Tag: Top 100

Top 100 Games of All-Time: #98

The Suffering

Release Date: March 8, 2004

Platform Played On: PS2

2018 Placement: #88 (-10)

thesuffering

What It Is:

Torque is a death row inmate accused of murdering his wife and two children, although he can’t remember the action and says he blacked out. Then while he’s in prison a bunch of supernatural horror scary things start murdering all the other inmates and Torque decides to kill them right back and maybe also escape while figuring out what actually happened to his family.

It’s a pretty standard survival horror game, but slightly more run-and-gun action-oriented (think Resident Evil 6 not Resident Evil 2). Enemies are creatures based around prisoner executions, including burrowing enemies that represent being buried alive (I hated those fuckers the most). There’s a fairly basic morality system (by today’s standards) in play as well that will affect the ending you get, but for 2004 the added choices on whether to be completely evil or not were a neat addition. You also get to rage out and become a monster every now and then to completely decimate the enemies attacking you, giving you a sense of strength over helplessness that is sometimes missing in horror games.

Why It’s Important To Me:

Do you know that one game you’ve played that you feel like you have to champion for? Because you personally feel like if you don’t keep talking about it, the game itself will fade away into oblivion and the collective unconscious will completely forget about it? That’s this game for me. I’m not a big horror gamer so this action-based horror game was much more up my alley than anything else and it’s stuck with me to the point that I feel I must ring the bell on it so people will remember it exists, even if it’s just a “Oh hey, yeah I remember that! Wow!”

I mean, I know games like Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2 and others are objectively better games by a wide margin on most units of measurement. And yeah maybe on every other top 100 games list those would be argued for instead of The Suffering. But while everyone else was playing those games, I was playing this one and it was fun. And that’s what matters for a game, yeah?

My Strongest Memory:

The intro of the game was creepy as hell. There’s an earthquake, the lights go out, and then inmates start being pulled off-screen while screaming bloody murder. As you move around the prison you see guards and inmates mutilated and killed in front of you in various horrifying ways, but without getting a clear look at the monsters plaguing the facility. It’s also combat-less for the majority of the beginning so it just ratchets up the tension until you finally start fighting the creatures.

It’s a really well-done opening that might be stock schlock in the horror game element nowadays, but when I played it for the first time back in the day it was vivid enough that it stuck with me.

Why It’s #98:

Like I said above, there are plenty of games just within the horror genre that are objectively better than The Suffering. And then outside the genre there are waaaaay more. But this isn’t objective, this is my subjective list. While I don’t feel strongly enough about it to throw it really high on the list, it’s important enough to me to get a place right here because I feel like it’s not going to show up on many lists that aren’t mine. I’ve gotta do right by it.

Top 100 Games of All-Time: #99

N++

Release Date: July 28, 2015

Platform Played On: PS4

2018 Placement: #89 (-10)

N++_20160814095510

What It Is:

Ninjas are cool. And ninjas like gold. So to be the best ninja, you have to collect all the gold and make it to the exit. Without dying, of course. Simple premise, right? Well after an hour of screaming while doing the same level over and over and over maybe you won’t think it’s as simple. Still, N++ is the single-best game in the gold-loving ninja platformer genre.

The platforming is a little floaty and not as tight as a Super Meat Boy or Celeste, but once you grasp the gravity of the situation (ha-HA!) you’ll be able to climb up walls and bounce off blocks with ease. Avoid missiles, lasers, patrolling robots, mines, and all sorts of other hazards as you collect gold to increase your time. Be as greedy as you want to get as high a score as possible, but a ninja only has but one life to give for their country so if you’re too greedy you’re gonna have to tackle the level again.

Why It’s Important to Me:

The first iteration of N was a Flash game (R.I.P. Flash) that released in 2005. Once it was released, me and a few of my college friends all got into playing it to see who could get the best scores and whether we could complete the most treacherous of levels. One of us believed that the only way to succeed was to get ALL the gold and get out. Others felt survival was the only necessity. Whatever the philosophy, it was a single-player experience that still felt uniquely competitive as we were all grabbing gold on our own time and trying to one-up each other.

N++ is the final (and best) iteration of the N series and while it’s been a long time since my friends and I competitively chased for gold, playing this version of the game still fills my heart with happiness remembering good college times with my buddies.

My Strongest Memory:

Pitcher Plant. Okay, so this is kind of cheating at my own rules because this is a level from the original N and not N++. But I specifically remember this level because all of us got stuck at it for a long time. It was the bane of our existence for at LEAST an afternoon, maybe even an evening. Or a couple days? Time is a construct. Anyway, this level is so burned into my brain that I scrolled through the list of 500-ish total stages on the N fandom wiki and as soon as I saw the words “Pitcher Plant” I knew EXACTLY that was the level I was thinking about in my head. (And it was, as is evidenced by the picture of the stage in the entry.)

It was tougher than it looks.

Why It’s #99:

I haven’t played N++ in a few years. Most of the memories I associate with the game itself are from its predecessor, N. In reality, N++ is on here probably as an amalgamation of N, N+, and N++ just because I love this particular platformer series so much due to having a friend group enjoy it with me. It’s worth a spot on my top 100 and I chose N++ because it’s the most easily available and most modern version, but I can’t put it above others because of the nebulous nature of why this game’s on here in the first place. It’s still the finest iteration of the series and definitely worth a play.

Top 100 Games of All-Time: #100

The Lost Vikings

Release Date: April 29, 1993

Platform Played On: SNES

2018 Placement: #92 (-8)

Capture

What It Is:

Before Norse mythology was cool and you could be an Assassin in Valhalla, there was the trio of lost Vikings. Erik is the agile one: he can jump and dash. Baleog is the muscle: he’s the only one that can attack with either his sword or bow. And Olaf is, well, he’s definitely not the brains. But he CAN hold a shield and block dangerous obstacles, along with hang-gliding for the fun of it.

Erik, Baleog, and Olaf are normal everyday Vikings who get kidnapped by a spaceship and end up rocking and rolling through time and space, from the prehistoric times to a weird fun house-esque world to ancient Egypt and more. It’s a game about solving puzzles while avoiding enemies and navigating death traps while you switch back and forth between each Viking and use each of their specific skills to progress. There’s humorous dialogue between the three Vikings as they progress through the stages which keeps the game light in tone despite some of the horrific deaths you can put them through.

Why It’s Important To Me:

In the early years of video gaming, there weren’t a lot of options for co-op. Either you played brawlers like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, you shot things together in games like Contra, or one player was a lackey like Tails while Sonic did all the work. The Lost Vikings was a game I really enjoyed playing with my friends because we got to navigate and solve platforming puzzles together. We also got to fuck with each other and completely mess up an entire level’s worth of hard work because one of us accidentally fell onto some spikes or messed up Olaf’s hang-gliding at the wrong moment or used a bomb for funsies and couldn’t progress anymore.

While it’s absolutely an enjoyable single player game I get distinct happy feelings when I think about this game because I can remember sitting in my basement playing it with my friends as we tried to navigate every single level. And then writing down the password of each level as we progressed because there weren’t save states back then, only motherfucking passwords. But when you lost the sheet of paper that had all the passwords and had to start over…anyway, that’s neither here nor there.

My Strongest Memory:

It’s weird, but the first thing that always pops to mind for me with this game is the aforementioned fun-house world. There’s a specific mechanic where the Vikings can inflate themselves like a balloon to traverse the area. And while it didn’t awaken anything in me, when I close my eyes I can still see the sprite of poor inflated Olaf. He looks so hilarious compared to the other two when they’re inflated because the other two keep their left-to-right look but he ends up looking straight at the camera with his arms wide like a little helpless ball of Norsitude.

Just don’t think about what happens when he hits the spikes. (Pop.)

Why it’s #100:

This game is mostly fond nostalgia for me. When I looked at the lower numbers on the list I made in 2018 that were in danger of being knocked out thanks to new games, I mentally told myself “Lost Vikings has to stay on the list no matter what.” And if I had that visceral a response to it’s inclusion, well, it deserves a spot on the list. But I also couldn’t put it above many other games I enjoyed that are new to the list. So that’s how we’re starting this epic adventure off – with a game I wanted to keep on this list through hell or high water.

 

My Top 100 Favorite Video Games

So at the beginning of this year, I started an ambitious project to list my top 100 video games of all-time. I intended to write a blurb about every game on the list and count down from 100 to 1, but unfortunately I fizzled out and only got through 100-61. You can find links to all those posts below in the list.

I didn’t want to have the year end without posting the whole list though, so under the cut is going to be a simple list of all 100 games. These are my favorites, not necessarily the “best” games I’ve ever played but the ones that have a special place in my heart or are just too fun not to share.

I may eventually get to writing up the rest, and if so I’ll update this post with links to each write-up. Unfortunately with November coming up and me probably attempting NaNoWriMo again, it’s unlikely I’ll have the time for the in-depth write-ups I’d like to do for these games, especially once we get into the top 20 or so. Anyway, without further ado, here are my 100 favorite games of all-time, starting with #100:

Continue reading “My Top 100 Favorite Video Games” →

Top 100 Games of All-Time: #70-61

And here we are again! I return with the next ten items on my top 100 games list. I’m starting to gush more so the entries are getting a little longer. But I know you’re not here to listen to me babble. When I looked back at my other articles, I realized that in every post for my top 100 list, I’ve said “without further ado” to lead into the next ten. So why break from tradition?

Without further ado, here’s #70-61!

Continue reading “Top 100 Games of All-Time: #70-61” →

Top 100 Games of All-Time: #80-71

I’m really tired today – I was planning to write up something else for my post today, but my brain is just not braining properly. So instead I’m just going to go ahead and hit the next 10 on my top 100 games of all-time since it’s already prepared with only minimal work to do and I’ll put out a full article tomorrow. Without further ado, here’s #80-71!

Continue reading “Top 100 Games of All-Time: #80-71” →

Top 100 Games of All-Time: #100-91

So here we are. It’s time to start the largest list undertaking I’ve ever done. 100 games. My personal favorites – this is not the most influential or the best made or anything like that. These are just my opinions on my favorite games. I’ve decided from 100-51 I’ll be doing them in ten-game bursts, from then we’ll see. So without further ado, let’s start with #100:

Continue reading “Top 100 Games of All-Time: #100-91” →

Top 100 Games of All-Time: Honorable Mentions

I’ve been working on a project for a little while now and while I’m not 100% ready to start on the full scope of it yet, I’m going to go ahead and talk about it now for multiple reasons. One – just to gear myself up into this massive undertaking and by putting it out in public I’ll create some momentum. Two – because nothing else is really jumping out at me to talk about video game wise right at this moment. And three, because I love ranking things.

I’m working on my top 100 video games of all time.

Continue reading “Top 100 Games of All-Time: Honorable Mentions” →