----------------------------------------------------------------------------------23. Metal Slug Advance(GBA) Noise Factory (SNK) [2004]Oh, boy, Metal Slug Advance. What a shamefully and unfairly dismissed game by its own fandom. Metal Slug fans tend to, for a combination of reasons, consider MSA to be a game that isn't even worth playing. The levels are backtrackable and contain hidden, permanent upgrades. There's a life bar instead of lives and there are health items to refill it. You can't play as any of the original characters... Bah, all excuses to not give the game a fair chance, if you ask me.
While it's definitely not the most faithful sequel in the series, Metal Slug Advance is a damn fine piece of work that is criminally overlooked. It retains the charm and challenge of its arcade brethren while also making great strides to improve its replayability for a home release. In a few ways, it really feels like what the Neo Geo Pocket games were trying to do, but is more faithful to the original games than they were.
Adding the ability to collect cards is one of the big things that makes MSA stand out. Rather than being a lame way of simply extending the replay value of the game by hiding pointless collectibles, the cards are often hidden rewards that permanently increase the capability of your weapons/vehicles, or are equivalent to achievements, as they're sometimes only given out for finishing off difficult challenges (such as killing bosses in record times, which requires upgrades to your weapons to do). This adds huge motivation to collecting as many of them as you can.
Some cards also open new paths in certain levels, adding an almost "metroidvania-esque" quality to the run 'n gun gameplay. There's an entire hidden level that's unlocked by one specific card, and that level is full of multiple exits and some of the best secret cards in the entire game. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea to have exploration cut into their fast-paced action game, I appreciated this change of pace quite a bit.
Metal Slug Advance likely holds the record as my most-played handheld game. While I'm unable to track the time I spent on it, I completed the game with 100% card collection (which, if you ask anyone who knows how difficult it is to get some of the boss rush cards, is quite a feat) over and over again, doing so many times on the hard difficulty, as well. It's darn addicting fun, and I seriously wish this was the direction Metal Slug had continued on for home releases, as everything else released after Metal Slug 3 has been a drag in one way or another.
EndingIt's corny, I know, but I found the ending to this game to be the perfect note to finish the game with. As the setting for the game had the two protagonists as recruits for the illustrious Peregrine Falcon squad, seeing them graduate after beating that really awesome last boss is invigorating and cheerful. The "Peace Forever" reminder at the end of the game is a cute way of showing that just because you made a violent game doesn't mean you actually advocate war, too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------HM. The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai(XBLA) Ska Studios [2009]The Dishwasher is a very interesting game in that it plays almost exactly like the fast paced brawlers/hack n slash games of modern day - the 3D ones, like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden - but it's entirely in 2D. What makes this so interesting is that I can't think of a single other 2D game that actually plays like this (plenty that are kind of similar come to mind, but none closely enough). Most other games that are similar to it, such as Shank, operate at a much slower pace and with less of an emphasis of stringing together quick combos.
The game's fast pacing is also coupled with a rather high difficulty level, making it a pretty intense challenge, especially on the "Samurai" difficulty level. Unlike its 3D brethren, I felt as though its combos were much more rewarding. Rather than mashing on an assortment of buttons and waiting for the moves to finish, attacks were instantaneous and satisfying to pull off. This put less of an emphasis on remembering lengthy combos for when the right opportunity opened up and more of an emphasis on reacting as quickly and effectively as possible.
Not only is the game mechanically sound and very responsive, but it's also incredibly stylish. While the sole developer for the game isn't the most talented artist ever, there's a strong consistency and violent, gothic look to the aesthetics I can't help but appreciate. It's easy to dismiss the game's largely black and white visuals, "edgy" stylings and melodramatic characters as overt appeal toward the "goth" subculture, but I think in doing that, you're missing out on something that's genuinely great in the process.
While this game was definitely a big hit with goths and hipsters, in general, it's something I'm certainly not ashamed to admit I enjoyed indulging myself in. I'm definitely no member of the subculture that it seems to appeal to, but that doesn't mean I couldn't enjoy the awesome soundtrack and haunting look of the game for what it was. It was a taste of something far outside the ordinary, for me, and I'm glad I got to experience it.
CharacterThe game's name comes from its protagonist, who was nothing more than a humble dishwasher prior to the beginning of the game. The creator of the game had apparently spent some time working as a dishwasher, finding it to be a thankless job of hard work. To glorify unsung dishwashers everywhere, he made the raddest one ever. A bit of a bizarre inspiration for a game, but it's just as cool as it is strange.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------22. Contra 4(DS) WayForward Technologies [2007]When Contra 4 was announced to be developed by a third party, I was one of the many singing the chorus of "What the hell is wrong with you, Konami?" Their previous attempts at outsourcing Contra had nearly led to the death of the franchise. They had contracted a company called Appaloosa to make two different Contra games for the PS1, both of which were tremendously awful and nearly universally reviled by fans of the series - unsurprisingly, their sales were nearly equally abysmal. Given that WayForward were relatively unknown, the fan reaction was pretty justified.
As soon as screenshots were released and the website went up for the game, though, things definitely changed for the positive. It quickly became obvious that these people were as much fans of Contra as anyone was. Anticipation for the game built up, and I got it as soon as I could the first day it was out. Upon playing it, fears were erased and it quickly became evident this was the first true sequel we'd gotten to the series since Contra 3. In fact, it was perhaps even truer to the original NES games than even Contra 3 was, but also built upon a few of the mechanics present in Contra 3.
The most obvious change to the game was that it now took place on two screens. While this is its most outstanding factor, it honestly only helps the game during a few bossfights, and can otherwise cause a bit of confusion or become too distracting. This change did help to accent the new grappling hook mechanic, though, which would allow you to zip to the top of a screen at nearly any time, provided you had something to grapple onto. This new ability added additional strategy to the game, especially during some of the more thrilling boss fights, and it felt like a logical progression to the ability to climb on walls/ceilings that was introduced in Contra 3.
Holding two weapons at a time was back, but you could now pick up the same weapon on top of an older one to "upgrade" it. Given that Contra games have always encouraged the player to do daring runs with as few deaths as possible, and this was a clever way of helping encourage that further. The level designs in the game were excellently made, reminiscent of past games and still full of fresh new content. Several bosses returned in entirely new and exciting ways, and the levels would sometimes aesthetically resemble past favorites, but be entirely built from the ground-up as fresh, fair and challenging experiences.
The game's soundtrack followed right after the game design, with a combination of old remixes and new tracks. All of it was composed by the internet-famous "Virt," a fan of the Contra series and excellent musician when it came to capturing the essence of classic gaming. On top of everything already mentioned, the game even had an expansive "challenge mode," quite a few playable characters that weren't just palette swaps, a museum mode and both NES Contra games playable on the cartridge.
Contra 4 managed to pay homage to the games that came before it without becoming too wrapped up in keeping things overly familiar and stagnating progression. It's not just "another Contra game," it's a true sequel that honestly manages to capture everything good there is about Contra, add a little unique pizazz, and condense it into a brand-new game.
LevelI'm honestly not sure how Contra 4 got away with only having a T rating by the ESRB considering that the last level opens with a factory used for processing human corpses. And, I mean, it just
opens with that... The majority of the level is spent inside the alien leader's body after he's absorbed the flesh of thousands (millions?) of those corpses and become utterly freaking tremendous. Half-living bodies writhe in agony inside his grotesque form and the final boss battle takes place inside his skull. If that's not badass, I don't know what is.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------21. Valkyria Chronicles 2(PSP) Sega [2010]After the beauty of the original Valkyria Chronicles, hearing the sequel was damned to a portable release was agony to the ears of many fans expecting a full-fledged PS3 sequel. The series was widely acclaimed for its unique visuals that made it resemble a watercolor painting, and that was something you simply just
couldn't do on a current portable gaming system. My disappointment was powerful, but after the original game had performed under expectations, I counted myself grateful to be getting a sequel at all.
After the game was released in Japan, I was joyed to hear that it was going to be released in the Americas... although the release date was quite far off. I waited patiently and eventually tried out the demo, which was enough, alone, to rekindle my excitement for the series and pre-order the game. As soon as the game came out, I was hooked. And I seriously freaking mean completely and utterly
hooked.
Before I get to what makes the game great, there were some disappointments. The school setting for the game meant that the cast of characters had been seriously reduced in their appealing qualities to reach out to a more "shonen" demographic. The story and setting also suffered equal parts because of this. Battlefields, obviously, had to made smaller to match what the PSP could render at once, too, which unfortunately wasn't a whole heck of a lot.
That said, the characters did end up growing on you quite a bit and it wasn't as though the story was terrible, just less interesting and a bit more farfetched. Each character (albeit less interesting than the original cast) was fleshed out more than in the original game, which was a huge plus, as they each received unique missions to play that would strengthen the protagonist's bond with them. The battlefields being made smaller also
increased the strategic element to the game, as they split each battlefield up into multiple sections, making you capture points on each one to move between them.
Many aspects of the game were cleaned up, and although they introduced many new filler missions that had less to do with the story, the overall amount of content was greatly increased. Sure, some aspects did suffer, and it was on a dinky little handheld, but it was an excellent game. It can still be considered "one step forward, two steps back," when taken from a whole, but the original game was just so darn good that that isn't really a remotely large criticism.
MechanicThe thing that made this game stand out the most from its predecessor is the intense amount of customization that you can do, especially to something like your tank. While including a ton of new classes for personell was a great idea, it was a bit expected. What really impressed me was how many options they gave you to modify your tank, which was one of the most important units to your group throughout the entire game, regardless of difficulty of the mission. You could make it slow and powerful or a glass cannon trooper-carrier, but whatever you did, you made it unique to you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------20. Mega Man Legends 2(PS1) Capcom [2000]The first time I laid my hands upon Mega Man Legends 2, I took to it a little bit reluctantly. Mega Man Legends had had such an impact on me when I had played it that that I wasn't sure if a sequel could ever really live up to original, and the plot, which I had been told bits and pieces of, really seemed to be too far out there. The original Legends had taken a drastic departure from Mega Man formula of any kind, and while I had loved it dearly, I begun to have very skewed expectations of what to expect out of it after my admiration for the first game had set in so heavily.
I went to Mega Man Legends 2 like a diehard, "Classic" Mega Man fan went to Mega Man Legends - much too skeptically. While I still loved how the game played, I missed how each of the dungeons were connected like they were back on Kattleox Island. I was thrust into a much larger world with a much grander plot making the events of my cherished classic seem like an insignificant prologue.
Everything was happening so quickly that I could barely take it in, and by the time I had made it to the end of the game, I had no idea what to think. The story for Legends 2 ends on a cliffhanger after multiple, extravagant revelations are made, and my younger mind understood extremely little of what was going on and had no idea whether to love the game for the improvements it had made or hate it for being different. I sat on the fence on my opinion of Mega Man Legends for a few years before I came back to it with a better understanding.
Upon coming back to it as a more skilled gamer with a more open mind and a few years of leaving the game to marinate, I was able to appreciate its higher difficulty and more complicated plot. Legends 2 often gets flack for taking the series' more humble beginnings a little too far, but it's in having pushed the boundaries of an already revolutionary game that makes Mega Man Legends 2 so much better. The more the game ages, the more upsetting it is that it didn't carve its way for sequels. I mean, the concept for Legends is so genius I'm actually upset that it didn't spawn an entire
genre of similar games.
The Legends series, in general, has aged tremendously well, especially for a game from its era. Back when polygonal graphics were still ugly as sin, Legends had stunning visual charm that still holds up today, and Legends 2 pushed the PS1 to its limits in rendering such a colorful, outstandingly detailed world. I'm repeating myself, really, though. I wish I had a lot more to say about why Legends 2 stands out, but I always devolve into gushing over how the series never got the appreciation it deserved.
"Charm" is a funny word to describe to other people, as it's roughly as subjective as "fun," but it is where Mega Man Legends 2 shines its strongest. Relating to others why exactly Legends 2 left me with such a positive experience is so difficult to do, as I can't put precisely put into words why its world delighted me so or how its characters became so likable and came to life to me. While the original Legends was a fantastic game, Legends 2 manages to just eclipse it in terms of quality and bring all of its standouts to a peak... Knowing that Legends 3 was damned nearly from the start is so depressing.
CharacterYeah, I'm picking the same character as a highlight, again. Deal with it. Tron Bonne is really just that superb a character with that strong a charisma, and what can I say about her that I haven't already said?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------19. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne(PS2) Atlus [2004]Out of every game on this list, there is not one other entry that managed to suck me in quite as much as this one. From the the time I started the game to the time I beat it, only about 5 days elapsed, but I had spent roughly 90 hours playing the game. It's the most intense marathon gaming that I've ever done, and although not quite the best experience I've ever had gaming, definitely the most engrossing.
What makes Nocturne such a powerfully captivating game is a combination of many aspects, but the most important of which is that the game is an unmistakably well-refined dungeon crawling RPG. It's not afraid to punish you for making mistakes or coming into a new dungeon ill-prepared, and forcing the player to think and manage their party is something that is dreadfully absent from some of the most popular RPGs out there (even in games like FF7, the Materia system turns every character into nearly the same party member).
Being able to recruit any demon you come across into your party allows the game to have an incredibly extensive amount of customization, and the ability to fuse your existing demons into more powerful forms and recreate your older ones makes the game both diverse and deep (if at the expense of a little bit of excessive complication). While it's possible to permanently mess up a few things, there's a way to work your way through about everything so long as you've got a combination of common sense, patience and the ability to plan.
The soundtrack for Nocturne is one of my all-time favorites in gaming, as it goes along
perfectly with the unique artistic direction and post-apocalyptic feel of the game. Shoji Meguro's composing talent really comes out in each tune and delivers a unique, intimidating feel to the game that really makes you feel like you're confronting the power of fate, itself. Many of the tunes are inspiring, awesome and haunting at the same time, which help the player to more easily find themselves in the embrace of the game's thick atmosphere.
Exploring the end of the world is about as depressing as one would expect it to be, and having (un?)luckily found yourself in a position with the capability of amassing great power, you're pressed at several points in the game to make incredibly uncomfortable philosophical decisions about how to shape the world as you see fit. For some, it's easy to say "it's only a game" and capriciously decide. For me and other fans of the game, however, quite a few of these decisions were uneasily made and required considerable deliberation.
All in all, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is a masterpiece of its genre. Every facet of it comes together to create an outstanding game. It's thought-provoking, challenging, beautiful and unforgettable. While I may be a very common critic of the (jRPG) genre, I respect and admire Nocturne quite deeply and consider it to be unmatched in terms of quality among its peers.
CharacterThrust into the end of the world as one of but a small handful of human beings surviving the apocalypse, your character embraces the power of what has destroyed this world to become a demi-fiend - one caught between being a human and a demon. While he's a silent protagonist whose personality is largely up for you to decide, he stands out as the most vibrant symbol of the game and works excellently as an avatar for you to explore the game's world. I just wish he would have had a female counterpart to play as for better immersion.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------18. Kirby Super Star(SNES) HAL Labs (Nintendo) [1995]Truly the best Kirby game ever made and one of the best action-platformers of all-time, Kirby Super Star is an amazing game sure to rock the socks off of both the most nubile gaming fans and grumpiest hardcore gamers, alike. It takes Kirby's strong amount of charm, mixes it with many familiar elements from the series and then puts it into a blender with tons of new ideas and ambitious scenarios. It may not
actually be six full games in one, but it definitely packs the advertised punch with its massive amounts of variety.
Anyone familiar with the Kirby series is well aware that it's lacking a bit in the challenge department, but that's part of what makes Super Star so appealing. The most important aspect of the game is the ability to play with a second player who essentially stays alive so long as Kirby is (Kirby has the ability to regenerate them or give them full health at the cost of his current power). This makes it so that you can play the game with anyone without them slowing you do or interfering (much) in what you're doing. In my case, I've played with with many friends, but the best memories I have are playing it with my younger brother... who wasn't exactly what I'd call a very good player back when we first picked the game up.
Playing this game with another person is really sublime, as it's easy to pick up and still retains just enough challenge for you to consistently feel like you're doing something. In a stroke of genius, they made sure the screen only scrolled with the first player, making it so that you'd never be yelling at anyone to hurry up or become frustrated with the lesser skilled player's slowness. I can honestly only think of a single game that I've enjoyed playing with other people in a co-operative manner more than I enjoyed this particular game, which is a statement I make as a pretty darn big fan of sitting back with a friend and playing co-op games.
The variety within Kirby Super Star (there are so many powers, and so many ways to use them!) makes it so that there's something appealing to nearly every gamer out there, including a few competitive modes that really try out your racing skill, reflexes and sense of timing. Although most of the "games" within Kirby Super Star focus more on the actiony side of platforming, there's appeal to those out there that are fans of exploration and slower paces, as well. One mode is focused on treasure hunting over a single, enormous level with dozens of treasures to ultimately collect that involve clever puzzles forcing you to make full use of the repetoire of abilities Kirby can absorb. Another mode has you travelling from planet to planet and collecting permanently added abilities as you go.
Even players insulted by Kirby's low difficulty are thrown a bone with the Arena mode, which packs some genuine challenge to it. KSS's soundtrack and visuals are phenomenal, as well, truly showcasing some of the best tunes and graphics the SNES could offer with a great smoothness to both. All-in-all, it's some of the most fun I've ever had gaming and I have countless positive memories with the game. It's commonly treasured, even today, and fairly recently received a really fantastic DS "remake" that managed to get everything right and even add onto the already robust package.
LevelThis moment, as a child, stood out to me as nearly unequivocally rad. Kirby may be a bit oriented toward younger ages and definitely carries with him an adorable look and demeanor, but that doesn't stop him from occasionally having his badass moment or two. Escaping Meta Knight after having just trashed his gigantic war machine is probably his all-time coolest moment, and the credits sequence does justice to how cool the "Revenge of Meta Knight" segment of the game was.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------17. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves(PS3) Naughty Dog [2009]Before I even finished Uncharted, I had already purchased the sequel and was waiting for the right time to play it. I was letting the first game age a bit in my perception before I immediately thrust myself into a sequel that was widely acclaimed as being better in every single way. I wondered how exactly the first Uncharted's Indiana Jones-esque atmosphere and characters could become any more charismatic than they had been in their original outing, and I was really curious as to what could top such a fantastic adventure.
After having taken enough time to find out exactly where I stood with the first game, which was a few months, I decided to go ahead and tackle the second, eagerly anticipating what was to come. Needless to say by its high position on this list, I was blown away. Nearly everything about Uncharted 2 was just
better in its sequel, aside from the quaint "jungle adventure" charm it had lost in its change of scenery and setting taking place all across the world, rather than on one secluded island.
Like the first Uncharted, Among Thieves is everything you would want out an outstanding action flick put into everything you'd want in an outstanding TPS. It has captivating scenery, outstanding setpieces, enthralling action sequences and fascinating characters, all of which roll up into one incredibly cohesive game that is utterly packed to the brim with excitement... There are also bits of love, drama and a healthy dose of comedy to health ease the tension and make the cast all that much more likable.
While it does little to change the core mechanics featured in the original game, the platforming sequences are much more breathtaking and some of the bigger, actiony setpieces are just superb. All the while that it's managing to be a treat to both your eyes and ears, it never relents in delivering a finely-tuned, well-oiled TPS that never keeps you behind cover and taking pot shots for too long, unlike most other popular games in the genre.
It's hard not to take to Uncharted 2 with all the wonderment of a child, and I say that as someone generally stoic to being truly "immersed" in a video game. While the story does nothing to really challenge the way the player thinks, it certainly does its job of making you feel very involved. I never grew bored while playing this game, and have been anticipating the sequel since the very moment I finished it. I hope that the Uncharted series manages to keep its level of quality throughout all of its lifespan, because they've got so much potential to keep it going and build on its intense richness.
CharacterAlright, as much as I love Sully, I'll go ahead and admit that the protagonist of the series was really the best character in
either game... It just wouldn't have been fair to pick Drake twice (only Tron Bonne gets that privilege). With his daring charm, wisecracking attitude and jawdropping heroics, it's difficult to not root for Nate in the same way that you rooted for any childhood hero that you had. Sure, he may be one more charming rogue begrudgingly turned into a hero out of a million, but who doesn't like that archetype, and I'll be damned if he isn't up there among the best of them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------HM. Halo Wars(360) Ensemble Studios [2009]When I first heard about Halo Wars, I honestly thought it was the most neckbearded manchild idea this side of giving your spartan a freaking
katana as an armor attachment in Halo 3. The idea of making "Halo Starcraft" seemed so ridiculous that I could barely fathom it as even being real. Was Microsoft really doing this? Were they seriously going to launch an RTS set in the Halo universe? It wasn't just that I disliked the idea of the two genres merging, I'm also really none too fond of RTS's.
Maintaining my position after the game's release, I continued to believe it was trash until a few friends of mine, after buying the game and loving it, convinced me to finally play the demo. Certain I wouldn't enjoy it, I pressed through it and began liking it so quickly that my foot deserved a permanent place in my mouth. I had insulted them for buying this, and, from the demo, it actually appeared to be a really fun game.
Ever generous, my friends even offered to pay for part of my copy so that I could hop online and play it with them as soon as possible. I was immediately hooked, enough so that even beyond just playing with them, I must have spent at least a hundred hours playing one on one matches. It's not just that the game had an excellent online mode, either. It also had a seriously stellar campaign with fun levels, a really good story and memorable characters.
The famous saying goes "never judge a book by its cover," well, never judge a game by its genre, either. Halo Wars was seriously about up to par with the quality of the rest of the Halo series, and I'd go as far to say that it even had a more interesting storyline than the trilogy. For a console RTS, Ensemble probably couldn't have made a better game. It's truly a shame that the game didn't perform quite as well as Microsoft wanted it to... I'd loved to have seen a sequel, and ending on a cliffhanger is just lame.
CharacterAlthough I really liked Halo Wars' cast, in general (Anders and Cutter both deserve major props), the star of the show was Sergeant Forge. He may have had bald space marine syndrome, but this guy certainly made up for it with his charming personality, sharp wit and combat prowess. Nolan North tends to turn any character he touches to gold, and Forge certainly wasn't exception to this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------16. Super Castlevania IV(SNES) Konami [1991]If I had to pick the Castlevania game that I thought best embodied the series... if I had to pick the epitome of Castlevania, I would pick Castlevania IV. While I don't necessarily consider it the very best in the series (though it's awfully close), it really manages to bring everything together in such a way that it really demonstrates the "spirit" of Castlevania to me much better than anything else released in the last, what, 10 years?
So, what makes this entry, in particular, truly the most deserving of the Castlevania title, to me? I'd say the biggest accrediting factor is that it's because it's a definitive bridge between the Castlevania games before and after it in both atmosphere and style of play. The older Castlevania games, particularly the first NES title, owe a lot of their style to paying homage to classic horror movie monsters like Frankenstein's monster, mummies and Dracula. Their basic mechanical foundations lied upon tight platforming and precise, methodical play.
Many of the Castlevania games released after Super Castlevania IV, on the other hand, were considerably more lenient than the "old school" ones. They often incoporated exploration, had much more leniency in their difficulty and were considerably longer games. CVIV incorporates elements from both worlds and combines them into one game that manages to both differentiate itself from the other Castlevania games, but also stand out as the biggest example of the series' history in game design.
Although still linear, environments are much larger and contain a few more elaborate secrets. The platforming, while still challenging, has been made more forgiving by the inclusion of being able to change direction in mid-air and. Your whip can also attack in all 8 directions, which makes it so that you're given much more freedom in how to tackle an enemy, but still restricts you to your one primary weapon. The game is never too strict, but never becomes as lax as the more recent Castlevania games in giving you too much freedom.
The atmosphere manages to pay strong homage to classic movie monsters and their settings, keeping true to Castlevania's roots, while also having a strongly gothic vibe that the later games tried capitlizing more strongly upon. In many ways, it's the best of both worlds, and is just casual enough for me to sit down and replay very few months without being so easy that I grow bored or so strict that I'm not quite "relaxing."
To sum it all up, I feel the same way I do about Castlevania IV that I do about ordering a cheeseburger at a fancy restaraunt. I'm indulging myself in a rich and delicious experience with all the trimmings of a fancy meal, but I'm still eating a burger, which is something I find cheap and familiar but still so very goddamn appetizing.
MusicOne of my favorite parts about Castlevania, in general, happens to be the music. Super Castlevania IV has to have one of my favorite game soundtracks ever, despite being from an early SNES game where everything sounds MIDI quality. It was hard to pick one song as the highlight, but the Theme of Simon just sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the game and is easily one of the most recognized tunes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------15. Resident Evil 4(GameCube) Capcom [2005]I struggle to call this my favorite Resident Evil not because I'm anywhere remotely near considering another Resident Evil superior to it, but because I have such a difficult time considering it a part of the series that it's hard to say its title is even appropriate. RE4 completely rids itself of the "survival" aspect of survival horror, and tones the "horror" bit down quite a few notches, to the point where it's almost exclusively tongue-in-cheek about the whole ordeal. Sure, there are still gigantic monsters, and death still lies around every corner, but I have a very difficult time discerning whether or not it was even meant to be "scary."
RE4 takes a drastic departure from previous entries in the series by shifting focus over to action. While still considerably more methodical in how it plays when compared to other popular TPS games, environments are now more linear, easier to explore and filled with considerably more enemies that are much more fun to kill than anything in the older games. All of these changes are ones that I consider improvements, but I won't deny the feel of the series being lost in the process.
Abandoning most of the story from the previous games and picking up a fresh setting was one of many right moves that the team on the game made when crafting this masterpiece. Wondering around an infinite number of mansions and mansion-like structures while storming around the epicenter of one catastrophe we all knew more than we wanted to know about helped break RE4 free of its shackles that were dragging the series to its grave. Going through Spanish countryside with angry, pseudo-zombies everywhere kept the sense of isolation the previous games had, but added a grander sense of adventure and excitement.
The changes to the mechanics moved RE4 to a place distinctly set apart from its slow-paced predecessors, but still managed to reside well enough outside of the mainstream that it didn't become just like every other shooter out, at the time. Having to stop to shoot left traces of its history in how you played, keeping a somewhat disciplined manner of play that gave it a feel unlike any other game. That, coupled with the brilliant idea of having shots on different parts of the body make the enemy react differently, helped create one of the best shooters I've ever played, and will ever play.
The bottom line, really, is that Resident Evil 4 is a fantastic and surprisingly even revolutionary game. Its tongue-in-cheek "horror" settings, light exploration and excellent shooting mechanics keep it from insulting the intelligence of more methodical gamers while still maintaining appeal to even the most braindead shooting fan. Why it didn't influence more copycats and was met with a whorishly mediocre sequel is beyond me, but it still stands as a real landmark in game design.
CharacterWhat better highlight to pick from Resident Evil than its completely revamped and now badass protagonist, Leon Kennedy? Leon may look a bit too "stylish" for his own good, but in a world where your genre is occupied by macho men that pride themselves on having little-to-no personality, I have to ask if that's not a
good thing. Leon's slick looks and cocky, "good guy" personality really help shape him as a stand-out protagonist amidst a sea of boring shooter heroes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------14. Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo(PC Engine CD) Konami [1993]My favorite Castlevania game, bar none, no contest. Rondo of Blood, as it's called in the states, has pretty much everything that a true fan of challenging action-platforming could ever want. Tight controls, beautifully detailed characters and environments, branching levels and a strong, but fair difficulty level. While Castlevania IV may epitomize the Castlevania name, to me, Rondo is definitely the first game that comes to mind when I think of the best of the series.
Although Rondo might have been one of the first Castlevania games to really begin to give into the "anime" scene (which overwhelmed and nearly ruined a few future titles, like Dawn of Sorrow) by having a few cutscenes with clearly anime-looking characters, it thankfully kept a very late eighties aesthetic to the designs. This helped the game become much more charming to me, and made the characters more exciting and relatable. While characters like Alucard and Shanoa are cool and everything, they're also rather stiff and dull. The touch of anime present in Rondo adds a bit of pizazz to keep it from being overly gloomy, adding a metaphorical light in the darkness of otherwise depressing settings.
Keeping in line with the best Castlevania platforming and action and even managing to exceed it in quality by a noticable measure, Rondo plays true to its roots. Precise, committed jumps and whipping actions make you think out your attacks, rather than just blasting into the enemy with everything you've got. The mechanics can seem cruel and unforgiving, but they're a terrific challenge to finally overcome. Memorizing a boss's pattern and then laying down the hurt on them really manages to satisfy, and getting through that one tricky section in a level is just as gratifying.
Rondo of Blood, in one sentence, is tremendously talented game design and artistic direction focused into a challenging, linear game. Although I have loved Castlevania games that were chronologically released after it, and still enjoyed its remake, it was the last great Castlevania game of its kind to be released. Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth tried to bring back that flair, but it fell short of qualifying as a revival and didn't reignite that old Castlevania spark. As a series, Castlevania's future may be dead to me for the time being, but that doesn't mean I can't go back and still enjoy the hell out of a truly remarkable game like this one.
BossVery easily one of my favorite boss fights in all of gaming, this particular clash with Death atop the ghost ship is nothing short of amazing. The atmosphere of this fight couldn't be any more perfect, and Death is really characterized as more tenacious that you'll ever see him in another Castlevania. I really think there's an
art to making a boss fight in a video game really come togehter, both thematically and mechanically, and this fight against Death really exemplifies that art form.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------13. Mass Effect(360) BioWare [2007]Most of us likely still have memories of sitting down on whatever console we first picked up and imagining where gaming was going to take us in the future. Of my earlier memories where I thought of where I wanted gaming to go, I wanted a game where you could play as a hero that was modeled after you, and have every character in that game react in a believable way to your heroism. While I did dabble a bit in RPG's, they never satisfied my want for this. Characters would either be entirely blank canvases or far too defined to be considered personal.
Years went by and I grew up, my sense of fascination with fiction dying and being replaced by the stoic gaze of adulthood. It wasn't that I couldn't enjoy a good story, anymore, it's just that immersion felt like it was gone almost entirely. Putting a cup on my hand and pretending I had a mega buster or Samus's arm cannon just didn't bring things to life to me, anymore. It wasn't that I had stopped enjoying video games, it was just that the magic, in a sense, was gone.
Gone... but not forgotten. My decision to get Mass Effect was mostly on a whim, but I felt in a particularly adventurous mood at the time, and I wanted a sci-fi roleplaying experience. Shortly into the game, that childhood perspective on games began to flow back, where I could really pretend that I was Command Shepard. The role-playing in Mass Effect was and is something I consider to be completely and utterly phenomenal. It revolutionized how I look at the future of gaming.
Being able to select from such a wide range of choices and actually feel the impact of those choices utterly delighted me. Some part of me could get away and believe I was really this space heroine out there saving the universe. It was what I had
only imagined games would do when I grew up, and the fact that a game like this had actually come to be really blew my mind.
Coupled with Mass Effect's fantastic role-playing is the mostly seamless integration of a competant third-person shooter with some "old school" RPG customization thrown in there for good measure. While the shooting mechanics and battles might not stand well enough on their own to get by in a good game, everything else about Mass Effect floats the game up to levels beyond superb. Sure, I'll admit that it wasn't on par with other shooters for its time in the shooting department, or other RPGs in terms of stat management, but it's a game that's truly more than the sum of its parts.
I will admit that I judge Mass Effect through a tinted looking glass, especially so considering my affinity as a younger child for things like Star Trek: The Next Generation and my overactive imagination, but I don't care. Despite its glitches and shortcomings, and all the shitty driving-around I had to do in the Mako, Mass Effect stands as one of the most enthralling and immersive experiences I've ever had with a video game. Now if someone can just get me to play The Witcher...
CharacterNo matter what gender Shepard you played, they were... YOU were the true star of Mass Effect. You could go into a situation as diplomatically or roguishly as possible, demanding the world react to your decisions. It felt good to no longer just be reacting to the game, but to also have the game genuinely react to you. The best part is, no matter how tame you might be in real life, the Shepard you painted yourself as was a badass. Sure, it's escapism, but it's hard not to revel in when it's so well-done.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------12. Under Defeat(DC) G. Rev [2006]I mentioned earlier that I was a huge fan of R-Type Final because its atmosphere was so rich and developed that I just fell in love with it, and Under Defeat, my favorite shmup ever, definitely owes a great deal of its high position on here to the completely stellar atmosphere portrayed within. I've always had a really sweet spot for scenarios that are
like World War II,
but are decidedly different. The idea of playing as a German-speaking country as the besieged underdogs valiantly fighting back for some reason strongly appealed to my sense of curiosity, and I wasn't one about to pass down the most positively acclaimed shooter on the Dreamcast.
Upon finally figuring out how to burn games for my Dreamcast, I got a working copy of Under Defeat to play and dove right into it. From there, it was raw gaming magic. It combined the visceral and challenging gameplay that any good shooter has with beautiful aesthetic design rarely seen in the genre and a really killer soundtrack. Each stage in the game was absurdly detailed for a 3D-rendered shooter and painted such beautiful battlefield scenery that it made my senses gush with admiration.
I don't know what it is about
war that excites some people so, but Under Defeat really manages to capture both the glory and despair of it, for me. Rather than being a lone pilot off to save the world, you were fighting alongside your army, and your countrymen would often die beyond your control. It worked to help me further get into the game and feel inspired to fight back. It made me want to win and to save my people, and like any excellent shmup, it gave me a true feeling of struggling against desperate odds. The high difficulty level ends up feeling like an allegory for the dire fate your pilot and her country face.
Under Defeat's mechanics operate in a way unique from most other shooters, allowing you to pivot the axis on which your craft fires, and stay fixed in that position both to aim at enemies you wouldn't otherwise be able to quickly fire upon and to carefully weave through incoming fire. This simple mechanic adds a great layer of depth for the excercise of skill in completing the game, and helps make the visuals feel much more engaging, rather than succumbing to the "flat" feel most vertical shooters have.
In addition to being able to pivot your craft's axis, you also have a stream of bullets that fire upon enemies that are on the ground, helping to add depth to the world you're flying through. Mechanically, the game is both smooth as butter and as tight as a tick - which is really profound considering how the game manages to be such a visual treat. It sacrifices nothing to look beautiful, playing just as well as it looks rather than being heavy handed on either end.
Overall, it's really just the best shooter I've ever played. It's atmospheric, challenging, inspiring and just plain fun. While I've never tried to one credit clear the game, it's among a select few shooters I actually
limit myself from playing. This way, I'm given more time to appreciate it and let it age like a fine wine. I'll never play it to death, and I will always remember my positive first excursions with it before I will be caught up on any frustrations from trying to master it.
LevelThe last level in Under Defeat is easily the most visually striking and emotionally moving. Give yourself a minute to watch the above video, and tell me that doesn't perfectly capture the intense, adrenaline-pumping feel of determination you get when you're really "in the zone" on a shooter. It starts out with a meloncholy reminder of what brought you here, and ends in one of the most intense boss battles ever to grace a video game. Perfect.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. Super Meat Boy(XBLA) Team Meat [2010]Here is a game that took me completely by surprise. The first time I played Super Meat Boy's predecessor, Meat Boy, I was so unimpressed that I had decided then and there that I wouldn't buy the upcoming sequel. The controls were too hard to manage using just a keyboard (and, of course, I was too lazy to try plugging in a controller) and I felt that SMB was going to end up being nothing more than an n-clone, at best, and another indie game with poop jokes popularized by relation to Newgrounds, at worst.
Upon the game's actual release, I noticed that its price was $5 under what it had originally intended to be, and because I'm a sheep when it comes to being herded to deals, I figured I'd at least try the demo before I dismissed it. At first, I maintained my cynicism that the controls were sloppy and the game was uninteresting. Pressing forward, I found myself becoming a little bit more than addicted to replaying a few of the stages I had already played for better times and came to the realization that these controls weren't sloppy, they were superbly tuned to the way the game played.
Not halfway through the demo I decided to go ahead buy the game, still remaining slightly skeptical, but with optimism winning out. After spending a couple more hours with the game, however, I was admitting to myself how much I was enjoying it. Warming up to it, I discovered how excellently designed it was. Levels not only had a very strong aesthetic charm to them, but were incredibly well-designed speaking from a point of functionality. Most indie games skimp on visual level design and feel like shapeless blobs from start to finish, whereas Super Meat Boy had excruciating detail put into each world to differentiate it from the last.
Split-seconds of perfection would determine whether or not you finished a level on time (or at all). Every time you discovered a new route, you could tell from how the timing of the traps worked that the developers had playtested these levels, discovered the tricks themselves and then accented the design of the level around them to have a new layer of depth. While not something I caught onto at first, the more I played the game, more obvious it became that the developers absolutely loved what they were making and had put such effort and ingenuity into it that it was almost startling. I was worried the game would be an overly-masturbatory "tribute" to better platformers, but that assumption couldn't have been further from the truth.
I spent the next week shaving seconds off of my time until I was at the very top of the leaderboard, maintaining the position for the majority of the time I spent playing the game (after completing each level) and up until I stopped after a week or two of intense playing. I came to understand Super Meat Boy like it was nearly second nature to me and everything just "clicked." Playing a level was like a slice of gaming bliss, and by the time I finally decided to put the game down before I turned it into a job more than a leisurely past-time, it had left a big impact on me.
I honestly now consider Super Meat Boy just as memorable and lovable as cherished games from my childhood, and I regard its titular character to be just as stand-out and charming as gaming icons like Mega Man or Super Mario. The game's humor may have been slightly low-brow (I still giggled many more times than once), but it was still charming, colorful, funny and amusingly referential (paying homage to other indie developers and games that had inspired them rather than just poorly ripping them off or hoping to "ride" off the references earned them major respect, in my book). I'm never going to forget how much I enjoyed this game, and, honestly, neither will my thumb, which has become permanently mushy from where I was trying to
push the buttons.
MusicMy favorite part of this game is very, very hard to decide (I would like to pick a character, but it's hard to choose), but if I had to come down to the most
catchy part, it would be this tune from the game. It gets stuck in my head constantly, and I find myself humming/scatting it like I do other memorable VG tunes, such as the first stage from Super Ghouls and Ghosts or the opening Wily Stage from Mega Man II. The soundtrack for the game is all-around completely astounding and does a perfect job of reminding you of all the fun (and frustrating) moments from the game.