Must-Have Games: The OCR List

[Jimmy Jazz]

***ROUND FOUR***

Katamari Damacy

Na nananananana na Katamari Damancy

Na nananananana na Katamari Damancy

*Higher* Na nananananana na Katamari Damancy

*Lower again* Na nananananana na Katamari Damancy

That is Yes enough as far as I am concerned. Like... A 21st Japanese Pet Sounds... In Space... Fuck yeah. Game was also pretty goddamn awesome as well. Hell. Fucking. Yes.

Street Fighter III: Double Impact

No. Third Strike was far superior, even if Sean was pretty messed up in Third Strike.

[sephfire]

aaaaaaand FIVE.

************************************************** ****************************

***ROUND FIVE***

Sonic Adventure

Console: Dreamcast

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sonic Team

Meta Score: 8.7 (36 reviews)

Release: Sep 9, 1999

Guilty Gear X2

Console: Playstation 2

Publisher: Sammy Studios

Developer: Sammy Studios

Meta Score: (not available)

Release: 2004

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Console: Playstation 2

Publisher: SCEA

Developer: Naughty Dog

Meta Score: 9.0 (85 reviews)

Release: Dec 3, 2001

ICO

Console: Playstation 2

Publisher: SCEA

Developer: SCEI

Meta Score: 9.0 (84 reviews)

Release: Sep 24, 2001

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

Console: Xbox

Publisher: VU Games

Developer: Snowblind Studios

Meta Score: 8.4 (75 reviews)

Release: Dec 2, 2001

MechAssault

Console: Xbox

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Developer: Day 1 Studios

Meta Score: 8.7 (91 reviews)

Release: Nov 11, 2002

SSX 3

Console: Xbox

Publisher: EA Sports Big

Developer: EA Canada

Meta Score: 9.0 (54 reviews)

Release: Oct 20, 2003

Chibi Robo

Console: Gamecube

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Skip Ltd.

Meta Score: 7.8 (56 reviews)

Release: Feb 6, 2006

Resident Evil

Console: Gamecube

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Meta Score: 9.0 (91 reviews)

Release: Apr 30, 2002

New Super Mario Bros.

Console: Nintendo DS

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Meta Score: 8.9 (93 reviews)

Release: May 15, 2006

************************************************** ****************************

Remember, we're not pitting these games against each other in competition. These are just ten randomly selected games from our nomination list. We will now discuss the merits of each of these games to decide whether or not each game belongs on the final list. Try to stick with games you've personally played for at least 20 minutes (preferably, more). BE SURE TO INCLUDE SEVERAL SENTENCES OF DISCUSSION AND REASONS FOR YOUR VOTE OR YOUR VOTE WILL *NOT* BE COUNTED.

My votes:

Guilty Gear X2

I only played it half an hour and I'm not voting on it, but was this game hard as hell or did I just suck at it? I hear it's balanced well, I just got the crap beat out of me.

ICO -- YES

On one hand, I kow this sort of game won't appeal to everyone. On the other, that doesn't make it any less beautiful.

SSX 3 -- YES

I've poured so many hours into this game. I love sports games that don't limit themselves by being simulations. EA Big has a talent for making sports games fun in new, unrealistic ways. The controls are tight, the environments are gorgeous, the soundtrack fits ... this game is wonderful.

Chibi Robo -- NO

It's cute and pretty creative, I'll give it that. Beyond that, it has serious pacing issues. I would love a sequel that loosened things up a bit. The combined limitations of battery life and time limits for activity just distracted from the simplicity of this game's appeal. I have hopes for the DS sequel. I'm not saying the game isn't fun, just not a must.

[avaris]

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload - YES

This game is FAST. Great music, actually has a story to follow for a fighting game. The gameplay is rather addicting. It is a game easy to dive into and have a lot of fun button mashing and pulling off crazy combos. Although it is a very difficult game to master. You can take several paths to beat the game each requiring for you to beat the enemy in shorter time and pull certain instant kill moves. Characters come in all shapes and sizes with many different fighting styles. Overall a very enjoyable game that has a lot of unique aspects that most gamers should find appealling.

ICO - YES

Not for everyone to start off. It's a game you have to play for a bit then it sucks you in. Great puzzles, music, and ambience. For the record I am not the biggest fan of platformers or puzzle games but this game is one of my all time favorites. The immersive atmosphere and subtle feelings created from playin this game truly make it an experience to play.

Tales of Symphonia - NO

One of my favorite games of all time. A game could not put down once I got into it. Has a few really good songs. The story is cheesy, but it's some damn good cheese. Fighting style is awesome. It didn't take many chances but was damn fun to play. I'd love to YES this, but I don't think the game is for everyone. If you even semi-like rpg's you should make it a priority to play this. I highly recommend the game to rpg fans or action adventure fans you don't mind dialogue. If this had better music and more developed and likable characters I would have given it a yes.

[AMT]

Sonic Adventure - Despite its flaws, Sonic Adventure is still a very enjoyable platformer, with a good amount of variety and 5 campaigns to play through. Barely, but still unfortunately gets a NO, as it isn't up to par with a lot of other games.

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload - I walked into GameStop one day deciding I wanted to get a fighting game, and randomly picked this one. Little did I know I was holding one of the greatest 2D fighters ever made (At least in my opinion, I know that's a touchy subject for some). Very well balanced, insane characters, and over the top action make this one a YES in my book.

[Dark Chocobo]

Sonic Adventure: NO. Despite being a solid platformer having multiple characters to play through, this game just doesn't need to played, there are many other better game out there. Is it good? Yes. IS it necessary? No.

New Super Mario Bros: YES. This game is one of the best modern 2-D platformers out there and is must-own for any DS gamers. The single player mode will challenge most, and the multiplayer is stiff fun after several months.

[The Coop]

Um, sephfire? There is no Guilty Gear X2 #Reload for the PS2. It's just Guilty Gear X2, and it has a meta of 8.5 over twenty reviews.

Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox)- Basically, this pack is the original Saturn version of DoA, and tweaked version of DoA2. While the original game was a decent fighter, the insane amount of tit bounce made it hard to take seriously. DoA2 changed that. Sure, the mamories still bounce, but it's greatly reduced, and the fighting engine was given a needed work over. It became a real fighting game, and a good one at that. Great graphics, multi-tiered fighting arenas, counters, and some vicious moves... it brought Team Ninja to the fighting world properly.

Now, take the original DoA2, beef up the graphics, add all kinds of extras to everything, throw in online play, and that's DoA2 Ultimate. While DoA3 and DoA4 may have upped the anti a little, it's DoA2 that still stands out as the best in the series to me, and this version of it is the best of the mass DoA2 releases bunch. A YES for me.

Otogi: Myth of Demons (XBox)- While the concept of hack 'n slash has been around for a while, it was this game that really brought it into the 3D world with style. A wild and weird tales set in real Japanese mythos, gorgeous graphics, a tough challenge, varied levels, cool bosses, tight control, an actual friendly 3D camera, and simple controls that let you focus on the intense action at hand. This game is what other 3D hack 'n slashers wish they could be. YES.

Ikaruga (Dreamcast)- Another masterpiece from Treasure. Very nice graphics, a vicious challenge, and a real twist on the shmup formula with its "light/dark" bullet absorption scheme. It's a game of skill, dodging, endurance, and perhaps most importantly, timing. Without the "light/dark" aspect, it would still be a good shmup. But with it, it's a great one. Yes.

Street Fighter III: Double Impact (Dreamcast)- Everyone knows "Third Strike" is considered the pinnacle of the SFIII trilogy. But the two that came before it were nothing to sneeze at. Amazing animation, a virtually new cast of characters, their depth of gameplay, and there are two games on this disc to boot. The third incarnation polished everything up and added new stuff, but there's no reason to abandon the first two games for the third. A borderline YES.

Zero Gunner II (Dreamcast)- Psikyo games have always had a look a feel all their own. Short levels, big mech bosses, and a simple scoring system that still had some depth to it if you tried. What this game did, was take their trademark traits, bring them into the 3D world, and then add a gameplay feature that gives the shmup concept an interesting spin... "focal points".

Basically, hold down a button, and your helicopter will keep it's nose pointed at a single spot on the screen, as it rotates all around that point. No more straight forward "fly up/left and blow shit up", now it's "aim everywhere". This makes for a different experience, and presents a whole new set of challenges as the enemies and bosses move around the screen. It's a fun twist on an old genre that would be a shame to pass up. YES.

Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)- Ah, Sonic's first real gaming 3D outing. Pretty graphics, catchy 80's tunes, and a fun challenge. It also has a lot of replayability to achieve the best ending. Sadly, it also has a less than cooperative camera, questionable voicing, and dodgey hit detection. It's a fun game to be sure, but I'm not 100% certain I can call it a must have. A borderline NO for this one.

Guilty Gear X2 (PS2)- What many would consider the series' finest hour. High-res art, very nice animation, a heavy metal soundtrack, lots of wild characters, a good fighting engine, a hard challenge, and a much, much better gameplay balance than the painfully lopsided Guilty Gear X. The XBox version (called GGX2#Reload) adds a few minor extras here and there, but changes little else, and the sequels that followed this one tinkered with the formula and broke it. A great fighting game that's not to be missed, and a YES for sure.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance (XBox)- Good ol' Dungeons and Dragons. Here's another example of 3D hack 'n slash done right. Big levels, clean graphics, a good story, nice tunes, all sorts of stuff to upgrade on your character, several characters to choose from, and some fun boss battles. And unlike the recent Gauntlet games, it's just long enough to be fulfilling without getting horribly dragged out. Couple this with playing co-op with a friend, cool little graphical touches like your character changing their look depending on what armor/weapon you have, good lip syncing for the cinemas, and nice animation on everything, and this is a hack 'n slash to be enjoyed. A YES.

MechAssault (XBox)- The continuation of the MechWarrior series... sort of. While not related to the PC games, it is set in the same universe. It's also one hell of a great Mech game. Amazing for the time graphics, great attention to even the smallest details (watch the little touches as you blast buildings apart), tough missions that don't feel cheap in their challenge, "arcade-y" controls that simplify the action while still giving you complete control over your Mech (sans weapon load out), and a nice sense of scale. It's one of the best console Mech games out there, and it gives the PC games a run for their money. A quality game across the board, that gets a resounding YES.

[sephfire]

Um, sephfire? There is no Guilty Gear X2 #Reload for the PS2. It's just Guilty Gear X2, and it has a meta of 8.5 over twenty reviews.

Crap. I knew I was gonna screw up one of these games I hadn't played before.

edit:

LIAR. This one probably wasn't a US release though.

[The Coop]

Crap. I knew I was gonna screw up one of these games I hadn't played before.

edit:

LIAR. This one probably wasn't a US release though.

Oops. But yeah, that's a Europe release. The US PS2 got GGX2, with the US XBox getting GGX2#Reload.

[AMT]

Resident Evil - Took an already good game and made it into a great one. Some people complain about the controls, but if you can get past them, there's nothing like solving exotic puzzles in a zombie infested mansion. Incredibly atmospheric, excellent visuals and scary as hell, this game is an overall experience that any gamer at least has to attempt to play. YES

[Raziellink]

***ROUND FIVE***

Sonic Adventure: No

No. This game has it's periods of fun, but it's outclassed by so many other platformers, that it makes this one obsolete. What's that? Very high speed? Yes indeed, but it isn't as polished as it should've been, and can lead to unexpected deaths.

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload

-

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

-

ICO

This is one of the few games i regret not buying when i saw it in the store. After all the things i've heard, i'd recommend it to everyone. Even myself...

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

-

MechAssault

-

SSX 3

-

Chibi Robo

-

Resident Evil: Sadly, a no

A great horror trip, awesome graphics, and probably the only game where the characters actually WALK the stairs, instead of floating over a 45 degree slope with their feet going through the floor. A game that will make your asscrack soaking wet due to the sweating.

However, the "cluncky" controls aren't for everybody, the fact that you can hardly kill something early in the game (which you shouldn't be able too, and that might be a turn-of for alot of newcomers). Overall, the style of gameplay will not appeal to everyone, so no.

New Super Mario Bros.: Yes

A simple happy-go-lucky platformer that everybody can play, for young and old. It's a bit easy, but it's fun while it lasts.

[Jimmy Jazz]

Oops. But yeah, that's a Europe release. The US PS2 got GGX2, with the US XBox getting GGX2#Reload.

I have this release.

And it is unbelievably more awesome than X2. Hahaha.

[Jimmy Jazz]

***ROUND FIVE***

Sonic Adventure:

I loved this game. But it is now really, really dated. By no means a must play, let alone a must have

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload

Fucking Yes. Stylish, brilliant, varied and somewhat balanced characters, and the most frantic 2 player matches I have ever experienced.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Nah. It's good, but not that good.

ICO

Confusing as fuck at sometimes, it can be easy to get stuck or lost. But the sense of atmosphere is terrific, and it's one of the few games I actually cared about a character, I actually wanted to save Yorda. So yes.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance

I can't understand why people like this game. Boring. Drab. Repetitive. Not my kind of game at all. No.

[dsx100]

Guilty Gear X2 #Reload: Borderlined Yes

The reason why I have a problem giving it an out right yes is because I have never played this verion of Guilty Gear X2. Guilty Gear X2 was great, loads of fun, balanced, challenging, and stylish. Best looking 2D-fighter in my opinion. Many say #Reload is much better and if thats the case then I would highly recommend it. However, I never played this version so it is hard to give it an out right yes.

Jak and Daxter: YES!

This game was the start of an excellent game series and it also showed what the PS2 could do back in the day. The games environment is huge and completely interconnected with no loading screens. Many think Jak II introduced the free roam aspect to the series but Jak I had it all along. The boss fights (though few and far between) were great. The platforming elements were also great and nicely controlled. The story is absloutely great in my opinion, especially the stories of the laters in the series. You can't get into the story of the 2 and 3 unless you have played Jak and Daxter and for that alone it should be a must play. Highly recommend.

New Super Mario Bros.: Hell YES

This game is absolutely great. I have never had soo much fun playing a Mario game since Super Mario World. This game takes the classic 2-D Mario Platformer gameplay and makes it tons better. The game is just plain fun and that is what games are supposed to be, FUN. I don't know what more say. The game is great, and a must play for DS owners and Mario fans.

[Bahamut]

Tales of Symphonia

As much of a Tales fan I am, I'm going to have to give this a big NO, as

it really did need more refinement. The combat was a bit of a step back from Eternia's, and generally felt a bit too easy.

Ikaruga

This game is a hardcore gamer's wet dream, and it certainly is fun to play, with lots of challenge and engagement of the mind in figuring out the optimal path to get through that one frustrating part that crushes you every time. The incredible amount of replay value that this game has for just about everyone (I've even noticed more casual gamers enjoying it immensely) makes this an easy YES.

New Super Mario Bros.

While this game harks back to the older games, the lack of much of any difficulty severely limits the feel of this game in comparison to older Mario games, as one gets the feeling that the gameplay is bland from simpler puzzles in almost every respect, if not every way. As far as people I've come across, this game is universally regarded as a waste of their cash, so this is an easy NO.

[sephfire]

We're almost a week in and going strong. Many thanks to our regular contributers!

******************************************************************************

***ROUND SIX***

Alien Hominid

Console: Playstation 2

Publisher: O3 Entertainment

Developer: The Behemoth

Meta Score: 8.1 (65 reviews)

Release: Nov 21, 2004

Grand Theft Auto III

Console: Playstation 2

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Developer: Rockstar North

Meta Score: (not available)

Release: Oct 22, 2001

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Console: Playstation 2, Xbox

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft

Meta Score: 9.2 (96 reviews)

Release: Nov 6, 2003

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Console: Xbox

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Meta Score: 7.2 (29 reviews)

Release: Nov 1, 2005

Halo

Console: Xbox

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Developer: Bungie Software

Meta Score: 9.6 (115 reviews)

Release: Nov 14, 2001

Metal Slug 3

Console: Xbox

Publisher: SNK

Developer: SNK

Meta Score: 7.6 (85 reviews)

Release: May 26, 2004

XIII

Console: Xbox

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Ubisoft

Meta Score: 7.6 (65 reviews)

Release: Nov 24, 2003

Animal Crossing

Console: Gamecube

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Meta Score: (not available)

Release: Sep 15, 2002

Star Fox Adventures

Console: Gamecube

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Rare Ltd.

Meta Score: (not available)

Release: Sep 22, 2002

Daytona USA

Console: Dreamcast

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega

Meta Score: 8.3 (47 reviews)

Release: Mar 12, 2001

******************************************************************************

Remember, we're not pitting these games against each other in competition. These are just ten randomly selected games from our nomination list. We will now discuss the merits of each of these games to decide whether or not each game belongs on the final list. Try to stick with games you've personally played for at least 20 minutes (preferably, more). BE SURE TO INCLUDE SEVERAL SENTENCES OF DISCUSSION AND REASONS FOR YOUR VOTE OR YOUR VOTE WILL *NOT* BE COUNTED.

My votes:

Grand Theft Auto III -- YES

Fantastic game. If you haven't played it, don't be fooled by the game's anti-hype. The open world, the tongue-in-cheek humor ... there's tons to enjoy here. This is an absolute must-have for any gamer. Just make sure you have your parent's permission, 'k?

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time -- YES

The first and finest of the trilogy. Though the combat was a tad shallow in this first installment, the atmosphere is far superior to either of the sequels. Gorgeous music and beautiful environments from beginning to end. And the acrobatic puzzle-solving? Bliss.

Halo -- YES

Not my personal favorite, but well worthy of a place on this list. I really shouldn't have to explain why. There's a reason this game is the phenomenon it has become.

XIII -- NO

Cel-shading has been done and shooters have been done, and both have been done far better than this. It had potential, but fell far short, sadly.

Animal Crossing -- YES

Like ICO, this won't appeal to everyone, but it's amazing how fun this game is. You'd think working off virtual mortgage would repulse you, but my wife and I were both addicts of this game for months. I don't know why it's fun, but clearly Nintendo discovered something in it's audience that we never knew about and tapped it. There are many things that could be improved about it, but I think it's just worthy enough of a YES here.

[Dark Chocobo]

PoP: Sands of Time: YES. This game had sequels made for a good reason. It is one of the most fun platformers/adventure games in quite a long time. The controls are tight, the time-control mechanic works very well, and the combat is fun. The environments are fantastic and the polish really shows.

Halo: I'm going to reluctantly say YES for this. As good a game as Halo is, I believe that it, quite frankly, adds nothing to the FPS genre. Despite it's lack of ingenuity, it is still a fun game to play and own, especially if you have lots of friends.

Star Fox Adventures: NO. The game was Star Fox in name only. It was originally called Dinosaur Planet before having the brand tacked on, and it shows. This game is okay. I feel it's more of a Zelda-style rip off, and you would have more fun playing a Zelda game than playing this.

[The Coop]

sephire- Castlevania: Curse of Drakness on the XBox has a meta score of 7.2 with 29 reviews.

Alien Hominid (PS2)- What started as a single level Flash game, became a full on PS2 Run 'N Gun classic. A great and original art style, a good sense of humor, massive carnage, one hell of a challenge in the second half, nice animation, and just great production values all the way through. YES.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (XBox)- One of the few Castlavanias to not feature a Belmont (or a Belmont off shoot) as the main character. While the game's graphics aren't much of a step up from the previous 3D outing ("Lament"), the game itself holds up better. The Innocent Devils are a fun addition to the gameplay, having combos at your disposal ups the gameplay anti a bit, and the boss fights are fun. Top it off with some very nice music, an interesting story, and memorable characters (with decent voicing acting to boot), and it's a fine addition to the Castlevania family.

That's not to say it's perfect though. Again, the graphics are a bit tame considering the era the game was released, and the level designs are still a bit lacking. But the high points of the game do elevate it into the Borderline Yes realm for me.

Halo (XBox)- The first true "must own" title for the XBox. A great musical score, very good (for the day) graphics, plenty of action, some good voice over work, good enemy AI, and one hell of a twist about mid-way through the game. It also offers up a good challenge. Sure, the repeating corridor graphics get old after a while, but that's a small dent on an otherwise quality game. YES.

Metal Slug 3 (XBox)- And here ladies and gentlemen, is what 2D gaming awesomeness looks like.

This game took what was already a great franchise, and shot into infamy. The 2D artwork in this game is amazing, with every last little things having ridiculous amounts of detail and animation to it. The trademark sense of humor shines through, and the art style still looks fresh. The challenge in this game is hardcore (level 5 is insanely long), the music is great, the variety of enemies, stages and things to drive is high, multiple branching paths on each mission... the list of greatness goes on and on with this game. The Xbox handled this game well, and did away with the "shimmering" effect of the Japanese PS2 port, so the graphics show through better.

Like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this game showed that 2D is still alive and well, and can shine with the best 3D has to offer when it's done by people with real talent. A huge YES for this one.

Daytona USA (Dreamcast)- Arcade-y racing... gotta love it. A good amount of tracks (all or which are manipulated in four ways), easy to handle power sliding controls, great graphics for the time, those trademark and unsettlingly infectious Daytona tunes, and plenty of car variations to unlock as you race. After the disaster that was Daytona USA on the Saturn, and the iffy "improvement" with Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition on the same system, this DC game brought the series back in fine form.

Not the best racing game ever made, but a fine example of arcade-y racing nonetheless. A YES in my book.

[Rambo]

So.. I've been following this for a while. And yes, that means I'm ridiculously bored. But I was wondering... are all games being compared against one another to determine if they are "must haves"? Or are they relative to their platforms. There are many games that may not be superb rated next to a game on another console.. but for its platform might just be a "must have". I've seen a few comments that sounded as though it deserved a NO because it wasn't revolutionary... but was still one of the better games of its kind for its respective platform. If this has already been adressed.. I apologize for wasting the time of whoever reads this.

[G_D]

Star Fox Adventures: NO! It was a mildly entertaining game, to be sure, but it was way too easy, way too cheesy, and had those stupid "tap-A-as-fast-as-you-can" games. This game is in no way a 'must-have'.

[watkinzez]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time- YES

I previously blogged on why this game is awesome.

Starfox Adventures- NO

A huge waste of potential. Miyamoto was insane to get Rare to use the Starfox license just because the main character looked similar.

[Drack]

Star Fox Adventures: NO. The game was decent, but it was repetitive and not enough in line with the Star Fox universe to really be a Star Fox game. It did change the direction of future SF games, but not necessarily in a good way. It's definitely not a "Must Have" like Star Fox 64 was

[sephfire]

So.. I've been following this for a while. And yes, that means I'm ridiculously bored. But I was wondering... are all games being compared against one another to determine if they are "must haves"? Or are they relative to their platforms. There are many games that may not be superb rated next to a game on another console.. but for its platform might just be a "must have". I've seen a few comments that sounded as though it deserved a NO because it wasn't revolutionary... but was still one of the better games of its kind for its respective platform. If this has already been adressed.. I apologize for wasting the time of whoever reads this.

If someone feels that a game that appeared on more than one console was a must-have on one console in particular, they can say so. I can't think of many cases where this would be an issue. Perhaps if a successful game were ported to another console and the port suffered numerous bugs or something.

[Raziellink]

***ROUND SIX***

Alien Hominid

-

Grand Theft Auto III: yes

I've only played it on the PC, and it's a gem. I doubt the PS2 version is much different.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time: no

Console: Playstation 2, Xbox

I really thought the combat was dreadful. The prince has so many moves to fight, but most were worthless since the bad guys kept on blocking. The acrobatic parts were a horrible "trail & error" mess. The entire game can be discribed as : combat-puzzle-combat-puzzle-combat-puzzle. Nothing more...

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness: no

One of the weakest entries in the series, but it had incredible potential. Great FMV's, character design, and decent voice acting. The crafting of items is fantastic, and the combat (however shallow) can be very cool.

However, the ugly and repitive level design will bore you. The music is overrated, because the majority is below normal Castlevania standards. The fact that nine out of ten songs don't even match with the enviroments doesn't help at all.

Only for Castlevania fans, not for everyone.

Halo: no

I must have played it for hours and hours, trying to find out what the hell people saw in this crappy title, but i never found it.

Lot's of things happen, but i never felt like i was part of it all. In the end, it felt like just some normal shooter.

Metal Slug 3

-

XIII: no

Though it tried some new cool stuff, it failed miserably. The horrible gameplay prevents it from becoming good. Stealth parts were sometimes impossible, depending on luck to get through, and bad guys could sometimes see you before you saw them.

Stuff like using people like human shields, and the ability to use pretty much everything as a weapon are cool, but it just is an ordinary shooter.

Animal Crossing

-

Star Fox Adventures

-

Daytona USA

-

[Antipode]

I'm not going to vote on XIII because I really enjoyed it. It took some skill to get through the stealth missions (which I still firmly believe are not based on luck if you pull it right) and I did enjoy the graphic style and popup windows. I'm not voting yes or no because I believe it's definitely worth a play (especially at the 5.00 price tag) but I don't think it's a MUST HAVE. The music in this game is amazing, one of my favorite soundtracks to be honest - it's a shame there was never an actual soundtrack release I could listen to (the "soundtrack" they put out was basically music by someone else inspired by XIII which was still good, but I would have preferred the actual game music). AAALEEEEERRRT!!

Anyway, to be useful:

Halo: Combat Evolved - YES

Everyone always bitches at this game because it was too "generic", but there's something to be said for drawing the best ideas from many innovators and blending them together in a fantastically addictive and satisfying way. The single player campaign is interesting and challenging at times and the multiplayer I still play today (definitely would choose over Halo 2) with its excellent weapons and maps. Incidentally, I'm talking about Halo PC, which I believed to be a far superior game to the Xbox release - playing online with 15 others is an unmatched experience, and the mouse control and slightly better graphics (on a good rig) really improved it in my opinion. Anyway, regardless of the console, the game was just plain fun, and I still don't think the satisfying feeling of sniping three in a row, ramming a warthog into a base and running over a few more while bashing another with your pistol has been matched by about any game.

[ifirit]

Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2/X-Box/PC) - Yes

Playing as Claude Speed is just fun. The game manages to build a world in itself, from the buildings and locations, to the people on the street, to the radio culture, to the plot itself. Everything is constructed with building a society in mind. Add onto it the socio-political statement that it makes about our own society, there's a lot to enjoy.

Halo: Combat Evolved (X-Box/PC)- Yes

Although I had only played this game with friends, the reason why I would recommend this game is because of the robust design of the game. Anyone could attribute any number of aspects of the game as a reason for it's inclusion on the list, but again, the definite factor is how it combines its various simple-shaped elements into a distinctive and impressive whole. I think of it as a mosaic, in which if you focus on the individual pieces there is not much to admire, but when viewing as a whole, forms an intricately beautiful image.

Yet, personally, what I liked most about the Halo games is the world that is created. The history and background of the Covenant Army and their quest, the mythos of the Artifacts and the various interconnections between different elements of the story and setting. Somehow, it inspires my imagination and encourages taking perspectives other than the usual hero/savior side.