Video games – Page 4 – DaveGladow.com

Final Fantasy VII — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 12)

We all have to be honest with ourselves.

I thought it might be a good idea to slot a Final Fantasy game in this general area (somewhere in my first 15 games listed), because although the first game I dropped in this entire series is a Squaresoft classic and my favorite game of all time, it’s not especially relevant to the medium at large (apart from its impeccable soundtrack, which literally everyone should listen to at some point). Final Fantasy, as a series, is a different animal. It’s perhaps the most recognizable RPG brand on the planet, probably the most successful RPG brand on the planet, and arguably the most important RPG brand on the planet. It’s absolutely massively critical when it comes to understanding video game history, let alone that of the genre of the JRPG.

You can’t tell a complete story of gaming without Final Fantasy.

But…

Which of the Final Fantasy games is most essential?

Ah, that’s the fun part of it. For many gamers of a certain age, this debate typically boils down to two choices: The “taken as far as they could take it” 16-bit excellence of Final Fantasy VI (perhaps the best possible example of why the Super Nintendo continues to be held in high esteem for its RPG library), OR the “let’s get wacky with something slightly different” new direction boldness of Final Fantasy VII (which itself makes the case for the Playstation being the golden era of RPG gaming).

Since I’ve already got Chrono Cross on my list, I should go with Final Fantasy VI here to represent that different era of gaming, right?

Right?

Well, there’s just one small problem with that:

I like Final Fantasy VII a little bit more.

Final Fantasy VII
Genre: RPG
Released: 1997
Platform: Playstation
GameSpot’s 2nd Most Influential Game Ever Made

Punch-Out!! — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 11)

For those following along, this will be the fourth NES game I’ve profiled. Those games are, in order:

Tecmo Super Bowl
Mega Man 2
Super Mario Bros. 2
Punch-Out!!

That feels about right, to be honest. While Punch-Out!! might in some ways be the most impressive of that group when it comes to its intuitive, responsive play control or its huge, bright graphics, it’s also in many ways the simplest of the bunch.

Memorize a pattern, be quick with your inputs, wash, rinse, repeat.

That lack of variety works for and against the game. You could call it the purest of the four, but you could also call it the least interesting of the four.

For the purposes of this exercise, let’s lean into pure, shall we?

Punch-Out!!
Genre: Sports
Released: 1987
Platform: NES
No. 17 on Nintendo Power’s Top 200

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 10)

One of the quirkier traits of being a gamer back in the late 1980s/early 1990s was a propensity for allegiance. Oh, I know even today people get weirdly territorial about which system they will go to war over, but back then it wasn’t just centered around the consoles, or even just the mascots/characters from the first party developers like Nintendo and Sega, but also toward the mascots of third party developers.

I think some of the reason for this was the Wild West newness of the medium, wherein assurances of quality were sparse and hurdles toward playing were significant. Most of us didn’t have $50 just lying around to blow on any old game. We had to find characters and series that worked and then would stick with them, almost as a defense mechanism. Devotion to a particular game series wasn’t just a personal choice; it was a practical way of living.

Back in those days, I fancied myself a pretty big Mega Man fan, and that fandom was rewarded with several quality games and many hours of enjoyment. I loved the rock-paper-scissors aspects to strategy, the cutesy robot designs, and the freedom to explore levels in whatever order I wanted.

My brother, on the other hand, was more of a Castlevania fan, embracing the slightly more mature themes and the options available in terms of switching characters, weapons and routes.

But whereas my appreciation for my entry point into Mega Man (Mega Man 2) has never waned or diminished, my willingness to extol the virtues of the rest of the series has fallen off some.

If you’ve played one Mega Man game, you’ve kinda played them all.

In sharp contrast, Castlevania games meander off of the established path. They experiment. They evolve. They take risks. And as a result, they make themselves more lastingly relevant.

Ask me today which series is the one I’d go to bat for, and without question it’s now Castlevania instead of Mega Man.

Why am I telling you all of this? I promise I’m coming around to the point of that intro, and it’s this:

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood represents a crossroads for the series, wherein the previously stated evolution of the property hit its stride. This was arguably the last truly great “traditional” version of Castlevania (and in my opinion, the best of the entire bunch) before the series would fully embrace its exploratory dynamics. It’s the bridge, so to speak, between the old and the new, and it’s the best possible representation of the evolving nature of the series.
You can probably expect to see a bunch of Castlevania games on this website as this series progresses because of that growth and diversity.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Released: 1993
Platform: PC Engine Super CD
391/400 on GameFan

Donkey Kong — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 9)

You know what’s rare?

When a game so completely dominates its own concept to the point that there’s essentially nowhere for any sequels to go.

Think about that for a moment. Yes, the Donkey Kong sequels eventually came into existence (there have been few things so inevitable as this), and yes, they each succeeded to varying degrees. Donkey Kong ’94 has been hailed as an under-the-radar gem as an extension of the original concept, the Donkey Kong Country games as a reinvention carved out new ground in the gigantic platforming genre, and even the 1980s era sequels had their pluses (and definite minuses).

But has Donkey Kong ever again been as good as this?

Many (most?) people would tell you no. And for that to still be the case, 40 years later, is nothing short of remarkable.

Donkey Kong
Genre: Platformer
Released: 1981
Platform: Arcade
No. 50 on Next Generation’s Top 100 of all time

Super Metroid — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 8)

There are times, as one works one’s way through a video game, that the entire experience begins to feel like an obligation. Some aspect of the game becomes tiresome or boring or frustrating, and boom, you’re out of the game completely. The very best games find a way (through superb design and programming) to keep that kind of reaction from ever happening.

Super Metroid is one of the better examples in gaming of an experience that never turns into a chore. It’s a joyful play, the kind of game that stays thrilling and fascinating throughout, even as the player runs into the occasional challenge or riddle they can’t solve.

Why?

The game is compelling enough to keep the gamer invested. Instead of quitting from boredom — or worse, anger — one wants to see where this all goes. And perhaps more importantly, one wants to continue the experience itself, challenging as it might be. An obstacle that becomes a conundrum and confuses the gamer … that kind of thing can actually work to a game’s advantage if the overall experience is appealing. Do the controls hold up? Does the level design inspire? These are game play elements that make completing the game less pressing a concern.

The point, as it were, becomes the journey itself.

It’s a fine line to be sure, trying to create something that challenges and thrills rather than something that frustrates. Something that isn’t so much meant to be conquered as enjoyed. Something that rises above the genre or even the medium itself. Something like art.

Super Metroid is art.

Super Metroid
Genre: Exploring platformer
Released: 1994
Platform: SNES
EGM’s Best Game of All Time (’03)

My games of 2020

I’ve been keeping a running thread of video games I’ve beaten on Twitter this year, which has been a fun project and a highlight of 2020 for me personally. Being under lock and key during a pandemic, it seemed a good time to make some headway on my backlog, go back to some favorites just for fun, and to clear some space on the docket for some new games … which is now reality as Santa delivered the kids (and to a lesser extent Mom and Dad) a Switch for Christmas.

Woohoo!

Didn’t put it into a NY resolution exactly, but wanted to play a lot of different video games and beat them this year, especially since my collection of mini consoles continues to grow. This will be a thread of games I beat with some thoughts on each.
— David Gladow (@davegladow) March 28, 2020

Anyway, I took the liberty of ranking the games I’ve beaten this year and included them in a list below. What you won’t see is a whole bunch of other games I played/enjoyed this year that weren’t “defeated” per se. Puzzlers like Mean Bean Machine, Tetris, Chew Man Fu, and Bubble Bobble ate a ton of my time, but weren’t an easy out. I also dipped my toes in with games I just didn’t have time or motivation to finish (such as Super Return of the Jedi, Comix Zone and Zombies Ate My Neighbors) as well as some games previously defeated to continue the process of unlocking items (like New Super Mario Bros. Wii). Finally, there was stuff I played with my kids that I had no interest in beating … like SSX Tricky, Kirby Super Star or Eternal Champions. Honestly, there’s a lot I played this year that didn’t make this list. But I wanted to be fair and only evaluate a game in its “complete” form (or at least as close to that as possible).

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 7)

Of the many gaming opinions I’ll often state as fact, none inspires quite the level of self-confidence as “Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the best retro Sonic game.”

Yes, Sonic CD has many fans. Yes, Sonic 3 & Knuckles as a combo of two solid games becomes a better version of itself in its unified form (sort of like the Devastator or Voltron of video games). But I feel comfortable, confident, and maybe even downright cocky about this particular stance.

Sonic 2 is incredible.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Released: 1992
Platform: Genesis
GameFan Score: 197/200

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 6)

Within the pantheon of video games every gamer should experience, quality is a must. It’s essentially your starting point: Is this game, for lack of a better term, “good?” That’s always first and foremost.

But closely behind that consideration is the importance of a game within the industry. Does it have historical significance in a way that other games of that era might not? If one were to put together a timeline of video game history, what games would require representation?

Street Fighter II was unlike anything that had come before it, and it revolutionized the gaming industry in a way that is exceedingly rare. Per Wikipedia, the game is responsible for selling over 200,000 arcade cabinets, 15 million software units, and $10 billion of revenue for Capcom. And I can corroborate those numbers on a personal level; Capcom inspired me to purchase a Super Nintendo, four different versions of the game, and pump countless quarters into arcade cabinets over the years.

But what made the game so popular? And why do many people think “Hyper Fighting” might be the best version of all?

Let’s go down those two rabbit holes together, shall we?

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Genre: Fighting
Released: 1993
Platform: SNES
GameRankings Score: 82%

Super Mario Bros. 2 — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 5)

For anyone who has played more than a singular Super Mario video game, there is no easy answer to the question of which game might be your favorite or even “best.” The standard of quality is so damn high, that basically any answer is a correct one.*

* Anything other than “The Lost Levels,” anyway.

This should not be news to anyone, of course. Nintendo’s No. 1 mascot achieved his status for a reason, and that reason was absolutely his impecably designed games. I feel reasonably confident in saying that people were NOT clamoring for a fat plumber in overalls with an appetite for magical mushrooms to serve as their own personal hero/savior.

It was the game play that inspired the devotion, and finding holes in that game play in any particular iteration of Mario’s adventures is a pretty silly endeavor.

Yes, none of these games is perfect. But the sum of positives is so much larger than the negatives, it’s fairly pointless to dwell on the latter.

Super Mario Bros. 2
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Released: 1988
Platform: NES
Nintendo Power’s Top NES Games: No. 8

Mega Man 2 — Retro Gaming Essentials (No. 4)

When Mario blew the hell up back in the mid-80’s for Nintendo, it sparked a desperate gold rush in the video game development community to establish their own mascot-worthy characters.

Some of these attempts were feebly bad, and we can all point and laugh at them to this day (We’re all looking at you, Alex Kidd.).

Others actually panned out. One of Capcom’s many tries at establishing a “face” for their company, Mega Man, was neither prioritized among their efforts (execs pushed characters like “Captain Commando” instead) nor even deemed worthy of an eventual sequel after his first game met a tepid response from the public. Famously, Mega Man 2 was only allowed into development as a side project for a small group of employees who felt passionate about the potential, and said individuals weren’t paid for their efforts.

What resulted was a labor of love, a game which defied all expectations to become a critical and commercial hit, and a launching of the character of Mega Man into the rarified air of such household names as Mario, Pac-Man, Sonic and the Belmonts.

Mega Man 2
Genre: Side-scrolling platformer
Released: 1989
Platform: NES
GamesRadar’s Top NES Games: No. 2