Out of all the titles for DC, PS2, GC, and Xbox, what single game would you say was the most important to you? What was that one game that completely changed the way you looked at the entire medium? What was that one game that has permanently raised your overall happiness in life, ever so slightly?
Let's try to ignore factors like replay value, and try to just focus on that raw experience you felt on your first trip through the game.
I've been giving this a lot of thought today. I assumed that the title would have to lay within the army of quality games the Dreamcast gave us. But then I felt like the most obvious choice would have to be a Nintendo exclusive. After this, Viewtiful Joe entered my mind, screaming for the vote. That game brought me right back to a particular type of fun which I hadn't experienced so purely in a good 10 years.
But honestly, I have to give it to Shadow of the Colossus, which I've mentioned probably too many times on here already. It's simply perfection. I won't be able to explain why. It just is.
If it weren't for Colossus and Joe, this generation of games would have been steadily fun but still pretty mediocre.
Your single most *IMPORTANT* game of this generation?
Your single most *IMPORTANT* game of this generation?
Last edited by Mozgus on Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
Well, Viewtiful Joe didn't remain a Nintendo exclusive. A worthy choice though.
The previous generation was a golden era, much more exciting than this past generation. That aside, a few current gen titles did manage to steal some places in my top ten of all time. The highest of all, being:
Soul Calibur. We didn't get a Mario 64 sized triumph this generation, a title that left people standing in shock at what the new round of machines could manage, but I think this was the closest thing to it. In the arcades, Soul Calibur was the most balanced fighter ever tuned, with the most revolutionary play mechanic the 3D fighter genre had seen since inception. Players who became it's slaves could find the gameplay deeper than even the esteemed VF series. It was strangely unpopular, not so much better looking than Tekken 3, but it remained one of the most watched and wondered about titles in the industry.
Then came the Dreamcast "port". The arcade version was a jaggie-ridden masterpiece, but the Dreamcast version was a visual epiphany that gave the game a godly sense of wonder, animation and effects, and even gave the characters an unseen skeletal system. And the Dreamcast version's added modes did nothing to shame it, they only helped to raise it higher into a game untouchable by it's competitors, still today. Soul Calibur was only the second game in history to achieve a perfect score of 40 in the revered Famitsu magazine, and the third in EGM.
I made a small living off of Soul Calibur. Played it more than half a whole day, every day, played in tournaments everywhere, and never when you lost would you call a "cheap victory". Soul Calibur is one of the most flawless games of all time. Whether you like fighters or not, there's next to nothing that you could find wrong with it that couldn't be argued as untrue.
Best game of this generation.
The previous generation was a golden era, much more exciting than this past generation. That aside, a few current gen titles did manage to steal some places in my top ten of all time. The highest of all, being:
Soul Calibur. We didn't get a Mario 64 sized triumph this generation, a title that left people standing in shock at what the new round of machines could manage, but I think this was the closest thing to it. In the arcades, Soul Calibur was the most balanced fighter ever tuned, with the most revolutionary play mechanic the 3D fighter genre had seen since inception. Players who became it's slaves could find the gameplay deeper than even the esteemed VF series. It was strangely unpopular, not so much better looking than Tekken 3, but it remained one of the most watched and wondered about titles in the industry.
Then came the Dreamcast "port". The arcade version was a jaggie-ridden masterpiece, but the Dreamcast version was a visual epiphany that gave the game a godly sense of wonder, animation and effects, and even gave the characters an unseen skeletal system. And the Dreamcast version's added modes did nothing to shame it, they only helped to raise it higher into a game untouchable by it's competitors, still today. Soul Calibur was only the second game in history to achieve a perfect score of 40 in the revered Famitsu magazine, and the third in EGM.
I made a small living off of Soul Calibur. Played it more than half a whole day, every day, played in tournaments everywhere, and never when you lost would you call a "cheap victory". Soul Calibur is one of the most flawless games of all time. Whether you like fighters or not, there's next to nothing that you could find wrong with it that couldn't be argued as untrue.
Best game of this generation.
I never said that it did. I said "After this".SegaVega wrote:Well, Viewtiful Joe didn't remain a Nintendo exclusive. A worthy choice though.
But yeah, Soul Calibur was quite an impact when DC launched. I loved it, but I don't think it ever changed the way I looked at games, or even fighting games for that matter. But this might be because Soul Blade had already blown me away, so I guess I was already used to sword-based fighters.
Last edited by Mozgus on Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
I fully admit to being a cornball, deep-fried in corndog batter, then coated with corn starch.
With that pre-amble, I will say that Kingdom Hearts really blew my mind when I first played it, because I had very little exposure to the FF series (which arguably didn't really flourish until FFVII)
As a full-time professional, husband and father of 3, I don't have much time to devote to the sequel, which is really incredible and innovative. I'm probably not even 20% through, but as cool as it is, I'm still not as blown away as I was by KH.
A close second was the first Paper Mario, for some strange reason. The goofy music and expressions of Mario are tops, better than the Thousand-Year-Door. Next in the series looks really strange, though, we'll see what happens.
No disrespect, but I didn't think much of Soul-Caliber as a fighter. As far as that Genre, Killer Instinct was way better. Heck, Primal Instinct was better in my book, but I'm a big weirdo...
With that pre-amble, I will say that Kingdom Hearts really blew my mind when I first played it, because I had very little exposure to the FF series (which arguably didn't really flourish until FFVII)
As a full-time professional, husband and father of 3, I don't have much time to devote to the sequel, which is really incredible and innovative. I'm probably not even 20% through, but as cool as it is, I'm still not as blown away as I was by KH.
A close second was the first Paper Mario, for some strange reason. The goofy music and expressions of Mario are tops, better than the Thousand-Year-Door. Next in the series looks really strange, though, we'll see what happens.
No disrespect, but I didn't think much of Soul-Caliber as a fighter. As far as that Genre, Killer Instinct was way better. Heck, Primal Instinct was better in my book, but I'm a big weirdo...
Wow, Kingdom Hearts? Really? I'm a mild fan of Disney's works until about 1996, and I also think FF7 was good, but this game...does not deserve to be called a game. The majority of NES's library has more gameplay depth than Kingdom Hearts. It was just cutscenes...and the cutscenes fail because the story fails. But I am never one to appreciate fan service. I hate it when multiple franchises get mashed together, like your Robocop vs Terminator and Alien vs Predator. Final Fantasy and Disney just don't mix. The story made no sense at all.mpozos wrote:With that pre-amble, I will say that Kingdom Hearts really blew my mind when I first played it, because I had very little exposure to the FF series (which arguably didn't really flourish until FFVII)
I see this stuff as the rape of products I once loved. The classics are being violently milked before my eyes, and the milk has become rotten. It's just as bad as the unneeded sequels and spinoffs we keep getting. On that note, I leave you with this.
But well...whatever.
Kingdom Hearts it is.
Last edited by Mozgus on Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mpozos wrote:No disrespect, but I didn't think much of Soul-Caliber as a fighter. As far as that Genre, Killer Instinct was way better. Heck, Primal Instinct was better in my book, but I'm a big weirdo...
<snort>hehe...Killer Instinct! That was a very overrated game, which wasn't even highly rated anyways. I liked it, but there was no depth. C-c-c-c-COMBO BREAKURRR! 40 hit combo...Soul Calibur is one of the most acclaimed games ever and deservedly so. And Mozgus, it wasn't just impressive because of it's weapons based fighting, it was it's balance that set it apart. Far apart.
Why do I sometimes not get the edit message when I edit?
Last edited by SegaVega on Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Agreed on that. The game's only good quality is the soundtrack.SegaVega wrote:
I've seen more balanced. But it's good, I know. I'm just saying I liked Soul Blade back in 98. Most people think Soul Calibur is the first in the series. The impact was muffled a little bit for myself because of this.Soul Calibur is one of the most acclaimed games ever and deservedly so. And Mozgus, it wasn't just impressive because of it's weapons based fighting, it was it's balance that set it apart. Far apart.
Believe me when I say there is no more balanced a fighter out there. I've played them all religiously.Mozgus wrote:I've seen more balanced.
But to stay on topic, I do understand mpozos' choice of Kingdom Hearts. It has production values that can't be ignored. Sure, the camera was wonky, but underneath the marketing blitz thre could be a pretty moving experience if you let it be so. But Shadow of the Colossus is a much better tale.
edit: I spelt "mpozos" wrong. I'm done with edits...
I'm not the fighting expert so I'll pass. But Soul Calibur still had some rough edges. The biggest one being the soundtrack. Compared to Soul Blade's, it was lower quality and had a "clangy" sound throughout the whole thing that drove me nuts. It can't even compare to the grand 92 tracks, 162 minutes of beauty in audio form which Soul Blade had. And I own Soul Calibur. I didn't download it. I am not using some version with downgraded audio.SegaVega wrote:Believe me when I say there is no more balanced a fighter out there. I've played them all religiously.Mozgus wrote:I've seen more balanced.
It was also missing the whole weapon selection aspect that Soul Blade had. Yes, this would have annoyed all the hardcore players because of balance issues, but it was a blessing for those of us who are more for the Party Fighters. Me and friends spent countless all-nighters solving many questions like "Which is better? A 7 foot invisible sword, or a short, insanely durable blade which can shatter an opposing weapon in a few strikes?". And you can always just choose not to use the special weapons.
And Calibur had crappy, colorless ending scrolls, instead of Soul Blade, which had fully 3D ending sequences, which were sometimes interactive! I was very disapointed here.
Thankfully, Soul Calibur 2 fixed the soundtrack and weapon gripes of mine, without ruining anything else. I haven't tried 3, because I don't have a PS2, and I think it's really stupid that they shafted the Cube, when SC2 sold best on the Cube.