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Forums - Gaming - Best First Levels

CaptainExplosion 20 hours ago
Zippy6 said:

3D Sonic usually nail the first levels. City Escape, Windmill Isle, Emerald Coast.

More the first world than level but in Kotor I think Taris is my favourite part of the game.

City Escape is just unmatched in terms of 3D Sonic level design.
firebush03 said:

The Great Plateau, The Great Sky Island, Bob-Omb Battlefield, and Cap Kingdom. The first level of Banjo Kazooie also.

There's just such a sombre atmosphere on the Great Plateau. Lots of familiar things from past Zelda, but in a way that's kinda sad, befitting the overarching story of the game.
SvennoJ said:

Doom



Duke Nukem 3D



MGS




Back when Duke Nukem decided to show how a first person shooter is done, and it still holds up.
JackHandy said:

For me, the most iconic is SMB1. But I'll go with DKC. Once you learn the balloon/espresso/rambi/banana combo, you'll never have trouble beating the game again.

DKC never gets old. ^^
curl-6 said:

The frigate Orpheon, Metroid Prime.

From your arrival, it's clear something bad has gone down. The wreckage, the bodies, the wounded and crippled pirates who feebly try to fight you off.

The atmosphere drips with dread (heh) and back in 2001 especially it was a mind blowing statement of the game's commitment to immersion and detail.

Along the way you see Ridley, but crudely put back together with cybernetics after his previous encounter with Samus, making things feel even worse.



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SanAndreasX 18 hours ago

No. 1 Reactor - FF7

Blue Spire - Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete

If we count prologues as first levels:

Super Mario RPG - either Bowser's Castle or Mushroom Way.

Nalbina Fortress - FF12. Supposedly, this was as far as Sakaguchi played the game, apparently out of "respect" for Matsuno

Tales of Symphonia - Iselia Temple



Leynos 17 hours ago

Panzer Dragoon.

Ikaruga.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

CaptainExplosion 15 hours ago

Some more from me.

dataDyne Central: Defection (Perfect Dark)

Mission 1 (Metal Slug)

Hall of Hieroglyphics (Wario Land 4)

It's War! (Advance Wars)

Pirate Panic (Donkey Kong Country 2)



m0ney 11 hours ago

Thief The Dark Project - Lord Bafford's Manor

Technically the tutorial is the first level but Lord Bafford's Manor is the first real mission. It has genius level design and most Thief fans agree that it is one of the best if not the best mission ever in the series. Recently a psychedelic tribute fan mission was released for it:



My Etsy store

My Ebay store

Deus Ex (2000) - a game that pushes the boundaries of what the video game medium is capable of to a degree unmatched to this very day.

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GoOnKid 8 hours ago
curl-6 said:

The frigate Orpheon, Metroid Prime.

From your arrival, it's clear something bad has gone down. The wreckage, the bodies, the wounded and crippled pirates who feebly try to fight you off.

The atmosphere drips with dread (heh) and back in 2001 especially it was a mind blowing statement of the game's commitment to immersion and detail.



Chrkeller 7 hours ago

Bloodborne, Central Yarnham



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Switch OLED

drbunnig 6 hours ago

Agree with mentions of Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64.

GoldenEye - Dam is pretty cool. Maybe it's the nostalgia, but felt like there was a lot of depth to the level, as a lot of it was only relevant on the 00 difficulty so it felt like there was a lot to uncover the more you played it.

The initial exploration of the mansion in the original Resident Evil is a near unrivalled experience for me in gaming.

Caves in the original Tomb Raider I think does a good job at setting up what the game is about. That sense of isolation and discovery, the lack of music except at critical points, and the general atmosphere.

I like Super Mario Sunshine a lot, and find Bianco Hills to be a fun first level.



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Mummelmann 6 hours ago

Half-Life 2, and for me it's not even a contest. It sets the mood, presents characters, motives, shows story, world-building and then tosses you straight into frantic action from out of nowhere. The lack of a direct, fully storied connection from the ending of the first game only serves to heighten the atmosphere. Absolute genius. 

The original Call of Duty has a terrific opening as well, it did things that no other FPS had done at that point. The sudden change from sneaking and hiding and into full-on warfare was brilliantly done. 



Kaunisto 6 hours ago

More a prologue than level - in an open game without quite actual levels - but the opening part of Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap is great way to start a game. (I have the SMS original.)