Hello to all my fellow geeks!
This particular blog was inspired by Wood over at BeatEmUps.
After watching Wood’s video, I started thinking about what games had inspired me throughout the years. He was correct, narrowing them down was very difficult, and even more so to rank in any order. I did try and stick to a couple general rules when making this list; only one title per series, and nothing newer then the first generation of Playstation and Xbox.
Without any further ado:
10: Pirates (NES) – This game got me through a rough patch in my life. It provided you the ability to sail the open sea, involve yourself in intense naval battles, board enemy ships and have a one on one sword fights with the opposing captain, take or sink their ship if you win, plunder cities, find hidden treasure, etc. There was so much involved in this game at the time. I know they did a more recent remake of this game, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try it out.
9: Killer Instinct (SNES) – I have never been a real huge fan of button mashing fighting games. While I enjoyed Mortal Kombat, it never grabbed my quite like Killer Instinct did. My bragging rights with this game came when I was in Job Corps in Montana. I was able to pull of 106 hit combo with Spinal with a group of dorm mates having a mini tournament! He was always my go to guy along with Cinder. I was never able to duplicate that success a second time, which led me to stop playing eventually because of frustration. However, the memory is still with me today everyone just standing there with their mouths open. I often find myself missing this game and have a strange itch to play it again, but I refuse to play it on an emulator because I am afraid it will tarnish my memory of a great game.
8: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (Dreamcast) – One of my favorite games on the sorely missed Sega Dreamcast. I picked this game up along with NFL 2k and boy was it a surprise to me. When I first purchased the Dreamcast, I didn’t feel there were many good games to play on the system. When I picked up 2K (Because I’m a huge football fan) I grabbed this simply so I would have a second game to play. I absolutely LOVED this game. It was a gothic platformer, where you could devour souls, solve puzzles, and be an all around badass. I remember the game having an epic voice over guy as well.
7: Tecmo Superbowl (SNES) – The birth of my passion of football and of the Raiders. Two Words: Bo Jackson! This game still holds up today when you want to play a little fun couch football with a buddy. If I have to explain this one anymore……….
6: Suikoden (PS One) – Wow. This game brings back memories. Having always been a huge fan of the traditional turn based JRPG, this was my first experience being able to recruit such a huge number of companions to fight alongside you, and provide support roles inside your castle. You had your traditional turn based battles, your army on army battles, and your one on one battles. The story was great, the characters were memorable. The sequel was fun as well but I chose the original as it had the advantage of giving me the first experience.
5: Legend of Dragoon (PS One) – It has been a long, long time since I have played this game. To be honest, I don’t remember much of the story or of the characters, but I do know that every time I think of my favorite JRPG’s, it is usually near the top. I seem to remember this being a rather dark story, I remember the jumping Dragoon attack, I remember the wings. I have been looking for a quality copy of the game for a long time and every time I find one, it is scratched all to hell. One day I will find this game again and replay it and refresh my memory.( Damn getting old )
We are now getting into the very difficult territory. Ranking the next four games took some serious time and self reflection. These are all big games, and should come as no surprise to most, however that doesn’t make it any easier to rank them.
4: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Windows PC) – Finally, a quality Star Wars game. This game was simply amazing. From being able to build your own lightsaber, to your choices dictating your light side or dark side allegiance. Amazing story, great characters, unique game mechanics, Knights was a game Star Wars fans deserved for many years and Bioware delivered with a BANG. The sequel followed up perfectly and closed out the story nicely. If you haven’t played this game, you are doing yourself a grave disservice.
3: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) – This is the Zelda game that got me interested in the entire franchise. I skipped the first two games because they didn’t appeal to me at the time. However, once I played this at a friends house, I was hooked. As someone who grew up having to pull weeds as a chore, I never thought I would find so much joy in chopping up grass in search of hearts and rupees. The game had it all, story, puzzles, tough bosses, exploration, fun, etc. All around one of the most complete games I had every played.
2: Final Fantasy III/VI (SNES) – This game is actually Final Fantasy 6, however, it was originally the 3rd game released here in the US. Now, as all the games have been released here, it is now known by it’s proper name. This had long been my most favorite game of all time. This is the game that got me hooked on JRPG’s, turn based combat, and story driven games. Terra, Locke, Edgar, Espers, Kefka, and the rest of the gang have been a part of my life since I can remember. While most Final Fantasy fans prefer VII, I have always hung onto VI as my favorite. I actually prefer VIII and IX over VII, but I digress. Anyways, this is a must play if you have never tried it, It has been re-released on just about ever console and phone imaginable now.
1: Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) – This was a brutal battle for the top spot in this list. As I previously mentioned, FF VI had been my number one for most of my life, it wasn’t until I seriously put some thought into this list that I realized I had to drop a spot to make room for Skies of Arcadia. What can I say about Skies….It has EVERYTHING. It was a open world game before open worlds were a thing. Okay, maybe not quite, but it certainly felt that way when flying through the clouds. Exploration, TOUGH boss battles, puzzles, elemental attacks that you could switch mid battle, huge air ship battles, great story, amazing characters. This game has been underappreciated for far too long and it’s time Sega and Nintendo come together and bring it to the Nintendo Switch. I have the Gamecube version called Legends which eliminates the far too frequent random battles….but to be honest, that was one of the quirks of the original that made it so endearing and difficult.
Honorable Mentions: Battletoads, Super Mario Bros 3, Contra, River City Ransom, Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia
So there you have it. My top ten list. What are your thoughts? What is your top ten?