My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (20-16)

Click here for the introduction!

20. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)

One day back in 199-something, my brother and I were playing a game that we’d rented (a frequent occurrence back then), when suddenly the news came that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had arrived in the mail. “Forget this crap!” I remember one of us saying as we yanked that poor, forgotten rental out of our Sega Genesis. Sonic 2 was here and it took precedence over everything else. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 followed up the original classic with a bigger, faster, prettier game, and while these things don’t always mean a better game, in this case they did. The Sonic sequel cut each zone down to two acts insuring that no one theme would ever drag, its levels are better designed around Sonic’s speedy momentum-based platforming, its visuals are more vibrant and colorful, its soundtrack is arguably even more amazing, and it introduced Sonic’s signature spin-dash and sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower, and co-op play along with him. In addition, the iconic Super Sonic made his debut here, and while I’ll likely never unlock him the legit way, cheats have allowed me to experience what a fun hidden extra Sonic’s powered-up form is. The memories with Sonic 2 are too many to count. Memories of trying to get through the game on my own as a kid and many more of fumbling around as Tails while my brother played as Sonic. Every zone, every boss, every section of every level has a story: the terror of the polluted water in Chemical Plant Zone Act 2, the secret base at the bottom of Casino Night Zone, getting stuck on those damn nuts and bolts in Metropolis Zone. Sonic 2 is an anthem of my childhood, it’s a part of me, and I always make sure to set aside some time to run through it and its two Genesis counterparts every year or so. Where once upon a time, the harrowing final boss fights were a nightmare rarely glimpsed, now I can get through the game in just over an hour.

19. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)

Dragon Quest VIII is the quintessential traditional JRPG and one of the most finely-crafted and polished games I’ve ever played. There’s a “classic appeal” to this game, an old-school approach to fantasy perfected that I really dig: exploring pastoral countryside, traversing quaint little villages and talking to townsfolk at the local inn, exploring a cave with torch in hand, finding treasure, battling monsters…there’s a true sense of old-fashioned adventure in Journey of the Cursed King. The world in DQVIII is vast, and this was the first RPG I played where I wasn’t some little avatar running around a world map but where every inch of the actual world was explorable, up close and personal. It all looks and sounds so lovely too, with a colorful semi cel-shaded aesthetic and probably my favorite use of live orchestrated music in a game with its astoundingly beautiful score. This is also another refreshingly narratively straightforward JRPG, and this works well combined with the rest of the game’s clean, simplified approach. What makes the story truly come to life though is the lively characters and superb voice acting. The colorful cast of Dragon Quest VIII is brimming with personality and this is definitely one of the funniest and most charming games I’ve ever played. DQVIII also features traditional, yet refined mechanics and its battle system is one of my favorites in the genre for its purity and accessibility. It can be quite a retro challenge at times, but Dragon Quest VIII is simply an RPG masterwork and was the perfect adventure to completely immerse myself in during winter break after receiving it on Christmas morning in 2005, playing until the wee hours of the morning every night.

18. Half-Life 2 (PC)

My favorite games have a way of sticking with me, of taking up residence in my consciousness and every so often signaling their presence. A particular noise, a certain location, even a smell can trigger a memory, an association with a cherished experience. Half-Life 2 is one of these games, and also like many of my favorite games, it is entwined with a very particular time in my life; in this case, my first semester of college and the week leading up to it. Even with so many distractions around me, there are few games that have immersed me as entirely as Half-Life 2. There is a lonely and absorbing atmosphere to this game that I can’t adequately describe, but it left its mark on me. I think of Half-Life 2 when I drive through city tunnels or when I find myself in a grungy stairwell; when I hear certain sounds, I think of headcrabs and Combine sirens and other sound effects from the game; tall towers occasionally make the Combine Citadel pop into my head. Half-Life 2 is also one of those games that just never seemed to end, but this could partly be because of the long period of time I stretched the experience out over. Regardless, I journeyed through the bowels of City 17, rode a hovercraft, escaped a horrible village filled with parasite-infested zombies, explored a vast coastline, crept through dark tunnels and creepy sewers, and still Gordon Freeman’s journey just kept on going. I fondly recall the night I finally reached the end of the game, sitting at my computer in the dark with my giant headphones on in my freshman-year dorm room as my roommate slept. I just couldn’t believe it was over. Darn, Half-Life 2 is so good, wouldn’t it be great if they made anoth-oh…oh yeah.

17. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater/Subsistence (PS2)

Never have I seen a work balance extreme campiness with powerful emotional drama as beautifully as Hideo Kojima’s masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The game design in MGS3 is impeccable and much more open-ended than previous Metal Gear games, with the jungle setting offering a variety of ways to sneak around and introducing interesting new survival mechanics as well. The boss fights are, as always, incredible, but Snake Eater truly contains some of the very best in the series, including the brilliant sniper duel with The End, a patient, drawn-out affair that takes place across a gigantic multi-area battlefield. MGS3 also features a relatively grounded narrative that focuses on the fascinating relationship between Snake (aka Big Boss) and his mentor, The Boss, who is one of my favorite characters in all of video games. The finale of Snake Eater is absolutely stunning, but I won’t say any more than that on the subject. Much of what makes Snake Eater so special is in the details, such as the absurd antics of a young Revolver Ocelet and the infamous ladder scene, and just all of the ingenious Easter eggs and secrets that I don’t want to spoil. I enjoyed Snake Eater so much that after first playing through the original version on a borrowed copy, I immediately bought the Subsistence version and replayed the whole game again with the new free-form camera angle that improved version provided and never once did I feel bored or fatigued. And just listen to that glorious theme song.

16. Metroid Prime (GameCube)

Along with Metroid Fusion, Prime was my introduction to Metroid back at Christmas in 2002. Metroid Prime was unlike anything I’d ever played before, and to be honest it kind of stressed me out. It’s hard to really explain why, but I felt somewhat overwhelmed by this game. I struggle with various anxiety-based issues, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder being chief among them, and these issues can often be detrimental to my enjoyment of video games. When it comes to my initial Metroid Prime experience, it was something about the dense, detailed, oppressive nature of the game, my inexperience with first-person shooters (which technically Prime is not, but obviously it shares certain elements with the genre), and the scanning mechanic that brought about this stress. Scanning is an aspect of the Prime series that I have always had a love/hate relationship with because I love the concept but it’s a nightmare for my Obsessive Compulsive self because I need to scan everything. Ultimately, I think it all just came down to how detail-oriented Prime is. Even with my anxiety though, I still immensely enjoyed Metroid Prime, and revisiting it via the Metroid Prime: Trilogy compilation for the Wii in 2009 after having so much experience with the rest of the Metroid series and the other Prime games allowed me to fully appreciate this incredible game without so many hang-ups. Long-winded preamble aside, Metroid Prime is astounding. Every fiber of this experience is crafted with the express purpose of immersing the player in a rich atmosphere that literally steams and dampens their screen. The stunning art direction, the attention to detail in the HUD (aka Samus’s visor), the detailed lore and creature biology accessed by scanning, the mesmerizing musical score…Prime is scarily good. In fact, I can’t think of a single thing I’d fault the game for, not even the late game artifact-collecting mission as I tend to like that kind of thing. Metroid Prime is a sterling example of how to translate an established 2D video game series into a bold new 3D world, and even with its new first-person perspective, I would even say it is probably the most faithful example of such that I can think of, even more so than Mario and Zelda’s initial 3D translations.

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Stay tuned for #15-11!

Christmas Video Game Memories

I have countless Christmas memories that are tied to video games, or would that be countless video game memories tied to Christmas? Either way, when I think of fond Christmases past, the thought is usually accompanied by memories of playing a certain game either on Christmas day or sometime around it. There are numerous titles that are “Christmas games” for me, but I’m going to focus on two specific memories (involving three games) in this post.

                One game whose opening moments I will always equate with the rapturous jubilation of Christmas morning is The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. To this day, I have probably never been more excited for a game than I was for that one. Back in December of 2006, I had just finished my first semester of living away at college and my life was in a huge state of change. In the span of about four months, I’d felt like so much in my life had drastically changed. It was jarring to be thrust out of my comfort zone and into a brand new world with brand new people and brand new experiences, but before heading off to college I knew however it went there would be Zelda waiting for me at the end of the year. Twilight Princess was significant because it was the first major console Zelda release to come out after I had fallen in love with the series at the release of The Wind Waker in 2003. The years and months leading up to Twilight Princess was the first time I got to experience that sweet, sweet Zelda hype and I drank in every ounce of it (perhaps to a fault, in retrospect). Despite the fact that my life was in a tumultuous state, getting to dive into that game on Christmas morning and through the night made me forget all about everything around me and it was just like any Christmas past when I was an elated kid with a new game. It really was a magical experience. I remember my Mom was disappointed that she wasn't able to get me a Wii with the game (she actually got me both the GameCube and Wii versions of Twilight Princess; I believe she'd bought the Wii version first and was planning on getting the console and just ended up giving me both versions when she wasn’t able to find a Wii; I ended up liking the GC version better anyway), and I remember telling her how much I really didn't care, I was just so happy to have the game. I had a big, goofy smile on my face and all I cared about was playing Zelda. And play Zelda I did. This song will forever remind me of the pure, peerless excitement of Christmas morning, and I wandered around Ordon Village that morning in a sense of awe and disbelief that I was actually finally playing this game. I vividly remember first stepping into the open area of Faron Woods with all the Bokoblins running about and being filled with joy at the first small cave I found. Stepping into the twilight for the first time later in the day, meeting Midna, being completely baffled at the weirdness going on in the game with the giant goat light spirit and this odd triangle-headed villain, and finally conquering the Forest Temple Christmas night. After taking my first steps onto Hyrule Field, I knew that my adventure was only beginning, and over the next two or so weeks, I devoured Twilight Princess. My ultimate feelings on the game ended up being mixed (to put it as simply as possible), but there is no denying the fond memories I have of finally getting to immerse myself in the newest Zelda epic that Christmas vacation.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

                The second game-related Christmas memory I want to talk about predates my Twilight Princess experience by a year and actually involves two games, and it’s a bit of a strange combination: Soulcalibur III and Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. I don’t talk about the series much, but I was a big fan of the Soulcalibur games back in the day (before losing touch with the series when the HD era came around, mainly because I didn’t get a PS3 until a bit later in its life-cycle when there were many other games vying for my attention). I loved the atmosphere and detail put into the Soulcalibur games, and also loved the adventure mode present in Soulcalibur II and III (and maybe the first Soulcalibur as well; I can’t remember exactly) that almost felt like an RPG of sorts. Dragon Quest VIII (to this day the only DQ game I’ve ever played through) was a title that I had been greatly anticipating due to its beautiful-looking art design and also because it just looked like a great traditional JRPG that would be right up my alley. I received both games as gifts on Christmas morning and moseying about DQVIII’s first village, with that tranquil orchestral music playing, on a sunny Christmas morning is a wonderful memory that I have. I also remember sneaking away from my relatives whenever I could throughout the day to play Soulcalibur III. The following week I sunk a ton of time into Soulcalibur and although I don’t remember much about the game right now (except, oddly, for a scene involving a clock tower and that big dude with a giant scythe…I guess I’ll just leave it at that), I do remember having a blast playing it. But there was also Dragon Quest, and that’s one I certainly, absolutely do remember. I adore Dragon Quest VIII; it’s one of my favorite video games ever and one of my fondest gaming experiences. Similarly to Twilight Princess, I remember just immersing myself in the breathtaking, pastoral world of Dragon Quest that Christmas vacation and the days and weeks (and months perhaps) beyond it. I’d never experienced adventure in an RPG or a video game in general quite like in Dragon Quest VIII, where a sprawling fantasy world was laid out before me; not a zoomed-out map with a small avatar running around on it, but an up-close, fully rendered world for me to hoof about in. Dragon Quest VIII is very “traditional” in its approach to fantasy adventuring and it does this so, so well while oozing charm around every polished corner. The first dungeon in the game is a dank cave that the player explores with a burning torch in hand, fighting monsters and looting treasure chests. It just doesn’t get any more classic and charming than that, and DQVIII delivers this kind of experience perfectly. And really I mean that: perfectly. I remember there was a moment about halfway through that Christmas break when I was exploring the massive world in the game and I came to the ocean. A sprawling seaside vista spread out before me with a path bordering the ocean stretching in two directions and hills rolling down to the seaside with rocks and cliffs dotted about. I felt free in that moment, felt inspired and full of joy. To have that kind of adventure when I was younger was simply sublime and I cherish the memory to this day.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

                There are many other Christmas video game memories I could talk about: the year I received my GameCube and Super Smash Bros. Melee (and Luigi’s Mansion!), or the year I got a Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure (and how much that game blew me away back then), or when I experienced my very first Metroid games in Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion one year. I’ve been fortunate and some (myself included) might even say spoiled to have parents who have delivered so many wonderful experiences to me at Christmastime that have consistently supplemented many other lovely memories I have of spending Christmas with my family and friends, especially my Nana, who has now passed away, but who was always an anchor of happiness for me at this time of year. I try as hard as I can to not take how lucky I’ve been for granted and look back on all the happy Christmases that my parents, my brother, my relatives, and my friends have brought me. With my love for Winter and snow and my birthday right around the corner as well, this time of year has always been a source of great joy for me, and I’m incredibly, enormously thankful for it.

To anyone reading this, I can only hope that you find some of the joy that I’ve experienced around this time of year and I wish you a heartfelt Happy Holiday.