Andrew’s Top 10 Games

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10 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Genesis; 1992)

Sure, it’s perhaps a bit strange to see a Sonic platformer game and not a Mario one on any top 10 list.  Mario was first, with most of the games longer (probably more difficult, as well).  Nonetheless, this is a list of favorite games, and not the most original, nor historically, significant.  The first thing you notice about any Sonic game is the speed.  The game doesn’t want you to explore or take your time and although you don’t have to, you usually comply and race through the levels.  There are multiple paths to reach the end of every level and they often crisscross one another multiple times.  This gives you the option of playing the same level multiple times and getting a slightly different experience each time. The music is excellent with catchy and fast beat tunes ranging from the Chemical Plant Zone to Mystic Cave to the boss music.   The game is hard enough that your average gamer can’t blow through it in 20 minutes by taking warps, but is easy enough you can beat it in two hours and not feel robbed.  I like fast-paced games that aren’t too difficult and are good to the audio/visual senses.  Also, this is a pretty game for the Genesis.

09 – Shinobi (PlayStation 2; 2002)

One of my favorite games is Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven: a ninja stealth game.  But what if you took that game, pumped it full of LSD and gave the Ninja a large red scarf?  You get Shinobi on the PS2. Graphically, the game may not be impressive, even compared to other PS2 games at the time.  It epitomizes PS2 jaggies.  But like most PS2 games, they’re good enough that it doesn’t detract from the game experience. The game design blends the future and the past, just like the soundtrack.  You use your sword to cut up zombie ninjas, hellspwans, evil wizards and tanks.  Yes, your sword will cut a tank in two. You run on walls, make ghost-like dashes and seem to float in the air.  The controls are tight and responsive.  The game is fast, so your reflexives must be quick. Enemies jump out quickly at you, plus if you don’t kill them fast enough, your sword will kill you for not satisfying its bloodlust.  This game was my sophomore year of college.

08 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Arcade / SNES; 1991)

TMNT: The Arcade Game or Turtles in Time… either one works in this case.  If you’re too young to remember playing this game in the arcade, you’re probably really stunned to see this on a top ten list.  But seeing a video game that looked EXACTLY like your favorite cartoon was a big deal back then.  It was fluidly animated, and had the voices and the humor of the show, not to mention it was a very well done side scrolling beat-’em-up that ate up more quarters than a broken vending machine. Konami could have put generic backgrounds in the game and had them fight random villains from rejected characters from other games they had.  That’s the way the first TMNT on NES felt.  Instead, they put as much detail of the show into the game as possible.  There are lots of characters from the show, even some minor characters like General Crag. The beauty is, though, even if you didn’t know or like the show, it was still a fun fighting game.  Waves of enemies keep coming and the levels are fun to play through.  Some had traps, like falling signs, or giant boulders falling from staircases.  And others have interactive objects that can be used to attack enemies, like fire hydrants and parking meters.  Then multiple this fun by four as it was a 4-player game.  Konami also wisely made it that you could not hurt your sewer-friends while fighting the enemies (play Battletoads on NES to see how important this is). I would totally buy this arcade machine if I could… but thankfully there is the 360, though it just isn’t quite the same.

07 – Earthbound / Mother 2 (SNES; 1995)

I admit, I never played the original (the game is a sequel to Mother). If you know some one who claims to have played the original, they’re probably a liar.  This is one of those games on the SNES with which it was able to win me over.  Earthbound‘s humor and lightheartedness are what made it so attractive.  The story was entertaining, though somewhat muddled towards the end. The story goes that a meteor crashes in your town, and not long afterward you realize you have to fight an alien force in the future.  This takes you on numerous side adventures throughout oddly American(-ish) towns that feel like they are half in the 1990s and half in the 1950s.  Eventually, you run across a variety of characters, ranging from the Loch Ness Monster to evil enemies, such as the New Age Retro Hippie.  The graphics and the music vary from cute to psychedelic.  If you make the time for it, the game will immerse you in its bizarre, yet oddly familiar self-contained world.

06 – Shenmue (Dreamcast; 2000)

Oh, the mystery that is Shenmue.  Originally conceived as the Virtua Fighter RPG, Shenmue often walks dangerously close to line of Japanese life simulator (think Densha de Go) and FMV arcade game of the 90s (ala Dragon’s Lair).  The murder mystery storyline goes next to nowhere, as does the love story, as Ryu is painfully oblivious to Naomi’s advances.  The fighting system works well enough (later refined in Yakuza to great effect) and occurs often enough to keep the game entertaining. But the real appeal is in the game’s portrayal of a rural Japanese town.  It’s almost scary just how accurate it is.  Its local population is spot-on, snack bars, convenience stores and vending machines included.  The attention to such details is great.  You can buy useless crap, play games in the arcade and be called a “pansy-ass” by middle school girls.  It’s almost more of a cultural time capsule than a video game.

05 – Super Mario Kart (SNES; 1992)

There has been great racing games across every generation of video games, but has there ever been one more fun than Super Mario Kart? What sets itself apart is its lack of seriousness and personality.  The game emphasizes fast race times and dirty tricks.  I’ve always hated realistic racing games (like Grand Turismo) and preferred over the top spectacles like Super Mario Kart.  Throwing banana peels and turtle shells at other racers?  Now that’s fun. I would love to use such objects on the NJ Turnpike.  The tracks are inventive and with all the various items, one is rarely out of the race until it’s over.  Take your pick as to which version, they’re all good.  I’ll take the SNES (for its amazing battle mode) and the DS one for overall greatness.

04 – Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation; 1997)

I don’t have a lot to say about this game.  What can I say that hasn’t already been said before about this landmark game?  The rendered backgrounds that are just gorgeous.  Breathtaking cut scenes.  A fantastic soundtrack.  Lots of mini-games.  An involved and interesting storyline that is not your typical RPG fare (at the time, anyway).  This is a game the consumed a large chunk of my high school freshman year.

03 – Silent Hill (PlayStation; 1999)

What if you took the movie Jacob’s Ladder, crossed it with a David Lynch movie and made it into a video game?  You would have Silent Hill.  I cannot emphasize enough how great this game is (and two of the sequels are).  Resident Evil is brilliant and was out first, but the game was intentionally campy.  And as result, for me at least, not nearly as scary.  Silent Hill‘s main character is a regular Joe.  No military training for him.  Combat isn’t the focus.  Atmosphere is, and it sucks you in.  The story and history of Silent Hill are vague and mysterious.  Even the characters are in a dream-like state.  You feel like you’re stuck in a nightmare, but that you may not be dreaming.  It’s scarier than the vast majority of Hollywood movies out there.

02 – Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 (Arcade, Various; 1998)

Capcom has a knack for fighting games. From Darkstalkers, to X-men to Rival Schools, their character designs and game play engines are unsurpassed.  Alpha 3 is the most comprehensive version of their best and most successful series.  The replay value of this game is so enormous.  I find myself playing this more than any other game.  It’s brilliantly animated with beautiful backgrounds, has responsive controls and customizable fighting techniques.  It’s the gold standard for fighting games.

01 – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Game Boy; 1993)

The most fun and immersed I have ever been in a video game has to be while I was playing Link’s Awakening.  I had played portions of all the Zelda games before this (and played the SNES version all the way through after being inspired by this one) and none of them did it for me the way Awakening did.  The story was compelling and tied in so organically with the action that it never felt forced.  It had a natural and logical flow.  It avoided many of the pitfalls of other games in its genre.  It wasn’t repetitive or had a convoluted plot.  Even graphically, the game not only held its own, but looked better than the SNES version!  It is a timeless classic.