To celebrate our 10 year anniversary I think it's only fair that we do the exact same thing every video game magazine did whenever they reached a milestone... create a top 100 list. So that's what I'm going to do. I've spent the last couple weeks thinking this over and I have a list in front of me that I'm pretty happy with. No one else on earth will be happy with it, but as I always say, "fuck off it's my list and I don't give two shits what you think you little pissant." At least I think I say that.
Also, if you recall I did do a top 28 list a while back. However, that was 5 years ago and many great games have come out since, so even that top 28 has some changes in it. There's a few new games, a few games my opinions have changed on, and there was one really great one that I completely overlooked somehow when I made the list the first time. So rest assured there will be some very noticeable changes.
And it's going to go by fast. Since I've got that new job starting in just over a week, my free time may be reduced, so I'm going to try to get all 100 games posted within the next two weeks. I need to sharpen up my writing since this is a PR job so it's good practice. Writing about insurance benefits and filing medical claims is just like video games right?
100Sonic Adventure
99Kaboom
98Conquests of the Longbow
97Streets of Rage 2
96Lollipop Chainsaw
95Bloodborne
94 Crazy Taxi
93Bit.Trip.Beat
92Wii Ski & Snowboard
91RiverCity Ransom
90Dragon Quest Monsters
89Jones in the Fastlane
88Dark Cloud 2
87Professor Layton and the Curious Village
86MadWorld
85Marvel Vs. Capcom 2
84Torneko the Last Hope
83Crystal Castles
82Space Harrier
81Retro Game Challenge
80Final Fantasy VII
79Bulletstorm
78Rayman Legends
77Super Dodge Ball
76World of Goo
75The Magic of Scherazade
74Minecraft
73Fantasy Zone 2
72Golden Axe: Revege of Death Adder
71Final Fantasy Legend II
70Hotel Dusk
69Splatoon
68Pitfall
67Dragon Quest V
66SteamWorld Dig
65Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
64Order Up
63Hearthstone
62Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge
61Bayonetta
60Galaga
59 Earthbound
58Super Mario Bros.
57Wii Sports Resort
56Pac-Man CE: DX
55Trauma Team
If it made the original cast look weak, wouldn't that be doing something better?
#11. Heroes of Might and Magic 3
There are a lot of older games I like to go back and play, but usually it's for a couple hours or maybe a day or two at most. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 on the other hand... everytime I return to this game I'll play it for at least a month. I come back to it every couple years, and as I look through this list I don't think there are many games I have put more hours into. Every part of this game is super addictive. The story mode is excellent, as are the individual campaigns, and it even has a pretty decent online mode which is fairly impressive for the time it came out. It's a perfectly balanced strategy game (or at least was until the second expansion that introduced a ridiculously overpowered mega archer type recruit that could pretty much fuck up any other character at any place on the map), and to this day I don't think it's ever been surpassed, even by later games in the series (which we can probably blame Ubisoft for).
When I first played it, I was delightfully unemployed and had the kind of time one needs with a game this robust, but getting a copy wasn't real easy for a broke guy. A friend had previously given me a pirated copy of it, but it was missing some key features so I decided I'd rather own it and get the full experience. I ended up finding a new copy of it for a mere $8 at a used bookstore. Unfortunately once I got home I realized I had picked up Linux version of the game, and that was rather unplayable for me and my Windows 98 set up. Finally I broke down and picked up the Complete edition at Best Buy at a reasonable price, even for a guy who was close to becoming a hobo. At the end of the day though just about any price would have been worth it. HoMM3 is a priceless game, and one that I will be playing for many years to come.
#10. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
When it was first announced that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night wouldn't feature a Belmont or even a fucking whip, I was not impressed. Why fuck around with something good? The first time I played it I was living in my first apartment and I lived in next to a great little mom and pop video store that had a surprisingly strong collection of Playstation games and much better prices than Blockbuster. I figured, even with the ridiculous changes, it was still a Castlvania game so how bad could it really be? Well, that weekend I pretty much did nothing but sit in front of the TV and play this game, with the only break being to get online to figure out where to get the fucking Spike Breaker armor, which was holding up a key storypoint to get into the second half of the game. That was also one of the great "holy shit" moments of gaming. When you beat the wizard controlling Richter and reveal the second upside castle!?!?! Jesus Christ, the game instantly doubled in size!!!!
Yep, turns out it was one of the most brilliant ideas the series creators ever, and the result was the "Metroidvania." Dozens and hell maybe hundreds have come around since. Some have better combat. Some have better stories. Some have better layoutouts. But none of them do as much so well as SotN and none of them have the god-tier soundtrack that this game does. Castlevania's have always had great OSTs, but there was something especially impressive about SotN's to the point where I had to get a copy. And something that I think gets overlooked is how it was maybe the best looking 2-D game made up until that time. Most everything on the Playstation, Saturn, and later N64 was focued on 3-D games (most have now aged like a mayonaise sandwich), but Konami stuck to their guns and made a gorgeous game that still looks pretty good today. This game had mulit-layer backgrounds and the way everything moved was so smooth. There was something satisfying just watching Alucard run around with his cape flowing behind him. Then again, the game is satisfying in pretty much ever way.
Too high.
. Seriously, I’ve got a trip planned for the new year so no new games at the moment.
Playing Castlevania Symphony of the Night for the first time when it came out on the PlayStation was really quite the experience. The music is amazing especially The Tragic Prince.
Yes yes yes these games are worthy! Great picks.
How do the other Heroes of Might and Magic compare to it?
I don't remember much about the first, but compared to HoMM2, it's pretty similar, but much more robust and much better balanced. There really isn't one class that is dominant compared to the others. The story is quite a bit more interesting too.
Unlike the later installments, your hero is almost entirely passive in combat. You can cast spells and such, but other than sharing his stats in proportion to his or me, he doesn't really do anything. I think from 4 on, the hero could actually be controlled and fight in the battles. Leader installments also had a more three-dimensional world to explore. That was a nice idea, but it slowed down the game a little bit and was never quite as interesting as the 2D worlds from before.