) - For over a decade I've been a wrestling fan. For even longer I've been a video game fan. So it would make sense that I would love a wrestling video game. And I do. Wrestlemania is the apex of wrestling titles. WCW/NWO World tour had a great engine made by THQ and Aki, WCW/NWO Revenge improved drastically on the Create-A-Player options and the overall gameplay, and Wrestlemania 2000 finally put all the peices together to make the greatest wrestling game I will probably ever see. My friends and I would spend entire weekends making our own characters and playing the Royal Rumble mode. Years worth of inside jokes and catch-phrases came from match after match of beating each other up. We never got bored, and we never stopped having fun with WM2000. Games would comes after it, but none as perfect. No Mercy would slow down, the controls weren't as fluid, the Create-A-Player too complex. Future titles for the XBox, PS2, and GameCube had sloppy controls and even sloppier storylines. I could play this game all day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

5. Half Life (PC) - I am not a huge fan of first-person shooters (which makes MP at #2 even more surprising). But the story, graphics, and overall absolute fucking creepiness of this game won me completely over. I found myself so entralled with the life of Gordon Freeman that I had to keep playing. Not to mention the all-encompassing awesomeness of the alien enemies and the way Sierra makes every single piece of machinery into a lethal weapon. I made the mistake of playing some of this game alone in a dark room and I almost crapped my pants. The game played linearly for the most part but that didn't bother me because there was so much to be done in each area. The controls were standard PC FPS fare, but a USB controller takes care of that.

There you go, people. Fire away. Razz

Posted: Aug 22 2005 06:12 pm

Top Five for the moment:

5. Sonic The Hedgehog 1-Knuckles (Sega Genesis)
Basically all the games ran together. Sonic 2 through Knuckles actually had a core storyline however. What was great about the games were they were simple and fun to play. There were no chilidogs or anything about Freedom Fighters. Spin action and flying that is waht Sonic is about. The music is also damn sweet. The new sonic sucks.

4. Comix Zone (Sega Genesis)
Nobody likes this game but me. Mixing comic action with a video game was damn sweet. The three main characters were sterotypically awesome. Cyan as the hot comic chick was actually pretty hot... at getting kidnapped; never get tired of letting her drown in the last level. Sketch is a narely main character. He looks like an 80s rocker/comic book artist. Mortis was a cool Aussie bad guy cyborg. He smokes a boom-a-rang, come on!

3. Streets of Rage Trilogy (Sega Genesis)
Repetitive, sure. Like other button munchers it is about beating up thugs. The game needed a few more females however, Blaze can't do it for the fan boys by herself.

2. Silent Hill Series (PS1-2)
The games are scary, sure, but they're all different. Silent Hill is like a well crafted book series. I wish it were a book series than a game, but whatever.

1. Metal Gear Solid (PS)
Smart, smart, smart action game. I never knew video games could have a convoluted plot as this game. Plus, unlike the sequels, it had heart. Naomi was a character who walked between good and evil and you cared what happened to her. Solid Snake was also a bad@$$ who actually gave insightful monologues. Plus, the bad guy is the guy who voiced Leonardo in the TMNT cartoons. Amazing!

I have no taste and I don't care.

Posted: Aug 22 2005 07:54 pm

I liked the concept of Comix Zone, but damn that game was impossible. I'm still trying to decide on my Top 5. I don't know if I could ever pick just five games...

Joined: Aug 22 2005 Posts: 328

Quiz and Dragons was pretty good, I heard... or read.... possibly on the internet. Confused

Posted: Aug 23 2005 10:44 am

Syd Lexia wrote:

I liked the concept of Comix Zone, but damn that game was impossible. I'm still trying to decide on my Top 5. I don't know if I could ever pick just five games...

Sure you could. There can't be THAT many games out there that come to mind andf you think to yourself "If I never played this game again I would die" or "If I never played this game in the first place, I wouldn't think the same way about video games now." The whole reason I can tolerate the whole FPS phenomenon is Metroid Prime and Half Life. I was just never much into Doom or Wolfenstein. It was too easy and/or repetitive.

Joined: Aug 24 2005 Location: Mount Holly, NJ Posts: 1062

I'm way too lazy to type out descriptions as to why I dig these games, but I'd have to say that my top 5 games are

Mega Man 2
Legend of Zelda 2
Final Fantasy 2 (and 7 to be fair)
Super Mario Kart
Dragon Warrior

I could pretty easily say that Mega Man 2 is my favorite game of those 5, but I don't think I'd be able to arrange the other 4 into some kind of order. Although now that I'm thinking about it, there's a bunch of games that I didn't list but could still make the top 5. But... like I said, too lazy.

Posted: Aug 24 2005 04:24 pm

Kubo wrote:

Legend of Zelda 2

The Adventure of Link!? Dude, come on. It's all about the bird's eye view action and the REAL Princess Zelda. My biggest problem with that game is that in the end Princess Zelda wakes up after centuries of sleeping... except... Link saved the present Princess Zelda in the first game! So, who is entitled to the throne!? I can see war breaking out in Hyrule... alas, despite these two games taking place at the end of the timeline, there's never been a part three wrapping it up. Ganon can still come back and... grrr...

Posted: Aug 24 2005 05:03 pm

I'm going to defend the Legend of Zelda 2. It's a solid game and it helped pave the way for later Zelda games like Link To The Past and Ocarina of Time. Towns, sidequests, magic... these were all introduced into the franchsie in Zelda 2. One of things I liked best about Zelda 2 was that it had more of an RPG feel to it than the original. Not only that, but Link would be pretty fucked in Smash Brothers without his downward thrust from this game. Ultimately it was a really fun game and there's never really been anything else quite like it. The only thing I can think of that even comes close is the SNES game Actraiser.

Joined: Aug 24 2005 Location: Mount Holly, NJ Posts: 1062

The Zelda series definitely has its roots in the sky-view as in the original Legend of Zelda, but the novelty of the side-scroll in part 2 made it fun for me. I'll admit, the ending was kind of lame, but the rest of that game was fun as hell. Luckily for me, I was only about 8 or 9 when The Adventure of Link came out- so the continuity problems with the real Zelda didn't phase me.

That being said, I really should have added Link to the Past to my list. It had the side quest novelty of part 2 along with the sky-view of the original. The original started it all, but I dug parts 2 and 3 a little bit more. I never could get into the later games like Ocarina and Windraker or whatever it was called... for the most part my video game preferences don't extend past about 1993.

Posted: Aug 25 2005 03:41 am

hmm. in my deprived state,I will try and give my best assesment.

5.Sonic the hedgehog 2 - Genesis
common. best Sonic game ever made by far. perfect,catchy music,genious level design,colorful enemys and backdrops. it's a game i remember playing when i was 5,sitting in the dark basement me and my brothers called a basement,listning to the dire straits. dont ask. please.

4. Super mario world - SNES
a game anyone likes to play. great level design,good secrets,fun gameplay. the only thing i hated about the game was the fucking water levels. I hate mario water levels. always.

3.Wolfenstien 3d - PC/Mac/SNES
In my opinion,still the best FPS out there. the original,and the king. great boss fights - simple,yet effective. no fucking "shoot the crate above the bosses head,or create some crazy gear and pully system to make him fall into lava",just Shoot,dogdge,shoot. thats it. cool level design. it was fun looking for all the secrets in the walls. plus,theres a pacman level.

2. the entire commander keen series,excluding the peice of shit gameboy version - PC
Where do i begin with keen. Funny,upbeat music,great color palletes,great enemys,cool level design,fun pogo system. just a fun fucking series. cool storyline too. Man,I wish I had a bean-with-bacon megarocket. that would be so cool...

1. I can't decide. i really can't. im such a lazy-stay-at-home kind of guy that i've played too many video games to pick a favorite.

but,I will name a few others that im very fond of.

Metal gear series,
final fantasy series,
Zelda: the wind waker (so much fun in this game)
the entire myst series,especially 1 and 4.
GTA series.
Contra 1,and 3. (fuck #2)
Double dragon (i have a fun drinking game called "kill a black person,take a drink." i own the standup arcade version of this game)
Street fighter 2 super mega turbo champion world edition.( ok,so that doesnt exsist. but,every version of it.)
Empire earth 2
Age of mythology/empires.

yeah,theres more,but those are among my favorites.

Joined: Aug 25 2005 Posts: 287

Hmm... So this is a difficult task. Five slots to pick the best games ever. Well, let's see...

5. Phantasmagoria for the PC/Mac. This game was revered by some and ridden pretty hard by others. It is essentially a FMV point-and-click adventure game that gained notoriety by having copious amounts of realistic gore AND a rape scene. I offer up that it was deserving of its accolades for a few reasons. 1) The scope of the production. This thing shipped on seven (yes, SEVEN) discs. At times you were switching between CDs so often, it felt like "open the drive tray" was an extra mini-game. Also, this was the first game to really make a serious effort to mix 3D animation and live-action in any sort of believable sense. 2) It was the "last hurrah" for Roberta Williams, Sierra On-Line's #1 game author. Following the success of this game, she tried to update her "King's Quest" series with an all-3D adventure and it tanked pretty hard. Shortly after that, SOL put out "Half-Life", became trendy, changed its named to Sierra Studios, and for all intents and puposes abandoned the point-and-click adventures they built their reputation with. 3) Like I just said, Sierra On-Line was a house built on Point-and-Click. They gave us "Leisure Suit Larry", "Space Quest", "King's Quest", "The Adventures of Willy Beamish", "Police Quest", "Rise of the Dragon"', et cetera, and "Phantasmagoria" was the culmination of that, though "Gabriel Knight II" had its moments (and better acting).

4. Base Wars for the NES. An unconventional choice, sure, but this game had ROBOTS PLAYING BASEBALL. Any game where the first baseman can use his arm cannon to destroy the incoming runner deserves to be played. Bonus points for having a kickass soundtrack. Thoughts of a wi-fi DS version of this game fill me with lust... and disappointment. No way will it ever happen.

3. Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt for the NES. Both are great games, but when I was a kid my mother was hesitant to drop money on cartridges left and right. The SMB/DH cartridge, then, earns HUGE points for a) containing two kick-ass classics and b) being a pack-in. That shit just doesn't happen anymore. Also, the NES light-gun still stands as possibly the best console gun accessory ever, though I did have some fun with the ridiculousness of the Super Scope 6.

2. The Legend of Zelda, originally for the NES (and re-released in emulated form on Gamecube and Gameboy Advance). I own three copies of this game, for three different systems. I play it all the way through at least once every 18 months. This is the game that DOMINATED the playground talk during recess in elementary school. If you were able to get the whistle from level 5, you were a god. Though, to be fair, getting the fucking hammer in "Zelda 2" was deemed to be harder and even more impressive. Still, though, for all the changes the series has undergone, it is the original that stands as its shining moment.

1. Shenmue for the Sega Dreamcast. I gave up life for this game. That's all I can say. I just... stopped functioning as I roamed the steets, looking for sailors and driving forklifts. I got weepy during the motorcyle ride with Nozomi. I felt a shockwave of mind-shattering awe when the boat sailed away at the end. "Shenmue II" is possibly a better game (at least the Dreamcast incarnation is...), but its awkward "gambling for money" system, as opposed to the original's job-based economy, keeps it from winning the fight. Now there are some "reliable reports" that "Shenmue III" is, in fact, ready to go for next-gen systems (ready to go as in "done"). Whatever console gets it, I will buy without hesitation, even if I never play anything else on the system.[/i]

Posted: Aug 25 2005 10:19 am

Phantasmagoria is a great choice. When I was in high school one of my buddies bought it, and subsequently we spent six months coming up with one-liners and inside jokes from the game. The "hint skull" at the bottom of the screen was the source of hours of enjoyment. Also, the gory death scene with the phonograph deserves it's own CD.

Base Wars 2020 would've been your average baseball game had it not been for two details: the Amazon women's team and the the fact that if you hit a person or robot too many times your team would be too damaged to continue. Syd and I played that game once and ONLY ONCE because he decided to hit every one of my batters. Eventually I had to forfeit.

Posted: Aug 25 2005 07:29 pm

S. McCracken wrote:

Syd and I played that game once and ONLY ONCE because he decided to hit every one of my batters. Eventually I had to forfeit.

It's been forever, but I think technically you won because it took several beanings to destroy a batter and I had walked in at least twenty runs before decimating your roster. I seem to recall the game also having some sort of bankroll system and being subsequently bankrupted because I got charged with replacing your team. I could be wrong on both counts though.

OK, I'm gonna to attempt to do my Top 5 now:

5. King's Quest IV (PC) - I had to include an old school Sierra game on here and since King's Quest was their flagship franchise, it might as well be a KQ game. But which one? King's Quest I and II were fun, but they were way too easy. King's Quest III was a steaming pile of crap. King's Quest V had groundbreaking 256 color graphics, voice narrations and even a song; it was an all-around great game. But it wasn't flawless. The game could crash in a few places (like the Labyrinth) and those parts where you found yourself wandering around the desert and the ocean hoping not to die weren't particularly fun. KQ5 also replaced the text interface with a far less fun icon system that sort of dumbed down the game. KQ6 was also amazing, especially because there were several different ways to win, but it also suffered from bug problems. I was a big fan of The Hole In The Wall and I managed to crash the game several different ways with that item alone. After King's Quest VI, the franchise lost its way entirely. KQ7 was pretty fun, but the switch to ultra-cartoony graphics really annoyed me. And King's Quest VIII, well, we won't even speak of that. So, my pick is King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella because it was the first KQ game I played and it was damn fun. The colors were good but not great and the puzzles were challenging without being frustrating. Well, except that fucking spiral staircase in the haunted house... it took me many tries and many save states to get up that thing without falling.

4. Mega Man Anniversary Collection (Gamecube) - I suppose technically this is cheating, but I don't really fucking care. For under $30, it has all 6 NES games, Mega Man 7 from the SNES, Mega Man 8 from the PS, and the two Power Battles games from the arcade. The best part is, they're all damn fun.

3. Goldeneye 007 (N64) - Although the graphics are dated now, this game is still a cut above your standard FPS. Let's see... it had addictive multiplayer, a wide range of fun weapons, a fantastic 1 player mode, and unlockable cheats that will keep you playing long after you beat the game. Especially the Invinciblity and Silver PP7 cheats. If you've played the game, you fucking know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. When people ask me what I hate Halo so much, I generally point to Goldeneye. There was so much attention to detail in Goldeneye and there is absolutely none in Halo. Halo has no subtlety to it, it is big, dumb, and predictable. If I were to make an analogy using musical acts, it would be this: Halo: Spinal Tap :: Goldeneye 007 : Pink Floyd.

2. Crystalis (NES) - OCTOBER 1, 1997. END DAY. This lost classic gave us some of the best graphics and gameplay that the NES had to offer. It mixed Legend of Zelda-like topview fighting with a fullblown RPG storyline. You also got chargeable weapons, learned magic powers like telepathy, teleportation, and even some half-assed shapeshifting! There were a few optional sidequests too. My mom was a manager at a local Blockbuster affliate during the height of my Nintendo addiction and I used her free rentals over and over to pick this up. When they sold it off to make room for new inventory, I made sure I bought it.

1. Super Mario World (SNES) - I could spend the rest of my life playing nothing but video games with Mario in the title and I wouldn't be disappointed. Even if you limited it to just platformers starring the high-pitched Italian plumber, I still don't think I'd get bored. But out of all the Mario games, Super Mario World is definitely my favorite. What WASN'T great about that game? It had Koopa Kids, Yoshis, hidden levels, hidden switches, and a mini boss that may or may not have been named after my favorite member of Nine Inch Nails' touring line-up.

Posted: Aug 31 2005 04:52 pm

My top 5 video games, in no special order:

5) Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (genesis)- Bright colors, huge chain combo possibilities, time bonuses, 2-player mode, and Coconuts, Scratch, & Grounder from the old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon show. Could play for score, time, or both. This puzzle game's like crack.

4) Streets of Rage 1 (genesis)- fast gameplay, team-up techniques, ninja twins, great music, Adam's playable, 2-player mode. SoR1 had unnamed bad guys, so my friends & I made up our own and created songs for some of them. It used our imaginations in a way that other SoR games can't compare. Good memories. Oh, and I still play this with my mom.

3) Pokemon Red (game boy)- had 151 monsters to collect, 160+ moves, high replayablity, and you could trade and fight with friends. My favorite pokemon were Scyther, Jynx, and Lapras.

2) The Legend of Zelda (nes)- The difficult 2nd quest was a mostly non-linear world. So we could figure out our own ways to complete the levels, and exchange specialties to other players. Exploration rocks. I usually completed level 8 first.

1) Rogue Trip (ps1)- you can blow up almost anything. This game is like Twisted Metal 2 (same maker, Singletrac) except there's a tourist that pays money when you take him/her/it to the photo oppurtunities. The money's used for repairs & weapon upgrades, so in order to live, you need the tourist. And 6-8 cars fighting for the tourist, that's when the fun begins. Excellent level designs, and up to 4 human players (with 2 TVs)? Right on.

These are great games that generally have fast gameplay, no time limits, room for experimentation, and supports 2 players.

Posted: Sep 03 2005 04:59 am

Well most of the games that I wanted to cover have already been mentioned, but here goes anyway (In no particular order because that would be impossible):

5. Goldeneye 007 (N64) - Doom was fun, but this was THE first person shooter. One FPS to rule them all. I couldn't put this game down when I got it and within a month had unlocked all the cheats, which was a pretty phenominal task.

4. Mega Man III (NES) - In my opinion this is the best Mega Man game ever, and one of the best platformers ever. While I can now zip through the game in about 30-40 minutes, it provided countless hours of fun while I was trying to beat it for the first time. (And the fact that I can play through the whole thing in 30 minutes now really adds to the replay value, because it's not a huge time investment to replay like an RPG. Speaking of RPGesque games...

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - Words cannot describe the awesomeness of this game. It lacks in replay value, because no one in their right mind would ever, EVER want to go through that fucking water temple more than once, but the gold skulltulas and other such collectible items provided for fun play after the game was over (And to a far more realistic extent than the collectible items in, say ANY fucking Rare game)

2. Diablo II (PC) - Syd or Spanky could both tell you about what has become known as the Black Summer. It was the summer where no one would leave there house to hang out as a group because we all wanted to go home and play Diablo II. Not cooperatively online, mind you, but all by our lonesomes. The majority of the summer that was not spent playing the game in solitude was spent discussing the game. That sort of reclusiveness could only be caused by one of the best games ever.

1. X-Men vs. Street Fighter (Arcade) - My favorite fighting game of all time, and I've played a lot. The characters were completely unbalanced, but that was half the fun. It was the first of the Capcom versus games, and while it may not have been the best, it paved the way for the Marvel. vs Capcom games. To my knowledge this game invented the tag format for fighting games, and was just...I'm getting teary eyed thinking about how awesome this game was. Oh, and for the record, my highest win streak in an arcade was 47 (There was a Korean kid that had gotten to 49, but he was at least 5 or 6 of my 47 wins so it's all good)

Posted: Sep 03 2005 06:24 am

Dr. Jennings wrote:

4. Mega Man III (NES) - In my opinion this is the best Mega Man game ever, and one of the best platformers ever. While I can now zip through the game in about 30-40 minutes, it provided countless hours of fun while I was trying to beat it for the first time.

That sounds highly dubious. There were 8 Robot Master levels, 4 Doc Robot levels, and all 6 parts of Dr. Wily's Castle. There's also that special Proto Man battle, but forget that. Beating the game in 30-40 minutes would require you to beat each level in under two and a half minutes. Unless you're playing some magic version of the game where Mega Man can run superfast, you've seriously underestimated the game's length.

Posted: Sep 03 2005 05:56 pm

I think you're overestimating how long the game takes, but as proof I'm gonna go beat the game now to find out. (though it probably is closer to 40, maybe 50 minutes)

#edit: It took me 68 minutes to beat the game, though my play was really sloppy (died 4 or 5 times) and the Gamecube collection also saves after every level, so that added a few minutes on there as well. On the NES, I can easily see beating it in under an hour.

Posted: Nov 02 2005 09:58 am

1. Final Fantasy VII: Fuck all the naysayers, this game's story was completely enthralling.

2. Suikoden II

3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

4. Alien Vs Predator Series(the one on Jaguar ruled)

5. Command and Conquer Series

6. DooM, Quake, Wolfenstein Series: I love all these different series equally.

Honorable mentions:

Resident Evil 4: if they do the same thing, make it longer, add more unlockables and extra everything else, this game will be the Mecha to Godzilla. Can you imagine a remake or a game like Resident Evil 2 on this engine? Imagine running around on rooftops with a sea of Zombies below you.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Winter Assault: They need to just keep doing Expansions for the game, adding new units and new races every time until we get every race from the 40k Universe. Then my manlove dreams will be fulfilled. Also a Space Hulk game based on this engine would be cool as hell.

Iron Soldier: More people really need to get a Jaguar.

Postal: Seriously. How can you not love this game?

Perfect Dark: The perfect FPS in some ways, but not in others. I can't believe people are playing Halo over this.

Shin Megami Tensei Series: Especially Digital Devil Saga and Lucifer's Fall.

Joined: Nov 13 2005 Location: Osaka Posts: 144

It is indeed hard to name a top five, but I'll give it my best shot.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics -- My first tactical RPG experience. I came for the familiar elements from the Final Fantasy universe, and I stayed (for 3 playthroughs in a row) for the variety brought by the huge number of jobs and skills. It's one of the few games when I've indulged in the hyper-nerdy "self-imposed limitations to enhance challenge" thing.

4. Super Mario All-Stars + World -- Whatever your favorite 2-D Mario game is, it's probably represented in this holy grail of a cartridge (if it's not you have crappy taste in Mario games). The needless graphical upgrades made me roll my eyes, but the being able to play with a vertical jump and run layout (SNES Y and B) made up for that.

3. A Link to the Past -- It's hard to chose a single Zelda game, but a list is less varietous with two games from the same series, so I must chose Part 3 to represent Zelda. Nothing in the series ever matched that wonderous feeling you felt when you thought you had the game figured out and finished, and suddenly you realized that you weren't even a 1/4th of the way through, and you had somehow turned into a rabbit to boot! This was back when all the secrets were findable without guide books (or worse--hardware accessories!), and when Nintendo games were still mildly challenging. I really hope the next iteration brings back a challenge that can appeal to someone other than retarded 3-year olds, or just breaks down and includes a difficulty level.

2. Shenmue -- If it weren't for that ungodly, ear-raping J-pop in the "rescue" scene, this might just rank #1 with me. Did it have particularly good action? No. Controls? No. Gameplay? Not by a hard definition, no. The story WAS the gameplay. It was like a movie for gamers (especially those who don't particularly like movies, like me). The graphics were ground-breaking, the story was engaging, and the acting and facial animation sold it all. I really felt Ryu's rage for the first game, and later when the exposition provided by secondary characters forced the player to question said rage I really felt the emotional turmoil that Ryu would have presumably been feeling. Within the two instalments I have cried like a sissy girl watching Titanic more exponentially more than any game or movie ever. And the quirks were the icing on the cake. In what other game can you acquire a video game, take it home, put it into your game console, and PLAY THE GAME INSIDE ANOTHER GAME? Forklift racing for figurines? A hot-dog salesman with an offensively bad accent who is revealed to be your "best friend" for NO REASON? It's like they made this game specifically with me in mind. If they ever bless us with another installment, I will buy two copies on opening day.

1. The Ultimate Doom -- How could you explain Doom to a console gamer in 1996 who had never touched a PC in a gaming context? Apparently the reviews in Gamepro didn't do a very good job, because when I had to chose between SNES Doom and UMK3 that year, I chose UMK3. My friend went with Doom, and by the end of the year it had spent twice as much time sticking out of my SNES as his, while UMK3 lay gathering dust on the floor. Once I got over the indescribable novelty of the first person camera (simply looking out onto areas that I had just been standing in kept me drooling for hours), the incredible levels and dark, foreboding atmosphere kept me hooked like no other game before or since--It was the last time I ever felt the child-like thrill that had thereto been almost exclusive to Nintendo games. Just the way it felt to move around in the environment is something I don't think has ever been quite matched. Doom made me skip school for several days, introduced me to coffee as a means to try to stave off sleep to increase the amount of time I could spend playing it, and literally invaded my dreams, frequently as I sat sleeping in front of the TV exhausted with the controller in my hand and my marine stranded mid-level. And as an adult, the Doom editing community gave me the best month of my life when I spent a full 30 days alone in my room, never once leaving my house, making the moderately celebrated Zdoom mod "A Warm Place".

"When it's done?" id Software, Doom 2 was never "done". The levels simply couldn't stand up to Episodes 1 through 4, and a new gang of enemies couldn't cover that up. Episode 1 is so immaculate that Daikatana couldn't shake my respect for Romero. In fact, he'd probably have to murder at least two of my loved ones before I lost the respect for him that Episode 1 instilled in me. It was the world's introduction to the best game ever.

Wow, that was too long.

Posted: Dec 02 2005 08:15 am

Man...what an impossible list to make. Let me think really hard...you may find my list to be domiated by PC games...well, I love console games too, but, man, there were some awesome PC games.

5. Quest for Glory Anthology: A funny, witty, action-packed adventure. It's too bad the adventure game genre is dead. The voice acting in QFG 4 brought the game to life and gave it tons of character. Playing through all four games as the same guy was also a great touch, you really felt like your hero grew and progressed through the different plots.

4. X-Com: UFO Defense: I can't say enough good stuff about this game. If you haven't heard of this game or played it, you're doing a great disservice to yourself. Get your ass to www.the-underdogs.org or www.abandonia.com and download this game, RIGHT NOW.

3. Doom 2: Admittedly, I never really played or got into the first Doom game. Doom 2 was the first game I bought and played on my brand new Pentium 100 dell, and I instantly loved it. A true classic that stands the test of time. If you wanna play some Zdoom or jdoom, hit me up some time. I like a good co-op romp through doom 2 any day of the week.

2. Fallout 1 and 2: Best RPG's ever made, bar none.

1. Quake: Definitely takes my number one slot game of all time. No FPS I've ever played has had such gristly, solid, action packed multiplayer, or been such a raw test of skill. The mods that came out for Quake, or TC's, completely redefined PC fps games. Mods took off hugely with Quake. Navy Seals Quake, a mod made by gooseman, the same person who would later go on to create the original (actually fun to play) counterstrike, started on quake. Half-Like itself wouldn't even exist without this game, so despite the awesome ness of that game, I have to give credit where it's due. King of PC FPS of all time!

Richo Rosai wrote:

I really felt the emotional turmoil that Ryu would have presumably been feeling. Within the two instalments I have cried like a sissy girl watching Titanic more exponentially more than any game or movie ever.

Is it okay that I tear up like a sissy girl at the end of studio ghibli movies such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service?

Joined: Feb 21 2006 Location: California Posts: 31

to be fare i think this question should be limited to one answer
which for me would be zelda 1
or if not one answer top 5 per console
becase compareing alot of consoles are like comparing apples and orangs

also i think the question can have different points of view

the question itself is realy asking which video games hold the deapest place in your heart

and im suprised to see with 5 answers from everyone i didnt see ICO

Also i think if the question was which games would you bring with you if you were going to be trapped on a desserted island.
and for that if it could only be one i might consider punch out instead of zelda

but anyway that is my question which games would you bring with you on a desserted island, and are they different from your favorite?

Posted: Feb 22 2006 09:11 am

Yeah, I'd want a sandbox game if I was on a desserted island. Something that lets you create as opposed to destroy, I suppose. Either that or contra.

*goes back to shooting things*

Joined: Mar 14 2006 Location: Everywhere Posts: 3

5. Resident Evil 4
FINALLY they shed the clunky and somewhat akward controls of the previous games and they god-awful camera for an over the shoulder view. The story was deep and the music helped move it along. The voice acting didn't make laugh like the others ("WOW!! What a mansion") and overall the game was just very fun to play.

4. God of War
'Nuff said

3. Super Mario Bros.
Normally this would be higher on my list, but eh I want to mention some others. This is the game that pretty much single-handedly saved the industry and for that it gets VERY high honors.

2.Kingdom Hearts/Metal Gear series
Two game series that I love to no end. Both include deep story lines and lasting characters and both have great gameplay and visuals.

1. Final Fantasy VII
A game that is as close to perfection as one can get. The story is deep and complex and hardly ever leaves you board. All of the characters are memorable and possess their own unique attitude and all of them grow in some way throughout the game. The musical score is definetly one of Uematsu's best and fits the game perfectly. Not to mention this game has one of the best villains ever created.

Posted: Mar 15 2006 01:23 am

Im torn between "The punisher" (capcoms 1993 version)
Caddys and dinos
and armored warriors

Posted: Mar 15 2006 02:06 am

5. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I've never logged so many hours into a single player game, this game is huge. I'd still be playing it today, but my level 49 character go f'ed up while I was saving.

4. Castlevania IV. This game only leaves my SNES when I want to play Tetris on my TV with my Super Game Boy.

3. Vagrant Story. I love that game, it's all really well made, and thank God for RPGs that don't have lame ass God damn love stories with two 17 year olds that want to fuck one another's brains out. I'm seriously tired of those games.

2. Contra. Contra! Bliss! 2D sidescrolling perfection! Contra defines 2D action games.

1. Bushido Blade. Yeah, that's right, Bushido Blade is the best game ever made in my opinion. I've never played a fighting game as deep or as tense as Bushido Blade, it's a God damn amazing game.