Yup, it's me.

• 1Dec 08

  29 to 20

  I appreciate the compliments on the list thus far. I do things like this basically because I am bored at work. Now on with the show....

  29. Actraiser 2; console played on: SNES, why? Actraiser 2 is one of the premier side scolling action adventure titles on the SNES. I combines great graphics, tight play control, epic music, and great sound to put forth one of the most interesting and unique gaming expierences you will play from the 16 bit era. 2 took away the "sim portion" of the first game, stream lined it, and took the best parts of the 1st and made a whole game out of it. I am patiently awaiting Actraiser 3, maybe on the 360 or PS3? Please SquareEnix, don't make me beg.

  28. Double Dragon II: The Revenge; console played on: NES, Why? Well most of us in America didn't have the privilage of playing Double Dragon in the arcade, so we had to base our expierence on our home console gaming. While the first was fun, you couldn't play two player cooperative game play in the first on the NES. The second you could though. You could leave the friendly fire on or off, usually off meant you two would duke it out in a tournament style fight and the winner would go on with one life and perish. So helping each other out was good. Plus this game was much harder then the first, so having a friend around was a good thing. Plus it had better graphics and controls, many special moves, and quite a few cut scenes which were realitively new back in the day. Plus some pretty memorable musical themes.

  27. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil; console played on: N64, Why? Turok 2 proceeded where the first left off, making one of the very few good console FPS back in the early 3-D era. Rather then focusing on multi-player, Turok 2 focused on a very strong single player game. The levels were huge on Turok 2, combined with cutting edge graphics, adjustable controls, good music and sounds to make it feel like you were in the action, and a decent story with a good cast of characters, made Turok 2 a much bigger force to be reconned with then the first. Plus it included voiceovers, and the cerebral bore (one of the coolest guns of all time) something that was lacking in the early N64 days (but not on the PS1). Turok 2 was probably the last really high quality Turok title to be released. Turok 2 spat in the faces of people that stated the N64 was for kids and casual gamers.

  26. Metroid Prime; console played on: GCN. Why? Metroid hadn't had a single game since it's 16 bit era hit Super Metroid. That game was easily one of the best games on the SNES. Since then fans of the game had been waiting not so patiently for a follow up. Come to the days of the GCN, Metroid Prime comes out, making several significant waves with it's fan. Instead of being a 3rd person tatical shooter, it was a FPS, instead of going for an E rating, Nintendo puts it's first T on a flagship title, and instead of going with a traditional "halo" control scheme, Nintendo makes there own. Prime single handedly changed Nintendo's face in the world of FPS, and competeing with the current FPS champ, Halo. Although Prime didn't surpass Halo in numbers, it got plenty of citical acclaim and many new followers. Not only that but adding in it being one of the best looking games on the system, and most engrossing, as well as one of the most brutally difficult games (it took me two years to beat), Prime will go down in the history books as one of the best Nintendo titles ever.

  25. Tony Hawk Pro Skater; console played onC, why? So the Dreamcast didn't have many great games on it, and often it got underpowered ports of PS1 games, but the games that recieved the attention that they needed performed well on the system. THPS was one of them. Granted now THPS isn't as fantastic or as fresh as it used to be, but back in it's hay day it was a game that broke the mold. It even made people who had never skated before into skaters. THPS had a killer soundtrack to trash too along with easy to pick up controls that made it pick up and play, yet it was deep enough to take a while to master. THPS was one of the most thrilling extreme games to date, making it possible to make fantastic tricks while spending a full minuet in the air. Just look at all the titles this game influence today.

  24. SSX3; console played on: PS2; why? THPS may be the one that started the great race for extreme sports, but SSX brought it too another level. Starting on the PS2 and then getting ported to it's console rivals SSX brought great graphics, controls, and musical tracks to a PS2 near you. Probably the best of the titles to date is SSX3, combining extreme with great visuals, realistic physicals, and deep controls for the players of Tricky forward. SSX is still a force to be reconded with and one of the most popular extreme sports titles.

  23. Quake; console played on: PC; why? Quake may have not been the one that started the FPS craze, but it did start a heck of a multiplayer head to head following. This is the game that invented trash talking (that was a joke of course). Quake also boasted fully 3-D graphics, and great sound track made by none other the NIN, a used and abused story line that still fulfilled blood thursty players, and inventive new takes on play control. If it wasn't for Quake, then there would be no Halo 2. Quake has several less then savery ports to consoles. However it still remains one of the most important games of the modern era.

  22. Bioshock; console played on: XB360; why? Bioshock is one of the few FPS games that doesn't have an extensive multiplyer, and that is good. Bioshock not only has great graphics, but deep story, intuative controls, and mood setting sounds and music. Bioshock added a good balance of "super powers" and firearms to make some of the most interesting things happen on the screen ever. Bioshock also took away many cut scenes and had most of the plot unfold in game. Further more the more choices that were included from Fable made the game that much more interesting to play. Bioshock is one of the most creepy, mood setting, and startling games to date. It takes an interesting look at the growing concern about the human condition and is one of the few games that could be considered works of art.

  21. Tekken 3; console played on: PS1. why? Virtual Figher may have been one of the first 3-D fighters ever, and Soulcalibur maybe the prettiest, but Tekken was the one that most college students played when skipping class. In a school wide poll, Tekken 3 hands down beat out it's rival MK:4 in playability, graphics, and fun. Tekken 3 boasts a large number of fighters, a balanced fighting system, deep controls, and music making it one heck of a fun game to play by yourself or with friends. The move lists are so extensive, hours of practice alone won't get a player to "master" their chosen fighter. While Tekken 3 has had recent updates up to 6 coming out for XB360 and PS3, Tekken 3 was the one that really started the series on it's roll for the top of the 3-D fighting catalog.

  20. Sonic the Hedgehog; console played on: Genesis. why? Lets face it, compared to his pudgy plumbing rival Mario, Sonic is sleek, fast, jive taking, bad dude. There were countless arguements in elementry school as to who was better Sonic or Mario. In Sonic's world he was the fastest and prior to the SNES he was the prettiest too. Sonic the Hedgehog brought ground breaking visuals, hyper fast controls, catchy music, and mind numbing difficulty. The original Sonic is still one of the toughest games to beat unless you know the layouts of the levels, have lighting fast hand eye coordingation, and about 6 hours to yourself. To date Sonic has had some difficulties adapting to the 3-D world, but his 2-D work is some of the best platforming action you will find to date.

  next 19-10. We're getting to the cream of the crop. If your game hasn't surfaced yet, it may soon. Thanks for reading.

  • Posted Dec 1, 2008 1:29 pm PT
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• 26Nov 08

  39-30 top games

  Nothing spark controversy such as a greatest games list. So here comes more at your.

  39. Rock Band; console played on: XB360. Why? Rock Band is the ultimate musical gaming expierence. While Guitar Hero set the standard, Rock Band exceeded it. So much so that even Guitar Hero added their singing, and drum set to their gaming line up. Rock Band brought us better graphics, play control, a broader base of songs, and actual authentic tracks from the bands themselves. Making the prior Guitar Hero games feel like dinosaurs when played in comparison. The question remains, how many Rock Band party's have you had?

  38. Fable; console played on: XB. Why? Fable is just a great action adventure role playing game. It takes Zelda's fighting formula, traditional RPG level up systems and add good or evil choices that effect game play, laugh out loud to tongue in cheek humor, great controls, music, sounds, voiceovers, and graphics and puts them into one sleek package. There are few action adventure RPGs like Fable, in fact the only one that comes to mind is Fable II. The fact remains, anytime you can pass gas on command is a great game in my book.

  37. Conker's Bad Fur Day; console played on: N64. why? speaking of funny games, Conker's BFD has to be one of the funniest games I've ever played. I still pick it up and play it to this day. Also the BFD was a major break through for a Nintendo console. Epescially since the N64 was a fading console, known for it's "kiddie games", BFD takes all those fetch quests from Mario 64, DK64 and Banjo and Kazooie and makes them into jokes. Not only that but BFD sported probably the best graphics the N64 saw with excellent wit and bawdy humor backed by great voice acting, character creation, and movie references that will live in through the test of time. While the BFD was re-made for the XB, it was unfortunately censored more then it's earlier version.

  36. Altered Beast; console played on: Genesis. Why? Altered Beast is a pretty cool concept, although the story it's self is pretty standard to most games. The ability to morph into other beasts is still a really cool idea ("power up"). Plus it was a great arcade port to the secondary Genesis compared to the SNES. I remember spending many a nights with my friends gathered around the TV on this one, because it too is one of the most difficult games to beat. But with a little elbow grease you can get through it. Altered Beast to this day still lives on as one of the most old school games.

  35. Mega Man 2; console played on: NES. Why? Mega Man 2 is probably the best game in the Mega Man line up, and the one that most of the mega man titles afterward base them selves on. While the idea of the original mega man is a great one, Mega Man 2 was clearly better with better visuals, memorable music, controls, better powers, and more levels. Plus it has one of the coolest beginings to a game (the whole panning up to the top of a high building with Megs standing there).

  34. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2; console played on: GCN. Why? There have been many Star Wars games prior to this one, but none of them really capture the coolness of flying an X-Wing quite like RS2. While first game was good, it was held back with graphical, control, and voice issues. RS2 ditches that and makes one of the closest to the movie expierences ever to grace a console. This was proved with it being a launch title for the GCN and coming in a second to Luigi's mansion. RS2 boasted a good library of levels from the great movies, a great host of vehicles, a good plot line, authentic sounds, music, and graphics with easy to pick up controls. RS2 remains one of the most difficult Rogue titles to get gold medal across the board. But it's worth the blood, sweat, and tears in the end.

  33. Resident Evil; console played on: GCN. Why? The original Resident Evil game did break some serious ground on the PS1. It took the survival horror genre main stream, and actually coined the phrase "survival horror" that now has become the standard genre name. But it wasn't until the port and overhaul to the GCN that it truely became great. The graphics made a complete 180 and became highly detailed animated thought provoking characters on the prerendered back drops. The character and the backdrops felt like they were one. The voice overs actually became actors and the "tank controls" were updated to become easier to utalize. Resident Evil went from B movie action, to scary game depths, all in one generation. Resident Evil has spawned many sequels and offshoots, and to this day is the standard that most survival horror games are rated by.

  32. Donkey Kong Country; console played on: SNES. Why? Back in the day 2-D games were only really played one way, and 2-d platformers were played specifically in one way. So the only way to change things up were graphic capabilities. DK Country pushed them to the limit on the SNES competeing with the next generation of game consoles on the rise by using yesterday's console. Furthermore, Nintendo fans could see their gorilla friend as something more then a angry monkey throwing barrels at jumpman. This opened Nintendo up to more then just the big 3 for their flagship game franchises. DK now has an entire family and friend line up dedicated to him.

  31. Final Fantasy II; console played on: SNES. Why? Back in the day, most American didn't know that square had published other followups to their smash hit Final Fantasy. So when Final Fantasy II came out, fans of the original were rabid for it. The "second" installment boast better graphics, more varitations in the already great controls, dynamic music, a cast of unforgetable characters, and a wonderful story line. Final Fantasy II for the SNES still remains one of the favorites of fans of the original 2-D Final Fantasy games prior to FFVII.

  30. Contra; console played on: NES. Why? Up up down down left right left right B A start. A code that will live on forever. Although Contra wasn't the first game to use this code, it certainly was the one that made it famous. For many many months people attempted to team up and take on this game with it's one hit kill mode. With 3 lives it's almost impossible to beat. With 30 lives it's a little easier. When the game came home from the arcade, players were even more feverish about playing it. This is still a great stand by game for my friends and I when we get together and want to play games. Contra boasted some pretty great graphics and memorable music. Aside from Battletoads and without the 30 man code. This is probably the hardest game ever to beat.

  So there you have it. Stay tuned for 29-20. Have a happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading.

  • Posted Nov 26, 2008 7:58 am PT
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• 25Nov 08

  The best 50 games up to now.

  I've been racking my brain for a while now to make The best 50 games up until now list. It's so hard. I figure with my years and years of expierence in the medium it would be easier said then done. Then I figured that it would be easier to post The worst 10 games up until now. That was pretty hard too. So I guess I'll just do both. Here's the last 10 of the Best 50 Games. (In my opinion fan boys and girls.)

  50. Assassin's Creed; console played on: XB360. Why?: Assassin's Creed is hand's down one of the most graphically cool games ever. I like how it combines historical facts (the lay outs of the cities) with fantasy. The assassinations are some of the most tense gaming expierences I have had even though the lead up was slow paced. I feel that this game will change the way a lot of games will be played and developed in the future.

  49. Battletoads; console played on: NES. Why? This is hands down the most difficult game I have EVER played. To this day I still can't get past the stupid 3rd level where you ride that bike and avoid the on coming blocks. In fact does anyone know anyone who has beaten the game? Why do I come back to it? Well it's fun. It's the finishers that really do it for me. Huge Fist, check, huge boot, check, ram horns, check. Plus every toad is named after a skin problem. Even better!

  48. Manhunt; console played on: XB and PS2. Why? This is one of the most grizzly games ever made. It makes Mortal Kombat look like a game about puppies. It too is a very difficult game, but if you have enough grit you can survive it. While GTA may have put Rockstar on the map, Manhunt made them a force to be reconded with in mature gaming.

  47. Ninja Gaiden (the original); console played: NES. Why? This again is one of the few games that I haven't beaten (well without a Game Genie). Ninja Gaiden is what made being a ninja really cool (as if being a ninja wasn't already cool). Using throwing stars, ninja magic, cool swords and impossible bosses are all part of being a ninja. This game took timing, patience, knowledge, and sheer luck to get through. I'm glad to see that the franchise is once again still holding strong.

  46. Castlevania III Dracula's Curse; console played on: NES. Why? This is frankly the best Castlevania (at least in my opinion). It goes back to the classic side scrolling action of the 1st. But you still get to choose your destiny. You get to choose from 3 different compainions. Plus Trevor is way cooler then Simon. This was one of the most advanced games of it's time.

  45. Golden Axe; console played on: Sega Genesis. Why? Let's face it, most of us spent a lot of time in front of this game with our buddies and talking about Black Adder. Although this wasn't a straight arcade port, it felt like it and it was in the comfort of your own home. Golden Axes name has been sullied since the original, but it's still a fun game to pull out when you and your friends are hanging out after a football game.

  44. Shadow of the Colossus; console played on: PS2. Why? Shadow of the Colossus to date is one of the most interesting and engaging games I've played. Instead of taking a bunch of minions on and then finding a special item and taking on a boss like in traditional Zelda style. Shadow tosses that aside and says that you can just go right to the boss. But hang on for dear life. Shadow made a hapless weak young man a hero and an honorable one at that, it weaved a tale together that on Sony could manage to pull off. And well too.

  43. Soulcalibur; console played on: DC. Why? This was THE premier game on the Dreamcast. The first true 128 bit game to grace our gaming world. But not only that it was good too. The controls, music, sound effects, replay value, and characters all were on par with the amazing graphics that broke the ground in this title. Soulcalibur to this day is still considered one of the major 3-D fighting franchises.

  42. Silent Hill 2; console played on: XB and PS2. Why? This is one of the scariest games I have ever played. Few games have made my blood run cold, raised the hairs on the back of my neck, gave me goose bumps, and then split my brain in half after how good the ending was. Silent Hill is all about creating mood by music and sound effects. Granted the graphics were much better then it's younger brother, and that offest the wonky play control at times. Still to this day Silent Hill 2 is one of the few games I turned off because it disturbed me way too much.

  41. TMNT IV: Turtles in Time; concole played on: SNES. Why? Heck why not? The Ninja Turtles will probably go down in history is one of the most well recieved creations in the US. Turtlemania has returned and it's made a whole boat load more TMNT games, but none of those will hold up to the classics, especially this excellent arcade port that made it to the SNES. I remember being tired of waiting in line at the arcades to play this game and then all of a sudden, BAM! Here it was in all it's glory. This game proved that the SNES promised what it said it could do. Coupled with addictive play control, excellent graphics, great sound effects and voiceovers, TMNT IV still gets fired up occastionally in my house hold to this day.

  40. Guitar Hero; console played on: PS2. Why? Most teenage boys and girls have wished upon a star to see what it's like to be a rock star. Heck some of us used to jump up and down on our beds playing air guitar to the new GNR while our parents yell at us to stop. Guitar Hero makes that dream a reality (well almost) just by taking Simon says and putting it on a plastic shaped guitar. The original game had the best soundtrack of all them, it had the most metal sheering, face melting guitar based songs of all of them. It was a big hit a parties and yet had enough umph to be fun on it's own. Guitar Hero really brought music based game forward and into a dominant genre of current consoles. Even you kids now thing that Whitesnake is cool.

  Coming soon 39-29 of the Best 50 games continues. Thanks for reading.

  • Posted Nov 25, 2008 12:20 pm PT
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