d21lewis said:
I've been gaming for a while. I've played a lot of games, but I haven't played everything. Still, there are certain games that you play and when you finish, you think "THIS is why I'm a gamer". Those moments are few and far between, though. Still, when you find one, you know you've just been a part of something special. Here's a list of games that raised the bar for me:
1. Pac-Man: (addictive gameplay) I don't think that this was the first game I ever played, but it WAS the first game I ever loved. I'd fall in love many times, over the years, but Pac-Man was the first.
2. Super Mario Bros.: (imaginitve new world) I'd played Donkey Kong. I'd played Mario Bros. When I got my hands on Super Mario Bros., I knew it was something special.
3. Super Mario Bros. 3: (gameplay perfection) When I played this game, one thing was certain: This game was better than everything that came before. EVERYTHING
4. Street Fighter 2: (multiplayer phenomenon) It doesn't ignite the same fire that it did in 1991, but at the time Street Fighter 2 wasn't just a video game. It was a phenomenon.
5. Star Fox: (3D graphics) Not the first 3D shooter, but it was MY first 3D shooter.
6. Super Metroid: (emotional connection) The gameplay wasn't entirely new (my first Metroid was part 2 on the Gameboy) but when I was finished with this game, all I could do was sit there, looking at Samus and say, "Whoa."
7. Chrono Trigger: (flawless story) My first RPG happened to be the greatest RPG ever. Your opinion is wrong.
8. Super Mario 64/Wave Race: (next gen greatness)I got both of them at about the same time. It was like my eyes were opened. It was the introduction to a new world! The arrival of the N64 was pretty much the jump off point for everything we take for granted, today.
9. Metal Gear Solid: (incredible presentation) Another example of a game that made you think "gaming will NEVER get any better than this".
10. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: (the greatest game of all time) and then, about a month later, I thought "gaming will never get any better than THIS".
11. Metal Gear Solid 3/Resident Evil 4: (perfection) Probably the last time a video game has taken my expectations and totally destroyed them......in a good way. No game(s) since has given me that feeling of "Holy shit, this is awesome" like these two did.
So, that's my short list of the big ones. The games that blew away everything that came before them. There are of course better games available now, but the games I listed are the ones that set the new standard, and not just refined them. These games were the ones that gave me my defining moments. So, which games gave you that feeling?
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If you're talking about over my entire Gaming history:
The Legend of Zelda - I may have gotten both Zelda and Mario as my first official games for my NES, but it was Zelda that first officially 'wowed' me. And to this day, I still consider it one of the benchmarks for gaming, as it STILL can set the standard for many of the games that followed it. There's tons of games coming out today that aren't even half as good as this game, nearly 25 years later. Because they deviate from what made this game good.
Castlevania III - Far ahead of its time for when it came out, it was probably too ahead of its time for the hardware it was on. But that didn't stop it from being an amazing game. Everything about the game is amazing, from the graphics to the level design to even the music. And more games that followed should have used it as a template. Sadly, the only ones that did were a few Castlevania games.
Kirbys Adventure - Not much to say except, while everyone focuses on Kirbys Super Star was the end all of Kirby, I remember this one as my greatest memory of the series. Partially because its what I grew up on but also partially because, it truly was exactly to its namesake. Kirbys Adventure was just that, a huge game rivaling that of ANY NES title (and many SNES titles).
Tie Fighter - How could the early PC create such an amazing game? And why couldn't future companies make good space sims like it in the future? I still ask myself these questions. For years now, 15 in fact, Tie Fighter has been king of the Space Sim genre. And with good reason. Its one of the best games ever made.
Sim City 2000 - To anyone who has played this game, you know exactly what I am going to say. Playing the Sim City series isn't a game, its an addiction. I'd actually like to put all the Sim City games up here, because honestly Sim City 3000 Ultimate is the best one and Sim City original is the one that 'hooked' me. But Sim City 2000 is by far the one I played the most.
Sim Copter - I can't go on without mentioning this game. Back in the days when 3D gaming was relatively new and while both the N64 and the Playstation was in their relative infancy, the PC got the gem known as Sim Copter. This amazing title, while it looks very crude graphically by todays standards, had amazing potential in both freeplay and mission based objectives. And it was just pure unadulterated fun, hunting down criminals with cops, chasing speeders with a giant searchlight or dispersing riots with tear gas. This is one of those core games, like Tie Fighter, I would measure future games by. Trouble is...not many games come out like it.
Diablo II - Anyone who has played it probably can give you their own personal story. Mine simply is this. In what other game can you be fighting a horde of undead Ice Monsters and use 17 Skeletons and a Clay Golem as both defense and a weapon while you sit back and watch? Yeah, that's Diablo II.
Age of Empires III + Company of Heroes - I put these two games together because they are of a similar genre and really had the same effect for me. While they both did completely different things, such as Company of Heroes revolutionizing the RTS genre with a whole new system of cover and unit control and Age of Empires simply further refining the AOE system while adding even more good ideas like varrying gameplay with cards and unique units, they both had that draw that made RTS a powerful genre to me. Where before it just seemed like something only hardcore PC fans whol played the genre for hundreds of hours could enjoy.
Metroid II - This game influenced me more than most. While most people got into the Metroid series with either the original Metroid or Super Metroid, I on the other hand played this one. And played it a lot. And it turned out to be one of the best Game Boy games ever made. And a true precursor to Super Metroid. I still loved the following titles such as Super Metroid, but this is the title I really look back at as my inspiration and what I think is 'special'.
Chrono Trigger - I don't know what more there is to add to this game that others haven't said. All I can say is this is the game that truly got me into RPGs. Dragon Quest wet my appetite. Final Fantasy (VI) got me interested. But this is the game that firmly drew me in...and I loved it so much I played it something like 5-6 times in a row. And to that, I owe this game more than I know.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - While some people look back now at this game as the scourge of the series or just another 'Metrovania', I still look back at this game as the best of the Castlevania games, which hasn't been topped. This was when they finally got everything right. The epic music and attention to detail from the past games with a whole new interface, leveling system and item system added on top. The mixing of two great worlds into one. This was the pinnacle of Castlevania for me and not only set the bar for that series, but for the genre.
Suikoden II - In the midst of my random RPG fever one summer, I came across this gem. And what an amazing gem it was. I don't know exactly how to pinpoint it except to say, everything about the game was executed perfectly. I don't usually like RPGs that focus on story, yet it was done flawlessly and was more interesting than most other RPGs. The gameplay was unique and fun. And everything just melded together into an amazing package like no other. And yes, like I keep saying, I have grown to compare many other RPGs to this one because of that.
Final Fantasy VIII - That's right, 8. Contrary to the reasons I gave for Suikoden, the reason I liked this game was for the reasons I usually like RPGs. Because unlike most Final Fantasy games, it focused on customization, character interaction and (somewhat) on exploration. Three things I like the most in an RPG. And on top of that, I actually enjoyed half the cast a lot, mainly Squall, Zell, Selphie and Seipher. Add a more active battle engine and a lot of extras and you have a pretty great RPG.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Again, a game almost everyone is adding to their list. For me, my views are a bit different, as up to the point this game came out, my favorite Zelda was still the good ol' original Zelda from way back when. Even though I had played the others and really liked them, especially Link's Awakening. But then this game came out and blew everything (literally) away. With this game, I knew gaming would never be the same, and I was happy. Though in retrospect, perhaps I should have been more hesitant of how other companies would handle that transition....
Super Smash Bros - While my personal favorite of the series is Brawl, I still have to recognize that the game that I got into and look back upon as 'Smash Bros' is the original on the N64. I hardly would have guessed back then that the game would become a series, let alone go THIS far. But even back then, the concept and design was one of the most original and inspirational games to me. I even have to admit, I had thought of the idea of having Nintendo characters fight each other myself, but not on the scale they delivered.
Resident Evil Remake & Resident Evil 4 - I put both these games as one because, at the time I had the GameCube, I never had played a Resident Evil game. I played both purely based on word of mouth; a practice I am not use to doing. But I am glad I did, because they turned out to not only be some of the best games on the system, but some of my favorite.
Dragon Quest VIII - If I had to pick any game last generation as being the most influential, most 'special', the game that tells me why I'm a gamer, it would be this. Every moment, from picking up a simple pot to slaying an Argon Lizard was not only fun, but an experience. This is one of those few games where I truly did feel like I was sucked in and everything I did was connected to me. And the hours flew by, without a care in the world.
Super Mario Galaxy - How could I add this and not Mario 64?! Well, simple. Even when Mario 64 came out, I didn't like it as much as past Mario games. Go figure. But then, when this came out...wow. Its like they took Mario 64, perfected it, turned it upsidown, added chocolate sprinkles to it and gave it back to us. The game is everything I could hope for in a 3D Mario game and more. I seriously don't even know what they're going to do in Mario Galaxy 2...or the next 3D Mario for that matter.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Yeah, its only been out for about 6 months. But in those 6 months, I've played it a lot. And I've seen a lot of the games inner workings. And frankly, this game has done what I've been waiting for a game of its genre to do ever since, well, Casltevania Symphony of the Night. Make a game with more emphasis on tight, accurate and fast swordplay in a 2D Action/RPG. Sure, we have games like Tales or even the latest Castlevania titles to a certain extent, but they hardly match the precision or detail that even Symphony of the Night achieved 12 years ago. Muramasa did that...and topped it dramatically. This is the new benchmark for 2D platformers which are emphasizing swordplay. Not to mention sprite based graphics.
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