Who likes lists? Oh, you do? Of- goddamn-course you do. Here's a list of 15 of my most memorable games! Totally not stolen from a Facebook note! What? What did I say? You are now thinking of how awesome it would be to have a monkey as dance partner. Confused and titilated? Good! Let's Go!
1. Shining Force 2 - This was my first RPG and it's hard to forget my first playthrough. I got it for X-mas one year when I had actually asked for the first Shining Force. What I got instead was a game the trumped the first one in every way. It was back when Shining Force still came in "strategy" flavor and is probably my favorite of the whole franchise.
2. Rocket Knight Adventures - I remember reading a two-page spread about this game in Gamepro then finding it at what used to be G&A video. It's a clear memory because it's hard to forget being obsessed for weeks over finding a possum. Also, if the idea of a possum with a suit or armor, a giant sword, and a fucking jetpack don't interest you just a little it's possible that we can no longer be friends. Just sayin'
3. Battletoads - I got this for Christmas many a year ago now. The week we were supposed to go back to school that year from break there was a massive snowstorm. School was cancelled for a week and I was trapped indoors with nothing but play Battletoads to pass the time. To this day I have not beaten Battletoads. This game had me seeing red so hard that the walls started menstrating. Fun, amazing, and brutally, brutally difficult.
4. Metal Gear - No, not Solid. The NES version was the 3rd Nintendo game I ever owned. It had a horrible translation, the password system was brutal, and for some reason a key item didn't work meaning I couldn't even fight the end boss but damn if I didn't spend hours trying. It also helped me get that much more out of Solid's story. The words "Grey Fox" actually make that scene in the later a legitimate reveal.
5. Mega Man 3 - I was thinking about putting part 2 but the truth is, I played this one more. Alot more. I used to borrow this one off my cousin and would play it endlessly. Still not sure what the hell purpose Top Man was supposed to serve though? Perhaps his version of an evil child's toy personified was meant to bring out repressed memories of getting your ass beat by your father? That or Capcom started naming robot masters on drunken dares. It will forever be a mystery.
6. Street Fighter 2- Special Champion Edition - Getting this one along with a 6-button controller for the Genesis made for a sweet pairing. It was basically a Genesis version of Turbo but all that mattered was we finally got Street Fighter on the Genesis. It could have been made from child labor and plutonium for all I cared.
7. Mortal Kombat - What's more fucked up than being surrounded by a bunch of sweaty, sex-starved teenagers 4 times your size in a dark room with no adult supervision? Watching them cheer as the most realistic game I had ever laid eyes on to that point shows me a shapely blonde woman getting her head pulled off by a guy in a blue rapist mask, thats what.
8. Super C - Ahhh, the insanely difficult sequel to the insanely difficult Contra. While I did play the original me and a friend Played this way more. I loved the overhead levels as opposed to the corridors in the first game. I remember we did end up beating this game though I'm still a little hazy on how close we came to killing each other while doing it. Seriously, try depriving two men of sleep for 2 days, lock them in a room and make them play Super C. See what kind of twisted violent shit happens next. Foreign countries could use this as a torture method to break a grown man's will.
9. Final Fantasy II (IV) - Yup, the poorly (and sometimes hilariously) translated SNES title came to mind. It was my first Final fantasy game and I had seen at least four other friends play it and beat it beforehand, but it was still awesome to play through... three times. It had great characters, a solid battle system, and a flying whale ship that took you to the moon. I'm still not sure what a "spoony bard" is but since it was directed at Edward I always suspected to mean "to be bitch-like in one's behavior."
10. Super Smash Bros. (Original) - I wish I could sit here and count all the hours me and my friends played this game but I can't. No. That would be fucking impossible. But, I can say without question that we played this like a religion. It got to the point where we had a league in play with ranks, tournaments, titles, camps. It was pretty intense. it still gets brought out now. If you ever want to learn the game of N64 Smash bros. (Because... it's a dying relative's last wish? You lost a bet, whatever) I shit you not, go to Cape Breton Island. You will learn damnit.
11. X-Men vs Street Fighter - The arcade at CBU had a nice selection of Capcom fighters to choose from but this was the one we would all flock to when we were drunk making this one the most awesome of the lot. We had matches by the shit-ton during the day then our nights there would consist of beer, band, beer, break, x-men vs sf, repeat. If I can ever get a copy I'm getting a some good music, this game, some friends, and a 24 together. It may not be the same but it's the thought that counts.
12. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - For two reasons: The first being that this was the first game to actually scare me. It was the part right before mercenaries mode where the disembodied voice over the pitch black backdrop gives you the mission then laughs like a fucking maniac. I first saw that alone, in the pitch dark, and 3 in the morning. Scared. Shitless. Oh, and reason number two? Zombie Hulk with a rocket launcher. Moving along...
13. Base Wars - This was an old NES game that featured a baseball league made up of robots. It was part baseball game, part fighting game. You could even play a season and upgrade your team with new weapons and stats. Why they never made a sequel or hell, something even remotely like it since is beyond me. You had to fight to get to second base more than a serial rapist. Desperately needs a sequel.
14. Goldeneye - Nowadays you can play anybody from home with XBL or PSN. Back when Goldeneye came out we had to all meet up to play a proper multiplayer game. We were never short on players. It may not have aged well but this game is still a classic.
15 - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - One of the only games I really put any time to on the Gameboy and probably one of my favorite Zelda games. You could actually jump. Yes, you needed an item to do it but it was a cool switch all the same. Even if the ending kinda made you feel like a dick. Ruining families was never more fun.
