30 Years, 30 Games
This was a project I did when I turned 30 in 2010, a list of 30 games that made an impact on my life!
List items
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Jumpman represents one of my most fondest gaming memories. When I was old enough, my dad fired up his Commodore 64 and introduced me to a new world of electronic entertainment. A red and blue figure guided me into this world and together, we dodged magic bullets, robots, UFOs and fire in order to collect mines. The sound effects and music (and the claps my dad made in time to it) stay with me forever.
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Who can forget the poorly sampled, "Red 5 Standing By"? Not me! My dad also had this for the Commodore 64, but the arcade machine was truly an experience. Getting to sit in a cockpit designed after Luke's X-Wing was a total thrill for a boy of my age.
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TRON, both the movie and game, had been a big part of my childhood. Although my dad's computer just had Lighcycles, the arcade version of this game was the best. Why? Because the cabinet was exactly the same as the film.
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I got to play this game at Disney's California Adventure during their elecTRONica event. Almost brought a tear to my eye.
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Yes, yes, I know that this wasn't the real Mario sequel, but this was a game that really resonated with me for reasons I can't fully explain. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the different characters you could play as. Whatever it was, SMB2 is my all time favorite Mario game.
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This game was a real ball breaker that took no prisoners. It was my first exposure to the concept of games that were purposefully and sadistically hard. But hey, thanks to cheat codes I was able to play through it with reckless abandon.
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I had a GameBoy when I was young, but really didn't get a whole lot of games for it. Tetris was all I needed, baby. Track C is still the best!
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I received the Sega CD add-on for Christmas and remember the process of hooking it up to the Genesis was a little labor intensive. Once it was up and running, it was an experience like none other. Brighter visuals, enhanced sound, clearer voice overs and, say it with me folks: FULL. MOTION. VIDEO!!! Sonic CD was a fun title that kept the core gameplay from Sonic the Hedgehog but boosted the visuals to the nth degree. It also had a rockin' soundtrack.
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Oh man, if ever there was a game that defined me and my gaming tastes, it was Hideo Kojima's Snatcher. Although the game played very much like an interactive novel, this homage to Blade Runner and cyberpunk was rich with story, character and plot development. It also would be my introduction to Kojima's love for breaking the Fourth Wall.
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First RPG ever played and finished!
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Second RPG ever played and finished! Here's an interesting story: This was the game that prompted me to write my first fan letter. In return, I got a nice response back with three mini-posters and a Working Designs store catalog. Man, Working Designs was an awesome publisher (think of them as being similar to Atlus). It's a shame they went under.
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Sing it with me..."Daaaaaytooooooooonnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"
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First Final Fantasy game ever played! Every new release of a Final Fantasy game meant I'd be spending up to 50+ hours fighting monsters, collecting loot, playing mini-games and hunting down secret bosses. It's a shame that some of the more recent Final Fantasy games haven't been as good as VII or VIII.
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If you've been reading this blog, chances are you know that I'm a big fan of the Silent Hill franchise. My exposure to the game began when watching my cousin play it and, initially, thinking it to be just another Resident Evil-type game. After getting in some time with it, boy howdy was I wrong. Silent Hill was its own beast that blew RE out of the water. After about six games, the series hasn't been doing so well - which is a total shame. Hopefully the upcoming game will restore the franchise to its former glory.
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Having never played any of the Metal Gear games on the Nintendo, I had no idea what I was in for. I picked up the game mainly because people were raving about it and now I understand way. In an era where games were about blasting the most monsters and scoring the highest points, Metal Gear Solid changed things around by encouraging the player to move with stealth. Sure, you could kill or knock out enemy soldiers, but the real thrill was found in memorizing patrol patterns, hiding in cardboard boxes and finding ways to distract guards.
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Third first person shooter ever played! I recently tried playing this game and it has not aged well. While it was fun to wage a one man war against the Reich, the real star of this show was the fully orchestrated soundtrack by Michael Giacchino.
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Second first person shooter ever played! Dark Forces was my first look into the world of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Rather than play as Luke or Han, Dark Forces put me in the role of Kyle Katarn, a Rebel mercenary who originally store the plans for the Empire's Death Star. I remember trying so hard to get this game to run on the NEC computer my parents owned, but with little success. Thankfully, the game was released on the Playstation, which gave me the chance to play it all the way through.
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While Dark Forces: Jedi Knight was a fun game thanks to the inclusion of lightsabers, Jedi Knight II offered a much richer story with better shooting and lightsaber combat (this game would introduce three different saber forms). Plus, that Cloud City level was tops.
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I never played many adventure games outside of the LucasArts bubble. I can't remember what circumstances led me to picking this game up, but I immediately fell it love with it. What made this different from LucasArts adventure games was that your character could die. Great characters, a deep story and excellent music made this one of my gaming staples. I was thrilled when the Director's Cut was released on iPhone last year with a link to a downloadable soundtrack - something I've been wanting for fourteen years.
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I was completely and utterly obsessed with this game. I missed the boat when it was originally released, but when Origin released The Kilrathi Saga, which came with WCI, II and III, I was happy for the chance to play through these compelling space operas. Once again, the computer I was trying to run it on wasn't very good, but once I upgraded systems, it played like a dream. What made this game memorable were the performances by Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell and Tom Wilson.
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Grim Fandango was the zenith of LucasArts adventure games. It would also be the first I remember playing with my brother at the time. It was also the first video game with an ending that made me cry.
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Don't get me wrong, Grand Theft Auto III was an amazing game. I loved what it was and what it did for the industry. I'm giving Mafia the attention because it blended the open world gameplay of GTA with my favorite time period. And that ending! Amazing!
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This was a game that has continued to stay with me, despite it being a ten year old game. While Silent Hill won the award for Game That Kept Me Up Nights, Silent Hill 2 won me over with the characterization of James Sunderland and how the world around him was designed to punish him for his actions. While the first playthrough of the game was great, second and even third run through proved to be the most amazing because of all the little things you could pick up on now that you know the truth. Brilliance.
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Another good Star Wars game! And proof that good SW stories don't have to be set during the movies!
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Need a an example of gaming as an art form? Boom. This was the second game that made me cry and the soundtrack alone is enough to wet these eye sockets.
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Another RPG! Wait, no, it's a dating sim! Actually, it's both. This is actually the second Shin Megami Tensei game I've played, the first being a game called Nocturne, which kicked my ass so hard I couldn't sit for a week. Thankfully, Persona's focus on establishing social links with high school friends made for a much more engaging adventure and made combat a little easier to swallow.
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I love me some Greek mythology. God of War took everything I knew about mythology and put it to some metal, resulting in a bloody adventure that spanned the entire catalog of Greek myth. Nothing else like it was available at the time and its obvious love for Clash of the Titan-esque mythology films gave this game an added layer of flair and style which easily makes it one of my top games.
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Another one of my top favorite games, BioShock's demo won me over to this adventure about an underwater utopia that suffered from a devastating civil war. Hell, I loved this game so much it made me read Ayn Rand. There are a lot of games on this list that had great plot twists, but the top spot belongs to BioShock's mid-game reveal.
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The Uncharted series, in my mind, is the closest we'll ever get to having a cinematic experience on consoles. The story, direction and acting is produced with such skill and attention that it almost bridges the gap between games and film. Not since Silent Hill 2 have I cared for in-game characters so deeply. Naughty Dog is master of their craft.
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What can I say about Red Dead Redemption that hasn't been said already? The powerful narrative about a man who is forced into an ugly situation in order to see his family is a strong one and the 180 degree turn the game makes towards the end was amazing. And that ending!!! Incredible.
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