40. Chrono Cross (PS)



One of the most rancorously divisive games ever, Chrono Cross had a lot to live up to in being a sequel to one of the most beloved RPGs of all time. To please fans it would have to meet not only the incredibly high standard of quality set by Chrono Trigger (which it mostly does) but also certain expectations of just what the game should be (i.e., Chrono Trigger 2). Well, it's not simply Chrono Trigger 2, and if you can't deal with it then that's your problem, junior. And, in my correct opinion, it's a better game for it. Rather than doing the obvious and just giving us the chance to catch up with Crono and his friends, the developers decided to expand the Chrono universe and its central hook of time traveling and consequences in a more profound way. It's pretty heady stuff, and with some 40-odd possible characters to recruit, does get a bit on the messy side at times. The payoff is absolutely worth it, though, especially for any diehard fan of Chrono Trigger as there are a million references from and tie-ins to that game to nerd out over. Chrono Cross' battle system is a massive departure from Trigger's, giving butthurt fans another thing to be butthurt about, managing to be accessible yet surprisingly deep. It's quite an achievement that syncs up nicely with the shed load of playable characters and each one's respective elemental property, a true masterstroke of game design. The change-averse can take at least heart in Yasunori Mitsuda returning to do the soundtrack, and it is no exaggeration to say that his work here is a contender for the best video game OST of all time. It is utterly magnificent. Each and every track manages to create a sense of spellbinding wonderment, restless wanderlust, or devastating yearning. Whenever I listen to Star-Stealing Girl it never fails that the hot tears flow, creating a new ocean of time... oh yes.

39. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (NES, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx CD, PS2, etc.)

The game that introduced me to the Ys series, its cute little knight-errant protagonist Adol Christin, and the pure aural bliss that is Sound Team JDK. Ys III is a bit of a departure from the rest of the series due to its side-scrolling nature, an aspect that is more appealing to the Metroidvania fan in me than the isometric perspective used in the other games - and it's sure as shit preferable to the bump-into-enemies-to-kill-them mechanic of the first two games. Despite this, it's classic Ys all the way: workman-like action RPG goodness that emphasizes great gameplay and a rocktastic score over contrived storylines and other fluff.

My #39 is Gears of War, arguably the best third-person shooter ever made. Technically, it's a marvel: graphics, physics, and artificial intelligence are all great. Add to that a strong soundtrack, amazing action set-pieces, and some exhilirating combat, and you've got a winner, plus one of the first games to justify the purchase of an Xbox 360. Gears of War is probably the game most responsible for me buying an Xbox (the Mad World commercial I embedded yesterday captured my imagination like nothing else) which opened up a new world of gaming for me. Since then I've snatched up as many systems and games as I possibly could.

My riddle for game #38:

Between a knife and nothingness.

Correct!

Score !

Awesome games, the N64 Star Fox will be in my list.

The one that made it was Star Fox 64. So, good choice all around.

39) 007: Everything or Nothing (PS2 / 2004 / TPS)

This game was really a blast. It stars Pierce Brosnan (hooray) in a TPS campaign built around an entirely original story. The villain, Nikolai Diavolo, is the kind of evil Russian megalomaniac we may never see again in a Bond film. The auto-aim makes shooting very easy, but then it needs to be with the number of enemies the game throws at you. There are missions where you infiltrate buildings, rappel out of buildings, drive a whole range of vehicles and generally do awesome Bond things. The co-op is an entirely separate, and very difficult, adventure, which actually requires co-operation. The cutscenes are fully voiced by actual stars (like Willem Dafoe and Heidi Klum as well as a properly voiced Bond, Q and M), and the game is enormously enjoyable, if not quite an instant classic.

Hint for 38: Very well received game with a highly controversial sequel. The developer itself has been getting a fair bit of criticism, which I think is undeserved, and the publisher has been getting a great deal of criticism, which is very well deserved.

From 39th to 1th I will be having an image to the chosen game.

39th:

Yep, it seems my 39th is Banjo Kazooie for the N64.

When I first played this game a few years ago, I could have said that it was among my top 10, but unfortunately after finishing the game this year (100%) I was not expecting the game to be worse than I had thought.

To begin with, dying is your worst enemy in the game as it makes you collect all of the notes all over again and the same goes for those darn jinjos.

Another flaw with the game is the fall damadge which is stupid as hell. Espacially during the last level where it is an pain in the ass to go though and collect all the notes and jonjos again.

However the game still manages to be enjoyable, rhe plattforming was rather great, the soundtrack was very catchy and the humor was amazing. The was easy to controll, I did not see many problems with the controlls. And fortunaly the game got a sequel which improved on some of the flaws that this game presented.

In the end Banjo Kazooie mangages to be a great game and I can say that two more Rare games will be presented in my list, however that is for another day.

All right my 38th is a game that you can argue that it was the last good game in its series. This series used to be very popular but have died after so many terrible games. I kind of feel like I gave it away.