My favorite type of boss fight in any video game is one in which the fight is fairly even, and by that I mean the boss isn't too overpowering or too weak, as in the protagonist and antagonist have nearly the same amount of powers, skills etc. A great duel makes you become perfectly in sync with the character you're controlling, like a race car driver controlling his vehicle. If you don't become the character you will often lose, because some duels don't give you a second to react, you simply have to be the character.
So for example, in Mario, Bowser always has a lot more abilities and powers then Mario, he can breathe fire, he's much bigger, he can throw axes etc. so that wouldn't count, but Mario Vs. a Koopa Kid would be the type of fight I'm talking about. Nothing in which the Boss is too big, powerful etc. Also I'm not including multiplayer, since most multiplayer games can be considered duels, and traditional fighting games are also out since fighting games are essentially duels.
Metal Gear Solid Series
The Metal Gear Solid series has some amazing duels. I've only played 1 & 2 unfortunately, but in those two alone there were tons of one on one's. Psycho Mantis, Fortune, Vamp, Revolver Ocelot etc.
Solid Snake and Raiden fight all kinds of villians having weird powers with as much variance as the X-Men. The Duels in the Metal Gear Solid Series are top notch, and worth a look.
Raiden VS Vamp (Metal Gear Solid 2)
Solid Snake VS Screaming Mantis (Metal Gear Solid 4)
Madworld
Mad world is possibly my favorite game on the Wii. In Madworld, the protagonist (if you can call him that), Jack, is basically on a TV show where the objective of the "game" is to be the number one tough guy in Vatican City. You rise through the ranks, picking off one contestant after another, until you've killed everyone in your way on your quest to #1.
Jack VS Jude the Dude (Madworld)
Madworld is full of duels, every boss is a one on one with some sort of unique power or ability. Jack's ability? He has a chainsaw strapped to his arm, and he's a complete bada**. This is a game where I played the bosses over and over again, because amazing duels is what this game is all about.
Warning: This is the final boss of Madworld, if you intend on playing it, don't watch it, if you don't care, prepare for one of the coolest fights in gaming.
Final Fantasy: Dissidia
Yes, I know it's a fighting game, but I did say "traditional" fighting game, and Dissidia is far from that. Final Fantasy Dissidia is just pure gaming awesomeness. The duels are so engaging and fun that it gives you that "high and mighty" feeling when you win a hard battle. All of Final Fantasy's main protagonists and antagonists go head to head with all their powers to see what rules all; the light or the darkness.
With hundreds of equitable item, weapons, and clothing, and a huge synthesis system, the customization is endless when your creating the perfect fighter. With the fast paced incredible soundtrack, and speed of the battle, Dissidia will engage you in many many ways.
I personally recorded these myself, since Dissidia makes it pretty easy to get replay videos off your PSP and onto your computer, if you've never seen any footage of Dissidia, now is the time to do it.
Warrior of Light VS Garland
The Warrior of Light Vs. Garland, both from the first Final Fantasy. The interesting thing about this fight is that I actually won with zero HP, Garland hit me right as I was doing my finisher and I somehow came out ahead.
Cloud VS Ultimecia
Cloud, from Final Fantasy VII, VS Ultimecia, from Final Fantasy VIII. Ultimecia had me on the ropes the whole time, but in the end, I pulled ahead and beat her.
Onion Knight VS Sephiroth
Onion Knight, from Final Fantasy III, VS Sephiroth, from Final Fantasy VII. Onion Knight is actually my favorite character, he has a ton of magical abilities, plus physical attacks, and he has 2 special moves, one as the "Ninja" class and the other as a Red Mage, which are both demonstrated in this video.
Bomberman 64/ The Second Attack
Yes, Bomberman 64 again, I know I write about it a lot, but its just that good of a game. Bomberman 64/ The Second Attack isn't like any other Bomberman game out there. These two amazing platformers have an awesome story, great gameplay, and of course, adrenaline filled duels.
Bomberman VS Regulus (Bomberman 64)
Regulus' dash attack is a one hit KO
Bomberman VS Altair (Bomberman 64)
"You wanna fight me?"
Bomberman VS Zohina (Bomberman 64: The Second Attack) Warning: Spoiler @ 3:00 in this video, if you've never played "The Second Attack" but you have played Bomberman 64, this will spoil something about the plot of the sequel.
Megaman Series
If you're a gamer you could have seen this coming from miles away. Of course, no game has greater duels than the Megaman series. The robot masters basically have every power under the sun (especially Solarman) and there are sure plenty of them. With well over 100 robot masters, Megaman is the perfect example of how a proper duel should be (but only if you use the Megabuster, of course).
The Robot Masters from Megaman 1-9
Megaman 2 Boss Run
Megaman 9 Boss Run
So, any games I'm missing? I haven't played No More Hero's yet or I'm sure that would have made the list. Anyone have any games with awesome duels? Let me know in the comments.
This was a tough list to make, not because I couldn't pick my 15 games, but because I couldn't order them since they are all such great games.
Once again, this is games that I've played; believe it or not, I never played Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini, Mario Golf, Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, or Conker. I really need to pick some more N64 games up, as it's one of my favorite consoles.
So without further ado, here are my top 15 N64 games!
15. Yoshi's Story
Yoshi's story was possibly the only sidescroller I played on the N64, and one of my favorite sidescrollers ever. Yoshi's Story is the "sequel" to Yoshi's Island, and in my opinion, much better cause you don't have a screaming baby destroying your eardrums the whole game. Yoshi's story has an unique style and soundtrack that defines it as one of the most gorgeous games on the N64.
14. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
In Turok the Dinosaur Hunter, you're a time traveling native American warrior (if that isn't bada** enough) , who fights dinosaurs, aliens, robots etc. Using about a dozen weapons from all different time periods, Turok is probably the best non-rare FPS on the N64. It also has an awesome soundtrack, great atmosphere, and a cheat mode.
One of the many guns to choose from in "Turok"
13. Pokemon Snap
Pokemon really blew up when the N64 was in its prime, and Pokemon snap was unique product that didn't really sell too well. It's a shame because Pokemon snap is a really fun and relaxing game. In this on-rails safari adventure, you play as a photographer in the mysterious world of Pokemon. Various species of Pokemon are in view, or hidden, and all you have to do is either throw food, use a smoke bomb, or play a Pokeflute. These actions cause the Pokemon to change their behavior, which may affect the behavior of other Pokemon, and while this is happening you can get your perfect photo. My question is, is where is Pokemon Snap 2? Come on Nintendo, this would be perfect for the Wii, where is it?
A Meowth chasing a Pidgy
12. Mario Party Series
Ahh, Mario Party, I'm sure everyone has played this game, being that there is a few thousand sequels (sarcasm) in existence now. It's OK though, if there is "one party game to rule them all" it's the Mario Party series. It's just like a board game, the main goal is to collect stars, and after everyone's turn you play some sort of mini game. Monopoly on steroids. I usually dominated this while playing with my friends, although, I would intentionally lose the mini game where you have to "draw" a specified object. It's much more satisfying to see all my friends surprised, because while they were working hard drawing a star or mushroom, I drew a penis.
11. 1080 Snowboarding
1080 Snowboarding was the best snowboarding game of its time, and it paved the way for more popular series like SSX. Aside from the normal racing mode, 1080 had a Half pipe trick mode. With an awesome electronic soundtrack, unlockable boards & unlockable characters such as Pandabear, this game is a must if you have an N64.
10. Donkey Kong 64
Donkey Kong 64 is one of the best platformers I've ever played, with 5 completely unique characters that have all sorts of powers. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong (isn't he an orangutan?) and Chunky Kong destroy the Kremlins with a plethora of weapons, instruments, and special powers. The only crime this game committed is that it teased a sequel on the "Dolphin" which was the codename for the Gamecube. Too bad we got "Donkey Konga" instead of a sequel which would have been awesome.
Possibly the most awesome worst thing ever, I give you the "DK Rap"
(PS. Lanky Kong is da bomb)
The "DK" Rap
9. Mario Kart 64
Possibly the best Mario Kart in the series, Mario Kart 64 is one of the best kart racers in gaming. With a great single player mode , extremely well designed tracks, and an awesome multiplayer, Mario Kart is one of the most fun games to play with friends. Battle Mode with 4 players is a lot of chaotic fun, and racing never gets old. Toad is still cheap though.
Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi racing on "Toads Turnpike"
8. Goldeneye 007
Goldeneye 007 is arguably the best FPS of all time, with non-arguably the best local multiplayer ever. The single player mode is amazing; the soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks on the N64 and 00 Agent mode is extremely challenging. There's a ton of cheats you can earn (yes I beat the facility on 00 Agent in under 2:05 :P) and overall a ton of replay value. Multiplayer has a monstrous amount of levels and characters to choose from, and the diversity of the weapons keep you playing over and over again.
All the cheats you can unlock in "Goldeneye"
7. Diddy Kong Racing
The best Kart racer and possibly the best (and hardest) racing game I've ever played. Diddy Kong Racing has a ton of stuff to do (what rare game didn't?). Epic boss races, a great soundtrack, 3 types of vehicles (Kart, Hoverboat, Plane) and fun multiplayer. On top of that there was the ridiculously hard silver coin challenges, where you have to collect 8 hard to get coins, + come in first place, and guess what? After you complete the whole game you have to do it again, in reverse.
There's also a pretty good remake of this on the DS, with online multiplayer, and you can even record your own voice so when you get hit, or use a boost or something, it uses the custom sound. The only thing that kind of sucks about the DS remake is there's no silver coin challenge, and Banjo was taken out as a character, although they did add a ton of stuff.
The character roster
6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
What is there to say about Ocarina of Time that hasn't already been said? Most people consider it the greatest game of all time. You play as Link, who travels through time, to become a kid or adult at will, with the power of his Ocarina. LoZ:OoT is possibly the most visually stunning game on the N64, and again, like so many other games on this list, has an amazing soundtrack. The boss fights are engaging and the temples are perfect examples of how puzzles should be handled in video games (except from the water temple, which, everyone hates).
Link & Epona
5. Blast Corps
In Blast Corps., a truck carrying a nuke is on a nonstop path through different areas around the world, and it's your job to destroy everything in its path to ensure it doesn't hit anything and detonate. You have many vehicles at your disposal a bulldozer, dumptruck, a motorcycle equipped with missiles, a buggy, cars, giant robots, and even the dukes of hazard car and the A-team van.
A few of the many vehicles in "Blast Corps."
If that's not cool enough, once you get gold metals on all the missions you get to destroy structures on the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and race on Neptune and Mercury, and there's even a Pac Man level. Then after that you go for the platinum metals, which are nothing short of impossible. Out of the 50 or so levels I only earned maybe 10 platinum metals. To earn them, you have to demolish extremely efficiently to clear the level in the ridiculously fast time limit they give you. But y'know, it is Rare, so what do you expect.
Demolishing flying marbles on Mars never looked better
4. Bomberman 64 / Bomberman 64: The Second Attack
Not many people know how amazing of a game Bomberman 64 is. It's one of my favorite games of all time. When you think of Bomberman you really wouldn't think any of the games would have an engaging story, but one of my favorite things about Bomberman 64 is the story. I won't spoil too much but there's a pretty big twist when you fully complete the game that's surprising. As for the gameplay, its nothing like a traditional Bomberman. It's a platformer, with powerup's familiar to the Bomberman series. There's 5 Worlds (and one bonus) each with 4 levels. Levels 1 & 3 are platforming levels, level 2 is a duel between you and one of the villains, and then level 4 is a Big boss fight, such as a Dragon, Leviathan, a metal giant, and an Ice Spider.
Boss fight vs. Leviathan
Each level has 5 "gold cards", 4 of which can be obtained in the level and 1 that you get if you beat the level fast enough. Getting the gold card in the boss fights is pretty rough, take Leviathan above for example. You get a gold card for taking out each flipper, throwing one in his mouth, destroying his antenna, and then beating it fast enough, and you have to get them all at once.
A multiplayer match, don't fall into the water!
Bomberman 64 has a ridiculously fun multiplayer as well, with about a dozen levels, it will keep you busy for quite awhile, even now, if you can get some friends together, you will probably be hooked on it for hours.
If you've never played Bomberman 64, you must, anyway you can. Everything about it is amazing, the techno soundtrack, the duels, boss fight, multiplayer, and great story. This game deserves more press as it gets little recognition. If there's one thing you should take from this top 15 it should be to give Bomberman 64 a try.
3. Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 is my favorite Mario game, with vast levels that were visually stunning as well as fun to play. This time Mario has to find 90 stars (but you can get all 120) to unlock the last level, fight Bowser, and save the princess. At the time of Super Mario 64's release, there weren't many 3D platformers, and none of them controlled and played as well as Super Mario 64. Soaring through the air with the "wing cap" for the first time was an experience I'll never forget. If you haven't played this Super Mario 64, you're definitely missing a classic, as it set the standard for platformers today.
Nintendo made a great DS remake, which also lets you play as Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi, along side Mario. Additionally, they added another 30 stars, bringing the total to 150.
Mario contemplating how things are able to float in mid air
2. Starfox 64
Starfox 64 is an on rails 3rd person space shooter, that made a mark on the gaming world in many many ways. 1st, is that it came bundled with the "Rumble Pack". This was the first time many of us have ever experienced a "rumble" controller, and even though it's not a big deal now, there was nothing more satisfying then hitting the 8 switches, while riding in the landmaster on Macbeth, and sending that sorry excuse for a train conductor right into that giant factory. The explosion that follows shakes your controller like no other, and that experience made it much more realistic then it would have been without the rumble pack.
The 2nd thing that Starfox brought to the table was the voice acting. Hearing Peppy, Falco, and Slippy talk to you constantly was awesome, and made the player feel real comradery toward the Starfox team. Even hearing the threats of Star Wolf and his gang made you want to destroy them just a little more, and I loved every moment of it.
The gameplay is great too; short enough to finish it in one sitting, but so many levels and alternate routes that it will have you coming back for more, to explore and to try to set a new high score. This game is a truly a masterpiece.
The galaxy map, showing all the different paths you can take.
1. Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. started, in my opinion one of Nintendo's greatest franchises, which is, a collaboration of all of their franchises. Super Smash Bros. is a fighting game with 12 of Nintendo's biggest stars, along with their worlds, soundtracks, and items. Although, it's not just a regular fighting game, it basically invented its own style of the fighting genre. It's a more casual type of fighter, although it takes much skill to master it. It's amazingly fast paced, and just a huge amount of fun overall. If you have never played this, you must, and if you've never played any of the games in the Super Smash Bros. series, you're just insane.
The full character roster in Super Smash Bros.
If you remember, here's the commercial for Super Smash when it first came out, it's hilarious, so check it out.
So there it is, my Top 15 N64 games, this took me about 6 hours, so I hope you all enjoy the read.
One other thing though, there are a few games I wanted to give an honorable mention too, these games are:
Pokemon Stadium 1 & 2
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Pilot Wings 64
Wave Race 64
So I bought Endless Ocean: Blue World today, I picked it up for $30 at target, and it was bundled with Wii Speak, which is used for online play, if you and a friend care to go diving together, you can talk while exploring (although I can't imagine ever using it). The strange part about that is they had the standalone version of EO without Wii Speak and it was the same price. Anyway I only played the first few levels so far, but it's pretty fun. It's pretty immersive, and the areas open up quite a bit. It seems, so far, that you explore different areas of the ocean, and check out the different marine life that inhabits it. Here's a trailer for it if you're interested (don't mind the horrible example of Wii Speak at the end)
Aside from that, I've been consumed again by Super Quickhook for the iphone.
I know I've briefly reviewed SQH before, but allow me to go in depth and truly show you the awesomeness of this game.
Alright, so there's a lot of things to do in SQH, so I'm going to break it down and show what SQH is all about.
First and foremost, the object in most games it to clear the levels. In SQH, there are 25 levels to play (they often add more in updates). All you need to do is tap the top right or top left of the screen to launch your hook, and the little dudes will start to swing. You also have rocket boots that can be used 3 times just in case you mess up and are about to fall in a pit, which gradually recharge as you keep going through a level. The levels have different environments as the game gets harder. The first few levels are in a forest area, the second area's are cave levels, and after that there's snow levels. The only danger in these levels are falling in pits. Nothing is really different other then they get progressively harder. As you can see, the art style is very pixelated to give a retro feel, sort of like a game you would see on a 16 bit generation console, although, it feels a lot more polished then a game of the 90's.
The "forest area" that comprises the first 4 levels.
After those 3 areas (which make up the first 10 levels) you unlock the last 15 levels that get pretty hard over time. Those are the; fire levels, mushroom levels, and spike(?) levels. In the fire levels there is usually lava and very little ground, you can touch the lava for about 2 seconds but if you don't get out by then you will explode. The mushroom levels are the same but instead of lava there's acid, which will kill you in less then a second so you have to get out fast.
The Lava levels, not a lot to hook onto and very little ground.
Now after you complete the levels the game really gets fun. There are 2 "endless" modes called "avalanche" and "eruption". In these endless modes you are being chased (either by an avalanche of eruption) and the game generates random areas. Avalanche generates from the "forest, cave, and snow" levels, and eruption (which is much harder) generates levels from the "lava, mushroom, and spike levels".
Avalanche Mode
Eruption Mode
Now lets go back to the normal 25 levels again. Aside from beating them there are 3 things to do in each. The First is collecting all the coins in a level. This is self explanatory, there's a certain amount of coins in the level and you need to get all of them on one run to complete this. It's not too bad as even if you die and restart at the checkpoint you keep all the coins you've collected.
The second objective is to find all the secrets in a level. This one is a lot of fun but also pretty tough at times. Most of the secrets are just unique things hidden in a level like a giant bunny, a gnome, and even a bear wearing a red shirt (Winnie the Poo).
Swinging by this ancient skull will get you the secret in this level.
Finding this slug is one of the secrets in this level.
The last few levels have the most ridiculous secrets, as you can see in this youtube video:
These are the last few levels in the game, and those spikes kill you instantly if you bump into them. Most of these levels have only one or no checkpoints at all, so if you mess up, its back to the beginning again.
The 3rd objective in each level is to beat the developers score. Oh boy, this is where it gets rough. Basically, you have to clear the level as fast as you can AND collect all the coins, because a quicker time + coins get your overall score pretty high, and the developer scores are really hard to top. So far I've gotten all these objectives done in the first 10 levels or so, but I have yet to do the harder levels, and even though I've played avalanche mode about 100 times, I still have yet to beat the developer score on it.
The last thing to discuss is all the unlockable, achievements, and upgrades. When you complete a level or play the endless modes, you get a certain amount of money based on how you do, and how many coins you collect. With this money you can go to the "lodge" and spend it on hundreds of items. There's characters you can purchase once you meet the requirement to unlock them in the store. This includes about 5-6 human characters, a robot, a goose, a gnome, and a vampire girl. Aside from this you can chat with the characters in the lodge making some very humorous dialogue. All the robot wants to do is crush things and wear sandwiches on its head, all the main character wants is ice cream, all his cousin wants is different hats, and all the goose does is quack. Depending on who you are at the time, the dialogue changes.
There's numerous upgrades, like how many times you can use your rocket boots, how long they last and how quick they recharge, sliding distance, increased coin magnetism, etc. Along with those there are about 30 hooks and possibly around 100 hats. Hats have been a "perk" since SQH's predecessor was around, Hook Champ. They do nothing really, but there often comical and fun to wear. For example, you can buy a Santa hat, a dwaven beard, a slug that rides on your head, a top hat, crown, sunglasses, an alligator hat, a cooking pot, a sandwich and tons more. If you scroll back up and look at all the pictures in this review, you can see the different hooks and hats.
"Suave Lumberjack"
Thats pretty much all there is to say about Super Quickhook, I will add that there's multiplayer mode but I haven't tried it out yet so I can't really comment on it and there's also about 70 achievements on openfeint (think gamerscore but iphone's version) . Overall, if you have an iphone, or ipod touch, you really should download this game. Really, I've put about 40 hours on it so far and its only 2.99, you really can't beat that.
So I recently took some pictures of my video game collection and I figured I would share it with all of you.
Before my collection though, I can't decide what my next Top 15 should be, I'm stuck between Nintendo DS & Nintendo 64. So tell me in the comments which I should do first and I'll do it. I'll come out with a "Top 15" every week, and after the DS and 64, I'm going to do PS1, PS2, NES, Genesis, Atari 5200, Dreamcast, PSP, Wii, Gamecube and possibly SNES & Gameboy /Advance/Color (in no particular order).
So this is my overall collection:
Pictured are my NES, 2 SNES', 2 Genesis', 32X, Sega CD, Dreamcast, GameGear, N64, Xbox 360, Wii, Virtual Boy, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, Gameboy.
Somewhere in my parents house I have an Atari Jaguar, Atari 5200, Gamecube, PS1, &; Gamboy Color
What I would like to eventually get (besides everything lol) is a : Sega Saturn, Turbo Graphix 16/CD , PS3, & Atari Lynx
I also have about 200-300 Dreamcast games (that are burned) about 100 PSX & PS2 Games, and a bunch of games for most of the systems you see there.
I'm going to do a series of the Top 15 games of different consoles (out of the games I've played).
The first Top 15 I'm going to do is for the iphone/itouch. Who doesn't have an iphone/itouch these days? I'll start with this because I have about 600 games for my itouch and most people don't really know all the awesome games that it has. You will soon come to realize that if you give your phone a chance, it can rival the Nintendo DS, easily.
15.Minisquadron
Minisquadron's gameplay is very simple, it's just an arcade shmup thats extremely addicting and fun to play. There's a few modes, but a ton of power up's and probably about 100 planes to unlock. Ufo's, Flying stone heads, flying panda's, jets and a lot more.
14.I Dig It 2
If you like exploration games, this is definitely for you. There's hours of gameplay per level, and there's about half a dozen levels for you to explore; an underwater level, jungle level, arctic level, ect. There's hundreds of things to find in each level, and once you get enough stuff you can take your treasures to the surface to sell and then upgrade different aspects of your driller, which include fuel, cargo capacity, the hull, coolant, radar and much more. You easily get lost in the game, its just a ton of fun to explore and find new things. It's even a lot of fun to just dig tunnels and make different pathways underneath the earth.
13.Tetryon
Tetryon is not your everyday Puzzle game. It has a strong strategy aspect to it. Basically you remove pieces by placing them in a certain order. So for instance, if you have the same piece, you must put them down 1 3 2, (or 2 3 1) connecting the 2 on the ends with the one in the middle last. If they are the same color but different shapes, connecting it in a 1 3 2 order will link them, and then you can get rid of them by making another 1 3 2 combo. In addition to this you can also put 5 of the same piece in a 1 2 3 4 5 order, an L shape, a T shape and more. You get more points for making bigger combo's, but its also easier to run out of room and lose the mission. The design is also notable as there's three different categories of pieces; glyphs, hieroglyphics and my favorite, 8-bit.
12.Dropship
Dropship is an arcade shooter taxi game in which you have to rescue your comrades (whom are all from your contact list on your iphone lol) while shooting down enemies. Once you get to the bottom of the map/cave there's a box you have to pick up and fly to the surface within a certain amount of time. The visuals in this game are also great looking and any fan of the retro genre is sure to love it. Awesome visuals, fun gameplay, and a energetic electronic soundtrack make this game a great title to own.
11.Tilt to Live
The main objective in Tilt to Live is to help your little arrow icon survive and slay as many red dots as possible. To help you is an arsenal of weapons, explosions, freezings, missiles, spike shields, black holes, and a bunch more. On top of the easy and hard modes, there's a sort of obstacle course mode and frostbite mode. There's a ton of re playablity as there's a lot of achievements and it's updated often.
10.EliminatePro
EliminatePro is a free to play online first person shooter. The way it works is you get about a dozen matches a day in which you can obtain credits for playing well. With the credits you can buy weapons, and upgrade just about any aspect of them. Zoom, aim, damage, reload and a lot more. On top of this there's also powersuits you can buy that excel in certain attributes, and you can also upgrade those suits as well. After you run out of energy and can no longer obtain credits, you can still play as many matches as you want, and nothing is different other then the fact that you don't obtain credits until your energy recharges. Definitely try this one out, its free to download.
9. iBlast Moki
iBlast Moki is probably the best physics puzzler on the iphone/itouch. The whole goal of the game is to use bombs to blast the little "Moki's" into the portal that takes them home. You have multiple tools at your disposal, and the levels get increasingly difficult and offer a great challenge. There's also a fully featured level editor and after creating your desired map you can upload them and play other custom levels as well.
8. Dark Nebula 1&2
Dark Nebula Chapter 1 and 2 are pretty amazing games. Its a rolling game where you use the accelerometer to roll the ball to the goal. Yea, there's a ton of those on the iphone, but this one is different. It has new obstacles and challenges in every levels, it has enemies and even boss fights. The style is awesome, this game is a must have, and once you look at the trailer above you'll see what I mean. Chapter 1 has 10 levels and Chapter 2 has 19 levels.
7. Space Miner
Space Miner is an exploration/shmup where you go to various sectors to collect different ores, which you can then sell and upgrade your ship. There a huge amount of customization as you won't even be able to get every item on your first run. You can only get several special weapons per run through, and it'll will probably take you 6-7 times to play through the game until you get them all. The humor is pretty good and its just an overall fun and addicting game that will keep you playing for quite awhile.
6. Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor
In "Spider" you play as a... you guessed it, spider, on a quest to eat all the bugs in the house, yard, sewer, and any other place that exists within the Mansion. This is a gorgeous game with a great art style, with a very relaxing soundtrack and gameplay. The only way to lose is to run out of web, which refills when you eat bugs.
5. Rhythm Spirit
Rhythm Spirit is a "fighting rhythm" game with an amazing soundtrack and great story. It reminded me of Gitaroo Man, which is probably why I like it so much. The only problem is its a little short, but its definitely worth the price, as its almost worth getting for the soundtrack alone.
4. Chaos Rings
Chaos Rings should have just been another Final Fantasy because it's just as good as one. Everything about this game is amazing, with an engaging battle system, that is sort of like rock, paper, scissors with elements. Think pokemon but having the ablilty to change your element and the enemies element, so if you cast a fire spell on the enemy it will change to fire type, then you can make yourself water type and your attacks will do more damage. On top of everything this game has to offer you can replay it as multiple different couples which reveals more of the story. The only downside is the price, its a bit expensive but that's how all square iphone games are.
3. Quest
The best way to describe Quest would be to call it Dungeons & Dragons: First Person Diablo Edition (lol). This game has it all, firstly, when you set up your character, you can pick between the normal classes such as "warrior/theif/mage/ranger" but if you're not happy with those choices you can make your own class from scratch, giving yourself whatever abilities you want (but there is a limit on how many you can have). You can pick your race, and even have relations with every villager/person in the game, choosing to steal from them, or help them. There's also a huge amount of crafting, alchemy, blacksmithing, making armour, ect. If that doesn't sound like enough to do there are about 10 expansions for Quest you can buy, and use your character on. This is truly one of the best games I've ever played.
2. Super Quick Hook
Super Quick Hook (and its predecessor Hook Champ) are sidescrollers in which you swing to the goal with you're grappling hook, its easy to pick up but very difficult to master. SQH has a ton of levels, 2 endless modes, many unlockables and upgrades and is constantly being upgraded with new content and new ways to play. The final levels are some of the most challenging levels I've ever played in a game. If you call yourself a gamer and want an awesome game that has a lot of replay value, Super Quick Hook is a must have.
1. Edge
Ahh Edge, anyone who read my previous blog posts could have probably guessed that this would be my number one. This game is stunning. The atmosphere just sucks you into the completely immersive gaming experience. The soundtrack changes from strangely spacey to upbeat and cheerful, the retro, psychedelic style also fits the soundtrack very well, and the gameplay makes the game truly shine. It's called Edge because of a technique you use in the game, you basically have to balance your cube just right against a wall or block, not to high or not to low, cause then you will fall off, and many times all that's below you is the darkness of space. You can see this technique in the trailer above when the timer appears over your cube. I think the most I've ever held my cube on an edge is about 11 seconds. Download this one, you won't be disappointed.
So that's my list, possibly the best thing about it is you can buy all these games and it won't even cost you $50. Next time you have some extra cash, check out some of these titles. You'll thank me later.
So I beat some games, and I started some new ones. Madworld is one of them, although I'm playing on hard now, not because it's much different (although you do unlock a double chainsaw and katana) but because the game is so damn incredible. The soundtrack, the style, atmosphere, story, gameplay, everything about Madworld is amazing. What other beat em' up do you get to fight thugs, ninja's, aliens, robots, zombies, giant robots, pimps, players and pain purveyors (lol), with countless weapons and countless ways to use them? The last boss fight is one of the most epic boss battles I've ever seen or played. The quick time events have you go fist to fist with the last boss, and it looks like something out of Dragon Ball Z, or some over exaggerated anime. I won't spoil who he is or I would have included a link to the fight in this blog, but the final boss is someone you wouldn't expect. It's a pretty awesome twist, and Madworld is filled with twists. If you own a Wii it's the best $12 you'll spend in awhile. It's definitely a must have, it's not something I'll forget about anytime soon.
I also beat Edge on my itouch this weekend, I was stuck on the last few levels for awhile. Edge is a one of a kind game, the type of game that you could label as art. It has a strangely spacey atmosphere, it's style is reminiscent of marble madness on the NES. If you have an iphone or itouch, I definitely recommend getting it. Mobigames is a great developer and Edge is one of the best games on the iphone/itouch.
Here's the trailer if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_aB_ZkonGw
There are few other games I've played recently. I actually beat Sonic R on Sonic Gems Collection. I always thought that game is impossible but it's actually a lot of fun when you get the hang of it. I just don't understand how you can't walk backwards at all, I mean, a racing game without reverse? Unless you can reverse and somehow I just can't figure it out, either way I didn't need it to beat the game, but it is annoying. I haven't unlocked all the characters yet so I guess it's not a full complete. I don't know if I want to unlock that tails doll :P
So what am I playing now? Zack and Wiki, Elebits, Excitebots, and Sonic Triple Trouble. I guess that's about it, if anything else seems interesting in my gaming life I'll be sure to blog. Until then, "The Dude Abides".
I was playing Madworld again for a few hours today, and I love every moment of it. I'm not exactly one for gore or even horror movies or anything too graphic, but the style, music, and gameplay just suck you in no matter if you're into that sort of thing or not. I think probably the best thing about Madworld is the outrageous boss fights. I just beat Yokozuna, which is the 6th boss and I love how unrealistically blown out of proportion it is, but then again, so is the whole game.
So it got me thinking about how much I love crazy boss fights/duels. It reminds me of the Metal Gear Solid series and how crazy the boss fights get. Psycho Mantis is one of the coolest fights ever, so awesome that it actually goes beyond the television screen itself. He messes with the picture, "moves" your controller, reads your memory card and even makes you switch controller ports. The Metal Gear series is filled with outlandish villains such as Psycho Mantis, Vamp, and Ocelot. No More Heroes is another game that has strange yet satisfying boss fights as well, I haven't played it yet but it's on my list of games to get. I've seen most of the boss fights and it definitely looks like a great game.
The Megaman series is another with probably now hundreds of duels in which the robot masters have different powers. I'm pretty sure they have any power you can imagine. If Capcom has gone through so many powers that they basically have to recycle boss names there’s probably not much more you can think of. I mean, Heat man, Fire man, Flame man, Burner man, Torch man, Magma man? There are so many fire synonyms that Capcom must be solely responsible for global warming. No problem, we can just sent Chill man, Ice man, Cold man, Frost man, Blizzard man, and Freeze man on the case to end global warming. All kidding aside, as long as Capcom remains as good as they are, and continue to release good games, they can recycle powers all they want.
I don't understand how Sega can keep screwing up Sonic games after playing Madworld. Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure were great games, and so were the Sonic Advance games. Maybe someday they'll get the whole 3d thing right. I do really like Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 but even they weren't perfect, and that was what, like 10 years ago?
So I'm going to be blogging about video games, old and new, on many systems. Anyway, I guess I should write something about myself, so, my username for stuff is Venefican, I'm 24, and I live in Philadelphia. I like long walks on the beach as long as there's no bloopers around, since I can't spit fire I usually just avoid them when the show up. I usually fail at my attempts with comedy. I get any console I can get my hands on and I'm building quite a collection. I don't really have a favorite console because I care more about the games, and every console has a least few good games, even the virtual boy. I'm in college on and off, and I'm still undecided on what I want to do, I think something science, maybe politics, I would do philosophy, but I don't see it getting me too far.
Right now I'm currently playing:
Wii: Madworld, Excitebots, Zack & Wiki, NiGHTS, Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Iphone: Super Quickhook, The Quest, Chaos Rings and a ton of others that I got for free.
PS2: Megaman Anniversary Collection
Dreamcast: Jet Set Radio, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Ikaruga
Some of those I'm playing more than others, but I'll be sure to update from time to time when I feel I have something worth talking about.
Anyway I made a few "Top ###" lists, as I figured it would be good to post my favorite video games, and if you're a gamer maybe we can make some kind of connection. Either that or I really just like making lists of my favorite things. Probably the latter.
So this is my list, of course you won't agree with it, it's my list, and it's highly influenced by nostalgia. :P
This list was around 250 before I narrowed it down, and these are only my favorite favorite games.
My 151 favorite games of all time:
1.Final Fantasy VII (PSX)
2.Gitaroo Man (PS2)
3.Rez (PS2)
4.Sonic 3 & Knuckles (GEN)
5.Doom 1&2 (PC)
6.Super Mario 64 (N64)
7.Bomberman 64 (N64)
8.Super Smash Bros. Melee/Brawl (GC/WII)
9.Starfox 64 (N64)
10.Megaman 9 (XBLA/PSN/WW)
11.Blast Corps (N64)
12.Pokemon Red (GB)
13.Katamari Damacy/We Love Katamari (PS2)
14.Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
15.Kingdom Hearts 1&2 (PS2)
16.Patapon 2 (PSP)
17.Advance Wars: Duel Strike (DS)
18.Airforce Delta (DC)
19.Final Fantasy: Dissidia (PSP)
20.Dungeon Explorer (TG16)
21.Golden Eye: 007 (N64)
22.DuckTales (NES)
23.Golden Sun 1&2 (GBA)
24.Batman (NES)
25.Every Extend Extra (PSP)
26.Psychic Force 2012 (DC)
27.Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix Korean V.2 (ARC)
28.One Must Fall (PC)
29.Megaman 2 (NES)
30.Super Mario Galaxy (WII)
31.Loco Roco 1&2 (PSP)
32.Final Fantasy XI (PC/PS2/X360)
33.Sonic Rush Adventure (DC)
34.Phoenix Wright:Justice For All (DS)
35.Legend Of Legaia (PSX)
36.Aladdin (GEN)
37.Megaman 3 (NES)
38.Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS)
39.Mario Kart DS (DS)
40.Metal Gear Solid 1&2 (PSX,PS2)
41.Hook Champ/Quick Hook (iPhone)
42.Silent Bomber (PSX)
43.Commander Keen (PC)
44.Rhythym Spirit (iPhone)
45.Megaman 8 (PSX)
46.Earthworm Jim 1&2 (GEN)
47.Amplitude (PS2)
48.Bomberman: The Second Attack (N64)
49.The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
50.Dr. Robotniks: Mean Bean Machine (GEN)
51.Einhander (PSX)
52.Space Invaders Infinity Gene (iphone)
53.Mario Kart 64 (N64)
54.Donkey Kong 64 (N64)
55.Patapon (PSP)
56.Super Mario 3 (NES)
57.Eversion (PC)
58.Sonic 1&2 (GEN)
59.Final Fantasy X (PS2)
60.Omega Five (XBLA)
61.SSX Tricky (PS2)
62.Dragon Ball Z II - Gekishin Freeza!! (NES)
63.Contra 4 (DS)
64.Metroid Prime (GC)
65.Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (PSP)
66.Yoshi's Story (N64)
67.Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
68.Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (DC)
69.Super Mario Bros 2 (NES)
70.Rhythm Heaven (DS)
71.Elite Beat Agents (DS)
72.Super Paper Mario (WII)
73.Edge (iphone)
74.Extreme G (N64)
75.Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (iPhone/PSP/DS)
76.Ren and Stimpy: Stimpy's invention (GEN)
77.Mickey Mouse: Castle Of Illusion (GEN)
78.1080 Snowboarding (N64)
79.Turok (N64)
80.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist/Turtles in Time (GEN/SNES)
81.Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (DC)
82.Mad World (WII)
83.Jet Set Radio (DC)
84.Ikaruga (DC/XBLA)
85.Space Miner (iphone)
86.Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
87.Lumines (PSP)
88.Captain Skyhawk (NES)
89.Tails' Adventure (GG)
90.Final Fantasy IX (PSX)
91.Sonic Adventure (DC)
92.Final Fantasy VIII (PSX)
93.Pokemon Diamond (DS)
94.Sonic Rush (DS)
95.Golden Eye: Rouge Agent (GC)
96.Sonic Adventure Battle 2 (DC)
97.Pokemon Snap (N64)
98.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (NES)
99.Megaman (NES)
100.Retro Gaming Challenge (DS)
101.Soul Caliber 2 (PS2)
102.Groovin Blocks (iPhone)
103.Dungeon Scroll (iPhone)
104.Dragon Ball GT: The Final Bout (PSX)
105.Final Fantasy (NES)
106.New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
107.Pokemon Stadium (N64)
108.Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (WII)
109.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
110.Poy Poy (PSX)
111.Jurassic Park (GEN)
112.The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)
113.iBlast Moki (iPhone)
114.Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (X360)
115.Radiant (iphone)
116.Excite Truck/Excite Bots (WII)
117.Pokemon Gold/Heartgold (GBC/DS)
118.Dead or Alive 2 (PS2)
119.Pac Man C.E (XBLA/iPhone)
120.Wipeout Fusion (PS2)
121.Twisted Metal Black (PS2)
122.Lion King (GEN)
123.The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
124.Sonic Advance 3 (GBA)
125.Castle of Shikigami 2 (PS2)
126.Legend of Legaia 2 (PS2)
127.Mars Matrix (DC)
128.Powerstone 2 (DC)
129.Ken Griffy Jr. Baseball (GG)
130.MDK 2 (PS2)
131.Worms (XBLA)
132.Counter Strike: Source (PC)
133.Bionic Comando (NES)
134.Diablo (PSX)
135.Warcraft 3 (PC)
136.Timesplitters (PS2)
137.Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2)
138.Treasure Cove (PC)
139.The Lost Vikings (PC)
140.The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC)
141.Ecco The Dolphin (GEN)
142.Contra (NES)
143.Comix Zone (GEN)
144.God of War (PS2)
145.N + (XBLA)
146.Dig Dug (Atari)
147.Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
148.Super Mario Bros DX (GBC)
149.Pilot Wings 64 (N64)
150.Doom 3 (PC)
151.Parappa The Rapper (PSX)
And thats the end of the list, I hope you feel like we're best friends now. I know I sure do.
