All posts in category Looking Back

Wildcat’s reflections of his gaming life, done per year.

Looking Back – My Favorite Game of 2004

2004 was overall a very good year…but it was a little tumultuous for its first few months. I was confused, that I was. You see, I wanted so badly to be in a relationship. It took me way too long to figure out who I wanted to try to ask out. I had been shot down three times by now, and the fear of rejection was pretty high. The early months of 2004 was me puzzling and debating over that kind of mental torture. Who gave off the best vibes about liking me back? The real sticking point about that question was that Grace was interested in me. She made her own difficult approaches to get me to go out with her to see a movie or something twice in that chaos, and due to me being a big dumb idiot, I declined. XD I regret absolutely nothing about my life with Grace beyond that bit of gloriously blind stupidity. However, she said the other day when I mentioned that to her that it had worked out just fine, and I don’t disagree. I just wish I was able to be with her earlier.

Anyway! After a trip to Ashland, Oregon with the drama club, I finally realized that Grace liked me too and we agreed to meet to discuss my (quite crappy) poetry the following weekend. That turned into something beyond either of our expectations and with it came the realization that we were suddenly a “thing”. Unfortunately, her sister and her boyfriend were sent out to “rescue” her, so we couldn’t spend the whole night together. Once that was cleared up, we officially began dating a couple of days later. It was a little rocky, because we both were new at this dating thing and had our own preconceptions of what it all meant. However, it all panned out and we got engaged a year later, on the day of our first “date”. But that’s next year! I’ll continue on with that next time.

School wise, I started taking journalism that year, which I really liked. I spent a year and a half editing the college paper, and that helped springboard my interest back into English. Drama was my major to that point, but I didn’t feel that I wanted to do that forever as a career. It is a lot of fun, but it puts a lot of strain and attention onto you that I didn’t want to deal with. With the journalism major essentially eradicated, I went with English, which was a lot of fun. I had a couple of teachers that clashed with me one way or another, but the majority of my classes were awesome and worth the time. It helped build the desire to write that I have now.

I don’t think I picked up anything new or exciting in 2004 system wise. My DS was bought in 2005. Gaming had a pretty solid year, though. Not as marvelous as 2003, but a pretty good year regardless.

Shortlist:

Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA, Nintendo)

A complete remake of the original Metroid. It updated Samus’ arsenal with some tricks from Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion and some new abilities, redid the level design to make it more like the later games, and threw in a whole new section after you beat Mother Brain. Beyond a couple of missteps, this was a great way of reinventing a classic.

Tales of Symphonia (GC, Namco)

Sensational music, a fantastic cast, an engaging battle system and mostly impressive visuals power the Gamecube’s best original RPG.

Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2, Sony/Sucker Punch)

Sly Cooper returns to steal more loot from a new host of bad guys, all in the hopes of collecting the pieces of his nemesis, Clockwork. His pals Bentley and Murray join the playable roster, and the three make for a rewarding gameplay experience.

Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC, Nintendo)

Despite being somewhat crippled in its design due to the GBA requirement to play multiplayer, Four Swords Adventures is a surprisingly good installment in the franchise. It is radically different from the other Zelda titles, but it retains plenty of the charm and puzzle-solving the series is known for. Underrated.

In my opinion, the best game of 2004 was…

Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2, Sony/Sucker Punch)

To be written.

(more…)

by WildcatJF on August 12, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Posted by WildcatJF on August 12, 2012

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-2004/

Looking Back: My Favorite Game of 2011

Now Revised!

LVLs., in its earlier Wildcat Online days, ran a traditional awards show (i.e. post) for a couple of years where I awarded games I liked a recolored sprite of NES Link cleverly dubbed “The Golden Links”. I’ve thrown that idea aside for several years, but this year I actually had a chance to purchase more than a couple games that are current enough for me to postulate my feelings toward them and actually have it be relevant, so I’m bringing the concept back. However, the “Golden Link” is going to stay a part of the past. Instead, I’m revising my Looking Back articles to be much more than they have been. Beyond the life ruminations, the shortlist and anecdotes about my favorite game, I’m also going to award some other aspects of games, like Best New Hero/Villain, Best Voice Acting, Best Box Art, and a few others. It’ll make it more personal and appropriate for the Game of the Year festivities that frequent the ‘net this time of year, and more fun for me to ponder (and I will get back to revising all the older pieces with this material in time). Note that this is incredibly spoiler-tastic, so I’d advise not reading if you don’t want anything about Skyrim, Dead Space 2, Monster Tale, Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Zelda: Skyward Sword ruined. Click on if you don’t care! (more…)

by WildcatJF on December 25, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Posted by WildcatJF on December 25, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-2011/

Looking Back – My Favorite Game of 2003

2003 was a mostly good year. I went to Ashland, Oregon for the first time as part of a drama club endeavor, and it felt like home to me. Every time I step into Ashland I just resonate with the place, and I hope to make it my home one day. I really do. We saw awesome plays done by the Oregon Shakespeare Company and genuinely had a great time, despite a sour apple or two being along for the ride. I took on being the President of the Club for the 2003-2004 school year, and it was a rewarding, yet tedious position. I had to deal with a coup to try to impeach me (I’ll explain why in a moment) and a callous secretary that made a couple of attempts to undermine my authority. The coup was staged by a couple of “members” who felt that the hours and hours I put into setting up a haunted house event (and the following clean-up) was insignificant compared to actually being at the site for it, which was in a terrible part of town and a hour away from my home. Luckily, the officers banded around me and my decision and a decree was made the following meeting (which the coup was to take place) that only serious members could vote (i.e. bought the stickers that made us a college club), and the plotters stuttered off, probably angry that their plans were foiled and too cheap to buy a $10 sticker or whatever. As for the secretary, well, it’s water under the bridge at this point.

Otherwise school was good, but I felt that drama wasn’t really the major for me anymore. I enjoyed it at the educational level, but I don’t believe it’s what I yearn to do all my life. It’s a lot of fun, and I do miss it, but I don’t need it, which is a big difference. I decided to get into what I had originally planned to major in, which was journalism, but the major had been cut, so I went for the next best thing, English. I decided to finish up the Drama major as well, so I was busy for quite a few more years getting two A.A.’s.

2003 was my introduction to Grace. She worked for my mother at her daycare for a little while by this year, but she was very quiet and I was very weird. :p However, we began to improve our communications this year and we slowly became friends. Over time we started talking more and more, and by next year we became more than friends. O_O So I’ll save the remainder of that tale for next time. I will say that I was a confused fucker in terms of women at this point in my life. I won’t name names or get into too many details (it’s stupidly unnecessary), but I will say that Grace is the perfect match for me in every way I could ask for (and beyond), so I’m glad things rolled the way they have.

Gaming in 2003 was excellent – three of the games on my Favorites list are here, for one thing, and I had plenty of opportunity to game with my friends Anthony and Seth before they both departed for the next phase of their lives. I didn’t get any new systems, but I did experience some of the finest GBA and ‘Cube games ever made, so no complaints.

This was also the year that I invented Shi and April, among a myriad of other characters you haven’t seen, for another one of those secret projects of mine you hear so much about yet so rarely see. I’m still working on that one, but perhaps you’ll see some fruits of that labor someday when I’m happy with how it is. If I can stay focused enough to complete it, anyway. XD

Shortlist:

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, Konami)

The final title in the ‘Vanias to hit the GBA, Konami managed to nearly rebottle Symphony of the Night’s magic with this attempt, plus give it enough differentiation to make it stand out on its own, too.

Fire Emblem (GBA, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems)

The first Fire Emblem to reach American shores remains the finest one we’ve seen in my view, with the best cast, story and gameplay.

Beyond Good & Evil (GC, UBI Soft)

Michel Ancel’s spin on a Zelda-esque action/adventure title with a journalism twist made the compelling plot its central focus, and balances that excellence with wonderful gameplay, music and visuals.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (GC, UBI Soft)

This reinvention of the Prince of Persia franchise had its creator on board and it shows – the fine balance of controls and level design is perfectly demonstrated here with some of the best platforming in 3D gaming has seen to this day. Shame the combat kind of sucks.

In my opinion, the best game of 2003 was…

Beyond Good & Evil (GC, UBI Soft)

Shock and awe, I’m sure. :p I’ve written more about BG&E than anything else on LVLs. (well, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 may beat it, and I’m sorry about that) – even Skies of Arcadia, and I really adore Skies! Some of my best writing has been about Hillys and its inhabitants – this piece on Jade, for example, I still am very proud of.

So what can I say here that I haven’t already? I may repeat myself, but I’ll try…

Beyond Good & Evil didn’t initially win me over, I will admit. I enjoyed the first playthrough enough to put it on my favorite list, but its impact took longer to strike me. The second time I played through it was when I realized how incredible this game truly is. How vital a game like this was to me and to the industry on a whole, and how its sluggish sales didn’t give it the exposure it deserves. How its plot can be such a beautiful parallel to our own world and its issues, and how a few people can make a substantial difference in improving it. How a plucky, clever heroine can be created that is not overtly sexual or ditzy, but is a positive role model more developers need to learn from. Each subsequent revisit is like visiting an old friend that you wish you saw a hell of a lot more than you do.

It’s an astounding piece of software, and I urge you to give it a shot. It may not leave its mark on you immediately, but I truly believe it may in time like it did with me.

Some personal anecdotes:

Love, love, LOVE the cast in this, particularly Jade, who stands tall as the greatest heroine gaming has given us, in my opinion.

I’ve managed to 100% this game, and it’s currently the only one I have all the trophies for on PSN (for the HD re-release). I still own the Gamecube disc and I’ll hold onto it for a long time.

I love the stealth areas you can access in Hillys – these are tight-knit, tense situations that battling will not save you. You have to take your time, move slowly and keep out of sight…lovely stuff that rivals the best parts of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell.

The music is fantastic, that it is – I’ve done a Tunage piece on Christophe Heral, its composer, as well as a Song Highlights on the game itself. Kudos, Heral.

I WANTS THE SEQUEL NOWS

1080° Avalanche

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Astro Boy: Omega Factor

Beyond Good & Evil

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Chaos Legion

F-Zero GX

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Fire Emblem (video game)

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

Legacy of Kain: Defiance

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System

Metal Slug 5

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Silent Hill 3

Sword of Mana

Tony Hawk’s Underground

Viewtiful Joe

Wario World

Zuma (video game)

Back to 2002 – Forward to 2004

by WildcatJF on October 20, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 2003, beyond good and evil, castlevania aria of sorrow, Features, fire emblem, game boy advance, gamecube, Games, intelligent systems, konami, looking back, nintendo, prince of persia: sands of time, ubi soft

Posted by WildcatJF on October 20, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-2003/

Looking Back: My Favorite Game of 2002

Has it really been three months since I last did this feature? Yikes.

2002 was a good year for me. I began feeling more comfortable at college, and was quickly realizing that high school was a whole heap of bullshit served for a four year duration. College was so liberating – I finally was feeling like I was not a target for insults, and that I could be accepted for who I was without sacrificing crucial elements of myself to do so. I made some great friends, had a wonderful time with the drama program, and treasure those days to this very day. They were very good times, times that were long in coming.

Beyond school, I had gotten my first pair of glasses. In high school I had denied that my eyes were slowly deteriorating even as I had to sit upfront to read a white board – I think this was in part of a “hey, who wants ANOTHER reason to be made fun of?” line of thinking that I had latched onto while languishing, but I will never forget the moments after getting my glasses and putting them on. It sounds really dumb to anyone who has 20/20 vision, but I had completely forgotten that trees had texture – individual leaves and branches that didn’t blur together to make a mass of green. The clarity stunned me and made me realize how foolish I was to allow myself to let my vision suffer all because I was afraid of being teased a little more. But, sometimes the fear of piling on more attention, positive or negative, can make one’s mind do weird and irrational things.

It was around this time that I had decided that I wanted to get into anime. I bought Princess Mononoke first, and well…I’ve explained why that movie is so important to me elsewhere, so I’ll refrain from further comments here. I relished the new medium, and picked arguably the best time to get into the craze, as it was right in its glorious golden age in America where product was readily available and was about to burst forth a plethora of merch on top of the DVD’s. I discovered Trigun, Outlaw Star, Tenchi Muyo and Gundam Wing in this exciting time, and would soon be floored by such legendary pieces of anime like Cowboy Bebop, Spirited Away, Rurouni Kenshin, FLCL and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Alas, the balloon on American anime saturation would burst early, and my enthusiasm would go along it. I still like anime, but it’s no longer an essential part of my daily life like it once was. That is not to say that I have shunned it or anything – I have enjoyed some more modern shows like Ouran High School Host Club, Fruits Basket, and Le Chevalier D’eon. But it’s just not something that compels me like it had.

I got a Game Boy Advance in 2002, if my memory’s not mistaken, and I had a fair amount of good times with my first portable. I had a chance to explore Fire Emblem, becoming quite enamored with its strategic gameplay and excellent characters (who could die if I was careless, never to return). Experiencing my first Metroid-inspired Castlevanias, Harmony of Dissonance (so-so) and Aria of Sorrow (spectacular). Getting my hands on a true Treasure action title with Astro Boy: Omega Factor. Not understanding what people see in Advance Wars. :p I still have my Classic NES model and it sees a lot of action these days, as I am quite addicted to the GBA Street Fighter Alpha 3 for no inexplicable reason other than it’s fun to waste time with.

I also got my Super NES this year, thanks to my college friend Seth. I had missed out on the 16-bit wars, so I’ve had a thrill trying out a ton of games I missed out on when I was a kid. Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger left the largest imprints so far, but I’ve got a heap of games to still try out. I got pretty lucky to snag some of the rarer cartridges, like Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, Earthbound, and Lufia II, but I need to actually play them to truly appreciate them. XD

Next year is a big year in terms of memories, so I’m looking forward to…um…looking back. :p

Shortlist:

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC, Bethesda)

Morrowind drops the player into a huge, open-ended world where the player’s imagination can truly run wild. Fighters, mages, thieves and archers, or crosses and blends of those basic classes provide an infinite amount of replay and exploration. A fantastic example of Western RPG design at its finest.

Age of Mythology (PC, Microsoft/Ensemble Software)

Age of Mythology has the best gameplay mechanics in the Age of… series if you ask me, with excellent diversity in the three powers you get to control. It also helps that the game itself is a joy to partake.

Metroid Prime (GC, Nintendo/Retro Studios)

Samus’ first adventure under the direction of Retro Studios is among the best in the franchise’s storied history – Retro managed to recapture the discovery, awe and isolation the series does so well, and does it quite handily. The first-person perspective does little to erase the pleasure – in fact, it brings a whole new side to the mythos of Metroid via the scan visor and precise gameplay.

In my opinion, the best game of 2002 was…

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC, Bethesda)

Morrowind is a game I yearned to play for years and years before I had the opportunity to. My old PC wasn’t up to the task. Grace (somehow or another) had it on her laptop, and after we got together I had a chance to try it out, but the laptop’s touch pad was too persnickety for me to appreciate the gameplay (and the mouse didn’t seemingly work on her laptop, either), so I didn’t get to give it a proper runthrough until 2007 with the arrival of our current desktop. It ran faster, controlled beautifully, and looked as good as it could get. I set out with Chadwick (who is now named Delton in my Black Blood project), a paladin who wanted to subdue political corruption and free the poor slaves scattered throughout Vvardenfell. My imagination took Chadwick on his own unique quest, crushing evil as he encountered it and ending the life of the dastardly sinister Orvas Dren, one of the seedier characters populating Morrowind. After his death, Chadwick took over the estate and proclaimed it his own, populating its rooms with books, weapons, treasures and artifacts found along his travels. Chadwick took on Dagoth Ur the correct, scripted way, ending that tyrant’s vain attempts to dominate the world. Armed with his fiery blade and the sacred shield, Chadwick’s journey obviously left a strong imprint on me. I relished wandering around Morrowind’s vast continent of Vvardenfell, interacting with its denizens, combating its enemies, and uncovering its secrets. Chadwick’s quest was in turn my quest, my personal exploration into a game I had been dying to try, and now found myself quite attached to.

Further adventures have followed. Karah, a necromancer in Black Blood, blossomed into a vengeful woman out to destroy the Redoran for slaughtering her family as she was young. She rose to the top of the Telvanni, mastered many magical spells (especially in Conjuration and Destruction), crafted a wicked soul-rending short sword, and she too led me on a unique and rewarding journey. Karah’s motives were darker and more bloody than Chadwick’s, and her focus on magic over brute strength changed the way I experienced the world of Morrowind significantly. She also got a custom fortress thanks to my tinkering with the Construction Set, although I have inadvertently caused a bug to happen, so I’ll probably need to rebuild it down the road. Kryst, the rogue you’ve seen in So..this Webcomic and Black Blood, had a short-lived quest of stealing the tons of treasure inside Vivec’s vaults, and became quite the wanted fugitive for it. Not being able to talk to the majority of the game’s characters due to her enormous bounty has made that particular attempt somewhat unfun, though. Nicole, an archer, developed her own unique quest with the expansions, ending Almalexia’s reign over Mournhold and conquering Bloodmoon’s werewolves.

In short, Morrowind has been a magical game for me, as it allows me to live out my own imagination in physical form. I can take these concepts and give them a new lease on life beyond sketches and words. And the gameplay is just about perfect. The combat is choppy, but on the whole it’s only one piece of the grander puzzle. I adore Morrowind, and it’s just shy of being an absolute of mine. Definitely one of the best games I’ve played, and I felt that sharing my personal time and investments within its borders with my avatars would make a stronger argument than breaking it down gameplay-wise (which, hey, I’ve already done!).

Some personal anecdotes:

I will admit that yes, I use God Mode to play Morrowind. Some may find that a sin, but personally, I’ve gotten so much out of the game that I don’t mind never truly dying. Some of the strategy may disappear, but I’m not delving into it so deeply for the combat side of things – I’m doing it more to develop my characters and getting them closer to their goals that I’ve put in place for them.

The great thing about Morrowind is that it’s pretty difficult to be able to say “I’ve seen everything it has to offer”. It’s such a huge game that each playthrough has opened up some new element or location I hadn’t been to before, and that’s part of the joy for me.

The expansions are fun additions, but lack the creative level design of the original game. Dungeons in particular use less unique tiles and repeat a lot of the same map types over and over again, which Oblivion continued in greater severity. That said, it’s nice to have two more areas to wade through, and the new enemies and gear make up for the lack of variety underground.

Grace has beaten the game without God Mode, and I applaud her for that. That is a feat, if I may say so.

So stoked about Skyrim right now I can’t even tell you.

Do hate Cliff Racers, though.

Age of Mythology

Bomberman Jetters (video game)

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Golden Sun: The Lost Age

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Heroes of Might and Magic IV

Kingdom Hearts (video game)

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Mega Man Zero (video game)

Metal Slug 4

Metroid Fusion

Metroid Prime

Resident Evil (2002 video game)

Shinobi (2002 video game)

Soulcalibur II

Super Mario Sunshine

TimeSplitters 2

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

Wild Arms 3

Back to 2001 – Forward to 2003

by WildcatJF on July 25, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 2002, Age of Mythology, bethesda, elder scrolls iii: morrowind, ensemble studios, Features, gamecube, Games, looking back, metroid prime, microsoft, nintendo, PC, retro studios

Posted by WildcatJF on July 25, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-2002/

Looking Back: My Favorite Game of 2001

2001 marked the end of my high school career, and the beginnings of my college days. My senior year had its fair share of tribulations – I spent my last significant time with Chad and Trent, lost both of them and Chris to drug addiction, crushed on, deliberated and eventually got the courage to ask my first girl out proper (and was declined), continued to avoid W. and his abuses, and had to take SAT tests. Bleh. On the flip side, my friendship with Anthony continued to grow, the drama program was awesome as hell (save one incident with a smart-aleck who was the son of the instructor who punched my testicles in some sort of dominance challenge – I stared at him, went to the teacher and reported the incident, and watched the torrent. He never messed with me again), and I got a lot of kicks out of multimedia. I began hanging out with a lot of young women this year – for some reason I felt that I got along with them better. I have emotional understanding, significant amounts of it for a male apparently, and was able to listen to their problems and do my best to provide them with solutions, which helped my friends out a great deal, I hope. I’ve continued to be more inclined to get along with women over most men to this day, although there are exceptions. In short, despite a few setbacks and the loss of some of the dearest friends I had, I managed to have a solid cap to being a high schooler. I wouldn’t EVER go back, though – I say fuck reunions. :p

College was a shock in many ways. I grew up in a rural area which, I hate to say it, but I have to, was mostly white. I went to college in a larger city and was flabbergasted at the cultural diversity. It took some time to get over the culture shock, and I’m so glad I did. It took a bit to get used to the changes in the schooling, too – I began with 17 units, mostly drama classes with a smattering of English and a Japanese writing course (which was difficult), and used the bus to get me to school and back. I began learning how to drive at this point (late bloomer!), but it would be a year and a half before I felt comfortable enough to get myself to school via car. I met some cool people on the bus who would become good friends I miss these days – Seth in particular was a joy to chat with. Seth was a brilliant guy, especially at math, who aced everything he took (save one class, but the teacher was a douche and never gave A’s) and happened to be a huge Nintendo nut like me. We spent a fair amount of time playing Smash Bros. Melee (woot) and Capcom Vs. SNK 2 (woot x 2), and Seth was responsible for landing me a Super NES! So I have fond memories of hanging out with him, although we’ve lost touch today. I also made many drama compadres during my tenure with that program, although, thanks to the death of Myspace as a social network and my hatred of Facebook, I haven’t talked to many of them lately. No offense meant! Drama was good fun, and many of the people were in multiple classes, so I had a great chance to bond with many of them. However, I realized that I didn’t want to pursue that as a career a few years later, and changed my major to English after I had nailed the Drama one down pat. I just didn’t want to be an actor – the fame and publicity didn’t appeal to me. But I do love the stage and all of its aspects, and have a passion for live theater that gets fulfilled all too rarely.

I’ll save my other college thoughts for the next few posts of this, or I’ll have nothing to write about. XD

Anyway! I acquired another new system this year – the Gamecube! I bought Smash Bros. Melee before I had the system in my hands (which I got for Christmas if my memory is correct as a deal with my parents). This game buying before system owning quirk was a bit of a tradition that I wanted to continue but fell out of after this (shrug). I had a black one, and I had a lot of great memories with it – you’ll notice Skies of Arcadia Legends, Resident Evil 4, Beyond Good & Evil, Tales of Symphonia, Metroid Prime and Zelda: Twilight Princess in my Top 30. It felt nice to have another current-gen system, what with the Dreamcast suffering a premature death and the N64 wheezing its final breath. I had a Game Boy Player for it, which was a nice if somewhat unneeded addition to my console, seeing as I had a Game Boy Advance, but playing GBA games on the TV was a pleasant novelty. I also had all 4 controllers, although I’m down to three now (one broke, I think…the C sticks kind of wear out after a bit). It’s the first console I wore out – the disc drive began to be unresponsive, so I dumped the thing once I had a Wii. It’s the only console I don’t still own after all this time (alas, my personal Dreamcast died in 2010, but I had a spare, thank god).

This transition period is reflected in my candidates for the best game of 2001 – one N64 game, one ‘Cube, one Dreamcast, and one PS2 game. Weird how that works.

But before we get to that, there’s two other topics I wish to briefly cover. First off, my art began to evolve more toward its current form in 2001 in college. I had up to that point relied on using circles to illustrate my character’s heads, which was something I wanted to get out of my system and make my characters look more human, so I began that here, and have been refining that for the last 10 years. Secondly, and quite importantly to this site, I began Wildcat Online on August 6th, 2001! I got a computer after a visit to my grandparents in Utah, and quickly immersed myself into the internet world I had been dabbling in with full haste. My initial site and its long history are fully detailed out here, if you care to read more. And man, I can’t believe it’s going to be 10 years this August. O_O

Shortlist:

Paper Mario (N64, Nintendo/Intelligent Systems)

Taking the timing elements in battle from Square’s earlier Mario RPG outing, Intelligent Systems reinvented the concept with a unique graphical style and a more defined battle engine that pushed the action command aspect into the forefront. A great beginning.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC, Nintendo/HAL Labs)

Building on the core from the N64 original came Melee, the game that launched Super Smash Bros. as a major Nintendo franchise and a system seller. With more characters, stages, items, and moves, plus several new additions like the Trophy Mode and several new solo excursions, some still feel that this is the high point of the franchise.

Project Justice (DC, Capcom)

Capcom’s swan song for the Dreamcast is a fitting one, as it ended up being one of the best fighters on a system full of stand-outs. Crazy-awesome characters, a versatile team system and a solid combat engine made Project Justice a joyous brawler.

In my opinion, the best game of 2001 was…

To be redecided!

Advance Wars

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Capcom vs. SNK 2

Civilization III

Devil May Cry (video game)

Golden Sun

Grand Theft Auto III

Ico

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages

Luigi’s Mansion

Maximo: Ghosts to Glory

Super Dodge Ball Advance

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3

Wave Race: Blue Storm

Back to 2000 – Forward to 2002

by WildcatJF on April 21, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 2001, capcom, dreamcast, Features, gamecube, Games, hal labs, intelligent systems, looking back, n64, nintendo, paper mario, project justice, Super Smash Bros. Melee

Posted by WildcatJF on April 21, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-2001/

Looking Back: My Favorite Game of 2000

2000 was a good year as far as high school went. Despite Chad’s departure, I was able to meet some awesome new people. Anthony entered my life due to a Home Economics (i.e. Cooking) class, and we became fast friends. He and I would spend oodles and oodles of time together while he was in high school, and he was the best man at my wedding. He was there in many of my gaming memories – beating Street Fighter Alpha 3′s Dramatic Battle together, witnessing me crush the super-hard final stages in World Tour Mode (same game), me serving as his fighting game trainer (as Chris had done with me), playing Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Alpha 3, Smash Bros. Melee, Capcom Vs. SNK 2 and Soul Calibur with me all the time. It was a rare weekend when we weren’t at his or my place. Beyond games, though, he was and is an awesome man, and despite hardly seeing or hearing from him these days, I’d have to say he’s the finest friend I’ve had outside of Grace.

My junior year also got me into classes I wanted to take – I was back in the drama program, which ours was a unique one. Usually drama programs are where a bunch of outcasts and eclectic kids end up getting into (which I would consider myself both :p ), but ours had football players, ASMC officers, some of the most popular people on campus and the outcasts/eclectics. And we all got along for the most part. I became friends with a wide array of people thanks to our diverse program, and our instructor I would rank highly among the most influential teachers I’ve had. I served as a stage manager for all of the shows, with small bit parts in a couple. I also got into Multimedia, where I had the chance to use these newfangled computer do-dads I’ve heard so much about. I learned Photoshop, video editing, audio editing and other skills, which I occasionally utilize here for the blog. I adored this class, despite bumping into my newest and most contested rival, my former friend W. (I’ll save using his name, since he’s not a pleasant memory). W. had always taken to belittling me for some reason, and 2000 was the year I parted ways with my old comrades (since Chad was gone and Chris and Trent were hanging with new people before I wised up), which apparently incited him to up the ante. He would go out of his way to say some sort of negative remark to me (including shouting across campus), and made any class I ended up with him unpleasant. I don’t know what crawled up his ass to become so vindictive – I imagine he had a shitty life outside of school and needed a scapegoat. I made the right choice to jump ship, though, as they all got into pot and drunk shenanigans not too far afterward. We had some good times, no doubt – Goldeneye battles and whatnot, but overall I was and am relieved that I no longer have to deal with them.

I also had fun with girls. Well, not really. I unintentionally developed a slight stalker phase with one crush, which I quickly realized and crushed as I talked to her about it (and apologized). It was my first attempt to ask a girl out, and although she and I got along well, she wasn’t interested in taking it further…which was fine in the end. She and I remained solid friends through high school. I look at any past rejection as a good thing, as it got me into dating and marrying Grace down the road, and I wouldn’t trade her for nothing. The last play introduced me to a new crush, who I would spend the whole summer dreaming about. Heh. God, revisiting my crushes is such a goofy self-analysis. I can see how immature and idiotic I was. Ah, youth. I’ll save my senior memories for 2001.

In 2000 I believe that I had four personal projects running. One is tied to So…this webcomic/Snow Dragon, as I’ve mentioned before. It’s where Blade and Claire/Janelle/Mike/Lindsay/Drew’s powers in Shi Kurai are from. The others I’ll be a little more open about, as two of them are obsolete now and one may become a webcomic on here in due time. One of the aborted projects revolved around Bobby, the cat, based on my own cat of the same name. I loved Bobby – he was an affectionate and lovely cat. So I merged him into a game design that he would collect alphabet scrolls to gain magical powers. Sort of Metroid-ish. It never really got too far – I think I progressed more on compiling what Foo Fighter songs I wanted to use than any real design aspects. :p The second was taking Jamiroquai’s Space Cowboy persona into a game premise, which also didn’t get too far. That’s where Didjital came from, and somehow I combined the two universes for Shi Kurai. So those two ideas are long gone, now. The last is titled Black Blood, and it’s where Kryst originates. It’s a fantasy-tinged title, but I’m not 100% sure where I’m taking it yet. But I am considering a webcomic for it, so I guess look forward to that!

Shortlist:

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (N64, Atlus/Quest)

Easily the best RPG for the N64, Ogre Battle 64 features a robust character development system, a fascinating plot and some intense strategical battling. Well worth looking into if you love strat-based RPG’s.

Skies of Arcadia (DC, Sega)

Sega’s sky-faring opus, with a dynamic and likable cast, an incredible world to poke around in, a solid set of battle engines and is simply an experience that I can not recommend enough.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 (DC, Capcom)

Capcom’s final chapter in the Alpha subbranch is the finest one, with its richest cast, glorious animation and a myriad of gameplay options and styles to tinker around in. The RPG-esque World Tour mode and Dramatic Battle adds immensely to the pleasure.

Grandia II (DC, UBI Soft/Gamearts)

Grandia II is a visual tour de force for the Dreamcast, and has one of the most gripping battle systems in any RPG I’ve played. Add in a solid soundtrack and a decent cast of adventurers and I’m happy as hell.

In my opinion, the best game of 2000 was…

Skies of Arcadia (DC, Sega)

You wouldn’t have expected anything else, right? :p

I’ve gushed so much about this game on the site that it’s hard to think of something new to say about it. I think that my Dreamcast Anniversary reflections does that insanely well. I’ve also covered my adoration of the game’s excellent art direction (led by Itsuki Hoshi), soundtrack (done by Yutaka Minobe and Takayuki Maeda), characters (I’ve covered Vyse, and plan to get Aika and Fina’s spotlights done this year) and have drawn more fan art and wallpapers (1 – 2) for it than any other game. But, I’ll try very hard to come up with something original here.

Skies of Arcadia is not a perfect game. It has its flaws – overly common random battles, Vyse is a little clunky in the overworld (and climbs up ladders way too slowly), its plot relies on the Magical McGuffin school of progression a little much, the default battle engine can drag on for too long, and I’m sure other problems other gamers have experienced that aren’t leaping to mind. For me, though, I was able to look past all of that and see something that was absolutely amazing. A game that, despite its design issues, completely wowed me every step of the way.

Part of that enrapture has been Vyse, Aika and Fina’s phenomenal characterization. Vyse is such an optimistic guy with his heart set on big things, and is quite able to keep himself composed and focused in even the toughest circumstances. This trait is one to admire. Aika’s feisty behavior and zeal for being a pirate is a nice counterbalance to Fina’s more subdued and shy personality, and both build upon that foundation and become extraordinary sidekicks to Vyse (who also grows beautifully) throughout the game’s story. And while Skies does run with the magic crystal collection trope, it does a whole bunch more with its plot than merely idling around those objects. It tackles cultural issues, as the Valuans attempt to dominate the other realms and eradicate what they consider inferior. It reveals that other cultures are something to preserve, and that assimilation is not always the greatest answer. As Vyse and Co. try to protect these locales from Valua’s military, and as they explore and chat with residents in those places, my mind was blown at how well Sega captured such cultural diversity and its importance so well in this game. My revisit brought those memories flooding back, even more poignantly now that I’m going to be a cultural anthropologist myself.

I’ve delved into Skies’ handling of exploration before, but it’s the flipside to the cultural aspects that caught my attention most. I LOVE exploration in games. Linear games can be fun, no doubt, but I appreciate and relish being able to poke around and discover areas and secrets. Many of my favorite games have such an aspect to them, and that component was fully realized thanks to Skies. With a multitude of discoveries to track down, a huge world to sail in, hidden sidequests and battles for the persistent (which the Gamecube port enhances with its extra boss battles), and the eventual acquiring of a base you can build to your liking…as long as you can gather all of the various crewmates needed to construct it! – there’s nothing quite like sailing the blue skies in …Skies. Honestly. It left such an impact that I used “Sailing the Blue Skies since (year here)” at my old site for years.

But the most telling piece of evidence is how MUCH I’ve written or created or admired about this game. I can ramble on and on about it if I can, and have devoted massive amounts of my time into playing and discussing and sharing it. And really, it’s been THE game of games for me – the one that I can quickly point to as my favorite without a lot of thought. I don’t know what else I can do to showcase my passion for Skies than merely pointing out the Skies of Arcadia tag for LVLs. and asking you to look at the records of the site’s coverage of it (the Imagery and my Favorite Games won’t pop up there, but I know how to link to those!) to see for yourself how much I love this game.

Some personal anecdotes…

I own the DC original and GC port, although my DC copy has issues on the second disc (and I’m too scared to try to dip it into hot water to remove the probable film that is screwing with it). Won’t sell either! I also have the soundtrack, but it’s a bootleg copy. If I had the money, I would import the collector’s stuff from Japan and the real soundtrack – I’m that serious.

I’d kill for some Skies of Arcadia figures. Well, that’s strong – I’d really love to have some, let’s put it that way.

Is it wrong I’m more interested in Vyse, Aika and Fina’s cameos in Valkyria Chronicles than anything else?

I have a Nintendo Power poster of Skies on the wall in my house. Grace doesn’t like it that much, but it’s the biggest piece of Skies adoration I own, and we’ve luckily reached a compromise about me keeping it up.

Banjo-Tooie

Breath of Fire IV

Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000

Dead or Alive 2

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Metal Slug 3

Perfect Dark

Power Stone 2

Resident Evil Code: Veronica

Skies of Arcadia

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion

Vagrant Story

The World Is Not Enough (video game)

Back to 1999 – Forward to 2001

by WildcatJF on February 10, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 2000, atlus, capcom, dreamcast, Features, gamearts, Games, grandia ii, looking back, n64, ogre battle 64: person of lordly caliber, quest, sega, skies of arcadia, street fighter alpha 3, ubi soft

Posted by WildcatJF on February 10, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-2000/

Looking Back – My Favorite Game of 1999

1999 was sophomore year, which was a vast improvement to being a freshmen. However, I didn’t really get into any classes I wanted that year – the drama program excluded me for some odd reason, and my electives were, for the most part, fairly dull or boring. It wouldn’t be until next year that I’d start relishing some of my classes and actually enjoy high school some. Sad for me. This was Chad’s last full year before transferring, so I at least had that. To be honest, of all my high school years, this is the one that is the most unexciting to recollect…so much so that I’m not remembering much. XD

One thing I do recall is the acquisition of my latest console at the time – the Dreamcast! If you haven’t gathered by now, I love Sega’s swan song, and managed to amass a fairly sizable collection for Christmas, getting Marvel Vs. Capcom, Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, 4 controllers and a VMU right off the bat (I bought Marvel Vs. Capcom in advance!). Since the Nintendo 64 was still kicking, I now had two consoles to split my income on. I began working to gain a little more money to cover my passions. It’s the only time I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of two separate consoles releasing new games at the same time, and it was a frenzied, yet fun time for me. There’s gems for both consoles I missed due to this, but in the end I’m quite happy to have had the chance to be involved in such a great time for games.

I don’t miss washing dishes. :p I’d rather sell books, no question.

I apologize for the overall lack of information here – I honestly am drawing huge blanks about this particular year.

Shortlist:

Super Smash Bros. (N64, Nintendo/HAL Labs)

Nintendo’s major mascots finally unite for a fighting game different than most – instead of draining a life meter, it grows in size, which makes your fighter fly further the higher it goes. The goal is to KO your foes offscreen and minimize taking off yourself! A fresh and fantastic take on the conventional fighter.

Resident Evil 2 (N64, Capcom)

The sequel to Capcom’s second (counting Sweet Home) survival horror attempt refined the formula, adding in several new and awesome enemies, a compelling world to poke around in, and provided two quests to further expand the gameplay. My favorite of the old-school RE’s.

Sega Swirl (DC, Sega)

Swirl manages to overcome my usual dislike of puzzle games by providing simple yet addicting gameplay – match the swirls by their color to clear the board. It’s a great multiplayer experience.

Soul Calibur (DC, Namco)

Namco’s weapon-wielding 3D fighter brought the Dreamcast one of its first jaw-droppers – amazing visuals and deep gameplay combine with intriguing characters and a variety of modes for an excellent game that has yet to be beaten by its sequels.

In my opinion, the best game of 1999 was…

Soul Calibur (DC, Namco)

Powering up Soul Calibur for the first time was a very prominent moment of awe for me (and most gamers, I’m sure). The power of the Dreamcast was quickly evident with SC’s crisp modeling, detailed backdrops and smooth animation. Watching a fight was almost as great as participating. Namco’s team took the crusty PS1-based engine the arcade release featured and turned it on its head completely in its seven month porting, ensuring that it would be a strongpoint in the early days of the system.

Luckily, Soul Calibur is not reliant on its beauty alone to wow, as its gameplay is full of depth. Personally, I’ve yet to play a 3D arena game that has left as much of a lasting impression as the first Soul Calibur. It managed to click a ton of the right switches for me. Developing your tactics required a different method of playing than Capcom/SNK designed 2D fighters, as Namco had three attack buttons – vertical strikes, horizontal strikes, and kicks, and a guard button. Directional input altered these attacks, as did running, jumping, crouching and occasional commands. Guard plus a Strike button allowed you to throw your opponent in vicious ways, and you could counter attacks with well-timed taps of back or forward with the Guard button. Most fighters held unique movesets and weapons, with a few unlockables that mimicked other fighters, but with a few tweaks. In short, there was plenty to experiment with, and a heap of gameplay gold to be found within the engine.

What ultimately cements Soul Calibur as such a classic to me though is the fact that Namco has made such pains to pad its sequels with unnecessary crap for questionable reasons. The first game was nigh-perfect, but Namco has never returned completely to the template they first established. With guest characters from other franchises (several of which make little to no sense at all – Spawn? Darth Vader and Yoda?), female character designs that dive deeper and deeper into the smut shop on the corner (and whose breasts grow exponentially per game, and become more and more prone to nipple exposure), idiotic modes that ruin the overall vibe of the game (a strategy RPG?!?), modifications to the core gameplay that are not needed (walls, alternate weapons with bonus effects, quick time events in between matches), a plot line that seems content in retconning itself with every chance it gets, and a myriad of other gripes I could continue piling on, I secretly wonder if Namco is trying to sabotage its second major 3D fighting franchise as it rolls along its course (another point – SC3 corrupts PS2 memory cards, and this issue was never resolved!). Thankfully, I can forget all of Namco’s mistakes by revisiting this game, the one that launched the franchise into the big leagues, and remains unbeaten as the champ of 3D fighters, as far as I’m concerned.

Some personal anecdotes…

I tend to play as Nightmare or Siegfried, as both have similar styles and work well for me. I also enjoy playing as Taki (although I’m terrible with her), Seung Mina and Maxi.

I’ve completed this 100%, including the hidden missions.

I LOVE the art gallery for this game – no other has come close to topping it. It’s full of awesome art of many styles, and is a delight to pour through.

The only addition I would make to Soul Calibur is III and IV’s Character Creation system – that was arguably the best thing Namco’s come up with so far to its sequels. It’s fun recreating my OC’s and seeing them in motion. It helped design some for a project of mine, actually.

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

Bionic Commando: Elite Forces

The King of Fighters ’99

Mario Golf (video game)

Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber

Rayman 2: The Great Escape

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Sega Swirl

Silent Hill (video game)

SimCity 3000

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

Super Smash Bros.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

Unreal Tournament

Worms Armageddon

WWF Attitude

Sonic Adventure

Soul Calibur

Back to 1998 – Forward to 2000

by WildcatJF on January 13, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 1999, capcom, dreamcast, Features, Games, hal labs, looking back, n64, namco, nintendo, nintendo 64, resident evil 2, sega, sega swirl, soul calibur, Super Smash Bros.

Posted by WildcatJF on January 13, 2011

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-1999/

Looking Back – My Favorite Game of 1998

1998…a big year. I became a sophomore, losing the stigma of freshmen status, which was nice. It was the last year I spent hanging out with Chad, who had begun to get pretty heavy into drugs at this point in his life. He also felt isolated, like the whole high school was against him, so he transferred out to an alternate high school that helped troubled students get through school the following year. It was a pretty big loss to me. Chad and I had been essential pillars of strength to each other (as far as I’m concerned, at least) through some difficult years, so it was odd to not see him anywhere near as often as I used to.

1998 also introduced me to a guy named Trent, who was and is one of the coolest people I’ve ever known. To be honest, I wish I had known him longer than I had to chance to. He walked on his own path, marched to a different beat…any sort of goofy metaphor you can come up with for an individual, he was it. He was a big inspiration on me, and really helped push me towards becoming such a big believer in individualism. Sort of odd how I was inspired to be individualistic by someone else (sort of goes against that premise :p ), but I can’t imagine myself now without the convictions I hold for it, so I appreciate the nudge Trent provided.

Chris and I also spent a ton of time together, and began our fighting rivalry with the arcade version of X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, which popped up at a local arcade. We also battled in a completely unexpected game – Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Chris had a few friends over when he had just picked the game up. I was amazed, enthralled even about what I was watching. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. When I started the game at his house, I recorded it. I got through the Deku Tree, but not much farther. When I returned home, I asked my mom if we could go and get it, but alas, she was busy working and didn’t want to take me. I had the game on reserve as it was, but I just had to witness the game again, so I watched my tape. My mom walked in while I was glued to the screen…and decided to take me down to pick it up if I got it quickly. What’s best about this story is when I got it, I became completely addicted to the stellar gameplay and level design. So much so, that I beat the game in about 20 hours in 4 days. The best part? I beat it 5 minutes before Chris, who had it a week before I did. I called him after the credits rolled to let him know I had conquered it and he was (I paraphrase) “What? I’m fighting Ganon now!” Years later, when I brought this back up, he told me that he was quite upset at me. :p

Let’s see, what else happened…my crush told me her story I mentioned last time. Took some time to get over that one. XD It was around this time that I came up with my OC Claire. I was so devastated by losing my crush to alcohol that I made Claire up to be what I considered at the time my ideal dream girl. It’s really hokey and stupid to look back on, but that’s what I did in order to try to counteract the heartache I felt. I did have real crushes following this :p – two in high school (both wanted to stay as friends) and more than a few in college (only two I dared ask out, though – one I wanted to stay as friends with, but my brain was all fucked up with emotive feelings, so I just wanted to get that resolved with, and the second…I married ^_^ ). So that wraps that that tangent. :p

It was around this time that I began reading The Bard’s Tale series of books put out by Mercedes Lackey and various co-authors. I adored them. I still consider them the best fantasy books I’ve read. I don’t know if they are all that literary, but they do their fantasy spiel quite well, and despite having next to nothing to do with the games they plucked the name from, they are engaging and quick to read. I was quite taken with these, and was inspired to venture out a new game concept utilizing the license (I had no clue about copyright back then). As I’ve gotten older I’ve removed the Bard’s Tale from that concept, but I still fiddle with the thought once in a while, and you may see some fruits of that labor in the near future. Maybe.

Shortlist:

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, Nintendo)

Link’s first foray into three dimensions maintained the Zelda legacy, if not exceeding its predecessors with its rich gameplay, enormous world and puzzling dungeons. Definitely a milestone in gaming history.

Body Harvest (N64, Midway/DMA Design)

A tense action game that requires quick reflexes and a fast trigger finger, DMA Design’s alien blaster may not have the critical acclaim it deserves, but is a fine example of 3D action games at their best.

Marvel Vs. Capcom (Arcade, Capcom)

The third Vs. game with Marvel, mixing in Darkstalkers, Strider, Mega Man, Captain Commando and Cyberbots characters on top of Street Fighter for Capcom’s side, plus plucking the best reps from Marvel’s (plus Venom), this was a frantic free-for-all fighter that entertains for hours.

International Superstar Soccer 98 (N64, Konami)

Building upon its earlier success, ISS 98 perfects the gameplay set into motion prior, adding in a ton of new technical aspects to the core, and delivered a soccer experience unlike any other. A landmark in sports gaming, and is possibly the best one ever made.

In my opinion, the best game of 1998 was…

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, Nintendo)

I mentioned that Goldeneye was in the Top 5 of games that left an impact on me. Ocarina of Time is at the top. There may be four games ahead of it on my favorites list now, but Nintendo’s N64 Zelda debut shook me to my gaming core back in the day. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so mesmerized by a game as I was with this. I really wish I could go back in time and revisit myself discovering the intricacies buried within this golden cartridge a second time. Alas, I will have to live with the memories alone.

Starting up Zelda: OoT was such a pivotal point for my gaming career. Prior to my exposure with Ocarina of Time, I had beaten the first NES game, dabbled with Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening, and couldn’t get myself to comprehend Zelda II’s unusual gameplay alterations. I can’t say that I was a fan of the franchise, though. As the opening cinema began, with Link riding Epona through Hyrule Field, with one of the more poignant intro themes I had heard at the time, I knew I was in for a very special treat. Getting past the menu and into the game’s exposition was thrilling. Settling in to control Link was even more so. Link was amazingly responsive – not quite as loose as Mario was in Mario 64, but his ease of maneuvering through the environments was awesomely done. The game prodded you along to progress deeper, but allowed plenty of freedom to explore and poke around (minus Navi griping at you all the time XD ). Secrets were everywhere – rolling into trees, bombing walls, dropping bugs into patches of dirt, firing hookshots into trees and treasure chests, diving deep underwater…just a taste of the hidden surprises awaiting persistent players.

The visuals were unprecedented for the system, too. It was a visual feast for the eyes. Naturally, it’s lost that appeal to the march of technology, but it was quite a tour de force for my young mind to undergo. The music has not lost its edge, however, remaining as rich as it did over a decade ago. And the cast of NPC’s Link could interact with are still some of the finest in the series. The Happy Mask Seller, Malon, Talon, and Ingo, the Carpenter Brothers, the Kokiri children, and of course, the emerging wickedness of one of gaming’s oldest villains, Ganon. His new “human” form as the Gerudo Ganondorf added something new to his character, and the game’s handling of his villainy made him much more devious than the prior games were able to convey. And I will eternally remember crossing blades with him. That is a hallmark of a boss battle, let me tell you. Zelda too had a chance to grow as a character, and despite falling into the damsel-in-distress role the moment she ceases being her alter ego Sheik, the expansion of her was greatly appreciated.

All and all, I consider Ocarina of Time to define the finest of early 3D games. It is huge, deep and had a profound emotional significance to me that not many other games can claim, and remains one of the greatest joys I’ve had in my life, gaming or not. A massive, massive thanks to Nintendo for this crowning achievement.

Some personal anecdotes…

My fun story of topping Chris in beating the game above is probably the best anecdote I have of Ocarina of Time, and a solid testament to how attached I was to this game…man. Five minutes ahead of him. I still am floored by the fact I beat him to the end.

I’ve gotten everything in this game. I’ve even abused the bottle duplicating trick on items I rarely or never used. :p

The Master Quest variant of the game you can track down on the Gamecube is a nice remix of dungeon delving. Jabu-Jabu’s Belly in particular stands out as one of the more surreal moments in a Zelda title, and yes, I have played Majora’s Mask. :p

The 3DS remake has me naturally interested, but seeing what Nintendo did to Mario 64 DS makes me a little weary. The analog nub will resolve control issues (with any luck), but will Nintendo make unnecessary additions to the game that could jeopardize what made Ocarina so incredible in the first place? We’ll see soon, I guess.

And lastly, comparing the later 3D Zeldas…

Majora’s Mask – While having a far more intriguing atmosphere and some cool gameplay ideas with the various masks, the steep decline of dungeons (which were excellent, I must say) and the reliance on timing things just right to achieve everything made the overall game a little paler than Ocarina. It is very good, though.

Wind Waker – Link’s first Gamecube adventure would have been wonderful if that damn boat wasn’t used so much, the AI buddies in two particular dungeons were easier to switch to (and controlled better), and if the game didn’t rely on the Tingle Triforce Shard Parade over dungeon dives or some other form of gameplay than the tedious sailing, I would consider it in my top 25 without question. Has the best combat engine for Link in the 3D games, too, which makes it unfortunate that it got saddled with some poor design choices. More on that here.

Twilight Princess – My second favorite Zelda of all time, it has so many things that are awesome about it for me to rattle off here. I’ll focus on what makes it not quite an Ocarina killer – namely, a stretch of the game where the story takes a back seat to constant dungeon trips, ruining the earlier plot focus; mechanics that needed to be fleshed out a little more (the hawk or horse combat, for example) to not feel fluffy, and the slight downgrade the combat engine received. It’s fluid, but not quite as smooth and transition-friendly as Wind Waker’s.

Forsaken (video game)

International Superstar Soccer 98

Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu

Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete

Mario Party (video game)

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

Mega Man & Bass

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Slug 2

Mission: Impossible (1998 video game)

Parasite Eve (video game)

Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers

Resident Evil 2

Half Life

Space Station Silicon Valley

Spyro the Dragon (video game)

SpikeOut

StarCraft

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Street Fighter Alpha 3

The Last Blade 2

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

Unreal

Back to 1997 – Forward to 1999

by WildcatJF on December 3, 2010 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 1998, arcade, body harvest, capcom, dma design, Features, Games, international superstar soccer 98, konami, legend of zelda: ocarina of time, looking back, marvel vs. capcom, midway, n64, nintendo

Posted by WildcatJF on December 3, 2010

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/looking-back-my-favorite-game-of-1998/

Looking Back – My Favorite Game from 1997

NOTE – This was originally written before playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which I am now crowning my favorite game of 1997. However, for this entry only I will be keeping the original Goldeneye 007 notes as part of the article. International Superstar Soccer 64 was removed to make way for Symphony – I find ISS 98 to be much better, anyway, which is covered in Looking Back’s 1998 entry.

Freshmen Year. That’s what 1997 was all about. My eighth grade year wasn’t shabby – I met Chris and became good friends with him, Chad and I were as tight as we ever were, I had a new crush (more on that), my classes were fun, and my adversary from past years had moved up to high school, so things were not terrible. That had to end, though. Freshmen year was returning to the bottom rung…with THREE grades looking down upon you. I had no hearsay in my classes, so I ended up stuck in a Drafting class I hated (and failed on purpose). I got beaned with pennies and with gum. My antagonist was wandering around again. My crush would only be glimpsed on the bus ride, as she was still in middle school. I didn’t end up seeing Chad or Chris all that often at school. We had to dress out for PE, wearing dorky PE clothes. I was not much for the public nudist act, so I disliked being stuck in a locker room.

In retrospect, the games below were big reasons why 1997 means anything to me now. A ton of time was spent battling it out on Nintendo 64′s scattered across our friends, and new multiplayer excursions were often tried out and tested between all of us. I had a subscription to Game Players and Next Generation, and was able to keep tabs on what was shaking in the N64 world and beyond, which was nice.

The crush of 1997. Heh. It’s funny to say now, but I remember seeing her for the first time and having that clichéd “love at first sight” smattering. She was cute, to be sure. I was terribly shy, though, so I never talked to her much in my early crushing days. It took a couple of years, and we would say hi and occasionally chat. Little did she know that she was huge to me – I had incorporated her into my art, thought about her all the time. In three years, that fleeting fancy would be crushed and shattered unlike I had experienced before. I’m not sure how often I mention it here, but I abstain from drinking. I’ll stay off my soapbox for now, but I have had very strong reservations about alcohol consumption for a long time, and one day she revealed to me how she got a cold that was bugging her – from drinking too much and diving into a freezing pond. It truly felt like something inside my brain snapped and drained. I continued the conversation, but I never really talked to her again after that, which was a bit of an ass-y thing to do, I suppose, looking back on it. However, I was devastated about it for some time…but I recovered. Heh. It’s really goofy how I as a teenager reacted to things like this, like the world would ignite and pull itself apart because a girl drinks. XD Sheesh. In any event, I don’t regret my past here, as Grace is beyond my wildest dreams, much more than any prior crush I had or even fathomed. It’ll be fun talking about how we met and got to be a couple in a few posts.

Shortlist:

Goldeneye 007 (N64, Nintendo/Rare)
Rare’s first stab at a FPS turned out to be a revolution in terms of design – enemies became smarter and reacted to where they were shot, objectives spiced up the game’s levels, and it became a multiplayer sensation.

Bomberman 64 (N64, Hudson)
Bomberman’s N64 debut was a well-executed platformer, with engaging levels, lots of secrets to hunt down, and a robust multiplayer mode.

Star Fox 64 (N64, Nintendo)
Nintendo’s Fox McCloud returned to space for his second mission, and the tight shooting action was phenomenal. Arguably the best in the series alongside its SNES counterpart.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, Konami)
Konami’s reinvention of the Castlevania franchise into a more Metroid-esque exploration was a brilliant move, and the excellent gameplay, music and spritework made it all the more incredible.

In my opinion, the second best game of 1997 was…

Goldeneye 007 (Nintendo/Rare)

Goldeneye truly is a special game. It sort of appeared out of nowhere with a massive cloud of hype surrounding it, and it quickly became the go-to game for get-togethers with my middle/high school chums. We spent countless hours trailing each other in the game’s vast multiplayer levels, often utilizing the Golden Gun for maximum thrills. I don’t know if we felt any more bonded than when we were blasting it out in 007.

Thankfully, the game’s single player was also excellent, enabling us to compete for cheats when we were alone. It became a badge of honor to get particular ones without a Gameshark – I managed to get the tricky Invincibility cheat before my friends did after many replays trying to storm through the Facility stage, to finally shave off precious seconds to slide in at 2 minutes and 3 seconds, 2 seconds shy of the barrier required to enable it. One of my strongest memories, for sure. When I wasn’t battling my friends for bragging rights, I was enraptured by Rare’s mastery of their control scheme, which seamlessly made James Bond’s actions mirror my commands. Responsive, quick and nigh-perfect, I adored every second spent with Goldeneye.

As I ponder my past and what games made the biggest impact upon me, Goldeneye 007 is handily in the Top 5. Without a doubt. It gave me an equal place with my friends (some of whom didn’t want to cough up such entitlement otherwise), a conversation piece when we were at school, and an everlasting fondness few games have managed. Despite the many advances the genre has seen since Goldeneye’s initial rattling of the foundation, it’s solid gameplay fun.

Some personal anecdotes:

Baron Samadi or Natalya were my MP characters. Samadi I’ve always thought was awesome thanks to Live and Let Die (the only Roger Moore 007 film I care to watch), while with Natalya I tend to enjoy playing as females in games like these. Xenia was a little over-the-top for my liking.

The last cheat I had to unlock was the Silver PP7, and I’m ashamed to admit it, but it was achieved with the aid of a Gameshark. XD

I was a backstabbing bastard in MP. If I caught on fire with the Golden Gun, I was an assassin. There were times I went for minutes without dying, slaying anyone in my wake. Goldeneye had that knack for empowering all players – I’m sure my friends feel that they had amazing streaks in 007, too.

My copy is signed by Mr. Jaws himself, Richard Kiel. It’s one of my more precious games because of it. Kiel’s a nice guy, too. He used to live nearby, and my mom ran right into his bellybutton once. :p

Activision’s new take on the game intrigues me, and I may pick it up, but I’m going to try to enjoy it on its own merits. It will never replicate the classic, no matter how hard they advertise it as such. I hope it’s a fun game, though.

In my opinion, the best game of 1997 was…

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, Konami)

After years and years of watching this game continually land on platforms I did not own, and then, once I had a console capable of playing it (the PS2), it was incredibly scarce and/or expensive to obtain, I truly wondered if I’d be fortunate enough to play through a game my old Neomega comrades hailed the best of all time as a group (without my vote!). I knew that when I got a PS3, I could DL it, but owning a physical copy had been much more preferable to me. So, imagine my surprise when a new acquittance from the Hardcore Gaming 101 forums offered to send me a copy of the game his sister didn’t want! I was stoked! So, after playing through the portable CV’s that aped the formula begun here, would I find the original to be superior? Would it show its age, not really living up to the praise? What if I found it jerky or unappealing? Questions like this bounced in my head as I awaited the mail to arrive. And I stopped playing through my newly gained Christmas Wii games (which were all excellent!) to begin this ASAP. Those long years, the sheer anticipation of this game’s excellence finally came to an ahead as I plopped it into the PS2 and started it up.

I quickly answered my questions, and they were Yes, No, and No. This is a game worthy of its accolades, and worthy of its status as a fantastic piece of gaming entertainment. Despite its shoddy voice work and iffy plot, the game’s rich gameplay and appealing level design made stepping into the boots of Alucard an enjoyable one. Alucard has an incredible set of talents that are almost all fun to use, and the game gives you ample opportunity to experiment with the possibilities it provides and allow gamers to work with what appeals to them best. It’s got a lot of hidden goodies to hunt down to power up Alucard, plus a meaty selection of weaponry and armor to equip him with. And the enemy lineup is beautifully animated and diverse. It’s obvious why Konami continues to recycle them in later CV’s – the quality was astounding. And the backdrops have not been matched in any sequel. Save a few hokey 3D effects that look terrible now, the game is a gorgeous treat to the eyes to watch, and is full of clever touches that show how much care went into making them.

Michiru Yamane was given free reign to compose the soundtrack (save a track or two), and she outdid herself with Symphony’s luscious score. The GBA and DS games have some amazing tracks (and I still find Portrait’s to be the best), but Yamane on CD is a audible glory. It makes me wish more 2D games ended up on consoles so I could hear those soundtracks stretch out and utilize better instrumentation.

All and all, Symphony wowed me, much like Super Metroid did in the Gamecube era. While I was not as thoroughly amazed as I was with Super Metroid, I found Symphony to be the high point of a very storied franchise, one that I greatly enjoy and treasure as a favorite. So that’s saying something.

Some personal anecdotes:

Massive thanks to Jason X at the HG101 forums for mailing this to me. I need to post there more. XD I traded him Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for it – I hope he likes it more than me. I certainly relished my end of the deal!

The voice work is indeed atrocious. Ricther was BAD, Dracula was campy, Maria was so-so at best, and Alucard tried to be okay, and usually reached that goal, but stuttered along the way. I really wish there was an option to turn them off, but hey – what can you do.

It’s the newest game on my Top 20 list (went up January 2011!), so I don’t have a ton of memories about it quite yet. I do want to replay it this summer though.

Blast Corps

Bomberman 64 (1997 video game)

Breath of Fire III

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Final Fantasy Tactics

G-Darius

GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)

The House of the Dead (video game)

International Superstar Soccer 64

Kirby’s Dream Land 3

Mega Man Legends (video game)

NFL Quarterback Club ’98

Real Bout Fatal Fury Special

Shock Troopers

Star Fox 64

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

Back to 1996 – Forward to 1998

by WildcatJF on October 27, 2010 • Permalink

Posted in Features, Games, Looking Back

Tagged 1997, bomberman 64, castlevania: symphony of the night, Features, Games, goldeneye 007, hudson, konami, looking back, n64, nintendo, ps1, rare, star fox 64

Posted by WildcatJF on October 27, 2010

http://lvls.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/looking-back-my-favorite-game-from-1997/

Looking Back – My Favorite Game from 1996

This was the first year in quite some time that I had gotten a new console into my life – in this case, the Christmas introduction of the Nintendo 64. Experiencing Nintendo’s newest console so close to its release was euphoric for me. Now I was part of the console action I read about! I could purchase new titles! I was stoked. I wasn’t quite as excited as the N64 kid on Youtube, but I was really happy. I started out with Super Mario 64 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, and added Mario Kart 64 and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter to my list not too far afterward.

Speaking of Turok, I was 14 when I bought it, and needed my mom’s approval to make such a purchase. I support the ESRB fully, and consider gaming ratings to be as vital as movie ratings in terms of enforcement nowadays, but I do remember the thrill of buying my first M-rated game. And in gore factor in ye olde days of 3D, it did not disappoint. I had a discussion about it with my parents before the purchase, and both felt I could handle it, which I think I have. I have not shown any signs of violent behavior due to my exposure to Turok and other M-rated games I have played following my first experience with the rating. I find the hullabaloo to be a little ridiculous, to be honest. Parents, supervise your children. Be a part of what they do, and what they buy. It’s that simple. I suppose I’ll test that theory when I have my own kids…however, I was (and am) a little squeamish outside of the gaming sphere. Go figure.

In the world outside of gaming, I finished up the hellish seventh grade and entered the slightly-better eighth grade, which was better for two things – being a higher grade meant power (as goofy as that sounds), and meeting Chris, a person I’ve talked about at length in my Zelda: Ocarina of Time and fighting game posts. Chris and I would become fantastic friends, and would spend a lot of time hanging out at each other’s houses for several years. Our senior year in high school led us to different paths, as he got a little hooked into drugs (and I abhor them), but the time we spent growing up through the teenager years was golden. Chad and I also spent a ton of time together in middle school, and we would pour so many hours into the N64 that it is almost frightening looking back on it. Mario Kart 64 was the beginning, and Goldeneye cemented it. If Nintendo did one thing right with the N64, it’s building such a capable multiplayer system. Weekends were often revolving around the TV with three friends playing some sort of competitive game, and it was lovely.

Shortlist:

Super Mario 64 (N64, Nintendo)
Mario’s stunning 3D debut showed off the Nintendo 64 better than anything else could have. Tight controls, fascinating levels and plenty to accomplish, not to mention the fantastic score and charming (although now simplistic) look, made Mario 64 a marvel to behold.

Waverace 64 (N64, Nintendo)
The sequel to the original Game Boy racer revolutionized racing games forever, with its random dynamic tracks with erratic waves and its responsive and engaging gameplay.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (PC, Bethesda)
Bethesda’s second Elder Scrolls game pushed the open-world sandbox far beyond its predecessor. Its massive world, heaps of items and a horde of beasts and demons to battle made playing it an absolute joy.

Kirby Super Star (SNES, Nintendo/HAL Labs)
Despite the game splitting itself into six distinct chunks, Kirby’s platforming excursion here was brilliant, with plenty of diversity and awesome moments.

In my opinion, the best game of 1996 was…

Super Mario 64 (N64, Nintendo)

Super Mario 64, to me, was heaven. It was a pioneering piece of software that replicated the glory I had felt with the 2D Mario platformers on the NES, but managed to exceed them handily. It was beyond my wildest dreams. As I first manipulated Mario through the new N64 controller, I was mesmerized. He was incredibly responsive, and acted exactly the way I would expect Mario to in the 2D realm. His new actions made sense, and although he was saddled with some moves he did not need (the multitude of attacks, mainly), Nintendo made each one fun to perform. Punching Goombas was novel, as Mario never had the ability to before, for example. Figuring out all of Mario’s maneuvers was part of the joy I took in this game.

The rest of it came from the clever worlds Mario had to explore. I love exploring, and this game kept up the tradition earlier Mario titles prided themselves on with secrets. 120 stars were packed into the 15 levels and Peach’s castle, and I poured over every nook and cranny trying to uncover them all. I loved the stages in Mario 64, so much so that I feel that they are the best in the Mario canon. They were creative takes on some standard level stereotypes, or were imaginative concepts never before touched upon by Mario’s earlier quests. Bowser’s levels pushed the game’s engine to extraordinary heights, causing me to use all of the lessons and tricks I had thought I mastered earlier.

I must mention Koji Kondo’s music as being phenomenal, too. His new takes on Mario themes were perfect for this new world Mario was a part of, matching up to each stage beautifully. Mario’s voice made its first proper appearance here, too (Charles Martinet did provide Mario’s voice for an edutainment title called Mario’s FUN-damentals, but Mario 64 is the game that made it famous!), adding in more depth to his character without becoming obnoxious.

All and all, Super Mario 64 is the ideal Mario package. It hit every checkpoint I had for it, and then some. I still consider it Mario’s finest moment after all this time. Excellent work, Nintendo.

Some personal anecdotes…

I remember the first time I hopped on a Koopa shell and suddenly surfing my way all over Bom-Omb Battlefield. What a clever mechanic! I sort of wish it was utilized more often than just as a nifty sidenote.

Favorite levels have to be Lethal Lava Land, Dire Dire Docks, Jolly Roger Bay, Wet-Dry World and Hazy Maze Cave. Odd how all of the water levels are my faves. I blame it on the beautiful Water Theme in this game.

Fighting Bowser was epic…especially the final encounter. I loved that fight. I’d consider it in the three best run-ins with him, no doubt.

Super Mario Sunshine disappointed me so much. It really did. I applaud Nintendo for trying a different direction, but they lost so much of what made Mario 64 so special in the process. Galaxy found a lot of that missing magic, thankfully.

Cleopatra Fortune

Crash Bandicoot (video game)

Diablo (video game)

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

Heroes of Might and Magic II

Kirby Super Star

Mega Man 8

Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters

Metal Slug

Neo Turf Masters

Quake (video game)

San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing