As I write this journal, the blazing sun sends hot streaks of light in my bedroom. It is already the middle of summer 2008 but things are about to get hotter for me. Forget about the upcoming La Nina. I am going to make this summer sizzling hot.
How? Games! I am planning to buy a console this week so I am in for some fun.
It has been a very long time since I last owned a console. The last one that I had was Super Famicom. That was more than a decade ago that is why the craving is so much bigger this time around. I did not play the Playstation then as I went the PC way. It was the practical gaming environment anyway as I can use my PC for other means as well. Also, I just resorted to few games to satisfy my gaming appetite so it did not matter if I owned a gaming console then. Warcraft, Starcraft, Fallout, Diablo and Pokerstars were sufficient for me. I was more into chatting in Yahoo! Messenger than playing games.
Why the sudden change now?
I guess I just want to have some fun once again. I am not interested in upgrading my PC because it costs so much so I guess it’s time to enjoy the fun that I once had during the summers of my childhood. Oh those days…
To commemorate my years of gaming fun, I am going to list my top 15 games from several platforms.
15. Command and Conquer: Generals (PC) – Zoom back to freshman year in college. My PC was fresh then so having this game was not much of a headache for me. It was quite slow due to its vast graphics but I used it to my advantage when micromanaging and strategizing. Turtle speed means more time to think of what to do. This has got to be the best Command and Conquer game I have ever played due to the graphics and the more eye-friendly tanks. I never liked the neon green Tiberian Sun tanks because these did not seem realistic to me. The GLA mob made things further interesting as Command and Conquer feeds on the realism of having a mass army (well, it’s not like Lord of the Rings but it’s already fine) that’s why I appreciated this strategy game.
14. Poker Stars (PC) – This online game is timeless. I spent playing this with my college friends two years ago and from all the taunts we gave the foreigners to the royal flush I had, it was so entertaining. I am not playing it anymore (that’s why my poker skills have diminished) but I still have the program in my PC so every time I want to have some casual, no-poker-face-needed kind of game, I will be up to give my opponents the biggest hand I have.
13. Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES) – It’s Dixie Kong’s Quest! This was the very last Donkey Kong game I played but it was so much fun as it featured a better world setting. It featured newer opponents and newer animal friends but it still had the Donkey Kong Country touch. The problem though was, its color and texture was worse as compared to the previous releases. Also, you will begin to miss the original DKC characters in this one. The overused monkey kidnapping plot made it the worst DKC for me. Nevertheless, it was still fun. It wouldn’t reach #13 in my list if it did not satisfy me.
12. Triple Play ‘99 (PC) – “It’s going, going, GONE!!!” I will always love the camera view that this game shows whenever I hit a home run. The great commentary on the history of baseball was also great. It’s also nice to hear the fans sing during the bottom of the 7th inning. This game should have been in the top ten because it holds a special nostalgic feeling to me as I spent around two to three summers playing this game with my notebook to have a tournament of my own with the games and the win-loss standings in it. I also get to have an All-Star weekend and a stat sheet calculation to determine my MVP of the league. It did not matter if this game was played using my keyboard and mouse instead of a console controller. All I need to do is swing, pitch and tap the A button rapidly to dash to the bases.
11. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) – The game that revolutionized the SNES console when it was losing its touch in the 90s. This is the first of the Donkey Kong series but is the most remarkable as well. The problem is, I did not own this game then. I had to settle with borrowing my friend’s cartridge or play the emulated one in PC. Nonetheless, it featured the best worlds in the DKC series. The graphics were not yet that exceptional but these were the best during its time. Controlling Donkey Kong made this game so great because you will miss the big guy in the other DKC games. I also loved the jungle setting in this game. That was what the other DKC games missed.
10. NBA Live ’97 (SNES) – My very first NBA Live game. I was very disappointed before when I played NBA Jam on my cousin’s Sega Megadrive because it did not feature a team of five players. Of course I did not know of NBA Jam then. That was why I appreciated NBA Live when I first played it. Nothing beats NBA Live on console. Its PC version pales in comparison because I find it hard to switch directions and diagonally. The feature to shoot freethrows while the fans are booing you was also priceless. It just had the option of creating a maximum of twenty players in each team but it was just OK because I was just interested in creating Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett that time. I did not care if its scoring is unbalanced. You can score similar to a normal professional game by just playing 3 minutes per quarter. That made it so much better because it made it easier for me to accomplish playing all the games in the leagues that I formed. Yes, this game was where I really started creating tournaments and stuffing the stats and scores on my notebook. It was also cool to play it in an old school fashion by creating NBA legends and making my TV screen in black and white. The commentary is not that great as compared to Triple Play ‘99 but this being the first made it the nostalgic vote for my top ten.
9. Super Mario Brothers (Family Computer) – If NBA Live ’97 was my sports nostalgic vote, this would have to be my Family Computer nostalgic choice. I had various games in Family Computer then like Battle City, Pac Man, Popeye, Mappy, Queen Bee, Baseball and Ice Man but I have to put the Super Mario Brothers as the number 1 game on the console because I played it the most and it had various stages. People of my generation would understand why this game was so great then.
8. Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) – The very first Donkey Kong (of the Donkey Kong Country storyline – Family Computer had the Donkey Kong game too) that I have ever played. This was what convinced me to play the Donkey Kong Country games in Super Famicom/Super NES. I will never forget the times I used to switch playing with my cousin in his Game Boy just to finish the stages in this game. This is not just a game of nostalgic sorts because it was really fun. Its levels were totally different from its Donkey Kong Country equivalent unlike the Donkey Kong Land games that followed it. It featured great worlds that the Donkey Kong Country games did not feature. The cloud world and the city world were awesome. I have to say that the city world was the best setting in all of the Donkey Kong Country games. It did not matter if I played this in black and white – the fun it produced has twice compensated for it.
7. Utopia (PC) – Another online game that I have loved. The only difference it had from Poker Stars is that I am still playing this up to now. Thanks to Mehul’s sheer brilliance. He was able to change the game’s complexion every three months. Forget the fact that it has no graphics. It’s all about gameplay, my friend. It is addicting enough for me to login in the wee hours of the night just to attack or fix my economy. Number crunching has never been this good.
6. Diablo 2 (PC) – Hack-and-slash RPG at its best. Its simple style of gameplay made it playable if I want to play just to relax. Killing demons has never been this fun. I finished this game using the necromancer and I have to admit that it was fun exploding the corpses. By its title alone, you’ll know as soon as possible why it’s up here in this list. ‘Nuff said!
5. Heroes 3 (PC) – This 2D RPG/Strategy game is a brilliant one. The plethora of races to choose from makes it twice the fun that it already has. Put in a great medieval-looking map and you have a role play of fantasy history at your very eyes. The 2D feel and the number counters to specify the number of your creatures makes it very much interesting (the very same thing that the game killed in Heroes 4 as it went 3D). This Chess meets Dungeons and Dragons game is a timeless one. If I have time to download and play this game, I won’t hesitate to let my vampires bite the hell out of the enemy centaurs.
4. Starcraft (PC) – The best strategy game of all-time in my books. Many strategy game players might contend that Civilization or the Command and Conquer series are better, but no, this is my best. I was not that interested in playing space games (as I had the all-time preference on medieval games) when I first played Starcraft but the game’s characters, storylines and gameplay made it cooler than my first notion of it. Add to that the eye-friendly graphics. Blizzard always excels in making addictive strategy games. The drama on Kerrigan, Tassadar and Jim Reynor was classic. I will never forget commanding my rampaging Zerg horde in destroying my foe’s supply depot wall-defended Terran base. This game is the best strategy game there is because you can be fast and furious in commanding sci-fi creatures and still have the numbers to make it believable that you can destroy an enemy’s base. Power overwhelming!
3. Fallout 2 (PC) – This has got to be the game that had the best storyline and gameplay. Its nature of having a non-linear play field makes it realistic. The various dialogues and quests makes it too unpredictable. It’s really a create-your-own-story game. Of course, it has endings but the means to the ends are what makes the ride worth it. You can be a good-natured talker or a cold-blooded murderer of a whole village. You can f*ck with prostitutes or you can be the town’s most revered hero. You can be a gambler or a kick boxer who wins every matches in the ring. It’s your own storybook to tell. Will you be a hero or a zero? The various characters composing of mutants, deathclaws, gangsters, raiders, ghouls and tribesmen makes this post-nuclear game full of flavor. I will always appreciate the witty dialogues that they have created and the funny but morbid way to kill your opponents. Disintegrating or decapitating your opponent has never been this fun. Its third person perspective pretty much paves way to its main strength. It is like watching a movie as you get to see all the elements in the place. From hidden stuff behind the walls to the sneaky opponent that’s been attacking you from behind. The turn-based nature of the combat makes it more of a thinking game than a button-tapping game. The PERK system it had makes your character defined and enhanced on your specializations (i.e., sharpshooter, melee fighter, energy weapons specialist, talker) With this kind of game, what more can you ask for?
2. Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) – If a game alone convinced me to buy a console just to play it, then it has got to be an excellent one. Add to that the fact that the console is about to die because the next generation is about to arrive. Yes, DKC 2 was the main reason why I had the Super Famicom console. The Donkey Kong games were definitely my favorites back in grade school and these won’t fail to amuse me even up to the present time. This beat its predecessor because it offers more team play between the monkeys. By pressing the ‘A’ button, Diddy Kong will carry Dixie to throw her in order to reach places that can’t be accessed by a normal jump. It featured more unique animal friends like the web spitting spider Squitter and the high jumping Rattley. Squawks, my all-time favorite animal friend, became the strongest of them all as this parrot takes them to greater heights while spitting spherical crackers on its opponent. This gets my vote of the best Donkey Kong game because of the roller coaster and the eerie castle levels. This game also started the use of Krem coins which made it twice tougher than DKC. You just don’t have to finish a level; you need to collect all the hidden Krem coins as well. I have to thank Rareware for making my childhood extra special with the DKC games.
1. Warcraft III (PC) – It is not the best strategy game of all time. It does not have the best storyline either. Its fairy tale book kind of graphics pale in comparison if you compare it with Command and Conquer: Generals. But why the hell is it the best game of all time in my books? Answer: It has the most diverse game play because of its programmed maps. It was also my most played game as I spend my whole college life playing it. It was also the foundation of my college barkada because we started to get along with each other when we played this game right after we were stressed in answering our mind-numbing Math long tests. The introduction of heroes in this game added flavor to its strategy. It is not your typical strategy game as it is very much hero-centered but it paved way in the creation of various fun maps such as the Defense of the Ancients (which is popularly known as DotA All-Stars) and the numerous tower defense games. We spent two years in playing the melee games where we taunt each other whenever we destroy their bases. We spent the next two years dominating DotA maps and winning a tourney in Greenhills. Of all the multiplayer taunts and the excitement that this game produced, I have to declare it as my all-time game. So, who’s your daddy now, huh?!
That pretty much sums up my all-time favorite games. After all these years of gaming, all I can say is that, it’s the fun the game brings that matter. Screw the graphics. It’s just an added bonus. It’s all about fun, game play and storyline. From the years of blowing the cartridge when it suddenly malfunctions to the years of strategizing and number-crunching, it has been worthwhile for me to play games and I am in for more.
I did not include Fantasy NBA in this list though because I still do not consider it as a kind of game just like the ones listed. But, it is debatable so if ever I would put it in the list, it’s definitely on the top ten. Shown below are the other notable games that I have played (not in any particular order):
How? Games! I am planning to buy a console this week so I am in for some fun.
It has been a very long time since I last owned a console. The last one that I had was Super Famicom. That was more than a decade ago that is why the craving is so much bigger this time around. I did not play the Playstation then as I went the PC way. It was the practical gaming environment anyway as I can use my PC for other means as well. Also, I just resorted to few games to satisfy my gaming appetite so it did not matter if I owned a gaming console then. Warcraft, Starcraft, Fallout, Diablo and Pokerstars were sufficient for me. I was more into chatting in Yahoo! Messenger than playing games.
Why the sudden change now?
I guess I just want to have some fun once again. I am not interested in upgrading my PC because it costs so much so I guess it’s time to enjoy the fun that I once had during the summers of my childhood. Oh those days…
To commemorate my years of gaming fun, I am going to list my top 15 games from several platforms.
15. Command and Conquer: Generals (PC) – Zoom back to freshman year in college. My PC was fresh then so having this game was not much of a headache for me. It was quite slow due to its vast graphics but I used it to my advantage when micromanaging and strategizing. Turtle speed means more time to think of what to do. This has got to be the best Command and Conquer game I have ever played due to the graphics and the more eye-friendly tanks. I never liked the neon green Tiberian Sun tanks because these did not seem realistic to me. The GLA mob made things further interesting as Command and Conquer feeds on the realism of having a mass army (well, it’s not like Lord of the Rings but it’s already fine) that’s why I appreciated this strategy game.
14. Poker Stars (PC) – This online game is timeless. I spent playing this with my college friends two years ago and from all the taunts we gave the foreigners to the royal flush I had, it was so entertaining. I am not playing it anymore (that’s why my poker skills have diminished) but I still have the program in my PC so every time I want to have some casual, no-poker-face-needed kind of game, I will be up to give my opponents the biggest hand I have.
13. Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES) – It’s Dixie Kong’s Quest! This was the very last Donkey Kong game I played but it was so much fun as it featured a better world setting. It featured newer opponents and newer animal friends but it still had the Donkey Kong Country touch. The problem though was, its color and texture was worse as compared to the previous releases. Also, you will begin to miss the original DKC characters in this one. The overused monkey kidnapping plot made it the worst DKC for me. Nevertheless, it was still fun. It wouldn’t reach #13 in my list if it did not satisfy me.
12. Triple Play ‘99 (PC) – “It’s going, going, GONE!!!” I will always love the camera view that this game shows whenever I hit a home run. The great commentary on the history of baseball was also great. It’s also nice to hear the fans sing during the bottom of the 7th inning. This game should have been in the top ten because it holds a special nostalgic feeling to me as I spent around two to three summers playing this game with my notebook to have a tournament of my own with the games and the win-loss standings in it. I also get to have an All-Star weekend and a stat sheet calculation to determine my MVP of the league. It did not matter if this game was played using my keyboard and mouse instead of a console controller. All I need to do is swing, pitch and tap the A button rapidly to dash to the bases.
11. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) – The game that revolutionized the SNES console when it was losing its touch in the 90s. This is the first of the Donkey Kong series but is the most remarkable as well. The problem is, I did not own this game then. I had to settle with borrowing my friend’s cartridge or play the emulated one in PC. Nonetheless, it featured the best worlds in the DKC series. The graphics were not yet that exceptional but these were the best during its time. Controlling Donkey Kong made this game so great because you will miss the big guy in the other DKC games. I also loved the jungle setting in this game. That was what the other DKC games missed.
10. NBA Live ’97 (SNES) – My very first NBA Live game. I was very disappointed before when I played NBA Jam on my cousin’s Sega Megadrive because it did not feature a team of five players. Of course I did not know of NBA Jam then. That was why I appreciated NBA Live when I first played it. Nothing beats NBA Live on console. Its PC version pales in comparison because I find it hard to switch directions and diagonally. The feature to shoot freethrows while the fans are booing you was also priceless. It just had the option of creating a maximum of twenty players in each team but it was just OK because I was just interested in creating Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett that time. I did not care if its scoring is unbalanced. You can score similar to a normal professional game by just playing 3 minutes per quarter. That made it so much better because it made it easier for me to accomplish playing all the games in the leagues that I formed. Yes, this game was where I really started creating tournaments and stuffing the stats and scores on my notebook. It was also cool to play it in an old school fashion by creating NBA legends and making my TV screen in black and white. The commentary is not that great as compared to Triple Play ‘99 but this being the first made it the nostalgic vote for my top ten.
9. Super Mario Brothers (Family Computer) – If NBA Live ’97 was my sports nostalgic vote, this would have to be my Family Computer nostalgic choice. I had various games in Family Computer then like Battle City, Pac Man, Popeye, Mappy, Queen Bee, Baseball and Ice Man but I have to put the Super Mario Brothers as the number 1 game on the console because I played it the most and it had various stages. People of my generation would understand why this game was so great then.
8. Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) – The very first Donkey Kong (of the Donkey Kong Country storyline – Family Computer had the Donkey Kong game too) that I have ever played. This was what convinced me to play the Donkey Kong Country games in Super Famicom/Super NES. I will never forget the times I used to switch playing with my cousin in his Game Boy just to finish the stages in this game. This is not just a game of nostalgic sorts because it was really fun. Its levels were totally different from its Donkey Kong Country equivalent unlike the Donkey Kong Land games that followed it. It featured great worlds that the Donkey Kong Country games did not feature. The cloud world and the city world were awesome. I have to say that the city world was the best setting in all of the Donkey Kong Country games. It did not matter if I played this in black and white – the fun it produced has twice compensated for it.
7. Utopia (PC) – Another online game that I have loved. The only difference it had from Poker Stars is that I am still playing this up to now. Thanks to Mehul’s sheer brilliance. He was able to change the game’s complexion every three months. Forget the fact that it has no graphics. It’s all about gameplay, my friend. It is addicting enough for me to login in the wee hours of the night just to attack or fix my economy. Number crunching has never been this good.
6. Diablo 2 (PC) – Hack-and-slash RPG at its best. Its simple style of gameplay made it playable if I want to play just to relax. Killing demons has never been this fun. I finished this game using the necromancer and I have to admit that it was fun exploding the corpses. By its title alone, you’ll know as soon as possible why it’s up here in this list. ‘Nuff said!
5. Heroes 3 (PC) – This 2D RPG/Strategy game is a brilliant one. The plethora of races to choose from makes it twice the fun that it already has. Put in a great medieval-looking map and you have a role play of fantasy history at your very eyes. The 2D feel and the number counters to specify the number of your creatures makes it very much interesting (the very same thing that the game killed in Heroes 4 as it went 3D). This Chess meets Dungeons and Dragons game is a timeless one. If I have time to download and play this game, I won’t hesitate to let my vampires bite the hell out of the enemy centaurs.
4. Starcraft (PC) – The best strategy game of all-time in my books. Many strategy game players might contend that Civilization or the Command and Conquer series are better, but no, this is my best. I was not that interested in playing space games (as I had the all-time preference on medieval games) when I first played Starcraft but the game’s characters, storylines and gameplay made it cooler than my first notion of it. Add to that the eye-friendly graphics. Blizzard always excels in making addictive strategy games. The drama on Kerrigan, Tassadar and Jim Reynor was classic. I will never forget commanding my rampaging Zerg horde in destroying my foe’s supply depot wall-defended Terran base. This game is the best strategy game there is because you can be fast and furious in commanding sci-fi creatures and still have the numbers to make it believable that you can destroy an enemy’s base. Power overwhelming!
3. Fallout 2 (PC) – This has got to be the game that had the best storyline and gameplay. Its nature of having a non-linear play field makes it realistic. The various dialogues and quests makes it too unpredictable. It’s really a create-your-own-story game. Of course, it has endings but the means to the ends are what makes the ride worth it. You can be a good-natured talker or a cold-blooded murderer of a whole village. You can f*ck with prostitutes or you can be the town’s most revered hero. You can be a gambler or a kick boxer who wins every matches in the ring. It’s your own storybook to tell. Will you be a hero or a zero? The various characters composing of mutants, deathclaws, gangsters, raiders, ghouls and tribesmen makes this post-nuclear game full of flavor. I will always appreciate the witty dialogues that they have created and the funny but morbid way to kill your opponents. Disintegrating or decapitating your opponent has never been this fun. Its third person perspective pretty much paves way to its main strength. It is like watching a movie as you get to see all the elements in the place. From hidden stuff behind the walls to the sneaky opponent that’s been attacking you from behind. The turn-based nature of the combat makes it more of a thinking game than a button-tapping game. The PERK system it had makes your character defined and enhanced on your specializations (i.e., sharpshooter, melee fighter, energy weapons specialist, talker) With this kind of game, what more can you ask for?
2. Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) – If a game alone convinced me to buy a console just to play it, then it has got to be an excellent one. Add to that the fact that the console is about to die because the next generation is about to arrive. Yes, DKC 2 was the main reason why I had the Super Famicom console. The Donkey Kong games were definitely my favorites back in grade school and these won’t fail to amuse me even up to the present time. This beat its predecessor because it offers more team play between the monkeys. By pressing the ‘A’ button, Diddy Kong will carry Dixie to throw her in order to reach places that can’t be accessed by a normal jump. It featured more unique animal friends like the web spitting spider Squitter and the high jumping Rattley. Squawks, my all-time favorite animal friend, became the strongest of them all as this parrot takes them to greater heights while spitting spherical crackers on its opponent. This gets my vote of the best Donkey Kong game because of the roller coaster and the eerie castle levels. This game also started the use of Krem coins which made it twice tougher than DKC. You just don’t have to finish a level; you need to collect all the hidden Krem coins as well. I have to thank Rareware for making my childhood extra special with the DKC games.
1. Warcraft III (PC) – It is not the best strategy game of all time. It does not have the best storyline either. Its fairy tale book kind of graphics pale in comparison if you compare it with Command and Conquer: Generals. But why the hell is it the best game of all time in my books? Answer: It has the most diverse game play because of its programmed maps. It was also my most played game as I spend my whole college life playing it. It was also the foundation of my college barkada because we started to get along with each other when we played this game right after we were stressed in answering our mind-numbing Math long tests. The introduction of heroes in this game added flavor to its strategy. It is not your typical strategy game as it is very much hero-centered but it paved way in the creation of various fun maps such as the Defense of the Ancients (which is popularly known as DotA All-Stars) and the numerous tower defense games. We spent two years in playing the melee games where we taunt each other whenever we destroy their bases. We spent the next two years dominating DotA maps and winning a tourney in Greenhills. Of all the multiplayer taunts and the excitement that this game produced, I have to declare it as my all-time game. So, who’s your daddy now, huh?!
That pretty much sums up my all-time favorite games. After all these years of gaming, all I can say is that, it’s the fun the game brings that matter. Screw the graphics. It’s just an added bonus. It’s all about fun, game play and storyline. From the years of blowing the cartridge when it suddenly malfunctions to the years of strategizing and number-crunching, it has been worthwhile for me to play games and I am in for more.
I did not include Fantasy NBA in this list though because I still do not consider it as a kind of game just like the ones listed. But, it is debatable so if ever I would put it in the list, it’s definitely on the top ten. Shown below are the other notable games that I have played (not in any particular order):
Fallout (PC)
Command and Conquer: Red Alert (PC)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Sega Megadrive/Family Computer)
Pokemon (PC)
Magic: The Gathering (PC)
Sim Tower (PC)
The Sims (PC)
Monopoly (PC)
Pac Man (Family Computer)
Queen Bee (Family Computer)
College Slam (SNES)
Lemonade Tycoon (PC)
Battle City (Family Computer)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Megadrive)
Shinobi (Sega Megadrive)
Arcanum (PC)
Battle Realms (PC)
Counterstrike (PC)
Mappy (Family Computer)
Ice Man (Family Computer)
Baseball (Family Computer)
Warcraft (PC)
Warcraft II (PC)
Favorite Video Game Character: Diddy Kong
Best RPG: Fallout 2
Best Strategy Game: Starcraft
Best First Person Shooter: I don’t like first person shooter games!
Best Sports Game: NBA Live
Best Series: Donkey Kong Country Series
Best Online Game: Utopia
Best Storyline: Fallout 2
Best Graphics: Command and Conquer: Generals
Best Gameplay: Fallout 2
Best Platform: PC
So, are you ready?! It’s time to play the game!
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