It's been about 5 and a half years since I did my last Top 100 list. Due to my OCD and compulsion to constantly create lists in my head I think it's time for an all new Top 100.
My first thought was to reevaluate the old top 100, but fuck it, it's easier to pick 100 new games that I didn't have on the list last time. In the past 5 and a half years I've played more than I usually have, largely due to COVID. And in that time I've played a lot of new great games.
Plus, when I made the last list, I avoided adding multiple games from the same franchises. So I can dip back into the Dragon Quest pool and a few others.
Anyway stay tuned. Starting tomorrow we're doing this shit again.
My first thought was to reevaluate the old top 100, but fuck it, it's easier to pick 100 new games that I didn't have on the list last time. In the past 5 and a half years I've played more than I usually have, largely due to COVID. And in that time I've played a lot of new great games.
Plus, when I made the last list, I avoided adding multiple games from the same franchises. So I can dip back into the Dragon Quest pool and a few others.
Anyway stay tuned. Starting tomorrow we're doing this shit again.
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
You can debate whether or not the years have been kind to Sonic the Hedgehog, but at least throughout the '90s, the games were pretty damn good. All three of the original Sonic games were great, but the second will always be my favorite in the series. Primarily because that was the hot game that had just come out right when I bought my Genesis.
The original was great, and the first time I played it at my cousin's house I went home with super bloodshot eyes because I felt like I couldn't blink. Everything was just too damn fast and I couldn't dare miss a frame. But Sonic 2 was still a giant step forward. It was a bigger game, better level design, and Tails added a really fun element as a surprisingly helpful partner.
Sonic 2 was also a near perfect co-op video game simply because the second player was just as involved as the main player, their A bad player wouldn't necessarily hinder a good player. They can have fun and be along for the ride, but never feel like an anchor.
My best friend was a great guy, but he wasn't a very good gamer. I blame his parents. They never got him a Nintendo. They settled for an Atari 7800. He did later get a Game Boy though, and he did become a pretty incredible Tetris player. However, when it came to platformers he never quite "got" it. So, him playing as Tails was perfect. He can play along and when he would inevitably miss a jump and fall into a pit, a minute later he would come hovering back to join me. Damn good way to ensure a friendship stayed strong, because Lord knows as playing a multiplayer game and inadvertently killing your partner is A justifiable reason for ending a friendship around that age.
Sonic 2 is at #88?!
88???
88mph!
I accept the reality that I will never get a direct sequel to Super Mario Bros. 2. That is a goddamn shame. However, if nothing else I can console myself with Super Mario 3D World. Wart might not have made an appearance, but between some of the gameplay and the overall feel and design of the environment that I can comfortably say the designers were willing to throw me a bone.
3D World Saw the return of one of the most underrated features of the series that characters that have their own sets of strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. That one little detail always makes a huge difference in any game to me. Being able to jump higher with Luigi or float with peach always makes me wonder if I chose the right character for a particular level, and encourages a bit of replay in the process. And as a nice bonus, they even threw us a surprise secret character for the post game.
And speaking of the post game, while 3D World was overall pretty easy, it may have unleashed the single most difficult level In a Mario game since the 8-Bit era (insane fan. Made levels for Mario Maker excluded of course). Seriously, go back and revisit that level if you ever even got to it, and see if your controller will work by the end of the day.
Arguably my favorite memory of the game though wasn't even from playing it. Rather, it came from the second trailer that Nintendo released to promote it. The first glimpse of the game wasn't particularly inspiring, but when Nintendo launched that second trailer.... Holy shit. It felt like some of the first real Nintendo magic that they had come up with in ages, and I watched and rewatched that trailer probably more than any other game in my adult life. It was just that damn good.
Have you ever felt that the only thing missing from Norse mythology was that it just wasn't enough like an anime? Don't worry, Atlus has you covered thanks to Riviera: The Promised Land.
Riviera is very quietly an excellent game, and probably checks that box of, "good game that you for some reason never played". Liberal interpretation of Norse mythology aside, it mostly feels like a standard jrpg. It has a few unique twists to combat, and the story is pretty compelling, but it doesn't really "wow" you at any point in the game, until you get to the end. And then you realize, this game was really good the entire time. And there's a few branching paths that you still want to see, so maybe you play it again.
And the game's history insists somebody else liked it too. It was originally a Wonder swan game, and since then it was remade and ported a half dozen times. And In most cases, additional content and features kept getting added.
It's also a game that I've gone back to a couple times. I played the GBA version, and it was only a couple years later that I went ahead played the PSP remake just so I could play it in widescreen and check out any of the changes. And it was totally worth it.
When I first learned about the world of fan translated video games it was because I was trying to find ways to play some of the well-known Square and Enix titles that never got official translations. Games like Secret of Mana 3 and Final Fantasy 5. But it wasn't long before I learned there were in fact hundreds of games that stayed in Japan (for instance, the world's shittiest Transformers game where you play as Ultra Magnus and didn't do much of anything).
I started going down this rabbit hole somewhere around 1999, and at the time there were tons of games being worked on, but sadly, not very many that were actually completed. And even the ones that were completed were rarely translated particularly well. One of the exceptions I came across though was a Famicom game called Rainbow Silk Road.
The era of PlayStation and N64 was coming to an end, so trying to go backwards and start playing an 8-bit game took a little getting used to, but I always enjoyed games with in an Arabic theme and they are pretty far and few in between. So it didn't take a lot of debate for me to give it a shot. And it was a damn good choice on my end. This was an absolutely excellent and unique experience.
The game basically revolves around an overthrown Prince going from different regions on the Silk Road, buying and trading goods. As earns money, ye buys better equipment, and with better equipment he can go in a more dangerous areas and try and find some missing pieces of a magic mirror that's going to help him regain his kingdom.
The plot itself is about as advanced as most 8-bit games were, but the trading was the whole reason to play the game. Where is salt for sale at the lowest price? Where does it sell the highest? What's the fastest route to get there without being attacked by mummy's and snakes? The whole system required either a great memory or a lot of notes. I can't imagine this would sound fun to anyone, even myself, but it was surprisingly addictive. For anyone who finds joy in managing spreadsheets, I suspect this game would be an absolute slice of joy.
Sadly it would be a little tough to recommend this game today. Some of the controls are just insanely awkward. Things like you have to select a stairs command to go upstairs. Those little things were hard to adjust to when I first played it, and even harder the last time I played it which was around 2010. But it was such a refreshingly different kind of game that it was worth it. And if you can really get yourself in an 8-bit frame of mine, it might be worth checking out.
I think we all have a couple of those games that we regret not playing earlier. I didn't touch Smooth Moves until 15 years after it had been released. What's the hurry right? It's just going to be some weird mini game collection. Turns out, that 9.0 score that Gamespot gave it years ago was actually 100% justified.
The whole Warioware series is full of bizarre ideas, and while there are probably more hits than misses everything came together in a magnificent ball of "what the fuck were they thinking and why does it work so well?"
Maybe it's because the wiimote's motion controls already lend itself, exaggerated motions and ridiculous actions? Who the hell knows. All I can tell you is that when I finally got around to trying it, I just planned to spend maybe 15 or 20 minutes with it. A couple hours later I had finished every minigame and was ready to go retry a few of them to earn higher scores.