6. Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)
I’ve made it no secret how much of a Sonic fan I am. The kicker here is I never actually owned a Sonic game up until what many would consider was the beginning of the end for the Sonic franchise.
Although I had played all the classic Sonic games on the Genesis back in the day, it was all because I had managed to convince my mom to drag me to the local Toys “R” Us to play their demo unit. It wasn’t until the death of SEGA as a hardware maker that I would have the Blue Blur sitting on my shelf at home.
Although it’s considered blasphemous for anyone to call themselves a die-hard Sonic fan and say their favorite is anything other than one of the Genesis classics, Sonic Adventure 2 made the game more accessible. The whole rivalry between Sonic and Shadow fascinated me and made me keep playing and wanting to see what would happen. Mix that in with the surprisingly deep story and some of the most fun and memorable levels in the franchise (I can still remember a number of the shortcuts,) and it’s a no brainer for me on why Sonic Adventure 2 deserves this spot more than anything else.
Not only that, but both the final boss battles (the first with Shadow/Sonic and the “true” one,) still stand in my mind as some of my most favorite boss battles in history. There was such a feeling of heroism and bravery and like your actions would actually affect what happened to the world. I’ll never forget that.
5. Final Fantasy IX (PSOne)
Breaking into the top five was probably the single most difficult decision I had to make. Final Fantasy is one of those series where I love almost all of the games anyway, which makes it more difficult to make a judgment. I’ve played all the numbered games and several of the spin offs. I loved the story of X, the gameplay of VII, the graphics of XIII, the pure amount of stuff to do in VI, but IX is the only one that I can’t find a complaint about.
Admittedly, tons of people overlooked Final Fantasy IX because it came out right around when the PSOne was on its way out, and the PS2 would be released.
Final Fantasy IX took the classic “rescue the princess” cliché and made it into something different. Instead of the princess actually being in total danger, the princess was really on the run. Better than that, she chose YOU as her runaway buddy, putting you and everyone you knew in a ton of danger.
When the story evolved into the whole living planet scenario and the player was brought into the Tree of Life, it gave an almost magical feeling.
Not only that, but the game goes beyond the tradition of making an absolutely brilliant soundtrack with giving me songs that I still can’t get out of my head several years after I’ve played it. Dagger’s song still brings an incredibly nostalgic feeling mixed with the sense of dread that I felt while playing through the game and knowing everything that was going on.
Final Fantasy IX also holds my memories for having what I think is the single darkest subplot in the entire series. When the player learns the origin of where Vivi, the mysterious, clumsy and shy black mage came from, it may not seem like that big of a deal as a young gamer, but the thought of being manufactured specifically for war as an army of magical death machines is something that still surprises me to this day.
Final Fantasy is one of my most favorite game series. Final Fantasy IX is my favorite game in the series (so far.) That makes it one of my most favorite games, and earns a well-deserved spot on my list.
4. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (360/PS3)
This spot was previously reserved for another Castlevania game. Symphony of the Night is not just widely regarded as one of the best Castlevania games, or even one of the best PSOne games. Many gaming communities regard Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as one of the greatest games of all time period.
That was until I ran across the gem of a reboot put out very recently.
Many longtime Castlevania fans have been skeptical of a full reboot of the Castlevania franchise. Although the 3D games play quite a bit differently than the classic 2D sidescrollers, the atmosphere and gothic style has remained.
The truth is, Lords of Shadow takes some of the best aspects of other games that just barely missed this list. The hack ‘n’ slash gameplay reminiscent of God of War is here. The absolutely massive boss battles of Shadow of the Colossus is here. The engaging story and brilliant character design from Warcraft is there. The amazing score and level design that accompanies any Castlevania game is here.
Lords of Shadow doesn’t just get a spot on the list for being a great game in itself, but for being a mixing pot of many other proven aspects from games that weren’t quite as great of an idea.
I know that sounds somewhat shallow for liking a game, but any other feelings brought forth from Lords of Shadow are incredibly difficult to describe for me. It could be the goosebumps I get when I hear Patrick Stewart narrating the game. It could be the sheer satisfaction of taking down some of the monolithic bosses. It could be the random Scottish accents. Whatever causes it, all of it is brought from Castlevania.
3. Pokemon Gold Version (Game Boy Color)
Pokemon was that turning point in my life when I knew I would be considered a nerd forever. The Game Boy Color was technically my first gaming console, and the only games I had owned for it were Pokemon Red, Pokemon Yellow, and Pokemon Gold.
Between the games, I was the cool guy on the playground for being the only kid with a trade link cable. I bragged to all my friends that I had managed to capture Mewtwo with only a regular Poke Ball after I had been stupid enough to use the Master Ball on Entei. This was that point in my life where I had officially entered a community of nerds and gamers. Of course this led to the purchasing of Pokemon cards, the episode compilations on VHS and collecting every single one of those Burger King toys when they had them.
I chose Pokemon Gold because it was the game I spent the most time with. I had worked my single file all the way until I had caught all the possible Pokemon without needing to trade to Silver Version. I even begged my mom to drive me to the event at Toys “R” Us back in the day to get Mew on my game. I was even heartbroken a year ago when I had finally unearthed my old copy of Gold, popped it into my old Game Boy Advance and saw that the battery on my cartridge had been dead for years, and I lost all my data.
More importantly, this was the game right before Pokemon got more complicated than it needed to be. Before Pokemon had natures. Before EV training. Before beauty contests. Before holding all the best Pokemon for promotional events. Before the internet and the promise of selfish and nasty people putting their lives into being insanely good at a children’s game. The final (optional) battle with Red on the top of Mt. Silver was one of the most badass battles ever. You meet him on the top of a mountain and, without a single word, you two battle. Even when you win he remains silent, but simply disappears. A child would look at this and be disappointed they don’t get some kind of amazing prize or powerful Pokemon as a reward. A gamer who’s been at it for years knows the experience and the sense of personal achievement is all that’s needed.
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