Look & Listen ~Paradise~
When I assembled this, I looked for basically three things, importance, artistic value and attachment. I went ahead and only picked one per system, but as you could see I stopped pretty early at PS2. It got super hard wanting to replace anything on my list, so I just ended it there since I basically almost gave up on games during 7th gen anyway. (I did not like that gen, do not ask me about that gen.)
10 Games
Game Title: Adventure
Genre: ...Adventure
Developer: Atari, Inc.
Designer: Warren Robinett
Composer: shrug
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/I6-zN_eaRd8
Soundtrack: ...eh?!
Thoughts:
Despite what you might think, I'm not putting Adventure here out of a feeling of necessity. I actually truly enjoy Atari games, their simplicity and requirement of needing to flip switches on the console itself to change modes are something that kinda bring a twinkle to my eye a bit. Adventure itself was an ambitious undertaking for it's time, I do believe it earns it's place on my list to beat out other Atari games for representation of this era.
Sorry Keystone Kapers! Still love ya!
Genre: ...Adventure
Developer: Atari, Inc.
Designer: Warren Robinett
Composer: shrug
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/I6-zN_eaRd8
Soundtrack: ...eh?!
Thoughts:
Despite what you might think, I'm not putting Adventure here out of a feeling of necessity. I actually truly enjoy Atari games, their simplicity and requirement of needing to flip switches on the console itself to change modes are something that kinda bring a twinkle to my eye a bit. Adventure itself was an ambitious undertaking for it's time, I do believe it earns it's place on my list to beat out other Atari games for representation of this era.
Sorry Keystone Kapers! Still love ya!
Game Title: Ninja Gaiden
Genre: Action-Platformer
Developer: Tecmo
Director: Hideo Yoshizawa
Composer(s): Keiji Yamagishi, Ryuichi Nitta
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/fPeiWyIz4qA
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/iItdzO-gyxY
Thoughts:
Ninja Gaiden is not just a fast and satisfying action game with great and snappy control, it is also a film with cutscenes that last a discernible amount of time complete with dialogue and twists and turns and one of the most memorable soundtracks on the NES. A bit overqualified, at least imo.
It's hard as always to forego titles like Castlevania or even SMB3 for my NES spot, but Ninja Gaiden lives rent-free in my head, I actually still tear up a bit for the end of stage 3 thanks to that lovely music to help me feel bad for a man Ryu literally just met like ten minutes ago maybe.
Go Ninja Go Ninja Go! ....wait....
Genre: Action-Platformer
Developer: Tecmo
Director: Hideo Yoshizawa
Composer(s): Keiji Yamagishi, Ryuichi Nitta
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/fPeiWyIz4qA
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/iItdzO-gyxY
Thoughts:
Ninja Gaiden is not just a fast and satisfying action game with great and snappy control, it is also a film with cutscenes that last a discernible amount of time complete with dialogue and twists and turns and one of the most memorable soundtracks on the NES. A bit overqualified, at least imo.
It's hard as always to forego titles like Castlevania or even SMB3 for my NES spot, but Ninja Gaiden lives rent-free in my head, I actually still tear up a bit for the end of stage 3 thanks to that lovely music to help me feel bad for a man Ryu literally just met like ten minutes ago maybe.
Go Ninja Go Ninja Go! ....wait....
Game Title: Ecco The Dolphin
Genre: Action-Adventure
Developer: Novotrade International
Director: László Szenttornyai
Designer: Ed Annunziata
Composer(s): Brian Coburn, András Magyari, Spencer Nilsen
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/WcAHjSKcwOs
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/tqMuvFEKCOk
BONUS Sega CD Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/xzdShv9Rfv4
Thoughts:
It's hard for me to really talk about Ecco in a way, because for some reason it brings a ton of emotion despite it being about a dolphin searching for their lost pod and getting into time travel shenanigans against a race of space aliens. It could be because I treat them as a friend, but I digress...
Ecco suffers from a ton of bizzare difficulty problems thanks to worries of the rental market, and really it takes a ton to make me hate a level named after a Pink Floyd song. Despite that...god...I love everything else about the game...a perfect representation of the ocean. Maybe it's coincidence that the game was made too hard, because again....the ocean is a cruel mistress....and once again I find myself getting lost in it's soundtrack.
Love ya Ecco.
Genre: Action-Adventure
Developer: Novotrade International
Director: László Szenttornyai
Designer: Ed Annunziata
Composer(s): Brian Coburn, András Magyari, Spencer Nilsen
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/WcAHjSKcwOs
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/tqMuvFEKCOk
BONUS Sega CD Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/xzdShv9Rfv4
Thoughts:
It's hard for me to really talk about Ecco in a way, because for some reason it brings a ton of emotion despite it being about a dolphin searching for their lost pod and getting into time travel shenanigans against a race of space aliens. It could be because I treat them as a friend, but I digress...
Ecco suffers from a ton of bizzare difficulty problems thanks to worries of the rental market, and really it takes a ton to make me hate a level named after a Pink Floyd song. Despite that...god...I love everything else about the game...a perfect representation of the ocean. Maybe it's coincidence that the game was made too hard, because again....the ocean is a cruel mistress....and once again I find myself getting lost in it's soundtrack.
Love ya Ecco.
Game Title: Daytona USA
Genre: Racing
Developer: Sega AM2
Director: Toshihiro Nagoshi
Composer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/GAcMqFTkAs8
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/hlH38VR50A4
BONUS Saturn Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/oe2BogGquNA
Thoughts:
Uh....goddamn is this a massive whiplash from talking about Ecco.
Anyways, my decision to slap Daytona USA on here was something that baffled me even as I was creating the list. The hell am I thinking? But! It's a fantastic choice, because as I stated in a review in response to my own list it was the first 3D racing title that truly impressed me and got me engrossed into it's action. Despite the Saturn port's poor performance, I could only find myself lost in Takenobu Mitsuyoshi's amazing singing.
Bless them, because without that beautiful person Daytona USA would probably be forgotten and tossed to the wayside. It sure would've been less memorable at least for me!
Genre: Racing
Developer: Sega AM2
Director: Toshihiro Nagoshi
Composer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/GAcMqFTkAs8
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/hlH38VR50A4
BONUS Saturn Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/oe2BogGquNA
Thoughts:
Uh....goddamn is this a massive whiplash from talking about Ecco.
Anyways, my decision to slap Daytona USA on here was something that baffled me even as I was creating the list. The hell am I thinking? But! It's a fantastic choice, because as I stated in a review in response to my own list it was the first 3D racing title that truly impressed me and got me engrossed into it's action. Despite the Saturn port's poor performance, I could only find myself lost in Takenobu Mitsuyoshi's amazing singing.
Bless them, because without that beautiful person Daytona USA would probably be forgotten and tossed to the wayside. It sure would've been less memorable at least for me!
Game Title: Donkey Kong Country
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Rare
Director(s): Tim Stamper, Chris Stamper
Composer(s): David Wise, Eveline Fischer, Robin Beanland
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/_Eug8PRZWlc
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/_4EjGXRDOH0
Thoughts:
It's funny to think there was legitimately a time my tiny little child brain thought "this is it, games have peaked with Donkey Kong Country! Nothing will look or sound better!". They were onto something though, because frankly this game still looks and sounds positively gorgeous. The sun setting during the Jungle Hijinx levels is still something that really makes me feel the SNES is using every last bit of it's colors to paint something beautiful.
To say nothing about the soundtrack would be criminal. To this day I still want to sing sad lyrics to Life in the Mines, and I still enjoy rocking the house with Gangplank Galleon as I'm fighting K.Rool for the thousandth time. It may have brought in a brief onslaught of less-than-stellar pre-rendered graphics games on both SNES and Genesis, but Donkey Kong Country is my personal Picasso.
I never once got fooled by the fake credits, nope.
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Rare
Director(s): Tim Stamper, Chris Stamper
Composer(s): David Wise, Eveline Fischer, Robin Beanland
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/_Eug8PRZWlc
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/_4EjGXRDOH0
Thoughts:
It's funny to think there was legitimately a time my tiny little child brain thought "this is it, games have peaked with Donkey Kong Country! Nothing will look or sound better!". They were onto something though, because frankly this game still looks and sounds positively gorgeous. The sun setting during the Jungle Hijinx levels is still something that really makes me feel the SNES is using every last bit of it's colors to paint something beautiful.
To say nothing about the soundtrack would be criminal. To this day I still want to sing sad lyrics to Life in the Mines, and I still enjoy rocking the house with Gangplank Galleon as I'm fighting K.Rool for the thousandth time. It may have brought in a brief onslaught of less-than-stellar pre-rendered graphics games on both SNES and Genesis, but Donkey Kong Country is my personal Picasso.
I never once got fooled by the fake credits, nope.
Game Title: Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001
Genre: Side-scrolling shooter, "run and gun".
Developer: Nazca Corporation
Designer(s): Kazuma Kujo, Meeher
Artist(s): Akio Oyabu, Kazuhiro Tanaka, Takeshi Okui
Composer(s): Takushi Hiyamuta, Jim
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/qsMWIbnKrqk
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/vOnSCVc1oGg?t=79
Thoughts:
I'm always big into nice spritework, and for a while it almost felt like a dying art until some indie artists started finally picking up some slack. If I ever picked a game purely on the "wow that's some damn good sprites!" It would be Metal Slug and any of it's sequel's hands down. You can try all you want to impress me with silly lighting effects that everyone seems to enjoy these days, but they stil get solo'd by the intro with the Metal Slug rolling into view with it's machine guns blaring.
Whenever I say "thank you" to someone I feel like one of the POWs from this game.
Genre: Side-scrolling shooter, "run and gun".
Developer: Nazca Corporation
Designer(s): Kazuma Kujo, Meeher
Artist(s): Akio Oyabu, Kazuhiro Tanaka, Takeshi Okui
Composer(s): Takushi Hiyamuta, Jim
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/qsMWIbnKrqk
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/vOnSCVc1oGg?t=79
Thoughts:
I'm always big into nice spritework, and for a while it almost felt like a dying art until some indie artists started finally picking up some slack. If I ever picked a game purely on the "wow that's some damn good sprites!" It would be Metal Slug and any of it's sequel's hands down. You can try all you want to impress me with silly lighting effects that everyone seems to enjoy these days, but they stil get solo'd by the intro with the Metal Slug rolling into view with it's machine guns blaring.
Whenever I say "thank you" to someone I feel like one of the POWs from this game.
Game Title: Pokemon Blue (Representing the first generation of Pokemon games)
Genre: RPG
Developer: Game Freak
Designer: Satoshi Tajiri
Artist(s): Ken Sugimori, Atusko Nishida
Composer: Junichi Masuda
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/noNl2NkVC5E
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/3Q0nQQIKESw
NOTE ON SOUNDTRACK: Every link I seem to find on Youtube has this odd effect on it I guess to disguise the beeps and bloops of the Game Boy? It's not the worst thing, but I try my hardest to get stuff as original as possible, I assume this is like an official soundtrack thing or something. You can hear the difference when you compared it to the gameplay video I linked.
Thoughts:
Okay so... yeah... Pokemon...
The biggest video game franchise in the world for almost 25 years running now. Good lord, it's gonna be 25 years soon....oh my fucking god. I need time to stop like right this minute, please.
An idea that was initially met with skepticism from Nintendo that would grow to such a huge phenomena as to literally be it's own bullet point in my elementary school life. Pokemon games, Pokemon plushes, Pokemon anime, Pokemon cards, Pokemon McDonalds toys, you name it. It wasn't a "fad" or some simple thing kids attached to for only ten minutes until the next thing arrived, it just kept going and it would always be imitated, but never replaced. Why? Why does it carry on so? Through the power of marketing? The power of love from a dedicated fanbase? The power of cute fuzzy animals? All of that maybe?!
Regardless, I could go on for ages about the allure of gen 1's Game Boy aesthetic and amateurishly drawn battle sprites that sometimes don't even represent the Pokemon well, but as I'm writing this my brain is kind of just shutting down into permanent child mode listening to the soundtrack as I'm writing this. Before I go though, I will say I absolutely love Sugimori's old artstyle, I sorely miss it.
I used Blue, because Blastoise will always be cooler than Charizard no matter how much the general public and Game Freak themselves try to ignore otherwise. Long live the Blue Alliance! Long live the Blue Alliance!
Genre: RPG
Developer: Game Freak
Designer: Satoshi Tajiri
Artist(s): Ken Sugimori, Atusko Nishida
Composer: Junichi Masuda
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/noNl2NkVC5E
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/3Q0nQQIKESw
NOTE ON SOUNDTRACK: Every link I seem to find on Youtube has this odd effect on it I guess to disguise the beeps and bloops of the Game Boy? It's not the worst thing, but I try my hardest to get stuff as original as possible, I assume this is like an official soundtrack thing or something. You can hear the difference when you compared it to the gameplay video I linked.
Thoughts:
Okay so... yeah... Pokemon...
The biggest video game franchise in the world for almost 25 years running now. Good lord, it's gonna be 25 years soon....oh my fucking god. I need time to stop like right this minute, please.
An idea that was initially met with skepticism from Nintendo that would grow to such a huge phenomena as to literally be it's own bullet point in my elementary school life. Pokemon games, Pokemon plushes, Pokemon anime, Pokemon cards, Pokemon McDonalds toys, you name it. It wasn't a "fad" or some simple thing kids attached to for only ten minutes until the next thing arrived, it just kept going and it would always be imitated, but never replaced. Why? Why does it carry on so? Through the power of marketing? The power of love from a dedicated fanbase? The power of cute fuzzy animals? All of that maybe?!
Regardless, I could go on for ages about the allure of gen 1's Game Boy aesthetic and amateurishly drawn battle sprites that sometimes don't even represent the Pokemon well, but as I'm writing this my brain is kind of just shutting down into permanent child mode listening to the soundtrack as I'm writing this. Before I go though, I will say I absolutely love Sugimori's old artstyle, I sorely miss it.
I used Blue, because Blastoise will always be cooler than Charizard no matter how much the general public and Game Freak themselves try to ignore otherwise. Long live the Blue Alliance! Long live the Blue Alliance!
Game Title: Spyro the Dragon
Genre: Platforming
Developer: Insomniac
Artist: Charles Zembillas
Composer: Stewart Copeland
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrVKjNR0-SE
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/i08gE5EVKmM
Thoughts:
After writing that Pokemon Blue section, I was gonna take the high road and just copypaste my Spyro blurb from my PS1-only version of this list and leave it be, but...I'm currently in an emotional state and going from Pokemon to Spyro is probably going to knock me on the floor. It's no coincidence that both games I adore as much as I do both came out in the same year, I won't go into detail, but I will just say they were a big help.
Love ya Spyro.
Genre: Platforming
Developer: Insomniac
Artist: Charles Zembillas
Composer: Stewart Copeland
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrVKjNR0-SE
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/i08gE5EVKmM
Thoughts:
After writing that Pokemon Blue section, I was gonna take the high road and just copypaste my Spyro blurb from my PS1-only version of this list and leave it be, but...I'm currently in an emotional state and going from Pokemon to Spyro is probably going to knock me on the floor. It's no coincidence that both games I adore as much as I do both came out in the same year, I won't go into detail, but I will just say they were a big help.
Love ya Spyro.
Game Title: Sonic Adventure
Genre: Platforming, Action-Adventure
Developer: Sonic Team
Director: Takashi Iizuka
Composer(s): Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/Bd9Duv-6pFg
Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OODWnfNK9CU
Thoughts:
The Dreamcast itself feels like the personification of Y2K, I could put more striking games on here like ChuChu Rocket or Jet Set Radio, but Sonic Adventure is so much more to me. After Sonic was noticeably absent from the Sega Saturn, there was insurmountable hype for me to finally play a Sonic game in true 3D as opposed to the fake 3D isometric stuff from 3D Blast. Sonic Adventure was a sign of change, Sonic has grown up to tackle the new challenge of an added dimension.
"Watch out! You're gonna crash! Ah!"
...and he speaks more! Incredible vibes!
E-102 story also kinda just solos tbh.
Genre: Platforming, Action-Adventure
Developer: Sonic Team
Director: Takashi Iizuka
Composer(s): Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/Bd9Duv-6pFg
Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OODWnfNK9CU
Thoughts:
The Dreamcast itself feels like the personification of Y2K, I could put more striking games on here like ChuChu Rocket or Jet Set Radio, but Sonic Adventure is so much more to me. After Sonic was noticeably absent from the Sega Saturn, there was insurmountable hype for me to finally play a Sonic game in true 3D as opposed to the fake 3D isometric stuff from 3D Blast. Sonic Adventure was a sign of change, Sonic has grown up to tackle the new challenge of an added dimension.
"Watch out! You're gonna crash! Ah!"
...and he speaks more! Incredible vibes!
E-102 story also kinda just solos tbh.
Game Title: Dynasty Warriors 3
Genre: Hack and Slash, "Musou"
Developer: Omega Force
Director: Akihiro Suzuki
Composer(s): MASA, Kenji Nakajo, Michihiko Shichi
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/5kYaSy_gOLQ
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/8iLjBQE7jSo
Thoughts:
"There goes Vee again, committing some serious sacrilege submitting a musou game in their list. They're such a memelord."
Let me tell ya about my best friend "presentation".
As a game whose core mechanics are basically "Square Square Square Triangle, Square Square Square Triangle, Circle, etc"(Even as a massive fan I'm not gonna pretend otherwise), it takes a serious amount to cover all of that. You need to make it feel good to hit things, you gotta make it feel like you're smacking around dozens of soldiers with one fell swoop of your weapon and have it feel like you're the toughest son of a bitch in town.
What you also need is one of the coolest soundtracks ever made, with guitar and synth going off like crazy and get some of your localizer's interns to provide the English voice acting. Top off all of that with being about ancient history and getting me interested in literature, then you've provided me with my favorite game for my PS2 that I gained on Christmas, beating out the likes of Metal Gear Solid 2, Twisted Metal Black and WWF Smackdown Just Bring It. Countless hours, countless hours. This is fuckin' video games and I don't want to hear any arguments against it.
If you're reading this currently, Happy Holidays!!!!! <3
Genre: Hack and Slash, "Musou"
Developer: Omega Force
Director: Akihiro Suzuki
Composer(s): MASA, Kenji Nakajo, Michihiko Shichi
Gameplay: https://youtu.be/5kYaSy_gOLQ
Soundtrack: https://youtu.be/8iLjBQE7jSo
Thoughts:
"There goes Vee again, committing some serious sacrilege submitting a musou game in their list. They're such a memelord."
Let me tell ya about my best friend "presentation".
As a game whose core mechanics are basically "Square Square Square Triangle, Square Square Square Triangle, Circle, etc"(Even as a massive fan I'm not gonna pretend otherwise), it takes a serious amount to cover all of that. You need to make it feel good to hit things, you gotta make it feel like you're smacking around dozens of soldiers with one fell swoop of your weapon and have it feel like you're the toughest son of a bitch in town.
What you also need is one of the coolest soundtracks ever made, with guitar and synth going off like crazy and get some of your localizer's interns to provide the English voice acting. Top off all of that with being about ancient history and getting me interested in literature, then you've provided me with my favorite game for my PS2 that I gained on Christmas, beating out the likes of Metal Gear Solid 2, Twisted Metal Black and WWF Smackdown Just Bring It. Countless hours, countless hours. This is fuckin' video games and I don't want to hear any arguments against it.
If you're reading this currently, Happy Holidays!!!!! <3
2 Comments
I went ahead and finally got this touched up better with similar description/thought notes as my PS1 list. Thought it was a bit fucked that I went into more effort for my PS1 list than my official entry.
Vee
1 year ago
Hardest shit imaginable to be limited, it's bullshit.