I'm sort of a compulsive collector of video games. If the potential enjoyment
to price ratio for a game I see rises above a nominal threshold, I'll usually
pick it up sooner or later if I have the money. So I've amassed a decent
selection over the years, which I've listed below. I hope that some day in
an alternate universe where I have more time and energy, I will add a
mini-review for the games I've played enough to evaluate.
Unless you're picky, PS2/Gamecube/Xbox generation is pretty much equal in terms of console specs, so it really comes down to which system has the best games available for it. While the Gamecube isn't too far behind, the PS2 leads in this department, particularly in the variety available. I've used it as my primary DVD player, as well, which was a nice feature to have. The only real complaints I have are the slow load times, and the occasional errors I get when reading a DVD (though I've so far only seen this with movie DVD's, not games). Overall, a really great system.
I haven't played this one much yet, but so far it looks like it'll be at least as good as Lament of Innocence.
A lot of the reviews I read of this game were really down on it to the point you might think it was garbage. I think that's mainly because it doesn't live up to the standards set by some of the other great Castlevania games. Taken on its own, it's a decent 3D action game with enough flaws that you're not really missing anything by passing on it, but good enough that it's worth a purchase. The controls are a little awkward, but kind of fun after a while. The graphics are very smooth, with some great looking stages, and some not so great. The music is overall pretty good, with a few really nice tunes. On the downside, it can get a bit tedious, and some of the stages are pretty boring.
I like the DDR series, and I'm into the whole jump-around-on-a-dancepad thing, as it's really a lot of fun, but I haven't really been able to get into this one. I'm not sure why, but I think it's a combination of my living in a second-floor apartment keeping me from really being able to get into it, and the bad choice of songs. Granted, pretty much all the DDR games I'm aware of have pretty lousy music, but this one seemed even worse to me. I preferred the stuff from DDR Max. Oh well. It's still fun, and if I ever get on the first floor somewhere, I'll end up playing it, but if I can find DDR Max somewhere for cheap, I'll probably be going for that, instead.
I haven't gotten far enough in this to form a full opinion, but up to the point I've played, it seems pretty fun. The game mechanics seem like they'll be pretty fun to try to master. It does seem a little on the hard side, though, making it kind of frustrating to figure out what to do next.
Opinion seems to vary on this one. I personally liked it a lot. The music was awesome. The battle system may have been my favorite of any in the series. Rendering the backgrounds in real-time made the world feel more coherent than the previous 3D FF games, and the voice acting, while not perfect, helped flesh the characters out a bit more. It's either my second or third favorite of the series, easily the best since 7. My two minor issues with this game were that the sphere grid system could get annoying if you ran out of spheres you need, and the (mercifully optional) travesty known as blitz ball.
I assumed this game was garbage for a long while, from some of the promotional material I'd seen from it, but I'd read a few reviews here and there saying it was actually pretty good in certain ways, if you can look past some of the silliness in the presentation. I only played a little of it, but that does seem to be the case. The character development seems kind of interesting, and the story seems like it has the potential to shed some light on some of the questions that FFX's ending brought up. Whether or not those things hold up through the game and aren't overpowered by the fruity aspects of it, I'm not sure yet.
Disregarding FF 11, this was probably one of the biggest departures from the conventions set in the series, leaving a lot of fans divided as to whether or not they liked it. My opinion was split on what I liked and didn't like, though overall I thought it was a good game. The most controversial decision was the change to the battle system, with changes that let you automate a lot of what your characters do in battle. While I probably like the traditional battle system better, this was not nearly as bad as many made it out to be. While it can get kind of boring, especially early on, the strategy involved in setting the triggers for your characters' actions is pretty satisfying. The move away from random battles was pretty long overdue. The changes I found most fault in, though, were more in the artistic decisions. I don't mean the graphics, as the visual art in this game is very impressive, but specifically I mean the music and the story. While the music wasn't bad, and has been praised in pretty much every review I've read, I felt it didn't really grab your attention or set the mood as well as it did in many of the previous games. It generally wasn't melodic, but felt more like forgettable orchestral filler. It wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, and it certainly fit the game well, but the feel of it was something different from the previous entries in the series. My problems with the story are similar. It is well-told, with very likeable characters, good voice acting, and a pretty coherent plot, but the scope of it felt smaller than the previous games. It was more political, down-to-earth - sort of like historical fiction with fantasy elements added in, in contrast to the typical crazy ruler / evil force tries to destroy the earth seen before. Some people liked that change, and it certainly isn't a bad story and isn't lacking all of the elements I've mentioned, but it just felt somewhat disappointing to me. Overall, though, this was a good game, not deserving of much of the criticism it received in a knee-jerk, prejudiced reaction to the changes in the battle system.
I've gotten a fair ways in this game, probably enough to give it a score, but I've held back, anyway. The atmosphere created by the visual style, ambient audio effects, and somewhat abstract story is very satisfying. The gameplay itself works very well, though it does get very frustrating at points trying to figure out what to do next. This is on my list to try to beat soon. As Shadow of the Colossus is considered the spiritual successor to this game, if I were to compare them I'd put Shadow of the Colossus higher, probably only because it lacks many of the frustrating moments where it seems too hard to figure out what to do without consulting a FAQ, but Ico is definitely in the same league.
If you liked the original Mega Man games, this is something you'd like as well. It has the entire series from 1 through 7, though it doesn't include any of the Mega Man X titles. It adds some additional features like saving your progress, which are handy to have. My only complaint, and it's actually kind of a major one, is the button layout isn't customizeable. If I remember right, the shoot and jump buttons are the opposite of what I'd like them to be, so it's kind of frustrating to control. This was more of a problem, though, on the Gamecube version than the PS2 one, though. It's still worth getting, though.
It's been a while since I played through this game, so my memory's a bit fuzzy, but I did like it. It's a little slow to take off, and the story starts to become slightly psychotic towards the end, but it was a fun ride. I read that many people were put off by having to play as Raiden through most of the game instead of Snake, but that didn't bother me too much. Despite being somewhat dated, it's one of the better games for the PS2.
This is another one I haven't played much, but it looks to be about as good as Metal Gear Solid 2. I am finding it a bit more frustrating, though, with some pretty tricky spots early on. More to come later.
A very highly accaimed game, but for me, there hasn't been much that was able to keep my attention. The graphics are undeniably beautiful, and it seems like it could start to get more fun as you go along, but I just haven't been able to get into the gameplay itself much, yet. I'll have to play it some more to find out.
Another neglected game that looks like it could be a lot of fun as you get into it. The controls are pretty fun, but that's about all I can say for now.
I got this mostly to have something to play with my roommate. It does seem pretty fun for that purpose, though it gets kind of difficult. I haven't played it much, though, and don't expect to. I figure people who are into FPS games would like it.
Another game sitting around longing to be played. It seems to be pretty fun. One strange thing about it is that it seems to control very similarly to God of War.
This is one of the few games that managed to live up to its hype. The gameplay is a unique experience, focused entirely on exploring a huge area to hunt down and defeat a number of "colossi". The fun is in discovering the strategy required for beating each of the enemies, making it sort of like a puzzle game. Unfortunately, this somewhat limits its replayability for me, though if I remember right, it does have a time attack mode which could make it fun to go back to. Highly recommended.
For some reason, I don't seem to be able to get into console RPG's, except for Final Fantasy games, though I don't really know why. This seems like it could be fun, but hasn't been able to pull me in. The characters are vary in how likeable they are. The battle system seems a bit too complicated to me. I had some trouble seeing some of the doors or figuring out how to advance the story early on, which was kind of off-putting. I'll probably try it later, after knocking out some of these other games, but I'm in no hurry to get back to it.
I had been intrigued by this game since reading about it, but put off getting it until I finally got it as a Christmas present. I really like the graphics and the controls seem pretty fun, but I haven't played it much.
I read this game had a ton of cut scenes, which didn't bother me, as I typically like a good amount of cut scenes to keep the story going. Initially, I really liked the game, and was starting to get into it. But when they say it has a lot of cut scenes, they really mean it here. I'm about 8 hours into the game, and so far it feels like I've only played about 2 actual hours. The story does seem to be pretty interesting but its appeal to me is waning.
There's a lot of talk amongst a certain subset of the video game message board frequenters that refers to the Gamecube as a huge flop for Nintendo. While it certainly didn't sell as much as they would have liked, and nowhere near as much as the PS2, there are a lot of very high quality games available for the Gamecube. Unfortunately, most of those games are from Nintendo, so it lacks the diversity that the PS2's library offers. Even so, it's a highly recommended system, as it probably has a higher percentage of good games of any of the systems.
Another Namco RPG that I couldn't seem to get into. I read a lot of good things about it, but haven't played far enough into it to confirm them.
This one I got mostly for my roommate, who's pretty into Batman. She hasn't played it much, and neither have I, really. Looks to be pretty decent, though.
I used to really like these old 2D fighting games, so I thought I'd be into this one. Unfortunately, the standard Gamecube controller doesn't work well for it, at least not with the scheme the designers went with. If I had the special "arcade" controller you can play this game with, the score would probably be a point or so higher, because it otherwise seems pretty cool.
I used to have the original F-Zero for the SNES, and it was one of the few racing games that I ended up liking. This one is also fun. It has great graphics and really delivers a satisfying feeling of speed when you're driving. The only downside, and it's somewhat of a major one, is that the story mode is way too hard. Maybe I'm just terrible at these sorts of games or am missing something, but I haven't been able to get past even the second stage. There's a lot of unlockable stuff that stays hidden until you manage to do that, so it's kind of lame. But still, there's a lot to play even without that, so it's still a pretty worthwhile game, if nothing else than to see "SEGA" and "Nintendo" credited as developers on the same game. Oh how the world has changed.
I had heard good things about this game, but debated getting it when I saw it for almost $50 used. I eventually went for it anyway, and was really surprised by how good it was. It's a short, very hard game, but very well designed. The fun in the game is in improving your skills over time, and eventually mastering the levels. I hadn't seen anything like the white / dark mechanic before in a shooting game, and it really adds a lot.
I got this to try to play with my roommate, but haven't gotten around to picking up the extra connectors you need for multiplayer. Two of my friends had it, each with different views. One of them liked it, and the other hated it, calling it something like "Zelda Party". I don't know for sure, but I'm probably more inclined to agree with the former. It has a different style than the other Zelda games, but seems like it does well on its own merits, as long as you don't let your expectations prevent you from enjoying it. I guess it's another one where I'll have to wait to find out.
Another entry to a classic franchise with contraversial changes made, but nearly entirely cosmetic. I personally like the graphic style, though I can see how people would think that it looks like it's intended for a younger audience. Outside of that, the rest of the game hasn't really grabbed my attention. I hear it gets really boring later on, when you start sailing around.
This is just like the playstation 2 version, except that it's supposed to have some different extras. Everything I said there applies here, though the button layout on the Gamecube controller is even more frustrating to me. Even so, these are some fun games, with a fair degree of challenge, good graphics (for their time), and great music.
I loved this game. I didn't think much of it initially, as I haven't had much interest in FPS style games since Duke Nukem 3d, but a friend of mine mentioned it was somewhat different, and I gave it a try. The game has a very great atmosphere to it, and somehow manages to retain much of the fun involved in exploring that the 2D versions had. I particularly liked underwater portions of the ship area. The music is really good in most parts, and contributes a lot to the mood. The gameplay itself is very fun, and has the feel of a platformer.
One of the more disappointing video game purchases I ever made was Resident Evil 2 for the playstation. One of my friends convinced me that it would be a really cool game, but upon buying it for myself, I couldn't get into it at all, with the awkward controls and what not. I heard a lot of good things about RE4, but was hesitant to buy it because of that previous experience, but in the end, I did, knowing it'd be something my roommate would like if I didn't. Turns out it's a pretty cool game. Great graphics, nice controls, pretty well-done story, etc. Even so, I ended up only getting about halfway through. My roommate was the one that beat it, and I'm glad she did, as that unlocked the mini-games, which I personally liked even more than the game itself.
I only barely started in this game. The only complaint I have is in buying a Starfox game and spending so much of the early part playing as some weird new character. It could be fun, though. It seems something along the lines of Zelda, but in the Starfox universe.
I haven't touched this one yet, at all
One of the most popular games in the series, and with good reason. For a long time, I thought it was some sort of lame derivative fighting game involving Nintendo characters, but when I actually got to try it out, I found out how wrong I was. The whole knocking characters off a ledge system adds a lot of depth to the standard fighting formula. The characters are pretty diverse in styles, so there's a lot of different ways to try to play. The only real downside is that it's not as much fun to play on your own as it is with other people, and generally it's better the more people you have.
Haven't gotten to far into it, but this gives me hope that there's some non-Squaresoft developed RPG that I could get into. Not much, though, as I could definitely see it getting boring. I do like the random conversations between the party. It tends to make the whole experience more dynamic, and gives you some more insight into your characters.
I haven't played much of the copy I purchased but I played a decent amount of it with my former roommate, who had already gotten fairly far in it. Finally, an X-men game done right. The only decent X-men games I know of outside of this are the Genesis ones. This one is probably even better than those, with a lot of different characters to choose from, and a nice character development system. It's sort of like a top-down "metroidvania" game, a genre I'm a big fan of.
I've had a lot of fun with the DS. It basically improves on the GBA's graphics and sound capabilities, and adds a few more buttons, bridging the gap between the GBA and the SNES. There was a tendency with some of the earlier games to feel obligated to require use of the stylus in unnatural ways, but that no longer seems to be a problem. It's a great system for sprite-based games. One thing I wish they would have added - an option to choose the button mapping for GBA games. The buttons are set in a particular way, and I think I would prefer to have them assigned elsewhere.
I read good things about this game, but haven't managed to get through the tutorial portion yet. It might just not be my sort of game.
I haven't played this much. I used to play Super Bomberman 4 with a few friends from college, so I got this thinking it would be fun as well. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had been able to try the multiplayer more.
I pretty much like all the Castlevania games that have followed in the Symphony of the Night style, and I think this one is the best one since SOTN. I thought the soul gathering thing was pretty cool, and it gave some replay value to the game (usually I just stop playing after I beat a game of this sort, but I actually went through to find all the souls in this one). The level design is pretty fun and interesting, the music is pretty good, and the bosses are generally cool.
For whatever reason, this just didn't seem as fun as the previous game, or many of the other Castlevania games of this type. The level design was kind of mundane. The dual player mechanic wasn't utilized as effectively as it could have been, I think. Still, it's worth playing if you like games like this.
I was kind of excited about this game and wasn't disappointed when it finally came out. It's got great graphics, great music, and some very challenging gameplay. The unlockable challenge mode is a lot of fun, and gives you something to do other than trying to plow through the main game. If there's any downside to it, it's maybe a little too derivative of the previous games. Would have been nice to see a little bit more innovation. Even so, it's a great game, and worth playing as long as you don't mind a challenge.
This is a sort of cool game, if you like Final Fantasy games. It's a remake of an NES Final Fantasy unreleased in the U.S. The graphics are pretty cool, the music is good, and if you are a Final Fantasy completionist, you'll probably want to play it. I think the battle system is kind of boring, though, and the story isn't that compelling. Still decent overall, especially if you like customizing your characters, since you have a lot of choice in how the fight.
This is a really well-designed game that probably found one of the most interesting uses for the stylus I know of. It's worth playing through, well made, etc. There wasn't much replay value for me, though.
Overall, this is a pretty fun game. The action is pretty fun, the graphics are nice, the music is decent. I think it's sort of cumbersome navigating the levels, the way the map is arranged. You end up not knowing how the hell to get to certain areas for the missions you get. Could be good if you're patient, though.
Decent, but not really enough to get my attention. It lacked the polish of Metroid Prime in the level design, so that it's not really all that fun to just go around exploring. Hence, it's not that fun. The multiplayer may be what some people are into, but I don't really like the Nintendo system, where you can't communicate at all with your randomly matched opponents.
I was a little annoyed by this game at first, as the physics seem to take after the original Super Mario Bros, which I think is maybe a questionable decision. But once I got used to that, I had a decent enough time playing through it. It doesn't really appeal to me the way previous Mario games have, although I don't know if that's the game's fault.
I haven't gotten a chance to play this, as one of my friends hogged it for a while. It is kind of annoying that you can only have one city saved at once.
I was excited when I heard about this system coming out in college. I mourned the loss of good 2D sprite based games after the SNES/Genesis era and saw this as opening up the possibility for a revival of these. There have been some good games, too, on this system, although maybe less than I'd hoped for. If there are any complaints about this system, it's that the number of buttons is kind of annoying (fixed in the DS), and the sound system is kind of crappy, so the music on ported old games sounds pretty bad. On that note, I think there were too many remakes, and not enough good original games (although you can see from the list below, I still liked having the remakes - just would have preferred more quality new stuff).
The first time I started playing this, I wasn't that interested. I suppose it was the stiffness of your player compared to Symphony of the Night. I came back to it later, got used to the controls, and ended up really enjoying the game. I like the magic system with the cards. The music is really good, too, and the system they have in place for giving your character different stats each time you beat the game is pretty cool.
This is actually two games in one cart - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Each of these games is another good game in the style of Symphony of the night. I liked the character's motion in Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow introduced Soma and his soul-stealing ability which is gives you a good reason to play through and explore. Harmony of Dissonance has a few negative points that tend to be pointed out. The music, in particular, is criticized. Personally, I think the music itself is great, compositionally, maybe even better than the other two GBA Castlevania's. The problem is that the music generally uses the legacy sound technology from the Gameboy, so instead of having music built from samples, the sound seems to be generated with square waves, triangle waves, and the random noise generator, making it sound like a gameboy game or an NES game. Apparently this was because the team programming the game was new to the GBA and didn't understand the technology well enough to get the regular sound working. Personally, though, I don't think it detracts that much.
I didn't really play this game. I got it from my friend when I bought his original GBA from him. He said it was pretty terrible, and after turning it on and playing about 10 minutes, I'd say he's probably right.
This is a remake of Final Fantasy 1 and Final Fantasy 2, by the Japanese ordering of the games (that is, not the Final Fantasy 2 we got on the SNES). I guess these games were both good for their time. I didn't really like the original Final Fantasy, myself, as I didn't get into it until Final Fantasy 4 (2 in the U.S.) on the SNES. Final Fantasy 2 is interesting for its different leveling mechanism, and introduction of computer-controlled cut-scenes. For Final Fantasy completionists, this game offers a more pleasant way of playing through these games than the NES originals, with improved sound, graphics, and battle systems. I consider myself one, and I did play through them, just to do it. I don't really think either of these games is all that fun, though, especially not when compared to modern RPG's. A person who enjoyed the original Final Fantasy might see it differently, though. There is some bonus content added that wasn't in the original, but I didn't bother with it.
This is a remake of Final Fantasy 4, originally released in the U.S. as Final Fantasy 2 on the Super Nintendo. I really liked the original, so I liked this one as well. If I remember right, this one gives you a different option at the end - letting you play with anyone who had been in your party at some point in the game. There are a couple of bad points to this game. One is the sound isn't as good as the Super Nintendo version, but that's to be expected since the GBA has a less powerful sound system. The second is the bugs in the game. There is something screwy with the battle system timing. Your characters occasionally get skipped over when they should be allowed to attack, or sometimes they are allowed to attack again too soon. It's pretty annoying. I also had a bug at some point which kept me from saving the game after I had gone through a pretty tough portion. Each time I tried to save, it gave me an error message. Luckily it was a one time thing, but it's not the kind of thing I've ever seen in a console game. If not for those bugs, I'd rate the game higher.
This is another game that was originally released only in Japan, and eventually saw release in the U.S. As with the other GBA ports, this has touched-up graphics, and inferior sound. I thought they did a good job translating the music on this, though, to the GBA system. The battle system is fun, letting you choose jobs for your characters. The graphic style is sort of in-between Final Fantasy 4 and Final Fantasy 6, although a bit closer to 4 in my opinion. It was the last story dealing with crystals, although I think 9 might have gone back to that for old-time's sake. I think there's some bonus content, although I'm not sure what. Definitely a worthwhile game.
This is a remake of what was for a very long time my favorite game that I had ever played. This remake is pretty good. Improved graphics, and probably the best job in moving sound to the GBA of any of the Final Fantasy GBA remakes. I believe there is a bonus dungeon, although I haven't actually played through this yet. I do think this story was one of the best for the series, although my opinion may be colored by nostalgia.
This is a pretty cool tennis game. It has a story and what not to make it a little more engrossing. I didn't play all the way through. I got to the point where you start playing against Mario, the princess, etc., and started getting destroyed. It is a fun game overall.
This game follows in the footsteps of Super Metroid, though there is a lot more linearity in this game. The computer tells you what to do and where to go next, which sort of takes away some of the fun of exploration. It's still really fun overall. The music and graphics provide a good setting, and do a good job of setting the mood in parts. Boss fights are fun, etc. I do prefer the Super Metroid controls to this, where Samus had a sort of slower jump and fall, but once you get used to it, this is fine, too.
This is one of the best remakes I can think of. It's not just the graphics that are enhanced, or some throwaway bonus content added. The bosses are different, new areas are added, and a whole section at the end of the game is added that really improves the game. Worth getting.
I got this because I remember a friend of mine renting some Phantasy Star games for the Genesis and thought it would be cool to play. I haven't really been able to get into it, though, so I can't say much about it.
This is a remake of the game of the same title on the Super Nintendo. Actually, I guess it's more of a port than a remake, as there's not much added to it. There's some kind of 4-swords sidegame added, but I've never played it. The game is fun overall, although I think there are better Zelda games around.
The Gameboy is sort of a weak system, with audio capabilities on par with the original NES, and similar graphics capabilities, although monochrome. The color version adds a little bit to it, although I'm not familiar with many Color Gameboy games. There are a ton of good games available, although folks spoiled by modern graphics and sound technology may be too put off by the lesser capabilities of the system. Also, the system is old, so the games you find for it will generally have to be used.
This is the color version of the original Link's Awakening game for the gameboy. This is pretty much identical, except that it fixes a few bugs and adds an optional dungeon. This game was my favorite of all the Zelda games I have ever played. The story was pretty interesting, involving a dream world rather than the usual Ganon's-causing-trouble premise. The music and sound gave a good atmosphere, and some of the play mechanics (like the feather for jumping) were different and fun for Zelda at the time. The occasional side-scrolling sections in some of the dungeons added some variety to the standard Zelda formula. I rank this as one of my favorite games.
I was a big fan of the Nintendo and the Super Nintendo, so I was skeptical of the original Playstation when I heard of it coming out, although it was talked about pretty favorably in most of the gaming magazines I read. I guess I was more a fan of the Final Fantasy series, though, as all it took to get me interested was the announcement Final Fantasy 7 was coming out for it. Overall it was a good system, with a lot of great games. My one complaint, which mattered a lot to me at the time, but perhaps less now, is that I thought the near total abandonment of 2D sprite-based games for the system was unfortunate. While there were a few good 2D games that came out, including perhaps one of the best ever, most companies eagerly jumped into blocky looking 3D. I guess it turned out for the best, as it helped drive the improvement of 3D technology and bring graphics along to where they are now. Anyway, I enjoyed the system. I had more games at one point, but they were stolen (as a matter of fact, all the games I have except one were repurchased). A nice thing about the system is that the Playstation 2 is backwards compatible with it, so nearly all of the original Playstation's games are playable on it.
One of the best games I have ever played. I'm a big fan of 2D sprite-based games and as I mentioned above, there were a dearth of them on the Playstation. That made this game all the more welcome in my eyes. I was also a fan of Castlevania 2 for the NES, with its exploration and item-collecting oriented gameplay. I thought this sort of continued in that vein, expanding upon it and adding elements of games such like Super Metroid. I can't really say enough good things about this game, it's one of my favorites.
I was a big fan of Chrono Trigger, and as this was supposed to continued that universe / franchise, I did look forward to it. While it's a good game, it doesn't really have the feel of Chrono Trigger. A particular aspect of Chrono Trigger that I liked was that the battles took place on the same screen that you walked around on. It sounds minor, but removing that jarring transition to the battle screen made the game flow better and made the fights less tiresome. You can at least see the enemies you run into in Chrono Cross, and the battle system that is used is sort of interesting, but it wasn't enough. I have not played the game all the way through, but the story does seem interesting. There's a large selection of characters, which is kind of neat, but taken a bit too far (something like 40 playable characters).
This turned out to be a very cool game, probably one of my favorite 3D action games at the time. The stealth gameplay is fun, and really highlighted the advantages of 3D-graphics based games. The story was fun to follow, and there was a lot to do in the game.
When I first played this, I was kind of disappointed. I really liked Final Fantasy 6 on the Super Nintendo, and I suppose that gave me certain expectations going into this game that weren't met. In particular, I didn't like how the materia system made all of your characters almost interchangeable, as opposed to the system in FF 4 and 6 where your characters had innate abilities unique to them. I think I was also put off a bit by the slightly less traditional "fantasy" style of the world. I've come to really appreciate the game, though, and even to enjoy the materia system, which is different but good in its own way. The story of the game is well-liked, and pretty engrossing. Like many games in the series, it has parts that pretty much don't make sense, but something about the overall presentation makes up for it. On the downside, the graphics look kind of crude by modern standards, and even by standards of later Playstation games. The music on it is some of the best in the FF series, which is saying a lot since the series is known for its music.
This game seems to polarize fans of the series. People seem to either love it or hate it. At the time, I liked it better than FF7, and I still think it's a good game on its own. The system for character development focuses on ways you customize your characters using magic you find and junction abilities associated with your "Guardian Forces". It also had a cool minigame involving cards that you collect, although some of the regional rules for this game could made it absolutely no fun. The story sort of fell apart and became incoherent towards the end of the game, but was interesting to me, anyway.
I looked forward to this game a lot, as it was supposed to be a return to some of the more traditional elements of the FF series. I was pretty disappointed by it. I'm not really sure why, as it's been a while since I played it. I think the story just wasn't all that compelling to me, and some of the environments were kind of dull. I did like it, just not as much as I expected to.
This was the first stealth-action game I played on the Playstation, and I really liked it. It's a different sort of style than the Metal Gear series, as you are a ninja doing different missions on each stage. The fighting itself wasn't fun, but it was fun to try to stay out of the enemies sight. Some of the levels were very cool, and it was fun to swing around on the rooftops. I thought it was kind of hard, but that helped keep it interesting.
I haven't really tried this game. I got it because I liked the original and saw it for cheap. I read it's not as good.
Having played a few N64 games well into the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox years, it made me sort of regret never having gotten one when it was still active. The few games I have played for it I really enjoyed. I also really prefer the cartridge format for games, even if it is somewhat more expensive and can't hold as much data. Come 10 years from now, it's questionable if any of my playstation / playstation 2 / gamecube games will work, but I'll be willing to bet the N64 games I got still will (and probably my SNES and NES games, as well). One the downside, it was around this time that third-party support for Nintendo systems started to become more iffy. The majority of the good games on the system seem to be made by Nintendo. That's fine, but it does make for a lack of variety.
I only played the first few sections of this game. I remember having played it briefly while visiting a friend, but didn't think much of it. Having played a little more myself, I was pretty impressed. This is the game I wish I had played on the N64 in its prime. It seems like it was really good for its time, and even now.
This is a game I never really paid much attention to. I think I was overly skeptical about the move to 3D in many games. This is another one that seems like it is a lot of fun, and that I would have really enjoyed if I'd played it during its time.
I just sort of messed around with this, but even so it's pretty fun. Something about the Star Fox games in general kind of intrigued me. Probably due to my experiences with some cheesy 3D flight sim games on PC's when I was younger (Chuck Yeager's Flight Simulator, in particular). Anyhow, this seems like a pretty fun game to mess around with.
The SNES was my favorite console, as I'm partial to 2D sprite-based games, and it was a big player in the last console generation where such games were mainstream. Afterwards, 3D games took over and 2D gaming was mostly relegated to handhelds. I am particularly fond of some of the RPG's that appeared on the console, as I enjoyed quite a few of them. For its time, the sound hardware of the SNES was also very advanced, so there are a lot of games with relatively great sounding music.
Chrono Trigger is probably my favorite RPG. It's very polished, with some really great graphics, sound, and a very cool story. One of the things that makes it stand out over other console RPG's of the time is its lack of random battles. It doesn't sound like much, but losing the jarring transition to a separate battle screen does a lot to make the battles go more smoothly and feel less tedious, even if the actual battle system isn't very different from other games of the time. The New Game+ feature is also a nice touch.
While it's not a game I'm interested in enough to go back and play again, this game was good for its time. The levels were pretty well designed, and the sound and graphics were pretty nice. The hidden bonus areas scattered through all of the levels added some value to the game, encouraging you to go back and find all the secrets. I guess overall, though, the game doesn't stray far from the standard platformer formula of the time. It was just very well done.
This is one of my favorites of the Final Fantasy series. Maybe it's nostalgia, or the timing of when I played this, but there was something about the story and the art style of this game that resonated with me. The world presented had a very appealing blend of technology and fantasy elements that stands out for me from the others in the series (though they all have these elements). It was the last of the 2D versions of the series. There was a huge number of playable characters, each with their own unique battle abilities that made them feel very different, in a way the later installments of the series mostly lost (although if I remember right, FF9 was similar).
This was a pretty nice action-adventure game, somewhat reminiscent of Zelda and such. I had always wanted to play this game when I was younger, but didn't get a copy of it until I'd gone through college and what not. The level and enemy design occasionally gets kind of boring in the game, and it wasn't terribly difficult, but the story and presentation in general had a certain charm to it that compelled me to finish.
I remember when I was younger, my friends and I were disappointed when reading about Super Mario World, as we'd expected there to be a wide selection of powerups as in Super Mario 3, but you only had the cape, and Yoshi. It turned out to be a very good game, though, with some interesting levels. I really liked the idea of marking some stages as having alternate exits, to encourage the player to go look for them. I remember also being very fascinated by the secret star world, and the changes it applied if you managed to make it all the way through. All in all, it was a great platformer.
This was an incredible game, and is still worth playing today. The huge world was so interesting to explore. I liked how they tied in portions of the stages from the original Metroid to this. The music and the level design created a really amazing atmosphere that few other games have been able to match. The game design had a huge influence on games to come. While the game is very well respected, I think it is still somewhat underrated. It stands out to me as one of the best games ever made.
I remember being surprised when I heard this game was coming out, and even more surprised when I played it and enjoyed it so much. Then I remember being even more surprised when I found out there were tricks to fighting each of the characters that would allow you to beat them in very short times. That was something interesting about it. You could beat it taking a pretty straight-forward approach, or you could push yourself to master the tricks to beating the enemies in as short a time as possible. I think it gave the game a lot of value and made it very accessible.
Description here
Description here
Description Here