Well we got there in the end - trawling through 200 games that 3 years ago Hyper Magazine reckoned we should have played or at least tried. And while there were some obvious choices in there (Skyrim, Witcher, Gran Turismo 2) there were also a few noticeable absences from that mighty list. Maybe Hyper just missed them? Maybe the staff behind the list didn't share my love of what didn't make the cut? Whatever the reason, here's a few more must plays I'm adding to my own list.
So without any further ado, have you tried the following...?
DUNGEON KEEPER - The first game that springs to mind considering that this Bullfrog classic spawned so many other 'It's good to be a dungeon dwelling bad guy for a change' games in its wake. Aka Dungeons and Overlord that immediately spring to mind. Sure the graphics aren't much chop nowadays but the original had such a terrific subterranean feel to it that combined with the sound effects, the brilliant voice of Richard Roxborough telling you your dungeon heart was being attacked and variety of critters you could pop into your dungeon, meant you'd be sucked in carving paths, building rooms and trapping intrepid heroes for hours on end.
(Also while number 2 was okay, the mobile game was complete rubbish and should be avoided like the plague. Shame on you EA.)
THEME HOSPITAL - Same era as Dungeon Keeper above - build a hospital, cure patients, manage staff, come up with cures for strange made up diseases, try not to kill anyone. Innovative at the time and went on to inspire many builders (and hospital based games) in its wake. (Two Point Hospital is its spiritual successor and I for one am very happy to see this type of game continuing.)
Now to get my kids onto this to become doctors..
WAR CRAFT 3 (FROZEN THRONE) - Interesting that the second installment made Hyper's list but this one didn't, especially since you could do so much with it after you'd finished it. Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) anyone? Yes the story was great as were the cutscenes (also a catapult loaded up with bodies? Well okay then) but then you could go further with so many add-ons and sub games, new maps and tower defense games all using the W3 files and assets. Hell, even completely new games in some cases. I love tower defense games and it was because of this that I discovered gems such as Elements TD and so much more. It's still being modified to this day which just goes to show how good it truly was.
BAULDERS GATE II - There are role playing games and then there are role playing games where your character extends so much further than a bunch of stats and equipment. A fantastic example of this has to the be the characters and story that is the epic Baulder's Gate 2. From the journey to the side stories to the voice acting, to the monsters, traps and locations - you'll laugh with Minsk and Boo, get concerned trying to track down Imoen and lifting the curse on Jahiera (or letting her die if you're a mean bastard.) It's critically acclaimed, an absolute classic and why it didn't make the original 200 list is anyone's guess.
KILLER INSTINCT 2 - This fighter is purely here for one reason and that is the insane levels of combos you could perform with the correct button sequence/joystick jangling. Watching someone who knew what they were doing (so not me) performing such a feat at the arcades was a true joy. Even the voice over guy lost his mind when you nailed it correctly.
I loved playing Jago and his mental scream when you performed really well. I'd probably cry if someone calculated how many hours I've sunk into during my teens though..
MORTAL KOMBAT - Growing up you were either a Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat kid. And while I stuck to the side with the hadookens, you can't look past the amount of work, lore, cinematics and button bashing that went into the Mortal Kombat series. It was darker, far more vicious and off course repeatable ('Come over here!') and while Streetfighter stalwarts figured it was just a flash in the pan, it continued to grow and grow and grow from there...
(I even watched a bloody MK Animation on Netflix the other week, so it's still generating interest after all this time..)
God only knows what version we're up to now and how many characters there are in total but it certainly never paused for breath along the way..
CIVILIZATION 4 - While it was a great game all by itself (I'm going to take over the world with Hinduism? Okay then!) like Warcraft 3, its true potential came from lifting up the hood and tinkering. Or even better, grabbing the universe of modpacks available to turn great into awesome. Don't get me started on how much I love The Fall from Heaven Series here, one of the best community made 4X experiences ready to download.
(I mentioned during the original list that I should try/buy V again and I did while it was on sale. While it's prettier, I'm still preferring the old school IV version..)
NEED FOR SPEED 3 - Maybe I need to create a 'great games improved by mods' section here because NFS3 fits into that category of 'really comes alive' when you start to add to your garage. Sure the cars on offer are okay - Italdesign Schigera, Ferrari's, Lambos all good - but when you throw in community cars such as a Star Wars land speeder of all things, suddenly this game becomes hilarious entertainment for two players.
You can even take it a step further and tinker with the stats with the right tools. So I copied over the stats for an Mitsubishi Evo engine and put it into an old Dodge cruiser, somehow ending up with something that tore holes in super cars, obviously one too many zeros somewhere..
(Now I get you could possibly do this with many of the series but since we only have number 3 and spent so much time adding to it, 3 gets a spot in this list.)
FABLE SERIES - It's like a RPG video game fairy tale working it's way through life and it got better with every instalment. Look at me, I'm a wealthy pig of a man blasting away undead with my long rifle while munching on celery to slim down to woo even more women in the big city. I've annoyed this passerby so much they're giving me stuff in the hope I go away. I'm a rock star on the lute and John Cleese is talking to me as my butler. An amazing world and fantastic adventure.
FALLOUT NEW VEGAS - War, war never changes. I loved Fallout 3 from the get go and still count opening up your first vault and your eyes adjusting to the horrible world outside is one of the most memorable game moments ever. Trying to track down your dad in a harsh world and everything that happened along the way was great, all while music you'd never thought would play in a post apocalyptic world (but surprisingly fit so well) kept you company.
New Vegas continued this amazing trend but added so much more to it with the Western theme, warring factions, companions with depth and the tackiness of sin city when you finally made it into New Vegas. There was also nothing as satisfying as being hunted by a pack of Legionaires in the wilderness and finding creative ways to knock them off one by one.
(Also highly modible. That seems to be a big trend in this list!)
GROWL/RUNNARK - I've posted previously on this different beat em up..
WONDER BOY SERIES - It was either Wonder Boy or Alex Kidd here but unless you were Sega centric, nobody had any idea who Alex Kidd was. Wonderboy on the other hand had an arcade start and appeared on so many different playing systems including the Nintendo Switch! The last time I played it? We're talking decades ago and yet I still remember the skateboard music, reaching for the tomahawk, the early bosses and the jumping squid ('RUPERT?'). Amazing how things can stick with you.
And it's only because of its inclusion here on my own list of must plays have I discovered the follow on, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom! The spirit of this once blonde Wonderkid lives on!
RAMPAGE - By now there's lots of city stomping titles out there but back in the day, all you needed was Rampage (although special mention to King of the Monsters on the Neo Geo). Pick your monster from a giant ape, wolf or lizard and precede to bash the taste out of entire cities while the desperate populace throw everything at you to try and stop your...ahem...rampage. They even made a movie (which I haven't gotten around to watching yet...)
SPECIAL MENTIONS (AND A SENTENCE ON EACH)
Dungeon Siege - Party based action packed hack and slash RPG.
Age of Decadence - Requires a lot of thinking more than bashing everything that gets in your path.
Castle Crashers - Fantastic action night fun with two or more players, awesome soundtrack.
Rebel Galaxy - For soundtrack alone
Icewind Dale - Old school RPG with so much appeal and happily, it's been enhanced for more modern computers.
Sacred 1 - For being able to kill so many, so so many..
Sid Meiers Ace Patrol - Quirky and who'd have thought plane battles could be so thrilling?
The Warlock of Firetop mountain - one of the earliest fighting fantasy gamebooks in video game form and done so well too.
Throne of Darkness - Party Diablo with samurais that needs to be enhanced for modern systems.\
Tropico - first one was great and then after a brief stint as a pirate, they kept making more of the same with new features..
Comments
Post a Comment