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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Your Top 50 Games: 2011 Discussion Thread

You two are crazy, it blows my head someone thinks MK64 being the low of the franchise. It defined Mario Kart, and Mario Kart Wii, DS, and 7 just feel like reincarnations of the game.

I understand people liking Mario Kart DS, 7 and Wii better, especially if they don't mind unlocking content single player, but MK64 was still the game that inspired them, and it has the type of gameplay the wish to imitate (DD was terrible, and they switch to the style of gameplay MK64 gave)



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Michael-5 said:
TWRoO said:
Michael-5 said:

I loved the difficulty in the 64 and SNES iterations, ever since then they have made the game too easy.

I'd rather play Mario Kart 64 because the track designs and battle map designs were less forgiving (get hit at the wrong time on Wario Stadium and you go back about 40 seconds in the lap when you fail the jump).

That's bad design. In local MP it puts you out of the action and unable to catch up unless you are much better than your friends. In GP mode against 7 opponents, if you fall off there on the 2nd lap there is almost no chance of catching up, so you might as well quit.

The AI in M64 was bad, but as long as you didn't let them get too far ahead, they were fine. If you got a lead on them, it's not like they could magically catch up.

Yes, they could... that is what was terrible about the AI in the game... that's what people mean when they say rubber-band AI, MK64 probably being one of the worst offenders for this. You could shoot the AI controlled karts with a red shell, and they would fall behind, and yet would catch you up easily without going by any item boxes. And if you didn't block them or hit them with something they would sail past you into first before they suddenly decided to be slightly slower than you again.

I dunno why you bring in difficulty because I play the game with friends, and the AI in all Mario Karts are pretty easy to beat. I agree with you about Zelda and Mario (although I haven't played much of both games for Wii), and I would even argue that Donkey Kong Wii got harder. Mario Kart is also about the same, and I feel very little has improved since Mario Kart 64.

You were the one who brought up the difficulty, as proved above in the quote tree (I deleted everything but the relevant sentence)

RolStoppable said:

I have to agree with TWRoO, you really are blinded by nostalgia.

Wario Stadium on N64. Even Rainbow Road and Bowsers Castle levels, best on the N64.

Now I know you are crazy. No one likes Rainbow Road on the N64. And Wario Stadium was also a dull track (IMO 3rd after Rainbow Road and Luigi Circuit) I'll give you Bowser's Castle, that one is pretty good, though I slightly prefer the Wii version, and I love the Double Dash version the most.

and yes, playing single player to unlock tracks (and characters) is a big deal. I never play the game alone, and doing so feels like a chore. (But racing Rainbow Road doesn't!?) Mario Kart is fun because it's something everyone can play, and it's funnest when you have 3 or 4 (or more) people over and everyone (good and bad) can play together.

Item balance in MK64 is the best, there isn't a pow block or a cheap bullet bill to knock you out at first, but the Blue Shell Bomb is a cool upgrade.
Wait? you think the new Blue Shell is better than the MK64 one?.... wow.

Graphics too man, Mario Kart Wii looks pretty crap to todays standard. Mario Kart 64 looked amazing, and was a huge jump in graphics technology over Super Mario Kart. (But not as big as almost all other N64 games) Mario Kart Wii has slowdown (something MK64 never has)(Can't say I have ever experienced frame-rate problems in any MK) and looks no different from DD except for the single kart racer.

I mean take the Skyscraper battle level in Mario Kart Wii. It's terrible, jumps gaps are too small, tracks are too wide, and overall it's just too damn easy.

I hated the skyscraper on the N64 version, when there are only 2, 3 or 4 players there should not be massive gaps in an arena that you have to drive around before you could get to your opponent... playing on the skyscraper was dull because most of your time was spent just driving.

What you say hurts me. Mario Kart 64 is by far the best fun racer of the gen, and by far the best Mario Kart. Since MK64 all Nintendo has been able to do is repeat the exact same formula (I'd even think they still use the same engine)

If you seriously believe they use the same game engine as on the N64 then you are a fool... I know nothing about game programming, but that should be obvious just from looking at them (once again I point out... MK64 didn't even have 3D karts


Gah, I said I wasn't going to do this!



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Machina said:



#18 - Half-Life 2 (360/PC/PS3)


Now I'm having serious trouble choosing which is my least favourite from the remaining titles on my list. The top 6 are locked, but everything else I keep changing like crazy.

Guess I'm going with Half-Life 2 (the entire game/series/whatever you wanna call it) for #18. The first of two Orange Box titles (Smeags won't let us pick The Orange Box, so I'll just list 'em separately *hrmph*). No prizes for guessing what the other one is - will give you a cookie if you can guess what rank it is though. Anywho, I digress. Half-Life 2. It's good... after the first 20 minutes, which sucked.

I loved the first 20 minutes. The atmosphere, the realistic oppressive setting, all the little graphical effects like dust floating in the air, Dr Breens speech on the monitors, the amazing facial animations, playing with the physics in the little playground. All things that I had never seen before. I guess HL2 suffers the curse that it has been copied so much that it's opening now feels standard fare.

It's coming up soon on my list, amazing glimpse into the future back in 2004. Resistance 3's campaign is practically a carbon copy of HL2's campaign structure.



Michael-5 said:

18. Warcraft 3 (PC) Specifically The Frozen Throne expansion.

     I'm not much of a PC gamer, don't even have a windows or mac computer, but back in the day I did, and this is what I played. I remember I used to go to internet cafes with friends and play this game for the entire day, and this was a regular occurance. I sucked at the game, but so did everyone, so for multiplayer I naturally loved to play levels with tree barriers at the start. Still, there is something very rewarding about building a base and levling up your heros and creating a path to your enemies.

     Ontop of that, this game had an interesting single player mode. I really liked the plot in Frozen Throne, and how you get screwed by your own country, become undead, and eventually kill the guy who resurrected you to become the Lich King at the end of the game, and well the new villian. The game had a nice pace, and a more realistic plot then most games now where the Hero saves the world.

Another game I didn't have room for in my top 50 regrettably. Together with Age of Empires these were my favorite RTS games during my college years. Actually I don't think I ever played the 3rd one. The first 2 were great, the third one got overlooked during my Everquest years. Does this run on Windows 7?



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SvennoJ said:

Another game I didn't have room for in my top 50 regrettably. Together with Age of Empires these were my favorite RTS games during my college years. Actually I don't think I ever played the 3rd one. The first 2 were great, the third one got overlooked during my Everquest years. Does this run on Windows 7?

Yep... just booted it up last week. ^_~



SvennoJ said:
Michael-5 said:

18. Warcraft 3 (PC) Specifically The Frozen Throne expansion.

     I'm not much of a PC gamer, don't even have a windows or mac computer, but back in the day I did, and this is what I played. I remember I used to go to internet cafes with friends and play this game for the entire day, and this was a regular occurance. I sucked at the game, but so did everyone, so for multiplayer I naturally loved to play levels with tree barriers at the start. Still, there is something very rewarding about building a base and levling up your heros and creating a path to your enemies.

     Ontop of that, this game had an interesting single player mode. I really liked the plot in Frozen Throne, and how you get screwed by your own country, become undead, and eventually kill the guy who resurrected you to become the Lich King at the end of the game, and well the new villian. The game had a nice pace, and a more realistic plot then most games now where the Hero saves the world.

Another game I didn't have room for in my top 50 regrettably. Together with Age of Empires these were my favorite RTS games during my college years. Actually I don't think I ever played the 3rd one. The first 2 were great, the third one got overlooked during my Everquest years. Does this run on Windows 7?

No clue, Frozen Throne is significantly better then Reign of Chaos.



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TWRoO said:
Michael-5 said:
TWRoO said:
Michael-5 said:

I loved the difficulty in the 64 and SNES iterations, ever since then they have made the game too easy.

I'd rather play Mario Kart 64 because the track designs and battle map designs were less forgiving (get hit at the wrong time on Wario Stadium and you go back about 40 seconds in the lap when you fail the jump).

That's bad design. In local MP it puts you out of the action and unable to catch up unless you are much better than your friends. In GP mode against 7 opponents, if you fall off there on the 2nd lap there is almost no chance of catching up, so you might as well quit.

The AI in M64 was bad, but as long as you didn't let them get too far ahead, they were fine. If you got a lead on them, it's not like they could magically catch up.

Yes, they could... that is what was terrible about the AI in the game... that's what people mean when they say rubber-band AI, MK64 probably being one of the worst offenders for this. You could shoot the AI controlled karts with a red shell, and they would fall behind, and yet would catch you up easily without going by any item boxes. And if you didn't block them or hit them with something they would sail past you into first before they suddenly decided to be slightly slower than you again.

I dunno why you bring in difficulty because I play the game with friends, and the AI in all Mario Karts are pretty easy to beat. I agree with you about Zelda and Mario (although I haven't played much of both games for Wii), and I would even argue that Donkey Kong Wii got harder. Mario Kart is also about the same, and I feel very little has improved since Mario Kart 64.

You were the one who brought up the difficulty, as proved above in the quote tree (I deleted everything but the relevant sentence)

RolStoppable said:

I have to agree with TWRoO, you really are blinded by nostalgia.

Wario Stadium on N64. Even Rainbow Road and Bowsers Castle levels, best on the N64.

Now I know you are crazy. No one likes Rainbow Road on the N64. And Wario Stadium was also a dull track (IMO 3rd after Rainbow Road and Luigi Circuit) I'll give you Bowser's Castle, that one is pretty good, though I slightly prefer the Wii version, and I love the Double Dash version the most.

and yes, playing single player to unlock tracks (and characters) is a big deal. I never play the game alone, and doing so feels like a chore. (But racing Rainbow Road doesn't!?) Mario Kart is fun because it's something everyone can play, and it's funnest when you have 3 or 4 (or more) people over and everyone (good and bad) can play together.

Item balance in MK64 is the best, there isn't a pow block or a cheap bullet bill to knock you out at first, but the Blue Shell Bomb is a cool upgrade.
Wait? you think the new Blue Shell is better than the MK64 one?.... wow.

Graphics too man, Mario Kart Wii looks pretty crap to todays standard. Mario Kart 64 looked amazing, and was a huge jump in graphics technology over Super Mario Kart. (But not as big as almost all other N64 games) Mario Kart Wii has slowdown (something MK64 never has)(Can't say I have ever experienced frame-rate problems in any MK) and looks no different from DD except for the single kart racer.

I mean take the Skyscraper battle level in Mario Kart Wii. It's terrible, jumps gaps are too small, tracks are too wide, and overall it's just too damn easy.

I hated the skyscraper on the N64 version, when there are only 2, 3 or 4 players there should not be massive gaps in an arena that you have to drive around before you could get to your opponent... playing on the skyscraper was dull because most of your time was spent just driving.

What you say hurts me. Mario Kart 64 is by far the best fun racer of the gen, and by far the best Mario Kart. Since MK64 all Nintendo has been able to do is repeat the exact same formula (I'd even think they still use the same engine)

If you seriously believe they use the same game engine as on the N64 then you are a fool... I know nothing about game programming, but that should be obvious just from looking at them (once again I point out... MK64 didn't even have 3D karts


Gah, I said I wasn't going to do this!

No it's good game design, it means that you have to pay attention or else you loose. MKWii is too forgiving, and there aren't many places you can fall off. When I was refering to difficulty in MK64 I was talking about track design. MKSNES however I think is ligitimatly more difficult, shortcuts barely fit your kart alltogether.

With the AI, I know there was rubber band AI, the game isn't perfect, but it's the best Kart Racer for me to date. Also if you knocked an AI back far enough, other AI would attack each other, and no one would catch up.

:O!!!! Rainbow Road in MK64 was the best. If you said that about DD I would understand, but Rainbow Road has gone straight downhill since, well, the SNES iteration. They jusy make it easier and easier, and duller and duller.

Yes I like the Blue Shell Bomb because if two people are fighting for first you get them both down, and when your second and close to first, you back off. This adds strategy to the game.

MKWii has slowdown when you play with multiple people. I think Daisy Circuit is a track where I get slowdown and FPS drops about 1 in ever 3 races I play.

The Skyscraper level was awesome, you have to jump those gaps silly.

Yea, but who said MK64 is not capable of 3D carts? Doesn't Diddy Kong Racing use the same engine? I know the Wii iteration uses the same engine, but to be honest I don't think the Wii Kart uses a different engine from Double Dash, and I don't think Mario Kart 7 uses a different engine from DS. I still stand by MK64 got the biggest graphics jump compared to other games in the franchise. Not as big as other N64 games, but hey, N64 is one of my favorite systems for a reason (3D gaming and 4 player co-op):P



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RolStoppable said:
Michael-5 said:

Blasphemy. Mario Kart 64 is the high of the series and since they made this game, Nintendo has been unable to improve the formula. Name 1 new item better then the Blue Shell, or 1 track better then Wario Stadium on N64. Even Rainbow Road and Bowsers Castle levels, best on the N64.

and yes, playing single player to unlock tracks (and characters) is a big deal. I never play the game alone, and doing so feels like a chore. Mario Kart is fun because it's something everyone can play, and it's funnest when you have 3 or 4 (or more) people over and everyone (good and bad) can play together.

Item balance in MK64 is the best, there isn't a pow block or a cheap bullet bill to knock you out at first, but the Blue Shell Bomb is a cool upgrade.

Graphics too man, Mario Kart Wii looks pretty crap to todays standard. Mario Kart 64 looked amazing, and was a huge jump in graphics technology over Super Mario Kart. Mario Kart Wii has slowdown (something MK64 never has) and looks no different from DD except for the single kart racer.

and Koopa Beach was an awesome map! It made you save mushroom boosts and that tunnel was a hard one to get into. I hate now new Mario Karts dumb down the old games, they make them too easy. I mean take the Skyscraper battle level in Mario Kart Wii. It's terrible, jumps gaps are too small, tracks are too wide, and overall it's just too damn easy.

What you say hurts me. Mario Kart 64 is by far the best fun racer of the gen, and by far the best Mario Kart. Since MK64 all Nintendo has been able to do is repeat the exact same formula (I'd even think they still use the same engine), and add crappy items, and dumb down the levels to make them wider and more accessible.

MKDS is really good too in the sense that it feels like MK64, but being on a handheld system totally kills it for me. I'd need 4 DS's to play 4 player and there is no big screen for others to watch too.

Mario Kart Wii offers you customizable four player GPs, something we had to wait 15 years for on home consoles. MK64's Wario Stadium was horrible, its easily among the worst 10 % of Mario Kart tracks ever created. The ridiculous unintended shortcuts and the stupid jump across a previous section of the track that made people with lightning wait for specific players to reach that part. This track was screwed up on so many levels. MK64's Rainbow Road is also one of the worst tracks in existence. Another ridiculous unintended shortcut and a boring beyond belief. SMK's Rainbow Road had no rails whatsoever, but MK64 had them along the entire track. And you talk about other games being dumbed down. Oh. My. God.

MK64's Bowser Castle was one of the better tracks of that game, but in the history of Mario Kart, Bowser Castle is pretty much always great, just like any Mario Circuit/Raceway. The thing is, overall MK64 has the worst package of tracks in the entire series. Wario Stadium, Rainbow Road, Yoshi's whatever, Toad Highway. You know, there's a reason why these tracks haven't appeared as retro courses yet. The other two that didn't make it yet are the Royal Raceway and Banshee something.

Playing an hour of singleplayer in Mario Kart doesn't seem like much (if you do hate it) when gamers nowadays go through much worse pains in other games. If it really bothers you that much, just let someone else do the "work". Finishing third in GPs is enough to unlock the other cups.

Item balance doesn't even really exist in MK64. It's a lottery where the player in second can end up with better extras than the player in fourth. MK Wii's POW block is easily avoidable and the Bullet Bill can't hit you when you are in first, because it never lasts that long. The more you write, the more it sounds like you barely played MK Wii at all.

Mario Kart 64 didn't look amazing and its graphics aged worse than Super Mario Kart. MK Wii has no slowdowns. MK64's framerate in three and four player mode is locked at different levels depending on the track, that's why some courses seem to be faster than other ones.

The Koopa Beach tunnel wasn't hard to get into, unless you want to insist that the controls made it hard. Most people usually complained that MK Wii is too hard and they see getting three stars rankings in GP mode as a near impossible feat. You have a very weird perception of reality.

Mario Kart 64 is the most dumbed down game in the series. I already mentioned the item lottery in multiplayer races. Results depend more on luck than in any other game of the series. In GP mode, MK64 is the only game to give you infinite tries. Meaning, if you don't like the place you are going to finish in, you just let some other racers pass and come in at fifth or lower to play the track again as often as you wish. Super and Super Circuit had limited tries, so you couldn't abuse this system. All following games don't offer you retries at all. If you mess up, you just have to deal with it, take the few points you can get and have to redo the entire cup. Those are the facts.

Mario Kart does not offer you customizable 4 player GP's, otherwise I'd be unlocking stuff. It has customizable 4 player circuits, but I really don't mind selecting a new race after the old one.

What, you like the Mario Circuit/Raceway tracks? and hate Rainbow Road? That's like saying you hate the most interesting track in the game, and hate the worst....and for the record Luigi Circuit and Mario Raceway on N64 are the two best of that type of track.

Banshee Boardwalk is another track I love, one that hasn't been replicated well since. They can't remake all the great tracks.

I unlocked the cups, but not the racers. Apparently you have to do specific things in GP to unloick the racers and most can't be unlocked in MP. I want Diddy and Dry Bones damn it!

Bullet Bill Still kills you when your 4th, and I dunno how to avoid the POW block, jump? It's really hard if you ask me. MK64's items still balanced. You never got a star or lightning in 1st-4th, but come 7th or 8th and it's not too hard to get. What you said is completly untrue about MK64's item balance.

Graphics aged worse then Super Mario Kart? Your joking! I still play this game, where Super Mario Kart is just so different (It did have nice ice levels though). and I have a hard perception of reality.

The Koppa tunnel track isn't too hard to get into, but if someone throws a banana on the ramp, or hits you with a shell just before hand, you lost it. You also needed a mushroom which wasn't too easy to get, especially because on Koopa Beach I found I would always be right next to people who would often take my prize.

You say Mario Kart 64 is dumber down, but look how few places there are to die in MKWii, look at Skyscraper! It's widened and the gaps are almost ignorable.

:O!!!!

I just can't beleive what your saying, MK64 Items are random, but MKWii's are not? Watch the GT review, they specifically say the MKWii items are too random and it can easily take you out of first when two lightnings and a pow block hit you one after the other.

In MK64, you saved good items for the right opportunity, in MKWii you just used them when you got them. There is little strategy in MKWii, and more focus on luck, where MK64 is the opposite.

Also I never noticed infinite tries. In 2 player GP, someone always finished above 5th... :P

RolStoppable said:
Michael-5 said:

You two are crazy, it blows my head someone thinks MK64 being the low of the franchise. It defined Mario Kart, and Mario Kart Wii, DS, and 7 just feel like reincarnations of the game.

I understand people liking Mario Kart DS, 7 and Wii better, especially if they don't mind unlocking content single player, but MK64 was still the game that inspired them, and it has the type of gameplay the wish to imitate (DD was terrible, and they switch to the style of gameplay MK64 gave)

Stop revising history. Super Mario Kart defined Mario Kart, because the vast majority of the things that are present in Mario Kart today trace back to the SNES game.

What happened in reality is that most of Mario Kart 64's elements got ripped out again. The miniturbo mechanic got a major overhaul to fix the issue of snaking. The newer games don't feature ridiculously long infields anymore (like Luigi's Raceway and Kalimari Desert where a golden mushroom allowed you to make insane gains). Shortcuts went back to SNES levels where they were short and sweet, not things that could decide entire races based on who makes it and who doesn't. GP mode is nothing like MK64 anymore. No retries, completely different points system.

The director of Mario Kart DS specifically said that he wanted to best the SNES game, not Mario Kart 64. The result was immense growth for the popularity of the series and along with it, growth of popularity for Nintendo systems as well. That is how it should be. Mario Kart 64 didn't really move the series forward. If it hadn't been for the 3D craze and the built in four controller ports of the Nintendo 64, MK64's sales would have been way worse. Double Dash!! was the wrong direction too, it just made things needlessly complicated.

The only thing that makes Mario Kart 64 good are childhood memories. Those who don't have them or who have played Super Mario Kart see MK64 as the subpar game it is.

Mario Kart defined modern day Mario Kart. Super Mario Kart was a very different game compared to new iterations. Tracks were very flat, there were coins, breakable walls of ice, and different terrain. It was just a different beast. MK64 changed the formula, and since then the gameplay has remained unchanged (except for the terrible DD) and all they do is add items which generally make the game more random, and less skill based. Also Battle Maps will never be as good.

MK64 sold 1 unit to every N64 owner. How does that not move the series? It has the highest sales to console owners ratio of all Mario Karts. I think DD had a similar figure, but MK64 defined Mario Kart.

MK64 defined the series and moved it into 3D, since then new Mario KArts have been "repeat" with added items. That is my honest impression, and the Mario Kart franchise is my most played franchise.

Your insane, every critisism you have about MK64 I find untrue. Items are balanced and are different per position, MK64 has the best tracks around, it's be far the least dumbed down game in the series (wide Skyscraper track, hello? Way to ruin an old classic), and well MKWii just isn;t as good as you say (slowdown, no multiplayer GP, items affecting the whole feild of players frequently, etc, etc).

Just wow....



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#17 Jack & Dexter: The precursor legacy played on PS2, released 2001

My favorite action platformer of all time. Great visuals, great variety, great characters. I really can't think of any flaws in this game. The seamless world with no loading times still is a technical marvel.
All the different worlds are well crafted with plenty of fun characters and things to do. Games like this are sorely missed this gen.
I'm looking forward to playing the HD collection in Februari. Maybe I'll even grow to love Jak II and 3 this time which were overshadowed by the much more fun to play Ratchet and Clank sequels back when they came out.

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