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Bobby's Top Video Games: 20-16
By Bobby - 02.20.03
15. Sonic The Hedgehog
1991 - Sega Genesis
"We need a mascot." That was the basic idea behind Sega's marketing campaign when the Sonic the Hedgehog game was released. The new console war was in effect between Sega and Nintendo, and with the release of the Sega Genesis 16-Bit system Sega wanted to draw people into the system. Sega held a contest for its employees to come up with the best character for their new system. Some woman had been reading about hedgehogs and thought they were cool, so she sent in a picture of a hedgehog in a rock band and Sonic was born from there. Sonic's hip image was marketed to block the image of the upcoming Super Nintendo system which would be released soon after the Genesis.
I list the first Sonic game because it really sums up what Sega was looking for. The stages are very fast. You can choose to explore the worlds of Green Hill Zone, Marble Zone, Scrap Brain Zone, and the like. If you're not inclined to find all of the secrets you can always just cruise through the level at blazing speeds, ignoring everything but 1-ups, rings, and shields. Dr. Ivo Robotnik's (also known by the dumb name of Eggman in Japanese translation) evil machines at the end of the 3rd Act in each Zone are simple and childish, but fun. Only kids or the Sega design team would come up with great ideas such as having a flying little round ship with a big ol' spike on it or a giant wrecking ball. Hell, when I was little me and a friend of mine used to design new ships for the good doctor to pilot.
 Sonic has a very cool mechanism for destroying objects in his world: spinning. HE can crouch into a little ball and charge up his dash to go blasting through a barrage of enemies and rings or he can do a simple spin jump onto them. Spin dash was also cool because you could use it to get through loops (something most games did not incorporate). The Sonic games were designed to use both the x and the y axis extensively to make a distinction from the generally single-planed world of Mario. Sonic also was given attitude. Waiting around for the player to move him he would start tapping his foot and looking around as if quite pissed off. How many other hedgehogs do you know that do that?
14. Final Fantasy VII
1997 - Sony Playstation
 If you've read the "My Too Many RPGs Problem" you'll know where this is going. I have not beaten FFVII. I have not even made it through the first disk. I was always a Nintendo fan so I didn't own a Playstation. I sat and posted disgruntled topics on Internet message boards and usenet groups about how Squaresoft was stupid for going over to the Darkside (but at least it wasn't Sega, right?). Later the game was released for the PC and I picked it up. I played it a bit but it just didn't have the right feel to it so I quit. Plus my computer blew ass and couldn't run the FMVs without skipping and freezing. When I got my Playstation 2 a few months after it first came out I picked up a lot of PSX games that I had never played before. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX were all on that list.
 FFVII is a fantastic game. I know this because I've played through some of it and the story is captivating, the characters are easy to identify with, the gameplay itself is really fun, and it's well composed. The graphics are good for their time (although we know the Playstation can handle more: i.e. Chrono Cross) and the non-planar viewpoint was a good tilt for the saga (so to speak). Materia is a fun way to customize your characters but is almost too open-ended. I know the story is going to get really really good, considering I know very little yet about Sephiroth. Yet, knowing all of this, for some strange reason, I still cannot get myself to sit down and go at it with this game. Other things always seem to come into play (pun intended) and I put it back down. Games like Suikoden, Final Fantasy X, Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec and the like just seemed to capture my attention more easily. I can only plead that you give me some time to finish this game after I beat Suikoden II, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy X. That's not a whole lot, right? Once summertime comes, I'll be good to go. Forgive me.
13. Space Invaders
1978 - Arcade
This was one of the first video games I ever played. I had some sort of Texas Instruments computer (I'm not quite sure what it was) when I was like 3 or 4 that my grandparents bought me for a gift. They were looking prospectively at the world of computers and figured it would be good to buy me one early that way I'd have it for a long time. While that may have not been the actual trend, it did provide me with a very good thing: Space Invaders. You'll have to forgive me for the fuzzy facts of this; this is all second hand material from my mom and vague recollections. My history with this game is not as important as the game itself.
 Produced and distributed by Midway in 1978, Space Invaders was a black and white game that used colored things overlays on the screen to add dynamic. We all know the premise of the game: a fleet of Aliens is in the sky and you're a lonely laser turret that can move back and forth along the bottom of the screen and hide behind barriers while trying to shoot at the alien fleet. What sucks: No matter how fast you shoot you can't win. Eventually the aliens will come down with such speed that people you even have a chance they will overrun the Earth and all will be lost. The cool part: At least you can keep track of your score until then! Space Invaders was the first game to include a high score feature… very thoughtful of them. They forgot one thing though: it would be helpful to enter some sort of name to show that it was your high score! No initials in this game… those would come a few years later. But it was still cool. I chose Space Invaders because it really ushered the era of arcade games in after what seemed to be a dying trend in the later part of the 70's. It was really after this point that things got good and all the classic arcade games you normally think of were created. The game itself is fun as well and feels good to get good at. There is no doubt that Space Invaders is, upon first play, surprisingly difficult, but once you get the hang of it, you've got it.
And now, a piece of high school poetry:
As the heartbeat base-thudding soundtrack speeds up,
Aliens speed up,
My eyes focus on the reign of firepower that storms the ground
Me in my little ship flails back and forth wondering,
"Why the fuck isn't anyone helping me."
12. Super Mario Bros.
1985 - Nintendo Entertainment System
With the words, "Thank you, Mario, but our princess is in another castle," an era of never-ending greatness was brought in. While Mario was first brought onto the scene as a carpenter trying to save a chick from a big ol' monkey in Donkey Kong and as a plumber with problems of his own in Mario Bros., it was Super Mario Bros. that catapulted the franchise to the top on their long road of success. The replay value is killer. Think of how many times you can just sit down and plow through the first couple of levels without even blinking an eye. Mario gives everyone a chance to play video games because he is simple. Mario is the perfect hero. Let me explain: His job is to save a hot chick who wants to jump his bones; you can tell he's lazy because he wears a hat and has a beer gut but can still kick everyone's ass; his brother must think Mario's the coolest since he wears the same clothes; and he was on my birthday cake for multiple years. This essentially elevates Mario to the level of a god (especially the birthday cake part).
You can't say that this game does not deserve to be on a Top 25 Games of All Time list. In fact, it should be one of the first things that comes to mind. I'm going to be so bold as to say that the Nintendo Entertainment System was the first successful system and this was the title that made it possible. While Super Mario Bros. wasn't the first game for the system it definitely was the must-have. In fact, as you will recall, this was the game for the system to be bundled with for a good portion of it's life. Fire flowers, one-ups, goombas, coins, Toads, and mushrooms. Mario can run, Mario can climb, Mario can bust blocks with his head, duck down low, squish goombas with his boots, jump and then change direction in mid-air, and save the whole planet. Super Mario Bros. is exactly what good play-control is all about. Super Mario Bros. is what fun-factor is all about. Super Mario Bros. is what it's all about… and there's no escaping it.
11. Pac-Man
1980 - Arcade
It's amazing how a little yellow thing opening and closing its mouth while sliding around a maze full of dots and a few ghosts can be up on a list of the greatest games of all time… but such is the way of the video game industry. Buckner and Garcia's hit "Pac-Man Fever" describes the phenomenon very well:
 I gotta pocket full of quarters, and I'm headed to the arcade.
I don't have a lot of money but I'm bringing everything I've made.
I've gotta callus on my finger, and my shoulder's hurtin' too.
I'm gonna eat 'em all up, just as soon as they turn blue
Now I've got 'em on the run, and I'm looking for the high score.
So it's once around the block, and I'll slide back out the side door.
I'm really cookin' now, eating everything in sight.
All my money's gone, so I'll be back tommorow night.
 I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that Pac-Man is probably the second most recognizable icon in video game history (only to fall behind Mario). Wakka-wakka-wakka and powerpills can be enjoyed by anyone. Pac-Man has a tractor beam on it for nostalgic adult gamers… it's probably the only game out the bunch that will most often have a 30 or 40 year old glued to it when I want to play. The hypnotic devouring of tiny white pellets and fruits and keys brings people back over and over. It's a simple puzzle game that gives you a feeling of control over the character's simple objectives and environment. Everything on the screen stays on the screen unless you change it somehow. Pac-Man presents a wonderful gaming experience to anyone willing to drop a quarter in. No wonder it is ported to systems like the Playstation 2… The game itself transcends technology improvements and will always be ready to give you a fix. Some things are just always good.
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