Our Mutual Top 10 Games
For the very first episode of the podcast, we decided that a great way to introduce ourselves (in addition to regular conversation) would be to come to a mutual “Top 10″ list of our favorite games of all time. These are not necessary the “best” games, and the three of us may not even necessarily agree on all the picks. This is what we came to an agreement on, and we stand by it.
10 – Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Sega Genesis, 1992)
We love Sonic 2 for the amount of new material it brings to the table. Tails, while seemingly a visual annoyance at first, manages to occasionally do good by collecting rings and possibly even delving out all the damage to bosses on his own! The iconic Spin Dash is introduced, which ironically enough gives Sonic a reason to slow down… in order to get that speed right back up. The music is among the best we have ever heard, with Chemical Plant Zone (among others) standing out to an incredible degree. By cutting back the number of levels per zone down from three to two (for the majority of the game, anyway), our interest in each zone is kept, but it never overstays its welcome. The game’s overall difficulty is perfect, allowing you to zoom through the early stages of the game, giving you a chance to hone your skills necessary for the final few levels. Sonic 2 is, if you ask us, the best Sonic the Hedgehog game that has ever been created.
09 – Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu 2 (Super Nintendo, 1993)
We love Secret of Mana for what it brought to the console RPG realm. The “ring system” gave us an intuitive way to swap weapons, armor, and items, all while never taking us “out of the moment”. The multiplayer aspect allowed friends to jump in and out, something fresh for console RPGs. While your cohorts would occasionally get themselves “stuck” behind objects, it was never too much of a detriment. The real-time action brought together fans of Zelda and Final Fantasy. The music was incredibly memorable through-and-through, beginning right at the get-go with “Fear of the Heavens“. The Mana series has become a shadow of its former self, only hoping to one day hit even an element of what make Secret of Mana such an amazing game.
08 – Rock Band (Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PlayStation 2 / Wii; 2007)
While it may at first seem too early to begin including Rock Band on a “favorites” list like this, as more time passes, the game continues to prove why it belongs there. Rock Band brings together gamers, non-gamers, casual gamers, and everyone in-between. Hold the microphone… as far as the non-gamer is concerned, they are just doing standard karaoke; no video games are involved. Play guitar or bass… the learning curve has evolved flawlessly after years of development in Guitar Hero, and while the difficulty is nowhere near as complex, you will only notice when you are playing by yourself and specifically looking for that difficulty. Play drums… here is where the sought-after difficulty comes in, mimicking the actual musical instrument more accurately than what has come before. Rock Band is every bit as good of a party game as it is a solo game, whether you decide to go for the world tour, or just play your own setlist in the quickplay mode. The music selection is impressively researched and grows seemingly exponentially every week. Rock Band has become almost a platform of its own, and while the innovation may be an evolution of what has come previously in Harmonix’s own games and the likes of Komani’s Bemani series, it is an evolution none-the-less, and one that we guarantee will be around for quite some time to come.
07 – Super Mario World (Super Nintendo; 1991)
For many fans, it is a toss-up between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, but we ultimately decided upon the Super Nintendo’s launch title as the better game. While the number of power-ups may have decreased from the previous game, the iconic status of the cape and Yoshi cannot by argued against. The vibrant colors saturated the screen with more brilliance from Shigeru Miyamoto’s imagination, and Koji Kondo stepped up his game yet again with a memorable score that you swore you already knew because it felt so much at home. Who can forget climbing the fence-walls in the castles and switching sides for the first time? How about sitting on the Star World’s “Special Zone / Star Road” map waiting for the drum-and-bass remix of the classic underground theme to begin? We did not stop playing until that little star sat next to the “96″ on the main menu, proving that we searched long and hard for all of those secret exits. Super Mario World is an example of genius game design, and has not aged one bit.
06 – Super Mario Kart (Super Nintendo; 1992)
It was a toss-up between the original Super Mario Kart and some of the other ones (specifically 64 and DS) for very specific reasons, but when it comes down to it, we agreed on the original Super Nintendo game. One of Nintendo’s first mascot-gone-wild games, the original Kart had fantastic levels that reminded you why you loved Mario games in the first place, not to mention music that did the exact same thing. Its battle mode is still fondly remembered as perhaps the best in the entire series thus-far. While later games have added (and subtracted) a good amount of material, the original game still has that amazing pick-up-and-go charm which caters to all sorts of gamers that Nintendo has been struggling to re-accomplish in the current age of the Wii and “casual” versus “hardcore” gamers; the first Super Mario Kart transcended all that.
05 – Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation; 1997)
The seventh game in the series (and first properly-numbered in the US) was a point of major contention among the three hosts, which is perhaps why it sits right in the middle of our top ten. For some, the jump into a wannabe-cyperpunk setting (abandoning the vast majority of fantasy settings that established the series) was a fresh change, and one necessary to bring them into the RPG fold. The materia system, while seemingly limited compared to the engaging job system from predecessors III and V, was simple yet deep enough to customize your characters however you wanted… even if, due to the snipping back of the party to three characters, you were swapping materia around perhaps slightly too often. While character development and the tragedy of certain deaths may have been handled arguably better in V and VI, something about the characters in VII engaged us in a way that we had never played before. Hardcore fans may say that VI had the best score to date, but songs like “JENOVA“, “Those Who Fight Further“, and “One Winged Angel” (no matter how overplayed it may be) remain some of the best and fondly-remember tunes from the entire franchise. Amnesia, moral conflict, death and rebirth, and all the likes may be old hat by now… but in 1997, for those of us at that right age, at the right time, and at the right place… Final Fantasy VII gripped us like nothing ever before in our lives, and it has stuck with us ever since.
04 – Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 (Arcade / Various; 1998)
It was incredibly difficult to narrow down which particular Street Fighter game was our favorite. Alpha 2 had an amazing design to it, complete with classic characters and arrangements of classic music. 3rd Strike brought technical 2D gaming to an impressive level, and remains one of the most gorgeous-looking 2D fighters ever created. Capcom vs SNK 2 is another staple around here, bringing in some of our favorite characters from the SNK universe to battle the Capcom universe with all sorts of fighting styles and team-making. Who can forget the time sunk into Marvel vs Capcom 2, screaming at your friends who insisted on only playing a team consisting of Cable + anyone. In the end, though, it is the final entry into the Alpha/Zero series that we find ourselves coming back to the most. A group of familiar veterans, fresh newcomers (OK, minus R. Mika), and a variety of fighting styles helps put together one of the most fun-to-play brawlers we have ever seen. While the classic character tunes were abandoned, the new style of music grabbed you right from the start with the opening tune, “Nobody Blink“. The game only continued to get better with each version, adding more and more fan-favorite characters to Upper and the various home conversions. Now if only they would stop re-releasing the game so we could stop purchasing each new version that came out…
03 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / 2: The Arcade Game (Arcade / NES; 1989)
Freaked the Foot, mangled the Mousers, and trashed the Technodrome… that’s Turtle Power. It is nothing more than a stupid beat-’em-up, so how on Earth did this game wind up so high on the list? Ask any of us, no matter what we are doing at the moment, if we wanted to throw down with some Turtles… and it would be extremely difficult to get a “no” in response. Turtles in Time may have further evolved the franchise with bigger and better graphics, but nothing can top the sentimental attachment to the first arcade game. We loved the characters, and actually knew who all those boss characters were (the Rat King and Leatherhead we remember well, but Metal Head and Slash…?). The arcade version is short enough that four players could actually afford to pump in enough quarters to beat the game, and the NES version (though toned-down in the graphics department) gave us extended and even two bonus stages to plow through, usually with the help of the infamous Konami Code. There is a reason why this was the best-selling Xbox Live Arcade game.
02 – Tetris (Various; 1985)
What is there to possibly say about Tetris? It is probably the closest thing to a “perfect” video game there is. Even the worst conversion of Tetris is better than the vast majority of games created today. It fits in well no matter what generational console (or computer, calculator, phone, etc…) you are playing it on. It can be played by anyone. It can be played anywhere. We guarantee you someone is playing Tetris on the can right now.
01 – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Game Boy; 1993)
Despite one of the hosts never playing the game before, the fourth entry into the Zelda franchise (and first portable one) winds up in the numero uno slot. It does not take place in Hyrule. There are no Triforce to go after. Hell, there is only a passing reference to the princess, herself. Why is it, exactly, that this game is so great, especially for a freakin’ Zelda game? In our opinion, it took everything about the previous three games, expanded upon them, did that stuff better, and added in equally amazing new material. The battling felt spot-on and responsive. Item management was a breeze, and you could even choose to go at it sans-sword if you wanted to. The game never held your hand, but at the same time it never dropped you in over your head. You could not wait to explore the land of Koholint Island. What was over that series of holes? What was past that rock? What if I swam just a couple screens down? How far could I fly with that stupid chicken? Ignoring all that, the game grabbed you right from the start; a cinema opening on the Game Boy? The game also closes with a cinema opening? The concept blew us away in 1993, and the artwork holds up well even today. The music was infectious, and we can remember humming the teleportation-enabled “Manbo’s Mambo” for days on end, nevermind the haunting “Ballad of the Windfish“. Even the “it was all a dream (or was it?)” aspect of the game contributes to its charm and brilliance. There is too much to say about this game, and you are wasting your time by not playing it (hopefully re-playing it) right now.
Now that you have read what we all agreed upon, you may find it interesting to see where it all came from. Each of the three hosts has separately compiled their own individual “Top 10″ lists:
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