Geekocity Breakdown

NOTE: The integrity of this blog has come into question. A co-worker, in a joking manner, was able to access my pre-written draft (something I rarely do, and now I see why) and hide a few choice words. I think I caught all of them, but if I did miss some, please don't be offended.

A few months back I started a series called the Best Video Games I Ever Owned. Well, I left that series behind, and since proper payoff was never given, I’m super-sizing this entry of The Right Wing to cover my Top Ten favorite games. I’ll give you a quick list, mainly the systems that I have personally owned, and my favorite game from each, and then my Top Ten, so there will be some repetition, and favorite games from a certain system may not crack the top ten. It will quickly become apparent that I’m a Nintendo loyalist.

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES): Super Mario Bros. 3
Nintendo Gameboy: Tetris
Nintendo 64: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Nintendo Gamecube: Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Nintendo Gameboy Advance: Metroid Fusion
Nintendo Wii: (tie) Super Paper Mario, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Top Ten
10. Super Mario World 2 (GBA), this is a re-issue of the SNES classic, which makes it altogether new to me, as I never had a Super Nintendo. The game play is on par with Super Mario Bros. 3, and the map is extensive. What seems like a normal level in a Mario game can have up to three different endings, each leading you on a different path on the game map. Bowser is still doing his thing, but some villains never get old.
9. Mario Golf (GBA), quite possibly the most addictive game I’ve ever played. I don’t really even like golf, and I can’t get enough of this game. All you do is play golf, and I think that is what makes the game so great.
8. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii), I know this seems low for a Zelda game, but that is only because of its relative newness. Twilight Princess is quite possibly the most beautiful game I’ve ever played. The map is one of the largest in Zelda history, which is not always a good thing, because large maps can kill a game, but in this case, it fits. The game is intense enough to require more than one time playing. I haven’t beaten the game yet, and I’ve already played more than 36 hours.
7. Metroid Fusion (GBA), large environments and fierce enemies have been the Metroid standard. Fusion lives up to this, and more. Samus Aran returns in a new form, having been beaten by the X and reduced to a near-powerless state. A quick rush to regain abilities leads Samus up to a series of battles with progressively more difficult enemies.
6. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES), possibly the greatest pure Mario game ever. Bowser is at it again, kidnapping the princess. Thankfully, in this version, you don’t get the pitiful “Sorry, but our princess is in another castle” line after every boss. Instead, each boss is actually a child of Bowser, so you get the perverse pleasure a snuffing out a man’s family before you reach the man himself, very morbid. Instead of the good-old hammer-throwin’, fire-breathin’ Bowser, this Bowser tries to kill you by pretending that you are a trampoline, only, in classic villain style, his trampoline is made of brick, and placed rather precariously over a bottomless pit. Hooray, bad guys!
5. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC). I never thought I would like a game called Paper Mario, but TTYD made me a believer in the franchise. Mario is called away to Rogueport in a game-style far different from any Mario game I had ever played. Mario travels from level to level, collecting power, attacks, and game-changing badges as he goes. He also collects friends who fight alongside him in a turn-based fighting system. Again, the map is so interactive that even the simplest searches will reveal new paths and items.
4. Madden 2005 (GC), sports games are not often ranked among favorites and people have their reasons. I like this one because I’m a football fan. Like most sports games, players quickly become so proficient that their stats seem embellished. When last I played I was in a franchise run with the Atlanta Falcons. I haven’t lost a game in three seasons, and scoring under 67 points in a game was hurting my average.
3. Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (GC), this is the console version. There’s no sound on Earth comparable to the ping of a round from an M1 Garand knocking off a German helmet. I hear the PC version is far better, but my computer would probably die if I tried to run the game on it. The console version, on the Gamecube, is fantastic. Each map is incredibly detailed, expansive, and almost totally playable, like most games, there are sections that are unreachable, but that does not detract from game value. If there is one negative thing about COD2, it’s the cinema sequences. At any point in the game when a cinematic starts, you can bet that one of your fellow soldiers is about to go tango uniform. Robert is probably still upset that I beat Normandy and The Dragon’s Teeth without dying on my first try.
2. EA Sports NHL 2004 (GC), I like sports games. NHL 2004 is one of my favorites. The gameplay is easy; the controls are not too difficult. Options like automatic line change and auto-aim make the game easier, if you like that sort of thing. Dealing with the CPU in contract negotiations and trades is one of the more interesting facets of this game. Not only can you play the NHL, but you also have three different European leagues to choose from. Or, you can do what I did and create your own franchise. The most fun you’ll have is watching the records fall. My custom character broke Gretzky’s single-season goal record by scoring 153 goals (Grubbs, you’ll like this game).
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64), this game stands as my all-time favorite, and if you’ve played it, you know why. Excellent game play, fantastic story, familiar characters and villains, OOT has it all. At the time of its release, the game map for OOT was one of the largest ever designed, although it is dwarfed by current game maps, it is important to remember that OOT is nearly ten years old, eons in the technology field. The worst thing about this game is the lack of the original Zelda theme.
The Master Quest, a different version released at first in Japan, and then as a promotion in the States, offers a slightly different, more difficult version of the game.

Honorable Mentions:
NES: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marble Madness, Mario Bros. 2
N64: Super Mario 64, Triple Play 1998, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
GC: NHL 2005, NHL 2003, Super Mario Sunshine, Call of Duty: Finest Hour
GBA: Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons, Super Mario World(Mario Bros. 2)
Wii: Rayman: Raving Rabbids