Apologies

Well here is the obligatory apologies follow up… If you didn’t like my choices well tough really.

Half-life as I kicked of this series by saying it’s just never a series that hooked me. Maybe it was the motion sickness but I just personally could not include it.

Warcraft was a bit of contentious one. This was around the first RTS game I ever played and it was awesome, if it was a top 12 list it may just have made it.

I apologise for the games in series that didn’t make it. Diablo could have and would have, as would San Andreas and possibly any Mario game, especially 3, which is the pinnacle of gaming, in my opinion of course, but the original as the first game I EVER played I just couldn’t go past.

Zelda, well here’s a shocker I’ve never played a Zelda from start to finish they just never hooked me. I like them enough, now my experience is greatly increased from even 12 months ago but any Zelda would still struggle to make a top 50 let alone my 11.

Final Fantasy not making it as a series may seem somewhat controversial but truth be told I’ve only completed I and XIII and those are hardly worth against those that made it, oh and VII doesn’t hold up very well, deal with it fanboys.

The original Monkey Island I hate that I had to leave this out. As far as I am concerned this is the pinnacle of adventure gaming. As much as I wanted I couldn’t find room for it.

Also Broken Sword 2, in particular from that series was a shame to leave out.

More recent games that failed to make it that may stand the test of time include Borderlands (this really satisfies my loot addiction), Diablo 3 (probably still wouldn’t edge out 2), Crusader Kings 2 (by virtue of satisfying my penchant for open ended games and being a Grand Strategy RPG, oh, and it is the best Game of Thrones game around, if you are willing to download a mod) and LA Noire (As much as I loved this game I don’t think history will judge it very well.  

Well I haven’t made too many excuses here because really I don’t need to justify my decisions, it’s just my preference.

Well that’s my favourite games, some 2,000 words worth over 3 weeks I hope you know a bit more about what I like and what resonates with me which I do believe influences reviews and general opinions on games. What would like to have seen up there? What did I miss? Is my list comparable to your tastes or way out there?

Number 1: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

I had so much internal debate about this particular position. Diablo was only just pipped and well this was a toss up between Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas and Vice City itself. So good are both these games that I almost broke my one game from a series rule.

When it came down to it had to be Vice City. I just did everything right, the soundtrack the look the feel it just too you right to the 80’s. The soundtrack was the strongest of the series, the first game to have a fully licensed soundtrack.

It’s strongest feature was giving you a cast of characters the were quirky, and had real motivations.

Add to this excellent mission variety. Who could forget bombing Cubans with a toy remote control plane? Or distributing fliers for an ‘Adult’ movie via a sea-plane? Or driving around a rock band at high speeds so a bomb dosen’t go off. I know I can’t. It all just felt right. Add to this all the extras, hidden packages, Fire Ambulance, Police, races it goes on and on. There is so much to do pack into those 3 islands.

It felt like you could be a complete manic, and the missions were so diverse that you never got bored. It never became a dash from mission to mission just to be done, like GTA4 was for me.

It added much needed customisation but didn’t make it so overwhelming that there were too many choices, I’m looking at San Andreas in this respect.

The gameplay still holds up quite well today although the graphics have dated, the draw distance is really quite low and textures and buildings popping in are very frequent, which is a bit of a curse of the open world game. Despite this I have no real complaints with the game it’s just so completely awesome.

This is a game I always go back to…in fact it may be time to go back to it now, maybe you should to.

Number 2: Diablo 2

There has always been a soft spot for Blizzard games for me add to that that I have been enamoured with Diablo since I clicked on that first demon. It’s not a sophisticated game that is for sure, click to move and attack, right click to cast a spell. That’s really all there is to it.

Apart from this there is a heavy amount of looting, in fact this is what makes the game so compelling in the first place. Arguably it’s the loot that drives the player not the clicking of the demons and it’s hard not to agree. There is always the temptation that the next great piece of loot is just around the corner, and more often than not something is.

The RPG nature of the game gives you many different skill paths to follow, sure you’ll be doing exactly the same quests over and over the more you lay through it, but how you play the game is different almost every single character you create. There is a great joy in uncovering new skills and finding builds that suit your playstyle.

The graphics at the time we spectacular, although they have aged fairly quickly and look nowhere near as sharp as some other games of that era even.

The cutscenes, although pre-rendered were so excellent you couldn’t help but be drawn in from frame one of the game. The story is fairly basic, you’re chasing the Lord of destruction as he traverses the countryside, taking you to many exotic locations trying to stop his reign of terror.

As you might expect there is a lot to kill maim and destroy as you move from place to place.

This game is one that since its release has constantly drawn me back into it, every couple of years I will pop the game back in the computer and have a go at looting and clicking. For such a simple game, that doesn’t have a particularly strong story to keep pulling me in it is a special game indeed.

Number 3: Knights of the Old Republic

Here’s the obligatory Star Wars game. Truth is it would be a worthy podium finisher, even if it wasn’t part of the Star Wars cannon.

I must admit before KotOR I had barely picked up this style of RPG. In fact I’d barely touched any RPG’s to date and I really only purchased this on the strength of the Star Wars universe itself.

From beginning to end I was blown away. The story is so unbelievably good, the choices you make feel that you are affecting the universe and the events therein. I have played through the game several times and still don’t think I have seen everything it has to offer is testament to the choices and methods you can go about to achieve goals. There is also an open ended nature that allows you to explore in your own order. Admittedly on most of the planets there is only one main goal, although it may take a visit or two to get there, but generally once you have invested in the main quest on a planet you are there for the long haul.

 The story takes you on many different planets and gives you a good feel for the motivations and allegiances different parts of the galaxy have.

To skip how good the story really is, is to ignore the greatest strength of the game. It gives you characters and situations that feel real, motivations feel real (even if they are alien motivations). There has been a lot said about the ‘twist’, it is one of the most awesome turn of events in any game period. The thing is if you are paying complete attention the clues are there, they are just not so easy to spot. It completely changes the way you look at the main character. Although I have to say that the story reaches a point where it asks you are you sure that you want to commit to this path,  allowing to completely reverse the character consequences with the final choice is a bit of a cop out.

Another downside is that your companions do feel a little contrived so there are no holes in your possible, a Jedi of each class, a soldier, a thief, a combat and utility droid but their back stories have been so well fleshed out that the don’t appear superfluous to the game and most importantly fit the universe.

The combat is fairly fast paced and is generally handled manually, by pausing, queuing commands and doing this for each of your party members. Similar to other RPG’s this game is also about acquiring new and better loot, deciding what is better for what characters. It actually doesn’t do all that much new but what it does is outstanding in almost every way and for that it makes my list, and a worthy occupation at that.

Number 4: Civilisation II

I’ll admit that this game was got grudgingly. It was a birthday present and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was playing Age of Empires. That was my personal choice too. So imagine the disappointment at getting something that even for its time was uglier (I’m not sure if it really was uglier but I sure do remember thinking that it looked bad the first time I booted it up), seemingly clunkier and not as action packed. I can even recall only booting it up the first time to please my parents and assure them that they hadn’t wasted money on me.

Yeah, It's not so pretty now

Despite my plans I was hooked within the first 10 minutes and played it and played it and then played it some more. The cliché ‘just one more turn’ really is quite apt here. There was many a night where I would be sorting out an epic counter attack, storming cities, expanding my empire and building an economic powerhouse, spreading democracy or brining more comrades into the fold and often it would be midnight before I even knew what was

In the early days there was the temptation to set and forget, fix tax rates and science rates then hope, but the real joy comes with managing every last little detail. It’s admittedly not for everyone but it has me hooked the fact that no two games are strategically the same very much appeals to my love of open ended games (if you haven’t already detected a theme here).

Again, there have been better, more in-depth, and some may say more definitive versions, Civ IV immediately comes to mind. It doesn’t change the impact that Civ II ha on me. It wasn’t pretty, but it was so darn addictive and got me hooked so readily. It will always hold a special place for me.

Number 5: Super Mario Bros

This is where it really all began I remember Christmas 1990 (or was it 89?) and unboxing the NES, I was wrapped. I had never played so much as a game, let alone owned a console or a PC.

Of course the console came packaged with the Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt Combo. Admittedly the sway of the light gun was initially too strong to resist and a fair amount of time initially was spent shooting ducks (often at point blank range).

Once the novelty wore off, there was Super Mario Bros in all its glory.

1990. NEVER Forget.

It is the epitome of easy to learn hard to master. The game is simple D-pad to move, one button to jump, one button to use fireballs and sprint. That’s it.  The challenge comes in the level design. All of which is outstanding and does a great job of changing things up.

It also has the knack of being brutally difficult as the levels progress and the opportunities for extra lives are fairly limited, so often you will find yourself having only 3 or 4 chances at completing a single level.

I am slightly ashamed to say that despite my best efforts I am yet to get completely through this game. Like most platformers my patientce defeats me as much as the game. It has always had a knack of defeating me, although of late I have picked it up again and have breezed through the first few levels. So there is hope yet.

Yes it isn’t the only platformer out there, it may not be as pretty as the third iteration but it was the original and without it, I probably may have never got into gaming. Sure many of the Mario Games out there have improved on the formula and advanced the platforming genre more but for its influence on me and the gaming industry alone I really can’t go past the original.

Number 8: Donkey Kong Country

To be fair anyone of the DKC series could have made this list, and in fact this game makes my list without ever actually owning it.

There was something magical about going to my friends place and popping in Donkey Kong Country. There was the platforming, which didn’t play to much differently from anything of the era but…this is a big but too…

Donkey Kong Country looked so damn good…I can’t explain it fully but at the time this sticks out in my mind as being one of the most gorgeous looking games I had played. The 3D backdrops were gorgeous and all the character models were spectacular, the enemies varied, as were the locales and stages you played, hurtling through the mines in cart, dodging obstacles was insanely difficult, yet strangely compelling.

To me this felt like a showcase of what the SNES was capable of, it also was one of the first time platformers acknowledged that they are difficult and as such threw extra lives at you, a real god send, in all honesty.

It was a welcome change, but that didn’t change the difficulty there were most certainly controller crushing moments. The afore mentioned cart level was one…essentially you had to have cat like reflexes to succeed, or a good memory (both in actuality) and then time what points your jumps needed to be made.

There were heaps of secrets and additional helps available to you. The use of various animals that were close to invincible was a great addition. They could make the various levels much more of a breeze, and whenever I saw the crate…my heart skipped with joy a little.

Playing in coop was a bit of a frustrating enterprise, it often came with an admission that they couldn’t do this part so take over, then a bit of a shove when both Donkey and Diddy fell into a crevice. Sure it wasn’t a perfect system but it was a hell of a lot of fun trying to clear the game with friends.

I regret not owning this game at the time, although I have since brought the whole trilogy on the Wii’s virtual console…so much nostalgia value, and a game that holds up so well today.

Number 7: Read Dead Redemption

Another day (or two, or 3) and another Rockstar game, although a much more recent example in Red Dead Redemption.

After the disappointment that was Grand Theft Auto IV and the meh-fest that was Read Dead Revolver (a game I’ve spent a total of around 15 minutes playing, admitedly) I must say that I wasn’t expecting much at all from Red Dead at all. This game could almost make it into my list on its ending alone, so for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet:

a)      What’s taken so long? and;

b)     Stop reading and go do that

John Marston is easily the best protagonist in a Rockstar game by a long shot, his highs are quite literally your highs, and his lows, well you get the picture.

Part of that comes from the fact that you do feel for him, despite the whining protagonists in GTA’s, especially IV and SA, you feel that John really does just want to get out of the situation, and it’s external forces keeping him from settling, whereas the other two seem to be the catalysts for their situation.

As you would expect the game plays quite a bit like a GTA game, although there have been additions of a lasso, which can be used to tame horses and rope adversaries from their mounts and the ‘dead eye’ system which slows down time and allows you to unload whole magazines into multiple enemies.
The fact is this is a stunningly beautiful and despite the bugs the game is prone to, it is a world that just feels alive, and above all authentic.

It may be bleak, but it is beautiful

This was the first game to really show me how good game storytelling could be, not pulpy but a story that could sit up with other mediums, held back (only minimally, mind) by the fact that it is a game. For that achievement alone it deserves to be in this list, it should be on yours, too.

Number 9: Sim City

If there was one game that could be attributed in getting me into gaming it would be this one or rather a combination of this and Sim City 2000. The original Sim City was a flawed masterpiece; I don’t deny it wasn’t perfect.

I could and often did build a city that relied on rail alone. The maps tended to be extremely small, not big enough to really make you feel you had built and managed a bustling metropolis. The placing of buildings was horribly rigid, with the blocks of residential, commercial and industrial.

It wasn't the prettiest, but it was a first love so I'll forgive it.

It also occurred to me that the game was not designed for someone who has no knowledge of economics and city budgeting (In my defence I was 10 years old). I would often blow through my starting budget within the first 12 months of my tenure. For this very reason Sim City gave rise to my love of cheats in my earlier gaming days.

There wasn’t much more satisfying than building a big town to have an earthquake destroy it almost completely and then trying to rebuild from scratch.

I probably missed a lot by never making a profitable city, but this type of game that really doesn’t have a goal, the game is what you make of it. My friends and I often just took turns trying to build the biggest and most populous city we could, or destroying their city and watch the exodus.

There is no denying that there have been better Sim Cities released, the pinnacle probably at Sim City 2000, with the introduction of mass transit and border connections. For its impact on my life I really can’t go past the original Sim City.

Number 11: Mortal Kombat 3

There is little denying that MK3 was for a time my favourite game. I was young impressionable and this satisfied my lust for gore at that age. Sure, it wasn’t the most complex fighter, but I hadn’t played them and I sure as hell didn’t care either. Many hours were spent with my friends, pulling off fatalities, friendships or just unlocking Shao Khan and laying the beatdown on my friends (if I got to his portrait on the select screen first).

The thing that really got me was that it was really simple to get into, you could win by button mashing but there was some depth to it a button masher was generally no match for a more skilled opponent the combo system was well implemented, even if I was more concerned with the flashy special moves. The character roster was close perfect with many characters to choose (some may argue too many) from and none of them played exactly the same as the other (Sektor and Cyrax came very close).

Of course I also have to mention the controller crushing moments of the Arcade mode. As is the tradition of fighters both Montaro and Shao Khan were exceptionally cheap with (what seemed like) unblockable extremely overpowered attacks. It’s almost a wonder that the SNES controller wasn’t crushed with frustration.

Unsurprisingly this was the game that brought to the fore the classification debate for Australia, prior to this games were a largely unregulated medium. To many people’s dismay the problem with classification has only just been resolved and it remains to be seen if it has arrived at a satisfactory outcome for all, but as always I digress (perhaps a topic for some other time).

Yep, It sure Could be bloody

This was also the last MK before the series tried to move on and become a 3D fighter. Unfortunately MK has started to fall by the wayside, possibly with the decline of the arcade. The newest iterations still have their moments but ultimately it has lost its lustre that made MK3 one of the great fighting games. Make no mistake this was a great and above all fun fighter.

As an aside, I highly recommend seeking out the most recent Mortal Kombat reboot as it returns to MK3 form, going back to its 2D roots.

THE Countdown

I’ve been pretty loath to do countdown blogs, generally, as I think they are essentially a bit of a time waster but I’ve decided that I should lay down my top 11 games  ever so readers can get an idea of where my gaming roots are from and it seems like a topic that comes up on fairly regularly. Why eleven you ask? Well gotta do something to be different.

I don’t claim to have played every game but these are the games I have played and loved, the games that have impacted me and these are my own choices, no correspondence will be entered into.

I have tried to limit myself to one game from each series, as it would be a little bland if my top 4 games were all Grand Theft Auto games (they wouldn’t have been but just an example).

First I apologise to Half-Life fans I can guarantee neither in the series will make the list. The first one gave me motion sickness and I was just never interested enough in the second one (despite owning the Orange Box).

There have been so many games in my time that as much as I want to include them I just can’t. There may even be a follow up with the many apologies that I have to give for omitting games, further than the Half-Life series.

I will attempt to give a short review of each along with a brief history on how it affected me or why I love the game so much but these are not ‘true’ reviews as such.

Unlike a lot of my other blog posts I will try and keep this list bloat free…but best laid plans and all that.

Stay tuned for more soon.