1996
The starting place of the incredibly addictive Pokemon series. A great game, and one I look back on fondly. The portable nature of the game, the customizable aspects of creating your own fighting team of 6 Pokemon, battle and trade with friends, can be easily disregarded nowadays, but was revolutionary for its time.
A JRPG that you can play on the go. This game also provided a bit of a challenge compared to the other games that came out later.
A JRPG that you can play on the go. This game also provided a bit of a challenge compared to the other games that came out later.
1994
Haven't played this since I was like 5 or 6 years old... my mother caught me playing this and took the game away from me, so I didn't play it very long. All I remember from this game is that it starts off in a school with a bunch of skateboarding punks being obstacles.. and can't forget the hospital level, which includes a nurse with huge boobs as a boss.
2002
Wasn't as the good as the first title in my opinion... but it was a decent PS2 FPS.
1993
Attack of the polygons!
Hard to look at for a prolonged period of time nowadays, but regardless, this is still a classic. Fun game.
Hard to look at for a prolonged period of time nowadays, but regardless, this is still a classic. Fun game.
This game was unplayable. Could barely progress as the game constantly froze up on me. Broken.
There were some good things here - graphically it was quite impressive, the movie score, as always, was one of the best, but even as a diehard LOTR fan, I couldn't help but feel how uninspired, lifeless, and bland it was in comparison to FFX.
And while it may feel incredibly unfair to compare this to one of the greatest JRPG series of all time in one of its best releases, it was easy to make this connection back then... 3 short years after FFX's release, it was blatantly noticeable how much this game took inspiration from it... so much so, that one could call this game a full-on clone/rip-off.
And while it may feel incredibly unfair to compare this to one of the greatest JRPG series of all time in one of its best releases, it was easy to make this connection back then... 3 short years after FFX's release, it was blatantly noticeable how much this game took inspiration from it... so much so, that one could call this game a full-on clone/rip-off.
1987
Easily the worst game I own on the NES. Was part of the NES package I picked up, but I have no plans on playing this at all.
My favorite game on the NES. Thinking back on it, this was most likely my favorite game of all time, until the eventual release of Final Fantasy VII on the PS1. A puzzle game hidden under the guise of a boxing game. So many great fighters, each with their own colorful and quirky personalities, that requires much experimentation, especially later on, when attempting to tackle the much more powerful foes in the later circuits. Little Mac is the Rocky of video games (and that music is Rocky-esque too).
Once I discovered the joys of emulation in my late teen years, I finally conquered one of the toughest boss fights in all of gaming: Iron Mike Tyson!
Once I discovered the joys of emulation in my late teen years, I finally conquered one of the toughest boss fights in all of gaming: Iron Mike Tyson!
2005
This game is a bit of an enigma to me. I simultaneously both love it and hate it, think it is the best KH game and think it is the most overrated... why is this? Well, it is hard to explain, but I'll try my best.
Firstly, I enjoy Organization XIII (Axel & Roxas specifically), Twilight Town, King Mickey's badassery, the black coats, the Organization's theme song that exudes mystery, and the re-introduction to our main trio: Sora, Donald, and Goofy. But by god... does the opening draaaaaag on... so much so, that it is hard for me to name a worse opening 2-3 hours of a game than KHII. It isn't just that it is slow either, but it is egregiously boring, with incredibly poor mini-games, that it is very hard to go back through it after already playing it once.
And yet, I still like Roxas as a character and the tranquil and melancholy setting of Twilight Town. The Roxas vs Axel and unveiling of the 2 Keyblades is a highlight at the climax of the prologue... and I could consider it being one of the best moments in the entire game. Yoko Shimomura does legendary GOAT things again (can never not bring up her amazing work on this series), and the 13th Struggle boss theme elevates the fight between the two former friends even further.
Unfortunately, after the tearful farewell from Twilight Town and the beginning of the adventure, the game nosedives again... unlike the first game which felt like it did a much better job trying to merge the KH original story with the Disney stories, for the first 10 or so hours of KHII, you are forced to speed through the Disney stories before you can get to the more interesting stuff... This kills me about this game every time I play it - having to force myself through a more condensed, poorly voice acted, Disney movie is, to put it mildly... not great... combine that with the world/level design which, outside of a few areas, isn't that great either.
I'm just sick of KH games rehashing the Disney movies verbatim. It isn't until you visit Hollow Bastion for the second time and revisit the Disney worlds does the actual game's story kick-in and the game picks up immensely. After this point (more than halfway in...) does the game become great. And it finally maintains its upward momentum up to and through the ending.
The battle system, especially once you have all the Drive Forms and Abilities, is where the game truly shines - I believe this is the tighest and best combat in the entire KH series by far. If only KH didn't constantly try to introduce new concepts and gameplay mechanics in its subsequent sequels and spin-offs... they had something special here with the gameplay/battle system that they should have kept.
Hopefully, this makes sense as I feel like I've rambled and ranted on this for a while. I still really enjoy KHII, but there have always been things that bothered me about it.
Firstly, I enjoy Organization XIII (Axel & Roxas specifically), Twilight Town, King Mickey's badassery, the black coats, the Organization's theme song that exudes mystery, and the re-introduction to our main trio: Sora, Donald, and Goofy. But by god... does the opening draaaaaag on... so much so, that it is hard for me to name a worse opening 2-3 hours of a game than KHII. It isn't just that it is slow either, but it is egregiously boring, with incredibly poor mini-games, that it is very hard to go back through it after already playing it once.
And yet, I still like Roxas as a character and the tranquil and melancholy setting of Twilight Town. The Roxas vs Axel and unveiling of the 2 Keyblades is a highlight at the climax of the prologue... and I could consider it being one of the best moments in the entire game. Yoko Shimomura does legendary GOAT things again (can never not bring up her amazing work on this series), and the 13th Struggle boss theme elevates the fight between the two former friends even further.
Unfortunately, after the tearful farewell from Twilight Town and the beginning of the adventure, the game nosedives again... unlike the first game which felt like it did a much better job trying to merge the KH original story with the Disney stories, for the first 10 or so hours of KHII, you are forced to speed through the Disney stories before you can get to the more interesting stuff... This kills me about this game every time I play it - having to force myself through a more condensed, poorly voice acted, Disney movie is, to put it mildly... not great... combine that with the world/level design which, outside of a few areas, isn't that great either.
I'm just sick of KH games rehashing the Disney movies verbatim. It isn't until you visit Hollow Bastion for the second time and revisit the Disney worlds does the actual game's story kick-in and the game picks up immensely. After this point (more than halfway in...) does the game become great. And it finally maintains its upward momentum up to and through the ending.
The battle system, especially once you have all the Drive Forms and Abilities, is where the game truly shines - I believe this is the tighest and best combat in the entire KH series by far. If only KH didn't constantly try to introduce new concepts and gameplay mechanics in its subsequent sequels and spin-offs... they had something special here with the gameplay/battle system that they should have kept.
Hopefully, this makes sense as I feel like I've rambled and ranted on this for a while. I still really enjoy KHII, but there have always been things that bothered me about it.
2004
My favorite Madden game. I put an egregious number of hours into this game back in high school - whether it be participating in Madden tournaments with my fellow teammates or with other friends, playing the incredibly fun mini-camp game modes, or sinking in a ridiculous amount of time into the game's addictive and feature-rich, Franchise mode.
Unfortunately, two things happened shortly after the release of this game that effectively killed Madden:
1. The NFL and EA exclusivity deal which prevented any competition from 2K sports.
2. Next-gen consoles - I remember that I was eagerly anticipating what games were going to look like and play like on the Xbox 360. The initial "gameplay" trailer that was released had me excited... but upon actually playing the demo, I found that it was absolutely false advertising.
At the time, I was thinking I was going to break my rule of only picking up a sports game every odd year, but my mood shifted after playing the demo a handful of times. What I noticed was the game was completely stripped barren. Gone were all the features and updates that were built upon in the 6th console generation.
This Madden has never been surpassed or improved upon damn near 20 years later (the older generation Madden titles they continued to ship alongside next-gen, were on par though). If anything, things are much, much worse off today, with the copy/paste gameplay, lack of improvements, microtransactions, Madden Ultimate Team, and lack of features. I haven't picked up a new Madden in over a decade, and would much rather pick up the old gen (PS2/Xbox/GameCube) Madden titles to get my football fix.
Unfortunately, two things happened shortly after the release of this game that effectively killed Madden:
1. The NFL and EA exclusivity deal which prevented any competition from 2K sports.
2. Next-gen consoles - I remember that I was eagerly anticipating what games were going to look like and play like on the Xbox 360. The initial "gameplay" trailer that was released had me excited... but upon actually playing the demo, I found that it was absolutely false advertising.
At the time, I was thinking I was going to break my rule of only picking up a sports game every odd year, but my mood shifted after playing the demo a handful of times. What I noticed was the game was completely stripped barren. Gone were all the features and updates that were built upon in the 6th console generation.
This Madden has never been surpassed or improved upon damn near 20 years later (the older generation Madden titles they continued to ship alongside next-gen, were on par though). If anything, things are much, much worse off today, with the copy/paste gameplay, lack of improvements, microtransactions, Madden Ultimate Team, and lack of features. I haven't picked up a new Madden in over a decade, and would much rather pick up the old gen (PS2/Xbox/GameCube) Madden titles to get my football fix.
2000
Only behind FFVII and FF Tactics for me when it comes to my FF rankings. I absolutely adore this game, and it is one of my favorite games of all time.
With the return of the medieval, high-fantasy setting, it brought Final Fantasy back to its roots. The 4 party battle system and character focused jobs, harken back to the earlier FF titles. While they don't offer the full flexibility of FFVI through FFVIII in regards to party assembly, the more focused character roles is a design decision that still works very well. As for the characters themselves, you have a colorful and vibrant cast of different party members. I love them all, except for 1 (looking at Amarant). Vivi is one of my favorite party members in all of FF, and out of all the times I've replayed this game, I can never bring myself to keep him on the sidelines. He is always a party mainstay for my team. As for the MC, Zidane is a breath of fresh air from the previous protagonists. A fun-loving and charming rogue, who hits on all the ladies. But he, almost immediately upon seeing her, has a special eye for the leading heroine, Princess Garnet.
From a villain standpoint, I love Kuja's character... I just don't like his overall design....But while the character designs, in general, aren't typically my thing, I can overlook it as this game visually is gorgeous in every way. In fact, I'd say it is up there as being one of the best looking PS1 titles: from the 3D models, pre-rendered backgrounds, to the world map, and all the numerous and diverse locations you visit throughout the game, every place is a visual spectacle. I also find Memoria, this game's final dungeon, to be one of the best in the entire series (if there was a nitpick to be had in this game, it would be the game's final boss, but it doesn't really matter... I won't even go there).
As for the game's music, Nobuo Uematsu knocks it out of the park, yet again. His legend status already cemented, his OST for this game is one of my all-time favorites. Some of the tracks in this game are some of his best in my opinion. The top 5 tracks for me in this game, off the top of my head and in no particular order, would be: You're Not Alone, Terra, Dark Messenger, Burmecia/Freya's theme, and Loss of Me/Protecting My Devotion... but just narrowing it down to 5 is incredibly difficult. Each musical piece in this game fits the scene perfectly, and you cannot ask for a better soundtrack to a video game.
All in all, Final Fantasy IX is one of the best the series, and the JRPG genre, has to offer. If you haven't played it, don't wait for the rumored remake to come. Play the original in all its splendor first!
With the return of the medieval, high-fantasy setting, it brought Final Fantasy back to its roots. The 4 party battle system and character focused jobs, harken back to the earlier FF titles. While they don't offer the full flexibility of FFVI through FFVIII in regards to party assembly, the more focused character roles is a design decision that still works very well. As for the characters themselves, you have a colorful and vibrant cast of different party members. I love them all, except for 1 (looking at Amarant). Vivi is one of my favorite party members in all of FF, and out of all the times I've replayed this game, I can never bring myself to keep him on the sidelines. He is always a party mainstay for my team. As for the MC, Zidane is a breath of fresh air from the previous protagonists. A fun-loving and charming rogue, who hits on all the ladies. But he, almost immediately upon seeing her, has a special eye for the leading heroine, Princess Garnet.
From a villain standpoint, I love Kuja's character... I just don't like his overall design....But while the character designs, in general, aren't typically my thing, I can overlook it as this game visually is gorgeous in every way. In fact, I'd say it is up there as being one of the best looking PS1 titles: from the 3D models, pre-rendered backgrounds, to the world map, and all the numerous and diverse locations you visit throughout the game, every place is a visual spectacle. I also find Memoria, this game's final dungeon, to be one of the best in the entire series (if there was a nitpick to be had in this game, it would be the game's final boss, but it doesn't really matter... I won't even go there).
As for the game's music, Nobuo Uematsu knocks it out of the park, yet again. His legend status already cemented, his OST for this game is one of my all-time favorites. Some of the tracks in this game are some of his best in my opinion. The top 5 tracks for me in this game, off the top of my head and in no particular order, would be: You're Not Alone, Terra, Dark Messenger, Burmecia/Freya's theme, and Loss of Me/Protecting My Devotion... but just narrowing it down to 5 is incredibly difficult. Each musical piece in this game fits the scene perfectly, and you cannot ask for a better soundtrack to a video game.
All in all, Final Fantasy IX is one of the best the series, and the JRPG genre, has to offer. If you haven't played it, don't wait for the rumored remake to come. Play the original in all its splendor first!
1988
Not much of a hockey fan anymore, although I was a big Red Wings fan back in the 90's - a really fun arcadey hockey 3v3 game that I played with my cousins back in the day. The little tune that plays during the face-off and throughout the match will always be stuck in my head.
Not the best versions of these games. Was a cool collection to have back in the 90's, but nowadays, it is better to play them elsewhere.
1986
Started the whole Zelda craze...I never really got into it though. Decent game but confusing as all hell. Poor translation, which was a common thing back then, and a lack of direction makes it where a guide is a requirement.
2000
The 2nd attempt at playing a Dragon Warrior/Quest game for me, after my initial experience with Dragon Warrior 1 on the NES.
It went a little better than my first experience... but not by much. The game felt so archaic, even for its time; it was as if I was progressing backwards in time, and it made me recall why I didn't enjoy the RPG genre on the original NES. I thought it was very generic/formulaic after experiencing the Final Fantasy games on PS1.
Also, the game's start did itself no favors. Coming from the bombastic opening of say a Final Fantasy VII, to this game, where the opening hours were not spent in a single battle... I didn't enjoy it at all, is putting it mildly.
It went a little better than my first experience... but not by much. The game felt so archaic, even for its time; it was as if I was progressing backwards in time, and it made me recall why I didn't enjoy the RPG genre on the original NES. I thought it was very generic/formulaic after experiencing the Final Fantasy games on PS1.
Also, the game's start did itself no favors. Coming from the bombastic opening of say a Final Fantasy VII, to this game, where the opening hours were not spent in a single battle... I didn't enjoy it at all, is putting it mildly.