Hey, g1’s, it’s your old friend Tremendous Tom here coming at you from Sweden, the big and cold penis of Europe. It’s been a while since I actually posted something here, and that’s mainly because school kicked off recently. I’m studying civics at probably the biggest school in my town and I can safely say that school doesn’t leave me any time that I can use for writing valid blog posts, because I’m practically being showered with homework. So with school taking up half of my free-time, I’ve decided to be pretty unoriginal when it comes to blogging. That’s right – I’m going the way of Jet Fire and as Thunderbird and y-bot did before him by making my own Top 50 Games of All Time! And don’t worry Angel Eyes, darklinkdude77 and Ultimate-Ninja – I’ve noticed your lists too! The list is going to come out in parts, like any other Top 10+ list out there, with 5 entries coming out as often as I can make them. The reason I’m not going to do a “Top 100” instead of just 50 is because making 20 elaborate posts about 5 games and why I put them there is just going to be way to time-consuming for me. That’s not to say that doing 10 posts about 50 games isn’t going to take a lot of time as well, but 50 is 50% off of 100, right? Also, I don’t really think I can think of 100 good games that I’ve played long enough to write a post about. Also, I should also point out that this is a 100% personal list and that *****ing about that your favourite not making it on the list is as pointless as cutting your own fingers off. Also, keep in mind that the list isn’t 100% accurate either, because it’s no easy task ranking 50 games that I’ve played (credit goes to darklinkdude77 for making a #110 list!) because it’s hard comparing two games that don’t belong in the same genre. So, now that we’re done with the introduction, let’s start with the first entries - #50-#46! Special thanks: Anyone who ever made a Top 50+ list for inspiration! ==================================================== #50 – Wario Land 4 Developer: Nintendo R&D1 Released on: Game Boy Advance (2001) Genre: Platformer Wario first made his debut in the Super Mario Land sequel “Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins” where he appeared as the main villain. Since that game, I always thought that Wario was going to be a recurring villain the series, mainly because he is depicted as a counterpart to the best plumber in video game history. But to my surprise, Wario did not become a villain (at least not in the same sense as Bowser did) but more of an anti-hero, putting his greed and his desire for wealth above anything else. Today, Wario has starred in a lot of games and has even started his own franchise, Wario-Ware. The fourth instalment of Wario’s solo career, Wario Land 4 is my favourite game about the yellow, fat anti-plumber! Wario Land 4 starts off when Wario reads the newspaper about a treasure that can be found in a golden pyramid. The newspaper talks about Princess Shokora who had been cursed by the evil Golden Diva because of Shokora’s enormous treasures. Being the greedy bastard that Wario is, he wastes no time jumping into his car and rushes off to the jungle to find the ancient pyramid and all the treasures with it! So the story is, as you can see, nothing short of William Shakespeare, right? The story isn’t really an important aspect of this game, even though a good game becomes even better if the story is well-written. But all you need to know about this game is that where there’s money, there’s Wario! The game is an old-fashioned sidescroller and the objective of each level is to find a key (which is hidden in the level somewhere), start a countdown timer and get back to the start of the level before the timer reaches zero – all while collecting as much loot as you can! To defeat enemies, you can pick them up and hurl them at other enemies like in the other Wario-games, and you can either dash into enemies by simply pressing the “B” button. However, by holding one of the shoulder buttons of the Game Boy Advance, you can do a fierce headbutt if you can get a running start. This headbutt can help you get to the goal (or start of the level, whatever you want to call it) faster as it increases your running speed, but it also knocks out most enemies and it makes your jumps way more inaccurate. One of the best things about this game is the levels. They’re all extremely imaginative and I think you’ll get your fair share of chuckles along the way too. And since this game has something more than just reaching the end of the level without dying, it makes the levels more interesting to take a different route back to the start of the level each time you activate the timer. Also, whenever you finish the game, you are more than welcome to redo all the levels again and fight all the hilarious bosses one more time. And if you can collect more treasures than you could the first time running through, maybe the princess will be even more sexy than she already is? I could’ve might as well put Wario Land: The Shake Dimension/Shake It for the Wii on as #50, but there is one thing that makes this game superior from the recent Wii title; this game is handheld! This game was perfect for me when I was sitting on the can or sitting in the backseat of a car going to my grandma’s house or something. That’s not to say that Wario Land: Shake It could’ve been on a handheld console as well, but I don’t think you’d want to spend 30 minutes on the toilet with this game and saying that you were stuck in the bathroom shaking a stick for half an hour. #49 – Aladdin Developer: Capcom Released on: Super Nintendo Entertainment System Genre: Platformer How to you earn quick money if you’re a game developer? Easy – you make a game based off a famous movie, of course! Such is the case of Aladdin, based of the 1992 movie of the same name. But having a movie based game on a video game console on this list, you’d probably think that I like this game. Well, if you’ve seen my review of it (which, by the way, has been taken down – so you know I’m not here to plug my channel, hurr) you’d know what I think of it. But if you haven’t, let’s find out! Like any other movie game out there, the story of this game is taken directly from the movie (so if you haven’t seen the movie, go watch it now). Although something is missing when it comes to the story like… the story itself. The story of this game is told in cutscenes in between every level. But this is clearly a game where Capcom decided to emphasize the gameplay rather than the story, which is probably the most important aspect when making a movie game since you’re not playing a movie game to watch the story and get connected with its complex characters, you’re playing it because… you know, you want to play a video game! But hey, it has a 16-bit version of “A Whole New World”, so I guess that’s alright. A Whole New World in Swedish, sung by Peter Jöback and Myrra Malmberg The game is also a very standard platformer. You run, jump and climb, but you also swing off of things and you throw apples at almost everyone who stand in your way. Every enemy in the game is taken directly from the movie, but they also seem to have been cloned since there are over a thousand (very accurate estimation, I know) Razoul’s out there. But complaining about stuff like that is just nitpicking, because the fun of this game lies completely in the gameplay and Capcom pulls the platforming aspect of this game off pretty damn well. The difficulty-meter might stay on casual throughout the entire game, but the “easiness” of the game only makes it more welcoming to come back and play it some more. And that’s what’s so great about the game, Capcom did not turn this game into something unfaithful to the movie, but rather it to something that you would totally expect from a movie based game. As a stand-alone game, I mean if we ignore the fact that this game is based off a movie, this game wouldn’t be one of my top #50 games of all time. But because of the movie it’s based off of, and the way Capcom pulled it off it deserves a spot here. I guess you could say that this game shares the same spot on this list as Wario Land 4 does. My only reason for this game not being #50 is because this game was part of my childhood and actually one of the first games I ever beat. But anyway, it’s a good game and I think it’s pretty deserving for #49! #48 – Pocky & Rocky Developer: Natsume Released on: Super Nintendo Entertainment System Genre: Action/Platformer Now here is a game I never hear anyone talk about – Pocky & Rocky. This game was actually one of the first games that I ever owned because I got this game along with my cousin’s Super Nintendo + Super Mario World. But why this game is left so much in the shadow still perplexes me. But if I seem to think so highly of this game, why is this only on number #48? Well, my friend, you’re about to find out! The story about Pocky & Rocky circles around a girl, named Pocky, and a tanuki (a racoon-looking creature which is part of Japanese folklore in many ways) named Rocky who both live in Feudal Japan. One day, when Pocky is at a shrine doing girly stuff, her friend Rocky who is part of group of yokai (Japanese demons) known as the “Nopino Goblins” tells her that every Nopino Goblin has been driven insane by an unknown evil force. The Nopino Goblins are all other creatures from Japanese myth such as kappas (sort of like a cross between a human and an amphibian creature), obake (shapeshifters) and yurei (ghosts) and know it’s up to both Pocky and Rocky to stop the evil force and turn everything back to normal! The game is like your average shoot-em-up, except you’re not in a plane. You’re either controlling Pocky or Rocky and you throw whatever weapon is in your disposal (for Pocky it’s cards, for Rocky it’s leaves) at whatever enemy that crosses your path. There’s really nothing more that I can say about the game, because you probably already understand the gist about what the game is all about. I mean, there isn’t really much to it than just blasting your way through the stage and defeating the stage boss. But the reason you’re playing this game is probably because you’re with a buddy, because this game is best played with a friend. In the two-player mode, one person takes control of Pocky and the other person takes control of Rocky, and it sort of becomes a shmup in which there’s two planes on the field which I personally haven’t seen before. Playing this game with a friend is makes this game much more hilarious than before because of just one move created for the sole purpose of ruining friendships – the slide. If you press the “X” button, Pocky or Rocky hurl themselves 5 meters. If you should happen to slide into your partner, it will cause your partner to bounce off the walls like crazy and while being turned into a human pinball, you’re bound to get a punch on the arm if the one you’re sliding in to (that didn’t sound 100% clean, now in retrospect) happens to be me. But now to the juicy and squishy point, why is this only #48 if it now is such an amazing game? I can’t really give you an answer, but I can definitely say that you’re exaggerating if you want to call this game amazing. I think my reason for this game being at the 48th spot on this list is because you have to look at this with your critical glasses and judge it by its flaws. It’s very short, with only 6 levels, and the difficulty makes it almost unforgiving if you’re playing it all by yourself. But if you have Pocky & Rocky lying around, invite your friend over to play it, and you’ll have fun for about an hour with it, or until you’ve punched the others player arms so much for making you bounce off the walls like a living pinball. #47 – Mega Man 6 Developer: Capcom Released on: Nintendo Entertainment System Genre: Action/Platformer It’s no secret that the Blue Bomber made his name on the good old Nintendo Entertainment System. He had 6 completely memorable games on the NES and a couple more on the Super Nintendo. Nowadays, however, he doesn’t really have the same reputation as he did before. I mean, Mega Man 9 (which I haven’t played enough to have a credible opinion about) reminded us that the Blue Bomber isn’t really dead yet, and that we could (I’m not saying that we should) be expecting something harder, better, faster, stronger from Rockman in the future. But let’s not hold our breath, and let’s remember the last game in the NES Mega Man line-up; Mega Man 6. The story about Mega Man 6 tells us about a robot master tournament. Dr. Light, being a pacifist, decides not to enter the tournament but the sends Mega Man to check on the tournament to see if everyone is safe. The tournament seems to work out fine and 8 robot masters are victorious. But as the tournament is about to end, a mysterious man named Mr. X tells the audience that he has reprogrammed all the robot to do his bidding and to help him take over the world! And of course, it’s up to our Blue hero to put and end to this mysterious Mr. X’s evil scheme. Many people say that if you’ve played an old-school Mega Man game you’ve pretty much played them all. While this is true, in a weird way, it’s also false in a way that makes the whole previous statement laughable. Rush, Mega Man’s robotic canine, returned in this game but he was a bigger part of Mega Man, quite literally. You could now use Rush to “fuse” with Mega Man and make him punch his enemies and fly farther. Aside from Rush, you also had your robot bird Beat to kill anyone on the screen for you. However, Beat could only be acquired if you fought Tomahawk Man, Centaur Man, Knight Man and Yamato Man in a different lair. And to get to the robot master’s hidden lair, you had to use Rush. With Mega Man 6, Capcom knew that they couldn’t go with the same formula they’ve gone with the whole time. Sure, the slide and powered up Mega Buster was still present, but having different paths on their stages, for example, was a great idea when it comes to Mega Man. Otherwise, it’s everything you’d need in a Mega Man game, all the “run ‘n gun” action that we’ve grown to love with Mega Man are there, as well as the difficulty (even though the game is somewhat easier compared to other Mega Man games in the franchise). So why is it #47? Well, seeing what Rockman went through in both Mega Man 4 and 5, all great games by the way, Mega Man 6 perfected the aspects that 4 and 5 was trying out. I still think Rush had his prime in Mega Man 3, but having him fused with Rock was a unique and great idea, and a great way to keep the games refreshing. And I think the difficulty, while not being challenging enough compared to other games in the franchise, is right up my alley and is therefore my pick for my 47th best game of all time. #46 – Street Fighter Alpha 2 Developer: Capcom Released on: SNES, PSX, Arcade, Genre: Fighting Hell yeah, Street Fighter! It probably didn’t come as a surprise that Capcom’s legendary fighting franchise would make it on the list in some way, shape or form! This is actually the first Street Fighter game I got to play, and I got to play the SNES version. But is it really the best Street Fighter-game I’ve ever played, or is this just one game in the vast sea of SF-games that I used as filler? Well, let’s get kicking! Street Fighter Alpha 2 carries on with the thing that made Street Fighter famous in the first place, it’s fighting. It still has the same aspects as the first Street Fighter Alpha game did, like the air-blocking, 3 level super bar and fall-breaking. However, Street Fighter Alpha 2 introduced the Custom Combo. When the super bar was on level 1 or higher, you could press two punch buttons and one kick button two activate Custom Combo which allowed you to use any attack you could as a combo until the super bar ran out of energy. While it not might’ve been one of the most innovative upgrades the series have ever seen, it made the game more welcoming to button-mashers, if that made any sense. Otherwise, the game is your standard Street Fighter; you pick a character and you defeat whichever opponent who happens to stand in your way until you reach the final boss, which actually didn’t have to be Bison all the time. For Ryu, it could be someone as Akuma or… if you were good enough – Shin Akuma! Speaking of characters, the game had a vast roster of different characters. Most of them had been seen before like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Akuma. But now, new characters had entered the fray such as Rolento and Sodom from Final Fight and Gen, Birdie and Adon from the original NES Street Fighter. Also, one new character was introduced – Sakura, a teenage girl fascinated with Ryu. She has even managed to emulate his moves by throwing hadoukens and doing hurricane kicks. There were also some hidden characters in the game. Shin Akuma was one of the characters, but you couldn’t play as him. You could, however, play as Evil Ryu for the first time as well as a different version of Chun-Li with her original clothing from Street Fighter II. You could also play as altered versions of both Zangief and Dhalsim. I think this game is the best Street Fighter game… in the “Alpha-franchise”. It is definitely not the best Street Fighter-game by any means, but I can definitely say that it’s one of the better ones out there. It was well received amongst critics around the globe, and for a good reason. Capcom didn’t want to screw anything up and they kept Alpha 2 simple, yet very in depth. The Street Fighter franchise has always gone with their standard formula, “easy to learn, hard to master”, which is probably the best way to go if you want to make a successful fighting game. It just goes to show that you shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. But there are so much more better games out there, branching from different genres out there and compared to other fighters out there – all this is is dust in the wind. God, I love Kansas. ==================================================== And that concludes the first entries of my Top 50 List. I hope you found it enjoyable and I’ll hope that my schoolwork doesn’t take away too much of my time. I’m actually getting a free computer from my school, mainly because the people who run my school have realized that most work is done by a computer and not written by hand. So perhaps having access to a computer non-stop probably makes me more available, I don’t know… Either way, thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next part!