other Good Games
There are those games that are hard to place in anyone genre, but still excel at being some of the best games of this
generation (Dragon Force being an example). Here is a list of some of our favorite games that have a hard time finding a specific genre to call their own and why we think they are the best thing since sliced bread!
generation (Dragon Force being an example). Here is a list of some of our favorite games that have a hard time finding a specific genre to call their own and why we think they are the best thing since sliced bread!
Dragon Force
I have not taken out an old console more and dusted it off than I have for the Sega Saturn, and the reason? Dragon Force. There has not been and continues to not be a game that can stand beside is game. It is a strategy world based conquering ARPG that honestly has no real comparable. This game has you picking one of eight kingdoms as your starting point and taking over the world from that kingdom, taking over castles and recruiting soldiers as you go. The combat in this game will have you fighting general to general with as many as 100 soldiers a piece to the death in awesome splendor. Needless to say this game is one of those few old games that had me wetting my pants in anticipation for future video games that would have you fighting with groups of 1000 soldiers with even bigger worlds… Wow oh wow was growing up and watching the video game industry sell out and crash/burn fun… If you don’t have a Sega Saturn you might want to look on EBAY and get one JUST for this game, you seriously will not be disappointed fighting with everything from zombies to harpies to dragons and beyond, this game is truly a masterpiece.
Mario Kart 64
Another masterpiece… This game was all skill and very little luck. I could play this game 100 times and beat anyone breathing 100 times (seriously still undefeated…) latter installments became more about “luck” and being in “last place until the very end” than about skill. Items that you got and cheats associated with that made the later installments not as fun to play as even after you mastered the game and the courses you could still end up losing- stuuuuuupid! This game is and continues to be one of the greatest racing games for ALL ages on the market. If you have a few extra bucks you need to pick up an old N64, 4 controllers and a copy of this game, you will not be let down; hours of screaming fun await…
Ninety Nine NIghts
Seriously the best “button mashing game” to date. Dynasty Warriors had a couple good ones, but nothing like this game… Amazing graphics for a button masher this game doesn’t stop there, you will be fighting hundreds and hundreds of enemies at once and the graphics hold. If you are a fan of “button mashers” and haven’t tried this game you need to spend the $5 and get a copy of this bad boy. The game attempts to bring you RPG elements allowing you to level up, equip items, etc, like a typical button masher will, but it done to total perfection in this game. If this game was coop (N3-2 was not as good…sniff) it would have been glorious…
Dynasty Tactics 2
What a weird and fun tactical game! This game takes typical SRPG tiles style game play and throws it on its head with new features and the ability to have large large armies. If this game allowed for random creation and game play (like the civilization games allowing you to build a country and then conquer the world) this game would go down as one of the greatest of ALL TIME… As it stands this is a fantastic SRPG that leaves you scratching your head wondering why nothing else like this was ever expanded upon and built, it is absolutely fun to play and master.
Street Fighter
Basically my favorite 2 person fighting game of all time. I have played all of them and love them all (although Street Fighter II holds a special special place in my heart as one of the greatest) Basically one on one fighting where you need to be the one standing at the end, super easy to get an understanding on, hard to master.
Marvel vs. Capcom
Basically the same as above but add in Marvel's awesome cast of super heroes and make it 3 on 3 fighting vs the typical 1 on 1. This game is harder to get a grasp of than the typical Street Fighter series and even harder to master; means the pay off and gratification on pulling it off is even higher.
Heavenly Sword
First game played on the PS3 and I thought the XBOX360 was done… If every game that came out on the PS3 was as perfect as this game Sony would have owned the XBOX360. Everything the PS3 had that the 360 was found wanting was shown off in this game- the pure graphics in the game alone will stagger you. You go back and play this game and you will think that it just came out as the graphics are better than anything you have seen since; and this game came out basically on release. It also integrated the motion sensor movement of the controller in a way that was so ridiculously fun and unique that it blew the stupid stupid STUPID games that were (and continued to come out) on the Wii (chop wood, row boat, bowl… gay gay gay and boring…) This game had you take control of arrows that were flying and allowed the movement of the controller to move the path of the arrow; ridiculously fun… And where the arrow hit the enemy they actually responded, yelled, and you heard different sounds for each body part hit… My friend Paul was dubbed the “Maim’r of Thousands” as he could only seem to hit the enemies in their shins. This game was what Sony should have mimicked but instead they faltered and tried to get on board with the easy cash grabs of online play; they should have exploited how much more powerful of system they had on their hands. If you own a PS3 this game is a PS3 exclusive that you have no excuse not to own/try.
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood
Was a huge fan of the Assassins Creed games, the game series peaked with this game. This game is by far the best of the series having all and lacking none. The game following this one was a let-down and AC3 was absolutely terrible. You like assassins, puzzles, rpg’s, great graphics and free world exploration than this game is an absolute must. Most of the vast features delivered in this game are taken out in the following game and almost entirely removed by AC3. Vast in scope and super addictive to play and to collect, AC: Brotherhood is the best of the series bar none.
Prince of Persia
Wow, not a fan of the series I have to say but this game almost had me in tears. A lot of games get praised for “amazing graphics and audio!” but this game truly deserves to be praised as one of the most beautiful and intriguing games I have ever played. The sound in the game coupled with the combat and exploration system made this game like “Sonic the Hedgehog on Super Manroids” I bought the next game after this expecting the same game and was sorely let down, if you are not a fan of the series and haven’t played any of them you might want to try this one, it was something else for me. On the PS3 this game shone like you wouldn’t believe. You want to get an idea of just how awesome this game looked and sounded (and thus FELT) you need to check out an old trailer for it. The game is lacking on button mashing combat (which the others in the series had in drones) and instead is focused on world exploration (getting from point A to point B) while fighting a few things on the way there and then a boss. (much like the old Sonic the Hedgehog games or Shadow of the Colossus) The game does this extremely well and makes for an amazing game in that genre but fails to be a “button masher” so fans of the series will not like it. Good for me I didn’t find the series to be a very good button mashing game so it worked out well for me…
Myth: The Total Codex
Holy crap will this game have you pulling hair out of your head and screaming bloody murder (“you STUPID (&^*&%^%$ dwarf I am going to (^(^(*&$ KILL YOU MYSELF!”) and then have you coming back months later (and then years later) for more and more because there is nothing left like it on the market. This game takes RTS games and throws them on their heads (much like Warcraft III tried to dabble in but didn’t quit get it right…) and takes the typical tedious “build villagers, get wood, get gold, build house, build barracks, get more wood, build wall, get more wood, fight, fight, get more wood, fight” and throws it out the window. You start with troops and have to complete said mission and can get more troops depending on the mission by reaching waypoints or completing tasks. The lore in this game and storyline is mind-blowing- might be the best story telling lore I have ever seen. The voice actor that reads the story is absolutely riveting, so flippen good at selling the part and sounding the part. The storyline, gameplay, lore, countless creatures, and fast gameplay (don’t have to wait around and build for ever first) makes this game a must play and continues to find its way onto my computer on XP, Vista, and then Windows 7… I assume I will play this series another hundred times before I die…
Civilization II
This one is really hard for me because Civilization and Civilization II are both super games, Civ II however doesn’t have your battleship losing to a settler as often and therefore less frustrating to most. This game is like Age of Empires II in that you basically have endless replay value as each new randomized map/world is totally different and allows you to fall in love with the game over and over again like it was the first time playing the game. Build cities, build armies, conquer your neighbors, or build a spaceship this game is strategy addictive gameplay at its best. You pick a civ, the world gets randomly created (or you give some input beforehand like large/small/medium land masses wet/dry/normal world conditions, etc etc and then it gets randomly created with those features) and then you build cities and take over the world. Unlike Sim City or Civilization Revolution (where you can win with only one city and not really fighting anyone) you will need to build armies and fight as well or you will be destroyed by other not-so-loving civilizations. Great games (Civ I-II) and are still on my pc’s (DosBox) and are played often- flippen amazing games. Civ II also allows for multiplayer which is PRICELESS and AWESOME! Long games but if you have system link at home and can start and go with ease it is some fun fun times…
Spore
Hahaha, what a unique game… They needed to fix the gameplay surrounding the civilization phase and galaxy phase but otherwise a priceless game for the creative in heart. If you are the type of person who likes to just play in worlds created by others (like the Fallout series) rather than create your own worlds (like civilization, Sim City, Minecraft, etc) than you will find this game lacking. If you like the creating games that make you smile and allow you to spend hours and hours designing your own tanks than this game is a must play. Start off as a spore swimming in the ocean and end up exploring the galaxy in your own spaceship; have fun!
League of Legends
No “free game” ever had me blowing more of my money than this one. And is this a “pay to win” like Diablo III pc version? Not remotely… This is a game that has teams of 5v5 pitted against each other on a fixed map (like chess) but instead of playing with the same pieces every game (knight, bishop, etc) you can choose a champion (from a group that’s over a hundred in depth) and play till the enemies Nexus (their “king” if you will) is destroyed.
The corners of the map are the “spawn points” of you and your respective teams- or the place that you “recall” to when you recall when out in the field. The money symbol is the shop, this is where you spend your hard earned cash for item upgrades that substantially change the game and how it is played. The colored hexagon you see next is your teams “Nexus”, if this is destroyed it is game over! The Nexus is guarded by two “Nexus Towers”, both of which need to be destroyed before damage to the Nexus can be dealt. From the nexus your team spawns minions, or “creeps” as people in the game call them, think of them as the “pawns” in the game. Three groups spawn on a counter and then flood out into their respective lanes and fight the enemy’s minions and towers. The next item you see is your teams “inhibitor” (it is shown on the map as a circular target like object and another hexagon shape- don’t know why they have two different objects to show this, as this is only ONE object in the game to kill. It inhibits the enemies Nexus from spawning “super minions” (think of this as turning your pawns into queens) and is protected by an “inhibitor tower” and cannot be damaged until that tower is destroyed. Past this point you are considered “out of base” and into either “lanes” or “in the jungle”. The arrows represent the lanes in the game, Top, Mid, and Bot, and shows the path that your minions will take after they spawn. Each lane has two defensive towers that also provide vision and tons of early game damage. The space in between the arrows is considered “the jungle” as your minions will never journey into it (and thus not provide you with any vision of it) and you have no towers there to provide vision as well- this means it can be a very dangerous place. There are many neutral monster camps in the jungle that provide gold, xp, and even passive buffs to your champs for killing them. The river contains two important neutral monsters, the bottom alcove contains “The Dragon”, which when killed provides a global xp and gold buff, the top alcove contains “Baron Nashor” a unique and extremely powerful neutral monster that provides global gold, xp, and a passive buff to basically everything. It is not recommended to ever attempt to kill either of them on your own. The game is played until one team agrees to surrender of nexus is destroyed. If you are killed you are put into a “respawner” that will respawn you back at base when the timer goes out. Beware though, an enemy killing you will result in them getting xp, gold and more time in their lanes which means you can fall behind fast! Easy game to grasp, almost impossible game to master, this is a team game and when played like CoD you will find yourself losing, losing…. And oh, losing some more. You have to use your brain, read the enemy team and play AND build your champions accordingly or you find yourself with a blown Nexus- YOUR nexus… This is a free to play game, no excuse (other than Riot not getting their servers under control) not to play this game…