I feel it's necessary to establish a couple things as this gets started. The idea has been basically to have a blog about gaming, so that part's complete. The tricky part is establishing myself in this space of the internet I've set my stake on and figuring out a compelling way to present what ideas I would have. Fortunately for the first part of my predicament I have the ultimate solution, which is completely contradictory to compelling presentation, but ah, fuck it.
It's a time-honored tradition and old ways are best ways, so to start this off I figured I'd give my top ten favorite games.
10. Halo 3 - I'm reluctant to even put this on the list since it's so recent, but I've put as more time into this game than both Morrowind and Oblivion (trust me, that's a lot.) It's so popular that my indie sense goes off and makes me want to hate it, but I keep going back. The multiplayer has an arcade feel to it, reminiscent of Goldeneye, which probably would have been on here, if I could still play FPS on N64 (I don't know how I did it in the first place!)
9. Mario 64 - I was going to write a paragraph about my first experience with this game and the nostalgia involved, but this covered the explanations a while back. Thanks guy.
8. Taiko Drum Master - Those damned squeaky voiced on-screen drums and their plastic controller counterparts were staples of party nights with my friends. We used to talk about how awesome it would be to have other instruments to play before guitar hero came out, then how awesome it would be to combine the two into something akin to having a Rock Band.
7. Incredible Crisis - Music by Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. 'Nuff Said.
6. Final Fantasy 6 - I've resigned to calling this game by it's appropriate title, though it will always be Final Fantasy 3 in my heart. I got in trouble as a kid for staying up late/getting up early to play this game on several occasions. But I mean, come on! You get a yeti in the party! A freaking yeti! And that's after the ninja, the samurai, the guy with the chainsaw, and the laser-spewing robot armor!
5. Fallout - I always loved the story and narrative in not only this game, but it's excellent sequel as well. Admittedly though, my most recent experience with the game has consisted of nothing more than F5, steal, repeat. Who doesn't want four hundred machetes to give to Ian though?
4. Legend of Zelda - The original. The Classic. Those god-damned like-likes. This was my dad and my own favorite game for a long time. The size of the map itself was staggering for its time, and the game came prepackaged with the balls to tell you that once you beat the game you had to do it again, only harder!
3. Bubble Bobble - As soon as you read the words Bubble Bobble, the theme started playing in your head, didn't it? It's infectious, just like the game itself. Even the concept makes me happy: Bubble-blowing dinosaurs traps enemies in bubbles, converting them to fruit, all in an effort to rescue girlfriends from a guy who, in the Japanese version, is called Super Drunk.
2. Mega Man 2 - Arguably one of the easiest games made next to Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers. I've beaten Mega Man 2 more times than I know, and yet I always feel satisfied in doing so. Maybe it's the killer soundtrack. Maybe it's because it is another NES game where you dominate with bubbles.
1. Chrono Trigger - If you know anything about video games, then you knew this game would be on this list somewhere. Final Fantasy 6 may have been my first foray into Square RPGs, but I think it was just secretly getting me ready for this. Sure, a 1000 year old war is cool, but if you let me time travel through it? And I still get to cast Ultima? Oh, I know they call it Luminaire, but I know Ultima when I see it!
