your favourite five games.

[ste]

simple topic. five favourite games, for whatever reason. it might be a game you got for christmas and it's filled with the power of santa and snow. it might be something you've gone back to and found out to be shit. it might be something you've been playing every year since 1989 and still not completed. it might be a card game. anything, with unashamed reasons.

i must consider this.

[Andrew*]

- Alex the Kidd - I just love this game. I used to find it really, really hard and it still kind of is. There was something scary about the game as well with the mummy, evil forest mokeys, those damn scary wizards and the castle in the sky at the end. Also he has pointy ears like me.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic and Knuckles combined - I know this is two games, but they can be combined so it kind of makes one game. The combination of the 2 creates a really big long game which you can do with 3 different characters and the levels are all different for each character. Also collecting the chaos emeralds is also a really good challenge.
- Final Fantasy VII - Probably my favourite in this list. I love the story and the whole vibe of the game. I prefer games that really draw me in and the game really made me feel involved with the characters. There are lots of subquests I really love as well (chocobos, the emerald and ruby weapons, wutai etc...) It also has a really great soundtrack. Sephiroth's theme is amazing.
- Streets of Rage/Golden Axe - I again realise this is two games but it kind of isn't because I have it on one cartridge thing). They are both pretty basic beat 'em ups, but I just really enjoy them. I am not sure why.
- Crash Bandicoot 1 - I don't really know why I love this game, but I just do. It's fun, colourful but still a bit challenging. Getting all thos gem things is very difficult indeed.

[Jonny]

In no particular order:

Sonic The Hedgehog 2
This is how all games should be. An absolute joy to play, even when things don't go as you want.
Sometimes you feel like games are cheating you (arcade games mainly) and sometimes the controls are against you (like on Tomb Raider PC)
With Sonic 2 YOU always feel in control of that speedy little blue hedgehog even when he's flying across the screen faster than your eyes can see.
And even when things get tough, you feel you just need that one more go to get it right.

What I think elevates this from Sonic 1 is the level design. All the worlds are massively different from the last- wheras Sonic 1 didn't change too much throughout.
Sonic 2 has normal Sonic world, that mental chemical plant, the water one and the legendary casino level.
On top of that, the boss designs seem to match into the world design.
As if that isn't good enough, the bonus levels are wicked too.

One minor gripe- that second level of the Chemical Plant shouldn't really be that hard considering its only four levels into the game

The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening
This is more a personal thing. I loved my GameBoy and Zelda came highly recommended.

I stuck it in and switched it on and WOW.
There was this whole cinematic pre-title sequence where Link's boat sunk and he got washed ashore
Then the Zelda theme kicked in.
Every hair on my arms stood to attention.

I've never played a RPG before that and Zelda absolutley hooked me in and didn't let go until I got the L-2 sword and completed it.

Doom
Sometimes I want to play something simple. Something that doesn't require thought or anything taxing.

And that is Doom time.

Before Half:Life and all these games with actual story, Doom threw you in at the deep end- knee deep in monsters.

These monsters weren't normal like they were in Wolf 3D (yes, this made RoboHitler look normal). A big red thing called a CackDemon or something, an invisible arm chewer, brown things that threw fire, flying skulls. Crazy shit.

And armed to kill these things were equally mental weapons- the chaingun that looked like a blender, the Big Fucking Gun that looked like a toaster and the sadists favourite, the Chainsaw (the double barrelled shotgun from Doom 2 was lush too)

Who gives a toss about collecting keys and opening doors. The best parts were when you got that sinking feeling just before hell was unleashed.
Empty, dark rooms that made lots of noise. Omonous buttons. Things appearing to be far too simple.

It may not look special in these days of Halo, Half:Life and even Doom 3, but what Doom had was pure bliss- that little something that makes you grin but you can't quite put your finger on.

Super Mario Kart
Like Sonic 2, this is just pure bliss.

For a racing game, it doesn't rely heavily on realism (GP4) and for a fun racing game things aren't biased towards the power ups (Mario Kart 64). The balance between them is spot on.

The only problem is the computer does sometimes take things out of your control (the race leader always gets the best power ups all the time)

What it has that Sonic 2 can't is the multiplayer mode. While playing on your own winning all the cups is all well and good, what really makes this game better than all the others is how much fun it is to nail your best mate with a red shell and speeding past them.

It's really old now but it is just as fun as it was then.

The Curse Of Monkey Island
Somewhere along the line I was supposed to do exams (possibly A/S Levels). At the same time I found Abandonware.

Abandonware are games that are no longer supported by their publishers and were released before a certain year.

The first two Monkey Island games aren't abandonware, but that doesn't stop people sticking them on the net to download.

So I got hooked on those when I should have been revising and got FAQs off the internet to get me through the games at a decent speed so Monkey Island didn't take over my life.

After Christmas I bought Monkey Island 3 and first off the difference was staggering.
Not only is MI:3 beautifully animated and fully voiced, the point and click interface is totally different.

But it has more of what truly matters- challenging puzzles coupled with stuff that actually makes you laugh, on purpose.

It also features Murray- the truly terrifying disembodied zombie skull. Your interactions with Murray have nothing to do with your ultimate quest to save your girlfriend, who you accidentally proposed to with a cursed ring.
They're just there because they're funny.

As a result, Monkey Island 3 is as challenging as it is funny. I'm not sure but I don't think any other games have done this quite as well- maybe Sam + Max and some Leisure Suit Larry games have come close, but nothing is quite as good as this.

Honourable mentions: Gunstar Heroes, ISS Deluxe, Unreal Tournament, Lemmings, GTA, Sensible World Of Soccer 97, Super Action Cross, Destruction Derby 2, Worms, Street Fighter 2, Bomb Jack, WWF Wrestlefest, WarioWare, Mario Golf (N64)

[jode*]

I'm a PC/Amiga user so my choices are somewhat different, but:

1. The Sims
2. Rainbow Islands
3. Theme Park/Theme Park World
4. Super Mario Kart 64
5. The Heroes of Might & Magic series

(Big up Jungle Bungle on the Amiga which I never got very far and can't find any info on, but which was great)

[Mimternet]

Like Andrew I prefer games that really draw me into a story line. RPG's aren't actually my favourite genre but they manage to involve me a lot more so my top 5 does end up looking very RPG friendly. Really tough to narrow down and in no order:

• Metroid Prime (Game Cube)- this just emersed me into the environment in no way any other game has. It also helped that it was unrelenting fun from beginning to end.
  
• Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) - I'd never heard of this game until I was given a handful of games to review on a magazine I started working on and this knocked my socks off. An unexpected surprise. Incredibly original take on the RPG format with a great storyline and some very good ideas. The level of detail and things to explore I have never experienced in any other game.
  
• The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time (N64) - this blew me away the first time I played it. I remember the day it was released I was so excited that I planned to get up early, buy the game, go home to play it for about 10 mins before heading off to my late morning lesson at school. This is one of very few games I would say I anticipated and it really met every expectation and then some. From the intro to riding Epona it was just a magical experience.
  
• Final Fantasy 7 (PC) - Awesome game for the same reasons Andrew mention. I can't remember her name now but the character that is found in a church early on in the game and then has something very BIG happen to her 3/4 of the way in... shocking and genuinely emotional stuff.
  
• Goldeneye - I know this is a golden oldy and I don't really play it any more but the amount that I played this when it came out is unreal. I still can't believe I part exchanged my cartridge after I spent literally months getting the 007 rating! Damn it. Multiplayer was awesome. This game owes me many hours of mine and my friend's lives.
  

[elmsyrup]

1) Tetris
2) Noah's Ark
3) Monopoly
4) Kiss Chase
5) erm... pheasant?

[si]

• Beneath A Steel Sky A Revolution Software rival to LucasArts' Monkey Island series, BASS was just the most awesome game. Sci-fi adventure point 'n' click thingy with pretty advanced AI for the time (characters went about their business on a few screens instead of staying static) and a free comic which gave the backstory and influenced the art work (Dave Gibbons rings a bell). Lots of Lucas-y humour and a really dark plot. Eeee, I loved this game so, so much.
  
  
• Zelda: Majora's Mask Way more involved than OoT but sadly slated by lots of Zelda fans. The Bunny Hood! Anju and Kaifi! Aliens attacking the farm! Four massive dungeons and lots more stuff to do outside of them! The last point is my problem with OoT -- you spend so much of your time in the dungeons that it seems as though the outside stuff suffers a little. I think they solved this a little with The Wind Waker, having the dungeons sneak up on you a bit, the bigger plot carrying you from island to island and not dungeon to dungeon.
  
  [Edit: Oo, I've got to be somewhere.]
  
  
• Dizzy All of them. He's an egg. Genius.
  
• James Pond / James Pond 2: Robocod Obviously.
  
• Monkey Island / Day Of The Tentacle / Sam and Max Why does everything have to be 3D and fiddley and stupid? Why can't we have a traditional point 'n' clicker but with fancy graphics (and preferably, Guybrush, Elaine and LeChuck)?

[James & The Jaunty Nyasu Vibes]

If I go by my top five current favourites, or the ones I currently play it'd be
FFtactics/Zelda oT Master Quest/F Zero/Spiderman 2/ Mario Kart

But going by Magical Gaming Experiences...


My first two choices are sort of both parts of the same game. Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced are my favourite experiences of the two sides of RPG gaming.

Zelda gives me the environment, characters, storyline and sense of adventure/atmosphere of a great RPG, but theres nothing to make it feel personal, it's not customisable and there's not a great deal of things to reward the effort of completing everything (sure there's the Biggoron sword, but what about the Skulltulla rewards, they werent worth it at all) and no random battle/level-up to make you feel like you're getting stronger.

FFTactics on the otherhand is the exact opposite. It's full-on hardcore stats and figures turn-based fighting. No exploring, no puzzles, you dont even get to control your movement that much outside of battle with it's point & click interface. But because of this it's perfect for short blasts and you feel like you're constantly evolving in your own way (especially with the class system)


Goldeneye.
Sure there've been more "realistic" FPS games since this, but it still feels the most real to me. It'd still be as good an experience without having loved the film as much as I do, but there's such a thrill running about the places i've seen, scuttling from the ducts in the facilities, sneaking round, avoiding patrols, switiching between stealthyness and full on take-cover gun battles. I could play any level over and over and over again.

It's a shame that I don't play it anymore, but I just can't get to grips with my N64 anymore, the controller feels so clunky compared to the GC.


Super Smash Bros Melee.
This is hard because I do sort of prefer the N64 version, as I honestly think I was, at one point, one of the best players of that game in the whole world.
I'm really not joking.

Me and my friends would spent entire weekends playing this (and the occasional blast of Goldeneye and WCW to break it up a bit)

However, one day I just lost it...I was gutted beyond belief. Before I knew it one of my friends actually beat me.
And then he beat me again, and again, and again.
I gave it up, my Kirby-based reputation in tatters, no longer would I constantly taunt them with that annoying "HIIIII" inbetween whooping their Falcon, Link and Fox asses.

But then, along came The Cube and with it a whole new generation of Smash Attacking, a chance to reclaim my glory! And that I did, I "OwN3d" once more, perhaps more so, the game was everything I loved about the orginal but better...until, disaster struck. I lost it again.

God. I'm really depressed now.


I'm stuck on my final choice...there are so many games that I love/loved that are just behind these four. I'm tempted to say Blast Corps but the words " iamond sands" still make me quake in fear.

No...wait....

Pokemon Blue, that experience is still such a vibrant memory.

I'd been following the Poke-craze for quite some time through N64 magazine before we got the game, the cartoons had just started over here and I ended up importing my copy from America.
The very first second I got it in the post I played it.
Somehow I managed to build up enough of a team to beat Brock before I left to go to school that morning, i'd chosen a Charmander and had a long drawn out fight using a simple scratch attack, and I think one of my Pokemon even evolved at some point.
I know that sounds impossible, i'm tempted to go back now and see just how quickly you can go from starting a new game to beating Brock, but I know that I did it. Perhaps time stopped for me?
When I met my friends on the way to school they heard a non-stop account of the Poke-experience.
It didn't feel right though, when I got home, I didn't gel with my Charmander at all. I started a new game, this time with a Squirtle. I loved that Squirtle a rather alarming amount.
I traded with my friends, I had fierce battles, I adored the cartoon (especially Team Rocket) started collecting/playing the CCG, looking back it was a wonderful part of my life, getting swept up in it all. I got Mew and Celebi and everything (NOTE: I loved Silver almost as much, Ruby left me cold)

[trollte]

1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: This game was my life for around 4 months. Friends didn't see me. My flatmate accused me of making friends with a whole new world of non-real people. I actually cried when I completed the game because I was so happy.

2. Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2: I've just had such long game play out of these. Even now that I've completed the campaigns, they're my first choice for a train journey or when on holiday.

3. Banjo Kazooie: This saw me through a Christmas holiday at home with my parents. I love Mumbo Jumbo, and Gruntilda's haggy voice. The puzzles really did make you think quite hard, and there were nice surprises like the quiz at the end. It was difficult enough for me to feel really satisfied that I had succeeded, but not so fucking difficult that I couldn't be bothered (as in Banjo Tooie). I have a thing about running round collecting things... I just love it. It's like tidying up I guess.

4. Perfect Dark: Got really engrossed in the story of this, and spent a long time to complete it, and then playing it again and again. I really liked Cassandra De Vries and found it quite upsetting when she died cos I wasn't expecting that.

5. Mario Kart 64: I never played the SNES version which everyone else thinks is superior, so I have to go with this one. I had such multiplayer fun with this, and getting in late at night and still "buzzing" this was the ideal way for flatmates to laugh at each other. This just gives me such fond memories of friends and laughter.

I'm very sad to see that not a single Gamecube game is in there, and I'm starting to think that Ste has a point.

[Chocolate]

I can't think of enough things to say to write paragraphs explaining them, but:

*Final Fantasy VII (which I'm not changing my mind on just to be different, it deserves to be mentioned plenty of times)
*GTA: Vice City
*Lords of Midnight
*Moonstone
*The Sims

[ste]

1. Exile

Exile was originally a BBC Micro game, later converted to the Atari ST and the Amiga. If there was a genre it belonged to it was the 'arcade adventure', a now-dead term that referred to games with platform jumping and object-oriented puzzles. I'd guess the Dizzy games would be the most famous exponent*. Probably the closest modern equivalent is Zelda.

Exile leaves you marooned on Phobos, a distant moon, alone and unravelling a story that begins in the accompanying novella. In that respect it's similar to something more modern, like System Shock 2 or maybe even Deus Ex. You're hunting down a rogue scientist; you see him in the first second of the game, as he teleports in, steals your navigation equipment, and teleports out again. The surface of the moon is barren, windy, but beneath it a network of tunnels hide life, both friendly and - as you progress deeper, and closer to Triax's lair - more warped, dangerous.

Exile is brilliant because:

- It offered freedom fifteen years before GTA3 made it vogue. While there's always one or two puzzles to try and solve, potential openings suggested by your logic rather than on-screen prompting, there's much joy to be had in just jet-packing around the world, flipping and tumbling and playing with the planet's population.

- It realised physics was the way forward, something games are only really starting to take advantage of now. Every object in Exile, from robot enemies to huge boulders, keys to boulders to bullets to cyborg monkeys, had a size and weight. When objects - including you - collided, the aftermath was accurately modelled. It wasn't just a gimmick, either - using momentum, Newton, was critical to solving puzzles.

- The enemy AI was gloriously intimidating. It's smoke and mirrors, of course - just like Halo, in fact** - but the simple routines and fractional randomisation gave rise to the feeling that you were genuinely conquering something foreign. Trick a robot into entering a room, teleport out and lock the door, and you'd genuinely feel like you'd outsmarted Deep Blue.

- You couldn't die. Get hurt enough and you'd teleport back to the last location you'd 'stored' (by pressing R). Get hurt there, and you'd teleport back to the one before that. Four times in a row and you'd end up back at your ship. Exile encouraged you to experiment with danger, only really punishing reckless stupidity, not your curiosity.

- Puzzles had multiple solutions. The combat was a puzzle in itself, and defeating enemies often came down to fast-thinking and improvisation. But even the take-object-A-to-location-B things weren't set in stone. There are still things in the game that I'm not sure I'm doing the correct way, the way the designers intended.

There are more, but those are the major things. Best of all, it's almost sixteen years since I first played it, and I still haven't completed it. Every year I try again, sometimes I get a little further, but it's always an absolute joy from start to (the moment I give up for another year and) finish.

Those wishing to try it for themselves will find it runs neatly in a window under Beebem. I'd be interested to see what someone approaching it cold has to say about it. It never got the recognition (or sales figures) it deserved, but its influence - or at least its prescience - goes far beyond that of any of its peers***.


* Actually, the first game I ever completed was an arcade adventure: Citadel.

** Halo's AI is famously simple, but it's by far the best first-person-shooter logic I've ever seen. Which just goes to show that it's not how complex something actually is that matters, it's how complex it appears.

*** With the possible exception of Elite.

[JJ]

In no particular order apart from Final Fantasy VII being first.

- FINAL FANTASY VII because it is so emersive (not sure if that's spelt right) and beautiful. The storyline is second to none and the soundtrack and graphics are top notch. The gameplay is pure joy and I still play on it sometimes. I just love exploring its world. Shame that all of them since have been mostly duff.

- THE SIMS and possibly The Sims 2. It's so addictive and I love giving my families all the extras and stuff that come with expansions. It's is also a very sad game to play, but so much fun.

- RESIDENT EVIL but the GameCube version, I have never played the original. The graphics in this are simply amazing, some of the best I have ever seen. It's also very scary and fun. I like playing as Jill the best. She's ace.

- SUPER MARIO LAND. It is so addictive and, in my opinion, one of the best platformers ever. It being on the Game Boy helps, too. Plus the music to the opening level is cool. I just can't get into Super Mario Sunshine, though.

- VAGRANT STORY. I love this game from Square. It's just so different and its combat system is totally unique. It also has a very unique style which compliments it. Such a shame there was never a sequel.

OTHER FAVOURITES
The Pokémon games
Final Fantasy VIII; Final Fantasy IX
Fear Effect
Crash Bandicoot

[Steven]

Gaaahhh. Only five?

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time - this is probably the closest to gaming perfection I've ever experienced. Beautiful, vast, handles like a dream, and perfectly-realised. The continuity in it is fabulous too - the best part for me was when you arrive in the future as Adult Link and trying to figure out what role all the people you met as a child will play. And you get to ride (and steal) a horse, plus there were those horrid disembodied hand things that crawled across the ceiling and dropped down on you, which gave the heebie-jeebies in a serious way.

2. Eternal Darkness - just to satisfy the people who complained about the lack of GC games on here. This one was fantastic - the storyline was dark and chilling, you get to play loads of different characters throughout various pieces of history, the present-day storyline clicks into place the further you get, and, critically, I've been playing it on and off for a year and a half and I still haven't bloody finished it. I stopped being good at computer games when they all started becoming 3D.

3. Spellbound Dizzy - I loved all the Dizzy games, but if I had to pick a favourite, this would be it. Again, it had a vast sprawling universe that took ages to get around, the puzzles were tricky but not impossible, and there was the added danger that you lost energy every time you fell too far. I never completed this one, either.

4. Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles - counted as one game for the same reasons that andrew* gave. It was great that, after the disappointing shortness of Sonic 3, you could suddenly expand the game and tie up all the loose ends. Best bit by far was the final level (Doomsday Zone?) once you'd collected all the Chaos Emeralds and you had to fight the fleeing Robotnik as Super Sonic.

5. Day of the Tentacle - I don't think any other game has ever made me laugh as much as this one. The potshots at history and sci-fi are great, and it was clearly dreamed up by someone with an unhealthy imagination. And you get Maniac Mansion as a game-within-a-game, complete with utterly uncontrollable controls and shite graphics. Annoyingly, I can't get this game to work with Windows XP though. Sniff.

[ste]

Pandarama said:

5. Day of the Tentacle - I don't think any other game has ever made me laugh as much as this one. The potshots at history and sci-fi are great, and it was clearly dreamed up by someone with an unhealthy imagination. And you get Maniac Mansion as a game-within-a-game, complete with utterly uncontrollable controls and shite graphics. Annoyingly, I can't get this game to work with Windows XP though. Sniff.

You need this: www.scummvm.org/compatibility.php?details=tentacle

[rondette]

FF7: my introduction to Japanese RPG style gaming, and the reason why I never got round to going to Uni.
An absolute awesome peach of the nectar of an apple in a tangerine crossed with vodka of a game. The Chocobo music rocks my world. For me, the moment you escape from the city into the World map and realise HOW FUCKING BIG IT IS was my proper 'shit..... consoles can be awesome' moment.

Parappa the Rappa: The first ever game I bought for my (ye olde ancient) PS1. OK the gameplay wasnt up to much but who could deny the aceness of a Driving instructor moose or a posh chicken who made cakes involving shrimp.I still quote that game, much to the bemusement of most people.

Granny's Garden: See the 'Granny's garden' thread.

The Sims: No-one can protest (or can they??) the amusement of getting Sid and Mike to hook up whilst scary Sandra lurked in the background cleaning the kitchen. Oh and I never accidently walled up any of my Sims with naught but a toilet to see what would happen. Never.


Elite 2: A really crap sequel, but I found a way of being dead good at it and did rather well so mmmmnnnnuuuh. Or something.

Special mention goes out to Monkey Island. And Loom.

[WhiteNoiseMaker]

Bubble Bobble (arcade) - I've always considered myself something of a master, even though there are probably millions of people who could kick my teeth in at bubbling things. I love the weird logic to the powerups, the chain of fruit, the 'burst so many bubbles and get a candy cane' business, plus the satisfaction of bouncing up the screen on your own bubble and all that. Magic!

Perfect Dark (N64) - Just for the multiplayer. Endless fun. The single player was messier than Goldeneye with a shoddy intrusive plot (although I always like the 'scandinavian freak' line), but the multiplayer was and is top fun.

Ocarina of Time (N64) - Of course, outlandishly good. I also loved Majora's mask, very nicely done

Super Mario World (SNES) - Lots of Nintendo here, I admit. Everything seems so beautifully consistent, there's tonnes of things to do other than run and jump and yet everything is simple and intuitive, and there are a load of dinosaurs inexplicably called 'Reznor' in it.

I'm a bit stuck for another, I'm trying to think of games that have stood the test of time that I still like to play. How about Solitaire? I'm always upset when I find a PC that doesn't have Solitaire on it, it's like a funhouse without fun. Kind of.

[ste]

Rondette said:

Parappa the Rappa: The first ever game I bought for my (ye olde ancient) PS1. OK the gameplay wasnt up to much but who could deny the aceness of a Driving instructor moose or a posh chicken who made cakes involving shrimp.I still quote that game, much to the bemusement of most people.

Me too! And me too!

My favourite bit is when the frog goes, "I will 'elp you... and you will 'elp me..."

Actually, my favourite bit from any game ever might be at the start of Um Jammer Lammy when Chop Chop appears, and his first line is, "Kick, punch - you all remember..."

We do, we do!

[somethingbiblical]

Theme Hospital

The original Sims with only Livin' It Up as an expansion pack

Wiggly Worms (You just can't catch 'em)

Pokemon Yellow... I am not ashamed.

My friends and I in primary school used to pretend to be characters from Eastenders, also.

[ellyd]

Well going back a bit but I used to love Hi-Octane multiplayer; was such good fun. It probably wasn't that good a game but it had good physics and the group of people I used to play it with made up many a good hide'n'seek/racing games.

Diablo/II - Far too much time playing this one. Nothing innovative but it did the whole RPG thing just great.

Pharaoh - Building little towns, obssessing about my crops and oils, making my streets pretty. It was all too much to resist.

Command and Conquer/Red Alert - The dog's do-dahs when it comes to strategy games. My only weakness were the guard dogs. Once my opponents realised I had a hard time killing them (poor little doggy poos) they'd send them to attack my base in packs of 50.

Tribes - Multiplayer was just such a laugh. The array of weapons, well laid out maps and backpacks and heading back to base with a flag on your back and the enemy nipping at your ankles! Brill.

Duke Nukem - Okay, that's six games but I just can't leave this one out. It's a classic and not in the cheesy way that many think.