Yikes. While we tend to dissect a lot of other people’s lists a lot, we have established well and good that it is something that inherently is appealing to gamers. We live to tear other people’s gaming favorites apart and interject our own.
Take this list from TheGameReviews, which put together “30 Games You Must Play Before You Die”. The idea of the list is that everybody should play these 30 games before they kick the bucket, obviously. Only, their choices weren’t so obvious. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that their choices are pretty awful in some cases.
There are a shocking amount of games from this gen on the list. And while there are a lot of good games this gen, should someone really play Mario Galaxy as opposed to Mario 64? Or Metal Gear Solid 4 over MGS 1 or MGS 3? And where the heck is Half Life?
So what do you guys think of the list? And what would you have put on it?
Source- TheGameReviews
That list was Terribad. Mario 64 >>>>>> Mario Galaxy. And they missed a lot of other great classics as well.
TES3 instead of TES4, GTA3 instead of vice city, Mario Kart 64 instead of Mario Kart DS, the list goes on…and WoW? Really? That’s more a game that you play to death. Also, where did Shenmue come from? It’s a good game, but I could name so many better.
WTF?!?!? THAT LIST FORGOT: GOLDEN EYE, PERFECT DARK, Star Wars Shadows of the Empire, Max Payne, Mech Assult/Mech Warrior, Knights of the Old Republic, Command and Conquer red alert 2, Star Craft, War craft three, World in Conflict, Rainbow Six, and Duck Hunt.
Wow, I agree, that is terrible.
what??? No Half-Life?
What about Morrowind? Oblivion, but not Morrowind is like… well.. not kosher, man!
and no Mario 64? how can these idiots sleep at night?
didnt see DOOM/DOOMII either: at least one deserves a place considering its history in games.
I think Goldeneye was left off because it didn’t hold up over time.
Maybe they felt the same about Mario 64, but I think it still holds up rather well.
WTF??? FFX????
Why all the love for this game? It was fun, yeah, but also the first FF that I ever stopped playing and had to restart a year later and force myself through the boring parts!
Vice City is the better choice over GTA III.
The first Mario kart should be on the list.
Putting the 4th MGS on here is a joke. The first one should be on here.
Did this dude just start playing games last year and use the Internet to fill out the oldies??
Least he got Super Metroid and Super Mario World right.
“Any from Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario World would have been worthy inclusions, but Super Mario World, similar to Final Fantasy X, was the zenith of the series, perfecting the gameplay from the games before it.”
WHAT?!
While I agree with him on World being the pinnacle of the 2D Mario games, FF X? Really? I haven’t played as many FFs as someone like Anthony or Eddy has, but IMO FF X was better than 8 and that’s about it…
I have more problems with the list than FF X, but that really stuck out to me.
Epic fail.
I’ll not bother getting into the MGS4 thing again. But this is a rubbish list. Mario Galaxy sucked. Period. 64 was better. Also, this is just me, but NES/SNES 2D = crap. But I’m just prolly too young to understand the beauty of 4 whole directions! Up, down, left AND right? Nintendo you spoil us!
Yeah, this list was NOT so good… I can pretty much agree with all the games verd mentioned… kinda makes you wanna go back to some of those games…
Yeah, I don’t think any of the games on this list are bad, it’s just, all of them are from this gen. Newer doesn’t always equal better.
[quote comment=”5679″]I’ll not bother getting into the MGS4 thing again. But this is a rubbish list. Mario Galaxy sucked. Period. 64 was better. Also, this is just me, but NES/SNES 2D = crap. But I’m just prolly too young to understand the beauty of 4 whole directions! Up, down, left AND right? Nintendo you spoil us![/quote]
Don’t make me destroy you.
Lol, trust me, the NES and SNES were awesome. Not crap, that’s for sure. Back then, without cut-scenes to rely on, you really needed good writing and story development to succeed.
An esoteric selection, to say the least. Monkey Island is a strange choice, almost like it was put in there mollify someone. What about Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle while we’re at it.
These lists always disappoint me as they never include any game from the X-Wing series. The best space combat sim (perhaps the only) wrapped up in my favorite setting.
Mario Galaxy was an unabashed attempt to re-invent Mario 64, and while it is a very good game, it just isn’t of the same caliber as M64. Ocarina’s on there, but at this point mentioning Ocarina is just fan service. For my money, Majora’s Mask was the definitive N64 Zelda, but that’s just me.
By the way, I didn’t see GTA III on there, I saw Vice City. Perhaps it was changed?
But you previously stated that stories were not a big part of gaming and that’s why you aren’t big into them. Or am I merely misinterpreting the whole quote/post/reply thing? Also, you? Destroy me? I like to see you try! 😉
[quote comment=”5681″]Yeah, I don’t think any of the games on this list are bad, it’s just, all of them are from this gen. Newer doesn’t always equal better.[/quote]
Thats why I brought up DOOM
To me, Mario World is the best one, but I understand why 64 is so revered. I love it, also.
Skuba,
you are misunderstanding me, but I was not thorough in my post.
There was more to NES/SNES than 4 directions. Awesome gameplay that holds up to this day and what I meant was the stories were better, for me anyway, because they could not wow you with graphics. Characterization and clever writing was the key. Do you have a Wii or a DS?
OK, I was just being sarcastic anyway! It’s just I’ve tried some of the ye olde games on the list. I got Super Metroid on the virtual console and, while I see where Metroid Prime got its inspiration from, it just wasn’t fun. I’ll try to get into it again, but I (like many of my friends) kinda hate retro games for their lack of complexity. And Mario is brutally tough.
Oh, kids today…
unlike PS1 or N64 games, SNES and Genesis games still hold up really well. I could pop in Link to the Past today and have just as much fun as playing Gears 2.
It’s all good. Super Metroid is still super fun. One of the best games ever!
Which Mario is tough?
Nick, you are right about that. I am playing Super Mario RPG right now and it still is amazing to play.
That’s the thing I don’t get. How can people say they hold up? If it’s been around for, say, near 20 years, how can people still be bothered to play it? I find games like Goldeneye, OoT, Mario 64 etc held up really well to me. My hypothesis is that someone will only like it as it reminds them of times in their past. I know plenty of younger kids who have no care for games you (the old guys) and me (the in-betweener) still hold dear and cherish… Fools…
I think there is definitely something to your “it reminds them of times in their past” theory, but good gameplay is good gameplay regardless of era. Look at something like GTA:Chinatown Wars that just came out for the DS. It’s more of a return to GTA 1/2’s top-down style, and it’s really, really good. It doesn’t need to be this big sprawling crime epic that GTA 3 or 4 are, it has solid tried and true gameplay. The DS is where you can really find old-school style games. Because the DS doesn’t have the graphical power of a PSP devs have focus on more “classic” art styles and rock solid gameplay because it works. Look at a game like Elite Beat Agents which came out a few years ago. It was released in a year with Gears 1, FF XII, Twilight Princess and Oblivion, but Elite Beat Agents still might have been the most fun I had all year.
Needs Warcraft 3
Ha, I’ve ACTUALLY PLAYED SimCity 2000! Good game TBH.
Skuba,
I will be happy to tell you how they hold up and it has nothing to do with nostalgia. I would submit that its nostalgia that allows you to still enjoy Goldeneye and other games like it.
Super Mario World and the 16 bit games like it still look good. The sprites are colorful and well animated.
Look at Ocarina of Time or Final Fantasy VII. Jagged polygons, ugly backgrounds, horrid rendering…it just doesn’t look as good now that our eyes have seen the wonders of modern graphics.
Go back and play Metroid Prime. I have tried to and I can’t deal with the controls now, controls I once loved and thought were very responsive. Dual analog sticks have spoiled me.
It is easier for 2-D games to stand the test of time than 3-D games. It doesn’t mean the 3D games are worse, it’s just the nature of things.
I actually bothered to read the whole comment list this time!
…And I don’t have anything to add, other than this list is terrible. (Like all the other “top amazing great if-you-don’t-like-it-you-suck” lists.)