Thursday, January 24, 2013

Favorite video games of all time: 30-21

By Jeff

Maybe the greatest thing that the newer generation of consoles provide is the ability to purchase older games for cheap and enjoy them all over again. I know there are emulators on the Internet that can get you these games for free, but it just isn't the same playing these games on a computer screen and with keyboards. Some games were made for that, "Secret of Mana" was not.

I just bough "Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" on the Wii. It is righting a wrong I committed long ago. Yes, I sold the game on SNES to Swan for $20. There was no good reason for it. I wanted money. Now, I have it back and am loving it.

You can find 100-91 here, 90-81 here,  80-71 here, 70-61 here, 60-51 here, 50-41 here and 40-31 here.

30: Super Street Fighter 2 (SNES, Sega Genesis) - Here was a fighting game that has withstood the test of time. It didn't need the gore of "Mortal Kombat" or the 3D environment of "Tekken". It just had awesomeness. Remember when I talked about conquering "HyperZone"? Well, the same friend lent me "Super Street Fighter 2" claiming M. Bison could not be beaten. Well, I took E. Honda and chopped Bison down, bitches! It was another of my greatest early gaming achievements.

29: Mario Kart (SNES) - F-You, Rainbow Road.

28: Mike Tyson's Punchout (NES) - I'm going to be honest right now. I never beat Mike Tyson. He knocked me out in one punch, multiple times. It's also interesting that this was more realistic than the "Rocky" movies.

27: Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3, XBox 360) - What was the biggest flaw of "GTA 3"? The main character never said a word. You knew nothing about him other than he just got out of jail. The game was great and revolutionary, but it's not like you had any connection to the virtual man you were controlling.

Not so with "GTA 4". Niko Belic may do some bad things, but he's just trying to take care of himself and his own. You want him to succeed, not just because you want to progress in the game, but you Niko to be happy. When the game takes a tragic turn, you feel for him and really want revenge. You never got that feeling in "GTA 3".

Finally, this game had so much freedom. You could go on the Internet for dates, watch TV and go just about anywhere. It was phenomenal. 

26: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) - This is perhaps the most visually stunning game the video game world has ever seen. It has a fun story line and some of the most memorable sequences I've ever experienced. The train section alone is mind blowing.

Sure, it was pretty much "Indiana Jones" but in video game form and no whip, but is that a bad thing? The answer is no.

25: Mega Man X (SNES) - I have tried to write this section several times and just can't do the game justice. It took the classic NES series and went to a whole new level. You could find upgrades; you had to work in order to get a full life bar; and if you beat one boss and level, it could affect another one. There were no button prompts telling you what to do. There was no tutorial. You figured out the game early and tried to master it by the end. I could play this game for hours on end, beat it and then immediately start playing again.

24: Diablo (PC, Playstation) - I probably went through this game at least 30 times on hell mode for the Playstation. Only once did I get the Grandfather. The best sword in the game. Lazarus dropped it. The mythical Grandfather. Josh, who got all of us hooked on the game, had always talked about it, but none of us had ever seen it.

Unfortunately, I got it on the Playstation. If you're not familiar with "Diablo" on the Playstation, you could not keep unique items when you restarted the game. So I only had one level of Grandfather awesomeness! It was sad to let it go, but the game had to go on... Stupid Playstation.

23: WCW/NWO Revenge (N64) - There would not have been a "WWE: No Mercy" if "Revenge" didn't exist. It revolutionized wrestling games. Today, the graphics may look terrible, but you forget that the moment you put your opponent on your shoulders and you have a buddy clothesline that guy's ass.

22: God of War 3 (PS3) - OK, I hate button prompts, and "God of War 3" relies on them. But that tells you how good the game is. What's interesting is, while the story is fun, you aren't necessarily rooting for the protagonist, Kratos. He is a jerk and would sacrifice the world and countless innocents just so he can take revenge on the gods. He's a selfish jerk, but it's so much fun hacking bad guys to bits with him!

21: Kingdom Hearts (PS2) - It would be higher, but it made Squall (Leon) from "Final Fantasy VIII" seem cool. He was not cool. He was lame.


No comments:

Post a Comment