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…The gaming world that is. Through the years and years of gaming, everyone had a couple of favourite games for each console they owned. Whether it was Duck Hunt for the NES or Sonic 3D for the Megdrive, you all had them. Through the years some of the most Original titles were made, some of the most playable games ever have been created and we have been lucky enough to play them in the comfort of our own home. Here are the games that I have treasured the most, but sold some of them.
Spectrum
SNOWBALL IN HELL
You may have seen me ranting on about this game in many different topics, but there’s a perfectly good reason for it, and that is how good it is!
It’s the best puzzle game I’ve ever played, not only is it simple, it has the X-Factor! The pick up ‘n’ play quality you don’t always find. The beauty of it is that you will never ever get bored of it because it’s so fun and addictive to play. Okay so you might think stopping a snowball and other objects getting past you is a bit boring, but it’s not boring, it’s merely simple.
Okay, the graphics aren’t great, but you can see what you’re doing, which is all that matters when you’re playing such a playable game. You can see the objects and yourself fine, even on the oldest black and white TV.
Overall, you buy the game for it’s originality and it’s playability. If you’re into retro games and you’ve got the Sinclair wonder, get this!
RUFF ‘N’ READY
Yet another brilliantly playable game was created for the Spectrum, under the name of Ruff ‘n’ Ready. This has to be one of best Spectrum games you’ll come across! It’s a fun platform game that was quite rare in those days. Collecting apples and other items to get past a level, again, sounds simple, but, again, is fun and playable.
The one thing you’ll notice about this game is how good the graphics are compared to a lot of games you’ll see on the Spectrum. They are a lot smoother than the games you will come across.
Another amazing thing about this game is how it may be hard but you’ll still play it over and over. I never even got past the second level!
DEATH
Death was actually on the same cassette as Ruff ‘n’ Ready, all you needed to do was wait another 30 minutes *sigh* for it to load. Like Ruff ‘n’ Ready it was a platform game.
It wasn’t as playable or as fun to play as R’n’R but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t! Death had a little more depth to the game. More doors to enter, more items to find, more things to do, but somehow, wasn’t as good as 30 minutes before. Maybe this is because of the sheer fun of R’n’R, but you really have to play it to know.
Basically, Death is a good game, but if want a better game, don’t wait the extra 30 minutes.
Nintendo Entertainment System
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
There’s no introducing this! Almost everyone knows about the best NES games ever created even if they didn’t have it. This is what made Mario what he is today. After the recent success of Mario Bros. 1 & 2, this was a sure fire hit before it was made!
The levels, unlike the other Mario Bros. Were beautifully detailed and crisp. The characters actually had faces you could recognise for once. The worlds that the levels are set over have little nooks and crannies that really set the scene of a mysterious world that needs to be explored. Without a shadow of a doubt, these are some of the best graphics you’ll come across on the NES.
Now, after the graphics lure you into the games trap, the playability grasps your arm with all it’s strength (metaphor) and doesn’t let you go. It’s like you’re under a spell when you play this game for the first time. You’ll be so amazed by how superb it is you’ll forget to stop playing and end up dehydrated, you have been warned!
The one thing that I loved about the game was the extras you could. Special stages after the proper ones, like the treasure chest one, can be so exciting when you’re young. I especially liked it when you had to beat the two Koopas with the hammers to receive a prize.
What can’t I say about Super Mario Bros. 3, it’s one of, if not the, best game on the NES. Lets just say, if you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
DUCK HUNT
If you’ve had Mario Bros. 1 I can assure you, you will have played this, except if you’re really stupid and don’t know how to use the controller properly. The reason being, they were on the same cart. The aim of the game is to, basically, hunt ducks. But it’s not as boring as it seems. Ducks fly up into the sky and you must shoot them using a gun (Big wow!).
Anyway, moving on. The reason this game is on my list is because of how fun it is to play. Okay so shooting ducks with a gun (Big wow!) doesn’t sound like the most riveting experience you’ll come across, but it is a damn fun game to play. So fun and so rewarding, when you shoot a duck you get to see a fun animation.
The graphics aren’t too bad. The animations are quite fun to watch.
This is a classic NES title that deserves a lot of respect!
LEGEND OF ZELDA
To be honest I can’t remember which Zelda it was but I can remember a bit about this game. It was so fun to play. There was different challenges around every corner. My personal favourite bit was how whilst you were searching through the huge worlds it was in a birds eye view, but when you came across baddies and platform level-type area’s it changed to a 2D platform view from the side.
There’s not much I can say about this game that it’s excellent.
Sega Gamegear
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.
BATMAN
Before I start to properly talk about this game, get it if you have a Game Gear!!! It’s amazing!
Anyway, as I just said, this game is amazing. Okay so it’s nothing special to look at, but when it’s as playable and fun as this, you don’t need beautiful graphics.
The great thing about this game is that you can choose which level you are going to go on. Each stage normally has 2 levels to choose from, this really gives the game some vary to it.
When I talk about the bosses, well, what can I say? They are brilliant and so well though up. As you progress you’ll come across a Boss after every stage, at the start the bosses are usually easy, but when you get to the last boss, the Penguin, you’ll see how rock hard this game can be when it wants to be.
This game is definitely number 1 in my top 3 Game gear games, and deserves 1st place just as much as any classic game. If you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
TOM AND JERRY
A bit of a ‘Kiddy’ game, I know, but it was fun to play. You play Tom trying to catch jerry (No surprise there), but after a certain amount of points (Or levels, can’t remember) you get to play a mini-game, which are pretty fun to play. They usually involve, a Pac Man style game, you as Tom trying to catch little Jerry’s and so on.
It’s a pretty good title, so I thought when I was younger anyway, but it’s not an essential piece of gaming technology.
Sega Megadrive
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
“Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.”
Same as, but longer and a bit better.
SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 3
Donkey Kong Country 3, like all the Donkey Kong Country games, is pure brilliance, originality, playability, lastability, re-playability, great graphics and the list goes on! But most importantly, it is the best out of all of the Kong Clans adventures!
The first thing you’ll notice about this game, is how it’s gone in the pattern of all the other Donkey Kong Country story lines. In the first one, The Kong’s banana stash was raided by the infamous King K. Rool, so Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong took up the job. In the second one, Donkey Kong was captured by Captain K. Rool and Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong must save the day. In the fun of these two classics story lines, Kong 3 went for the same approach. This time both Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong have been captured by the evil K. Roolestine and it’s Dixie and Kiddy Kongs responsibility to save them from the evil master mind.
As always, this adventure stars loads of the Kong Clan, including Cranky Kong, Funky Kong and that Grandma Kong person, you know, the old women Kong.
The graphics were amazingly detailed, the game would last you ages, it was one of the most original games made for the SNES, the bosses are so fun you’ll lose to them just so you can play them again, need I say anymore, this game is brilliant!
KILLER INSTINCT
This was the first ever Killer Instinct game Nintendo fans saw, and what a console to start off on, the legendary SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System, probably the best of Nintendo’s consoles yet! This game really got me into Beat ‘em ups, if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have bought Tekken and found out that there are even better Beat ‘em ups!
The moves and combos that could be performed look brilliant. From just a Triple combo to a Ultra combo, the possibilities were endless. It was quite simple, you started off with an opening to open the combo, then did some moves in the middle then a finisher, these were usually upper cuts or fireballs, sometimes if you did do an upper cut, when they fall down you could hit them with a fireball if you were quick enough, this was called a juggle, if you did do this you usually feel very smug, as sometimes getting the timing right seems almost impossible.
What was really good about this game was the characters, they all have different reasons for competing in the Killer Instinct Tournament, for instance, Glacias wanted to get home, so when you finished the game with him you would leave the planet in a space ship, which Killer Inc (I think) had kept. Some of the ending were quite funny, like Spinals and Eydols. In Spinals, you see him sipping exotic drinks in Hollywood and in Eydols there is a funny Ryu joke. You have to complete it to find out though.
There really isn’t much to fault about this game, all SNES owners were very lucky to own this game, this was Beat ‘em up evolution at it’s best.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST
This game was, in my opinion, the best Zelda game to ever reach any Nintendo console. It was such a huge game for true gamers only.
The game was split into 2 worlds, the normal world, which was being overrun with monsters and the Dark world, which was also being overrun by more, bigger monsters. To love this game you didn’t need to like video games, it was that brilliant. This was an RPG not to be missed.
Each dungeon (Level) had it’s own set of unique monsters and a huge Boss you had to face at the end of the whole thing. Sometimes in the parallel worlds you’d two very similar levels, such as two water levels, or two Egyptian levels. The thing was, it may be similar, but when you really compare the two levels, they are completely different.
The length of this game is what really keeps you playing it, because you get so involved in someof the dungeons you won’t stop playing, even if it does take you a week to complete, then you’re so excited about the next dungeon, you get to that and don’t stop playing, once this game has you in it’s grasp, it won’t let go!
Trust me on this, this is a brilliant game and in my opinion the best Zelda game that has ever come out for any Nintendo console.
ACTRAISER
This is a game that I really don’t expect you to have heard of before, it was one of the many unknown classics, which the SNES carried around with it, gamers not knowing what they are missing out on.
It’s a really hard to describe genre, because it’s like an RPG, but there are also Platform levels you must succeed in and also you have to look after villages and build new ones on different islands.
The levels are very simple, but very hard, you play as a knight who is trying to defeat the evil of an area, so you have a big sword, but there are also a lot of specials to get, such as thunder storms. The levels are quite hard (Some of them) but the bosses are even harder. You’ll get stuck on the second boss for ages. Then when you get onto later bosses you’ll be amazed how easy the second boss seems now.
There really isn’t much else to say about this game, it’s original, even it’s genre is original. This game is amazing if you can appreciate it for what it is.
YOSHI’S ISLAND
I will be deeply surprised by anyone who hasn’t played this game before, it is VERY popular! But not just popular, damn good too.
The levels were detailed and highly fun to play. With so many added extras, if you got full marks on each level on a world you’d get 4 secret levels to play, which were quite fun to play, some were levels, some were mini-games that you usually got at the end of levels. But all the same they were. It seemed almost impossible to complete all the levels on 100%.
This really is a classic ‘Must have’ game, it really should have won an award for best boss ever, Bowser and the bird that chases you round the moon are the two best bosses I’ve ever played.
Get this game now if haven’t already got, if you a retro collector, you’ll want it even more!
Gameboy Mono/Pocket
MARIO LAND 2: 6 GOLDEN COINS
This was the first ever game Wario appeared in, it was a classic debut even if Wario was the bad guy and the final boss of this huge game. The plan was, Mario had go through a set of six different worlds and at the end of each world he confronted the Boss of that world and got a golden coin if he succeeded in this. After he’d beaten all the bosses there was one final level, in Mario’s castle which Wario had stolen, ohh, I love those good old castle final level settings like some of the first adventures of Mario on the NES. But just because castles are classic in gaming it doesn’t mean they are easy, completing the last level on hard is rock hard.
The graphics on this game were a massive improvement to the first Mario Land, there were better background scenes, better looking characters, and the bosses just topped it off beautifully. On Mario Land 2, Wario seemed to be 10 times bigger than on games like Wario Land, poor Mario looked like a mouse compared to him. This was probably to make Wario look more fierce, but he ended up still looking like a plumber wearing purple and yellow clothes, but only huge.
Mario Land 2 had more of that original Mario music, quite catchy that sets the atmosphere of the final showdown with the one and only Wario perfectly.
This game could last you ages! It’s so playable that you won’t ever get bored of it. If you haven’t got any new games recently you can just turn this on and play to your hearts galore. If you completed it on easy, you can make it a real challenge and change the settings to hard to give you a bit more to kill and do.
This is a top class game that shouldn’t be missed, I’ll be very surprised if some of you havn’t got it, it’s a real classic game and also Wario’s debut to gaming.
POKÉMON
Okay, Pokémon was milked for all it was worth by Nintendo, now it’s everywhere. But before it was annoyingly everywhere, it was a brilliant game that you don’t get tired of quickly.
As soon as you switch on the game, you know it’s something special. Even the intro makes you think you’ve bought something special here!
At the start of the adventure you had a choice between three monsters, one who had brilliant defence (Bulbasaur), one who had brilliant attack (Charmander) and one who was in-between (Squirtle), who I chose. They all had a different difficulty level. Bulbasaur was the easiest monster to train up in your travels. The it was Squirtle and Charmander was the hardest, but if you did train up Charmander you’d get your mitts on the amazing Charizard.
One thing you’ll notice about this game is how long it is. Getting 150 Pokémon is a hard thing to do. I was lucky enough to get 151 (An official Mew included).
This game is brilliant, if you haven’t played Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow get Gold/Silver/Crystal for the Gameboy Colour, much longer games and just as good and original.
Gameboy Colour
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINKS AWAKENING DX
Links Awakening was one of the best Gameboy titles I’ve played. I still play on it to this day (Even though I have a GBA) because there’s so many secrets to unlock, I still haven’t accessed all the secret area’s.
Like all Zelda games, this is no disappointment. It has just as much action, adventure and puzzles as any other Zelda games. The bosses are well thought up along with the puzzles. Each level will have you using your wit to it’s full potential.
There’s loads to talk about this game, but to just tell what the game is like, it’s the best GBC game ever!
CONKERS POCKET TALES
Not many people really thought this was a good game, but I think it was brilliant. There are so many different styles of playing you come across including a shoot out with a baddie, which is my personal favourite bit.
This game is very long. There are so many different things to do on it. Collecting all the nuts you can and trying to save Berry.
The hardest bit is at the very end, trying to escape from that cave will take you ages, you have to figure out which paths not to take, which lead to dead ends and which are the right ones. You’ll need a good memory if you want to succeed in this game.
The only fault I can think of is how the game can get wiped if your playing on a GBC and then try to play on it on a GB and vice versa. Other than that it’s a great game.
Playstation
GRAN TURISMO 2
Gran Turismo 2 is one of the most realistic driving games out for the PS1. Gran Turismo 2 has a uniqueness because it is different to other racing games like Colin McCrey Rally 2.0 it mixes the speedy road racers and amazing rally’s into one game.
On GT mode there is an amazing amount to do it is unbelievable you can test your driving abilities on the tough new licences such as the IC licence and the Special licence even when you've got all the licences you'll still be trying to get gold on each one.
The Graphics have shaped up nicely since the first game so you can see all your favourite cars in beautiful graphics while your racing. Also the amount of manufactures have stormed up since the first game with of Lancia, Vector and so many more. Probably the best thing about this game is the gameplay because you can't glide through the difficulty level so easily on this game it could take you years to win all the racers, get all the licences and tune up your cars to there max power.
One of the most addictive things about this game is the tune up option which was on Gran Turismo 1 building up your engine with turbo’s, styling your car with the racing car modifications and making the handling tip top with tyres and customized gearing you'll be doing it over and over again. If you want to test your car after its been tuned up you can go to car test to your cars Top speed, Fastest time for 400m and its fastest time 1000m. And if you want a break from all that work you can go arcade and relax with a nice little time trial but if not you can endure the toughest kind of race an endurance and rock along to the great music and sound effects. This is the kind of game that sold so many playstations.
The most annoying thing about this game (and probably the only) is the memory card glinch, the game seems to be doing OK and when you try to load your memory up it says Cannot Load Data May Be Corrupt and you cannot get your saved memory back.
This is most definitely the best racer for te Playstation with ace graphics and the best gameplay you could wish for but that one glinch lets it down so much so i'll have to give it 95%
MONOPOLY
To be honest the one player on this, is really bad. But playing with your mates is really fun, not only do you only need one controller, but you can cheat by saying that you haven’t finished yet and sell their best properties for $5. The fun of it all.
You can’t really say much about this game, it’s great multiplayer, terrible one player, but in my books, it’s a game worthy of the name classic.
WWF SMACKDOWN! KNOW YOUR ROLE
Smackdown 2 is obviously the best wrestling game for the Playstation. It has the widest range of matches for a wrestling game such as TLC and Hell in a Cell.
There are so many things on season mode to do its amazing! Fighting all the Unknown characters, all the special events from the TV program, being asked to interrupt in a match, win all the secret superstars and even sometimes having your title belt stolen this is probably the best part of the game and you'll just keep coming back for more.
Another great part of the game is create a superstar mode when you get to create awesome fighter and bring him into the ring with all the best superstars. Once you've created your superstar you put him in a tag team, give him a manager and even create a taunt for him. Another extra in the game is that you can create a pay-per view and it will be rated. This game is one of the best games for gameplay I’ve ever played you'll never get bored of it and the music doesn’t get on your nerves like a lot of games and the graphics are quite good.
One of the big let downs of this game is that you can only fit 4 people in the ring at one time so the Royal Rumbles and Battle Royals aren't as hectic and crazy as they could have been. Another let is that they haven’t made the crowd graphics any better since the last game. Also they've cut out the part on create a superstar from Smackdown 1 were you can name a move to personalise your superstar even more.
With miner faults and massive gameplay you can't go wrong with Smackdown 2 and even if you've got all the create a superstar parts and all the characters you'll still be playing this for years. If I had to mark this in per-cent age it would be 98% if you haven't got this game then get it!
Nintendo 64
GOLDENEYE 007
This really was FPS evolution. Rare out did themselves and gave Mr Bond a name in the world that is gaming. Multiplayer and one player were both perfect to play. This was a Rare masterpiece at it’s best.
The multiplayer had a series of brilliant game options, whether you were playing the man with the golden gun, when only one person has the golden gun, or the living daylights (Flag Tag), there was so much fun to be had. You just seemed to get a strange joy when blasting your mates into an oblivion. People say that Perfect Dark is a better game, but in my opinion, Bond will always be king of the FPS’s.
The one player mode was so original, trying to complete a series of missions, sometimes with time limits, never felt so fun, also when you completed all 00 Agent missions you could enter two extra levels and it was rumoured that if you got all 00 Agent missions, you would get 007 missions, I’m not sure if this was true, but if anyone knows, please tell me.
As king of all FPS games I would have to give this 9.9/10 if I was to give it a score, which I just have.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME
This is definitely my 2nd favourite Zelda game, but only behind the amazing Link to the Past. When you started playing this game, you were amazed at how action packed it was. But it seemed to be endless, killing all the Gold Skultulas was hard enough, but there was so much more as well. The most memorable moment was probably when you came back to house having completing a task with Epona to find a Cow in your small tree house so you could get milk at any time.
All the dungeons on this game were packed with rock hard puzzles, mazes and best of all, Boss’. If anything, this game would have to be famous for its selection of bosses to face after each dungeon. Including the likes of huge Dragons to a ‘Fake’ Ganondorf.
This always was, and always will be my favourite N64 game. Like all Zelda games it’s jam packed with secret areas, challenges and much, much more.
BANJO-KAZOOIE
A lot like Mario (But created by Rare), Banjo-Kazooie took off like a bolt. The levels were complimented for being amazingly detailed and very tough to get past. Gruntilda’s cronies were lurking about everywhere, just waiting for you to come out and play.
Collecting Jigsaw pieces was so fun, and worth the hassle when you get to the ending, which I won’t give away. Some task could be a right hassle, while some were very easy to complete.
The trouble with this game was the lack of Bosses, I love to play and beat bosses, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen, and when I was about to give up, I fought the final boss which really was good to battle, the final stage was the best, when you were trying to make the giant Jonjo beat that eveil witch.
This is a game that can’t be missed.
KILLER INSTINCT GOLD
Not as popular as its older brother, Killer Instinct for the SNES, it really wasn’t given the respect it deserved. It was just as good, if not better, than the first KI. But this was when people started to care about graphics too much, it was a weird kind of a layout for a game. The fighters were 2D but the 3D environment meant you could move around in a very strange way, but I love it.
As a fighter you cold even interact with the environment, such as when your opponent was on danger and there was a train passing, just upper cut him onto the train.
Like the first one, it had a series of great moves and finishers, so there wasn’t anything wrong there. I think this really was a good game, that wasn’t noticed for it’s strange layout (?). But in my opinion, this game is as good as the next fighting game.
Gameboy Advance
DOOM
Doom is, well, a very old game. There's no doubting that, but has it still got all the action, adventure and machine gun blasting moments as it did all those years ago? In short the answer is yes! It may be old, but it's just as competitive an FPS as it's close rival, Ecks vs Sever. One thing you do need to know before I start is it's no different to all the other Doom games, so if you don't like the other Doom games, or you've completed them so much, don't get it!
The first thing you'll notice about this game is the grainy hard-to-see graphics it has, but don't fear! This is just mainly screenshots and the first-time-gaming when you haven't fiddled around with the options yet, because all you have to do is set the lighting to static ad the brightness to 6 to get the best out of this classic FPS. When you have done this, you see Dooms true colours shining in all it's glory! You can appreciate the detail to some of the monsters, weapons, objects and worlds. Even little things like when you punch, you can see the small hairs on your characters arms. The attention to detail is a lot more than you think when you first see the dodgy screenshots. My personal favourite part of this game (Graphics wise) is when you hurl great green plasma blasts at you enemy with the BFG 9000 or even when you get them thrown at you if you (Un-luckily) bump into a couple of Barons of Hell. Some of the worlds you enter look amazing, but some look terrible, the vary of levels will amaze you, only a few look the same. From dingy, spooky levels with loads of corners so you don't know what's round the next corner to vast areas with millions of mutated monsters from the deepest depths of hell charging at you from all direction, this game will not disappoint if it's vary in levels you're looking for, i can tell you that!
Like all Doom games, almost all compliments turn towards the playability of this game. It not only has the pick up 'n' play feel to it, it also has the that in-the-game feel to it. With this game you're not playing a game, you are the game! You'll find yourself running across the sitting room, GBA in hand, trying to get away from the herd of the devils own! While playing with your mind, your body also joins in and triggers move about like a complete idiot in front of your family, but because you're actually in it, you don't care and carry on in your mission to defeat the monsters of hell and escape back to Earth! The interaction in this game is amazing!
Like all Doom games, this is as classic as it gets, the levels have been done before but you still feel as though you're in a completely different game. The monsters are something like I've never seen before, usually you have all these cliché monsters and baddies in video games, but in this it seems to be different. Where did they think up the appearance of the Demons???
The music and sound effects really top off this game, the music is as spooky and atmospheric as ever and the sound effects are no different! Waiting behind a door, hearing the roar of all kinds of hells creatures is so nerve racking! You know there's something waiting for you to come out from behind the door so they can eat you alive, but what is it? Is it a small easy-to-kill baddie like a zombie? Or is a Baron of Hell that would kill you in an instant you have to go through the door to find out!
This game will last you a long a time! Completing all the levels is rock hard, some of the levels are like mazes that take weeks to get through. if you want a game that will last a long time, this won't disappoint. It has a life span the size of a really long toilet roll. Completing all the levels on all the difficulties is a lot harder than you expect!
Doom is still a great game with not much to fault, but if you've never like Doom on other consoles, you won't like this. 9/10
WARIO LAND 4
When I heard of this, I couldn’t wait. Most Wario games have been put down for being too easy because when you play as Wario you can’t die in his previous Wario Land games. After I saw the screenshots I knew we were in for a treat.
Beautiful, crisp graphics made me want it. The idea of the game is to beat all the bosses of each passage in order to get hold of some treasure. Each boss you beat you get a different treasure, which is transported to the Golden Pyramid, where the final showdown takes place. Also the quicker you complete the boss in the more treasure you get, as there are three treasure chest’s and a treasure for defeating each boss. You can’t get to the boss unless you have all four jewels, four jewel pieces are collected on each level, some can only be reached when Wario is using a certain power, some can’t be reached until you have set off the frog switch.
The graphics on Wario Land 4 are amazing DKC graphics. The characters have better expressions than on the early Wario Lands and move around much more naturally. When we get to the backgrounds of the levels we really see some good old Kong shining through. From a Jungle scene to an old dump, there is so much detail in there. It sets the scene and the atmosphere for the level so very well. You could imagine the Donkster himself jumping into the foreground and beating up that fat guy. It may not have 32bit graphics as Nintendo keep on predicting, but a handheld with graphics worthy of a SNES is good enough for me. The best level for seeing the real ingénues of the backgrounds is Monsoon Jungle, it shows off the background in every possible way the designers could. Splashing into the water looks brilliant and shivering reflection of the background really gives it just that little bit extra that your looking for.
The brilliant thing about this game is a small function that changes the gameplay quite a lot, the easy/hard function, it may not seem like much but it is. If you are an inexperienced gamer you would go for the easy mode, if you are an expert gamer you choose the hard. If you’ve ever played games like Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64 you’ll know what I mean, you don’t have to write down how to do those tricky moves, because there aren’t any. Another thing about the gameplay is that there no gliches at all, no memory loss, nothing to ruin your gaming experience. This is the only Wario title which is half RPG and half Platformer, the start of a new era for Wario.
It’s not like the other Wario Land games. Like most Wario games it’s about things to do with wealth but it’s a RPG AND a Platformer, you don’t get many of them that really work, a lot of the time you feel as though it’s the same old thing. The last good RPG/Platformer I’ve ever played was Actraiser for the SNES, very unnoticed like the Wario Land series, but one hell of a game. The characters and bosses are brilliantly thought up, these bosses will remind you of, nothing, the ideas are fresh blood to the gaming world. A giant cat that creates tsunamis and fires them at you, to a giant teddy bear, which you have to throw spiked enemies at him to pop him. Crazy, that’s all I can say.
When you find a jewel piece he shouts “Hey!” When you hit the Frog Switch near the end of the level Wario tells you to “Come on!!!” It’s pure brilliance on a console. When you die on a level, Wario screams as he loses all his coins. The sound effects are amazing and scene setting. The music isn’t brilliant, just average, some levels have catchy tunes but most are just boring. One of the only faults in the game.
This game will last you ages. Even if you find the levels easy, you won’t find all the jewels and CD’s as easy completing the level is. It’s amazing how much you can get out of a game with just one extra option. An easy/hard option seems nothing, but in actual fact it can make all the difference when it comes to lastability.
There isn’t much to fault on Wario Land 4 except the fairly annoying music. A classic and a half.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS
Spectrum
SNOWBALL IN HELL
You may have seen me ranting on about this game in many different topics, but there’s a perfectly good reason for it, and that is how good it is!
It’s the best puzzle game I’ve ever played, not only is it simple, it has the X-Factor! The pick up ‘n’ play quality you don’t always find. The beauty of it is that you will never ever get bored of it because it’s so fun and addictive to play. Okay so you might think stopping a snowball and other objects getting past you is a bit boring, but it’s not boring, it’s merely simple.
Okay, the graphics aren’t great, but you can see what you’re doing, which is all that matters when you’re playing such a playable game. You can see the objects and yourself fine, even on the oldest black and white TV.
Overall, you buy the game for it’s originality and it’s playability. If you’re into retro games and you’ve got the Sinclair wonder, get this!
RUFF ‘N’ READY
Yet another brilliantly playable game was created for the Spectrum, under the name of Ruff ‘n’ Ready. This has to be one of best Spectrum games you’ll come across! It’s a fun platform game that was quite rare in those days. Collecting apples and other items to get past a level, again, sounds simple, but, again, is fun and playable.
The one thing you’ll notice about this game is how good the graphics are compared to a lot of games you’ll see on the Spectrum. They are a lot smoother than the games you will come across.
Another amazing thing about this game is how it may be hard but you’ll still play it over and over. I never even got past the second level!
DEATH
Death was actually on the same cassette as Ruff ‘n’ Ready, all you needed to do was wait another 30 minutes *sigh* for it to load. Like Ruff ‘n’ Ready it was a platform game.
It wasn’t as playable or as fun to play as R’n’R but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t! Death had a little more depth to the game. More doors to enter, more items to find, more things to do, but somehow, wasn’t as good as 30 minutes before. Maybe this is because of the sheer fun of R’n’R, but you really have to play it to know.
Basically, Death is a good game, but if want a better game, don’t wait the extra 30 minutes.
Nintendo Entertainment System
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
There’s no introducing this! Almost everyone knows about the best NES games ever created even if they didn’t have it. This is what made Mario what he is today. After the recent success of Mario Bros. 1 & 2, this was a sure fire hit before it was made!
The levels, unlike the other Mario Bros. Were beautifully detailed and crisp. The characters actually had faces you could recognise for once. The worlds that the levels are set over have little nooks and crannies that really set the scene of a mysterious world that needs to be explored. Without a shadow of a doubt, these are some of the best graphics you’ll come across on the NES.
Now, after the graphics lure you into the games trap, the playability grasps your arm with all it’s strength (metaphor) and doesn’t let you go. It’s like you’re under a spell when you play this game for the first time. You’ll be so amazed by how superb it is you’ll forget to stop playing and end up dehydrated, you have been warned!
The one thing that I loved about the game was the extras you could. Special stages after the proper ones, like the treasure chest one, can be so exciting when you’re young. I especially liked it when you had to beat the two Koopas with the hammers to receive a prize.
What can’t I say about Super Mario Bros. 3, it’s one of, if not the, best game on the NES. Lets just say, if you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
DUCK HUNT
If you’ve had Mario Bros. 1 I can assure you, you will have played this, except if you’re really stupid and don’t know how to use the controller properly. The reason being, they were on the same cart. The aim of the game is to, basically, hunt ducks. But it’s not as boring as it seems. Ducks fly up into the sky and you must shoot them using a gun (Big wow!).
Anyway, moving on. The reason this game is on my list is because of how fun it is to play. Okay so shooting ducks with a gun (Big wow!) doesn’t sound like the most riveting experience you’ll come across, but it is a damn fun game to play. So fun and so rewarding, when you shoot a duck you get to see a fun animation.
The graphics aren’t too bad. The animations are quite fun to watch.
This is a classic NES title that deserves a lot of respect!
LEGEND OF ZELDA
To be honest I can’t remember which Zelda it was but I can remember a bit about this game. It was so fun to play. There was different challenges around every corner. My personal favourite bit was how whilst you were searching through the huge worlds it was in a birds eye view, but when you came across baddies and platform level-type area’s it changed to a 2D platform view from the side.
There’s not much I can say about this game that it’s excellent.
Sega Gamegear
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.
BATMAN
Before I start to properly talk about this game, get it if you have a Game Gear!!! It’s amazing!
Anyway, as I just said, this game is amazing. Okay so it’s nothing special to look at, but when it’s as playable and fun as this, you don’t need beautiful graphics.
The great thing about this game is that you can choose which level you are going to go on. Each stage normally has 2 levels to choose from, this really gives the game some vary to it.
When I talk about the bosses, well, what can I say? They are brilliant and so well though up. As you progress you’ll come across a Boss after every stage, at the start the bosses are usually easy, but when you get to the last boss, the Penguin, you’ll see how rock hard this game can be when it wants to be.
This game is definitely number 1 in my top 3 Game gear games, and deserves 1st place just as much as any classic game. If you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
TOM AND JERRY
A bit of a ‘Kiddy’ game, I know, but it was fun to play. You play Tom trying to catch jerry (No surprise there), but after a certain amount of points (Or levels, can’t remember) you get to play a mini-game, which are pretty fun to play. They usually involve, a Pac Man style game, you as Tom trying to catch little Jerry’s and so on.
It’s a pretty good title, so I thought when I was younger anyway, but it’s not an essential piece of gaming technology.
Sega Megadrive
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
“Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.”
Same as, but longer and a bit better.
SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 3
Donkey Kong Country 3, like all the Donkey Kong Country games, is pure brilliance, originality, playability, lastability, re-playability, great graphics and the list goes on! But most importantly, it is the best out of all of the Kong Clans adventures!
The first thing you’ll notice about this game, is how it’s gone in the pattern of all the other Donkey Kong Country story lines. In the first one, The Kong’s banana stash was raided by the infamous King K. Rool, so Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong took up the job. In the second one, Donkey Kong was captured by Captain K. Rool and Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong must save the day. In the fun of these two classics story lines, Kong 3 went for the same approach. This time both Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong have been captured by the evil K. Roolestine and it’s Dixie and Kiddy Kongs responsibility to save them from the evil master mind.
As always, this adventure stars loads of the Kong Clan, including Cranky Kong, Funky Kong and that Grandma Kong person, you know, the old women Kong.
The graphics were amazingly detailed, the game would last you ages, it was one of the most original games made for the SNES, the bosses are so fun you’ll lose to them just so you can play them again, need I say anymore, this game is brilliant!
KILLER INSTINCT
This was the first ever Killer Instinct game Nintendo fans saw, and what a console to start off on, the legendary SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System, probably the best of Nintendo’s consoles yet! This game really got me into Beat ‘em ups, if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have bought Tekken and found out that there are even better Beat ‘em ups!
The moves and combos that could be performed look brilliant. From just a Triple combo to a Ultra combo, the possibilities were endless. It was quite simple, you started off with an opening to open the combo, then did some moves in the middle then a finisher, these were usually upper cuts or fireballs, sometimes if you did do an upper cut, when they fall down you could hit them with a fireball if you were quick enough, this was called a juggle, if you did do this you usually feel very smug, as sometimes getting the timing right seems almost impossible.
What was really good about this game was the characters, they all have different reasons for competing in the Killer Instinct Tournament, for instance, Glacias wanted to get home, so when you finished the game with him you would leave the planet in a space ship, which Killer Inc (I think) had kept. Some of the ending were quite funny, like Spinals and Eydols. In Spinals, you see him sipping exotic drinks in Hollywood and in Eydols there is a funny Ryu joke. You have to complete it to find out though.
There really isn’t much to fault about this game, all SNES owners were very lucky to own this game, this was Beat ‘em up evolution at it’s best.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST
This game was, in my opinion, the best Zelda game to ever reach any Nintendo console. It was such a huge game for true gamers only.
The game was split into 2 worlds, the normal world, which was being overrun with monsters and the Dark world, which was also being overrun by more, bigger monsters. To love this game you didn’t need to like video games, it was that brilliant. This was an RPG not to be missed.
Each dungeon (Level) had it’s own set of unique monsters and a huge Boss you had to face at the end of the whole thing. Sometimes in the parallel worlds you’d two very similar levels, such as two water levels, or two Egyptian levels. The thing was, it may be similar, but when you really compare the two levels, they are completely different.
The length of this game is what really keeps you playing it, because you get so involved in someof the dungeons you won’t stop playing, even if it does take you a week to complete, then you’re so excited about the next dungeon, you get to that and don’t stop playing, once this game has you in it’s grasp, it won’t let go!
Trust me on this, this is a brilliant game and in my opinion the best Zelda game that has ever come out for any Nintendo console.
ACTRAISER
This is a game that I really don’t expect you to have heard of before, it was one of the many unknown classics, which the SNES carried around with it, gamers not knowing what they are missing out on.
It’s a really hard to describe genre, because it’s like an RPG, but there are also Platform levels you must succeed in and also you have to look after villages and build new ones on different islands.
The levels are very simple, but very hard, you play as a knight who is trying to defeat the evil of an area, so you have a big sword, but there are also a lot of specials to get, such as thunder storms. The levels are quite hard (Some of them) but the bosses are even harder. You’ll get stuck on the second boss for ages. Then when you get onto later bosses you’ll be amazed how easy the second boss seems now.
There really isn’t much else to say about this game, it’s original, even it’s genre is original. This game is amazing if you can appreciate it for what it is.
YOSHI’S ISLAND
I will be deeply surprised by anyone who hasn’t played this game before, it is VERY popular! But not just popular, damn good too.
The levels were detailed and highly fun to play. With so many added extras, if you got full marks on each level on a world you’d get 4 secret levels to play, which were quite fun to play, some were levels, some were mini-games that you usually got at the end of levels. But all the same they were. It seemed almost impossible to complete all the levels on 100%.
This really is a classic ‘Must have’ game, it really should have won an award for best boss ever, Bowser and the bird that chases you round the moon are the two best bosses I’ve ever played.
Get this game now if haven’t already got, if you a retro collector, you’ll want it even more!
Gameboy Mono/Pocket
MARIO LAND 2: 6 GOLDEN COINS
This was the first ever game Wario appeared in, it was a classic debut even if Wario was the bad guy and the final boss of this huge game. The plan was, Mario had go through a set of six different worlds and at the end of each world he confronted the Boss of that world and got a golden coin if he succeeded in this. After he’d beaten all the bosses there was one final level, in Mario’s castle which Wario had stolen, ohh, I love those good old castle final level settings like some of the first adventures of Mario on the NES. But just because castles are classic in gaming it doesn’t mean they are easy, completing the last level on hard is rock hard.
The graphics on this game were a massive improvement to the first Mario Land, there were better background scenes, better looking characters, and the bosses just topped it off beautifully. On Mario Land 2, Wario seemed to be 10 times bigger than on games like Wario Land, poor Mario looked like a mouse compared to him. This was probably to make Wario look more fierce, but he ended up still looking like a plumber wearing purple and yellow clothes, but only huge.
Mario Land 2 had more of that original Mario music, quite catchy that sets the atmosphere of the final showdown with the one and only Wario perfectly.
This game could last you ages! It’s so playable that you won’t ever get bored of it. If you haven’t got any new games recently you can just turn this on and play to your hearts galore. If you completed it on easy, you can make it a real challenge and change the settings to hard to give you a bit more to kill and do.
This is a top class game that shouldn’t be missed, I’ll be very surprised if some of you havn’t got it, it’s a real classic game and also Wario’s debut to gaming.
POKÉMON
Okay, Pokémon was milked for all it was worth by Nintendo, now it’s everywhere. But before it was annoyingly everywhere, it was a brilliant game that you don’t get tired of quickly.
As soon as you switch on the game, you know it’s something special. Even the intro makes you think you’ve bought something special here!
At the start of the adventure you had a choice between three monsters, one who had brilliant defence (Bulbasaur), one who had brilliant attack (Charmander) and one who was in-between (Squirtle), who I chose. They all had a different difficulty level. Bulbasaur was the easiest monster to train up in your travels. The it was Squirtle and Charmander was the hardest, but if you did train up Charmander you’d get your mitts on the amazing Charizard.
One thing you’ll notice about this game is how long it is. Getting 150 Pokémon is a hard thing to do. I was lucky enough to get 151 (An official Mew included).
This game is brilliant, if you haven’t played Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow get Gold/Silver/Crystal for the Gameboy Colour, much longer games and just as good and original.
Gameboy Colour
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINKS AWAKENING DX
Links Awakening was one of the best Gameboy titles I’ve played. I still play on it to this day (Even though I have a GBA) because there’s so many secrets to unlock, I still haven’t accessed all the secret area’s.
Like all Zelda games, this is no disappointment. It has just as much action, adventure and puzzles as any other Zelda games. The bosses are well thought up along with the puzzles. Each level will have you using your wit to it’s full potential.
There’s loads to talk about this game, but to just tell what the game is like, it’s the best GBC game ever!
CONKERS POCKET TALES
Not many people really thought this was a good game, but I think it was brilliant. There are so many different styles of playing you come across including a shoot out with a baddie, which is my personal favourite bit.
This game is very long. There are so many different things to do on it. Collecting all the nuts you can and trying to save Berry.
The hardest bit is at the very end, trying to escape from that cave will take you ages, you have to figure out which paths not to take, which lead to dead ends and which are the right ones. You’ll need a good memory if you want to succeed in this game.
The only fault I can think of is how the game can get wiped if your playing on a GBC and then try to play on it on a GB and vice versa. Other than that it’s a great game.
Playstation
GRAN TURISMO 2
Gran Turismo 2 is one of the most realistic driving games out for the PS1. Gran Turismo 2 has a uniqueness because it is different to other racing games like Colin McCrey Rally 2.0 it mixes the speedy road racers and amazing rally’s into one game.
On GT mode there is an amazing amount to do it is unbelievable you can test your driving abilities on the tough new licences such as the IC licence and the Special licence even when you've got all the licences you'll still be trying to get gold on each one.
The Graphics have shaped up nicely since the first game so you can see all your favourite cars in beautiful graphics while your racing. Also the amount of manufactures have stormed up since the first game with of Lancia, Vector and so many more. Probably the best thing about this game is the gameplay because you can't glide through the difficulty level so easily on this game it could take you years to win all the racers, get all the licences and tune up your cars to there max power.
One of the most addictive things about this game is the tune up option which was on Gran Turismo 1 building up your engine with turbo’s, styling your car with the racing car modifications and making the handling tip top with tyres and customized gearing you'll be doing it over and over again. If you want to test your car after its been tuned up you can go to car test to your cars Top speed, Fastest time for 400m and its fastest time 1000m. And if you want a break from all that work you can go arcade and relax with a nice little time trial but if not you can endure the toughest kind of race an endurance and rock along to the great music and sound effects. This is the kind of game that sold so many playstations.
The most annoying thing about this game (and probably the only) is the memory card glinch, the game seems to be doing OK and when you try to load your memory up it says Cannot Load Data May Be Corrupt and you cannot get your saved memory back.
This is most definitely the best racer for te Playstation with ace graphics and the best gameplay you could wish for but that one glinch lets it down so much so i'll have to give it 95%
MONOPOLY
To be honest the one player on this, is really bad. But playing with your mates is really fun, not only do you only need one controller, but you can cheat by saying that you haven’t finished yet and sell their best properties for $5. The fun of it all.
You can’t really say much about this game, it’s great multiplayer, terrible one player, but in my books, it’s a game worthy of the name classic.
WWF SMACKDOWN! KNOW YOUR ROLE
Smackdown 2 is obviously the best wrestling game for the Playstation. It has the widest range of matches for a wrestling game such as TLC and Hell in a Cell.
There are so many things on season mode to do its amazing! Fighting all the Unknown characters, all the special events from the TV program, being asked to interrupt in a match, win all the secret superstars and even sometimes having your title belt stolen this is probably the best part of the game and you'll just keep coming back for more.
Another great part of the game is create a superstar mode when you get to create awesome fighter and bring him into the ring with all the best superstars. Once you've created your superstar you put him in a tag team, give him a manager and even create a taunt for him. Another extra in the game is that you can create a pay-per view and it will be rated. This game is one of the best games for gameplay I’ve ever played you'll never get bored of it and the music doesn’t get on your nerves like a lot of games and the graphics are quite good.
One of the big let downs of this game is that you can only fit 4 people in the ring at one time so the Royal Rumbles and Battle Royals aren't as hectic and crazy as they could have been. Another let is that they haven’t made the crowd graphics any better since the last game. Also they've cut out the part on create a superstar from Smackdown 1 were you can name a move to personalise your superstar even more.
With miner faults and massive gameplay you can't go wrong with Smackdown 2 and even if you've got all the create a superstar parts and all the characters you'll still be playing this for years. If I had to mark this in per-cent age it would be 98% if you haven't got this game then get it!
Nintendo 64
GOLDENEYE 007
This really was FPS evolution. Rare out did themselves and gave Mr Bond a name in the world that is gaming. Multiplayer and one player were both perfect to play. This was a Rare masterpiece at it’s best.
The multiplayer had a series of brilliant game options, whether you were playing the man with the golden gun, when only one person has the golden gun, or the living daylights (Flag Tag), there was so much fun to be had. You just seemed to get a strange joy when blasting your mates into an oblivion. People say that Perfect Dark is a better game, but in my opinion, Bond will always be king of the FPS’s.
The one player mode was so original, trying to complete a series of missions, sometimes with time limits, never felt so fun, also when you completed all 00 Agent missions you could enter two extra levels and it was rumoured that if you got all 00 Agent missions, you would get 007 missions, I’m not sure if this was true, but if anyone knows, please tell me.
As king of all FPS games I would have to give this 9.9/10 if I was to give it a score, which I just have.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME
This is definitely my 2nd favourite Zelda game, but only behind the amazing Link to the Past. When you started playing this game, you were amazed at how action packed it was. But it seemed to be endless, killing all the Gold Skultulas was hard enough, but there was so much more as well. The most memorable moment was probably when you came back to house having completing a task with Epona to find a Cow in your small tree house so you could get milk at any time.
All the dungeons on this game were packed with rock hard puzzles, mazes and best of all, Boss’. If anything, this game would have to be famous for its selection of bosses to face after each dungeon. Including the likes of huge Dragons to a ‘Fake’ Ganondorf.
This always was, and always will be my favourite N64 game. Like all Zelda games it’s jam packed with secret areas, challenges and much, much more.
BANJO-KAZOOIE
A lot like Mario (But created by Rare), Banjo-Kazooie took off like a bolt. The levels were complimented for being amazingly detailed and very tough to get past. Gruntilda’s cronies were lurking about everywhere, just waiting for you to come out and play.
Collecting Jigsaw pieces was so fun, and worth the hassle when you get to the ending, which I won’t give away. Some task could be a right hassle, while some were very easy to complete.
The trouble with this game was the lack of Bosses, I love to play and beat bosses, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen, and when I was about to give up, I fought the final boss which really was good to battle, the final stage was the best, when you were trying to make the giant Jonjo beat that eveil witch.
This is a game that can’t be missed.
KILLER INSTINCT GOLD
Not as popular as its older brother, Killer Instinct for the SNES, it really wasn’t given the respect it deserved. It was just as good, if not better, than the first KI. But this was when people started to care about graphics too much, it was a weird kind of a layout for a game. The fighters were 2D but the 3D environment meant you could move around in a very strange way, but I love it.
As a fighter you cold even interact with the environment, such as when your opponent was on danger and there was a train passing, just upper cut him onto the train.
Like the first one, it had a series of great moves and finishers, so there wasn’t anything wrong there. I think this really was a good game, that wasn’t noticed for it’s strange layout (?). But in my opinion, this game is as good as the next fighting game.
Gameboy Advance
DOOM
Doom is, well, a very old game. There's no doubting that, but has it still got all the action, adventure and machine gun blasting moments as it did all those years ago? In short the answer is yes! It may be old, but it's just as competitive an FPS as it's close rival, Ecks vs Sever. One thing you do need to know before I start is it's no different to all the other Doom games, so if you don't like the other Doom games, or you've completed them so much, don't get it!
The first thing you'll notice about this game is the grainy hard-to-see graphics it has, but don't fear! This is just mainly screenshots and the first-time-gaming when you haven't fiddled around with the options yet, because all you have to do is set the lighting to static ad the brightness to 6 to get the best out of this classic FPS. When you have done this, you see Dooms true colours shining in all it's glory! You can appreciate the detail to some of the monsters, weapons, objects and worlds. Even little things like when you punch, you can see the small hairs on your characters arms. The attention to detail is a lot more than you think when you first see the dodgy screenshots. My personal favourite part of this game (Graphics wise) is when you hurl great green plasma blasts at you enemy with the BFG 9000 or even when you get them thrown at you if you (Un-luckily) bump into a couple of Barons of Hell. Some of the worlds you enter look amazing, but some look terrible, the vary of levels will amaze you, only a few look the same. From dingy, spooky levels with loads of corners so you don't know what's round the next corner to vast areas with millions of mutated monsters from the deepest depths of hell charging at you from all direction, this game will not disappoint if it's vary in levels you're looking for, i can tell you that!
Like all Doom games, almost all compliments turn towards the playability of this game. It not only has the pick up 'n' play feel to it, it also has the that in-the-game feel to it. With this game you're not playing a game, you are the game! You'll find yourself running across the sitting room, GBA in hand, trying to get away from the herd of the devils own! While playing with your mind, your body also joins in and triggers move about like a complete idiot in front of your family, but because you're actually in it, you don't care and carry on in your mission to defeat the monsters of hell and escape back to Earth! The interaction in this game is amazing!
Like all Doom games, this is as classic as it gets, the levels have been done before but you still feel as though you're in a completely different game. The monsters are something like I've never seen before, usually you have all these cliché monsters and baddies in video games, but in this it seems to be different. Where did they think up the appearance of the Demons???
The music and sound effects really top off this game, the music is as spooky and atmospheric as ever and the sound effects are no different! Waiting behind a door, hearing the roar of all kinds of hells creatures is so nerve racking! You know there's something waiting for you to come out from behind the door so they can eat you alive, but what is it? Is it a small easy-to-kill baddie like a zombie? Or is a Baron of Hell that would kill you in an instant you have to go through the door to find out!
This game will last you a long a time! Completing all the levels is rock hard, some of the levels are like mazes that take weeks to get through. if you want a game that will last a long time, this won't disappoint. It has a life span the size of a really long toilet roll. Completing all the levels on all the difficulties is a lot harder than you expect!
Doom is still a great game with not much to fault, but if you've never like Doom on other consoles, you won't like this. 9/10
WARIO LAND 4
When I heard of this, I couldn’t wait. Most Wario games have been put down for being too easy because when you play as Wario you can’t die in his previous Wario Land games. After I saw the screenshots I knew we were in for a treat.
Beautiful, crisp graphics made me want it. The idea of the game is to beat all the bosses of each passage in order to get hold of some treasure. Each boss you beat you get a different treasure, which is transported to the Golden Pyramid, where the final showdown takes place. Also the quicker you complete the boss in the more treasure you get, as there are three treasure chest’s and a treasure for defeating each boss. You can’t get to the boss unless you have all four jewels, four jewel pieces are collected on each level, some can only be reached when Wario is using a certain power, some can’t be reached until you have set off the frog switch.
The graphics on Wario Land 4 are amazing DKC graphics. The characters have better expressions than on the early Wario Lands and move around much more naturally. When we get to the backgrounds of the levels we really see some good old Kong shining through. From a Jungle scene to an old dump, there is so much detail in there. It sets the scene and the atmosphere for the level so very well. You could imagine the Donkster himself jumping into the foreground and beating up that fat guy. It may not have 32bit graphics as Nintendo keep on predicting, but a handheld with graphics worthy of a SNES is good enough for me. The best level for seeing the real ingénues of the backgrounds is Monsoon Jungle, it shows off the background in every possible way the designers could. Splashing into the water looks brilliant and shivering reflection of the background really gives it just that little bit extra that your looking for.
The brilliant thing about this game is a small function that changes the gameplay quite a lot, the easy/hard function, it may not seem like much but it is. If you are an inexperienced gamer you would go for the easy mode, if you are an expert gamer you choose the hard. If you’ve ever played games like Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64 you’ll know what I mean, you don’t have to write down how to do those tricky moves, because there aren’t any. Another thing about the gameplay is that there no gliches at all, no memory loss, nothing to ruin your gaming experience. This is the only Wario title which is half RPG and half Platformer, the start of a new era for Wario.
It’s not like the other Wario Land games. Like most Wario games it’s about things to do with wealth but it’s a RPG AND a Platformer, you don’t get many of them that really work, a lot of the time you feel as though it’s the same old thing. The last good RPG/Platformer I’ve ever played was Actraiser for the SNES, very unnoticed like the Wario Land series, but one hell of a game. The characters and bosses are brilliantly thought up, these bosses will remind you of, nothing, the ideas are fresh blood to the gaming world. A giant cat that creates tsunamis and fires them at you, to a giant teddy bear, which you have to throw spiked enemies at him to pop him. Crazy, that’s all I can say.
When you find a jewel piece he shouts “Hey!” When you hit the Frog Switch near the end of the level Wario tells you to “Come on!!!” It’s pure brilliance on a console. When you die on a level, Wario screams as he loses all his coins. The sound effects are amazing and scene setting. The music isn’t brilliant, just average, some levels have catchy tunes but most are just boring. One of the only faults in the game.
This game will last you ages. Even if you find the levels easy, you won’t find all the jewels and CD’s as easy completing the level is. It’s amazing how much you can get out of a game with just one extra option. An easy/hard option seems nothing, but in actual fact it can make all the difference when it comes to lastability.
There isn’t much to fault on Wario Land 4 except the fairly annoying music. A classic and a half.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS
I've had that song in my head since i saw House on Haunted Hill about a year or two ago. IT WON'T GET OUT!
Travel the world and the seven seas...
everybody's looking for something
sweet dreams are made of these...
nice post.
everybody's looking for something
sweet dreams are made of these...
nice post.
Thanks for the comments guys.
Just wondering, anyone played any of those Spectrum games?
Just wondering, anyone played any of those Spectrum games?
Wow! That is a lot!
Like American Dog said, it's nice to see some Speccy games being mentioned around here as well as some of the other classics like the NES and Megadrive!
Nice topic!
Like American Dog said, it's nice to see some Speccy games being mentioned around here as well as some of the other classics like the NES and Megadrive!
Nice topic!
I'm sorry Rick, but that would take me hours to read through and I've got work to do! I MAY try and disgest it this evening.
EXPLODE from the LOAD
Lol, thanks for the comment. :-D
Well Rick.... that was very, errr, big. When you told me on MSN it's quite big I thought you meant quite big. :S
Anyway, very nice post. I can't really think of anything to say other than, it was a very good selection of reviews put together to make this topic.
Overall, good post!
Anyway, very nice post. I can't really think of anything to say other than, it was a very good selection of reviews put together to make this topic.
Overall, good post!
…The gaming world that is. Through the years and years of gaming, everyone had a couple of favourite games for each console they owned. Whether it was Duck Hunt for the NES or Sonic 3D for the Megdrive, you all had them. Through the years some of the most Original titles were made, some of the most playable games ever have been created and we have been lucky enough to play them in the comfort of our own home. Here are the games that I have treasured the most, but sold some of them.
Spectrum
SNOWBALL IN HELL
You may have seen me ranting on about this game in many different topics, but there’s a perfectly good reason for it, and that is how good it is!
It’s the best puzzle game I’ve ever played, not only is it simple, it has the X-Factor! The pick up ‘n’ play quality you don’t always find. The beauty of it is that you will never ever get bored of it because it’s so fun and addictive to play. Okay so you might think stopping a snowball and other objects getting past you is a bit boring, but it’s not boring, it’s merely simple.
Okay, the graphics aren’t great, but you can see what you’re doing, which is all that matters when you’re playing such a playable game. You can see the objects and yourself fine, even on the oldest black and white TV.
Overall, you buy the game for it’s originality and it’s playability. If you’re into retro games and you’ve got the Sinclair wonder, get this!
RUFF ‘N’ READY
Yet another brilliantly playable game was created for the Spectrum, under the name of Ruff ‘n’ Ready. This has to be one of best Spectrum games you’ll come across! It’s a fun platform game that was quite rare in those days. Collecting apples and other items to get past a level, again, sounds simple, but, again, is fun and playable.
The one thing you’ll notice about this game is how good the graphics are compared to a lot of games you’ll see on the Spectrum. They are a lot smoother than the games you will come across.
Another amazing thing about this game is how it may be hard but you’ll still play it over and over. I never even got past the second level!
DEATH
Death was actually on the same cassette as Ruff ‘n’ Ready, all you needed to do was wait another 30 minutes *sigh* for it to load. Like Ruff ‘n’ Ready it was a platform game.
It wasn’t as playable or as fun to play as R’n’R but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t! Death had a little more depth to the game. More doors to enter, more items to find, more things to do, but somehow, wasn’t as good as 30 minutes before. Maybe this is because of the sheer fun of R’n’R, but you really have to play it to know.
Basically, Death is a good game, but if want a better game, don’t wait the extra 30 minutes.
Nintendo Entertainment System
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
There’s no introducing this! Almost everyone knows about the best NES games ever created even if they didn’t have it. This is what made Mario what he is today. After the recent success of Mario Bros. 1 & 2, this was a sure fire hit before it was made!
The levels, unlike the other Mario Bros. Were beautifully detailed and crisp. The characters actually had faces you could recognise for once. The worlds that the levels are set over have little nooks and crannies that really set the scene of a mysterious world that needs to be explored. Without a shadow of a doubt, these are some of the best graphics you’ll come across on the NES.
Now, after the graphics lure you into the games trap, the playability grasps your arm with all it’s strength (metaphor) and doesn’t let you go. It’s like you’re under a spell when you play this game for the first time. You’ll be so amazed by how superb it is you’ll forget to stop playing and end up dehydrated, you have been warned!
The one thing that I loved about the game was the extras you could. Special stages after the proper ones, like the treasure chest one, can be so exciting when you’re young. I especially liked it when you had to beat the two Koopas with the hammers to receive a prize.
What can’t I say about Super Mario Bros. 3, it’s one of, if not the, best game on the NES. Lets just say, if you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
DUCK HUNT
If you’ve had Mario Bros. 1 I can assure you, you will have played this, except if you’re really stupid and don’t know how to use the controller properly. The reason being, they were on the same cart. The aim of the game is to, basically, hunt ducks. But it’s not as boring as it seems. Ducks fly up into the sky and you must shoot them using a gun (Big wow!).
Anyway, moving on. The reason this game is on my list is because of how fun it is to play. Okay so shooting ducks with a gun (Big wow!) doesn’t sound like the most riveting experience you’ll come across, but it is a damn fun game to play. So fun and so rewarding, when you shoot a duck you get to see a fun animation.
The graphics aren’t too bad. The animations are quite fun to watch.
This is a classic NES title that deserves a lot of respect!
LEGEND OF ZELDA
To be honest I can’t remember which Zelda it was but I can remember a bit about this game. It was so fun to play. There was different challenges around every corner. My personal favourite bit was how whilst you were searching through the huge worlds it was in a birds eye view, but when you came across baddies and platform level-type area’s it changed to a 2D platform view from the side.
There’s not much I can say about this game that it’s excellent.
Sega Gamegear
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.
BATMAN
Before I start to properly talk about this game, get it if you have a Game Gear!!! It’s amazing!
Anyway, as I just said, this game is amazing. Okay so it’s nothing special to look at, but when it’s as playable and fun as this, you don’t need beautiful graphics.
The great thing about this game is that you can choose which level you are going to go on. Each stage normally has 2 levels to choose from, this really gives the game some vary to it.
When I talk about the bosses, well, what can I say? They are brilliant and so well though up. As you progress you’ll come across a Boss after every stage, at the start the bosses are usually easy, but when you get to the last boss, the Penguin, you’ll see how rock hard this game can be when it wants to be.
This game is definitely number 1 in my top 3 Game gear games, and deserves 1st place just as much as any classic game. If you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
TOM AND JERRY
A bit of a ‘Kiddy’ game, I know, but it was fun to play. You play Tom trying to catch jerry (No surprise there), but after a certain amount of points (Or levels, can’t remember) you get to play a mini-game, which are pretty fun to play. They usually involve, a Pac Man style game, you as Tom trying to catch little Jerry’s and so on.
It’s a pretty good title, so I thought when I was younger anyway, but it’s not an essential piece of gaming technology.
Sega Megadrive
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
“Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.”
Same as, but longer and a bit better.
SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 3
Donkey Kong Country 3, like all the Donkey Kong Country games, is pure brilliance, originality, playability, lastability, re-playability, great graphics and the list goes on! But most importantly, it is the best out of all of the Kong Clans adventures!
The first thing you’ll notice about this game, is how it’s gone in the pattern of all the other Donkey Kong Country story lines. In the first one, The Kong’s banana stash was raided by the infamous King K. Rool, so Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong took up the job. In the second one, Donkey Kong was captured by Captain K. Rool and Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong must save the day. In the fun of these two classics story lines, Kong 3 went for the same approach. This time both Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong have been captured by the evil K. Roolestine and it’s Dixie and Kiddy Kongs responsibility to save them from the evil master mind.
As always, this adventure stars loads of the Kong Clan, including Cranky Kong, Funky Kong and that Grandma Kong person, you know, the old women Kong.
The graphics were amazingly detailed, the game would last you ages, it was one of the most original games made for the SNES, the bosses are so fun you’ll lose to them just so you can play them again, need I say anymore, this game is brilliant!
KILLER INSTINCT
This was the first ever Killer Instinct game Nintendo fans saw, and what a console to start off on, the legendary SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System, probably the best of Nintendo’s consoles yet! This game really got me into Beat ‘em ups, if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have bought Tekken and found out that there are even better Beat ‘em ups!
The moves and combos that could be performed look brilliant. From just a Triple combo to a Ultra combo, the possibilities were endless. It was quite simple, you started off with an opening to open the combo, then did some moves in the middle then a finisher, these were usually upper cuts or fireballs, sometimes if you did do an upper cut, when they fall down you could hit them with a fireball if you were quick enough, this was called a juggle, if you did do this you usually feel very smug, as sometimes getting the timing right seems almost impossible.
What was really good about this game was the characters, they all have different reasons for competing in the Killer Instinct Tournament, for instance, Glacias wanted to get home, so when you finished the game with him you would leave the planet in a space ship, which Killer Inc (I think) had kept. Some of the ending were quite funny, like Spinals and Eydols. In Spinals, you see him sipping exotic drinks in Hollywood and in Eydols there is a funny Ryu joke. You have to complete it to find out though.
There really isn’t much to fault about this game, all SNES owners were very lucky to own this game, this was Beat ‘em up evolution at it’s best.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST
This game was, in my opinion, the best Zelda game to ever reach any Nintendo console. It was such a huge game for true gamers only.
The game was split into 2 worlds, the normal world, which was being overrun with monsters and the Dark world, which was also being overrun by more, bigger monsters. To love this game you didn’t need to like video games, it was that brilliant. This was an RPG not to be missed.
Each dungeon (Level) had it’s own set of unique monsters and a huge Boss you had to face at the end of the whole thing. Sometimes in the parallel worlds you’d two very similar levels, such as two water levels, or two Egyptian levels. The thing was, it may be similar, but when you really compare the two levels, they are completely different.
The length of this game is what really keeps you playing it, because you get so involved in someof the dungeons you won’t stop playing, even if it does take you a week to complete, then you’re so excited about the next dungeon, you get to that and don’t stop playing, once this game has you in it’s grasp, it won’t let go!
Trust me on this, this is a brilliant game and in my opinion the best Zelda game that has ever come out for any Nintendo console.
ACTRAISER
This is a game that I really don’t expect you to have heard of before, it was one of the many unknown classics, which the SNES carried around with it, gamers not knowing what they are missing out on.
It’s a really hard to describe genre, because it’s like an RPG, but there are also Platform levels you must succeed in and also you have to look after villages and build new ones on different islands.
The levels are very simple, but very hard, you play as a knight who is trying to defeat the evil of an area, so you have a big sword, but there are also a lot of specials to get, such as thunder storms. The levels are quite hard (Some of them) but the bosses are even harder. You’ll get stuck on the second boss for ages. Then when you get onto later bosses you’ll be amazed how easy the second boss seems now.
There really isn’t much else to say about this game, it’s original, even it’s genre is original. This game is amazing if you can appreciate it for what it is.
YOSHI’S ISLAND
I will be deeply surprised by anyone who hasn’t played this game before, it is VERY popular! But not just popular, damn good too.
The levels were detailed and highly fun to play. With so many added extras, if you got full marks on each level on a world you’d get 4 secret levels to play, which were quite fun to play, some were levels, some were mini-games that you usually got at the end of levels. But all the same they were. It seemed almost impossible to complete all the levels on 100%.
This really is a classic ‘Must have’ game, it really should have won an award for best boss ever, Bowser and the bird that chases you round the moon are the two best bosses I’ve ever played.
Get this game now if haven’t already got, if you a retro collector, you’ll want it even more!
Gameboy Mono/Pocket
MARIO LAND 2: 6 GOLDEN COINS
This was the first ever game Wario appeared in, it was a classic debut even if Wario was the bad guy and the final boss of this huge game. The plan was, Mario had go through a set of six different worlds and at the end of each world he confronted the Boss of that world and got a golden coin if he succeeded in this. After he’d beaten all the bosses there was one final level, in Mario’s castle which Wario had stolen, ohh, I love those good old castle final level settings like some of the first adventures of Mario on the NES. But just because castles are classic in gaming it doesn’t mean they are easy, completing the last level on hard is rock hard.
The graphics on this game were a massive improvement to the first Mario Land, there were better background scenes, better looking characters, and the bosses just topped it off beautifully. On Mario Land 2, Wario seemed to be 10 times bigger than on games like Wario Land, poor Mario looked like a mouse compared to him. This was probably to make Wario look more fierce, but he ended up still looking like a plumber wearing purple and yellow clothes, but only huge.
Mario Land 2 had more of that original Mario music, quite catchy that sets the atmosphere of the final showdown with the one and only Wario perfectly.
This game could last you ages! It’s so playable that you won’t ever get bored of it. If you haven’t got any new games recently you can just turn this on and play to your hearts galore. If you completed it on easy, you can make it a real challenge and change the settings to hard to give you a bit more to kill and do.
This is a top class game that shouldn’t be missed, I’ll be very surprised if some of you havn’t got it, it’s a real classic game and also Wario’s debut to gaming.
POKÉMON
Okay, Pokémon was milked for all it was worth by Nintendo, now it’s everywhere. But before it was annoyingly everywhere, it was a brilliant game that you don’t get tired of quickly.
As soon as you switch on the game, you know it’s something special. Even the intro makes you think you’ve bought something special here!
At the start of the adventure you had a choice between three monsters, one who had brilliant defence (Bulbasaur), one who had brilliant attack (Charmander) and one who was in-between (Squirtle), who I chose. They all had a different difficulty level. Bulbasaur was the easiest monster to train up in your travels. The it was Squirtle and Charmander was the hardest, but if you did train up Charmander you’d get your mitts on the amazing Charizard.
One thing you’ll notice about this game is how long it is. Getting 150 Pokémon is a hard thing to do. I was lucky enough to get 151 (An official Mew included).
This game is brilliant, if you haven’t played Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow get Gold/Silver/Crystal for the Gameboy Colour, much longer games and just as good and original.
Gameboy Colour
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINKS AWAKENING DX
Links Awakening was one of the best Gameboy titles I’ve played. I still play on it to this day (Even though I have a GBA) because there’s so many secrets to unlock, I still haven’t accessed all the secret area’s.
Like all Zelda games, this is no disappointment. It has just as much action, adventure and puzzles as any other Zelda games. The bosses are well thought up along with the puzzles. Each level will have you using your wit to it’s full potential.
There’s loads to talk about this game, but to just tell what the game is like, it’s the best GBC game ever!
CONKERS POCKET TALES
Not many people really thought this was a good game, but I think it was brilliant. There are so many different styles of playing you come across including a shoot out with a baddie, which is my personal favourite bit.
This game is very long. There are so many different things to do on it. Collecting all the nuts you can and trying to save Berry.
The hardest bit is at the very end, trying to escape from that cave will take you ages, you have to figure out which paths not to take, which lead to dead ends and which are the right ones. You’ll need a good memory if you want to succeed in this game.
The only fault I can think of is how the game can get wiped if your playing on a GBC and then try to play on it on a GB and vice versa. Other than that it’s a great game.
Playstation
GRAN TURISMO 2
Gran Turismo 2 is one of the most realistic driving games out for the PS1. Gran Turismo 2 has a uniqueness because it is different to other racing games like Colin McCrey Rally 2.0 it mixes the speedy road racers and amazing rally’s into one game.
On GT mode there is an amazing amount to do it is unbelievable you can test your driving abilities on the tough new licences such as the IC licence and the Special licence even when you've got all the licences you'll still be trying to get gold on each one.
The Graphics have shaped up nicely since the first game so you can see all your favourite cars in beautiful graphics while your racing. Also the amount of manufactures have stormed up since the first game with of Lancia, Vector and so many more. Probably the best thing about this game is the gameplay because you can't glide through the difficulty level so easily on this game it could take you years to win all the racers, get all the licences and tune up your cars to there max power.
One of the most addictive things about this game is the tune up option which was on Gran Turismo 1 building up your engine with turbo’s, styling your car with the racing car modifications and making the handling tip top with tyres and customized gearing you'll be doing it over and over again. If you want to test your car after its been tuned up you can go to car test to your cars Top speed, Fastest time for 400m and its fastest time 1000m. And if you want a break from all that work you can go arcade and relax with a nice little time trial but if not you can endure the toughest kind of race an endurance and rock along to the great music and sound effects. This is the kind of game that sold so many playstations.
The most annoying thing about this game (and probably the only) is the memory card glinch, the game seems to be doing OK and when you try to load your memory up it says Cannot Load Data May Be Corrupt and you cannot get your saved memory back.
This is most definitely the best racer for te Playstation with ace graphics and the best gameplay you could wish for but that one glinch lets it down so much so i'll have to give it 95%
MONOPOLY
To be honest the one player on this, is really bad. But playing with your mates is really fun, not only do you only need one controller, but you can cheat by saying that you haven’t finished yet and sell their best properties for $5. The fun of it all.
You can’t really say much about this game, it’s great multiplayer, terrible one player, but in my books, it’s a game worthy of the name classic.
WWF SMACKDOWN! KNOW YOUR ROLE
Smackdown 2 is obviously the best wrestling game for the Playstation. It has the widest range of matches for a wrestling game such as TLC and Hell in a Cell.
There are so many things on season mode to do its amazing! Fighting all the Unknown characters, all the special events from the TV program, being asked to interrupt in a match, win all the secret superstars and even sometimes having your title belt stolen this is probably the best part of the game and you'll just keep coming back for more.
Another great part of the game is create a superstar mode when you get to create awesome fighter and bring him into the ring with all the best superstars. Once you've created your superstar you put him in a tag team, give him a manager and even create a taunt for him. Another extra in the game is that you can create a pay-per view and it will be rated. This game is one of the best games for gameplay I’ve ever played you'll never get bored of it and the music doesn’t get on your nerves like a lot of games and the graphics are quite good.
One of the big let downs of this game is that you can only fit 4 people in the ring at one time so the Royal Rumbles and Battle Royals aren't as hectic and crazy as they could have been. Another let is that they haven’t made the crowd graphics any better since the last game. Also they've cut out the part on create a superstar from Smackdown 1 were you can name a move to personalise your superstar even more.
With miner faults and massive gameplay you can't go wrong with Smackdown 2 and even if you've got all the create a superstar parts and all the characters you'll still be playing this for years. If I had to mark this in per-cent age it would be 98% if you haven't got this game then get it!
Nintendo 64
GOLDENEYE 007
This really was FPS evolution. Rare out did themselves and gave Mr Bond a name in the world that is gaming. Multiplayer and one player were both perfect to play. This was a Rare masterpiece at it’s best.
The multiplayer had a series of brilliant game options, whether you were playing the man with the golden gun, when only one person has the golden gun, or the living daylights (Flag Tag), there was so much fun to be had. You just seemed to get a strange joy when blasting your mates into an oblivion. People say that Perfect Dark is a better game, but in my opinion, Bond will always be king of the FPS’s.
The one player mode was so original, trying to complete a series of missions, sometimes with time limits, never felt so fun, also when you completed all 00 Agent missions you could enter two extra levels and it was rumoured that if you got all 00 Agent missions, you would get 007 missions, I’m not sure if this was true, but if anyone knows, please tell me.
As king of all FPS games I would have to give this 9.9/10 if I was to give it a score, which I just have.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME
This is definitely my 2nd favourite Zelda game, but only behind the amazing Link to the Past. When you started playing this game, you were amazed at how action packed it was. But it seemed to be endless, killing all the Gold Skultulas was hard enough, but there was so much more as well. The most memorable moment was probably when you came back to house having completing a task with Epona to find a Cow in your small tree house so you could get milk at any time.
All the dungeons on this game were packed with rock hard puzzles, mazes and best of all, Boss’. If anything, this game would have to be famous for its selection of bosses to face after each dungeon. Including the likes of huge Dragons to a ‘Fake’ Ganondorf.
This always was, and always will be my favourite N64 game. Like all Zelda games it’s jam packed with secret areas, challenges and much, much more.
BANJO-KAZOOIE
A lot like Mario (But created by Rare), Banjo-Kazooie took off like a bolt. The levels were complimented for being amazingly detailed and very tough to get past. Gruntilda’s cronies were lurking about everywhere, just waiting for you to come out and play.
Collecting Jigsaw pieces was so fun, and worth the hassle when you get to the ending, which I won’t give away. Some task could be a right hassle, while some were very easy to complete.
The trouble with this game was the lack of Bosses, I love to play and beat bosses, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen, and when I was about to give up, I fought the final boss which really was good to battle, the final stage was the best, when you were trying to make the giant Jonjo beat that eveil witch.
This is a game that can’t be missed.
KILLER INSTINCT GOLD
Not as popular as its older brother, Killer Instinct for the SNES, it really wasn’t given the respect it deserved. It was just as good, if not better, than the first KI. But this was when people started to care about graphics too much, it was a weird kind of a layout for a game. The fighters were 2D but the 3D environment meant you could move around in a very strange way, but I love it.
As a fighter you cold even interact with the environment, such as when your opponent was on danger and there was a train passing, just upper cut him onto the train.
Like the first one, it had a series of great moves and finishers, so there wasn’t anything wrong there. I think this really was a good game, that wasn’t noticed for it’s strange layout (?). But in my opinion, this game is as good as the next fighting game.
Gameboy Advance
DOOM
Doom is, well, a very old game. There's no doubting that, but has it still got all the action, adventure and machine gun blasting moments as it did all those years ago? In short the answer is yes! It may be old, but it's just as competitive an FPS as it's close rival, Ecks vs Sever. One thing you do need to know before I start is it's no different to all the other Doom games, so if you don't like the other Doom games, or you've completed them so much, don't get it!
The first thing you'll notice about this game is the grainy hard-to-see graphics it has, but don't fear! This is just mainly screenshots and the first-time-gaming when you haven't fiddled around with the options yet, because all you have to do is set the lighting to static ad the brightness to 6 to get the best out of this classic FPS. When you have done this, you see Dooms true colours shining in all it's glory! You can appreciate the detail to some of the monsters, weapons, objects and worlds. Even little things like when you punch, you can see the small hairs on your characters arms. The attention to detail is a lot more than you think when you first see the dodgy screenshots. My personal favourite part of this game (Graphics wise) is when you hurl great green plasma blasts at you enemy with the BFG 9000 or even when you get them thrown at you if you (Un-luckily) bump into a couple of Barons of Hell. Some of the worlds you enter look amazing, but some look terrible, the vary of levels will amaze you, only a few look the same. From dingy, spooky levels with loads of corners so you don't know what's round the next corner to vast areas with millions of mutated monsters from the deepest depths of hell charging at you from all direction, this game will not disappoint if it's vary in levels you're looking for, i can tell you that!
Like all Doom games, almost all compliments turn towards the playability of this game. It not only has the pick up 'n' play feel to it, it also has the that in-the-game feel to it. With this game you're not playing a game, you are the game! You'll find yourself running across the sitting room, GBA in hand, trying to get away from the herd of the devils own! While playing with your mind, your body also joins in and triggers move about like a complete idiot in front of your family, but because you're actually in it, you don't care and carry on in your mission to defeat the monsters of hell and escape back to Earth! The interaction in this game is amazing!
Like all Doom games, this is as classic as it gets, the levels have been done before but you still feel as though you're in a completely different game. The monsters are something like I've never seen before, usually you have all these cliché monsters and baddies in video games, but in this it seems to be different. Where did they think up the appearance of the Demons???
The music and sound effects really top off this game, the music is as spooky and atmospheric as ever and the sound effects are no different! Waiting behind a door, hearing the roar of all kinds of hells creatures is so nerve racking! You know there's something waiting for you to come out from behind the door so they can eat you alive, but what is it? Is it a small easy-to-kill baddie like a zombie? Or is a Baron of Hell that would kill you in an instant you have to go through the door to find out!
This game will last you a long a time! Completing all the levels is rock hard, some of the levels are like mazes that take weeks to get through. if you want a game that will last a long time, this won't disappoint. It has a life span the size of a really long toilet roll. Completing all the levels on all the difficulties is a lot harder than you expect!
Doom is still a great game with not much to fault, but if you've never like Doom on other consoles, you won't like this. 9/10
WARIO LAND 4
When I heard of this, I couldn’t wait. Most Wario games have been put down for being too easy because when you play as Wario you can’t die in his previous Wario Land games. After I saw the screenshots I knew we were in for a treat.
Beautiful, crisp graphics made me want it. The idea of the game is to beat all the bosses of each passage in order to get hold of some treasure. Each boss you beat you get a different treasure, which is transported to the Golden Pyramid, where the final showdown takes place. Also the quicker you complete the boss in the more treasure you get, as there are three treasure chest’s and a treasure for defeating each boss. You can’t get to the boss unless you have all four jewels, four jewel pieces are collected on each level, some can only be reached when Wario is using a certain power, some can’t be reached until you have set off the frog switch.
The graphics on Wario Land 4 are amazing DKC graphics. The characters have better expressions than on the early Wario Lands and move around much more naturally. When we get to the backgrounds of the levels we really see some good old Kong shining through. From a Jungle scene to an old dump, there is so much detail in there. It sets the scene and the atmosphere for the level so very well. You could imagine the Donkster himself jumping into the foreground and beating up that fat guy. It may not have 32bit graphics as Nintendo keep on predicting, but a handheld with graphics worthy of a SNES is good enough for me. The best level for seeing the real ingénues of the backgrounds is Monsoon Jungle, it shows off the background in every possible way the designers could. Splashing into the water looks brilliant and shivering reflection of the background really gives it just that little bit extra that your looking for.
The brilliant thing about this game is a small function that changes the gameplay quite a lot, the easy/hard function, it may not seem like much but it is. If you are an inexperienced gamer you would go for the easy mode, if you are an expert gamer you choose the hard. If you’ve ever played games like Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64 you’ll know what I mean, you don’t have to write down how to do those tricky moves, because there aren’t any. Another thing about the gameplay is that there no gliches at all, no memory loss, nothing to ruin your gaming experience. This is the only Wario title which is half RPG and half Platformer, the start of a new era for Wario.
It’s not like the other Wario Land games. Like most Wario games it’s about things to do with wealth but it’s a RPG AND a Platformer, you don’t get many of them that really work, a lot of the time you feel as though it’s the same old thing. The last good RPG/Platformer I’ve ever played was Actraiser for the SNES, very unnoticed like the Wario Land series, but one hell of a game. The characters and bosses are brilliantly thought up, these bosses will remind you of, nothing, the ideas are fresh blood to the gaming world. A giant cat that creates tsunamis and fires them at you, to a giant teddy bear, which you have to throw spiked enemies at him to pop him. Crazy, that’s all I can say.
When you find a jewel piece he shouts “Hey!” When you hit the Frog Switch near the end of the level Wario tells you to “Come on!!!” It’s pure brilliance on a console. When you die on a level, Wario screams as he loses all his coins. The sound effects are amazing and scene setting. The music isn’t brilliant, just average, some levels have catchy tunes but most are just boring. One of the only faults in the game.
This game will last you ages. Even if you find the levels easy, you won’t find all the jewels and CD’s as easy completing the level is. It’s amazing how much you can get out of a game with just one extra option. An easy/hard option seems nothing, but in actual fact it can make all the difference when it comes to lastability.
There isn’t much to fault on Wario Land 4 except the fairly annoying music. A classic and a half.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS
Spectrum
SNOWBALL IN HELL
You may have seen me ranting on about this game in many different topics, but there’s a perfectly good reason for it, and that is how good it is!
It’s the best puzzle game I’ve ever played, not only is it simple, it has the X-Factor! The pick up ‘n’ play quality you don’t always find. The beauty of it is that you will never ever get bored of it because it’s so fun and addictive to play. Okay so you might think stopping a snowball and other objects getting past you is a bit boring, but it’s not boring, it’s merely simple.
Okay, the graphics aren’t great, but you can see what you’re doing, which is all that matters when you’re playing such a playable game. You can see the objects and yourself fine, even on the oldest black and white TV.
Overall, you buy the game for it’s originality and it’s playability. If you’re into retro games and you’ve got the Sinclair wonder, get this!
RUFF ‘N’ READY
Yet another brilliantly playable game was created for the Spectrum, under the name of Ruff ‘n’ Ready. This has to be one of best Spectrum games you’ll come across! It’s a fun platform game that was quite rare in those days. Collecting apples and other items to get past a level, again, sounds simple, but, again, is fun and playable.
The one thing you’ll notice about this game is how good the graphics are compared to a lot of games you’ll see on the Spectrum. They are a lot smoother than the games you will come across.
Another amazing thing about this game is how it may be hard but you’ll still play it over and over. I never even got past the second level!
DEATH
Death was actually on the same cassette as Ruff ‘n’ Ready, all you needed to do was wait another 30 minutes *sigh* for it to load. Like Ruff ‘n’ Ready it was a platform game.
It wasn’t as playable or as fun to play as R’n’R but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t! Death had a little more depth to the game. More doors to enter, more items to find, more things to do, but somehow, wasn’t as good as 30 minutes before. Maybe this is because of the sheer fun of R’n’R, but you really have to play it to know.
Basically, Death is a good game, but if want a better game, don’t wait the extra 30 minutes.
Nintendo Entertainment System
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
There’s no introducing this! Almost everyone knows about the best NES games ever created even if they didn’t have it. This is what made Mario what he is today. After the recent success of Mario Bros. 1 & 2, this was a sure fire hit before it was made!
The levels, unlike the other Mario Bros. Were beautifully detailed and crisp. The characters actually had faces you could recognise for once. The worlds that the levels are set over have little nooks and crannies that really set the scene of a mysterious world that needs to be explored. Without a shadow of a doubt, these are some of the best graphics you’ll come across on the NES.
Now, after the graphics lure you into the games trap, the playability grasps your arm with all it’s strength (metaphor) and doesn’t let you go. It’s like you’re under a spell when you play this game for the first time. You’ll be so amazed by how superb it is you’ll forget to stop playing and end up dehydrated, you have been warned!
The one thing that I loved about the game was the extras you could. Special stages after the proper ones, like the treasure chest one, can be so exciting when you’re young. I especially liked it when you had to beat the two Koopas with the hammers to receive a prize.
What can’t I say about Super Mario Bros. 3, it’s one of, if not the, best game on the NES. Lets just say, if you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
DUCK HUNT
If you’ve had Mario Bros. 1 I can assure you, you will have played this, except if you’re really stupid and don’t know how to use the controller properly. The reason being, they were on the same cart. The aim of the game is to, basically, hunt ducks. But it’s not as boring as it seems. Ducks fly up into the sky and you must shoot them using a gun (Big wow!).
Anyway, moving on. The reason this game is on my list is because of how fun it is to play. Okay so shooting ducks with a gun (Big wow!) doesn’t sound like the most riveting experience you’ll come across, but it is a damn fun game to play. So fun and so rewarding, when you shoot a duck you get to see a fun animation.
The graphics aren’t too bad. The animations are quite fun to watch.
This is a classic NES title that deserves a lot of respect!
LEGEND OF ZELDA
To be honest I can’t remember which Zelda it was but I can remember a bit about this game. It was so fun to play. There was different challenges around every corner. My personal favourite bit was how whilst you were searching through the huge worlds it was in a birds eye view, but when you came across baddies and platform level-type area’s it changed to a 2D platform view from the side.
There’s not much I can say about this game that it’s excellent.
Sega Gamegear
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.
BATMAN
Before I start to properly talk about this game, get it if you have a Game Gear!!! It’s amazing!
Anyway, as I just said, this game is amazing. Okay so it’s nothing special to look at, but when it’s as playable and fun as this, you don’t need beautiful graphics.
The great thing about this game is that you can choose which level you are going to go on. Each stage normally has 2 levels to choose from, this really gives the game some vary to it.
When I talk about the bosses, well, what can I say? They are brilliant and so well though up. As you progress you’ll come across a Boss after every stage, at the start the bosses are usually easy, but when you get to the last boss, the Penguin, you’ll see how rock hard this game can be when it wants to be.
This game is definitely number 1 in my top 3 Game gear games, and deserves 1st place just as much as any classic game. If you haven’t played this game, you haven’t lived!
TOM AND JERRY
A bit of a ‘Kiddy’ game, I know, but it was fun to play. You play Tom trying to catch jerry (No surprise there), but after a certain amount of points (Or levels, can’t remember) you get to play a mini-game, which are pretty fun to play. They usually involve, a Pac Man style game, you as Tom trying to catch little Jerry’s and so on.
It’s a pretty good title, so I thought when I was younger anyway, but it’s not an essential piece of gaming technology.
Sega Megadrive
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
“Well, what can I say? This game was just as good as the Master System version. As usual you played Sonic, trying to make your way through a series of demanding worlds and levels. The speed of the action was amazing on a handheld. It really showed people that you don’t have to be a massive TV console to be good to play. Sega really out did themselves this time.
The great thing about Sonic is that no matter how many time you complete the game, you’ll want to play it again and again. It’s one of those games where all the levels are fun to play whether you completed them tens of hundreds of times or not.
A retro Sega classic that isn’t to be missed.”
Same as, but longer and a bit better.
SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 3
Donkey Kong Country 3, like all the Donkey Kong Country games, is pure brilliance, originality, playability, lastability, re-playability, great graphics and the list goes on! But most importantly, it is the best out of all of the Kong Clans adventures!
The first thing you’ll notice about this game, is how it’s gone in the pattern of all the other Donkey Kong Country story lines. In the first one, The Kong’s banana stash was raided by the infamous King K. Rool, so Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong took up the job. In the second one, Donkey Kong was captured by Captain K. Rool and Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong must save the day. In the fun of these two classics story lines, Kong 3 went for the same approach. This time both Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong have been captured by the evil K. Roolestine and it’s Dixie and Kiddy Kongs responsibility to save them from the evil master mind.
As always, this adventure stars loads of the Kong Clan, including Cranky Kong, Funky Kong and that Grandma Kong person, you know, the old women Kong.
The graphics were amazingly detailed, the game would last you ages, it was one of the most original games made for the SNES, the bosses are so fun you’ll lose to them just so you can play them again, need I say anymore, this game is brilliant!
KILLER INSTINCT
This was the first ever Killer Instinct game Nintendo fans saw, and what a console to start off on, the legendary SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System, probably the best of Nintendo’s consoles yet! This game really got me into Beat ‘em ups, if it wasn’t for this, I wouldn’t have bought Tekken and found out that there are even better Beat ‘em ups!
The moves and combos that could be performed look brilliant. From just a Triple combo to a Ultra combo, the possibilities were endless. It was quite simple, you started off with an opening to open the combo, then did some moves in the middle then a finisher, these were usually upper cuts or fireballs, sometimes if you did do an upper cut, when they fall down you could hit them with a fireball if you were quick enough, this was called a juggle, if you did do this you usually feel very smug, as sometimes getting the timing right seems almost impossible.
What was really good about this game was the characters, they all have different reasons for competing in the Killer Instinct Tournament, for instance, Glacias wanted to get home, so when you finished the game with him you would leave the planet in a space ship, which Killer Inc (I think) had kept. Some of the ending were quite funny, like Spinals and Eydols. In Spinals, you see him sipping exotic drinks in Hollywood and in Eydols there is a funny Ryu joke. You have to complete it to find out though.
There really isn’t much to fault about this game, all SNES owners were very lucky to own this game, this was Beat ‘em up evolution at it’s best.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST
This game was, in my opinion, the best Zelda game to ever reach any Nintendo console. It was such a huge game for true gamers only.
The game was split into 2 worlds, the normal world, which was being overrun with monsters and the Dark world, which was also being overrun by more, bigger monsters. To love this game you didn’t need to like video games, it was that brilliant. This was an RPG not to be missed.
Each dungeon (Level) had it’s own set of unique monsters and a huge Boss you had to face at the end of the whole thing. Sometimes in the parallel worlds you’d two very similar levels, such as two water levels, or two Egyptian levels. The thing was, it may be similar, but when you really compare the two levels, they are completely different.
The length of this game is what really keeps you playing it, because you get so involved in someof the dungeons you won’t stop playing, even if it does take you a week to complete, then you’re so excited about the next dungeon, you get to that and don’t stop playing, once this game has you in it’s grasp, it won’t let go!
Trust me on this, this is a brilliant game and in my opinion the best Zelda game that has ever come out for any Nintendo console.
ACTRAISER
This is a game that I really don’t expect you to have heard of before, it was one of the many unknown classics, which the SNES carried around with it, gamers not knowing what they are missing out on.
It’s a really hard to describe genre, because it’s like an RPG, but there are also Platform levels you must succeed in and also you have to look after villages and build new ones on different islands.
The levels are very simple, but very hard, you play as a knight who is trying to defeat the evil of an area, so you have a big sword, but there are also a lot of specials to get, such as thunder storms. The levels are quite hard (Some of them) but the bosses are even harder. You’ll get stuck on the second boss for ages. Then when you get onto later bosses you’ll be amazed how easy the second boss seems now.
There really isn’t much else to say about this game, it’s original, even it’s genre is original. This game is amazing if you can appreciate it for what it is.
YOSHI’S ISLAND
I will be deeply surprised by anyone who hasn’t played this game before, it is VERY popular! But not just popular, damn good too.
The levels were detailed and highly fun to play. With so many added extras, if you got full marks on each level on a world you’d get 4 secret levels to play, which were quite fun to play, some were levels, some were mini-games that you usually got at the end of levels. But all the same they were. It seemed almost impossible to complete all the levels on 100%.
This really is a classic ‘Must have’ game, it really should have won an award for best boss ever, Bowser and the bird that chases you round the moon are the two best bosses I’ve ever played.
Get this game now if haven’t already got, if you a retro collector, you’ll want it even more!
Gameboy Mono/Pocket
MARIO LAND 2: 6 GOLDEN COINS
This was the first ever game Wario appeared in, it was a classic debut even if Wario was the bad guy and the final boss of this huge game. The plan was, Mario had go through a set of six different worlds and at the end of each world he confronted the Boss of that world and got a golden coin if he succeeded in this. After he’d beaten all the bosses there was one final level, in Mario’s castle which Wario had stolen, ohh, I love those good old castle final level settings like some of the first adventures of Mario on the NES. But just because castles are classic in gaming it doesn’t mean they are easy, completing the last level on hard is rock hard.
The graphics on this game were a massive improvement to the first Mario Land, there were better background scenes, better looking characters, and the bosses just topped it off beautifully. On Mario Land 2, Wario seemed to be 10 times bigger than on games like Wario Land, poor Mario looked like a mouse compared to him. This was probably to make Wario look more fierce, but he ended up still looking like a plumber wearing purple and yellow clothes, but only huge.
Mario Land 2 had more of that original Mario music, quite catchy that sets the atmosphere of the final showdown with the one and only Wario perfectly.
This game could last you ages! It’s so playable that you won’t ever get bored of it. If you haven’t got any new games recently you can just turn this on and play to your hearts galore. If you completed it on easy, you can make it a real challenge and change the settings to hard to give you a bit more to kill and do.
This is a top class game that shouldn’t be missed, I’ll be very surprised if some of you havn’t got it, it’s a real classic game and also Wario’s debut to gaming.
POKÉMON
Okay, Pokémon was milked for all it was worth by Nintendo, now it’s everywhere. But before it was annoyingly everywhere, it was a brilliant game that you don’t get tired of quickly.
As soon as you switch on the game, you know it’s something special. Even the intro makes you think you’ve bought something special here!
At the start of the adventure you had a choice between three monsters, one who had brilliant defence (Bulbasaur), one who had brilliant attack (Charmander) and one who was in-between (Squirtle), who I chose. They all had a different difficulty level. Bulbasaur was the easiest monster to train up in your travels. The it was Squirtle and Charmander was the hardest, but if you did train up Charmander you’d get your mitts on the amazing Charizard.
One thing you’ll notice about this game is how long it is. Getting 150 Pokémon is a hard thing to do. I was lucky enough to get 151 (An official Mew included).
This game is brilliant, if you haven’t played Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow get Gold/Silver/Crystal for the Gameboy Colour, much longer games and just as good and original.
Gameboy Colour
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINKS AWAKENING DX
Links Awakening was one of the best Gameboy titles I’ve played. I still play on it to this day (Even though I have a GBA) because there’s so many secrets to unlock, I still haven’t accessed all the secret area’s.
Like all Zelda games, this is no disappointment. It has just as much action, adventure and puzzles as any other Zelda games. The bosses are well thought up along with the puzzles. Each level will have you using your wit to it’s full potential.
There’s loads to talk about this game, but to just tell what the game is like, it’s the best GBC game ever!
CONKERS POCKET TALES
Not many people really thought this was a good game, but I think it was brilliant. There are so many different styles of playing you come across including a shoot out with a baddie, which is my personal favourite bit.
This game is very long. There are so many different things to do on it. Collecting all the nuts you can and trying to save Berry.
The hardest bit is at the very end, trying to escape from that cave will take you ages, you have to figure out which paths not to take, which lead to dead ends and which are the right ones. You’ll need a good memory if you want to succeed in this game.
The only fault I can think of is how the game can get wiped if your playing on a GBC and then try to play on it on a GB and vice versa. Other than that it’s a great game.
Playstation
GRAN TURISMO 2
Gran Turismo 2 is one of the most realistic driving games out for the PS1. Gran Turismo 2 has a uniqueness because it is different to other racing games like Colin McCrey Rally 2.0 it mixes the speedy road racers and amazing rally’s into one game.
On GT mode there is an amazing amount to do it is unbelievable you can test your driving abilities on the tough new licences such as the IC licence and the Special licence even when you've got all the licences you'll still be trying to get gold on each one.
The Graphics have shaped up nicely since the first game so you can see all your favourite cars in beautiful graphics while your racing. Also the amount of manufactures have stormed up since the first game with of Lancia, Vector and so many more. Probably the best thing about this game is the gameplay because you can't glide through the difficulty level so easily on this game it could take you years to win all the racers, get all the licences and tune up your cars to there max power.
One of the most addictive things about this game is the tune up option which was on Gran Turismo 1 building up your engine with turbo’s, styling your car with the racing car modifications and making the handling tip top with tyres and customized gearing you'll be doing it over and over again. If you want to test your car after its been tuned up you can go to car test to your cars Top speed, Fastest time for 400m and its fastest time 1000m. And if you want a break from all that work you can go arcade and relax with a nice little time trial but if not you can endure the toughest kind of race an endurance and rock along to the great music and sound effects. This is the kind of game that sold so many playstations.
The most annoying thing about this game (and probably the only) is the memory card glinch, the game seems to be doing OK and when you try to load your memory up it says Cannot Load Data May Be Corrupt and you cannot get your saved memory back.
This is most definitely the best racer for te Playstation with ace graphics and the best gameplay you could wish for but that one glinch lets it down so much so i'll have to give it 95%
MONOPOLY
To be honest the one player on this, is really bad. But playing with your mates is really fun, not only do you only need one controller, but you can cheat by saying that you haven’t finished yet and sell their best properties for $5. The fun of it all.
You can’t really say much about this game, it’s great multiplayer, terrible one player, but in my books, it’s a game worthy of the name classic.
WWF SMACKDOWN! KNOW YOUR ROLE
Smackdown 2 is obviously the best wrestling game for the Playstation. It has the widest range of matches for a wrestling game such as TLC and Hell in a Cell.
There are so many things on season mode to do its amazing! Fighting all the Unknown characters, all the special events from the TV program, being asked to interrupt in a match, win all the secret superstars and even sometimes having your title belt stolen this is probably the best part of the game and you'll just keep coming back for more.
Another great part of the game is create a superstar mode when you get to create awesome fighter and bring him into the ring with all the best superstars. Once you've created your superstar you put him in a tag team, give him a manager and even create a taunt for him. Another extra in the game is that you can create a pay-per view and it will be rated. This game is one of the best games for gameplay I’ve ever played you'll never get bored of it and the music doesn’t get on your nerves like a lot of games and the graphics are quite good.
One of the big let downs of this game is that you can only fit 4 people in the ring at one time so the Royal Rumbles and Battle Royals aren't as hectic and crazy as they could have been. Another let is that they haven’t made the crowd graphics any better since the last game. Also they've cut out the part on create a superstar from Smackdown 1 were you can name a move to personalise your superstar even more.
With miner faults and massive gameplay you can't go wrong with Smackdown 2 and even if you've got all the create a superstar parts and all the characters you'll still be playing this for years. If I had to mark this in per-cent age it would be 98% if you haven't got this game then get it!
Nintendo 64
GOLDENEYE 007
This really was FPS evolution. Rare out did themselves and gave Mr Bond a name in the world that is gaming. Multiplayer and one player were both perfect to play. This was a Rare masterpiece at it’s best.
The multiplayer had a series of brilliant game options, whether you were playing the man with the golden gun, when only one person has the golden gun, or the living daylights (Flag Tag), there was so much fun to be had. You just seemed to get a strange joy when blasting your mates into an oblivion. People say that Perfect Dark is a better game, but in my opinion, Bond will always be king of the FPS’s.
The one player mode was so original, trying to complete a series of missions, sometimes with time limits, never felt so fun, also when you completed all 00 Agent missions you could enter two extra levels and it was rumoured that if you got all 00 Agent missions, you would get 007 missions, I’m not sure if this was true, but if anyone knows, please tell me.
As king of all FPS games I would have to give this 9.9/10 if I was to give it a score, which I just have.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME
This is definitely my 2nd favourite Zelda game, but only behind the amazing Link to the Past. When you started playing this game, you were amazed at how action packed it was. But it seemed to be endless, killing all the Gold Skultulas was hard enough, but there was so much more as well. The most memorable moment was probably when you came back to house having completing a task with Epona to find a Cow in your small tree house so you could get milk at any time.
All the dungeons on this game were packed with rock hard puzzles, mazes and best of all, Boss’. If anything, this game would have to be famous for its selection of bosses to face after each dungeon. Including the likes of huge Dragons to a ‘Fake’ Ganondorf.
This always was, and always will be my favourite N64 game. Like all Zelda games it’s jam packed with secret areas, challenges and much, much more.
BANJO-KAZOOIE
A lot like Mario (But created by Rare), Banjo-Kazooie took off like a bolt. The levels were complimented for being amazingly detailed and very tough to get past. Gruntilda’s cronies were lurking about everywhere, just waiting for you to come out and play.
Collecting Jigsaw pieces was so fun, and worth the hassle when you get to the ending, which I won’t give away. Some task could be a right hassle, while some were very easy to complete.
The trouble with this game was the lack of Bosses, I love to play and beat bosses, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen, and when I was about to give up, I fought the final boss which really was good to battle, the final stage was the best, when you were trying to make the giant Jonjo beat that eveil witch.
This is a game that can’t be missed.
KILLER INSTINCT GOLD
Not as popular as its older brother, Killer Instinct for the SNES, it really wasn’t given the respect it deserved. It was just as good, if not better, than the first KI. But this was when people started to care about graphics too much, it was a weird kind of a layout for a game. The fighters were 2D but the 3D environment meant you could move around in a very strange way, but I love it.
As a fighter you cold even interact with the environment, such as when your opponent was on danger and there was a train passing, just upper cut him onto the train.
Like the first one, it had a series of great moves and finishers, so there wasn’t anything wrong there. I think this really was a good game, that wasn’t noticed for it’s strange layout (?). But in my opinion, this game is as good as the next fighting game.
Gameboy Advance
DOOM
Doom is, well, a very old game. There's no doubting that, but has it still got all the action, adventure and machine gun blasting moments as it did all those years ago? In short the answer is yes! It may be old, but it's just as competitive an FPS as it's close rival, Ecks vs Sever. One thing you do need to know before I start is it's no different to all the other Doom games, so if you don't like the other Doom games, or you've completed them so much, don't get it!
The first thing you'll notice about this game is the grainy hard-to-see graphics it has, but don't fear! This is just mainly screenshots and the first-time-gaming when you haven't fiddled around with the options yet, because all you have to do is set the lighting to static ad the brightness to 6 to get the best out of this classic FPS. When you have done this, you see Dooms true colours shining in all it's glory! You can appreciate the detail to some of the monsters, weapons, objects and worlds. Even little things like when you punch, you can see the small hairs on your characters arms. The attention to detail is a lot more than you think when you first see the dodgy screenshots. My personal favourite part of this game (Graphics wise) is when you hurl great green plasma blasts at you enemy with the BFG 9000 or even when you get them thrown at you if you (Un-luckily) bump into a couple of Barons of Hell. Some of the worlds you enter look amazing, but some look terrible, the vary of levels will amaze you, only a few look the same. From dingy, spooky levels with loads of corners so you don't know what's round the next corner to vast areas with millions of mutated monsters from the deepest depths of hell charging at you from all direction, this game will not disappoint if it's vary in levels you're looking for, i can tell you that!
Like all Doom games, almost all compliments turn towards the playability of this game. It not only has the pick up 'n' play feel to it, it also has the that in-the-game feel to it. With this game you're not playing a game, you are the game! You'll find yourself running across the sitting room, GBA in hand, trying to get away from the herd of the devils own! While playing with your mind, your body also joins in and triggers move about like a complete idiot in front of your family, but because you're actually in it, you don't care and carry on in your mission to defeat the monsters of hell and escape back to Earth! The interaction in this game is amazing!
Like all Doom games, this is as classic as it gets, the levels have been done before but you still feel as though you're in a completely different game. The monsters are something like I've never seen before, usually you have all these cliché monsters and baddies in video games, but in this it seems to be different. Where did they think up the appearance of the Demons???
The music and sound effects really top off this game, the music is as spooky and atmospheric as ever and the sound effects are no different! Waiting behind a door, hearing the roar of all kinds of hells creatures is so nerve racking! You know there's something waiting for you to come out from behind the door so they can eat you alive, but what is it? Is it a small easy-to-kill baddie like a zombie? Or is a Baron of Hell that would kill you in an instant you have to go through the door to find out!
This game will last you a long a time! Completing all the levels is rock hard, some of the levels are like mazes that take weeks to get through. if you want a game that will last a long time, this won't disappoint. It has a life span the size of a really long toilet roll. Completing all the levels on all the difficulties is a lot harder than you expect!
Doom is still a great game with not much to fault, but if you've never like Doom on other consoles, you won't like this. 9/10
WARIO LAND 4
When I heard of this, I couldn’t wait. Most Wario games have been put down for being too easy because when you play as Wario you can’t die in his previous Wario Land games. After I saw the screenshots I knew we were in for a treat.
Beautiful, crisp graphics made me want it. The idea of the game is to beat all the bosses of each passage in order to get hold of some treasure. Each boss you beat you get a different treasure, which is transported to the Golden Pyramid, where the final showdown takes place. Also the quicker you complete the boss in the more treasure you get, as there are three treasure chest’s and a treasure for defeating each boss. You can’t get to the boss unless you have all four jewels, four jewel pieces are collected on each level, some can only be reached when Wario is using a certain power, some can’t be reached until you have set off the frog switch.
The graphics on Wario Land 4 are amazing DKC graphics. The characters have better expressions than on the early Wario Lands and move around much more naturally. When we get to the backgrounds of the levels we really see some good old Kong shining through. From a Jungle scene to an old dump, there is so much detail in there. It sets the scene and the atmosphere for the level so very well. You could imagine the Donkster himself jumping into the foreground and beating up that fat guy. It may not have 32bit graphics as Nintendo keep on predicting, but a handheld with graphics worthy of a SNES is good enough for me. The best level for seeing the real ingénues of the backgrounds is Monsoon Jungle, it shows off the background in every possible way the designers could. Splashing into the water looks brilliant and shivering reflection of the background really gives it just that little bit extra that your looking for.
The brilliant thing about this game is a small function that changes the gameplay quite a lot, the easy/hard function, it may not seem like much but it is. If you are an inexperienced gamer you would go for the easy mode, if you are an expert gamer you choose the hard. If you’ve ever played games like Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64 you’ll know what I mean, you don’t have to write down how to do those tricky moves, because there aren’t any. Another thing about the gameplay is that there no gliches at all, no memory loss, nothing to ruin your gaming experience. This is the only Wario title which is half RPG and half Platformer, the start of a new era for Wario.
It’s not like the other Wario Land games. Like most Wario games it’s about things to do with wealth but it’s a RPG AND a Platformer, you don’t get many of them that really work, a lot of the time you feel as though it’s the same old thing. The last good RPG/Platformer I’ve ever played was Actraiser for the SNES, very unnoticed like the Wario Land series, but one hell of a game. The characters and bosses are brilliantly thought up, these bosses will remind you of, nothing, the ideas are fresh blood to the gaming world. A giant cat that creates tsunamis and fires them at you, to a giant teddy bear, which you have to throw spiked enemies at him to pop him. Crazy, that’s all I can say.
When you find a jewel piece he shouts “Hey!” When you hit the Frog Switch near the end of the level Wario tells you to “Come on!!!” It’s pure brilliance on a console. When you die on a level, Wario screams as he loses all his coins. The sound effects are amazing and scene setting. The music isn’t brilliant, just average, some levels have catchy tunes but most are just boring. One of the only faults in the game.
This game will last you ages. Even if you find the levels easy, you won’t find all the jewels and CD’s as easy completing the level is. It’s amazing how much you can get out of a game with just one extra option. An easy/hard option seems nothing, but in actual fact it can make all the difference when it comes to lastability.
There isn’t much to fault on Wario Land 4 except the fairly annoying music. A classic and a half.
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Thanks for reading
RiCkOsS