S.Peelman on 09 December 2024
So, this year I never had the time to really participate like I used too, but here's a short bit on the first half of my list this year.
| 50 - Blast Corps |
| A strange game, but that is what makes it memorable. It wasn't perfect in any way, but the originality shone through. |
| 49 - Star Wars: Dark Forces |
| A monumental Star Wars game and a monumental first person shooter. I replayed the first two levels countless times as a kid, because I didn't dare to play the sewer level that came after those. It's a phobia that sort of still lingers to this day. |
| 48 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped |
| The culmination of a great trilogy of platformers on the original PlayStation. The variety of levels is what kept bringing me back |
| 47 - GoldenEye 007 |
| Probably the greatest movie based video game. It stayed true to the source material but took liberties when necessary and beneficial. The tank-level was something I had never seen before. And then I didn't even mention the multiplayer. |
| 46 - Dynamite Cop! |
| A mindless beat 'em up on SEGA great Dreamcast. The game was plain fun, as you could use anything and everything in sight to smash in your enemy's faces. |
| 45 - Empire: Total War |
| This entry in the Total War series was a bit of a departure from the foundations of its predecessors, but if you asked me it turned out great. As a Dutchman, it's especially good because my country is one of the best factions to play. |
| 44 - Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire |
| Maybe not a game one would expect, but this game clicked with me. I already was a Star Wars fan, but this game broadened my horizon with a moody storyline, dark characters and tie-ins to The Empire Strikes Back. |
| 43 - SimCity 2000 |
| This is a game which fundamentally shifted my personality. Building cities in this game would spark my interest in architecture and town planning, which decades later I would go on to do professionally. |
| 42 - Star Wars Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire |
| The intro cutscene of this was one of the most impactful things I ever saw for me personally. Darth Vader turning around was enough to make me a fan. The game includes loads of great live-action cutscenes, an art sadly lost today. |
| 41 - Metroid Fusion |
| Practically a horror game, it's a game I ended up regretting to have missed. I had lost interest in GameBoy Advance when it was new, and didn't play it until years later. Big mistake. |
| 40 - Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force |
| Sometimes a game just needs to be cool. And this action packed game, helped by the great id-3 engine from Quake 3 fame, is just that. It also features everything you would want to from a Star Trek game. |
| 39 - Crazy Taxi |
| A game with a concept that today probably wouldn't be much more than a sidequest in a bigger game, but that doesn't matter. It's all relative. |
| 38 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves |
| Great stories, great characters and great locales, that goes a long way. And when the game also has gameplay and level design this polished, it's a winner. |
| 37 - Super Mario Galaxy |
| Speaking of polished gameplay. But that wasn't all, this game is actually also memorable because of how it looks. Suffice to say the art directors were quite inspired when they came up with this game. |
| 36 - SimCity 3000 |
| The continuation of my interest in city building and architecture. When I saw my aunt have a city with skyscrapers, I wanted that as well. |
| 35 - Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness |
| The characterisation makes this game, but it is also just an amazingly well balanced strategy game. I used to stare at the big black and white, low resolution maps in my strategy guide for hours. |
| 34 - Resident Evil: Revelations |
| This game rose above its platform. The creators really knew what they made this game for, and it perfectly fits. |
| 33 - SimTower |
| At one time playing things on a computer was something special. And we sat around a 13-inch screen as a family playing games together. And then, when it was dinner time, we let it run with the volume up, so we could hear the money rolling in while we were eating downstairs. |
| 32 - Motocross Madness |
| I have always had the suspicion that the developers tried to make a somewhat serious racing game with realistic mechanics, but the end result is quite cartoony. It wouldn't have been the same without it though. |
| 31 - Medieval II: Total War |
| A refinement of its predecessor, with interesting new mechanics. It was also easy to mod, which came in handy, because it irritated me that every region was just named after its city, instead of having a proper name. |
| 30 - Pokémon Blue Version |
| My first big addiction. It was short yet stormy. For a time I lived and breathed Pokémon, and the game was great, but I was just a tad to old to really get hooked for the long haul. |
| 29 - Total War: Rome II |
| Another departure from the foundations of its predecessor, and again a good one if you asked me. What was especially great is that the campaign map really felt alive, with every city actually visually growing instead of simply being an avatar representing one. |
| 28 - Call of Duty |
| Because of its theme, this was quite the impressive game. Being interested in history in general, this game helped further my interest in the Second World War era in particular. |
| 27 - Mega Man 2 |
| A tight experience, with one of the greatest soundtracks ever put to cartridge. What I also always found interesting is the way you 'save' your game. After each level, you get like a tic-tac-toe card which you can later enter as a password. I used to have a stack of notes with these. |
| 26 - Age of Mythology |
| I was already a fan of Age of Empires. But then when Age of Mythology came, it really brought something extra. The original civilisations, the God powers, and the strategy that came with it when picking one resulted in depth I kind of missed in most strategy games. |
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