So somewhere in the darkness of the late 90s, I decided that the breadth of games that I had gone through merited a list. Perhaps for absurdity's sake, perhaps to try and convince myself to kick the "childish" habit; whatever the case, I now have proof positive that I've done some dumb things in my life, I'm a proud (and old) gamer, and I wish to share that very madness with the Giantbomb community.
So the final boss in the first one was annoying and super game-y. But this one felt like it just ended. Maybe if it ended with that predator boss like I thought it might, I would've been happier. Still great though.
ARG, CMON! It's Gears, great. I sorta lost the ghost for it in that underground place with the armored fellas.
Arg, I still dunno how I ever got through all of the SNES version. This was no slouch either.
This was actually a cohesive game! Script's an original episode that actually maintained humor. Not the best time you'll have, but better than it's other Fox cartoons --> game brethren.
Now this one I'll recommend to most. If you've ever played the original Power Rangers game on the SNES, it plays /exactly/ like that. That's the best way I can explain this. Replay value (although I didn't use it) is there in spades too.
Now this is decent. You actually do some of the proper anime in this, Original animation for the game. I guess just more fulfilling by the end, but still nothing to write home about.
A stiff sorta game. Story's relatively useless even in canon.
Oh boy, where do I start? Real funky take on this kind of a game. Having EVERYTHING be based on rupees was a bit worrisome at first, but ended up working out in the end. Good to see something this pastiche-y come out.
Before even Amplitude, there was Frequency. Abstract in a way that was hard to get behind. Still interesting to see where the genre went from here.
Pretty bland, yes. The land this was a skoch neat, but no good otherwise.
I played this? huh. *youtube* oh, alright. Super short mini-games. Barely counts as a game.
Oh yes, I played this abomination. It was a crappy brawler until it was FOUR HORSEMEN with the last being someone from the past! Makes for a laughable story.
Blitzball, ya?
I argue this changed alotta things about traditional RPGs for the better. Sphere grid worked pretty well for me. Last console FF I played.
Damn cheerful. Great little charm to this one. Minigames done right.
/This/ game could've ended after the third Black Waltz. And what was up with that ice worm boss at the beginning that totally whooped your ass?
So my FF buddy says that the fact that I beat this game without limit breaks is essentially legendary. To be fair, it took me five hours to beat every form of the final boss and I was casting 60 ices to beat it. Real real satisfying to beat though on my first attempt.
Like many, was my first foray into Final Fantasy. Played it on the PC twice (lost saves) before I beat it on the PSX. I'm of the camp that the game could've ended outside of Midgar. Perfect first act.
The GBA version. Now this was a pretty solid FF. I can see the points of greatness that 5 and 6 drew from in this.
Note: I was 5/6 of the way through 5, but lost the save. Maybe one of these days I'll try again.
The DS version, of course. Sadly pretty forgettable to me.
Only played through the first (FF2's kinda whack). I don't think I'd ever be able to get through original FF1. Even this one wasn't a walk in the park.
Girlfriend-phone-game.
Real bad movie game.
Bad game, but I think two or three jokes picking fun at video games.
This actually wasn't on my list. Weird. Anyways, certainly a step up, but I didn't get as enthralled as most did with this. Just muscled through the 8 hours and called it a game.
Was as much of a let down as people said it'd be. Glad I got the lost chapters, but man did they feel tacked on right after the fulfilling ending.
I was worried I'd have to make the page for this game to put it on this list. Mediocre dungeon crawler.
So I was gonna give this game and all my dreamcast stuff to a friend, so I wanted to give it one last shot hours before the transaction. At the final boss, horribly underleveled. Two of the three characters dead, 20 minutes until I needed to leave, I do everything to keep my last character alive long enough to charge up, press it ready to turn the Dreamcast off, fucking kills the final boss. To this day I have yet to be this elated again over winning a game. I was beside myself in glee.
Insanity meter was very endearing. I mean I liked it. Wasn't the prettiest thing for sure. I'll never look at elder gods the same again.
That was pretty bad, yes. Only got through half of Path of Neo too...I should finish that. Anyways, no bueno.
One of the most recent games I've beaten. I think I'd buy the cinematics so I could share the characters and this world with people. The end to this game ACTUALLY gave me that confused feeling of ambiguous morality that so many "good or evil" games try and fail to give you. Great.
Agents need to be go again, yo. I don't see why they haven't made this an annual franchise. Best.
Yep, played it. S'bad. Maybe 2-3 good throw away jokes? Bad.
So I didn't like this. The final boss was pretty awesome (albeit choppy). But I struggled through it for some ant-killing reason.
So much like the GB folks, I kinda hate the franchise. But this format was much easier to stomach. I, in fact, enjoyed this a sizable amount.
So I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Spent some time drawing this and that, the platforming was simple but gave me a reason to see my drawings. Yet I put down the sequel repeatedly. Iono.
Wii tech demo basically. It was alright, but thankfully it wasn't any longer.
More please. Please?
Not as fun of a way to enjoy said canon. Feels a bit stretched thin. The stylus controls work and all, but it doesn't feel terrific.
Platformer with a few 1v1 fights. Shocking in how good it is. Nigh Astro Boy in quality. I remember Tao Pai Pai being a jerk. An enjoyable way to experience the ol Dragon Ball canon.
Very short game, bad guys got repetitive, but the concept is rock-solid. Pity this didn't come to anything.
I wouldn't say it was as bad as people gave it guff for. More Gackt model/music influence. Final boss was pretty wicked.
Skipped the first one (tried it, too old-RE-y), this one kept my attention pretty well in the early PSX days. I liked the arcade sorta feel, getting points when you kill dinos. Ending also blew my young adult mind a little.
This was a great game. One of the last straight up RPGs I've played. Felt genuinely inclined to get all the evolution branches. I actually exercised by running around my apartment while playing this. Don't tell anyone I told you that.
Oh, this is more so the digimon fighting game I remember. Okay, so guess what? You wait til you digivolve and then you win.
Sounds bad, right? But it was a pretty good GBA kart game. Even had non-racing bosses, which blew my mind.
Hm, don't remember this one at all. Youtube isn't even helping. I'm sure it's a "wait til you digivolve and then win" sorta game.
I had never played one of these before. I actually enjoyed the prat where you separate the lands and all that. Very sweet, wouldn't mind seeing another one.
Fantastic game. That Wizpig run had to be 120% perfect, but aside from that, the game felt proportionately challenging. My go to with anyone who wants to play a kart racer, but knows more than just Mario Kart.
My expectations were almost too high after that first level (the next few felt like a pittance. But the simple story got me and I loved how stupidly fun this all way. Might even break protocol and get the Part IV DLC for this bad boy.
Doesn't have the nostalgia factor, still competent though. Gameplay's identical. Pandaman is nightmare fuel.
Fond memories of this one. Veryveryveryveryvery good. Still have lots of these songs on my mp3 list.
I just turned this thing to wire-frame first person and somehow trucked through this game fast. That's how my memory goes, which goes against everything people say about how hard it is. Iono, it was good for a PSX game though.
Yep, I played that Gackt game. Yes, I regret it. It's not terrible. Just...shameful.
I gotta admit, I cheated like hell halfway through this game. But that's mainly cuz I HAD to make sure that I got the whole story. Given the story of this game's development, I think this game deserves even more praise than it's already given.
This is a great mom/girlfriend game. Feels like the variety is limited though.
Again, much like Bomberman Quest. I feel like this was one a bit more enjoyable though.
Some more classic bomberman. Hard to remember, so apparently nothing to write home about.
Just as good as the first. Honestly can't remember any significant differences.
Now this game I absolutely adored when I played it from start to finish. It's a minigame collection, but they were fun enough, and the exploring out in the main hub world was surprisingly enjoyable.
This along with the Gamecube games sorta lost me with their super-cute, easy take on the series. Some slight pokemon-esque qualities here (think the GBC game watered down), no bad memories of this anyways.
This was my GAME back in the day. Those who've played it will know how challenging it was and proud I am of getting 100% in this game and getting the real ending. Probably unplayable now, but I have fond, fond memories of this peculiar take on Bomberman.
Haven't played a serious racing game for years, so I figured this might be a good reintroduction. I enjoyed this for the most part. Forcing me to get all those objectives was a bit of a jerk move, but once you get a real solid car, it holds together.
A real good improvement over the first. Nothing that'll be remembered years from now, but it was a much tighter, improved game.
I played this one while my PS2's laser was on its last legs, so I walked through alotta not-loaded voids playing this. Despite that, still had a pretty fun time with it.
I'm probably the only person who played this game. I thought it wasn't bad at all. The back-of-the-box synopsis sounds terrific (doesn't live up to that fantasy) but it was still interesting to see it play out as a game. No regrets here.
For some reason I was terrible at this the first time I picked it up (despite having conquered the first game). Flew through it a couple years later. The Soul Calibur-like requirements were a smart addition, but maybe not as fun. Some good, some bad.
Really solid 2D fighter on the DS. Multiple character paths and a ton of things to master which I did (and never do anymore these days).
Never thought it was a /bad/ game per se. I personally found that last mission way hard. But hey, a pretty shooter (for the PS2 days).
Infuriating, maddening, and yet I wanted to finish it. Probably not worth it to most, but it was definitely a fun game to do. You should probably have a Contra mindset coming to this game if you wanna get all the way through it.
As everyone said, not as compelling, but Jeff was right when he said the two-handedness in this makes the first one just feel broken. Dunno if I preferred the lack of a final boss. Definitely fits the mood better.
Another critically acclaimed game that I wasn't so into the first few hours I played. This one also won me over though. Super easy for me once I had maxed out my money (yay slot machines!)
As everyone says, a LoZ-esque game with a fully-fleshed out world, a great style all its own. A memorable one for sure. Propaganda!
This is a great, carefree franchise. The story's kinda wearing thin at this point, but you're not comin for the right reasons if you want a story outta this game. Really wish every one of these games had one or two levels that was hard as hell. Just let me roll stuff up!
No different than 1. Yep.
Don't remember much of anything about this, actually. Too glitzy/showy? Something looked a bit wrong about this one.
A short, cutesy little platform/shooter deal. Honestly don't remember much at all.
A short, cutesy little platform/shooter deal. Honestly don't remember much at all.
Probably played this one too close to 2. Still a great game, just worse a tad thin on me at times. It's been long enough though. Really stoked if we ever get a Sly 4.
What better a way to start this list? Competent shooter, Tony Yayo, helicopters as bosses. Big ass ramps.
A Phoenix Wright game without /as/ much guesswork. I wonder where else they're gonna go with the Wrightoverse.
Movie game, so eh. It does have a seamless story reason for why there can be game overs. Not too memorable otherwise.
Pretty decent character action game. Better than I was prepared for anyways. Ron Perlman as the bad guy always helps. And Sammy L.'s involvement. YO AFRO!
Great tale. I'd pose that the combat wasn't all that bad. Did need to get outta the woods more.
Mindless shooter. Alright art style, gets hard. Good first go for the makers of Castle Crashers though.
The seeds of Guitar Hero and Rock Band were planted here. Not the first rhythm game, but certainly a precursor of the down-the-track kinda system now in place. Had some decent song choices, gets pretty crazy. Only my friend uses the goofy shoulder configuration.
The first of a great franchise. Has places to improve, but its sense of humor and dual joystick configuration makes it stick out in a great way.
Bigger and better than the first, getting every ape was a treat.
If Mesal Gear isn't reason enough to sell you on this game, I dunno what will.
Phoenix Wright without the eponymous attorney. Still the exact same game. Makes me wish there was a short-text version, as good as the writing may (or may not) be.
David Duchovny not falling far from his X-Files roots (although I'd much rather him revisit his Twin Peaks role). Relatively generic shooter with a pinch of monster henshin.
An isometric take on the jiggy quests of old. Resets the story with time travel, but it's more Banjo-Kazooie, so it's hard to complain about that.
I dunno, the helmet just makes it better. Wish I remembered a single thing about the story in this game.
At first, thought this ruined the Mega Man franchise in my mind. But by the time I beat it, I respected it for what it was. Not the superb classic most see it as (I need a helmet, thanks Legends 2), but good.
The visual and gameplay style was a nice departure, but you need more than that to impress. It just felt like a Halo that they got five new staffers on.
A nearly exact iteration from the first. I played this way after the first, so it felt like it wasn't as eye-opening. Still every bit as fun though.
A classic. Imagine Mario 64 but with tons of kooky British humo(u)r and way more things to collect. The variation in level designs and goals and the amount of moves available to you made it a joy to keep playing and playing.
Remember Diddy Kong Racing? It's that but just the flying. Still perfectly good though.
This game absolutely grew on me. Didn't see the flag races and all the other window dressing as a detraction from the new ideas that sprang from this game.
So very short and lacks memorable moments. Decent customization of weapons, but nothing spectacular.
Gameplay's better here, but I intentionally stopped paying attention to the lack of a story. Almost more generic than the first despite its Shanghai setting. Customization better and worse.
Played this post-Modern Warfare 2. I mean it's just fine for a WWII shooter. Would probably have thought differently if I played it in its time.
