Ask Me Anything: Games I Champion

I don't just recommend these games... If you haven't played them – whether you enjoy them or not – your gaming worldview is nothing less than bereft and barren. A lesser man might call these "fanboy reviews", a common man might say a "hall of fame", but no, to me, they are everything that I could spare five minutes to write about, and for me that is a big god damn deal. :P

If I've left anything out, it's so that you can Ask Me Anything.

(Writing-heavy list, so let's call it "ever-in-progress".)

List items

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  1. Starscape

  First, you need to get over the resolution lock of 800x600. This was 2004. Once past that, Starscape is Moonpod's own Ninth Symphony. From the impeccable sprites to the gaudy western anime motif, the cell shaded cut "scenes", and perhaps the worst GUI this side of Windows for Workgroups 3.11. The sound design and music are catchy and thrilling, the game mechanics and top-down space battles still inspire imitators, and for a game this small to have an honest to god cast of characters rivaling something from Blizzard makes it a story worth telling.

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  2. Crimsonland

  There are a lot of top-down shooters in the market that come and go. Crimsonland was released in 2003 and received updates through 2010. It has lent inspiration to mouse and touch controls in dual-stick shooters, and borrowed the very best ideas from bullet hell shooters, throwing in quest and upgrade mechanics for good measure. Oh and there's a typing tutor mode as well. The next time you think a game cribbed from Smash TV, give Crimsonland a whirl to see what you've been missing.

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  3. Tron 2.0

  There's nothing bad I can say about the Tron franchise in general. I'm just not coded that way. As a kid, it was everything I wanted the future to be. Turns out Tron 2.0 was everything I wanted a Tron game to be. As first person shooters go, in the eight years since it was released I strongly believe the graphical style still holds strong, particularly with the unofficial patches fixing things up for widescreen monitors. A clever premise that only falls apart at the VERY end, great voice acting with ample Boxleitner and Romjin, and the first official Lightcycle evolution since the original film. 2.0 may not be canon, but certainly left its mark on the Troniverse, and it's my kind of offshoot.

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  4. Star Raiders

  Perhaps you've wondered how megalithic franchises like Tie Fighter, Wing Commander, Freespace, or EVE came to be. Well this is how. (Just read the wiki ok?)

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  5. Stunts

  Stunts was best played with a Gravis Ultrasound, because the engine audio was replaced with piano keys. Also there was an infinite top-speed glitch.

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  6. Jumpman Lives!

  The sequel to Jumpman, perhaps one of the very first Mario homages. All the best bits of Donkey Kong Jr. meet Robotron.

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  7. Star Control 3

  It's awful, but also awesome in its own tragic way. Don't let the plutocrats tell you different.

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  8. Evil Genius

  A good example of a game I bought new at launch because I WANT MORE OF THESE GAMES TO BE MADE. #wallettalk

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  9. Dust: An Elysian Tail

  So well crafted, it's embarrassing for the rest of us normal artists.

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  10. The Shadow