LK's Top 30 Games - Finished Nov. 2nd

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LK's Top 30 Games - Finished Nov. 2nd
Tweet Topic Started: Oct 17 2008, 11:35 PM (1,966 Views)
LK	Oct 17 2008, 11:35 PM Post #1
iminspace Posts: 18,081 Group: Active Ancients Member #794 Joined: July 28, 2005 Gender Male Coins 5	Welcome all to a new Link Kid's Top Games! Recently I decided to go back and complete a new top games of all time since I played and beat so many amazing games since I did my last Top 20 Games. If you don't remember, or you weren't here at the time, I did a Link Kid's Top 20 Games back in 2006. I thought it was a good list at the time, but now that time has past, I feel a lot differently about most of the games on the list, and the new one is going to be a lot different than before, I can assure you. Because of the NF Crash 2008 (the name I made up for it, ultra-epic btw), all of the previous 14 entries have been lost. I will post all of the 14 that were missed, and continue on from the there. I will miss my mark of October 31st for the last entry, but oh well, it doesn't matter to much anyways. I'll start with #16 on Saturday, October 18th, after I get out of bed. But enough of my babbling, let's start the list off with number thirty. 30) Okami Genre: Action Adventure System(s): PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii Publisher: Capcom Developer: Clover Studios Release Date: September 19th, 2006 / April 15th, 2008 I gave it: 9.0 / 9.2 \| They gave it: 93 / 90 Why?: Okami, in 2006, was considered the best game of the year, and though I never played it at the time, calling it better than the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess made me ridiculously angry. But after I finally played it for the first time on the Wii in 2008, people can finally take my opinion for more than a grain of salt. But what I ended up playing was not only better than Twilight Princess, but it ended up being one of my favorite games ever made. Okami is a water painting come to life. It is literally a work of art from just the visuals themselves. Okami using the beautiful cel-shading visuals like in the Wind Waker. It does get a little confusing looking at certain points of the game, but Okami is easily one of the best looking game ever made, in terms of artistic design. The game also has a ridiculously amazing soundtrack to boot. No voice acting sadly, but the fantastic soundtrack makes up for it. Okami is essentially a Zelda game made by Capcom, but not only did they master the kind of adventure Zelda games made famous, but they perfected it to make a monster of a game that can take people more than 40 hours to complete, never being bored at any part of the game. It has clever level design, a beautiful and gigantic world to explore, and a great sense of humor. Okami is an amazing game, and is my 30th best game I have ever played. --- 29) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Genre: Action Platformer System(s): PlayStation One, Xbox Live Arcade Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Release Date: October 3rd, 1997 I gave it: 9.2 \| They gave it: 93 Why?: Though the Castlevania franchise has been terribly hard in many of the games, the platforming and action is top notch. Symphony of the Night took the great 2D platforming and action made famous in the previous titles, and totally revolutionized it. Instead of the normal level progression of past games, they switched the whole game to take place in one gigantic castle. What it came out to be was a magnificent game from start to finish, that is my 29th favorite game of all time. What made Symphony of the Night so special is that Konami made a new Castlevania title for the new generation of consoles, keeping the gameplay that made the past games special, but making it more of an adventure game instead of a action-platformer. Exploring the massive castle is truly fun, and having a trusty map at your disposal is a giant plus that makes exploring a blast. Everywhere you explore adds more and more to the massive map, and eventually you’ll find more and more shortcuts to find your way around. Another major improvement was the technical aspects of the game since its new to the 3D generation. The game is still 2D for the most part, but there are lots of 3D effects thrown in to make things interesting while also keeping the 2D parts as beautiful as ever. The soundtrack was also atmospheric and some of the areas of the castle are some of the most memorable tracks I’ve ever heard. If you’re an old school Castlevania fan, you don’t have to worry, the game is blast to play, is hard, and has some great boss fights. Everything about the game is amazing, and if you want to put yourself through the agony of the trying to complete this beast, then by all means, go right ahead, I highly suggest it. It could have had a bigger impact if it was fully 3D, but still on a 2D view, but the overall game is still fantastic and is Link Kid’s 29th favorite game of all time. --- 28) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Genre: RPG System(s): Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3 Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Bethesda Softworks Release Date: March 20th, 2006 I gave it: 9.3 \| They gave it: 94 Why?: I never played an Elder Scrolls game before the fourth installment of the series, Oblivion. As saddening as that is, it doesn’t change the fact that I absolutely loved Oblivion, and I think it’s not only one of the favorite games of all time, but also my favorite game of 2006. It’s a pretty massive game from to bottom, and if you’re no familiar with the type of game it is, you’ll be very confused right off the bat, and oh gosh, I was. But after you get used to the game, and how to travel, it becomes a blast to play. Oblivion plays like an action adventure game with a giant world to explore and dungeons to crawl through, but it has a lot of customization options that really make it end up being an RPG. But the combat is nothing to be saddened about though, because even though its not very deep, it’s fun to play, and that’s what games aren’t meant to be right? But Oblivion is not thin by any means, it’s a very thick and deep game with tons of the sidequests to take part in, while also taking part in the main story line. The only major gripe is the confusion on what to do half the time, but once you figure out how to use fast travel on the map, and also learn how to navigate through your journal that keeps all of the your current quests in, it becomes a lot easier to understand. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is not a game I can suggest to anyone, a lot of people wont understand what to do, and how to do it. I do recommend this game to Action Adventure and RPG fans though, but it’s the two genres mixed into one, and is my 28th favorite game ever. --- 27) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Genre: First Person Shooter System(s): Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3 Publisher: Activision Developer: Infinity Ward Release Date: November 5th, 2007 I gave it: 9.4 \| They have it: 94 Why?: Infinity Ward was the team responsible for the 2 best World War 2 shooters, Call of Duty, and Call of Duty 2. But Call of Duty 3 was then given to Treyarch to complete, so Infinity Ward could then go back and create the next Call of Duty, which ended up being one of the greatest shooters of all time: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Not only did they perfect the dual analog stick control, they made the game one of the best visual games ever to hit consoles, and it also has an online community that is rarely matched by Halo or Grand Theft Auto. Call of Duty 4’s single player campaign is pure genius with great action, awesome in-game cutscenes as well some pretty emotional moments. It really took the shooter genre to a whole new limit wit the amount of things happening on screen, and also what you could do yourself in every situation. The campaign did end short, which is the most disappointing part of the game, but everything you do in the short time you play is simply amazing. But what made up the bulk of the game was the online play which dare I say is better then Halo 3’s. Call of Duty 4 added a perk systems which allows you to customize your character by adding different enhancements like being able to carry more grenades, or increasing your weapon damage. What the coolest thing about it is that no one’s two perks will be the same, there are so many to choose from, and they’re all pretty balanced to boot. The gameplay is the same old Call of Duty in terms of control and how you aim your gun, but it’s still one of the best shooters ever made with all of the great enhancements like the brilliant online modes and the kick ass, but short campaign. But the fact still remains that I would easily play this game over Halo 3, especially the online, and to say anything that makes Halo 3 better than Call of Duty 4 is just plain wrong. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is my 27th favorite game of all time. --- 26) Super Metroid Genre: Action Platformer System(s): Super Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release Date: April 18th, 1994 I gave it: N/A \| They gave it: N/A Why?: Playing games late is never a good idea, especially after 14 years, but I finally got my hands on the Virtual Console of Super Metroid in 2008, and I loved the hell out of it. Super Metroid is considered to be the best Metroid game in the franchise, but though I don’t agree, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s absolutely amazing from start to finish. It’s an action game with guns-a-blazin’, with a very adventurous feel by all of the platforming an exploring you do throughout the entire game. Super Metroid is one of the best games of 1994, which was full of amazing titles. Since it’s an action platformer, it will feel nothing like a normal platforming, like a Mario or a Sonic. Super Metroid’s world is free roaming, with no level progression like in a standard platformer. Instead, you play as Samus as she roams the world searching for answers with her trusty arm cannon. The game’s enemies are very unique and instead of jumping on them, the idea is to shoot them by aiming with the D-Pad, and shooting with one of the face buttons. Samus also collects different types of weapons and can be switched with the Select button. Once you first start playing Super Metroid, it’ll feel very atmospheric, and there’s a huge sense of seclusion. You wont meet any different humans, or friendly beasts (well, a very little amount). All of the creatures that inhabit the land are your enemies, which makes the game that much more atmospheric, and well, awesome. Getting through the game is a lot harder than a normal platformer, and what makes it so difficult is the lack of communication with anything. If you’re stuck, you’ll have to find out what to do yourself, the game will never tell you. Super Metroid really defined the Super Nintendo. It had amazing visuals, a great and atmospheric soundtrack, with well crafted gameplay as well. It is easily on the best of 1994, one of the best of the Super Nintendo, and one of the best of the generation. It’s too bad I played the game so late, I really wish I played it in 1994 (though I would be 5 years old), but even playing it 14 years later and still loving it really tells you how timeless Super Metroid really is. It’s on the Virtual Console for 800 points, do yourself and favor and pick it up. Super Metroid is a blast, and is my 26th favorite game of all time. Expect a review for this game in the future. I have beaten the game, even though the last bits were frustrating as shit. I still love the game to death. --- 25) The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Genre: Action Adventure System(s): Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date: October 26th, 2000 I gave it: 9.5 \| They gave it: 95 Why?: A Zelda game that could surpass Ocarina of Time was a hefty feat, and though Majora’s Mask did not live up the unreachable expectation, it is still a pretty amazing game, from start to finish. Nintendo not only tried to flip the franchise around, they absolutely succeeded, and the outcome was clever, but not nearly as fun as past games. You still have the majority of the game being similar, but instead of dungeons progression with the number being around 7 or so, Majora’s Mask has 4 main dungeons, but tons of side quests. Majora’s Mask’s story however, is still the best of the series, no doubt in my mind. Instead of the whole, Link saves Zelda from Ganon type of deal, Nintendo totally mixed up the formula, and ends up being one of the best Zelda stories to date. When you start the game, Link is riding Epona to try and find Navi, his missing fairy from Ocarina of Time. Epona gets startled, and knocks Link right off his back, knocking Link out cold, and while knocked out, a little child with a weird mask on his face steals Link’s Ocarina. From there, Link eventually gets his Ocarina back, but the game has only begun after that. The moon is falling from the sky ever so slightly, and Link has 3 full days to beat all 4 dungeons and stop the kid responsible: Majora. But the game forces you to be quick, because you have to beat each dungeon in a time limit, and if you don’t get it done, the town will be crushed by the moon, and Link will ultimately fail. Luckily, if Link plays the song of time, time will reverse to the dawn of the first day with nothing in his pocket besides his major items like swords, shields, and items. The game’s biggest flaw is the 3 day limit, and though it can be slowed down to half the speed, it’s still pretty difficult to accomplish. It really turned off a lot of gamers and critics alike, and overall got a lower reputation that the game that preceded it. Still, Majora’s Mask didn’t change the formula too much in terms of gameplay. You’ll find a lot of the same enemies, with some new ones here and the there. Termina is a lot different from Hyrule though, but different in a totally good way. Visually, Majora’s Mask was one of the top tier looking games of the generation, and it had another amazing soundtrack to boot. It took everything that made Ocarina of Time special, kept it, but evolved the genre to go to places never seen before in an action adventure game, let alone a Zelda game. It’s too bad lots of fans of the series skipped it because of its basic idea, but I highly suggest to anyone that has liked a Zelda game to try it out. It’s harder than most Nintendo games, but should be tried by anyone anyways. Majora’s Mask is an amazing game, and is my 25th favorite game ever made. --- 24) Rock Band Genre: Rhythm System(s): Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (DLC-Wise) Publisher: EA Games Developer: Harmonix Release Date: November 20th, 2007 I gave it: 9.2 \| They gave it: 92 Why?: I was never into the whole Guitar Hero craze. Sure, I thought the games were fun, but they weren’t amazing me like it was with other people. But my opinion on the second Guitar Hero is very strong considering I have played the game one time. Still, I bought Guitar Hero III, and I still didn’t think it was that amazing. But when Harmonix split, and decided to go a whole new way, I was interested. And when they finally announced that the new game, Rock Band, would not only a guitar and bass, but drums and vocals as well, I was stoked, and couldn’t wait. Even though I had to wait to the early goings of 2008 to actually first play the game, when I first started wailing on the drums like a Rock Star, I knew I was experiencing something special. But the drums weren’t the thing that really sealed the deal for Rock Band however, because playing the game with a bunch of other people on one band is where the real magic happened, and is one of the best multiplayer experiences I have ever had. But what made the multiplayer so special was the Band World Tour mode that had your band doing gigs to gain more and more fans to ultimately be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The songs selection for Rock Band was one of the best seen in a rhythm game. With bands like Nirvana, The Who, Iron Maiden, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Boston, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, and much, much more, the selection covered a wide variety of difficulties, and a wide array of genres. What made the game just that much better was the ability to buy songs online on the Xbox 360 and PS3 to have an unlimited amount of songs to choose from, including some free bonus songs along the way. Rock Band really appealed to me from the very beginning. Though the guitar parts of the game aren’t nearly as polished as the Guitar Hero charts, and the Vocals could definitely be a bit tighter, adding them all together with the drums and bass made the whole game just a blast to play. The drums are especially the biggest selling point of the game to me, and since I started on medium on day one, I have gotten past all of the songs on Expert (including Run to the Hills and Wont Get Fooled Again), and I can safely say that I am an Expert at the drums. But all I can say about Rock Band is that it’s my favorite music game ever made, and I enjoy the hell out of it, even to this very day. I literally play the game every single day, toning my drums skills, and trying to beat my own scores for the worldwide Leaderboards (currently 75th on Rock and Roll Star!). Rock Band is the pinnacle game for local cooperative multiplayer, and if you still haven’t tried the game, I highly suggest it to anyone that loves music, and anyone that loves video games. Rock Band is my 24th favorite game ever to be released. For Rock Band, I’m strictly talking about the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 versions because of the Band World Tour Mode, Customizable Characters, Downloadable Content, and the HD Graphics that both the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions do not have. --- 23) Super Smash Bros. Melee Genre: Fighting System(s): Nintendo Gamecube Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Hal Laboratories Release Date: December 3rd, 2001 I gave it: 9.6 \| They gave it: 92 Why?: When Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 was released in the late goings of the Nintendo 64, it was a hit. I loved Smash Bros., it had a great charm to it, and it is one of the best games I go back to for nostalgic reasons. But the sequel was made and released only 2 years later, and could it stand up to the allure that the first game had? The short answer is yes, oh yes, because Super Smash Bros. not only became one of my most favorite games of all time, but it stands as the greatest fighting game I have ever played. Some people will turn they attention elsewhere after reading the above paragraph, but I simply have never played a better fighting game that has had more effect on my life than Super Smash Bros. Melee. Pitting Nintendo characters up against each other doesn’t sound like a very great idea on paper, but after Smash Bros. proved it could be done, Melee showed that it can be done very, very well. The fighting engine was fascinating in the first Smash Bros., it was unique as hell, but it was also fun as grass is green, and Melee not only improved the formula, but absolutely perfected it, and is used across the globe as a real tournament hotspot for competitive video gaming. The game is like the first game in the series, but with added content, a better more realistic look, and just an overall better presentation. The menus were far more slick, the graphics were enhanced dramatically, and the character roster was doubled. The Nintendo lovables returned like Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and Donkey Kong, but after the basics were added in the first game, the more in depth characters were added afterwards. Bowser, Peach, Zelda, Ganondorf, Falco, and Mewtwo were added as well as new franchises to the series like the Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, and the two Fire Emblem characters, Marth and Roy, which first introduced the North American audience to the Fire Emblem franchise. Melee introduced a ton of new game modes, a ton of new stages, and just a ton of great content, mixed with awesome visual, and an amazing soundtrack. Melee is easily one of the best games of the amazing year that was 2001, and Melee is easily one of my favorite games of all time. The fighting engine had me hooked for years, the visuals only recently got dated, the soundtrack is still one of the best ever, and the overall game just amazes me every time I think about it. If you love fighting game, pick this animal up, you wont regret it, I assure. It has great value, even for a game with absolutely no online. Super Smash Bros. Melee is my 23rd favorite game of all damn time. --- 22) Gears of War Genre: Third-Person Shooter System(s): Xbox 360, PC Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Epic Games Release Date: November 7th, 2006 I gave it: 9.6 \| They gave it: 94 Why?: Gears of War was the big game for Microsoft’s console in 2006, it was its killer app, and though it wasn’t Bungie, Epic Games still made not only a pretty damn good game, but a freaking amazing game. Gears of War is a 3rd-Person shooting game with a pretty good single player campaign that can be played not only in single player, but in on co-op as well. The cooperative campaign is Gears of War was brilliantly done, and I wouldn’t want to play the game any other way. The cooperative campaign also made the game what it is, and without it, the game wouldn’t have been as good. But what made the campaign so good you ask? Well, if shooting Locust with your friends wasn’t enough, the ways to get to different areas, like splitting apart, letting someone use a valve so you can get to the next area and vice-versa really made it fun, but adding this in with a great cover and shooting mechanic made it amazing. Gears of War really stressed the idea of taking cover before shooting, and it was a necessity in every difficulty level. Almost anything in the environment can be hidden behind, and shooting is as easy as holding the left trigger to aim, and the right trigger to shoot. The campaign features a story, but it’s not the reason why you’d play. But the game also feature a somewhat-robust online multiplayer mode, but ends up a disappointment overall. It takes a lot of shots to kill someone, and even if you shoot them enough, you have to run up to them and finish them off. The modes were also scarce, and usually they were 3 on 3, never all for one and one for all. Still, it was blast to play, even though it’s definitely not as deep as something like Halo or Call of Duty. The best part of the game has to be its graphics though, because Gears of War is easily the best looking game I have ever played. Gears of War’s visuals are just an example of what HD graphics look like, and it couldn’t look better. The models are detailed as ever, the draw distance is just amazing, and the effects are perfect. The only weird part of the visuals are the colours, grey is the most predominant colour, and the others are barely used, like red for blood. Still, just looking at the game in motion is just a treat, especially while playing the game in High Definition. Gears of War, even though it had some faults, is still one of my favorite games of all time, and easily stands as my 22nd favorite game of all time. It has the best graphics I’ve ever seen, it has an amazing cooperative campaign (a good single player one to boot), and it also had fun online modes, though they were shallow. You may wonder, this game doesn’t sound amazing, I faulted the online play, the colour scale of the visuals, and the single player campaign, but it doesn’t change the fact that once you start playing, you wont want to stop. --- 21) Super Mario World Genre: Platformer System(s): Super Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date: August 13th, 1991 I gave it: N/A \| They gave it: N/A Why?: A lot of people hail Super Mario Bros. 3 the greatest Mario game ever made, saying that it had the best overworld, the best stages, and the best power-ups of the series. Though I think Super Mario Bros. 3 is a fantastic game, I believe that the next step in the franchise was not only better, but one of the best Mario games ever to be released on any console, ever. It had amazing visuals that were smooth, colourful, and above all else, clear. It was amazing to watch the game in action for the first time, it was really a site to behold. Mixing the visuals with the amazing sound and the classic Mario gameplay really ended up being fantastic overall. One of the biggest gameplay additions was the ability to hop on Mario’s new sidekick, Yoshi, and take him for a ride, sort of like a power-up. Yoshi could eat enemies, he could jump high, and he could stretch his tongue out for extra length. Super Mario World gave birth to the Yoshi character, and really jump started it for what it is today. But Super Mario World played extremely similar to the past three NES Mario Bros. games, but modernized for the 16-Bit era. Mario could soar and fly into the air with his Cape, he could swim underwater, climb on clouds, and shoot fireballs. The level design and the overworld map was really a site to behold however, because it was amazing for its time. There was tons and tons of levels with multiple ways of beating them for multiple ways of exploring the overworld. At some instances, you could go underwater, or you could go around the lake visiting a Haunted House on the way. The overworld was lush and colourful while also having a very catchy tune. The soundtrack also made Super Mario World special, because it was kick ass. Super Mario World will always be in my heart as one of the best platforming games ever, and one of the best Mario games ever to be released. It had the old-school platforming from the past game perfected, while also introduced new gameplay elements like Yoshi and the Cape. It had an unbelievable overworld that looked beautiful, as the whole game did, as well as a great soundtrack, which yes, the rest of the game did too. Super Mario World is my 21st favorite game of all time. --- 20) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Genre: Platformer System(s): SEGA Genesis Publisher: SEGA Developer: Sonic Team Release Date: November 24th, 1992 I gave it: 9.5 \| They gave it: N/A Why?: SEGA had a really major franchise beginning with the first Sonic the Hedgehog, and though it wasn’t amazing, it was pretty damn good. It had great speed, good level design, and it was a pretty good game overall. But SEGA really outdid themselves with the next installment. Everything was better about it. The graphics were enhanced, the soundtrack was even more memorable, the game was longer, and just about everything else about the game as just more fun, and this is why it sits at number 20 on my all time list of best games. But Sonic 2 didn’t just beat the first Sonic in every category imaginably, Sonic 2 absolutely destroyed it. The first Sonic had a great sense of speed, but it was even more noticeable in the second game, making every level more and more fun to play. Sonic 2’s enemies were some of the best seen in the series even up to this very day, and got rid of some annoying moments like the 3 act stages. Sonic 2 also had a major upgrade in boss fights, every boss was fun, never a chore. The level design is what really brought the second Sonic game to the AAA tier of games. Every level was unique, some would take you through a Casino, while some had you going through an oil factory. But what made the level design even more impressive was the visuals, and the major upgrade from the first Sonic game. The background had more colour to them while the foreground had lots of moving objects, colourful art, and just visually impressive all around. Putting all of the major elements of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in to one pot really sums up how good the game is. The level design is still the best seen in a Sonic game to date, the gameplay is still fast and furious, the soundtrack and sound effects are still memorable plus sound awesome, and the visuals are a huge step above SEGA Genesis games at the time. Sonic 2 is definitely one of the best platformers ever to be released, and I would suggest it to anyone, including the non-gamers out there. --- 19) Metal Gear Solid Genre: Action Adventure System(s): PlayStation One Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Release Date: October 21st, 1998 I gave it: 9.4 \| They gave it: 94 Why?: Though the stealth action adventure games aren’t very frequent anymore, nor are any of them good, they were a lot of them back in the day that really stood out of the pack. Included in this list was one of Konami’s growing franchises, Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear Solid sticks out to me as one of the best video game stories ever. It had drama, very intense and cinematic moments, and it also had a lot of those heart stopping moments of sneaking around without anyone seeing you. This is why Metal Gear Solid is so good, and this is why it’s number 19 of this list. One of the best things about the first Metal Gear Solid game was its presentation. Right off the bat your put into action having to sneak around while trying to hide from guards while the game looked beautiful, and presented itself like a movie with credits rolling while you played the game. Metal Gear Solid also had some pretty deep cutscenes and codec conversations that always keep you intrigued and interested on what’s going to happen to Solid Snake next. Another thing that kept Metal Gear Solid high up on the AAA shelf was the superb voice acting, not seen as much during its time. Not only did it have voice acting, but it had absolutely outstanding voice acting, still good in today’s standards. Snake voiced by David Hayter was flawless, while all of the other supporting rolls were done very well too. The soundtrack for Metal Gear Solid was also top notch, there are tons of epic situations that sounded oh-so perfect with every beat. MGS has some of the greatest soundtracks in its franchise’s history, and the first game had some of the best. But not only were the presentation and sound good, but the game was also fun as hell. You had an arsenal of weapons like a normal silenced pistol, to grenade and rocket launchers. You could sneak through the whole game, or blast you way through, it was all up to you. One of the best parts of the gameplay was its epic boss battles. There are a little more in Metal Gear Solid than seen in other games like it, but all of them were just amazing in every possible way. Some had you sniping through a snowy field, while some had you running around a warehouse setting mines to blow you enemy to smithereens. Metal Gear Solid had pretty much every going in 1998. It had incredible graphics, though muddy in situations, it had amazing voice acting, but it also had some very fun moments like the incredibly epic boss battles. The game also presented itself like a movie, and turned out pretty much like it was supposed to. You’ll never be bored during Metal Gear Solid, it was made to be an epic game with an amazing deep story and fun gameplay, and it hit its mark perfectly. --- 18) Super Mario Galaxy Genre: Platformer System(s): Nintendo Wii Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo Release Date: November 12th, 2007 I gave it: 9.7 \| They gave it: 97 Why?: It’s been a tough couple of years for Nintendo fans. Sure, the Wii has had a ton of success, but the hardcore group that has stood by Nintendo has had to suffer through disappointment after disappointment from Nintendo’s latest console. Sure, there were some decent games leading up to Galaxy like a port of Resident Evil 4, and Metroid Prime 3, but after I got my hands on Super Mario Galaxy and see what the Wii is capable of, I can’t see other games the same way again. Not only is Galaxy by far the best on the Wii, but its also one of the best Mario games to ever hit the market, and my 18th favorite game of all time. Mario Galaxy really is an odd game. It goes into space without any gear (all is forgiven, it’s Mario we’re talking about here), but the result isn’t anything short of jaw-dropping. The gravity physics are some of the best I’ve seen in my entire life. Mario can stick to planets, and when he tries to jump off, the gravity slowly pulls him back and looks and feels amazing. Some of the more small planets can be jumped off and onto other planets as well, and it all feels totally natural. Some of planets can actually jumped across if done right, with a long-jump that everyone has come accustom to. But even with the great physics there still had to be some good level design to be fun right? You bet your ass. Not only does Mario Galaxy have some of the best level designs seen in a Mario game, it has some of the best ever. Every level has a unique theme to it, and while not all of the stages aren’t necessarily in space, all are awesome in their own unique way. Some have you jumping from flowers into a gust of wind while some have you jumping from a giant pill and onto a larger planet with enemies on it. If you’re wondering, Galaxy also features the enemies and power-ups you’ve come to expect, and maybe more than you first thought it would have. Goombas, Koopas, Bullet Bills, and other famous Mario enemies return, as well as some other not-so-favorite enemies like Bowser Jr. Galaxy also features a wide variety of power-ups like a Fire Flower, and Flying Cap, while also featuring new power-ups like a Bee Mario that can fly like a bee, and Boo Mario that can go through walls. One of the major elements of Super Mario Galaxy are ridiculously good looking visuals, combined with an incredible orchestrated soundtrack. The visuals are easily the best on the Wii, there are nice bloom effects everywhere as well as everything being polished with great textures, nice fur effects, and amazing physics. The soundtrack also is incredibly “Marioy” with all of the classic tunes redone with modern technology and new tunes that will still sound amazing, even to the virgin ears. But to say anything but amazing when talking about Super Mario Galaxy is an under-statement. It has incredible great level design with gorgeous graphics and an amazing soundtrack. The true Super Mario gameplay is still here and as perfect as ever, and pretty much everything else about the game is near perfect. The only downfalls are its length, and some stupid power-ups here and there, but it is truly a fantastic game. If you like Mario games, do yourself a favor and pick this game up. It’s worthy of a purchase, no doubt, but also worthy of the $250 on a Wii, for sure. --- 17) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Genre: Action Adventure System(s): PlayStation 2 Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Japan Release Date: November 13th, 2001 I gave it: 9.7 \| They gave it: 96 Why?: After the incredible first 3D Metal Gear game on the PlayStation 1, no one knew what could be done on a higher generation console. When Konami first showed off Metal Gear Solid 2 for the PlayStation 2, people’s jaws not only dropped, but they dropped through the damn floor. Metal Gear Solid 2 looked amazing, it had totally enhanced graphics that weren’t muddy and ugly looking while also having new awesome gameplay elements like first-person shooting. It was a giant leap forward, and the end result is my 17th favorite game of all time. Metal Gear Solid 2 is just an amazing game, but lots of players didn’t take it the way it was intended because of one of the primary character of the game, and that character is Raiden. Raiden is a women-looking male who has a girly voice, and doesn’t suit the game’s badass vibe. The other disappointing part about her... cough I mean him, is that 3 quarters of the game has you playing as Raiden, and only 1 quarter with Solid Snake. The game makes you think that the game is going to be badass throughout when you start out as Snake, but eventually Raiden will turn into the main character. But even with the main character being Raiden, the gameplay still remained nearly untouched from the Solid Snake parts, and ends up being awesome anyways. Snake’s part is a tanker where you infiltrate to find the new Metal Gear named Ray, while you play as Raiden to infiltrate a Plant in the middle of the ocean. Both are fun, and the Plant is especially lengthy, which made the game more and more fun as you progressed through it. Raiden’s attacks and rolls are a little different from Snake’s, but they both played nearly identical. But additions to the new Metal Gear Solid formula came with great improvements. The new controls with the PlayStation 2 having pressure sensitive buttons allowed the L2 and R2 buttons to be held to switch weapons or items, or tapping them to un-equip them on the fly instead of using the L1 and R1 buttons which are now to aim in first-person mode. The first person mode really allowed for more strategic ways of going through rooms and other places because you could see your surroundings a lot better, and it was a lot easier to hit enemies in a certain body part like the head, or yes, the crotch. All of the famous Metal Gear Solid gameplay options were added to Sons of Liberty like epic boss fights, and long but interesting cutscenes. The story especially is again fantastic in MGS2, but this time really difficult to understand. The soundtrack is also epic and heart-pumping while also being heartwarming and beautiful in other situations. The graphics were especially amazing for the time because the first Metal Gear Solid came out only 3 years previous and difference in the presentation to both games were night and day. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is easily one of the greatest PlayStation 2 games ever made, and it really showed people what the PlayStation 2 is capable of. The game had some amazing graphics, it had an great soundtrack, but it kept the great Metal Gear Solid themes like an amazing story with great cutscenes to back it up, while also having the great sneaking gameplay you’d come to expect. Metal Gear Solid 2, though it’s not the best Metal Gear Solid game in the series, is still one of the greatest games I have ever play, and is my 17th favorite of all time. --- 16) Mass Effect Genre: RPG System(s): Xbox 360 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: BioWare Release Date: November 20th, 2007 I gave it: 9.5 \| They gave it: 91 Why?: I’m not a big sucker for RPG’s, so when I first heard of Mass Effect, an epic action-RPG from BioWare, I wasn’t sucked into the hype. Sure, it sounded fun, but I wasn’t in to the whole game overall. But what I bought that day on November 20th really caught me by surprise, because what I got not only looked and sounded awesome, but just the sheer amount of fun you get out of this game was almost not matched in 2007. I’m not a sucker for RPG’s, but Mass Effect absolutely sucked me in, hard. Usually when a developer says their game is giant, I take it with a grain of salt, because like Twilight Princess, it’s usually never true. Mass Effect however is absolutely huge, there are tons of planets to explore while the important planets are also pretty decent in size. But what it all comes down to is that the game has to be fun, no matter how big the game is, but Mass Effect nailed the fun part, and the scope of the universe only made the game better from any standpoint. Mass Effect plays like a 3rd-Person Shooter. The camera is locked behind Commander Shepard (that your character’s name - boy or girl) when you’re shooting, but is free when not in combat. You have 4 kinds of weapons (pistol, assault rifle, sniper rifle, and shotgun), but depending on what class you choose at the beginning of the game, you can also have different powers like Lift which lift your enemies into the air, or Overload which will hit your opponents with a strong blast. Picking a certain class can be tough, but I ended up using my guns more than my powers, so a soldier class best suited me. One of the biggest ‘wow’ moments Mass Effect come from the interactive dialog trees that the game is absolutely filled with. Talking to specific (not all sadly) people, or beings, will trigger a conversation that can be different every time, depending on what you say. Usually there are 3 things to say for every part, one that’s nice, one that’s mean, and one that’s neutral. Depending what you say will usually have an effect on some parts of the game, and how much Paragon or Renegade points you. Eventually when you have enough of either points, you can tell people to “Fuck Off” in gentle, or mean ways, it’s very fun. On a technical standpoint, Mass Effect is awesome. It has incredible graphics, especially running in 720p, but turning off the default grain effect makes the game look a lot better. The game also has some nice motion blur, but some annoying little bits like textures loading in late which can make cutscenes terrible in situations. The soundtrack is also really good consisting of nothing expect epic tunes that will suit the mood in every situation. The voice acting, above all else, is THE thing to be amazed about in Mass Effect. Every piece of dialog from the opening scene with Seth Green, to the ending scene of the game, every single bit of the game has incredibly deep voice acting, and is honestly the best voice acting in any game, ever. Mass Effect was an amazing experience overall. It had one of the greatest stories ever, some of the best dialog ever seen a video game, and it was also a beautiful game with a brilliant soundtrack and really fun gameplay. There were barely anything wrong with the game, sometimes the textures would pop in, and the gameplay was occasional buggy, but the overall game was absolutely amazing from start to finish. If you have an Xbox 360 or a good PC, I would definitely suggest this game, because not only is it fantastic, it’s my 16th favorite game of all time. Edited by LK, Nov 2 2008, 11:04 AM.
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LK	Oct 20 2008, 10:31 AM Post #2
iminspace Posts: 18,081 Group: Active Ancients Member #794 Joined: July 28, 2005 Gender Male Coins 5	15) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Genre: Action Adventure System(s): PlayStation 2 Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Japan Release Date: November 17th, 2004 I gave it: 9.5 \| They gave it: 91 Why?: After experiencing terrific gaming-to-movie heights in terms of presentation by both Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the PlayStation 2, I knew that it could only get better from here. Guess what? It did, with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. If you’re familiar with the Metal Gear games... You wont find yourself at home with MGS3, it completely changes the norm left behind by past Metal Gear Solid games. Instead of infiltrating narrow buildings with tons of guards left and right, MGS3 puts you right in the middle of a Russian forest with 1960’s technology to boot. And right off the first hop, it’ll feel different, but a lot more breathtaking than before. The breathtaking part of Snake Eater is its setting. The forest you traverse in MGS3 is beautiful looking with trees everywhere, animals crawling about, and guards walking aimlessly around. It actually feels like your in a forest, grass grows in certain areas, swamps are full with alligators and leeches, while the chirps of birds go off in the background. It just looks stunning overall. But one of the major parts of Snake Eater was well, eating. For Snake to maintain his energy (not his health meter), Snake has to eat animals and insects he find across the forest. He will also have to heal his wound like a burn, or a broken leg, whenever he finds himself injured. But getting through the forest isn’t as easy as it sounds. First of all, they are actually a lot of guards throughout the forest, so you’ll have to be quick to learn where they are. But unfortunately, it’s the 60’s, so there isn’t any radar technology to see where the guards are without actually looking, so this time you’ll have to be more realistic when trying to get through certain areas. But you’ll get some nifty camouflage that will hide you from your enemies’ site. There’s a number at the top right of the screen, and when it increases, the more hidden you are. Some are normal grass camouflage, while some are rock, some are dirt, and some are water. It really makes the game more strategic, and better overall. But your probably wondering, does it have a good story, and what about the boss fights? Both of those can be answered with the word, “Epic.” The story takes you through the times of Big Boss, the father of Solid and Liquid Snake previously seen in the earlier Metal Gear Solid’s. You get to play through his struggles as he tries to stop his former mentor, The Boss, from her cynical plan. But what drives the story is the amazing, and sometime interactive, cut scenes. First of all, they’re awesome, never boring. Secondly, you can sometimes press the R1 button and see the cut scene in Snake’s perspective. The boss fights are still awesome, but are actually even better than past Metal Gear Solid games, and overall has the best bosses out of all 4 games. You’ll never get your generic boss, though Ocelot is kinda bland. You face the Cobra Unit throughout the game including a giant machine near the end, but none of them are more satisfying as The End, a master sniper that challenges you to a sniper duel in the middle of a giant forest. Its not only freaking awesome (there’s no music, just the sound of the forest), but it can actually take you a pretty long time to not only find The End, but to shoot him, and ultimately kill him. What Metal Gear Solid 3 came down to was its conclusion. It has one of the best endings I have ever seen in a video game. Its unexpected, ingenious, and overall, just amazing. Mixing not only the story in with the fantastic gameplay, but the epic soundtrack (I never mentioned it, but it’s amazing), the incredible graphics, and all of the other little bits make Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake eater my 15th favorite game of all time. --- 14) Perfect Dark Genre: First Person Shooter System(s): Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Rare Release Date: May 22nd, 2000 I gave it: 9.7 \| They gave it: 97 Why?: GoldenEye 007 was the first FPS game for the Nintendo 64 that really pushed the Nintendo 64 as being the party system of the generation. After the success of said game, Rare went ahead and started making a very similar game, Perfect Dark, which is amazing in its own right, and it sometimes feels better playing it than 007 itself. It had similar controls, similar AI, and similar levels. Perfect Dark corrected everything that GoldenEye had wrong, and it turned out being my 14th favorite game of all time. The first person genre on the Nintendo 64 was really made popular because 1. It has an analog stick for precision aiming, and 2. Four controller ports for awesome 4 player action. Perfect Dark really upgraded the multiplayer by adding better levels (though some are definitely worse), better weapons, and the option to add bots to the action as well. In GoldenEye is was fun to fight each other, but in Perfect Dark, being teamed up with a buddy and fighting against bots was a blast. The weapon selection also had a great variety with the selection of human weapons, and a selection of awesome alien guns as well. The idea of alien guns come from Perfect Dark’s campaign where you play as a secret agent named Joanna Dark as she infiltrates different areas throughout the game taking on enemy humans at first, but then getting to aliens further along in the game. The campaign was pretty lengthy at the time, and again the length was increased by being able to play on 3 different difficulty levels. There was even voice acting, cutscenes, and other cool effects not even seen in today’s games, which is a shame. One thing that wowed my about Perfect Dark right off the bat was the amazing presentation. The menus were freaking awesome for the time, and though GoldenEye’s was pretty cool, Perfect Dark’s was pretty freaking sweet. The graphics were also top-notch and some of the best on the Nintendo 64. The character models acted like real humans, the animation was great, and the environments were good, though sometimes bare. The production values were through the roof, and probably the game on the Nintendo 64 that had the most time and effort spent on it. What made Perfect Dark so special was the presentation and the awesome multiplayer. It’s not a knock against the campaign, don’t get me wrong, the the multiplayer and the presentation really nailed the game for me. The game had unbelievable graphics, voice acting as well as awesome sound, and amazing gameplay to boot. Playing with buddies against bots is still fun to this very day, and Rare and Nintendo went a real mile putting this masterpiece together, and that’s why it’s my 14th favorite game ever made. --- 13) Shadow of the Colossus Genre: Action Adventure System(s): PlayStation 2 Publisher: SCEA Developer: Team ICO Release Date: October 18th, 2005 I gave it: 9.7 \| They gave it: 91 Why?: In 2005, I was a crazy child. I remember seeing Shadow of the Colossus sitting on store shelves, seeing commercials for it, seeing people buying it, and every time thinking, “What is that game?”, but like an idiot, I never found out until 2008. I finally broke the chain and went over to my local EB Games and bought two PS2 games I missed over the years, God of War, and my 13th favorite game of all time, Shadow of the Colossus. But Shadow of the Colossus did concern me at first, 16 bosses? No other enemies? That’s the whole game? And though I was skeptical when I went in, I came out fucking astonished. Shadow of the Colossus is a game with 16 boss encounters, and that’s it. Bam, done. That made a lot of people worried that the game was going to be, well, not good. Though the game is pretty short, the 16 boss fights through the game are exhilarating and will amaze you every time you fight one. But you play as a kid named Wander, and he brings his fallen love Mono who has tragically been taken from life, to a forbidden land that is said to be never trespassed onto. Wander brings Mono to a shrine in the middle of the land in order to revive her, but the god of the land will only revive her if Wander finds and murders all 16 Colossi scattered throughout the land, so you set off to do just that. Most Colossi are mountainous in height, and usually take a great deal of time to scale them and find their weak spot. The Colossi arrange from human shaped monsters, and animalistic creatures, to sea serpents. They are mostly gigantic, but all are fun as hell to defeat. The Colossi have fur in areas of their body, and what you must do if find the spot to climb, climb to their weak spot, and stab it with you sword to finish them off. Sometime you have to climb on their beard, sometimes you have to jump on them from another structure, while some have to killed in a completely unique way. All 16, and I mean all 16 Colossi are fun to beat, even though some might take longer than expected. One of the best features about Shadow of the Colossus is its overworld, which is absolutely massive. The land is filled with mountains, shrines, forests, deserts, and fortresses. Finding some Colossi can take a pretty long time, and some of them are in a giant lake, or in a giant structure. Luckily the game has a horse to ride on, Agro, that can run very fast, so traversing the land isn’t as time consuming as say the Wind Waker. The land is also very atmospheric hearing the wind blow by, and the massive wastelands that surround you that are crawling with 16 massive monsters that you have to slain. The visuals and the audio in Shadow of the Colossus were really astonishing for a 3 year old PlayStation 2 game. The graphics were smooth, the draw distance was spectacular, the Colossi looked incredible, and the only part that wasn’t 100% was the frame-rate, which skipped in heavy situations (just think of what this game could’ve been like in HD). The soundtrack was absolutely phenomenal, moody and creepy tunes played while you tried to get on top of the Colossi, then an epic tune would play while you’re slaying it. It really just tied the whole incredible package into one amazing, incredible, fantastic, mind blowing experience. Shadow of the Colossus is one of the favorite game ever, even though I played it 3 years too late. After playing games in HD, the game looked very dated at first, but after I got passed the dated visuals, the game I played was an absolute blast to play, from beginning to end. The Colossi were an absolute epic battle to defeat, the overworld was massive and atmospheric, and the whole game was just fantastic. I would definitely suggest this game to anyone that likes the action adventure genre, though the game isn’t for everyone. But, it’s definitely my cup of tea, and it’s my 13th favorite game of all time. --- 12) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Genre: RPG System(s): Gamecube Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Intelligent Systems Release Date: October 11th, 2004 I gave it: 9.5 \| They gave it: 87 Why?: Charming is one of the very greatest qualities a video game can have. People may think that the charm of a game is over rated, but charm in games like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door however, makes the game what it is. What it is, is a fantastic Role Playing Game that is a true successor to the ingenious Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64, and is just as fun through and through. I was waiting for this game for a very long time, and it definitely lived up to my expectations, but maybe even a little more. A lot of gamers think that the Paper Mario series is too soft, too easy, and too charming. They’re the gamers that grind out 100 hours of each of their precious Final Fantasy games and never really gave the franchise a good run through. If you have ever played a Paper Mario past the first 3 chapters, you’ll know what I’m talking about, but if you’re the kind of person that discarded it near the beginning, you missed out on what I think is one of the greatest Gamecube games, and my 12th favorite game of all time. The concept is actually pretty clever, you play as Mario, but instead of polygons, characters are paper sprites that walk, turn, and do everything like a piece of paper. Aside from the charming visuals comes the incredibly fun and addicting gameplay that is part platformer, part RPG. You walk around the environments as Mario with one of his partners like a platformer jumping up on pipes, talking to other character around towns, and actually feels pretty good overall. Mario can get attacked by enemies, and when this happens, a separate battle take place on stage being watch by audiences that can arrange from few, to many. It’s a turn based RPG, so after Mario and his partner attack, then your opponents have a turn back. If you thought the first game’s story was clever and funny, then you’re all set for the Thousand Year Door. It has another good story, hilarious characters and funny moments, and it also has a good set of chapters to boot. The first chapter may seem similar to the first on the first game, but the rest seem pretty different that it actually feels like a totally new and original game. The 3rd chapter in the Thousand Year Door, for example, is the best chapter in the history of Paper Mario. You, Mario, are taken to a floating island in the sky called Glitzville, where you fight to earn up the ranks, kind of like boxing. It has the gritty atmosphere like boxers went through back in the day with the commissioner being smart with money, but is a douche. What evolved from the first Paper Mario to the second, The Thousand Year Door, was the crowd mechanic. What the crowd does effects how much star power you gain for your special attacks you gain by beating each chapter (like the first Paper Mario). But unlike the first game, the more stylish your moves are, the more crowd cheers you get, resulting in more star power. The crowd can also sometimes hold items like a mushroom that will heal you, or a pebble that will hurt you. If Mario hits a jackpot, the crowd will fill the seats, and give you more star power as turn pass by. But the other major factor of the jump from the Nintendo 64 to the Gamecube was the polish of the game. The Thousand Year Door is just a beautiful game, it looks as sharp as a knife, and it sounds nice on the ears with a very memorable soundtrack at every possible situation. The animations of the sprites are seamless, the ugly blocky looking edges of the sprites are gone, and the cool 2D to 3D effects are here and better than ever. Paper Mario 2 really has some incredible polish through and through, and is easily one of the nicest looking and sounding games on the Gamecube. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is one of the most charming game I have ever played, and the upgraded visuals, and clever mechanics really end up making it a true sequel to the first Paper Mario. The game was polished quite nicely, the story is engaging enough to keep you going, and the gameplay is as addictive as ever. Like I said before, some people just don’t like the Paper Mario series because of its softness (though some parts of Paper Mario 2 are tough), but The Thousand Year Door is easily one of the top tier games on the Gamecube, and is my 12th favorite game of all time. --- 11) Super Mario 64 Genre: Platformer System(s): Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release Date: September 26th, 1996 I gave it: 9.5 \| They gave it: 94 Why?: While games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World defined their respected consoles, Super Mario 64 defined the Nintendo 64 as a real 3D console with beautiful visuals, and great new ways to play. Super Mario 64 kept the old-school style of platforming with familiar characters and enemies, and familiar environments reborn in three dimensions. Super Mario 64 definitely paved the way for 3D Platformers for years to come like Super Mario Bros. did on the NES. Everything about Super Mario 64 was brilliantly done from the tight and responsive controls, to the awesome level design, to the memorable soundtrack, everything was top of the line. Super Mario 64 was definitely structured a lot differently than the previous Mario games though, but structured in a more non-linear type of way, which ended up being quite intuitive at the time, and still to this very day. Mario 64 had levels which you get to by jumping into a painting hanging on a wall in Princess Peach’s Castle. Each level had 7 stars to choose to try and recover, all having a certain way of getting them. Some would have you defeat a boss, while some had you scale a mountain, and some had you break the leash of a Chain Chomp, while also getting a star for collecting 100 coins scattered throughout each stage. The awesome non-linear part about the game instead of beating a level to get to the next, all you had to do was collect a certain amount of Stars to access new levels, and you would need a certain amount of Stars to fight Bowser which would unlock new areas in the Castle like the basement, or the backyard. You could get 2 stars in one level, then go on to another and collect a bunch more. Super Mario 64 had 120 Stars to collect in total, and though you only needed 80 to fight Bowser one last time, it was still fun to come back and try to collect the rest. The greatest part of the game was the level designs, which all seemed like a transformation of past Mario stages done in 3D, and designed specifically for collecting stars. You’d go to regulars like a Mushroom Kingdom full with green grass, Goombas and Koopas, while also going to new areas like the Wet Dry World. Some levels were completely insane like the Tick Tock Clock that had you enter at different times for the insides of the Clock to be faster, or slower, depending on which time you entered at. It was a giant landmark in terms of level designs in a video game, and it still shines as one of my favorite to date (I especially like Tick Tock Clock). The controls were perfect. Mario controlled brilliantly, with no weird throw-ins or anything, the controls were tight and responsive. It was especially mesmerizing using the analog stick to control Mario for the first time in three dimensions. It worked extremely well, and though the camera sometimes didn’t work out as well as it could have, the four C-Buttons definitely took care of any hassle. The Z trigger on the underside of the controller really worked well as the duck buttons for doing high jumps and long jumps in quick motions. Mario also had an attack with the B button for punching, but he could mostly jump on top of enemies to dispose of them anyways. Visually Super Mario 64 was a great feat in 1996 while games were still being released for the SEGA Genesis. The 3D models of Mario, Peach, Bowser, and enemies like Goombas, Koopas, and Chain Chomps were surprisingly great looking, and really impressive overall. The level design while being fun, also looked incredible to boot with beautiful colours filling the screen and cool effects like swimmable water and nice fire effects. The same thing can be said for the fantastic soundtrack that is definitely the best seen in a Super Mario game yet. Every level has a nice tune, while some have some clever ones that you never knew could exist. The sound effects are just like they’re supposed to be, only better then you’d first think, and overall the audio is great. Super Mario 64 was the epitome of 3D games in 1996, and was one of the greatest Super Mario games to ever hit the video game market. The game had brilliant implementation of the Nintendo 64’s controller while also having brilliant level designs and beautiful visuals to boot. Super Mario 64 paved the way for how the next batch of platformers had to play, and really showed that Nintendo could still evolve the market without completely destroying it. Super Mario 64 can be picked up on Nintendo Wii’s virtual console, so I suggest giving it a pick-up if you don’t already own this masterpiece. --- 10) Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Genre: Action Adventure System(s): PlayStation 3 Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Japan Release Date: June 12th, 2008 I gave it: 9.8 \| They gave it: 94 Why?: Until the fourth Metal Gear Solid game, every game in the series got better and better, and though I didn’t rate them that way, you can see in this very list that I liked each and every new game more and more. This same thing can be said with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, because it is the best Metal Gear Solid game thus far, and it’s only been 4 months since its initial release. Guns of the Patriots is everything you’d want out of a next-generation Metal Gear Solid game, it had incredible graphics, production values through the roof, and just about every part of the game being top of the line. It was so good in fact, that’s it’s easily my 10th favorite game of all time. Guns of the Patriots really evolved the series from Snake Eater. It took the better camera system from Subsistence, added a better aiming function, while also adding a bunch of great elements that you wouldn’t expect from a Metal Gear Solid game in the first place. To start, the game had a great over-the-shoulder view for aiming weapons for precision aim. This was way easier than zooming into first person, but you can even do that in Guns of the Patriots if you like. You could also earn Drebin points by collecting fallen enemies’ guns and use these Drebin points to buy weapons from Drebin’s shop. The game also took a totally different direction in the way you play. Instead of trying to sneak past enemies that are simply walking around, Snake pretends to join the ally forces during a war in the Middle East, but doesn’t fight if you don’t want him to. You go along with your allies and kill as much enemies as you possibly can, but you could also run away from the action and sneak your way through the game. Snake has a new Octo-Camo suit that changes to the type of surface he’s up against, making the game much better flow instead of going through tons of menus. Metal Gear Solid 4 also closed the Solid Snake story that has built up over the years. You’ll get your normal Metal Gear characters like Otacon, Meryl, Coronal Campbell, and others. The story unfolds normally with boss fights after every major area of the game, but also throws twists and turns at you that you never thought possible... Well, nothing in Metal Gear Solid would be possible, but who’s keeping score right? Anyways, Guns of the Patriots is the definitive Metal Gear Solid game, and if you have played the past games and want to know what happens, Metal Gear Solid 4 will clear everything up, but maybe not as smooth as it could’ve. Visually the game looked amazing with great lighting effects, smooth character models, and gorgeous environments. The AI of your partners and foes was pretty good, and technically the game was awesome. The frame rate never skipped, the game ran smooth as a gravy sandwich, while also looking like a real generation game. The audio was also top notch with perfect voice acting, an incredible soundtrack, and sound effects that sounded nothing other than real. The game did have a great soundtrack, but sadly does not have the best soundtrack in Metal Gear Solid games. The boss fight music was intense, sure, but it nothing like the first Metal Gear Solid’s tune. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was overall a masterpiece of a title. It was everything anyone wanted out of a next-generation Metal Gear Solid game while also adding clever elements you didn’t know you wanted. The game has some tiring long cut scenes that maybe seemed unnecessary, but everything else like the evolved gameplay, incredible audio including the voice acting and soundtrack while also having superb visuals definitely made up for it. Metal Gear Solid easily made my top 30 list, and is just the beginning of the top 10. --- 9) GoldenEye 007 Genre: First Person Shooter System(s): Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Rare Release Date: August 25th, 1997 I gave it: 9.8 \| They gave it: 96 Why?: Rare and Nintendo had magic in the Nintendo 64 era. The games that were created by these behemoths were absolutely amazing like Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, and this game, GoldenEye 007. Usually games based on movies, or movies based on games are usually, well, terrible, but GoldenEye is anything but. It was the pinnacle of First Person Shooter at the time with a quite lengthy single player campaign, and superb multiplayer. The Nintendo 64 controller gave the controls what games desperately needed, and it ended up being my 9th favorite game ever. I remember showing my friends the controls for the first time with the Z-Trigger on the back of the controller being the shoot button, and they thought it was awesome. It actually felt like you were shooting a gun, and the rumble pack you could insert into the controller made it even more immersive than before. Controlling Bond with the analog stick was a nessessity, and aiming with the right shoulder button was done in way that it was enough for the time. GoldenEye was definitely the best first person shooter that ever hit the market at the time, but definitely is still up there with others to this very day. The multiplayer was absolute chaos in GoldenEye. Having 4 friends together was a blast, shooting each other in the face felt too good (not in a sexual way). I really applaud Nintendo for including four controller ports on the Nintendo 64, because games like GoldenEye would have been nothing without it. The game has tons of different weapon types to choose from, while also featuring modes that completed the insane multiplayer. There were explosives, pistols, your ordinary assault rifles, and things like proximity mines that caused friendships to end. The single player part of GoldenEye was really one of its strongest points. There were tons and tons of mission to take part in, and most of them followed the movie’s story. Some extra mission were thrown in to make it a longer game, and ended up being fun as hell. Some of the mission had you go through a factory killing absolutely every enemy in your way, while some had you go through a ton on a tank. Bond also had his trusty watch to keep things interesting. Visually, the game was pure polish. It had great character models that had facial detail while the environments had great detail like the Jungle that had trees all over the place making it seem real. The effects like fire and bullet fire was also included and seamlessly fit into the game. The game also had great sound like the sound effects and the awesome and memorable soundtrack. GoldenEye 007 still stands as one of my favorite gaming soundtracks of all time (up there with Brawl and Ocarina), and the presentation of GoldenEye was AAA all the way. GoldenEye really stands out as one of the very best examples of a genre, and how it can work with limited resources. The Nintendo 64 was on carts, so it couldn’t hold things like real video or music, but the game that GoldenEye 007 ended up being was nothing short of absolutely phenomenal. The action was incredibly intense throughout the lengthy single player while also having an extremely fun multiplayer that is still not boring to this very day. It had everything going, and going at top speed. GoldenEye 007 stands out as one of the most timeless games ever to hit the market, and is easily my 9th favorite game of all time. --- 8) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Genre: Action Adventure System(s): Gamecube Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release Date: March 15th, 2003 I gave it: 9.8 \| They gave it: 96 Why?: A lot of people were disappointed in the direction that the Wind Waker was headed. After a cool video showing Link facing Ganondorf in a one-on-one duel, lots of fans thought we were going to get the true sequel to Ocarina of Time, but Nintendo scrapped that idea, and went for something totally new, and result is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The Wind Waker has a very kiddish look to it, the games visuals are cel-shaded to look like a cartoon, and the story is a little less dark than previously seen in past Zelda games. But even with all of this, The Wind Waker still has a spot in my heart as one of the greatest games ever made. The Wind Waker looks like a totally different game than the previous Zelda games, but it plays exactly the same, in a good way. You go from dungeon to dungeon fighting bosses at the end, getting an important item, and eventually facing Ganondorf in the final battle. But the way Nintendo put The Wind Waker is awesome, and it ended up being something totally unique that the Zelda franchise so desperately needed. The story behind The Wind Waker is the tale of Ocarina of Time, but shortly thereafter, Ganondorf returns, and since Link was sent back to the past at the end of Ocarina of Time, no hero was there to save Hyrule once again. Because of this evil, the Gods of Hyrule had to flood Hyrule, and thus the Great Sea in the Wind Waker was born. Link has to travel around Hyrule on a boat named the King of Red Lions to islands scattered throughout the massive sea. Link starts off on a small island called Outset Island on his Birthday, but his little sister Aryll is captured by a giant bird, and Link must travel to the Forsaken Fortress to save her. The most amazing thing about the Wind Waker is the scope of the Ocean. You can see tall islands miles away, and it will take you 15 minutes at least to travel one end to the other. Link eventually has to use a wand called the Wind Waker to change the direction of the wind so the King of Red Lions can travel faster. It is a major change of pace from previous Zelda game, and is a total refresher, and a new breathe in the franchise. Sometimes the boat rides end up taking too long and become a snooze-fest, but it’s still pretty cool. Visually, the Wind Waker was stunning for 2003. The cel-shaded graphics not only looked real nice with awesome lighting and fantastic facial animations, but the game also had a ton of great variety of environments from islands to underground caves, to the great variety of dungeons the game has. The bosses, the character you find throughout the game, the dungeon designs, and pretty much everything about the Wind Waker’s visuals were absolutely top-notch. No slow-down, no hitches, nothing. The game ran smooth, and ends up being one of the most beautiful games on the Gamecube, easily. But even with the amazing visuals, comes an even better soundtrack. The Wind Waker has memorable tune in every area of the game, has some amazing sound effects, and just an awesome array of great audio. Forest Haven and Dragon Roost Island are examples of absolutely superb soundtracks, and after you listen to those tunes for the first time, you want to just start playing the Wind Waker from the very beginning. It’s a little disappointing that there was no voice acting, but Zelda games are usually able to be amazing without it. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker will always stand out as one of greatest games I have ever played. The gameplay is nearly identical to that of previous 3D Zelda games, but it also had a breathe of fresh air with the sailing over the Great Sea to get to different areas of Hyrule. The cel-shaded visuals mixed in with the fantastic animations, and the superb soundtrack really brought the Zelda franchise to the new generation, and ended up being some of the best in Zelda history. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is easily one of the greatest games I have ever played, and should go down as one of the best Zelda, Gamecube games, and one of the best games of the generation, it’s that damn good. --- 7) BioShock Genre: First Person Shooter System(s): Xbox 360, PC Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Irrational Games Release Date: August 21st, 2007 I gave it: 9.9 \| They gave it: 96 Why?: BioShock was one of the smash hits of 2007. The game was the first one to knock your socks off starting in August, and though the games afterwards were awesome (Super Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty 4), I never thought any of them even came close to the greatness that BioShock was, and still is. BioShock was made by Irrational Games, the studio responsible for System Shock 2 on the PC, so everyone knew that BioShock was going to be something special, and as it turns out, it very well is. The game is one of the most atmospheric games I have ever played, because the game takes place under the sea in a utopia called Rapture. Rapture was supposed to be this amazing creation that everyone will be able to go to escape from reality, but as you find out after a very scary plane crash at the start of the game, Rapture is anything but. The halls are filled with mutated people trying to slice you up, or shoot you down. Rapture also is full of Big Daddy’s that protect the Little Sisters, who wander around collecting ADAM from the dead. If you want to take this ADAM from a Little Sister, you first have to fight the Big Daddy, and they’re no walk in the part, let me tell you. The story line is one of BioShock that makes it stand out from other games of the genre. There are tons of twists and turn throughout the entire game, and though the conclusion is somewhat out of place, the rest of the story is near-perfect. What makes the story come together so well isn’t the cutscenes. There are very few, and sometimes they take place while you’re still playing the game. The audio diaries you find throughout the game tell you what mostly happened in the downfall of the city, and what secrets were untold. The game is also very fun, while being scary as well. BioShock is a first person shooter, you hold guns, and you shoot your enemies with them. Obviously, but makes the game so unique is the variety of old-school weapons like a 1960’s pistol, and a tompson-like machine gun, and the mixture of Plasmids that shoot fire, or lift things with telekinesis. You find Plasmids in glass bottles throughout Rapture, and most of the them are useful, but some are a little stupid. The variety of things you can use to kill enemies is pretty special, you can set a trip mine, then lift an enemies up and toss them into it, stuff like that. Visually the game is outstanding. Like I said in my review, it’s not going to blow you away like Gears of War, but BioShock’s visuals are pretty damn impressive with absolutely no slowdown what-so-ever. Locked at 60 frames per second, Rapture comes to life with enemies that look disturbing, but awesome at the same time, while the water from the ocean gives off a cool lighting effect that is just crazy-effective. The water effects are top-notch, it looks like the real thing. Some of the animations when the Splicers die are kind of weird. The voice acting made the game seem like a movie because it was so well done. Every voice in the game from Andrew Ryan, to Atlas, everyone sounds like they would at that time, mixed with the quality of sound walky-talkies would have in that time period. The sound effects are also pretty good, but what makes everything mix so well is the very atmospheric music that will sometimes haunt your dreams. You be walking around a dark corner, then the lights will go out, and Splicers will attack you out of nowhere with the intense music blasting. It really adds to the mood, and ends up being one of the most atmospheric soundtracks of all time. BioShock is simply an amazing game, from start to finish. It’s easily one of the most atmospheric games of all time, and also one of the most fun. The story will keep you guessing until the end, while the audio diaries keep things interesting throughout. BioShock is my favorite game of 2007, and if 2007 is the greatest year of video gaming, and BioShock is my favorite, then it has to be one of the best ever. It is. It’s my 7th favorite game of all time. --- 6) Sonic 3 and Knuckles Genre: Platformer System(s): SEGA Genesis Publisher: SEGA Developer: Sonic Team Release Date: October 18th, 1994 I gave it: 9.9 \| They gave it: N/A Why?: Sonic 3 and Knuckles is a arguable game. Sure, it can be considered one game on its own, but it is two game combined into one. Should it be considered one game? Sonic 3 and Knuckles is Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic & Knuckles put together to be one game with a new story, and a new final boss. The levels are put together from Sonic 3, then continues with Sonic & Knuckles. Its up to you to decide if it should be considered one game or not, but for me, I think it’s not only one game, but it’s one of the best games ever created. Sonic 3 was a little disappointing considering that Sonic 2 was the best SEGA Genesis game up until the release of Sonic 3, but Sonic and Knuckles that came out the same year corrected all of the things wrong with Sonic 3, and the cartridge was able to hold Sonic 3 to become an entirely new game. Sonic & Knuckles added 2 more save slots that Sonic 3 made a new constant, and you were now able to play as Knuckles through Sonic 3 levels, and play as Tails through the Sonic & Knuckles levels. But the thing that makes it so amazing is that it seamlessly adds to two games together like they were supposed to one game in the first place (which they probably should have been). Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were amazing on their own, but adding them together with some added content only made the games better together. The story finally makes a little more sense, but no speech bubbles or any dialog what-so-ever really deflates the story and sometimes doesn’t make sense, but this is the Sonic game where the Sonic Team actually tried to make a decent enough story to fit a blue Hedgehog and a red Echidna. Other than saying that Sonic 3 and Knuckles is two amazing game put into one, there’s not much else to say about Sonic 3 and Knuckles. It has all of the great levels from the two games, plus a last, amazing boss battle that is the most satisfying bosses I have ever fought. It also had the amazing soundtracks from both game, put into one, plus the gorgeous visuals that were beautiful in both games. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is arguable, no doubt, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s my sixth favorite game(s) ever made. --- 5) Half-Life 2 Genre: First Person Shooter System(s): PC Publisher: Value Studios Developer: Vivendi Games Release Date: November 16th, 2004 I gave it: 10.0 \| They gave it: 96 Why?: Valve’s first person shooter that came out in November of 2004 was considered the best first person shooter games ever made, and still is considered that after all of these years later. I never got to play it on the PC unfortunately, but when I got my hands on the Orange Box back in 2007, I finally got to play it, and it absolutely blew me away. The game had an incredibly awesome story with superb visuals, amazing animation, and above all else, it was fun as hell to play. Half-Life 2 has a story where you wont know what’s happening at first, but once you get further and further through the game, you’ll understand more and more. You play as a man named Gordon Freeman, he was involved in an incident in Black Mesa in the first Half-Life game, and he’s back for more. This time the world has been infiltrated by a species known as the Combine, and Gordon is there to save the day. It doesn’t exactly turn out as “the hero saves the day” type of story, and actually ends up being anything but. Half-Life 2’s world is scattered with the Combine, and everywhere you go you can tell that the Combine are really messing with the earth. The sea levels for example, are far less high than usual because the Combine are using the earth’s water for resources, and thus is draining the sea significantly. Everywhere you go there’s something terribly wrong, and you are never safe. City 17 is littered with battling humans trying to survive, safe houses with people praying, everything has gone seriously wrong in Half-Life 2’s world. Half-Life 2 is considered one of the best shooter ever made because it not only had an incredible story, but it also played great as well. Gordon has a normal pistol, machine gun, and shotgun, but there’s one weapon that introduced that changed the face of game physics, and that’s the Gravity Gun. With the Gravity Gun, Gordon can pick up pretty much anything he wants, and can chuck it at any foe you want. For example, there’s a saw blade sitting on the ground, Gordon can pick this up and shoot it at an enemy, slicing them right in half. But the Gravity Gun would not be so amazing without the physics that the game possesses. The visuals are awesome, the environments are sweet, the character models are amazing with great animation in the very awesome in-game cutscenes. But the technical side of the graphics, the physics, are where the game really shines. Items can be picked up and thrown around, certain items are heavier than other, and items have different weight to them. Throwing a box across a room? It will land and break like a real wooden box. Want to pick up a small piece of it? Go right ahead. This is just an example on how good Half-Life 2’s physics are, and are the best bulk of the entire game. I know some people will argue that I never actually played the definitive version of Half-Life 2, it doesn’t change the fact that I absolutely adored every moment of the game with a 360 controller. It may not have been the correct way of playing this amazing title, but it was the best way I could. Don’t be alarmed, it’s number 5 on my all time list, and I haven’t played the definitive version, that’s really saying how masterful Half-Life 2 really is. --- 4) Metroid Prime Genre: First Person Shooter System(s): Gamecube Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Retro Studios Release Date: November 11th, 2002 I gave it: 10.0 \| They gave it: 97 Why?: People often consider Metroid Prime to be a first person adventure, instead of a first person shooter. It does have shooting in it, with a first person perspective, but the game focuses more on adventure elements of the game instead of blasting enemies, this is why people don’t like to consider Metroid Prime as a shooter. Either way, whatever you want to call the game, it doesn’t change the fact that Metroid Prime is not only one of the best sounding and looking games on the Gamecube, but easily one of the best games of all time. Metroid Prime is a tough, atmospheric, and gigantic game, and to call it anything other than amazing is putting the game down. The last Metroid game before Prime was Super Metroid in 1994, and though it was an amazing game, it was a long and tiring wait for the the next Metroid game. The Metroid franchise literally skipped the whole Nintendo 64 generation altogether. But once Metroid Prime hit the scene with its incredible visual design, and atmospheric gameplay, it was a smash hit. Samus is again here to explore the world of Talon IV. What she finds is that the world has been overrun by Space Pirates. Eventually, he main mission is to find all of the keys to get to Metroid Prime, and take it out for good. Metroid Prime is so highly recommend because the game focuses a lot more on the adventure elements than the shooting elements. While playing your way through Metroid Prime, you’ll jumping around environments, and solving puzzles, occasional shooting enemies with Samus’ trusty arm cannon. The world of Talon IV is massive, filled with tons of different smaller areas like the Phazon Mines, the Magmoor Caverns, Chozo Ruins, and Phendrana Drifts. All of the areas are very atmospheric, and completely different from one another. Phendrana Drifts for example is an snow covered area with ice peaks, while the Magmoor Caverns are a cave full with fire and lava surrounding the area. What makes the areas come to life is the fantastic visuals, which are easily one of the best on the Gamecube. The environments are stunning, stopping to look at them is a must. When you run through steam, Samus’ visors becomes filled with it, and slowly becomes more visible. The effects like Samus shooting her cannon, the lava, fire, and pretty much everything else is top of the line. Watching Samus while traveling down an elevator while the walls in the background are zipping by has never looked so good in a video game before. All enemies, which look intimidating, also look good enough. The atmosphere is easily the greatest asset of Metroid Prime. You will never meet another human on Talon IV, ever. You’re by yourself through the whole game, fending enemies off, reading lore left behind from the Chozo, all by yourself. You feel isolated, like no one will help if you mess up, and the game does a good job of making you feel unsafe, because Metroid Prime is no walk in the park (Metroid Prime is a fucking beast). You get a major feeling of success when you beat Metroid Prime, it’s a very satisfying game with tough bosses, but all is worth it at the end. One of the major concerns about Prime was the controls. It did NOT control like an ordinary first person shooter, the C-Stick (or the second analog stick) didn’t control Samus’ axis's, instead, you would have to hold R, and while stationary, move the camera around to look, or shoot enemies. Then, while you ran around, turning left and right on the left analog stick turned Samus, and pressing up or down made her walk in the respective direction. The controls worked perfectly fine, and the enemies and bosses are done in a way that knows that you can shoot them very easily. You’d think that this would ruin the entire game, but it doesn’t. Saying that Metroid Prime is anything other than fantastic is putting the game short. It is one of the most atmospheric games of all time, as well as one of the most fun. The visuals and audio (which by the way is great) are both flawless, and the controls are tight and responsive. Metroid Prime is a definite must-own if you have a Gamecube, or a Wii. It was easily the best game of 2002, and is definitely one of the best games of all time. It is highly recommended by critics alike, so don’t waste your time, run over to you local store and buy this game, it is simply fantastic, and is my 4th favorite game of all time. Edited by LK, Oct 30 2008, 01:04 PM.
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LK	Oct 23 2008, 06:25 PM Post #3
iminspace Posts: 18,081 Group: Active Ancients Member #794 Joined: July 28, 2005 Gender Male Coins 5	3) Paper Mario Genre: RPG System(s): Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Intelligent Systems Release Date: February 5th, 2001 I gave it: 9.7 \| They gave it: 93 Why?: I remember seeing this game at local stores across my town back in the day, and always wondering what it was. I never used the internet much, I never got my gaming info from anything other than the look at the boxes, so one day my sister and I put our money together and bought the game. My sister and I liked the art on the box, and I liked Mario, so it had to be good right? But not only was it good, not only was it better than I thought, but it is easily one of favorite games of all time, and though it may not be the prettiest, it may not be the most epic, and it may not be the most compelling, but boy, Paper Mario is a fantastic game. Paper Mario is a very weird looking game when you first see it. Mario and characters aren’t the normal sprites like in the Super Mario Bros. on the NES and SNES, and they’re also not the polygonal models from Super Mario 64. Paper Mario has sprites like the first Super Mario Bros. games, but they’re mixed into 3D environments, paper thin. Yep, all characters and enemies in Paper Mario are paper thin, when the spin around, they go wide, then fat, and so on. It was an awesome look at the time, and looking at it in action for the first time had me astonished, and blown away. The visual style Paper Mario used was unparalleled. But the charming visuals aside, Paper Mario also played pretty damn good as well. You play like a 3D platformer when not in a battle scene. You can buy items from the shop, talk to characters scattered throughout towns, rest at an Inn to regain health, and do all sorts of things. But when Mario steps into an enemy, or an enemy step into him, a battle ensues. Battles in Paper Mario are very simplistic, Mario always attacks first, and he can either use his hammer, jump, star power, or items. If Mario attacks, your enemy loses a certain amount of health, and after it’s all gone, the enemy is a goner. After Mario is done attacking, your opponent attacks. A cool thing about Paper Mario was pressing the A button right when Mario attacks his enemies to take off more damage, or pressing it just before an enemy attacks you to lessen the enemies power. It really adds more gameplay to the battles, making them less boring. Paper Mario is filled with stuff to do. The game is 8 chapters long, but none of them are the same. The first chapter has Mario infiltrating a castle of Koopas to try and save the first Star Spirit. But the second chapter has Mario going through a desert to try and find a secret tomb that lies the second Star Spirit. The story was actually surprisingly deep. Bowser stole the Star Rode from Star Heaven and is trapped the 7 Star Sprites across the world. Mario is at a party Princess Peach is holding, but is interrupted from a giant rumbling. An earthquake you ask? No, below Peach’s castle, deep underground, holds Bowser’s castle, and it comes right out of the ground and takes Peach’s castle with it. Bowser suddenly appears and defeats Mario is a fight and sends him to the ground below. Mario’s mission? To save the Star Spirits, and get back at Bowser once and for all. The story is presented with hilarious dialog and cutscenes that you would eventually come to love. Though there is a lot of dialog to read over the course of the game, what you do end up reading is a really funny story with some memorable moments in every unique chapter. Mario also meets up with a bunch of Partner throughout the game like a Koopa, Goomba, and Fish, and all have different types of attack while using them in a battle. Some are more powerful and useful then others, and they can also be powered up. The partners added a great deal of strategy to the game. The presentation does sadly distract from the overall quality of the game. Sure, the presentation is nothing bad, but people look at it for it’s visuals, not it’s gameplay and story. Still, Paper Mario is a beautiful game. The environments are lush and colourful, while each and every character model, though sprites, look awesome. The 2D to 3D combination of Paper Mario is really cool, and turns out it was the perfect fit. The soundtrack is also brilliant. Every instance of your speaker making a sound is nothing other than flawless. Every stage in the game had a great tune, and the overall soundtrack was brilliant. I know I could on for days, but Paper Mario is really one of the very best games I ever played in my short lifetime thus far. It had a great story, memorable characters, and memorable characters. It had an amazing visual style, a brilliant soundtrack, and hilarious dialog. Paper Mario played like an elite RPG, it was engaging, friend ruiner, and ultimately, fun. It still sits in my heart as one of the games that I have had the most fun with, and this will never, ever, ever change. Paper Mario is my 3rd favorite game of all time, and I can’t highly suggest this game enough. --- 2) Resident Evil 4 Genre: Action Adventure System(s): Gamecube, PlayStation 2 Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4 Release Date: January 11th, 2005 I gave it: 10.0 / 9.8 \| They gave it: 96 / 96 Why?: After Resident Evil 0 on the Gamecube, which was an exclusive to only to the Gamecube, the Resident Evil series was getting a little stale. Capcom knew this, and after a disappointing beginning to the making of Resident Evil 4, Capcom totally turned the direction of the series around, and the result was nothing short of amazing. The only similarities from past Resident Evil’s and 4 is some characters, guns, and zombies, though Capcom even got rid of Zombies for a more powerful type of enemy that can throw, and swing weapons at you. But even with the major shakeup, Resident Evil 4 was the biggest turn around in a franchise ever, and is easily my 2nd favorite game of all time. Instead of fixed camera and moving around barely infested areas like a mansion, or a police station, Resident Evil 4 puts the camera behind Leon Kennedy (known from Resident Evil 2), as he traverses throughout a small village in Europe looking for the President’s Daughter, Ashley Williams. The camera is literally right behind Leon’s back, then you would have to aim with the R button, and while aiming, you could aim anywhere you wanted. This new control scheme was one of the biggest sighs of relief I ever had. It wasn’t only a major improvement, but it was just simply fun. Resident Evil 4 is an action oriented adventure, with tons and tons of shooting. Action takes most of the game’s time, instead of going room to room looking for items and solving puzzles. Sure, there are puzzles here and there in RE4, but nothing nearly as frequent as any other past Resident Evil game. RE4 is way more intense, enemies will surround you quickly, they will throw knives at you, and will even slam you to the ground if need be. There are also new enemies that carry chain saws around, and if they get anywhere close to you, you can easily be killed in one hit. While playing through an area with a chain saw maniac, you have to be alert, because he can really fuck you up. Other enemies like giant ogre like monsters, wolfs, regenerators, iron maidens, and knights in rusty armor also make Resident Evil 4 more and more different from past RE games. The regenerators for example cannot die you just shoot them with all you have (besides a Rocket Launcher of course), you’ll have to find a infrared scope for your rifle, and you’ll have to shoot the certain spots on their bodies. The bosses are also tough, but epic at the same time. There’s a sea creature near the beginning of the game, and you’ll have to be on a boat to kill him, and Leon throws spears before having to cut the rope attached to his feet. One of the major improvements in Resident Evil 4 is not only the improved aiming and camera, but the weapons and new inventory. Weapons can be purchased by a traveling merchant, but they can also be upgraded with scopes, and other attachments. It does suck that you upgraded the first shotgun all the way, then a new and improved one is for sale a short time later, but it does keep the weapons fresh and new. There are also 3 kinds of grenades, stun, incendiary, and frag. The frag blows up limbs, and incendiary lights enemies on fire, while stun grenades... Well, stuns them. The addition of grenades was a major improvement. The inventory also got an overhaul, instead of 8 or 6 item slots, you’re given a grid, and each item has a certain size. Guns take up most space, while boxes of ammo, and grenades take up less space. Don’t worry about key items, they go in another inventory altogether. Resident Evil 4 also looked gorgeous from the many areas you traverse through, it had lots of little things here and there, and the overall presentation was top of the line. The character models looked real, the textures were never ugly or muddy, the game was very gritty and ugly looking, but it added to the scary atmosphere. The cutscenes were awesome, while also being interactive, you never had to put down the controller. The music was eery, intense, and overall a great soundtrack. The sound effects were amazing once again, and everything else was top notch. If you haven’t played Resident Evil 4, do yourself a favor and go play it. Resident Evil is on the Gamecube, PlayStation 2, and now on the Wii and PC. It has incredibly tight gameplay that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire game, and it has the incredible presentation as well. The new elements that turned the franchise around was welcome with open arms, and couldn’t have turned out any better. Resident Evil 4 is easily the best Resident Evil game, easily the best Gamecube game, and one of the greatest games ever made. You’d be hard pressed to find a game better than Resident Evil 4 on any platform, it is the definitive game of the generation, and my 2nd favorite game of all time. --- 1) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Genre: Action Adventure System(s): Nintendo 64 Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date: November 23rd, 1998 I gave it: 10.0 \| They gave it: 99 Why?: I know this may not come as a surprise, but it will never change the fact that the first Zelda game on the Nintendo 64, Ocarina of Time, is the best game ever created, and my favorite game I have simply ever played. A lot of people were extremely excited about this game, because the game prior to this was the amazing A Link to the Past for the SNES, and not only was it better, it was A LOT better. The 3D environments, the 3D characters, the 3D boss fights, everything about the game was brought to life in 3 dimensions. I could go one for hours upon hours about what make Ocarina of Time my favorite game ever, but I’ll keep as minimum as humanly possible. (A tiny bit of spoilers here, but who hasn’t played this game yet?) The story is the same old Link has to save Zelda, but the way Ocarina of Time puts it all together is really something special, because it’s well thought-out, and overall, one of the best stories in Zelda’s franchise. As Link, you start out as a child, and after being terrified by a dream, Link is awoken by a Fairy named Navy, and is sent to the Great Deku Tree, the leader of the Kokiri’s in Kokiri Village. Link is sent inside of the Deku Tree, and after his quest, the Great Deku Tree tells Link of a great quest he must take part in, but suddenly dies. The awesome thing about Ocarina of Time’s story is the memorable characters, and memorable cutscenes throughout the game. Though the cutscenes weren’t the best thing you have ever seen, they were all in game, and all looked great. But the story twists in a way that brings the story to a great new high. After you completed the first 3 dungeons, Link is faced with pulling the Master Sword out of its pedestal in Temple of Time, and thus causes him to be transported 7 years into the future. Once you leave the Temple of Time, Hyrule is drastically different. The Zora Domain is frozen over, Lake Hylia is gone dry, the Hyrule Market is overrun by Zombies, Hyrule Castle is now Ganondorf’s, and the whole world has been turned upside down. This is where the best gameplay elements come into play, and where the best dungeons take place as well. Think of A Link to the Past, or the original Legend of Zelda, and think of it in 3D. What you would likely get is Ocarina of Time. Many of the areas and gameplay elements are like past games, but done in 3D. Take the Bow and Arrow for example. In A Link to the Past you would have to aim, but it would be kinds of difficult to aim it properly, but in Ocarina of Time, you can aim it in first person, anywhere you want. The swordplay is also nearly identical, as well as the other items like bombs and hook shot. The classic Zelda gameplay was still here in Ocarina of Time, and still amazing in every which way. The dungeons were probably the best part of Ocarina of Time through and through. The designs for each of the Forest Temple, Fire Temple, Water Temple, Shadow Temple, and Spirit Temple were all unique from each other, all of them were extremely atmospheric, and all were fun as hell to play. But it’s not just the ingenious puzzles and tough enemies that made them so good, the boss fights at the ends of each one really brought them to perfection. Other than Phantom Ganon in the Forest Temple, most of the bosses suited each dungeon with their element, like a dragon boss in the Fire Temple, an aqua monster in the Water Temple, and a shadow ghoul in the Shadow Temple. There all looked amazing, all looked intimidating, and all were really fun to fight. Bongo Bongo of the Shadow Temple for example, was a shadow beast that only could be seen while using the Lens of Truth, and is fought upon a giant bongo. Ocarina of Time’s presentation was easily some of the best on the Nintendo 64. The visuals, were absolutely amazing for 1998. The character models were a little jaggy around the edges, but it was acceptable back then. The textures were great, the enemies were intimidating, the bosses looked fantastic, and the visuals of the dungeons brought them to life. The soundtrack is also the one of best of the Zelda franchise, and one of the best in the era. Each dungeon has an eery or epic tune, the town music is cheerful, and the boss fight music was extremely suitable for the situation. The sound effects like Link’s screams, the click and clacks of his sword, and pretty much everything was easily top of the line. There are very few games that literally have nothing wrong with them. Ocarina of Time is not only one of those games, it’s the best of them all. Nintendo worked their asses off with Ocarina of Time. It had unbelievable detail from the visuals, to the sound design, to the gameplay, and to just about every other aspect of the game. Ocarina of Time is not the best Zelda, the best Nintendo 64 game, and the best game of the generation, but it’s simply the best game to ever hit the market. People like to compare Ocarina of Time to the Godfather. Both are the best of their entertainment, and both are flawless. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is my number one favorite game of all time. Honorable Mentions for the List: (not in any particular order) Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow (GB): The first Pokemon games kept me busy for years upon years during public school. Pokemon Red and Blue were the 2 that brought me a Gameboy in the first place, and they were the games that got me addicted to those Pocket Monsters. Yellow version also has a special place in my heart as the best of the 3, though it as primarily the same game with a little different things here and there. Red, Blue, and Yellow are special games, and I will always love them as time goes by, they have a place in my heart that will never leave, they were amazing games. ICO (PS2): Though I only recently played and beat this game, there’s no doubt that ICO is an amazing game. It had an incredibly designed castle, with great puzzles throughout, and gameplay that’s simple, yet effective in the end. One of the best things about the game is that it had absolutely no HUD (heads-up display), and just went to show how beautifully designed the game was. It had a deep story that didn’t necessarily make sense in the end, but it was still a factor to make you jump through the short, but sweet game. Resident Evil Remake (GCN): You’re probably wondering why I only put one Resident Evil game on the top 30, but if it was even one year ago, Resident Evil for the Gamecube would have made it for sure. Resident Evil Remake is like the name suggests, a remake of the original Resident Evil for the PlayStation. But it wasn’t just a tiny visual upgrade, it was a major overhaul. The visuals alone brought the Mansion to life that it never had before, it actually looked like a real Mansion, and Capcom even added more parts to the Mansion and area making it seem like a whole new game. Banjo Kazooie & Tooie (N64): Growing up as a kid I loved the 2 Banjo Kazooie games. They had incredible detailed graphics, while also having a great kiddish style to them, but having hilarious dialog with jokes I didn’t understand at the time. The gameplay was criticized for being a “collectathon” having to collect too many items too much, but I found the game to be fun as hell, and though they’re not in my top 30 games of all time, they’ll always have a spot in my heart. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii): There’s no doubt that Twilight Princess was an amazing game, but it did not have enough credentials to fit into my top 30 list. Sure, it may have jumped into the top 40, but even with its lengthy adventure with great graphics and awesome dungeons, it just wasn’t enough. But Twilight Princess did everything right. It was long, but never boring, while also feeling fresh and new with a great twisted story that ultimately ended up being what you’d come to expect. Donkey Kong 64 (N64): Though there are many Nintendo 64 games on not only the top 30, but even in the HM’s, Donkey Kong 64 sticks out as one of my best childhood memories growing up. The game starred the famous Kong in his first and only Nintendo 64 game, but was joined by Diddy, and new monkeys like Tiny, Lanky, and Chunky. The ability to use all of the Kongs, and the mixture of great levels, and an memorable moments make this game stand out among all Donkey Kong games ever made. God of War (PS2): Though I only recently defeated this game, the game I played was amazing. It had amazing flow, nothing felt thrown in, and the whole game had amazing production values. People claim that God of War is the best PlayStation 2 game, and I don’t think their stupid, because God of War really is that good, and is worthy of the name. It didn’t make the top 30, but I can assure that I will be on later lists. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GCN): The Gamecube remake of the original Metal Gear Solid game was a perfect transition to the newer generation. The game was nearly identical with the exception of new cut scenes, and some nicer graphics, but all was nice and neat like the first. In this day and age, I would play Twin Snakes over the original PlayStation game any day of the week, but the original is on the list because its the real game, not a remake. Resident Evil 2 (PS1/N64): Few games have actually gave me nightmares, making me afraid to go to sleep, and Resident Evil 2 is one of those games. It had an unbelievable sense of a spooky atmosphere, and it also was fun as hell. The game took what the original made so good, and made it even better. Picking each of the two characters were even more unique from one another, and the 2 different scenarios made the game a lot longer than you’d originally think it would be. Resident Evil 2 is one of the best Resident Evil games, one you should most definitely own. Star Fox Adventures (GCN): A lot of people like to bash the hell out of Star Fox Adventures. They say it’s too little like Star Fox 64, and the story doesn’t fit with the kind of franchise that Star Fox. I say they can all suck it, because Star Fox Adventures is a fucking awesome game. It has its flaws, sure, but it’s definitely not bad. If you like games like Zelda, the games that have more of an adventure style to it, mixed with collecting items like a Banjo Kazooie game. It’s my favorite Star Fox game, and should NOT get the kind of disrespect it gets. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES): Link’s adventure on the SNES was awesome. It was a huge improvement over the 2 original Zelda’s on the NES, with way better visuals, better audio, and just better gameplay overall. The game was lengthy, it had a great story, and was just amazing overall. Some complain that the game is too difficult, mainly because the enemies take off a ridiculous amount of hearts near the end of the game, but it doesn’t change the fact that A Link to the Past is one of the best Zelda games. Edited by LK, Nov 2 2008, 11:02 AM.
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ryanj27	Oct 23 2008, 06:49 PM Post #4
-- Posts: 7,520 Group: Mewtwo Member #11,311 Joined: October 17, 2008	I really like this game LK, good job!



Xreaper2070	Oct 23 2008, 08:56 PM Post #5
Roar. Posts: 1,258 Group: Birdo Member #11,313 Joined: October 17, 2008	...I love Super Mario 64 too.
	It's days like this that the pirate says... "Arg"


Olimar001	Oct 24 2008, 04:06 PM Post #6
Clarke. Posts: 3,882 Group: Sheik Member #11,317 Joined: October 18, 2008 Coins 7	Link Kid Oct 23 2008, 06:25 PM No Kirby game, sorry. Thats Ok
	\| Xbox Gamertag: Capt0limar001 \| My Steam (Add Me!)\| My YouTube \| Games I Beat In 2012, 2013, and 2014 2012: Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Halo: Reach, Devil May Cry, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Bastion, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mass Effect 3, Yoshi's Story, Star Fox 64 2013: Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?, Scribblenauts Unlimited, L.A. Noire, Bioshock Infinte, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Deadlight, Bleed, Mirror's Edge, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, The Darkness II, Sonic Generations, The Stanley Parable, Gone Home, VVVVVV, Batman: Arkham Origins, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Rayman Legends, Hotline Miami, Super Mario 3D World, Pokemon X, Knack 2014: Assassin's Creed III, Noitu Love 2 Devolution, Guacamelee! Gold Edition, Flower, Mega Man 2, InFAMOUS: Second Son, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Shovel Knight, The Last of Us Remastered, Mega Man Old Signatures and Pictures


Picklegod	Oct 25 2008, 10:54 AM Post #7
Don't you agree, Zach? Posts: 5,078 Group: Former Staff Member #11,349 Joined: October 23, 2008 Coins 3	I hope Ocarina of Time appears
	Foremost is the chromatic substance accomplishment to Picklegod! Pickle contributes to all parts of the forum, stays astir, and mostly is awful to everyone he meets. A wonderful, intelligent somebody, Pickle testament now better us with every day NF decisions. Approval Picklgod! -afrad15


Olimar001	Oct 25 2008, 11:04 AM Post #8
Clarke. Posts: 3,882 Group: Sheik Member #11,317 Joined: October 18, 2008 Coins 7	I only have the original Paper Mario fro VC on Wii. Should i get the one for GCN and the one for Wii too?
	\| Xbox Gamertag: Capt0limar001 \| My Steam (Add Me!)\| My YouTube \| Games I Beat In 2012, 2013, and 2014 2012: Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Halo: Reach, Devil May Cry, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Bastion, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mass Effect 3, Yoshi's Story, Star Fox 64 2013: Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?, Scribblenauts Unlimited, L.A. Noire, Bioshock Infinte, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Deadlight, Bleed, Mirror's Edge, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, The Darkness II, Sonic Generations, The Stanley Parable, Gone Home, VVVVVV, Batman: Arkham Origins, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Rayman Legends, Hotline Miami, Super Mario 3D World, Pokemon X, Knack 2014: Assassin's Creed III, Noitu Love 2 Devolution, Guacamelee! Gold Edition, Flower, Mega Man 2, InFAMOUS: Second Son, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Shovel Knight, The Last of Us Remastered, Mega Man Old Signatures and Pictures


WillQ	Oct 25 2008, 02:28 PM Post #9
Hello little fella! Posts: 2,147 Group: Peach Member #6,793 Joined: January 1, 2008	Goldeneye= Best FPS Ever



Olimar001	Oct 25 2008, 02:29 PM Post #10
Clarke. Posts: 3,882 Group: Sheik Member #11,317 Joined: October 18, 2008 Coins 7	NintendoWarrior Oct 25 2008, 02:28 PM Goldeneye= Best FPS Ever I agree that game was, and still is amazing. My friend has it and we play it together a lot. 2P mode on that game is really fun.
	\| Xbox Gamertag: Capt0limar001 \| My Steam (Add Me!)\| My YouTube \| Games I Beat In 2012, 2013, and 2014 2012: Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Halo: Reach, Devil May Cry, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Bastion, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mass Effect 3, Yoshi's Story, Star Fox 64 2013: Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?, Scribblenauts Unlimited, L.A. Noire, Bioshock Infinte, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Deadlight, Bleed, Mirror's Edge, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, The Darkness II, Sonic Generations, The Stanley Parable, Gone Home, VVVVVV, Batman: Arkham Origins, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Rayman Legends, Hotline Miami, Super Mario 3D World, Pokemon X, Knack 2014: Assassin's Creed III, Noitu Love 2 Devolution, Guacamelee! Gold Edition, Flower, Mega Man 2, InFAMOUS: Second Son, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Shovel Knight, The Last of Us Remastered, Mega Man Old Signatures and Pictures


Picklegod	Oct 25 2008, 06:43 PM Post #11
Don't you agree, Zach? Posts: 5,078 Group: Former Staff Member #11,349 Joined: October 23, 2008 Coins 3	Quote: Goldeneye= Best FPS Ever Obviously, I have to argue that Bioshock is the best FPS ever. I just can't get enough of it! I hope it's on this list. Edited by Picklegod, Oct 25 2008, 06:44 PM.
	Foremost is the chromatic substance accomplishment to Picklegod! Pickle contributes to all parts of the forum, stays astir, and mostly is awful to everyone he meets. A wonderful, intelligent somebody, Pickle testament now better us with every day NF decisions. Approval Picklgod! -afrad15


SparkyMushroom	Oct 26 2008, 08:25 AM Post #12
Lighting Shroom, activate! Posts: 290 Group: Goomba Member #11,326 Joined: October 19, 2008	I didn't even look at the list, but I hope Pokemon FireRed is there.
	Ya, sweet............ Spoiler: click to toggle Circe "I ask myself a question and this book is the answer." Circe is so much cooler than I am..... Nerd! Candy, mmmm.................... Barf. Fishtank. Metallica Meep? No. Why not? Because. Why? Because. Meep. I said no. My sig is big and I'm proud of it!!!! My sig is AWESOME!!! Brawl Friend Code: 2922-2244-6392 Name: Spark (Oh, I'm a gummi bear! Yes, I'm a gummi bear!)> Shrooms: Amanita, Portobello, Shitake, Oyster, and, last but not least, SparkyMushroom!!!!! ROAAAARRRRR!!!!!!!!!!! Mariofreak rocks!


LK	Oct 26 2008, 11:32 AM Post #13
iminspace Posts: 18,081 Group: Active Ancients Member #794 Joined: July 28, 2005 Gender Male Coins 5	Well, the point is to look at it. 8) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Genre: Action Adventure System(s): Gamecube Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release Date: March 15th, 2003 I gave it: 9.8 \| They gave it: 96 Why?: A lot of people were disappointed in the direction that the Wind Waker was headed. After a cool video showing Link facing Ganondorf in a one-on-one duel, lots of fans thought we were going to get the true sequel to Ocarina of Time, but Nintendo scrapped that idea, and went for something totally new, and result is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The Wind Waker has a very kiddish look to it, the games visuals are cel-shaded to look like a cartoon, and the story is a little less dark than previously seen in past Zelda games. But even with all of this, The Wind Waker still has a spot in my heart as one of the greatest games ever made. The Wind Waker looks like a totally different game than the previous Zelda games, but it plays exactly the same, in a good way. You go from dungeon to dungeon fighting bosses at the end, getting an important item, and eventually facing Ganondorf in the final battle. But the way Nintendo put The Wind Waker is awesome, and it ended up being something totally unique that the Zelda franchise so desperately needed. The story behind The Wind Waker is the tale of Ocarina of Time, but shortly thereafter, Ganondorf returns, and since Link was sent back to the past at the end of Ocarina of Time, no hero was there to save Hyrule once again. Because of this evil, the Gods of Hyrule had to flood Hyrule, and thus the Great Sea in the Wind Waker was born. Link has to travel around Hyrule on a boat named the King of Red Lions to islands scattered throughout the massive sea. Link starts off on a small island called Outset Island on his Birthday, but his little sister Aryll is captured by a giant bird, and Link must travel to the Forsaken Fortress to save her. The most amazing thing about the Wind Waker is the scope of the Ocean. You can see tall islands miles away, and it will take you 15 minutes at least to travel one end to the other. Link eventually has to use a wand called the Wind Waker to change the direction of the wind so the King of Red Lions can travel faster. It is a major change of pace from previous Zelda game, and is a total refresher, and a new breathe in the franchise. Sometimes the boat rides end up taking too long and become a snooze-fest, but it’s still pretty cool. Visually, the Wind Waker was stunning for 2003. The cel-shaded graphics not only looked real nice with awesome lighting and fantastic facial animations, but the game also had a ton of great variety of environments from islands to underground caves, to the great variety of dungeons the game has. The bosses, the character you find throughout the game, the dungeon designs, and pretty much everything about the Wind Waker’s visuals were absolutely top-notch. No slow-down, no hitches, nothing. The game ran smooth, and ends up being one of the most beautiful games on the Gamecube, easily. But even with the amazing visuals, comes an even better soundtrack. The Wind Waker has memorable tune in every area of the game, has some amazing sound effects, and just an awesome array of great audio. Forest Haven and Dragon Roost Island are examples of absolutely superb soundtracks, and after you listen to those tunes for the first time, you want to just start playing the Wind Waker from the very beginning. It’s a little disappointing that there was no voice acting, but Zelda games are usually able to be amazing without it. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker will always stand out as one of greatest games I have ever played. The gameplay is nearly identical to that of previous 3D Zelda games, but it also had a breathe of fresh air with the sailing over the Great Sea to get to different areas of Hyrule. The cel-shaded visuals mixed in with the fantastic animations, and the superb soundtrack really brought the Zelda franchise to the new generation, and ended up being some of the best in Zelda history. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is easily one of the greatest games I have ever played, and should go down as one of the best Zelda, Gamecube games, and one of the best games of the generation, it’s that damn good.
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Picklegod	Oct 26 2008, 11:43 AM Post #14
Don't you agree, Zach? Posts: 5,078 Group: Former Staff Member #11,349 Joined: October 23, 2008 Coins 3	Wind Waker is definately top ten in my book. Awesome game!
	Foremost is the chromatic substance accomplishment to Picklegod! Pickle contributes to all parts of the forum, stays astir, and mostly is awful to everyone he meets. A wonderful, intelligent somebody, Pickle testament now better us with every day NF decisions. Approval Picklgod! -afrad15


Liongirl	Oct 26 2008, 11:47 AM Post #15
Always tl;dr Posts: 4,821 Group: Former Staff Member #11,315 Joined: October 17, 2008 Gender Male Coins 38, 1 Peek	Yet another great choice. I didn't expect this from you, Link Kid, you didn't seem the type to appreciate Wind Waker. Obviously your taste in games is impeccable. I will be waiting for your next great review.
	Unsound M is the best for making my sig/avatar.


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