My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (95-91)

Click here for the introduction!

95. Mega Man 2 (NES)

I’ve never been a big Mega Man person. I have hazy memories of playing some of the old NES games as a kid and I’ve tried several of the games since, but there are just so many of them and they usually kick my ass so much that I just quickly lose patience. The one big exception is Mega Man 2, which I find to be easy enough to comfortably enjoy, but not so easy as to be a total pushover (two different difficulty settings also help). Its level design feels simplistic, but there’s also something very elegant about it. Likewise, the colorful visuals, large enemy sprites, smooth mechanics, and fantastic soundtrack all jive together very well. The first time I got to Dr. Wily’s fortress and heard that inspiring music, I knew the game was something special.

94. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

I didn’t fully appreciate how much of a terrific platformer Donkey Kong Country Returns is until I replayed it shortly before its sequel, Tropical Freeze, came out. Once I took my time to fully invest myself in this game’s rich, finely-crafted world, I was transported back to a time when video games where I controlled a character that hopped and bopped through colorful, imaginative worlds consistently enraptured me. Every inch of Returns is polished, from its sound design to its artfully crafted levels, which are packed with detail and make Donkey Kong Island truly feel like a living, breathing world. Retro Studios has proven time and again that they have some of the best artists and environment designers in the business. As far as retro-throwbacks go, DKC Returns is basically as good as they come, but though it’s transformative, it’s still largely a callback to the original DKC. This is what initially underwhelmed me about the game so much, and while it isn’t necessarily a flaw, I almost always prefer when a game really breaks out on its own and carves out its own identity. Luckily, that’s exactly the direction Retro smartly took Tropical Freeze in, but we’ll talk about that later.

93. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)

I am not a big Kingdom Hearts fan. In fact, I find most of the first game to be pretty bland and empty-feeling. Kingdom Hearts II, however, captivated me immediately. I’ve heard many pan the game’s lengthy prologue section, but I was completely engrossed in its mysterious and surreal atmosphere. The rest of the game improved in every single way upon the first game for me: the worlds had more personality and felt more alive, there were more original, non-Disney locations and characters, the narrative felt more prevalent throughout the entire experience, the combat was more fluid and enjoyable, and the soundtrack is even more beautiful throughout. I associate Kingdom Hearts II with the summer before I headed off to college. Perhaps this is another reason why the prologue spoke so much to me: it involves a group of kids idling their time away during summer vacation, and something about the peaceful but melancholic music and atmosphere of Twilight Town felt very appropriate for the time in my life. Kingdom Hearts II as a whole felt like one last imaginative adventure before I headed off into the frightening unknown and although it may sound a bit melodramatic, in a way this game represents the bittersweet end of my childhood.

92. Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening (PS2)

Devil May Cry 3 may be the best pure action game I’ve ever played. This game is campy, goofy fun wrapped up in a delicious gothic atmosphere. As the titular Dante, you surf around on the backs of demons, wield creative weapons like a triple ice nunchaku and a demonic electric guitar (like it literally shoots electricity), and explore an ancient tower that has appeared in the middle of a modern-day city. Joining Dante are a memorable cast of characters, including a badass lady named, uh, Lady, Dante’s twin brother and rival Vergil, and a bizarre jester named, er, Jester…so the names aren’t the most creative thing, but the characters themselves are great, trust me. The deep combat and mechanics are where this game truly shines, as it involves several different combat “Styles” to cycle through such as Swordmaster and Gunslinger to name a few, and experimenting with each one and with the wide variety of imaginative weapons is an absolute blast. DMC3 is also a notably difficult game, but learning and mastering the mechanics and levels is a joy, and you’ll be amazed by the wacky antics you’ll eventually be able to pull off. It’s one of only a handful of games where I had so much fun replaying levels over and over again as I mastered my skills.

91. World of Goo (Wii)

For a puzzle game to captivate me it must have something more than just challenging riddles to solve; it has to have atmosphere, narrative, something that makes it stand out. Enter World of Goo, a game I played on Wii that really took me by surprise. I fell in love with this game not only because the core goo-building mechanic is interesting and the physics-based puzzles are challenging, but because the game’s world and vibe is simply intoxicating. The Tim Burton-esque art is one part of this, but the moody and beautiful soundtrack by Kyle Gabler (which is free to download on his website) is also a huge factor, as is the way the narrative unfolds. For such an initially silly-looking game, World of Goo is a surprisingly emotional experience.

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I hope you join me again for #90-86!

E3 2013 Day 0 Impressions (Press Conferences!)

 

Wow. 

So, what started off as a fairly tame E3 featuring lots of fancy cars, some shooters, and even some throat-rending violence ended in two hours of genuine excitement for this medium. I haven’t felt this pumped about an E3 since Nintendo’s beautiful Zelda symphony in 2011. Speaking of Nintendo, even if they rehire Cammie Dunaway and she comes out to play frisbee with a dog in Wii Sports Resort U and Reggie shows off a fireworks show in Nintendo Land 2, I’ll still be more pleased with this year’s E3 than last year’s, where almost nothing memorable (except Watch Dogs) happened.

But before we get to Sony’s E3 triumph, I want to go over all the news that stuck out to me and the games that I found to be the most interesting from today’s line-up of press conferences from the big publishers.

Microsoft

Honestly, after watching Sony’s show, I’m having a hard time even remembering what Microsoft showed off. They definitely showed video games, so that’s good. But unlike Sony, who not only displayed a passion for the games appearing on their past and future platforms and their developers, and also directly addressed pertinent fan concerns, Microsoft chose to rush through game reveal after game reveal hoping that all these shiny video games would make people forget about all the other controversial stuff. They opted instead to include that sort of clarifying information in a press release beforehand so they wouldn’t have to deal with it at the show.

This said, Microsoft did deliver on its promise to fully focus on video games at E3, but honestly that’s not much of a triumph at the world’s biggest annual video gaming event. Of the titles they showed off, there were a couple that stood out to me.

First off, I was very pleasantly surprised that the conference opened with Metal Gear Solid V. I had no idea what the game was at first, then suddenly the Kojima Productions logo flashed on the screen and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I always love it and commend the developers when footage that looks like it could be pre-rendered CG smoothly transitions into actual gameplay footage, and man, that game looks gorgeous! The gameplay looks solid as ever, it looks like the game will have all the quirky characters I’d expect from a Metal Gear game, and Kiefer Sutherland doesn’t sound half bad as Snake (although I’m still mourning the loss of David Hayter, and still think it was really disrespectful the way Kojima let him go, with nary a thank-you for the man who shaped his Snake into such an icon).

Call me a Metal Gear fanboy, but nothing else in the conference really matched that level of excitement for me. I think Quantum Break looks interesting, if only because the graphics tech, especially with the character models and facial animations, was really impressive. Of course, that demo, while I’ve heard it was “in-game”, wasn’t actually gameplay. I watched an interview with the developer and he fumbled over answering a question about whether the game would look that good while playing it, basically implying that the demo we saw was running on some high-end PC and that they were going to try to achieve that quality on Xbox One. I’m not crazy about the marriage of a TV show and a video game though. It just seems like one step closer to trying to get video games to be more like Hollywood movies, which isn’t the direction I want the industry to go in.

Despite the fact that I groaned at the mention of a “new zombie apocalypse game”, Dead Rising 3 looks pretty cool. I’ve never played the other games in this series, but I was impressed by the sheer number of zombies crowding around the player, and the game seems like it will provide a great sense of tension like that seen in Resident Evil 4, while also providing open-ended ways to survive and get out of tricky situations.

There were a few other titles like Project Spark, Below, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that looked interesting to me. The colorful Sunset Overdrive also holds promise. I’m sure a number of people are excited about Dark Souls II, Crimson Dragon (the spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon), and of course, the big Rare reveal of the return of Killer Instinct. None of these games really excited me though (although I do want to get around to playing the Souls games one day). Also, am I the only one not impressed with Titanfall? Sure, it has mechs and it’s a new IP, but it just blends in with all the other gray shooters to me. Halo 5 (?) had a cool teaser, but it was just that, a brief teaser.

At the end of the conference, Microsoft announced the price of the Xbox One would be 499$, which seems a little steep for me, especially for a console with so many annoying hang-ups, few exclusives that interest me, and possibly lower overall horsepower than the PS4.

EA

Plants vs. Zombies. Cars. Sports. Sports. Guns. Mirror’s Edge 2 (I really should try to play the first one). 

Ubisoft

I’m surprised we made it through the whole conference and only one hushed mention of “girl wood” (despite it being displayed on Aisha Tyler’s shirt). I was looking forward to Ubisoft’s press conference this year because they not only had a solid showing last year (arguably the best at the show), but they also try to have a little fun and their show is usually entertaining, if often for the wrong reasons (Mr. Caffeine, girl wood). Well, I thought Ubisoft had a solid showing again this year, but certainly not a show-stealing one. Rayman Legends looks fantastic of course, even though it should have been out by now, and Watch Dogs once again impressed. Although, I have to scold the Watch Dogs presence at Ubisoft’s show, because even though the footage shown was compelling due to the game’s strong concept and very impressive tech on display, it still wasn’t gameplay footage. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag also looked very pretty, but again no gameplay. We’d of course get impressive-looking (although not quite as good-looking visually) gameplay for both of these games later at Sony’s show, so I suppose I can give Ubisoft a pass in this regard.

I also just have to mention that at this point in my day-long marathon of all these pressers, I was quite tired of looking at shiny cars. Quite. Seriously, what’s with all the driving sims this year?

Ubisoft closed with the big reveal of its new IP, Tom Clancy’s The Division. This game was the “Watch Dogs” of this year’s show (what Watch Dogs was for last year). Similar to Watch Dogs’ initial reveal, they set up the game’s narrative and setting in great detail before showing a lengthy live gameplay demo. Although the actual gameplay and concept of the game wasn’t anything super captivating for me, I was extremely impressed by game’s visual design and atmosphere. Honestly, the earlier Watch Dogs demo and this game were the first games I really saw at this year’s show that looked “next gen” to me, or at least looked like something I probably couldn’t see on my PS3. The Division simply had a very smooth look and a greatly detailed environment with a minimalist HUD that made me excited for the future levels of realism and immersion that video games will provide.

Sony

I was pretty hyped for Sony’s show and somewhat surprisingly, they didn’t disappoint. Before Sony’s conference, I just wasn’t feeling the magic of E3, the genuine excitement for new video game reveals and trailers and the overall energy the show has brought me in past years. Especially after an underwhelming show last year, I just wasn’t overally enthusiastic about what I’d seen so far.

But Sony had the upper hand after Microsoft confused and angered video game fans around the world at their Xbox One reveal and they came in swinging. Opening the show by talking about the Vita, a handheld console that Sony seems to have forgotten about recently, they followed this up by showing a sizzle reel of a great lineup of games coming to PS3 by the end of the year, including The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls, two titles I’m very excited to play. They unveiled the PS4 itself, showing off a much sleeker, smaller box than Microsoft presented. After this, they smartly reserved only a brief amount of time for four titles they had previously revealed back at the initial PS4 reveal event, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Infamous: Second Son, Drive Club, and Knack, leaving plenty of time for new video game reveals and demos to come.

I kept waiting for Sony to take a break from talking about games so I could take a pee break, but they just didn’t stop. They reiterated their support of indie developers and their ability to self-publish on PS4 by first giving the stage to Supergiant Games’ new title Transistor, followed by a parade of unique indie title after title, of which more than a few looked like something I’d want to play. There was even a joke about Giant Enemy Crabs!

When Sony took the stage and started talking about how they’re using technology to better display emotion and further story-telling in video games, they were speaking directly to my heart. This is the kind of thing I want to heart at E3, not simply see how new hardware is going to make a lot of more realistic-looking shooters and ultra-violent action games. I want to hear how video games are going to fulfill their potential of being interactive stories and how new tech is helping these games better display atmosphere and emotion. Sony followed this talk by showing a portion of a tech demo from Quantic Dream, showcasing the life-like animations and emotions that can be presented using PS4.

Sony also showed an intriguing new IP called The Order: 1886. Then there was the genuine surprise return of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which has now morphed into Final Fantasy XV, followed immediately by a teaser for the very long-awaited Kingdom Hearts III. I’m not even a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, but I was getting chills at this point and realized that I was getting caught up in some genuine E3 magic. Ubisoft brought live gameplay demos of Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed IV. Watch Dogs again looked great and I even found myself excited for Assassin’s Creed. I’ve never played an AC game before, but this one is about pirates!

It was just interesting game after game after game, toss in a few surprises, some live gameplay, some demonstrations of what the next gen will look like, and Sony simply delivered a winner. And this was all before Jack Tretton took the stage and told us all, up-front, directly, with no bullshit and mixed messages, that the PS4 will play used games, that you can continue to share and trade your games, and that the PS4 will not always have to be online. This direct response to Microsoft’s shenanigans was later followed by the announcement that the PS4 would cost $399, a full $100 less than the Xbox One. That’s almost as much as a Wii U deluxe bundle for what appears to be the most powerful next gen console, which looks to have a great upcoming library, and allows the same level of user freedom we’ve come to expect.

If Sony had capped all of this off with The Last Guardian, I might’ve pre-ordered a PS4 straight away (like many have) and would’ve planted a big ol’ smooch on Jack Tretton had I been there. Instead, Sony ended the conference with the first gameplay footage of Bungie’s ambitious new FPS Destiny, which was still pretty cool, and out of all the FPS games I’d seen so far at this year’s E3, looked like one I might actually want to play.

The only time the conference really slowed down for me was during a brief bit in which A Sony rep. talked about the movie and television side of Sony’s business. I was a bit annoyed when this guy talked about offering movies that catered to “gamers”. Hm. What sort of movies are we “gamers” supposed to like? I was under the impression that people who play video games have a wide variety of tastes and interests, and like all sorts of movies, TV shows, and media, just like anyone else. Speaking of “gamers”, I got really sick of hearing this term by the end of today. I personally never liked the term “gamer” and try to never use it myself. I don’t consider myself a “gamer”; I’m just someone who loves video games. I also love great books, movies, and music, but I’d also never call myself a “booker” or a “filmer” or a “songer”. I don’t understand why people who enjoy playing video games on a regular basis need this identifying term.

Anyway, I’ll forgive ya, Sony, ‘cause you really nailed it. Maybe your show wasn’t the best press conference ever, and maybe this year won’t be the best E3 ever, but I’ll always remember this show as being the first in a while that really got me stoked for E3 and video game hype in general, and also for the way that Sony demonstrated respect towards its fans, consumers, and developers. An affordable price, diverse lineup, ability to play any kind of game I want to, and no need to worry about a console that might not be able to play games due to an internet connection makes me completely on board for the PS4…after I finish my huge backlog of PS3 games that is.

Wrap-up

Whoosh. Quite a day, and there’s still Nintendo tomorrow. Nintendo and the Wii U haven’t really been mentioned once all day and third party support isn’t looking good for them as usual. But honestly, I bought a Wii U to play Nintendo games, so that’s really all I need to see tomorrow; some great Nintendo games. I already know that we’re getting a new 3D Mario for Wii U, footage of The Wind Waker HD remake in action, and something of the next Super Smash Bros., but I hope Nintendo still has some surprises in store. I’d love to see some more of Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles follow-up, as well as see the reveal of Retro Studios’ mysterious project.

If Nintendo unveils a gorgeous new HD Metroid that will focus on exploration and atmosphere instead of cruddy writing and poor story-telling tomorrow, then, well, I’ll be happy. Very, very happy and I’ll call this year’s E3 a great success. 

My Top 100 Favorite Video Games of All Time (2013)

This list was very difficult to create and is by no means final. New games can of course be added to this list and the ordering of the current games may also change around in the future. Also, there are even more games that I’m quite fond of that missed the cut and maybe I’ll change my mind and include them in the future. This is my personal list of my 100 favorite video games of all time (and is ranked accordingly) and not necessarily a list of the 100 “best” video games of all time, although I obviously feel all of these games are worthy of praise to some degree. 

Compiling this list and reflecting on all of the wonderful experiences therein has brought back some amazing memories and has reminded me just how important this medium is to me. Every single one of these video games is special to me and all of them have had an enormous impact on my life and have contributed to who I am in some way. I hope that as you peruse this list you will reflect on your own unique experiences with your own most-beloved video games and maybe you'll even see some or many of those personal favorites here.

            And if you’re wondering where the likes of Uncharted, Mass Effect, Red Dead Redemption, Ni no Kuni, etc. are, I haven’t played them yet. In fact, there are many modern classics I have yet to get around to playing (even though I actually own many of them, such as the four listed above), and I’m sure they’ll sit somewhere on this list when I finally do play them (granted they’re as special as I hear they are).

Note: These games are labeled with the first console they appeared on, to the best of my knowledge. In cases where games were released on multiple platforms simultaneously, I labeled the game with the console that I first played it on.

Key: NES=Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES=Super Nintendo Entertainment System, N64=Nintendo 64, GCN=Nintendo GameCube, Wii=Nintendo Wii, SG=Sega Genesis, DC=Sega Dreamcast, PS1=Sony PlayStation, PS2=Sony PlayStation 2, PS3=Sony PlayStation 3, PC=Personal Computer, GB=Nintendo Game Boy, GBC=Nintendo Game Boy Color, GBA=Nintendo Game Boy Advance, DS=Nintendo DS

The List

100. Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii)

 

99. Sonic Colors (Wii)

98. Half-Life (PC)

97. Soul Calibur II (GCN)

 96. Portal 2 (PS3)

 95. Lunar Legend (GBA)

94. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) 

93. Heavy Rain (PS3)

92. Pikmin 2 (GCN)

91. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (GCN)

90. God of War II (PS2)

89. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)

88. Gunstar Heroes (SG)

87. Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA (N64)

86. Beyond Good and Evil (GCN)

85. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)

84. Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening (PS2)

83. Super Paper Mario (Wii)

82. Mega Man 2 (NES)

 

81. Pokemon: Sapphire Version (GBA)

80. God of War (PS2)

79. Resident Evil 4 (GCN)

78. Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

77. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)

76. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES)

75. Metroid Fusion (GBA)

74. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (GB)

73. Golden Sun (GBA)

72. Chrono Cross (PS1)

71. Tales of Symphonia (GCN)

70. The Legend of Zelda (NES)

69. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

68. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)

67. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

66. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

65. Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS)

64. Kirby’s Nightmare in Dream Land (GBA)

63. Kirby’s Dream Land (GB)

62. Sonic Adventure 2 (DC)

61. Sonic Adventure (DC)

60. Sonic the Hedgehog (SG)

59. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)

58. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)

57. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

56. Super Mario World (SNES)

55. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

 

 

54. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)

53. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

52. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)

51. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GCN)

50. Resident Evil (GCN)

49. Silent Hill 3 (PS2)

48. BioShock (PC)

47. Viewtiful Joe (GCN)

 46. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64)

45. Jet Grind Radio (DC)

44. Pokemon: Silver Version (GBC)

43. Pokemon: Blue Version (GB)

42. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)

41. Silent Hill (PS1)

40. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

39. Streets of Rage 2 (SG)

 38. Portal (PC)

37. Super Metroid (SNES)

36. Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (GB)

35. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)

34. Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)

33. Animal Crossing (GCN)

32. Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

31. Journey (PS3)

 

30. Paper Mario (N64)

29. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)

28. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

27. Cave Story (PC)

26. World of Goo (Wii)

25. GoldenEye 007 (N64)

24. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)

23. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN)

22. Super Mario 64 (N64)

21. Super Mario Bros. (NES)

20. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SG)

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

18. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)

17. Metroid Prime (GCN)

16. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

15. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)

14. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC)

13. Okami (PS2)

12. Half-Life 2 (PC)

11. Shenmue (DC)

10. Silent Hill 2 (PS2)

9. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

8. Chrono Trigger (SNES)

7. Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA)

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles (SG)

5. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

4. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (GBC)

3. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

2. Skies of Arcadia Legends (GCN) 

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)