Something went wrong. Try again later

Namevah

This user has not updated recently.

46 0 3 1
Forum Posts Wiki Points Following Followers

Favorite Games of 2002

Exactly one year after Xbox launched, Microsoft released the broadband-only Xbox Live. It certainly wasn’t the first online service, but Microsoft had the foresight to focus specifically on broadband, excluding the large amount of dial-up users across the country. Thinking back, it was clearly the better decision. It pushed me into ditching dial-up for broadband, as I imagine it did for others.

Xbox Live was initially pretty simple. Gamertags were introduced, but Achievements didn’t come around until Xbox 360. We saw DLC, but it required going into specific games, if I recall correctly. Unlike with X360, Live didn’t encompass the entire console, but only a part of it. My, how far we’ve come.

List items

  • Otherwise known as my favorite game ever.

    However, it’s not as easy to determine if this is my favorite version of Yoshi’s Island ever. The Super Nintendo version boasts better music and doesn’t make the “touch fuzzy, get dizzy” effect look like crap, like the GBA port. Speaking of that version, being portable is an obvious benefit, and it includes additional levels. Finally, the Wii U version of the GBA port loses portability, but gains HD. (Of course, if you’re using something like a Retron 5, you’re getting HD with any version.)

    Which version would I recommend? Any, honestly. It’s nearly identical regardless; three versions of a damn incredible game.

  • Prime was my first Metroid game, and it was glorious. Up until then, I had a Metroid-sized hole in my gaming library, so the concept of a world that would gradually open as I gained new abilities was foreign and exciting. Of course, it helps that Retro Studios crafted a great world with plenty of visually distinct areas. I don’t just mean the different environments, but the rooms! Few rooms feel visually similar. They share assets, of course, but they’re used in different ways, giving a cohesive style with unique locations.

    The lock-on system worked at the time, and I understand it still has supporters, but I do much prefer the aiming controls introduced in Metroid Prime 3 and subsequently grafted onto Metroid Prime through the Prime Trilogy. Still, Prime is still one of my favorite games ever, even if Super Metroid dethroned it as my favorite Metroid game.

  • As I wrote before when I named it as my favorite game of 1991, Super Mario World may have been my start in gaming. Regardless of the truth, I hold many fond memories of the SNES classic, which I was able to relive on my GBA. But a funny thing happened: I beat the levels I always had trouble with and actually reached those I had only seen played.

    Turns out, Mario World really isn't that difficult a game. The problem was that I played it when I was much younger, when my motor skills and decision-making were lacking compared to now. Not as difficult, but still plenty of fun.

  • It’s my understanding that a lot of people dislike Super Mario Sunshine. It’s not a worthy successor to Super Mario 64, and the FLUDD gadget strapped to Mario’s back is a gimmick. Clearly, I am not in this camp, perhaps because I never played Mario 64. (I did own Super Mario 64 DS, but that was later.)

    Sunshine is my reintroduction into Mario. Between Yoshi’s Island and Sunshine, I stopped caring around the iconic plumber outside of, for example, Paper Mario. But then I was suddenly excited for Sunshine, which I played through to the end. I haven’t returned to the game in any meaningful capacity since that first playthrough, so who knows. Maybe I would suddenly remove these unknowingly rose-colored glasses and join the hater camp.

  • I was born in the ‘80s, but I’m a child of the ‘90s, so the era being represented in Vice City doesn't excite me as much as it does other people. Regardless, it’s still a GTA game, which meant a hell of a lot for me at the time. Even better was the addition of motorcycles and helicopters, both absent from GTA3.

    Unfortunately, in the trilogy of PS2 GTA games, Vice City is my least favorite. It’s still a very entertaining, bloody romp through mock Miami, but one that holds neither the significance of GTA3 or insanity of San Andreas.

  • (I put in Unreal Championship, it saves as Unreal Tournament 2003. Weird.)

    There have been handfuls of games that allow me to toss on headphones and just… relax. Minimal focus has to be spent on the game: little dialogue to listen to, few instructions to follow. Mario Kart: Double Dash was one such game, as is Minecraft, to a degree.

    Unreal Championship was a great example of this type of game. Load up CTF with a bunch of bots and just rocket the face of anyone who comes too close. I spent a lot of time with those bots, who weren't always smart, but they kept things interesting. At least as interesting as I want while listening to my music.

  • One must wonder how far MechAssault was in development when the 9/11 terror attacks occurred. Released a little over a year after that horrible day, it’s still kind of surprising that MechAssault allows the destruction of basically any building.

    Including such a feature was an obvious decision, though. Why bother pitting two (or more) building-sized mechs against each other if the world around it doesn't get destroyed in spectacular fashion? It’s perhaps simple fun, but fun nonetheless.

  • Yes, I realize that many people now hate Sonic Adventure 2, and even the original Sonic Adventure. If I went back to either game, I’m sure I would feel the same. At the time, Sonic on a Nintendo console was amazing, and playing as Sonic’s friends wasn't as common as it would become. Was that really enough to blind me from the boredom that was treasure hunting as Knuckles? I will argue that blindly destroying robots as Eggman/Robotnik held some appeal at the time.

    Even Sonic/Shadow’s segments suffered from some of the “press up to win” that later games are infamous for. So why did this game not only make the cut, but beat out, say, Splinter Cell? Because it was, at the time, fun.

    And because Splinter Cell’s guards finding their unconscious buddy in a dark corner and raising an alarm was really frustrating.

  • I can’t explain why this is one of the games I received as a Christmas present alongside my PlayStation 2. Maybe it was bundled with the hardware or maybe my parents thought I would appreciate an older era of gaming. If the latter was true, they made a good call.

    That’s not to say I would put any of the 30+ Atari 2600 games in any “best of” list, but compiled together with “The Safety Dance” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It” playing in the background, Activision Anthology becomes an entertaining group of games.

  • Over a decade ago, Ubisoft wowed the industry by offering a stealth-based game that emphasized hiding in shadows. Though the presentation was somewhat grounded by the techno-military strapping of the Tom Clancy brand, it was the real-time lighting that captured attention. Protagonist Sam Fisher melted from the light into shadows so realistically, it was striking.

    Unfortunately, the game could be overly finicky. Guards were perhaps too good at stumbling upon their unconscious buddies regardless of where the body is hidden, and once three alarms are raised, Sam is immediately yanked from the mission. Sequels roughed away these frustrations, though.
Load Comments