Rule 32: Enjoy the little things in life.

Had a chance to sit down with a buddy last night and Scott Pilgrim VS the World on the PS3. Somehow 360 owners drew the short straw and have to wait two weeks like chumps. Sucks, cause the game is pretty fun. Sorry 360 owners. The game follow the now famous story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Boy meets girl, boy learns horrible secret, boy gets pummeled on, boy defeats evil exes. It’s Scott Pilgrim. You know what you’re getting.

So, yes the world is going Scott Pilgrim crazy right now, myself included. The last volume came out recently, which was my favorite and a great way to rap up the series. The movie comes out in a few hours which I’m quite hopeful and excited to see. I have faith in Edgar Wright and most of the cast. And then there’s the game. It’s a good time to be a fan. So you’ve read the comics and already have you ticket for the show. But should you play the game? Well, if you’re that big of a fan, then you’ve already play and possibly beaten it. But the answer is yes, still play the game.

Scott Pilgrim VS the World plays like an old school beat ‘em up like River City Ransom or Streets of Rage or Turtles in Time or Double Dragon. In fact, the game is pretty much old school everything. Like the recent Mega Man 9 & 10, the developers have really gone out of their way to really capture that old school 8 and 16-bit era of gaming. (The ‘Golden Age’ of gaming if you ask me.) There’s tons of retro references from Sonic to Mario to Mega Man and the list goes on and on. If you’ve been gaming for a while, you’re bound to see something that’ll make you smile. In addition to the gaming references, there’s tons of subtle things from the source material, whether it’s Stacey Pilgrim at the snack bar or Wallace’s secret shop, it seems like pretty much every character that’s in the series makes at least a cameo somewhere. These small things make it a very full and entertaining backdrop for the game.

But what about the gameplay? Not to worry, the it’s quite fun. If you’ve played any of the aforementioned beat ‘em ups, you’ll feel right at home. You play as either Scott, Ramona, Kim Pine or Stephen Stills. That’s right, the whole Sex B-ombs is ready to go. Then you go beat stuff up, each level ultimately culminating with one of the evil exes in a big over the top fight. Repeat seven times. Luckily each level is quite different with its own unique enemies and layouts. Quite fun stuff.

Special shoutout to the gentlemen behind the soundtrack. Really awesome retro rock and roll that fits perfectly into the beating up back guys thing. Really awesome. I can’t praise the music enough. A band entitle Anamanaguchi, they provide the excellent soundtrack. A quick check on Amazon show they have a cd entitled Dawn Metropolis. I am downloading it at this very moment

Now the game is great, don’t get me wrong, but there are a couple places it could improve. Two things I would have liked to see are online co-op, (there’s none) and drop-in drop-out co-op. The latter I kinda see why they didn’t include it, the former I don’t know why. It’s hard to get four people in the same room, unless you’re in college, which I’m not anymore. Online play would have been great. Also, the game is a bit hard. I advise replaying each level after beating it once for the experience.

Scott Pilgrim VS the World is a fun multiplayer retro beat ‘em up. Fans of the series should definitely check it out, but fans of retro games and beat ‘em ups in general should also. theindiegeek out.

Writer’s Block is a pain. Whether you’re a blogger, famous writer, or college student at 4AM, getting stuck on what words to say is never fun. It’s even worse when your name is Alan Wake. Cause then you’ve got hordes of not-quite-human-beings to take care of, the darkness literally wants to suck you under, there’s a evil woman whispering words in your ear, and your wife’s been kidnapped. Some days it’s not worth putting pen to paper.

Alan Wake is a game from the same people who brought forth the magnificent Max Payne 1 & 2. And you can kinda see the influence. Alan looks and moves a bit like Max, though their similarities end there. Where Max is a hardened cop, Alan is an ordinary writer, like Stephen King or Jim Butcher. In fact, the game opens with a quote from King, which sets the tone nicely. The makers to a good job of working hard to make the game play like a Stephen King novel. Alan narrates the story, and the world is definitely at home in a King novel. While I wouldn’t say it’s scary, it’s a bit creepy, which is good. Actually wouldn’t have minded a bit more on the fear side.

The story is the real highlight of the game. A real fantastic tale of Alan basically figuring what the hell’s going on and what he’s to do about it and how he’s going to rescue his wife from the darkness that seems to be consuming all around him. There’s enough clever twists and turns to keep you hooked, especially with the episodic setup. The game is divided into six chapters, each with its own ‘Last Time on Alan Wake…’, and cliffhanger ending. Gives the game a nice feel. Although the chapters are a bit long. They’re just a little too long to do in one sitting. I would rather have more, shorter chapters, but that’s just a minor complaint. The story is quite excellent.

One thing with thrillers, is does the story make sense as a whole? With Alan Wake, the answer is yes and no. You can get a general sense of what’s going on, but they don’t give you everything. If you make conjectures and best guesses, you can figure it out, but that’s open to interpretation, there’s no one unified Alan Wake Theory. But there’s enough explained. Tying the story directly into the gameplay is one of the more unique collectibles I’ve seen in a game. Along the way, you find pages of a novel that Alan’s written, but doesn’t remember when. What’s more is what’s written on the pages comes true. Really quite awesome, and adds a lot to the atmosphere and keeps you looking out for pages.

The gameplay is pretty fun. Most of the game involves Alan running around at night, escaping Taken (the darkness filled people and monsters, not the Liam Neeson movie), and possessed farm equipment and other dark things. To kill the Taken first you need to burn away the darkness with your flashlight, flare, car lights, or any other sources of light (see: Rock Concert). Then you can use your guns to finish it off. It’s a pretty neat mechanic I rather enjoyed. Just don’t run out of batteries. Alan’s also able to cinematically dodge attacks if you time it right. These look pretty awesome and are very useful.

The music is quite excellent, and I was extremely happy to see the return of Poets of the Fall. They wrote the song “Late Goodbye” for Max Payne 2, a very excellent song, and their music is featured twice in the game. At one point, a record with a song of theirs is a clue for what Alan needs to do next. Also, at one point while navigated through some woods, Wake comes across a shack with a radio. Turning it on, starts playing one of their songs. At that moment, Wake is attacked and a battle ensues, all the while the song plays in the background. A truly great moment in the game, I wish there were more like it.

I usually think Collector’s editions are a waste of money. Just give me the damn game. But the Alan Wake Collector’s Edition is very neat actually. The game is packaged to look like a book, and it contains a book about Bright Falls (the town in the game) and more about Wake. Also included are the soundtrack and a Bonus Features disc with more from the game devs about the game. Neat stuff. I recommend it, if you can snag a copy.

Alan Wake is a very neat game, and you really should play it, at least once for the story. It’s not terribly long, about 8-10 hours, depending how long you take exploring, and is worth your time. Take a look, you might like what you find.

Love it or hate it, the Dynasty Warriors series has been around for quite a while, and it probably isn’t going anywhere soon. I find myself in the former category. While I’ll admit the series has its faults (namely the lack of change), there’s something about mindlessly slaughtering hundreds of troops in a few minutes with nothing more than a spear and an over the top moveset. Throw in co-op, and you’ve got a recipe for some good fun. A recipe that hasn’t actually changed much. Ever. But even with just minor changes from game to game, it’s still quite fun.

Believe it or not, Dynasty Warriors actually has a historical setting, and the characters you play as were actual people. Set during the Three Kingdoms Era of Chinese history (roughly 180-290 AD), during which, three kingdoms, Wei, Shu, and Wu were battling for domination of China. Constantly warring. This inspired the great historical epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms (similar to Homer’s Illiad). Dynasty Warriors was based directly upon this epic.

Now, recently released on DVD and Blu-ray was a movie by John Woo (famous for Hardboiled and other Hong Kong action movies) entitled Red Cliffm which in Chinese is Chi Bi. Any Dynasty Warriors fan should instantly recognize the name. It was a very important battle and generally the midway point in DW. In the battle, the much smaller armies of Wu and Shu ally to defeat the much greater and powerful Wei through means of tactics, trickery, and having awesome generals. That’s oversimplifying it, but its the gist. The movie starts a bit before (Chang Ban) and shows the developing alliance and ends with the titular battle. Now, that’s all well and good, but does the movie entertain?

In a word, yes. In two words, hell yes. Filled with action as only the master John Woo can do, it’s a great war movie with spectacular battle scenes. As a fan of Dynasty Warriors, it was with great glee seeing some of my favorite characters portrayed. Tony Leung did a fantastic job and Zhou Yu, a favorite character of mine, and the general tactician for the battle at Chi Bi.  Also appearing are Zhuge Liang, Gan Ning, Sun Quan, Xiao Qiao, Sun Shang Xiang ,Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Cao Cao and more. So while it’s not everyone we’d like to see, it’s still a damn fine list. And the characters really do look their part. Quite excellent.

It’s important to note there are two versions of the movie, the Theatrical version and the International version. See, Red Cliff was originally released in two parts, but Woo shortened it for American release and so it could be viewed in a single sitting. My advice? I watched the Theatrical, loved it, and ordered the International Blu-ray. I advise you do the same. Watch the shorter one, see if you like it, then go order the full one.

I started out with Dynasty Warriors 2 on the PS2, and I was blown away. Had so much fun playing it. I then played all from 4 on, all the way through 6 Empires (4, 4 Xtreme Legends, 4 Empires, 5, 5 Xtreme….) including Samurai and Gundam Warriors and Orochi. Granted each are basically the same with a few small to medium differences, but they’re still fun, and the small changes are enough for die hards like myself. I’d like to make special note of the Empires and Orochi games. The Empires games play like a lite version of Risk and have always been quite fun. The Orochi games are crossovers between Dynasty and Samurai games, and instead of controlling a single character, you set up a team of three you can rotate on the fly, and there’s special team attacks, kind of like Marvel VS Capcom. Fun.

The Dynasty Warriors games have always been about over the top action, cool characters and hacking and slashing and slashing and hacking. Red Cliff is an excellent war movie depicting one of the most exciting battles from the era. I highly recommend both.

–theindiegeek.

One of my favorite games towards the end of the PS2 era was a little game called Gun. A western, it was very well done and very fun. Good story and voice acting, and you really got to do what you’d want to do in a western. You hunted bandits, hunted treasure, acted as deputy, broke out of jail, assaulted a town with Gatling guns and escaped a fort. Good times. Also, the length was just right. Just around 8-10 hours, it was a great weekend game. So when Red Dead Redemption was announced I was stoked. I hadn’t played Red Dead Revolver, but Redemption looked like Gun, only more so I was trilled. Did it deliver? Let’s see.

Redemption follows the story of John Marston, an outlaw gone straight, but blackmailed by the government into hunting his old comrades. And that’s pretty much the story in a nutshell. The story itself isn’t too complicated, but it makes sense and it works. What really works is the character of Marston. One problem I’ve always had with the GTA series is that playing a criminal, you don’t really feel sympathetic for your character. With Marston, it’s different. His actions are up to you, and you don’t have to play pure good or bad. They’re just means to the same ends. And, he’s quite likable anyways. You know where he’s coming from, his motives, he’s cocky but has the skills to back up the attitude. A good hero for the game. The supporting class is also pretty good, some more memorable than others. My favorite NPC would be Landon Ricketts, an ex-gunman you meet in the second act in the game. An older gunslinger, he’s world weary and probably the one person to put Marston in his place and have Marston respect him for it. My second favorite NPC is a fellow called Irish. His name says it all.

So good characters, check. Workable story, check. What’s next? Right, gameplay. The game plays like the GTA games, including mini-map in lower left corner of screen. You take on a series of mission for various people, and in between explore the huge sandbox they’ve given you to play in. I’d probably have to say that story missions are probably the weakest part of the game. There are many very cool missions, particularly towards the latter part of the game, but towards the beginning they can get pretty tedious. But stick with it, its really worth it and the 2nd half’s missions are much better.

Now, where the game really excels is the sandbox. Rockstar has always been the best at setting up a fun sandbox to play in, and it does not disappoint here. The world is very expansive, covering three areas: the more wilder border and its towns, Mexico, and lastly the more civilized northern territory. Plenty of variety to suit your taste. Plus, there’s just a ton of stuff to do besides the story. There gambling: poker, blackjack and liar’s dice. Bounty hunting, treasure hunting, animal hunting. Duels. Strangers asking tasks. Sharpshooting challenges. And my favorite: random events. While you’re running around doing whatever, they’ll be stuff that happens, like a stagecoach getting robbed, that you can, if you choose, to take part in. These events can range from saving someone from a lynch mob, to a duel challenger, to saving a barmaid from a disgruntled customer to horse theft. All this is optional, but really adds to the whole feel of the Wild West, and is probably my favorite part of the game.

Red Dead Redemption is a great game, particularly for its portrayal of the Wild West. It’s really a fun sandbox to play in, with a ton to do. I completed the story in about 28 hours with 80% completion. With DLC in the works, it’s a game you’ll be playing for a while. (Also, if anyone needs help with the game, let me know). The story’s good and the end is awesome. Will say, that the game doesn’t end when or how you think it will, but its good. Remember, it’s not over until the credits roll. (and you can keep playing past the credits). Do yourself a favor and at least give it a try. You’ll probably like it.

One last thing to say: Fucking cougars. (Play the game, you’ll see what I mean)

This is more for my own benefit, but I’d like your thoughts on these games, and any that I might have left out. Thanks!

Red Dead Redemption DLC

Alan Wake DLC

Fallout: New Vegas

Dues Ex 3 (very much so, this one)

Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2

Crackdown 2

Portal 2

Fable 3

Dead Rising 2

Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions

So as you may have noticed from a few of my earlier posts, I am a Super Nintendo fanboy, and avid SNES collector. Here are a few games in particular I am looking for:

• EVO: The Search for Eden
• Megaman X2
• Megaman X3
• Megaman 7
• Secret of Mana
• Zombies ate my neighbors
• Actraiser 1 and 2
• Earthbound

Also, I am however always looking to pad my collection. Also, my snes and controllers are working fine, but due to their age, I am a bit paranoid and wouldn’t mind a backup. Thus I am also interested in consoles/controllers. Just let me know. Comment or email: theindiegeek

Here is my collection, just for your interest:

• 7th Saga
• Aladdin
• Chrono Trigger
• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
• Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble
• Final Fantasy 2 (4 JP)
• Final Fantasy 3 (6 JP)
• Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest
• Illusion of Gaia
• Kirby Superstar
• Lagoon
• Megaman X
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
• Pilot Wings
• Rocky and Bullwinkle
• Secret of Evermore
• SimCity
• Star Fox
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Super Battleship
• Super Empire Strikes Back
• Super Mario All-Stars
• Super Mario Kart
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
• Super Mario World
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
• Super Metroid
• Super Return of the Jedi
• Super Star Wars
• Toy Story
• Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose
• Turtles in Time
• Wheel of Fortune
• X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
• Zelda: Link to the Past

So like I said, I’m an avid collector. Feel free to contact me in any of the many ways. Thanks!

Recently, I had the chance to finally sit down a play through the Uncharted games. For the uninitiated, the Uncharted series follows treasure hunter Nathan Drake on his wild and adrenaline-filled adventures. After seeing the reception Among Thieves had received (many, many game of the year lists), I was more than eager to play them, just finding time was tricky. And for once, the public was right. They were truly awesome games. A pinnacle of what gaming could be. I called Drake’s Fortune amazing. So when I finally beat Among Thieves, which blew it out of the water, I had to find a new word to describe it. So some friends on twitter and I coined the word ‘Drake-tastic’, that is, beyond amazing. But really, the music is fantastic, graphics are very impressive, the stories are extremely engaging and the manner they’re told in is top-notch.  The game play is fun, puzzles are clever but not too hard, and gunplay, while occasionally frustrating, is fun and checkpoints are frequent so even if you die fairly frequently (like I did at points) you never have a whole lot to replay. But most importantly, the characters are some of the best I’ve seen. I cannot praise the character work enough. But I will try.

Great, power’s out, and a girl’s trapped. I swear to God, if there’s a Zombie around the next corner… -Nathan Drake

I’m very much a character-oriented person. If a game or movie doesn’t have good or at least interesting characters, I’ll quit, regardless of the story. The converse is also true, if something’s generally mediocre, but the characters are cool, I’ll finish it regardless. Luckily, Uncharted is far from mediocre.  As stated before, the games follow Nathan Drake, a modern Indiana Jones and treasure hunter, on his adventures. Along for the ride are his buddy Victor ‘goddamn’ Sullivan and Elena Fisher, a reporter hoping to make it big with a feature on Drake’s adventures. The chemistry between these three characters is a joy to watch. Other characters they encounter are Harry Flynn, an old thieving partner of Drake’s, Chloe Frazer, the femme fatale of Among Thieves, and Tenzin, a Tibetan mountaineer that guides Drake and despite not knowing a common language, they end up saving each other’s lives multiple times. While all the character are very strong, I was most impressed the characterization of Drake and Elena. They’re both very real, they’re not perfect, they sometimes fail, but when push comes to shove, they show remarkable will and strength.

Y’know, people are always telling me how lucky I am. But the truth is, everything I touch turns to shit.-Nathan Drake

Nathan Drake is the protagonist of the series, a role which carries a great deal of weight. He needs to be interesting, but players also need to be able to relate to him. Sure and confident, but not overly cocky. Skilled and qualified, but not a total Superman. The protagonist’s job is to guide the player through the game, they are the vehicle through which the player experiences the events of the story. It is a role Drake succeeds in. Drake is your everyman, your very definition of the word average and normal. Apart from being in shape and some shooting experience, he has no super powers. He’s not invincible, nor super-strong, nor super quick. He’s just Drake. He’s a hero. He’s funny, charming, good-looking, very well-intentioned, willing to do what’s right, even at great risk to his own life and limb and loss of the treasure. In other words, he’s the kind of guy you’d be ok with dating your younger sister. But Drake’s far from perfect. He fails, he doubts, he makes mistakes. And it is through these mistakes that he learns and finds courage and will to grow and continue on. It is with great joy that the player watch Drake evolve from ‘just’ a treasure hunter to one of the greatest heroes gaming has seen. Making those tough decisions, trying his best to save everyone and ultimately coming out on top, but just barely.

Elena Fisher: Nate, please be careful… Nathan Drake: [chuckles] Arent I always? [bangs head on low celing] OWWW! I did NOT see that coming!

While there is certainly no lack of females in gaming, there is a great lack of actually interesting, strong and developed females. Women in games tend to be either damsels in distress, sex icons or some mix thereof. While there are a few notable exceptions, i.e. Terra from FFVI, Bastila from KoTR and Rinoa from FFVIII, gaming is still very much a male-dominated hobby. So when we meet a character like Elena Fisher, it comes as a huge breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, Elena IS very attractive, but she’s also capable. During a firefight, you’ll find her right up front with Drake, not cowering away. Elena is the most dynamic of the cast. She starts off as a normal reporter, trying to make it. But through her encounters with Drake and the cast and her own stubborn will, she emerges as one of Drake’s most faithful and clever allies. During the times when Drake’s having a crisis of faith, it is Elena that spurs him on and helps get him through it, and reminds him of the good he’s done. The on-screen chemistry between Drake and Elena is absolutely fantastic, both during videos and normal gameplay. The way they banter back and forth is reminiscent of Castle and Beckitt or Booth and Bones. She accompanies Drake through most of his journeys and ultimately, he couldn’t have done it without her.

Drake and Elena are only two of the extremely strong cast of the Uncharted series. If you own a PS3 and enjoy good games, you owe it to yourself you play through them. If you don’t own a PS3, find someone who does and make a new best friend. They are fast-paced, fun, epic and very exciting games. And at the end of the day, what more to we want from a game?

–theindiegeek

A nearby town is having elections for town mayor in the near future. Being an adventurer of some repute, the townsfolk have asked you to weigh in on the candidates and back one. The two candidates are Michael, a local politician, who is undoubtedly arrogant and corrupt, but definitely has a way with words and the backbone to effectively enforce the laws and get things done. The other candidate is Hannah, a local schoolteacher who knows all the townsfolk by name and is well liked and is held in high regard morally and ethically. However, she is a bit weak-willed and it is uncertain how authoritative she would be. These elections will have longterm ramifications for the town. Who do you back?

Who would you back in this scenario? Michael? Sure he’s corrupt, but he’d certainly get the job done.  Hannah? She may not be the strongest, but she’d enforce a morality Michael would laugh at. Who do you choose? What is your choice?

Lately, it seems many video games have been focused on the idea of ‘choice’. Games like Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, and inFamous have really highlighted choice as one of their strong points as to why you should buy and play them. And why not? Choice makes the games more personal, increases replayability, and generally makes the player feel like a participant in the story of the game rather than merely an observer. So should every game from now on just jump on the choice train? In short – no.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of being involved in the story of games. At the beginning of February when Mass Effect 2 came out, I played it through in a week. Then as soon as I was done, I started playing again with a different Commander Shephard making different choices. So I do enjoy good choice games. The thing is, it is really hard to get right. Very few games have done so. So many times the choices are so cut and dry that you end up with something like this:

So many games, like inFamous, or every Star Wars game ever, or Fable or countless others the choices are so clearly black and white, good or evil, lightside or darkside, that it is actually counter-productive. So you’ll get a choice like ‘kill a kitten’ or ‘donate to charity’ and the only real choice is ‘am I playing good or evil this time through?’, something you decided in the first few minutes of the current playthrough. In instances like these, it’s less of a choice and more of a merely different way to go through the game, two very clear and distinct paths, and the only choice is which path are you on, then you take the actions that correspond to that path.

Gameplay mechanics add to this. Most ‘choice’ games reward players for have full good or evil ratings, so there’s no incentive to mix it up and actually think about what your character would actually do, or in other-words: roleplay! Which is the whole goal of having choices in a game.

A good choice in a game should actually make you stop and think, actually pause and consider the consequences of your actions. Less black and white, and more grey choices. One game that did this for me was Bioshock. The first time I found a Little Sister and was given the choice of saving or harvesting, I froze. Sure I wanted to do the good thing, but I also want to be powerful. The roleplayer and powergamer in me drastically butted heads. So what do you do? Be a saint, be practical, or rationalize and only harvest some of the Little Sisters.

One other good sign is lasting effect, or choices that affect later gameplay but you don’t know when, or choices that seem inconsequential, but actually do change things later. This is where the aforementioned Mass Effect 2 really shines. Many of the choices in the first game were fairly straight forward, barring a few VERY notable exceptions at the end. Two ventures away from this, where even my paragon of justice just had to knock someone’s lights out or call BS on someone. But the best part is that after importing my character there were many times someone I’d talked to in the first game had an effect on a mission I was undertaking in 2. Now, when I played 1 I had no idea it would affect 2, but my decision there directly influenced how that character acted and responded in 2 sometimes helping me, othertimes trying to impede my progress depending how I treated them previously.

I would like to call particular attention to The Witcher. This game I believe has handled choice the best of games in recent memory. The game has several chapters and many times decisions made in chapter two won’t come back until five, and ultimately the whole endgame sequence is forged by your choices throughout the game. Also, many of the choice are extremely grey. Neither choice is particularly ‘good’ or ‘right’ but you still have to choose. Really a well done game. Unfortunately at time of writing, it is only available on PC.

So in short, is choice good? Yes, yes it is. It just has to be done right. It has to be handled carefully, delicately, and properly. It can either be a huge benefit to your game or if done poorly, a very large detriment.

–theindiegeek

Thanks to the many who helped me and gave me feedback on this idea:

@devilherdue, @saan1911, @joshmajestik, @GeoffSaysHi, @chriszaplatosch, @doozerblake, @misterpoppet, @iamfiction, Konrad, Scott, Jose and Rob

A while ago I wrote a post on one of my favorite Super Nintendo games, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.  Not long after that, I asked on twitter and facebook what other people’s favorite SNES games were.  And boy did I get a response.  Before I get to the list, let me laud the SNES some more.

I got my SNES over a decade ago, it was a birthday gift from my friends, and somehow it still works.  It’s on of the original SNES with the two purple bars for power and reset.  These things were made to last.  A library made of greatness (as you’ll see later), it is still my favorite console.  For the record, PS2 is number two (one of the greatest library of games).  Games for the SNES are just flat out fun.  And to make sure it’s not just nostalgia speaking, I recently hooked mine up and played it for quite a while.  Lo and behold, most of the games are still quite fun.  Super Mario World is my favorite Mario game, (I just never could get the hang of 3d mario controls, and I prefer sidescrolling platformers anyways), Mega man X is totally awesome, Super Metroid defined the series, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past of one of the greatest games ever (my personal favorite Zelda, nothing against Ocarina, just a preference.)  Final Fantasy VI (3 in US) is my favorite FF ever,  etc.  So many classic on the system. So, so many.

Now for the list (in no particular order):

Secret of Mana – awesomeness.

Zelda: Link to the Past – maybe not the best, but my favorite Zelda.

Super Mario Kart – Still the best of the series. (many people agree with me)

Super Tecmo Bowl

Yoshi’s Island – One of the best platformers ever made.

Super Mario World – THE CLASSIC. (many, many, many people on this one)

Mega Man X – (X2 and X3 as well if they weren’t impossible to find)

Donkey Kong Country  (whole series. many, people on this one.)

Final Fantasy VI (III in America) – (IV is also very good, II in America) Also, my favorite Final Fantasy ever.  Terra FTW, Kefka FTW.

Battle Cars

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

Other games deserving mention:

Chrono Trigger – One of my favorite RPGs (and games) period. You must play this game.

Super Metroid

Bahamut Lagoon

Castlevania X

Tiny Tales: Buster busts loose – Don’t laugh! It’s a really fun game!

Turtles in Time: A Great beat-up em starring everyone’s  favorite mutant ninjas.

Super Star Wars, Empire, Jedi – These games.  Great games, hard as hell. Not sure if the’re more to say about ‘em other than that, really.

Super Mario All-Stars –  simply a must have collection

Pilot Wings – Surprisingly fun.

Aladdin – Great platformer, despite being a license game.

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest – Kidding! But I did enjoy it in middle school.

Please, let me know if I have left any off this list.  I will gladly add your in my celebration of the Super Nintento Entertainment System.  Goodbye everyone, and good gaming!

–theindiegeek out.

theindiegeek on: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

A long time ago, before the Wii and Paper Mario, before Tidus and Yuna, even before Squeenix, there was a little game called Super Mario RPG.  I say little, and yet the game was pretty big, and pretty fantastic.  A joint venture between Squaresoft (not Square-Enix) and Nintendo, this game was the grandaddy of all the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi RPGs.

Let me start out by saying this is one of my favorite games of all time.  It is extremely entertaining, with funny and whimsical characters, great mini games, an engaging combat system, and quite simply it’s flat out fun.  In researching for the article, I fired the game up to see if it was still fun.  Lo and behold it was.

The story starts out with your typical (and by typical I mean every time) Mario beginning.  Princess Toadstool has been captured by Bowser and Mario has to to rescue her.  Shortly after giving Bowser the boot, and just before he’s about to untie Toadstool, a giant frickin’ sword comes down right through the center of Bowser’s keep.  Mario, Bowser, and Toadstool are tossed to the far edges (if an elliptical world can have edges).

Mario is convenient tossed right back into his house, and at the insistence of Toad (y’know the guy from Mario 2), he runs back to Bowser’s keep, which is apparently only a short ways away from Mario’s house.  This explain alot.  He gets to the keep and confronts the giant sword, only now it’s a giant talking sword.

After antagonizing Mario for a bit, the sword destroys the bridge, and given that the world is one giant ellipse, he starts out on his journey the long, aka other, way.  Along the way he finds out that because of the giant talking sword, wishes are no longer granted.  Well, shit.  So he pulls together a motley crew including Mallow, the not-toad magic user, the aforementioned Princess after rescuing her from child-like psycho Booster, the not-evil-just-misunderstood Bowser, and the awesome Geno.

Geno is a badass.  He is a doll, possessed by a higher being who tells Mario what’s going on with the Star Road (the thing that grants wishes that the giant talking sword, from here on out referred to as GTS, destroyed).  He is both an adept fighter and magician.  He uses guns and his spells do quite a bit of  damage.  I wish Geno was in other games, but to this day he has not made an appearance beyond his role in Mario RPG.

One of the awesome parts of the game is the extremely varied places Mario has to go on his quest, including but not limited to:  The Mushroom Kingdom, Kero Sewers, a town of mining moles, Yoshi’s Island, a child-like psycho’s (Booster) tower of fun and explosives, Marrymore, a town whose economy is entirely built around weddings, a pirate shark’s sunken ship, beanstalks to climb, a magical kingdom in the clouds, a fiery volcano, a casino, Bowser’s Keep, a town of reformed monsters, and a world of machines.

One thing I found very entertaining is the way the story is told.  Given that this is a fantasy world, a large number of things that shouldn’t normally talk do, i.e., tadpoles, arrows, machines, turtles, etc.  One exception to this rule is plumbers who like the color red.  That’s right, our boy Mario is a mute in this game, but that doesn’t prevent him from getting his point across.  Mario is apparently a mime on the side.  He conveys his story by a series of elaborate and hilarious pantomimes, and is often joined quite comically by his teammates.  A rather unique way to get a point across.

I believe that Mario RPG has recently arrive on the WiiWare network.  If this is so, you have no excuse for not playing it.  If you are lucky enough and your Super Nintendo still works (like me) you really owe it to yourself to find a copy and play it.  It’s truly a great game.

–theindiegeek