Lurker > Epyo

You either guessed all of them, or none of them!

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#57 Graceful Explosion Machine

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/0/0/AABIPnAADj-o.jpg

This is an indie Defender-like game. You freely move in a small horizontally-wrapping level, enemies are spawning everywhere, and you have to clear them all out.

The combat in this game is oustanding. Each button on your controller is a different weapon or ability, all with different advantages, and they're so well-balanced that, within any 20 second period, you've probably used every single ability, with intention according to the enemies or situations you encountered in that 20 seconds.

And one of the best design choices, is that, enemies drop ammo, and it quickly disappears. So you have to "push forward" instead of backpedal or turtle. Far from the first game to do it, but it's crucial.

Doom Eternal, and this game, are both trying to do similar things with their combat ("push forward" combat, and making you use your whole arsenal), but I think this game generally does those things better! Also 2d games are better. Also no marauder here.

BEST WEAPON: The melee-range spinny attack, it never gets old.

azuarc posted...

All will see!

And I appreciate being able to revise your build in D3 to an extent because *not* being able to do that in Diablo 2 really sucked. I know there are people who ladder characters to max in like 2 hours because they know the game so well, but for a normal person playing the game, that shit takes dozens of hours. And then to have version 1.09 come out and wreck every build in existence? Yeah, I never went back to it after that because none of my characters were playable.

Yeah that's totally fair, there's gotta be some happy medium though! At least make me go to town to respec or something, at an absolute bare minimum.

But yeah, if I had to choose between the way D2 worked and the way D3 worked for this stuff, I'd choose the D3 way every time, 100%. The D2 way is pretty unplayable for me.

Oh I forgot about Deckard... Y'know, people pretty unanimously rag on Diablo 3's story, but I actually liked it a lot.

...I guess I had zero expectations of a good story going in, though, which probably helped a lot!!

Yay page 3, good time for a recap:

100-Winigolf
99-Fall Guys
98-Desktop Tower Defense
97-Desert Golfing
96-Riven
95-Minesweeper
94-Unpacking
93-Doom 3
92-Golf Peaks
91-Hydro Thunder
90-Zelda: A Link to the Past
89-Dusk
88-Trials Evolution
87-Yoku's Island Express
86-Darwinia
85-Wii Sports Resort (Mostly Table Tennis)
84-Sonic Adventure 2
83-Day of the Tentacle
82-Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
81-Pac-Man Arrangement (Arcade Version)
80-Ristar (Genesis Version)
79-Stardew Valley
78-Forager
77-Splatoon
76-Duck Game
75-Super Mario Maker
74-San Francisco Rush 2049 (Dreamcast)
73-F-Zero GX
72-Trackmania (2020 Version)
71-Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
70-Resident Evil: VIIIage
69-World of Goo
68-Metroid Zero Mission
67-Metroid Fusion
66-Halo
65-Defense Grid: The Awakening
64-A Short Hike
63-Minecraft
62-Metroid Prime
61-Doom Eternal
60-Lords of Thunder (Turbografx CD Version)
59-Pokemon Snap
58-Diablo 3

SOME FUN STATISTICS:

• There are 57 games remaining.
• There is 1 game with Golf in the title, remaining.
• There are 0 games with Metroid in the title, remaining.
• There are 7 games with Castlevania in the title, remaining.
• There are ~8 games remaining that I'm pretty sure nobody has ever played, ever.
• There are 4 games remaining where the title is exactly 5 letters.
• There is 1 game left with a symbol in the title that is definitely not a digit, letter, or punctuation mark.

Hiding a boring blizzard game pick at the bottom of page 2 so nobody sees it

#58 Diablo 3

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/4/2/AABIPnAADj6m.jpg

I want to like the Diablo-ARPG genre...however, I don't LOVE the action (standing still to attack sucks!!!) and I don't love the RPG mechanics here either (being able to swap your spec anytime, is kinda lame--no permanent choices...).

BUT ANYWAY Diablo 3's Act 1 has some of my all-time favorite atmosphere of any game. Very outdoor Castlevania, but more fleshed out. Those Tristram chords, the beat-down town on its last stand against hordes of undead spooks and ghosts, the massive mysterious castle on a cliffside... So good.

In addition, the special effects on your abilities in this game, have insanely good JUICE to them. All-time great satifying buttons. My favorite is the wizard's "Arcane Orb", a gigantic slow moving orb, that explodes on impact, blowing up half your screen. I pretty much play the game just for this spell.

Does Diablo 3 actually fully work as a video game? I don't really think so. Dat atmosphere and juice tho!!!

BEST LEVEL: Early Act 3 when you're up on the battlements (screenshot). So cool looking, and chaotic like a fantasy medieval warzone, like Helm's Deep. The rest of Act 3 doesn't quite live up though.

OK, it was REALLY weird feeling, opening up a Longplay of this on YouTube, and trying to press print screen at the right time, to get a decent screenshot for this thread

#59 Pokemon Snap

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/6/8/AABIPnAADj5c.jpg

First, the picture taking part of the game is a wonderful idea, and executed very well.

There's a subtle design trick, that really multiplies the depth of the picture taking game: on each "run" through a stage, you can only choose ONE picture, per pokemon type, to show Professor Oak. So, your understanding of what makes a high-scoring picture, matters arguably just as much, as Oak's score! Brilliant.

But there's an entire separate game they don't warn you about: searching for secrets. It's half the game. Using items to trigger secret events, secret pokemon activities, secret pokemon, secret paths, and unlocking more levels. Secrets and experimentation are two of the best things in games!

And one of my favorite game mechanics/tropes rears its head: that's right, looking for silhouettes, hidden in the terrain of the game itself.

(Warning: Take this ranking with a grain of salt, because I played this game with friends and family, which is always a blast, even with a bad game.)

BEST LEVEL: Beach. Can't beat surfing pikachu.

#60 Lords of Thunder (Turbografx CD Version)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/0/8/AABIPnAADj28.jpg

It's my favorite shmup! I LOVE the idea of the shmup genre...but I find myself bouncing off basically every game. For example, IMO there's usually too big of a punishment for getting hit, for my taste. Or not being allowed to touch walls, eww.

But here you have a pretty big health bar!!! And you get to choose what order you play the levels, so you don't have to keep re-playing level 1, to practice level 2! Genius fundamental design choices in this game.

Furthermore, the levels are *spectacular*, you're going into and out of ruins, caves, castles, buildings, the sky, volcanoes, waterfalls, everything. And the gameplay feels surprisingly different in each level too.

And the music is SIIIIICK metal, like nonstop wailing metal guitar solos.

There's some good strategic depth thanks to the Shop system, which you visit in between levels, too. Also you have a sick melee attack.

BEST LEVEL: Cielom, a level with mountains, and floating castles, at sunset. It's the most intense level, enemies stream in from all sides of the screen; AND, there are these homing fireballs that turn on a dime, so you have to play while kiting them!!!

Oh, yeah, I guess you do tap a lot while hovering. FINE! I will fish BY MYSELF

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#61 Doom Eternal

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/9/9/AABIPnAADjyH.jpg

The great: It might actually be the best looking 3d game on this entire list. It all blows my mind: the environments, the skyboxes, the models, the shooting...insane.

The good: I love the push-forward aspect of the combat, the enemy/weapon balance, and all the abilities having their purpose for resetting ammo/health/cooldowns. It pushes the action shooter genre in an excellent direction. We need way more games like this!!!

The bad: The combat kinda...feels like work. Not much creativity on the player's part, just cycling through the abilities/weapons.

The very bad: The platforming serves no purpose in my opinion. Doesn't synergize with the rest of the game.

The ugly: The story is utter nonsense. I hate it. Big downgrade from Doom 2016.

The very ugly: The marauder. Genuinely game ruining, IMO. Just because it's unlike the other monsters, doesn't mean it's good.

BEST LEVEL: "Mars Core", the one where you get inside the BFG 10k. The level design's gameplay just felt much better than the rest of the game. And, LOVE the part where you're launching from island to island, in space, with gigantic half-destroyed Mars in the background. Masterpiece of a level.

LOL I guess I like pixels more than most people!

azuarc posted...

No fishing for me, thanks. Playing Helicopter/Flappy Bird without seeing the terrain ahead (and getting carpal tunnel if you're clicking for any length of time) is a pass.

WAIT, are you one of the players who thought you had to spam click the button? 'Cause you can actually hold it down! I remember a lot of people getting tripped up by that, if I remember correctly!

Snake5555555555 posted...

FUCK YEAH Village and FUCK YEAH Beneviento. Looks like you caught yourself a big one!

If you like deep dives this is an excellent video on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf_DtmSYtlM&t=2330s

That was fun! He noticed good details I never saw in any of my watchings of this part. Most interesting thing was about, how some of the music was actually stretched out baby crying.

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There are zero more metroid missions on the list, after this one!

#62 Metroid Prime

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/1/AABIPnAADju3.jpg

One of the best feelings in video games, is being alone, exploring some interesting deserted place.

Each zone of Metroid Prime has it's own "flavor" of exploration--the lore-translating of the chozo ruins; the spooky feeling when the power goes out in the phendrana labs; the chill lo-fi vibes of tallon overworld; infiltrating enemy territory in the phazon mines; clumsily stumbling your way through the sideways submerged ship. So flavorful!

The most special thing Metroid Prime does to help make you feel like you're in the world, is all the audio/visual stuff with Samus's suit, like the Visor UI, heat/x-ray visor, like the raindrops/fog in the visor, the noisy jump and double jump, etc. They're all just *cool*.

The combat controls are pretty horrible, but that actually ALSO makes you feel like you're in a weird space suit. So it's good!!

BEST LEVEL: The power outage part of Phendrana. Dang, I guess I'm a sucker for power outages, since I picked the same part for Metroid Fusion.

#63 Minecraft

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/4/3/AABIPnAADjsj.jpg

I don't actually like *playing* minecraft much at all, it's still too sandboxy, not goal-oriented enough. Also I don't like the hunger/stamina design, those were bad additions.

But there are two big reasons I still extremely adore it:

1.I'm a huge fan of procedural generation, and I'd say Minecraft has the #1 "best" proc gen of any game. The blocks give the terrain extra character and detail, making it *more* interesting than real life terrain. I adore the subalgorithms like caves and ravines.

2. I love watching minecraft. From 2013-2016, basically all I did in my free time was watch youtube minecraft. It just does not get old, especially considering the variety of mods, adventure maps, and various multiplayer activities, etc. I *really* enjoyed watching people play coop adventure maps, I'd watch the same let's plays over and over. Still do!!

BEST ALGORITHM: I love those abandoned mines, with the wood and the cave spiders. They look perfectly like mines, and they interact really well with caves and ravines--sometimes the mines even form bridges across a ravine!!!

Oh heeeeeeeelllll yeah!!! That's about 3x as much as I played, and I felt like I played a lot!

Would you be able to pick a "best level"? I found it pretty much impossible... I tried to scrub through some longplays, and I recalled each level being fairly interesting, but none of 'em stuck out as being the best. I just went with the one I usually visualize when I remember the game. (Although it might not exist.)

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#64 A Short Hike

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/6/AABIPnAADjp8.jpg

I think of this game as Breath of the Wild, but 90 minutes long. You explore, find ways to upgrade your stamina meter, until you're able to climb to the top of the mountain...and then it ends!! =]

This is a top 10 best-looking game on the list for me, but I could see others not liking it. Visually, it's like if Wind Waker was on PSX. It's magnificently colorful and cel-shadey, but intentionally low resolution, so the pixels dance nicely.

There's some impressive camera magic going on. It's a game about gliding, in 3d, so you wouldn't expect the game's Isometric camera. I mean, this island is totally covered in cliffs and mountains! But the camera elegantly rotates and tilts and zooms out perfectly, no matter where you explore.

It sounds silly to talk about the camera here, but that IS what makes the game unique. It really is a game-changer for exploration, because if you could see far, it would be too easy to see where you wanna go next. Instead, you stumble upon things, which is more fun.

They should make another Brave Fencer Musashi (PSX). That also had a good 3d top-down look among mountainous areas.

BEST SIDEQUEST: Running races against that runner guy!

The real question is

is the DLC better than the real game?

I kinda think so

This is not quite the last tower defense game on the list:

#65 Defense Grid: The Awakening

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/8/9/AABIPnAADjgx.jpg

There really isn't an obvious big innovation here--Defense Grid is just a really well-executed tower defense game.

It's a surprisingly dry, math-feeling game, partially thanks to a mechanic where every few seconds, you earn Interest from unspent money. So there's an advantage to NOT building towers, just because you CAN.

Levels are huge, complicated 3d structures, and the tower-building spots feel random and very inconveniently placed, so that it's hard to really decide which spots to build upon. Eyeballing the line-of-sight becomes a creative part of the fun.

It also *sometimes* does the Desktop Tower Defense (#98) thing I love, where you build the maze yourself...but not completely freely! Instead, usually there are many built-in paths, and you'll want to strategically block off some of the paths, as best you can, to make a pseudo-maze.

BEST LEVEL: Uhhhh it's been a long time...the only level I *vividly* remember is one that is a HUGE 3d multi-layer spiral, like a helix. It mighta been in one of the DLCs. This is one of the very few video games I actually played the DLCs for.

#66 Halo

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/0/5/AABIPnAADjfd.jpg

It's hard for me to enjoy single player first person shooters when I could just be playing Doom games instead, but these 3 things make it worth re-playing every few years:

1. Grenades. They're like, 75% of the fun of the combat, and having an entire trigger dedicated to them, inherently helps you remember this. Every time you throw a grenade it feels good, the enemies yelling and running, the explosion, and hopefully, the screaming Elite. Not much better in video games than landing a sticky grenade on an elite!

2. The two-slot inventory. I'm surprised more games don't use this, it works so well. What if Breath of the Wild used this strategy, for your main weapons? I think I'd enjoy finding a good sword *even more*, because I know I don't need to hoard it.

3. Enemy infighting. The late game gets especially rad, as there are these big battlefields of flood vs. covenant, giving you a lot of options on how to get through.

BEST LEVEL: Hmm, gotta be level 4, Silent Cartographer, an all-time great single player FPS mission. Storm an island, infiltrate its facility, escape. Also, warthog. (Runner up to level 2 of course, another all-time great.)

Heck yeah I'll watch that. I've definitely watched some other stuff by that guy.

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#67 Metroid Fusion

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/1/5/AABIPnAADjcf.jpg

Turns out, for metroidvanias, "atmosphere" might be even more important than "exploration", because this game's spooky abandoned spaceship has one of the best atmospheres of any metroidvania.

It sounds stupid to add dialogue to a Metroid game, but it ends up serving a useful purpose here: your AI computer tells you way more flavor about each area of the ship, context that makes the exploring more fun... Also it keeps trying to scare you!

It keeps telling you stuff like, "oh god let's never go to this area of the ship...aw crap you have to go in there actually, now, my bad" and "oh that thing you saw, that's a boss, and there's no way you can beat it right now," and "who the HECK gave you permission to explore over there, we did NOT want you to see that really cool stuff you IDIOT!!"

You really never know what's coming next. Even the final 2 bosses are basically jump scares, and BOOM time to fight. I find this game spookier and scarier than Dread by every metric.

(Also, is this the "best looking" Metroid game?? I think it might be!! Look at that tile-work!)

BEST LEVEL: When the power goes out during a normal elevator ride, leading to a big detour. It's a great example of how the game constantly goes "off script" and takes you somewhere you didn't expect.

it's been 15 months since that dunkey video??? feels like yesterday

wallmasterz posted...

Sounds about right

lol

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3 kinda boring picks coming up:

#68 Metroid Zero Mission

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/1/4/AABIPnAADjRi.jpg

Remakes are AWESOME. What's cooler than making a new game? Re-imagining an old game, making it 50 times better, without losing the fundamental soul of the original game and its world. I genuinely would not mind if 50% of all video games were remakes. (NOT remasters or HD upgrades, that's not good enough!)

Zero Mission is proof of the value of the Remake.

Because, Metroid 1 is a fascinating game, it has incredible POTENTIAL. I love the music and atmosphere, and I love its contributions to the metroidvania genre--it's just missing key metroidvania features like a map and lots of powerups... and as a result, Metroid 1 sucks. It's unplayable, today, IMO.

Metroid 1 is ONLY potential.

But through the magic of REMAKEs, Zero Mission lets us see the full potential of the once great Metroid 1! It captures that music and atmosphere, but makes it outstandingly playable. It's now an un-hateable video game, in the most un-hateable genre.

BEST LEVEL: Crateria! So cool to have a new area in Metroid 1.

#69 World of Goo

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/5/6/AABIPnAADjPE.jpg

This is a masterpiece of a bridge constructor game, that was a big hit when "indie games" first started being a popular term.

I guess the main twist over other bridge constructor games, is that you're building LIVE. Each piece you add might suddenly cause a collapse! So the fun part is, adding a piece, seeing everything start to buckle, then adding several more pieces quickly to save it.

Also, each level is a very unexpected scenario. They always introduce some wild new piece, obstacles, hazards, objectives, in fact, all of the above *simultaneously*. It's that indie game trick of "oh you thought you were playing this, but you're actually playing this, now."

Last of all it's an extremely polished game, with perhaps the most mass-appeal of any game I've ever played. I really think any non-gamer would enjoy and adore this game.

BEST LEVEL: Ivy Towers, in the above screenshot, in which you learn to crawl vertically.

#70 Resident Evil: VIIIage

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/2/AABIPnAADjN6.jpg

Let's face it: we love goofy spooky stuff. Genuinely spooky stuff, ehh, is hit-or-miss, depending on the person. But goofy spooky? We all love it!!! It's part of why I love Castlevania, too.

And I reckon RE8 is the modern peak of goofy spooky. It's downright ECLECTIC! The game's charming characters cover the goofy spooky spectrum: we've got the sexy vampire family, the crazy doll, the mutated fish monster, we've got wolf people, werewolves, zombies, bug women, gargoyles, tall women, everyone's here! And they're perfect. The named villains are all incredibly lovable.

But let's also appreciate, RE8 has a lot of lovable pure GOOFINESS, without any spook involved. The duke? The ball physics puzzles?? Ethan's crappy dialogue??? "Why does everyone keep dying on me??????"

BEST LEVEL: The Beneviento house, which impressively manages to be genuinely scary, but you can't help but grin after it's over. After finishing the game I watched at least 4 streamers play through this part, just so I could enjoy it again.

Finally a castlevania game...

#71 Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/3/3/AABIPnAADjCN.jpg

What's special about it, is how little it holds your hand, with the map and exploration. The map is *packed* with locked doors, side paths, dead ends, and general confusion. If you were someone who was disappointed in Metroid Dread's habit of locking off parts of the map to help you, well, this game is the opposite--you'll constantly be walking 20 mins in the wrong direction.

There's also a confusing mid-game surprise mechanic with the castle, that I quite like, although most people don't (I like how it fits with the story). But confusion IS something I'm looking for in a metroidvania, and this game has it.

Part of what makes getting lost not painful here (IMO), is the TWO dash buttons (L and R), making travelling fast and satisfying. More games need this.

I really enjoy the atmosphere of the game--it's as gothic as the series gets, even more than SotN, and I actually really like the ominous soundtrack, although I wouldn't listen to most of it on my own. The story, is not great, but it IS unsettlingly creepy in a way I like.

BEST SONG: "Offense and Defense", probably in my top 10 castlevania tracks (uhhh well let's say top 10%, stiff competition).

Are you sure you have the right phantom road?? 'Cause I agree the story mode one is the worst!

But yeah Multiplex is so many people's favorite course, I dunno why I don't get it... I do like the right angle U turns in it, I will say, after watching a video to remember it.

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Last racing game for a while!!

#72 Trackmania (2020 Version)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/3/AABIPnAADjBl.jpg

High skill-ceiling online multiplayer game, BUT ALSO extremely chill casual friendly game. Sounds too good to be true!

If you don't know how it works, you're on a server with like 40 other people, on a wacky race course (probly user-created), and you have 6 minutes to clock the best time you can. You can instantly reset and try again whenver you want, but at the end of the 6 minutes, whoever has the best time wins.

For me, it's all about the chilling with random people in chat, trying to get as high on the scoreboard as I can (I never come in 1st, basically), judging the map (it's an endless stream of user-created maps), and listening to the server's built-in tunes along with everyone else.

You're not *really* competing, you're pushing each other to do better! In fact if someone sets a pretty-high-score on the server, people congratulate them. You don't see that in many games!!

Scoreboard chasing reminds me of old online shooters, when people didn't take winning so seriously, you just looked at your own score and did a little better every game.

BEST LEVEL: Star Wars Metallica, duh.

"Dance of Pales" from Symphony of the Night (in fact, it is sometimes translated as "Waltz of Pearls" or "Waltz of the Pearls"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oquad3rnZSI

and ANOTHER RACING GAME!

#73 F-Zero GX

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/3/9/AABIPnAADi_L.jpg

I can't believe anyone gives a crap about other single player racing games, when F-Zero GX exists.

Maybe I am just a sucker for fast games with high framerates. But WOW what an experience F-Zero GX is, I just played through it this year and it's still a blast.

OK, what else besides the thrilling visuals and super tight controls...

The story mode is really creative and cool! 10 interesting specially-designed courses with some neat story exposition for each one. Not sure why more racing games don't have this. (As everyone knows, it's a little too hard... That's kinda cool too though.)

BEST LEVEL: "Phantom Road: Slim-Line Slits" is super exciting and chaotic, it's so narrow that you're basically bouncing off walls non-stop. And the rainbowiness of it looks cool. (Not to be confused with story mode's Phantom Road track, which sux).

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ALSO here is my complete ranking of the tracks!!

Favorites
Phantom Road: Slim-Line Slits
Outer Space: Meteor Stream (high speed, insanely cool looking)
Lightning: Half Pipe (great concept, looks cool, has thrilling lack of walls but not TOO dangerous)
Aeropolis: Screw Drive (omg you can pretty much hold down the booster button)

Awesome
Lightning: Loop Cross (looks very cool, love all the extremely smooth curves)
Green Plant: Spiral (a wacky unpredictable adventure, love the god rays)
Lightning: Thunder Road (a wacky adventure but maybe too easy)
Sand Ocean: Lateral Shift (great concept, exciting, maybe a little too dangerous)
Port Town: Aero Dive (not sure why I like it so much)

Good
Casino Palace: Split Oval (lots of floor boosties!!)
Fire Field: Undulation (hilarious concept)
Mute City: Serial Gaps (extremely exciting grand prix finale, so hard to win)
Big Blue: Ordeal (pretty exciting grand prix finale, good adventure)
Aeropolis: Dragon Slope (wacky adventure, but has some boring parts)
Port Town: Cylinder Wave (too much memorization of floor boosts, but a pretty good wacky adventure)

It's OK
Fire Field: Cylinder Knot (too much memorization of floor boosts)
Port Town: Long Pipe (good ideas, but kinda repetitive)
Mute City: Twist Road (nice and simple, but maybe too simple)
Big Blue: Drift Highway (nice and simple, but maybe too simple)
Aeropolis: Multiplex (can't remember it very well even after playing it twice)
Sand Ocean: Surface Slide (kinda too long, kinda dull)

Don't Like It That Much
Cosmo Terminal: Trident (so long, so narrow, and basically no walls ever, which means I can't go fast)
Mute City: Sonic Oval (too simple, also it's not in a grand prix)
Green Plant: Mobius Ring (too simple AND a little too long to be so simple)
Casino Palace: Double Branches (SO LONG, and I hate the narrow part with no walls)
Green Plant: Intersection (so long, so repetitive, needs more floor boosts)

#74 San Francisco Rush 2049 (Dreamcast Version)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/9/4/AABIPnAADi1G.jpg

The local deathmatch is the main reason this makes the list, I love it so much. I think the key thing, is the weapon balance and weapon placement. Some of the weapons are absurdly powerful (e.g. the one-hit-kill homing missles). BUT they have a small clip (e.g. 3 shots), then someone else can grab it where it spawns.

So the meta is to *camp* the strongest weapon to keep control of it. But then players can avoid the area, or bring a good counter--like a defensive powerup, or, the worst weapon, a melee Rammer, is often a good counter--it blocks most strong attacks.

Or if you just get skilled with some of the weaker weapons, you can just rely on those...depending on the map.

There's also a "Stunt" mode and a "Racing" mode. They're really fun played as intended, but the best thing about 'em is is how huge and exploration-friendly the maps are, and how fun it is find the devilishly placed collectibles in them, which take some dexterity to get.

BEST LEVEL: The Stunt stage called "Disco", in the screenshot above. Just a giant techno skatepark, but for cars. It was on a demo disc, and we played it so much we just HAD to get the game.

(Warning: Take this ranking with a grain of salt, because I played this game with friends and family in 4 PLAYER MODE, which is always a blast, even with a bad game.)

#75 Super Mario Maker

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/1/1/AABIPnAADizz.jpg

I think designing video game levels, is the most brain-stimulating activity that exists. I reckon, the only reason I'm not a complete idiot today, is all the time I spent as a kid, making crappy levels in Doom, Bugworld, Chu Chu Rocket, and other games I can't remember.

And turns out, Mario is the perfect venue for level design practice, the interactions between components is just begging for experimentation and creativity.

The biggest innovation here is how it shuffles your levels to people, via the "100 Mario Challenge" mode, and you'll find out if they liked it. That feedback loop is how you actually get good at something! In any other game, finding people to play your level is a huge struggle.

It's too bad actually playing the 100 Mario Challenge is kinda torture. You kinda have to go in with an open mind. Don't expect to have fun. Just enjoy getting inside the gaming mind of some psycho stranger out there.

Also, ESPORTS!!!! Those Mario Blind Relay Races at recent GDQs are my favorite esports events I've ever seen, and the SGDQ 2022 ones were my favorite GDQ segments I've ever seen!!

BEST THEME: I really like the SMB1 + ghost house theme. For the novelty of course, but also the atmosphere is great, silly spooky, and it goes well with SMB1's more careful gameplay style. (Runner up, SMB1 + airship)

andylt posted...

I haven't played the original Hydro Thunder but I played Hurricane recently as it was free, it's a very fun time. Viking gods, dinosaurs, aliens, what's not to love?

Omg I totally forgot :Hurricane existed, I didn't have the right console when it came out. I need to go back and play that.

(And yeah why is Pac Man Arrangement so unheard of...)

Johnbobb posted...

I'd also highly recommend Ultimate Chicken Horse for that local competitive multiplayer madness

YES the friend I played Duck Game with, at that time, we were also playing the heck out of Ultimate Chicken Horse, Lethal League, Wii Sports Resort Table Tennis, and ummmmm maybe a game or 2 later in the list.

Arti posted...

FUCK MORAY TOWERS

LOL. I blame the dumb thing they did where they only had 2 maps in the rotation, and only switched to 2 new maps every, like, 4 hours, or whatever.

#76 Duck Game

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/2/6/AABIPnAADiw6.jpg

Some say that a game is a series of interesting decisions, and that's true. But that person forgot about the quack button.

I'm 100% serious. I don't really need depth, I don't need complexity, I don't need innovation. All of those are nice, but what I actually *need* is a button that quacks. I need buttons that feel good every time I hit them. That is the purpose of video games. Buttons that feel good.

I've only played this game by having 1-on-1 fights with a friend, but every time we play, I laugh so hard I cry. Every time we kill each other, it just gets funnier and funnier.

One of the best thing that happens constantly is when you both die simultaneously!! So classic. Better yet, when you both trap each other in Nets simultaneously, and are mashing buttons to escape first. More games need to encourage silly outcomes like this.

BEST LEVEL: Tiny platform, net guns only. As soon as that level appears on the screen, my eyes light up.

(Warning: Take this ranking with a grain of salt, because I played this game ONLY with friends and family, which is always a blast, even with a bad game.)

Funny story, I had Super Mario Galaxy 2 up next, but I just couldn't find enough good things to say about it, besides the graphical style. And I couldn't find a level good enough to be a favorite...so I'm just removing it from the list, lol!!

I thought it was one of my all time favorites...but maybe I want to like it, more than I actually do...

It's ok though, there's a game I'm putting back in my top 10, that I originally disqualified entirely, because you can't play it anymore. I'll just remove that rule.

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#77 Splatoon

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/9/4/AABIPnAADij6.jpg

The single player actually reminds me a lot of the creativity of Mario Galaxy 1+2...but maybe better. 3D Mario's abilities, just aren't as satisfying as Splatoons's (Mario Galaxy bee suit sux tbh). And the fun squid movement and the ink guns let you interact with the levels in smooth wacky ways.

And then Turf War (the main online mode) is genius game design, IMO. The area control is fun itself of course, but in addition, I love that gaining turf is the main way to build your "ult"--as opposed to games like Overwatch, where winning fights gets you Ults, so win you more fights, etc, leading to steamroll matches.

Steamroll rounds are IMO one of the biggest problems with online matchmade games, but it really doesn't feel like a big issue in Splatoon--especially since it always feels like you can gain just enough turf in the last 10 seconds to win. Also best of all: the matches are like 3 minutes long. Can't be mad with 3 minute matches.

If the netcode wasn't horrible, this might be in my top 20.

I have Splatoon 1 instead of 2 here, only because I spent more time with 1. Maybe 2 is better. I should really play that 2 DLC.

BEST LEVEL: The turf war maps are all quite good!! I think I will go with Moray Towers (see picture), I have fond memories of it, and it's an extremely unique map design, for online shooters. Iconic, even.

#78 Forager

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/9/0/AABIPnAADigu.jpg

This is like Stardew Valley, but with all the heart taken out. No heart, barely any story, barely any dialog. (So...way more up my alley!)

Instead, it's all about systems, and upgrades. Non-stop. So many upgrades your brain can't even keep up. "I can mine these rocks HOW FAST NOW?? OH IM GONNA BE RICH!" That happens every 5 minutes.

And then a minute later, they introduce another gameplay system, and you're like, WTF this is in the game too?? Sweet!!! You can't even believe how many little systems are in the game. Are they good? Who cares, you don't even have time to think about whether they're good, they just handed you another one.

I've always wanted to get into the Factorio genre, but I don't have the energy, after my day job. But, Forager gives me a fraction of that genre's satisfaction, for a fraction of the effort.

BEST LEVEL: Uhhhhhh I dunno there's a spooky biome that's pretty cute I guess. Gravestones instead of rocks, kinda funny.

Well here's one you know!

# 79 Stardew Valley

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/0/2/AABIPnAADicO.jpg

I am NOT a fan of the harvest moon genre, and, i HATE games with a lot of dialog.

But Stardew has so much *heart*, you HAVE to love it. I think I have a giant soft spot for games made by extremely small teams, especially one-person teams. You can just FEEL the developer's passion, for what they love about video games. It warms my heart.

In hindsight, I don't even know if I actually *like* most of the individual parts of this game. But it's how they come together as a whole, that makes it. However, I DO like the community center checklists, those are crucially great.

BEST ACTIVITY: Best fishing in any game, by 1000 miles, for me. Put it in WoW please. If this game was just a fishing-themed game, I might have liked it even more.

#80 Ristar (Sega Genesis Version)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/7/4/AABIPnAADiXG.jpg

This game is "what if sonic 3's game structure, but with better gameplay?? Also maybe the best music on the genesis???"

I think this has the best "platformer gameplay" of the 16-bit era. It turns out, you can make levels much more interesting, if you just add an "interact" button--in this case, the fun Grab mechanic (i.e. SMB2 USA). Grab enemies, grab hooks and fling yourself off of them, grab and carry keys, grab monkey bars, ladders, pulleys, whatever. Opens the design space, but doesn't overcomplicate or slow things down, like Yoshi's Island's egg throwing kinda does.

Also, like a good sonic game, the levels have multiple paths through them, and have secrets to look for, for replayability. The secret bonus stages, are super fun short "speedrun stages", 100% worth finding and playing (unlike any Sonic special stage ever).

(Also this is gonna sound weird, but the intermission cutscene+music, when you travel between zones? Ridiculously satisfying. Ristar players know what I'm talking about.)

BEST LEVEL: Zone 5 Act 1, basically ice cap zone. Good mainly because the boss is a snowball fight against your rival--how cute is that!!!!! All the act 1 bosses in this game are really good, they're less like bosses and more like unexpected little challenges.

I didn't play Grim Fandango :c (or the Monkey Islands!) Maybe you're right and it's better!

LinkMarioSamus posted...

I kind of meant for that to be a complement of a sort? They're diet in so far as not being as fleshed out due to not being the whole game.

LOL yeah after I walked away I thought, wait, I only drink diet soda, why did I think that was a bad thing.

But yeah they do remind me of Mario 64 now that you mention it, being open playgrounds and all.

They should make a Mario 64 randomizer that hides stars in unusual places, and provides clues somehow. I bet that already exists.

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#81 Pac-Man: Arrangement (Arcade Version)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/0/3/AABIPnAADiUb.jpg

Pac-Man (in general) plays perfectly, and I expect it always will. I'm never not in the mood for some Pac-Man. It's just too fun to dodge ghosts and eat pellets. I don't even need the power pellet part of the game, that part is just icing on the cake (but it is very good icing though!).

As much as I think speedrunning is super cool and the ultimate test of human skill, I find mastery of Pac-Man just as awe-inspiring. Speed is cool, but the tactics of managing those ghosts perfectly is fascinating, to me.

My Game Pac of choice is "Pac-Man: Arrangement". I think the main innovation in it is fantastic: there is a 5th nerdy ghost, and the other ghosts can eat him! ...And if they do, they *level up* into stronger taller versions of themselves, with abilities. For example, if the red ghost levels up, he gets a long-range dash attack! So you really wanna eat that 5th ghost whenever you see him!

In addition, Pac-Man Arrangement looks cool as hell, it's got this colorful top-down art style I've never seen before (love the occasional stairs), and after 20 unique levels, it ends with a decent boss fight! I've never made it that far without using a Continue though.

BEST LEVEL: Level 3-2 is a hedge maze (cool) with a ton of dash panels (fun) and very few walls (easy!). (4-3 and 4-4 are the coolest looking levels though, inside a temple.)

LinkMarioSamus posted...

Treasure hunting stages in SA2 are diet Mario 64.

Whaaaaaaaaaa but the randomization! That's the best part!!

--------------------------

#82 Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/8/AABIPnAADiPg.jpg

I loved how in Zelda Breath of the Wild, there was the encyclopedia of animal species, and you could take camera pics of each species to fill out the book... This is an entire game about that exact mechanic!!! Which is AWESOME.

In addition it's extremely cute. You're a little 5 year old kid, so all the adults are super nice to you. Meanwhile there's a corporation trying to build a big building on a wetland, and you're trying to convince everybody to stop them.

I came for the satisfying catch-em-all-style photography, I stayed for the endearing feel-good underdog story.

Also, extremely soothing sound effects and atmosphere. The Witness vibes, but better.

BEST LEVEL: The early stuff with the Dolphin is probably my favorite part. I planned to just check the game out, but that part was adorable and hooked me.

OOH and we're on page 2 so here's a recap:

100-Winigolf
99-Fall Guys
98-Desktop Tower Defense
97-Desert Golfing
96-Riven
95-Minesweeper
94-Unpacking
93-Doom 3
92-Golf Peaks
91-Hydro Thunder
90-Zelda: A Link to the Past
89-Dusk
88-Trials Evolution
87-Yoku's Island Express
86-Darwinia
85-Wii Sports Resort
84-Sonic Adventure 2
83-Day of the Tentacle

Denji posted...

This is a very fun list so far

Aww thanks!

wallmasterz posted...

Got all 180 emblems in SA2B for GameCube back in the day. Fun times

Jeez that's impressive, my siblings spent forever on it and didn't even get halfway.

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#83 Day of the Tentacle

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/3/6/9/AABIPnAADiKh.jpg

I've played a fair share of point-and-click adventure games from the 80s/90s/00s, and this is my favorite by far.

Yeah, figuring out what to do, is still mostly using every item in your inventory, on every screen, until something works... HOWEVER the solution is either inherently funny, has a hilarious animation, or, has a memorable voice line from a nearby character, about what you just did.

The voice-acted dialogue is my favorite in probably any video game. Each character's voice is a lovable absurd charicature, burned into my memory. There are some dumb voice lines that still pop into my mind once a month ("what was your wife's name again? sandy. oh, yeah.").

It's vaguely Bill & Ted as a cartoon game: a time-travel comedy plot, with slacker teens begrudgingly saving the world. But it's all in one location, which improves the time-travel puzzles, by using the video game puzzle trope of "change it in the past, to change it in the future".

BEST LEVEL: The "Past" is my favorite, pranking on the founding fathers as they try to write the declaration or whatever.

#84 Sonic Adventure 2

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/6/4/AABIPnAADiFw.jpg

This makes the list for two reasons.

Reason #1 is City Escape, which is one of the best first levels ever. Mostly because of the song, yes. But some credit to its playfulness and surprises--snowboarding down concrete streets, grinding on stuff, running from a giant truck. It's just fun.

Reason #2 is all of the Knuckles stages. I think these stages are underrated and genius. They're intricate enough that you have to do a little bit of experimental problem solving to find the 3 emeralds to win, e.g. oh maybe I need to change the water level, or oh maybe I need to find a rocket that takes me 2000 feet upward. And since the placement is random, the replayability is much better than the other levels in the game.

I used to often find myself opening up my Sonic Adventure 2 file, just specifically to go re-play Aquatic Mine, Pumpkin Hill, and Meteor Herd, for no reason but to enjoy them. Or maybe I just wanted to hear the absurd Knuckles raps.

Also chao gardening is weird and good.

BEST LEVEL: Meteor Herd. It's so tall!! I love to go to the top, and do a Knuckles Digging Dive alllll the way to the bottom, straight into the dirt.

#85 Wii Sports Resort (Mostly Table Tennis)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/8/3/AABIPnAADh5j.jpg

I love ping pong in real life, but embarrassingly, I somehow like Wii Sports Resort's Table Tennis a little bit *more*.

(Warning: Take this ranking with a grain of salt, because I played this game with friends and family, which is always a blast, even with a bad game.)

Even playing against the AI in ping pong is great. You can quickly figure out an unbeatable combo (hit far left, then far right), but soon the game will give you AI opponents that are *ready* for that and take advantage of it. Then it gets deeper, as you figure out the spin techniques and player positioning!

At the start of a volley, the game really helps you keep the ball on the table--aim wherever you want, it'll work. BUT as the volley goes on, the players start backing away, now you can easily miss the table...but you do still WANT to aim far left or right, to get your opponent out of position.

The other sports are fine. I'm pretty into the 2-player 3v3 basketball too: a basketball game where you cannot move--everyone is stationary. It doesn't really work, but it is fascinating!

BEST LEVEL: There's one high-level AI that ONLY BACKSPINS, (the FREAK), which keeps the ball in the air super long. It seems like a terrible strategy...and yet, it's really hard to beat!!!

#86 Darwinia

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/1/0/AABIPnAADh22.jpg

This is one of the first non-Valve games ever on Steam. I haven't heard anyone mention it since like 2008. The game's ID on steam is a lowly 1500!

I like the look of any game whose terrain looks like Rollercoaster Tycoon's grid.

It fascinating because it is hard to describe. It controls like a top-down RTS, but you're constantly taking direct control of attack squads and turrets to get stuff done, so it's a micromanagement action game more than a strategy game. But you also have to gently guide these hordes of pikmin (darwinians), so that's a macro aspect.

It's all about the campaign though, a short adventure with a good variety in the level design & objectives. Each level's gameplay is very different, sometimes you're just controlling one little fighting squad through a big action stage, or sometimes you're carefully escorting a small group of pikmin, or sometimes you're generating hordes of pikmin and making them take over the map, etc.

I believe they just re-worked the game to run good on modern computers! That's really nice of them, for such an old game.

BEST LEVEL: Stage 8, Pattern Buffer, in the above screenshot. If I remember correctly, this level has the biggest fights of hordes of your green darwinians versus giant hordes of bad red darwinians

#87 Yoku's Island Express

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/6/7/AABIPnAADh2L.jpg

A traditional metroidvania, but pinball instead of combat. One of the best ideas, anyone has ever had.

It seems SO HARD to make an action game without combat, but it seems SO IMPORTANT to me to have more video games like this, to expand the appreciation of video games, to way more people. I feel like video games could be so much more than they are, if we find more ways to get away from combat. Overcooked is another example where I play it and think, ughhhh we need 50x more video games like this.

Is the game good? It's pretty good yeah, not the best metroidvania, but good. But the uniqueness is enough to make me worship the game enough to put it on the list.

I always liked Sonic Spinball too, even though, it's way too hard, which makes it way too hard to actually like it. Yoku is nice and easy though, hard to dislike it.

BEST LEVEL: Hmm hard to say...I guess just, the foresty areas in the beginning, have the most pinball feel. Later in the game, they try to get fancy, and sometimes it's not pinball anymore.

Yeaaah I bet I would love the randomizers, just have to sit down and actually do it, and maybe crank down the difficulty.

Snake5555555555 posted...

You are a legend for having DUSK on here.

Yesss. It is very underappreciated.

I have to admit, it took me a couple years to buy it, because when I first saw it on a Giant Bomb stream, it looked terrible.

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#88 Trials Evolution

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/9/5/AABIPnAADhqH.jpg

First of all, there are not enough games using this 2.5D style (sidescroller gameplay in a 3d world, e.g. Klonoa). So that alone makes these games rock.

Besides that, it's a platformer where you're on a motorbike! What's not to like! Motorbikes in videogames RULE, every time. The excellent physics and level design give the game a lot of depth and skill ceiling, but also, you're challenged only according to your skill level. You don't have to get Gold on every level...unless you WANT to. Genius.

These games also have a great sense of humor (explosions are funny, basically), that just put you in a great mood.

I chose "Evolution" over the newer "Fusion" and "Rising", because those games added a lot of distractions like in-game shops and Ubisoft currency garbage. Evolution really focuses on the gameplay.

I don't enjoy these games as much lately, because I'm into high framerates, and I think these are capped at 60fps sadly.

BEST LEVEL: Gigatrack. It's actually pretty boring, but the shtick is that it's just really long, like 6-10 minutes. Turns out, it's REALLY FUN to play Trials for that long without being interrupted!!! Nothing else actually mattress.

azuarc posted...

Ever try rando?

Like randomizers?? I've watched a lot of streams with them, I do enjoy watching. I struggle with the real path through the game, though, and randomizers seem like they make it even harder, usually?

That's why the Dreamcast was soooo good, so many great Arcade ports!

wallmasterz posted...

That Zelda hintI think Im picking up on a little extra meaning with that word choice

Hehehe.

(Actually I haven't played that game =S I just like referencing it anyway. I bet I would like it though, I like time loops, and games that are underappreciated. Although I don't like the N64 so maybe not.)

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#89 Dusk

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/7/0/AABIPnAADhoK.jpg

Dusk is an indie single player FPS, that is clearly inspired by classic Doom and Quake. I'm a huge Doom fan, so this looked right up my alley...

...And it totally is! Actually it's more Quake than Doom, having low-poly 3d models, chunky pixels, and Quake-like weapons. But I would say it IS much better than Quake. Quake is a good-feeling engine, but the design of Quake's levels, monsters, and guns, are just kinda bad. Dusk fixes that...by being Quake with better levels, monsters, and guns!

It sounds unimportant, but when you press R to reload...there's no reloading in the game, so you just spin your guns. It feels really really good. It's a magic "I'm having fun" button.

The atmosphere is surprisingly good--the first few levels feel like the Village section of RE4 (good!). In fact, now that I think about it, the chainsaw burlap sack zombies from RE4 are a common recurring enemy in Dusk.

BEST LEVEL: The Escher Labs. Several unexpected level designs/themes help this game stand out from other "throwback" fast FPSes of recent years, and this was definitely one of 'em.

OK here's an orthodox one though

#90 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/5/1/AABIPnAADhmT.jpg

Obviously LttP is legendary, *and*, I extremely love the Top-Down Action genre. In theory this should be in my, like, top 10 all time. I LOVE swinging the sword in this game. It feels GREAT. Throwing that boomerang is WHY I PLAY VIDEO GAMES basically.

The dark world song? Basically the best vg song ever. The art style? Beautiful, timeless, perfect.

HOWEVER. Somehow, I have a lot of complaints that bring it down the list. I...don't really like the overworld (feels smol to me, yet still annoying to traverse), the dungeons (kinda annoying), the adventure (I get stuck a lot), the secrets (the useful ones are very hard to find IMO), and don't like the rewards and items that much, besides the sword and boomerang.

So basically, a little too much of a cryptic adventure, not quite enough action, for my taste. (Yet STILL gets onto the list, because it's still that good!!)

BEST LEVEL: Tower of Hera. I like the falling through floors stuff. The wormy boss is excellent too, and exciting with the risk of falling out of the fight.

(2 more zelda games remain)

CoolCly posted...

You have a lot of real unorthodox shit up in here

Thanks lol! I had no idea, I really thought all of these were mega-famous, especially Winigolf and Desktop Tower Defense. OK, maybe not Hydro Thunder.

azuarc posted...

My friend and I played this co-op, and when we got to hell and all our equipment was taken -- when ammo hadn't exactly been plentiful before -- we were struggling. I picked up a chainsaw, looked at him, and said, let's go. I then proceeded to charge in like crazy, sawing anything up that I could get near, which is not at all how I play FPS games. I'm more of the cautious, slow approach type. He struggled to keep up, and somehow I managed to survive through it.

Oh I forgot they take away all your stuff, that is a really great touch. Doom 1 does the same thing when you reach hell. Hopefully you made the chainsaw ringingingigning sound with your mouth while rampaging 0:)

Johnbobb posted...

(Unpacking spoilers) I just finished the level where she moved back home to her tiny room after separating with her boyfriend/husband and it broke my heart

The little details in this game or so good though. The fact that it wouldn't let you finish that level until you took down the picture of her and the boyfriend off the wall and stored it in a closed drawer was just devastating

Yesss, probably a better choice for "Best Level", but I wanted to avoid spoiling. And I really like the level I picked too, gameplay-wise, so, close enough.

#91 Hydro Thunder

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/8/5/AABIPnAADhaV.jpg

By replacing cars with boats, you just end up with a more interesting racing game. It's just true. I genuinely believe all racing games should use boats instead.

The turbulence in the water means taking a turn is more interesting--if you're bouncing too much, you'll have trouble, so you have to pay attention to waves and timing.

And, different boat designs are gonna clearly handle differently physically, so no more looking at wheel stats, or whatever, I don't know.

Track design can be really ridiculous, you can put giant ramps, and jumps, and cliffs in the level, and it's no big deal, because boats can safely land in water and flip themselves right-side-up afterward. (Indeed, this game has some wild tracks, such as "New York Disaster", an apocalyptic adventure.)

You can also add tons of shortcuts where you jump your boat upward, and it skims across some ground into somewhere cool, and that's awesome, everybody loves cool video game secrets.

It's just better!

BEST LEVEL: Nile Adventure. One innovation in this game is, most of the tracks are epic one-way adventures (not lap-based), like Mount Wario in Mario Kart 8. Nile Adventure is the longest one of these!

MrSmartGuy posted...

1,519 holes into Golf on Mars and I just now learn that there's a spin mechanic. OK.

OMG!!!!

I bet that's not uncommon though! I bet I was 100-200 holes in before realizing.

#92 Golf Peaks

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/4/2/AABIPnAADhYG.jpg

Golf Peaks is an unexpected collision of three things that I love!

1. I love mini golf (as evidenced by this list so far). I'm still waiting for my dream mini golf video game to exist. (The ones on the list are good though!)

2. I also love those real-life physical logic puzzle games like "Rush Hour", where they give you 40 puzzles, plastic pieces, simple actions you're allowed to take, and you mess around with it 'til you figure it out. This is basically one of those, but without all the hassle.

3. I also love card games, especially "solitaire" card games like this. I've even designed a bunch in my spare time!

So, as long as they didn't add anything annoying, this game was bound to be great. And it is! There's nothing annoying about it! Huzzah.

BEST LEVEL: I guess I like Chapter 2, when it's all still just grass and walls. Most pure!

OK I'm 20 minutes into What the Golf. It's pretty good! I'm not crazy about it, but maybe I'll like it more as I go. Yep I probably wouldn't even classify it as a golf game...

Johnbobb posted...

I'm playing Unpacking right now!

Nice lol!! Hope I didn't spoil anything =]

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#93 Doom 3

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/8/3/AABIPnAADhXL.jpg

As a first person shooter, yeah, it's nothing special. In fact, the combat is garbage, compared to the gameplay of original Doom.

But as a lonely atmospheric flashlight adventure, it's good! It's been said that Lighting can make the difference between a good game and a bad game, and I think iD Software must have taken that personally... And it paid off!

The game is about making players enjoy the lighting system--the story, the environment (an underground shadowy Mars base), creatures popping out of dark corners... It's a game where you NEED to turn off your IRL lights, and enjoy the in-game lights...

...And you should also put on headphones, to enjoy the sound of vents, pistons, and clanks. Half the enjoyment of the game is the clanks. There might be more mysterious clanking noises in Doom 3 than any other video game!

Another nice thing is, unlike other Doom games, you get to experience the sudden and mysterious demonic invasion (usually Doom games start *after* the fact). This makes it exciting to watch the base go from normal to totally wrecked, throughout the game. I actually even enjoy the audio logs--spooky stories that make the base feel more haunted!

BEST LEVEL: Hell. It's so euphoric to get there, after SO MANY levels of tech bases. But yeah, they also did a great job on it.

Oops! Yeah just the numbers are off by one. Thank you!!!

Johnbobb posted...

predicting What The Golf and Golf Story as the other two

Aww I haven't played What the Golf, it looked really good though!! I think I was playing WoW or something nonstop when that came out, and I never got around to it... Maybe I'll play it now.

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#94 Unpacking

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/4/5/AABIPnAADhKF.jpg

The second-newest game on the list (I think)! This is that pixel art game where you unpack someone's stuff, from moving boxes, over and over again, as they grow up through life.

There's a skinner box going on here: every time you click a moving box, and a fresh item pops out that you need to place, it's a pleasant surprise. What's gonna come out next?? Something new? Something you recognize and have unpacked 5 times? That's what makes it excellent, for me.

But yeah, the creativity and light puzzle solving is good too, and the pixel art can be pretty heart-melting. Great music too.

And it just really makes you think about life. I was mildly close tears for most of the game--not for any particular reason, but just because it fundamentally triggered some deep sentimental nostalgia about life itself, for me. It's a really unique profound feeling!!

BEST LEVEL: The one with the cosplay outfit in the living room. It just seemed like a really fun place to live for our hero, and I'm envious of it.

#94 Minesweeper

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/8/4/AABIPnAADhGA.jpg

I'm not a Tetris fan, but I *think* people like Tetris for the same reasons I like Minesweeper.

At first, it seems like a decent spatial/mathematical logic puzzle, with the convenient feature that it generates new puzzles endlessly.

But as you quickly master the puzzle, it transforms into a skill-based, fast pattern recognition game, with a high skill ceiling. The faster your brain can internalize the logic, the faster you go. Mouse dexterity becomes a big part of it too!! If I had to pick a game to "get really into speedrunning", I think I'd choose Minesweeper.

The big flaw in the game of course, is the 50/50 chance situations like in my screenshot above. Almost a dealbreaker, but I've heard this is fixable with mods.

BEST LEVEL: Expert level! The others are a little too easy--big numbers don't show up often enough.

Props to Karl Jobst's video about minesweeper speedrunning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kWCfzJVVU

Thanks lol! The hardest part about write-ups is not making them too long... It's so fun to write about good games!

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#95 Riven: The Sequel to Myst

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/4/4/AABIPnAADhFY.jpg

I love the general concept of Myst--an immersive world of thematic logic puzzles, and an underlying "Myst"ery. Totally into it.

However, the original game's environments and story, are a little corny for me--the environments in the game were designed by an in-game character, to teach his sons some lessons, or something like that. As a result, the environments feel...like they were designed by some dad, as a lesson. So, fake, and corny. Not exactly immersive.

"Riven" improves upon this by having a way more interesting story and believable world to figure out. These are worlds with interesting alien cultures!

The whole point is that you have to understand the cultures to solve the puzzles, as opposed to being arbitrary logic puzzles (like some other games in the genre).

There are a couple of games very similar to Riven, all the way up in this list's top 20...

BEST PUZZLE: Figuring out an alien race's number system, by messing around with a weird Hangman toy you find in a schoolroom.

#96 Desert Golfing

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/6/4/AABIPnAADhCk.png

This is the only application I've ever enjoyed on a phone. I don't like using phones for anything.

But this game is just casual enough for me to pull it out, while waiting for the check at a restaurant, to play a couple holes, and put it away. The ultimate instant satisfaction game.

I'm also a big fan of procedural generation, and this is an all-time great usage of it, IMO. I just want to keep playing just to see what the next one looks like. And the next one!

(I also like the sequel Golf on Mars, but I think applying spin eventually gets tedious, and I end up going back to the more pure original.)

BEST LEVEL: I played one recently with a death pit, where you HAD to bounce the ball off of the far vertical wall of the pit. It was required, due to an overhang on the near wall, above the hole!!!