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Jimmy's Top Video Games: 20-16
By Jimmy - 02.20.03
20. Bomberman
1984 - NES
God, I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Everyone loves to blow shit up. Just admit it. Bomberman took this basic concept and elevated it to Olympian levels of greatness. On the surface, it's simple. You place bombs, they detonate and destroy both enemies and obstacles, enabling you to procure even more powerful bombs. So, not only are you destroying things, you're also improving your ability to do so. This appeals to me on a primal level. Power-ups increased the umber of bombs you could lay, their destructive radius, and even allowed you to detonate them on command. There's something glorious about sending a searing wall of flame across an entire screen, annihilating everything in its path.
The game really shined in multiplayer, allowing you to work cooperatively or simply blow the shit out of your friends. Either way, it was more fun than a pair of pants full of geckos.
 
19. Mario Kart 64
1997 - Nintendo 64
 Some may prefer the original SNES version, yet I feel this later incarnation has a certain maturity the earlier one lacks. Take your favorite Nintendo characters (mine's Yoshi), put them in go-karts, arm them with cartoonish weaponry, and I'll show you a good time.
I'm honestly not a huge fan of racing games, but this is one I keep coming back to. As with all my other choices, the key reason is fun. The tracks are varied and imaginative, the weapons and sound effects are hilarious, and the game offers enough modes of play to provide a decent amount of depth.
18. Suikoden
1996 - Playstation
 This is the first RPG on my list, but it certainly isn't the last. I love this game because it approaches everything on an epic scale. You don't control three guys who take on some girly-haired villain; you control over a hundred main characters leading an army of thousands against the forces of an evil empire.
The game is big, and it draws you in. There's just so much to do. Recruiting all of the playable characters, the "Stars of Destiny," as the game calls them, is a daunting task in and of itself. But there's also a castle to name (I love that, by the way) and renovate, lost books to collect, places to explore, battles to fight. There's a completely unnecessary (and optional) side-quest which involves finding paint for a mural in your castle. Hell, you can even collect antiques to decorate your sauna.
The game also scores big on style. The whole thing is bright and vibrant, and it's hard to get tired looking at it. The mood shifts from somber to humorous as appropriate, and the whole setting is pulled off excellently. Of course the battle system is excellent and adaptable, and all the standard RPG elements are done nicely. If they weren't, I wouldn't put it on the list.
17. Mario 64
1996 - Nintendo 64
 This was the first game for the N64, and it's important for several reason. One, it launched the console. Two, it breathed new life into the Mario franchise. Three, it showed what the system could do. And four, it explored new levels of gameplay. Plus it was really fun.
The setup: Mario's visiting the princess, when Bowser crashes the party. Mario has to collect stars to unlock areas of the castle and square things with the green bitch. To do this, Mario travels to different worlds and collects the several stars located there.
Level design rocked in this game. Each level was something new and refreshing, which kept the game from getting boring. A shift away from combat and toward puzzle-solving also made the game innovative. Whereas in previous Mario games you got your jollies stomping Koopas, now you had to think a little to solve your problems. I like thinking.
The only fault I kind find with the game is that its formula was too good; it spawned numerous clones for the N64 which consisted of cute characters collecting items in massive 3-D environments (can you say Banjo-Kazooie?). Some were fun, yes, but I feel it diverted attention away from other worthwhile projects, like making an actual RPG for the N64. And don't you dare mention Quest 64, or I'll feed you your own ass.
16. Time Crisis II
1998 - Arcades
One of the best arcade games I've ever played. The plot's pretty forgettable, as evidenced by the fact that I forgot it. The game makes the list because of two factors: timing and hiding.
You see, the game only gave you a certain amount of time to move between areas. At the same time, it also gave you the ability to temporarily hide in order to dodge fire and reload. The key to victory was balancing a smart defense with quick shooting. It was all about timing.
The graphics were okay, but certainly nothing to cause nocturnal emissions. I really like the design of the gun; most arcade shooters suffer from flimsy gun design. I like a weapon with some weight to it. All in all, it was just a fun game. I took a trip to Canada a while ago, and the highlight was playing Time Crisis II. I was at this arcade that let you buy a block of time as opposed to a number of plays, so I paid for an hour and went to work like it was my job. Good times.
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