I've been reading up on Elsinore as well and aim to give it a shot this year. Congratulations on the big release; I thoroughly enjoyed The Outer Wilds and the 4th dimensional crystal puzzles will stick with me!
@sgtsphynx: thanks for the view! I'm really trying to be more discerning with my time and let my personal favorites shine more over games that I'll never finish
@amorphis_1: I never played Diablo, did he cap the end of the first crawl? I know that he makes another appearance in the first pits of Diablo III as well as Heroes of the Storm. Does the outline for a miniboss also include that they permeate the franchise history?
In the same vein as Protoman, I think Vile from Mega Man X should at least make this list--the ranking is a different conversation. Vile encapsulates the challenges you will face over the game (as well as how powerful Zero is as your Maverick Hunter superior), gives you a sweet mech preview, and builds some tension as X is helpless in this initial confrontation. So the next time you face him, you can definitely trash him with the secret Hadouken and you feel mega-upgraded as a player character.
Truly a game that is viewed through rose-colored glasses by some, myself included. I wanted to play this game fiendishly ever since it got a featured review in Game Informer all those years ago. Did you have a favorite character among the 7?
Decent List IMO! I would replace Metroid: Zero Mission and Revenge of Shinobi with Metroid Prime and Strider (2014), their place on this list subject to change. I feel like these would better represent a jump to 3-D while still paying credence to the games that came before. And you still keep you Metroid and ninja game quotas for the list!
Metroid Prime - The space jump is a well-earned power from the boost ball segment. It is a great callback to the seamless jumping and shooting of Super Metroid while still providing a great sense of scale to Tallon IV's light platforming segments. The accompanying "whoosh" jet wash sound from Samus's boots is also an aural treat and the weighted parabola of her jump feels very grounded and not floaty. In-line with games before, more powerups and exploration opens up in the game world as well as quicker navigation for that pesky backtracking.
Strider - I believe the Strider reboot iterates on the double jump tuck from Revenge of Shinboi but with more flash and finesse. I liked Jeff's preference for the "glitch-like" appearance of the double jump boot up (he mentioned Ghost's and Goblins I believe for comparison) and I think this finds a happy medium for that. Strider's elevation is ninja-level cartoony but his acrobatic front somersault lends itself to the final full tuck at the double jump that can be combo'd into a down slash or directional attack. Coupled with the wall hook, I feel it is a better entry to represent the platforming hackin and slashin that can keep players moving, especially on harder segments of the game.
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