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Kevin's Top Video Games: 20-16
By Kevin - 02.20.03
15. The 7th Saga
1993 - Super Nintendo
 An RPG that is vastly underrated, hated by many, and perhaps the most difficult quest-based game on a 16 bit system, The 7th Saga holds a unique place in my heart as the game that I "love to start and never finish." The game follows a simple enough course: you are a hero charged with the sacred quest of gathering the 7 runes of power, which are currently spread throughout the world of Ticondera. You begin as one of seven unique characters, and will eventually join forces with another along the way (technically you could go at it alone, but don't expect to live.) The heroes not aligned with you are also searching for the runes, and it becomes clear that they will fight, murder, maim and sliz-ap you in order to gain the power themselves. Did I mention that this game is impossible, and like many an RPG, has a "secret" world just when you think you've won? Did I mention that the game gets nearly impossible at that point? Did I mention I nearly left all of my worldly possessions to an orphanage, because the game is so hard that you actually think that it is going to kill you? I hope I mentioned those, and if not, forgive me for reiterating.
 When playing RPGs of any sort, I tend to stick to "good" characters and perform "right" actions. For me, The 7th Saga was no exception: I usually played as either Valsu (the priest with lots of healing spells and gnarly defense) or Kamil (the good-with-weapons Knight who was decently buff and fast.) Characters I avoided like the plague included Lejes, the fire-demon with shitty defense, and Wilme, the fucking weird alien guy. There is one semi-secret that renders this game possible: if you defend and then attack, the attack will be stronger than had you just simply attacked. Not only does this prevent you from dying in one hit (as is apt to happen,) it also allows you to smite in one attack (as is not usually apt to happen.) Without a doubt, this is the most fun "hard" game around, an RPG that requires lots of level building and battle strategy, to which the player is justly rewarded by pretty poorly translated dialogue.
14. GoldenEye 007
1997 - Nintendo 64
 This is why you bought an N64, and this is why you had a social life in middle school. Face it- you were fat, annoying, and nobody liked you…but you had one thing that they didn't, a large T.V. and 4 controllers. In GoldenEye, Rare perfected not only the console-based fps, but also the feature film tie-in game. Face it folks, movie claptrap like the Atari 2600's E.T. and the NES's Dirty Harry bite the big one, big time. Our Rare friends thought that an innovative, fun game was the only way to do it, and they did it right.
 We all had our favorite levels, our favorite weapons sets, and our favorite characters. I was the total joke of the group, and consequently played as Baron Samedi or Jaws frequently. Odd Job was too good, and the generic template characters were too... generic. Some of the better GoldenEye players that I have challenged prefer to constantly play License to Kill, using weird weapons all the while. For me, it don't get much better than jacking up life totals, jumping into the pyramid, and using proxy mines. Pretty sadistic when you think about it.
A brief shout-out must now go to Rare's rarely surpassed "follow-up" to GoldenEye, Perfect Dark. The game took all of the awesome playability of the previous game, spruced up the graphics, added more weapons, took away the movie license and raised the stakes. It is a "better" game than GoldenEye, but isn't as fun. Who doesn't want to hit Pierce Brosnon with a rocket while running around a labyrinth in Russia? GoldenEye, you made middle school survivable…we salute you!
13. Super Mario World
1991 - Super Nintendo
The star student and golden calf of the Super NES: Nintendo needed to show the world what their new system was all about, and what better way then with a new Mario game? Not only was the game huge, it also benefited from being battery backed, to allow muchos exploration and replay (unlike Super Mario Bros. 3, a big world that had to be tackled in one sitting.) Secrets abound, the levels scream with layered, vivid graphics and the tunes are crank-worthy. Indeed, this is a prototypical "Nintendo first-party show-off" game.
Mario still seeks to oust Bowser, but this time he is aided by another equally marketable mascot, Yoshi. They must trek through Ghost Houses, fortresses, the Star Road, the Special World and everything in between to satisfactorily win. To this day, I was never able to beat every level of the Special World, as each seemed to require some sort of manual dexterity that I lacked. Of course, beating the game is nearly idiot proof, and once one finds the stock-up secret, it's a done deal. There are ways to stockpile incredible amounts of extra-lives in next to no time. Also, it is a relief to get to Bowser, since he is truly easy (as compared to Wart from Super Mario Bros. 2, who is unnecessarily difficult.)
This game is the reason that the SNES so quickly usurped the Genesis: it was the dream launch title, easily better than 99% of what the Genesis had at that point, and was just a glimpse of what the system could do. It is a shame that the Gamecube was launched with Luigi's Mansion instead of Mario Sunshine…despite the connectedness of the franchises, Mario is simply the name associated with the time honored line of games.
12. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
1989 - Nintendo Entertainment System
This game kicked ass. Let me tell you about the promotion that went along with it. Advertised on the box of new copies of this beautiful game was the proclamation of a contest: WIN A TRIP TO TRANSYLVANIA!!! "Ok, I am your average 10 year-old NES buyer…I sure think that this is an appropriate gift for me." What parent in their right mind would take their child to the most haunted place in the world, not to mention an Eastern European nation right around the fall of the Soviet Union. I sure as hell hope that the winner was offered a cash-equivalency option, because that sounds pretty bad. Perhaps Konami thought that the Castlevania franchise was better suited to older gamers (and it is,) but that can't really explain the liability involved if a minor were to have a mishap at Dracula's castle.
 
So, the game. It uses what is essentially a spruced-up version of the first Castlevania's graphics engine. Luckily, a password feature allows the game to be completed in more than one sitting, as it is a long, involved quest. One of the great innovations of Dracula's Curse is the inclusion of companions, of which Alucard is by far the coolest (and also, the most difficult to get.) By the way, Alucard is Dracula spelled backward- get it? GOOD TIMES. The levels are somewhat familiar looking at points, but there are plenty of enemies and new environs to keep veterans busy. The level design is top notch, with a good mix of tough spots and easy tasks. Like other Konami games, the instruction manual is a pretty poor read, but the game is all the more endearing because of it. Best NES Castlevania, less difficult then the first and a little more sophisticated then the second (yet all are amazing games in their own rights.)
11. Double Dragon II
1989 - Nintendo Entertainment System
 Here is a game at which I would consider myself an expert. No doubt, one of my crowning achievements as a writer came in 3rd grade, where, bored by the monotony of elementary math, I proceeded to write, from memory, a walkthrough of the game. I had played the damn thing so much that I was able to recall where every enemy was in every level, could warn about enemies who often were difficult, and even made up some story for some of the game's more ambiguous parts. I think that I still have the walkthrough among my various papers and effects from grade school, so if I one day find it, I'll scan it for the site.
 Double Dragon II was an amazingly cool side-scrolling beat 'em up urban warfare martial arts tour de force…I needed to use lots of descriptors really fast. While many of the enemies are similar, there are some fundamental differences between this and the first game, some good and some bad. You have access to every move from the get-go, assuming you know which buttons to press. This makes the opening levels very easy by comparison, as you have lots of ways to kill your foes. The control scheme is different: depending on which way you face, the buttons for kick and punch switch (add to that the fact that kicks are always backward, and you begin to imagine the game's learning curve.) Aside from that, all is well: great visuals, cool levels, palatable music, ABOBO, and more of the stereotypically butch lesbians. I will officially decree this my favorite, and therefore coolest, of the Double Dragon series.
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