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Bobby's Top Video Games: 25-21
By Bobby - 02.12.03
25. Area 51
1995 - Arcade
 Aliens have invaded the planet earth and you and the other members of STAAR must kill them. Nothing too special about a plot like that, right? But think about all the quarters that have been dumped into this game throughout the nation. Area 51 really was the first arcade light gun game to do justice to the genre. Sure other such games existed before this one in 1995… but they just were missing the touch that comes from the precise firing and well timed enemies and moving scenes. Area 51 is the first game I can think of to eloquently weave though the levels and make it so that you actually have a chance to get past the first level. Games like Mechanized Attack and Terminator 2 depend too much on heavy firing and games like Lethal Enforcers and the often forgotten Mad Dog Mcree didn't have the fluid enemy "make-them-go-on-screen" (for lack of a good word) and firing mechanisms that Area 51 featured.
 2 Player co-op was always a blast (and pretty much the only way to get decently far in the game) and blowing away aliens with Magnums is just the bonding experience two friends desire. I am also fond of the fact that the other agents in the STARR team are not as bad "friendly fire" targets as old shooting games have. While good-guys still popped out and you lost points if you hit them, it didn't have that classic "woman with a baby stroller popping out in the middle of a shoot-out" effect. Later games emulated the motions and shooting style of Area 51 and the genre owes much gratitude to Atari. And this is the item with which I kick off this whole thing.
24. Galaga
1981 - Arcade
 My favorite arcade game of all time. Generally classified some sort of Space Invaders-like bottom-up shooter, Galaga has worked its way to the top of my list of requirements that a boardwalk or beach must have to be good. Unlike "hummingbird" shooters which start as a dinky ship that gains ridiculous firing power as the stages become more and more complex, this game is quite the opposite. There are three types of enemies which fly onto the screen in a certain formation and you must blast away at them in a very Space Invaders fashion. The enemies can leave formation to try to attack you, or even capture your ship. If it gets captured you can get it back by blasting away the evil alien scum that stole it… and then you get the ship by your current ship's side… and double fire power is at your command. The risk involved in such an endeavor pays off nicely. It will also help you to blast away the enemies of the "Challenging Stage". Galaga was the first game to ever feature a bonus stage. In the Challenging Stage enemies fly onto screen in a formation and then fly off. Your job is to blast away as many as you can… a perfect score means a handsome bonus.
 I cannot get enough of this game. I discovered it the summer when I was able to drive when I was at the beach… but had no friends around to see. So I'd drive to a little music shop which had this, Ms. Pac-Man, and Space Invaders, and just plop down five bucks to play for an hour or so. Any time I am on the Eastern Seaboard near a beach I try to find a machine to play… and now I can figure out which ones are the closest to the gameplay which was originally programmed into them (the games can be toggled for speed and scoring). I know that Kevin can vouch for me when I say that when I grow older there is no way I am not buying one of these cabinets and setting it up in my house. Thank you, Galaga, for all your service. You do much good for your country.
23. Street Fighter 2 Turbo
1993 - Super Nintendo
Sometimes a little extra effort goes a long way. I totally found this to be true with Street Fighter 2 Turbo. When I first got my SNES however long ago for Christmas, I also recieved three games with it. Super Mario World, a A Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Street Figther 2. Sure it was fun to have a fighting game in there, but it just wasn't what I wanted. Since NES doesn't really have any true fighting games (in the modern sense) the only place for me to play was in the arcade. Street Fighter 2 was just too slow compared to the Championship Edition in the arcades.
Street Fighter 2 Turbo went that little extra step to make me love fighting games. Regardless of how  much I suck at them and how easily anyone can whoop my ass up and down the board they are still really fun. The inclusion of an integrated turbo system, the four extra characters, and the smoothness of the gameplay are what put this game above the original. I read the Nintendo Strategy Guide for this game as if it were the Bible. I had cards stapled together that had the character moves on the back and carried those with me everywhere I went. I even bought a Program Pad for the SNES to try to program moves in. All this, and I STILL sucked. But it's good clean fun SNES style and no other Street Fighter game could fill this spot more fittingly... espcially Street Fighter 2010.
22. Dance Dance Revolution 6th Mix - DDRMAX
1999 - Arcade/Playstation 2
Thank you Konami for getting me to use my feet. I will admit that I was a skeptic. Err… let me rephrase that. I used to think this game was "fuckin' gay as hell". In fact, I even have a photo from another article I was going to write for this site where I make fun of a girl playing DDR in an arcade. This was all from the last two years at the beach. This was all before I met J on the first day of school. It was he who introduced me to the home version . It was he who converted me. I can't say that I've been the same person since that fateful night.
 
When you first play this game it feel so awkward. You keep trying to recenter your feet on the pad instead of letting them stay on the arrows. All beginners (myself especially) look like they're Michael Flatley Lord of the Dance… but as you learn how to "dance" correctly you'll never be the same. The addicting qualities of this game are numerous. Many of the songs are very catchy and some of them are even noteworthy. DDRMAX for Playstation 2 features songs like "I Like to Move It" by Reel to Reel and Darudes' killer Sandstorm. I once was listening to the DDR 2nd Mix soundtrack in the car and confused the hell out of my sister.
Dance Dance Revolution is one of the only games where I get a sudden uncontrollable desire to play it and if it is not fulfilled I'll go from warning level "Elevated" to "High" like the U.S. does in terror scares. Interested to know the only complaint I have about this game? I am so out of shape right now that I get really tired while playing it. I'm not fat or anything like that either… I just get really hot and tired. But that makes it a great workout when you play for like 45 minutes straight or an hour or so. When I vow to get myself in shape this will be one of the first steps I take. Plus, this year when I go to New Jersey, I have another game aside from Galaga to pour my quarters into.
21. Suikoden
1996 - Playstation
 You get a castle. That's right… I said it. In this game you get to own a fuckin' bigass castle where all of your characters live. I don't know of any other games which have this feature. But that's beside the point. The game is about your classic RPG hero who must save the world from some great evil. In this case you are the son of a great general who realizes that the "empire" his father fights to protect is actually evil and you must fight to stop it. Along the way you collect the 108 Stars of Destiny; 107 characters other than yourself (most of which are playable) that will help you in your quest. One of the really nice features that Suikoden implements in the gaining of these characters if fast leveling up. As long as you fight a few battles with each character they can gain enough levels to be usable… and you are guaranteed to fall in love with a certain party by the end of the game.
Suikoden has many features that other games do not (or better features that other games have). First we will begin with the battle system. The characters in this game stand at an angle, as you can see in the picture on the left, and the enemies are on their diagonal. Different characters act with different attack ranges and they can attack at the same time as well so as to make the battle appear more fluid. I also really dig the non-fighting characters. You play a phat dice game with one to win infinites amount of money, some act as salesmen or blacksmiths, and some can be used as items (like a guy who makes you run fast).
The game also features three types of battle systems. There is the normal party-versus-enemies system, a one on one system where you use only a few commands, and a war system. When your army confront another army you have to choose from a few commands and it plays out much like a rock-paper-scissors game. These "Major Battles" are an awesome way to escape from the common "big boss battle" and the characters you have can also affect your performance.
There are very few games that I have been addicted to as much as this game, but the only reason it's not higher in the list is because it didn't do much for the video game world in general. While very fun to play the story is not to dissimilar from every other RPG, the graphics could have been better (although I do love the way it looks like a SNES game), and the soundtrack was mediocre. But hey, like I said, it's fun and you get a fucking castle.
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