So I am just going to cover a few games at the moment, in order of how I see their value. I will also be skipping out certain games that I would have otherwise bought if I hadn't already owned the Sonic games, Ocarina of Time, and others like 17 times over and had played them recently just as often.
These are my current top 3.
1) Super Mario Brothers 3, in my opinion, this game is THE game to get. The original NES version. It only costs 500 points which is pocket change. This game is to 2D platformers as Chrono Trigger is to RPGs. The level design is fantastic. I particularly love the level design in this game, it is extremely solid. Mario 2's level design looks like garbage in comparison (I have that one too) and it makes Mario World's feel like a huge step down. In addition the game offers multiple suits which mario can use throughout the game including the classic Fireball suit, the racoon suit, the tanooki suit (the teddybear looking one), the frog suit, te hammerbrothers suit, and the power suit (which essentially allows you to fly until you get hit, save this for world 8!!!). Items can be stored in an inventory which can be accessed from the world map which Mario uses to travel from level to level. In addition to the different suits there are also different vehicles including the cloud the boot; the boot is essentially what Yoshi replaced, it made Mario invincible to everything he stepped upon, so he could access certain locations of levels to get some secret items.
Now the journey of Mario 3 you essentially travel from world to world starting in your standard mushroom world; then onto the desert world; then onto water world; next is giant world; then you get to this very strange world that sort of like doughnut land from Mario World, there is a strange tower located here and I won't spoil this for you because I personally forgot about what was at the end of the tower and it was a very very pleasant surprise; the following level is Ice World; and next is a jungle world; the final and eighth world is the Fire World where the ultimate battle lies. Each of the earlier 7 worlds is led by a King which has been transformed by one of the Koopa Kids into a strange beast, Mario has to go up into the Airships, defeat the Koopa Kid and use their magic rod to turn the King of each world back. At the end of each world Mario receives a letter from the Princess which gives some hints about the game (a lot of them about earlier levels in the game, for example, a letter in the 5th world will give you a hint on how to get the magic fluit in an earlier world) which comes encased with a special item which can be used from the inventory later.
In addition to all of this, the graphics are nicely styled, despite the lower amounts of colours, they stand up to Mario World's superior colour and detail just fine; kind of how Chrono Trigger seems to does to later RPGs which have flashy prerendered graphics. The music selection, while simple, is very atmospheric, it makes the worlds of the game seem fairly fantastic in comparison to the later Mario World and earlier Mario Brothers 2 (the Doki Doki one we got). This game is one of those games that people, to this day, continue to argue as the best game of all time. There is a reason for it, it is an extremely good game.
2) Sin and Punishment Is a game by Treasure (Gunstar Heroes, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun) which is perhaps the most fun of their games. It is a game that has a high difficulty, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a lot of fun. I think any of us here should be able to finish it on easy difficulty within 3 plays; there are additional difficulty levels for those who want a greater challenge (I am up to normal now). It is also one of those games that just has great replay value. It is a third person on the rails heavy paced action game (just like most of treasures games). You will constantly be on your toes, but the game is like a rollercoaster ride, it is a lot of fun all the way through.
The game's plot is that taking place in an apolcayptic world. It starts in Japan which has been overrun by "Ruffians" (their word for monsters) which the military is both using and trying to defeat. Two characters, a male and female who have been granted special powers are leading a revolt against the government while fighting off the Ruffians. The revolt fails, everyone is killed except for the two leaders. You fight your way through Japan and then out to the ocean where you fight a huge battle fleet while flying on a piece of metal (like a giant surfboard), shooting fighter jets out of the air, flying Ruffians, battleships, and Mechas (like the Gears of Xenogears). You eventually move to the US, where you are fighting through the city of New York (10 years in the future) that has been invaded by the Ruffians, it is a very atmospheric.
Through the game you'll face a series of bosses, a lot of them are among the most creative enemies you will ever see in a game. I suppose they can be compared to the bosses of Starfox in how there is a method to destroying them.
This game is loads of fun, and is the most advanced of all the VC games I currently own. It is A LOT better than Starfox (another on the rails action game). This is one game that the North American market should NOT have missed, it is one of the best titles available for the 32/64 bit generation.
On a side note, another Treasure game called Alien Soldier was released for Genesis, it is one that never made it to the North American shores, it looks similar to Gunstar Heroes, but with a more serious looking art form.
3) Donkey Kong Country 2, The reason I place this third is because, while it is an incredible game, you can still find the SNES cartridge for it at stores, it is one of those games that has been widely available for over a decade. I don't have a working SNES anymore, and I love this series, so it was a must have download for me. This game took the SNES's 16 bit colour and pushed it to 24 bit colour (over 16 million colours). It was the second game in the series that first introduced new pre-rendering techniques to videogame consoles. The sequel to a revolutionary game title. While the first game had great gameplay, outstanding graphics (not only colourful, but beautiful), and some of the best music ever heard in a videogame, this sequel did just about everything better. DKC2 had better music, it had better level design, and it had a lot more to do in it; in my opinion, the third is still the best, but it is not as high of a jump over the second in the way that the second is over the first.
If Donkey Kong Country 1 was to Nintendo as Diocletian was to Rome, then Donkey Kong Country 2 was Nintendo's Constantine. Essentially after Donkey Kong Country brought Nintendo out of its down period, Donkey Kong Country 2 ensured Nintendo's new rise would endure for a while yet. Indeed it did, in the face of the rising 32 bit generation and Sega's new technological advancements, the SNES managed to seize and hold first place for the last couple of years of its life... Those last couple of years also brought out an unusually large amount of high quality titles.
Donkey Kong Country 2 shedded DK, the title character, from the playable characters and added Dixie Kong, perhaps the most loved character of the trilogy due to her gliding abilities. The game added in many more minigames along the way, as well as a lot more secrets than the first Donkey Kong Country. The level design was incredibly solid, if you were moving fast, running and jumping, it seemed that what you needed was always there. The second game is more difficult than the first one, overall, but again, not frustratingly difficult like certain Marvel games have been (you know, the ones where it is just IMPOSSIBLE to get through!). If you practice, you will be able to learn the skills to get through the game, a part of the key to great level design. In addition, thanks to the pretty graphics, and the fantastic music, this game is also one of the most atmospheric games in existence today; though the same could be said about the other two titles in the trilogy.... It is a lot of fun seeing the weather patterns change.
While DKC is fantastic, I still personally like DKC3 the best, hopefully that one will be out around Christmas time. I do recommend getting the entire trilogy, as the games do stand up today incredibly well. There still are not many 2D platformers that can claim to exceed the DKC trilogy. Of course, the genre is not as popular now as it was then, the DKC games really market the peak of 2D popularity as once Super Mario 64 hit things changed forever; for the better?
These are my current top 3.
1) Super Mario Brothers 3, in my opinion, this game is THE game to get. The original NES version. It only costs 500 points which is pocket change. This game is to 2D platformers as Chrono Trigger is to RPGs. The level design is fantastic. I particularly love the level design in this game, it is extremely solid. Mario 2's level design looks like garbage in comparison (I have that one too) and it makes Mario World's feel like a huge step down. In addition the game offers multiple suits which mario can use throughout the game including the classic Fireball suit, the racoon suit, the tanooki suit (the teddybear looking one), the frog suit, te hammerbrothers suit, and the power suit (which essentially allows you to fly until you get hit, save this for world 8!!!). Items can be stored in an inventory which can be accessed from the world map which Mario uses to travel from level to level. In addition to the different suits there are also different vehicles including the cloud the boot; the boot is essentially what Yoshi replaced, it made Mario invincible to everything he stepped upon, so he could access certain locations of levels to get some secret items.
Now the journey of Mario 3 you essentially travel from world to world starting in your standard mushroom world; then onto the desert world; then onto water world; next is giant world; then you get to this very strange world that sort of like doughnut land from Mario World, there is a strange tower located here and I won't spoil this for you because I personally forgot about what was at the end of the tower and it was a very very pleasant surprise; the following level is Ice World; and next is a jungle world; the final and eighth world is the Fire World where the ultimate battle lies. Each of the earlier 7 worlds is led by a King which has been transformed by one of the Koopa Kids into a strange beast, Mario has to go up into the Airships, defeat the Koopa Kid and use their magic rod to turn the King of each world back. At the end of each world Mario receives a letter from the Princess which gives some hints about the game (a lot of them about earlier levels in the game, for example, a letter in the 5th world will give you a hint on how to get the magic fluit in an earlier world) which comes encased with a special item which can be used from the inventory later.
In addition to all of this, the graphics are nicely styled, despite the lower amounts of colours, they stand up to Mario World's superior colour and detail just fine; kind of how Chrono Trigger seems to does to later RPGs which have flashy prerendered graphics. The music selection, while simple, is very atmospheric, it makes the worlds of the game seem fairly fantastic in comparison to the later Mario World and earlier Mario Brothers 2 (the Doki Doki one we got). This game is one of those games that people, to this day, continue to argue as the best game of all time. There is a reason for it, it is an extremely good game.
2) Sin and Punishment Is a game by Treasure (Gunstar Heroes, Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun) which is perhaps the most fun of their games. It is a game that has a high difficulty, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes a lot of fun. I think any of us here should be able to finish it on easy difficulty within 3 plays; there are additional difficulty levels for those who want a greater challenge (I am up to normal now). It is also one of those games that just has great replay value. It is a third person on the rails heavy paced action game (just like most of treasures games). You will constantly be on your toes, but the game is like a rollercoaster ride, it is a lot of fun all the way through.
The game's plot is that taking place in an apolcayptic world. It starts in Japan which has been overrun by "Ruffians" (their word for monsters) which the military is both using and trying to defeat. Two characters, a male and female who have been granted special powers are leading a revolt against the government while fighting off the Ruffians. The revolt fails, everyone is killed except for the two leaders. You fight your way through Japan and then out to the ocean where you fight a huge battle fleet while flying on a piece of metal (like a giant surfboard), shooting fighter jets out of the air, flying Ruffians, battleships, and Mechas (like the Gears of Xenogears). You eventually move to the US, where you are fighting through the city of New York (10 years in the future) that has been invaded by the Ruffians, it is a very atmospheric.
Through the game you'll face a series of bosses, a lot of them are among the most creative enemies you will ever see in a game. I suppose they can be compared to the bosses of Starfox in how there is a method to destroying them.
This game is loads of fun, and is the most advanced of all the VC games I currently own. It is A LOT better than Starfox (another on the rails action game). This is one game that the North American market should NOT have missed, it is one of the best titles available for the 32/64 bit generation.
On a side note, another Treasure game called Alien Soldier was released for Genesis, it is one that never made it to the North American shores, it looks similar to Gunstar Heroes, but with a more serious looking art form.
3) Donkey Kong Country 2, The reason I place this third is because, while it is an incredible game, you can still find the SNES cartridge for it at stores, it is one of those games that has been widely available for over a decade. I don't have a working SNES anymore, and I love this series, so it was a must have download for me. This game took the SNES's 16 bit colour and pushed it to 24 bit colour (over 16 million colours). It was the second game in the series that first introduced new pre-rendering techniques to videogame consoles. The sequel to a revolutionary game title. While the first game had great gameplay, outstanding graphics (not only colourful, but beautiful), and some of the best music ever heard in a videogame, this sequel did just about everything better. DKC2 had better music, it had better level design, and it had a lot more to do in it; in my opinion, the third is still the best, but it is not as high of a jump over the second in the way that the second is over the first.
If Donkey Kong Country 1 was to Nintendo as Diocletian was to Rome, then Donkey Kong Country 2 was Nintendo's Constantine. Essentially after Donkey Kong Country brought Nintendo out of its down period, Donkey Kong Country 2 ensured Nintendo's new rise would endure for a while yet. Indeed it did, in the face of the rising 32 bit generation and Sega's new technological advancements, the SNES managed to seize and hold first place for the last couple of years of its life... Those last couple of years also brought out an unusually large amount of high quality titles.
Donkey Kong Country 2 shedded DK, the title character, from the playable characters and added Dixie Kong, perhaps the most loved character of the trilogy due to her gliding abilities. The game added in many more minigames along the way, as well as a lot more secrets than the first Donkey Kong Country. The level design was incredibly solid, if you were moving fast, running and jumping, it seemed that what you needed was always there. The second game is more difficult than the first one, overall, but again, not frustratingly difficult like certain Marvel games have been (you know, the ones where it is just IMPOSSIBLE to get through!). If you practice, you will be able to learn the skills to get through the game, a part of the key to great level design. In addition, thanks to the pretty graphics, and the fantastic music, this game is also one of the most atmospheric games in existence today; though the same could be said about the other two titles in the trilogy.... It is a lot of fun seeing the weather patterns change.
While DKC is fantastic, I still personally like DKC3 the best, hopefully that one will be out around Christmas time. I do recommend getting the entire trilogy, as the games do stand up today incredibly well. There still are not many 2D platformers that can claim to exceed the DKC trilogy. Of course, the genre is not as popular now as it was then, the DKC games really market the peak of 2D popularity as once Super Mario 64 hit things changed forever; for the better?
-Insert Inspiring Quote-
