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Kevin's Top Video Games: 25-21
By Kevin - 02.12.03
25. Gran Turismo 3 A-spec
2001 - Playstation 2
This is literally the best game I never played. That is to say, I've spent plenty of joyful hours just watching it- but nothing more. It is difficult for a game to be as fun to watch as it is to play…which says a lot as to how gorgeous this game looks. Aside from the stellar visuals, the bumping soundtrack, the amazingly real cars and the flawless game-play, there is an aspect of quest here that no other racing game can match. Perhaps the game so enthralls me because it is a progressive quest. Whatever the reason(s), this is the best racing game of all time, in that it perfectly combines realism, quest, visuals and speed. Now, perhaps when I am old and grey, I will sit down myself and give it a whirl- until then, at least I can count on watching my friends play. And, perhaps when I am older yet, I will cease using the word quest so much.
 
24. Double Dragon
1988 - NES
 Funny how the first game in the hallowed trilogy (that is, the three Double Dragon games for the NES) has the most options. I mean, the fact that it included a primitive form of one-on-one fighting game, coupled with the intense main game, made it about as diverse as NES games come. Unlike other games of its ilk, you actually had to develop skills as the game progressed, adding an incentive to continue playing and another way of making the game gradually more difficult without being impossible. Merely starting out with kick and punch makes the discovery of a CYCLONE SPIN KICK down the road all the more bittersweet. Graphically, it was a step above many side-scrolling fighting games, although a step below the arcade version. Then there are the enemies- one of the motleyist bunches of cronies ever assembled. Side trek: let us examine, in depth, the enemies of this fine game.
Williams: Mr. Generic- he will crop up over and over as the stock baddie. Oddly, he seems to learn tricks as the game progresses, and by the end can be fairly difficult to defeat.
Roper: Looks like Frankenstein, in dress and hairstyle, but probably two notches dumber. He likes to throw things and be stupid.
Linda: A totally butch chick who is probably the Japanese's stereotypical idea of a lesbian. She really sucks.
Abobo: The king of all Double Dragon enemies... he even has a website that bears his namesake! So steroid and frown ridden, no wonder internet goonies love him. Approach with caution!
Chin: HERROO! I am even more stereotypical than Linda! But you love me none the less, because I wear MC Hammer bands and sport a KRAZEE hairdo. Bow down.
Willy: He has a gun, and Abobo's eyes. In short, he is the product of mating a machine gun and Abobo. He is da big boss man. He kidnapped your girlfriend. And he is gonna pay.
Conclusion? An excellent game, one of the best for the NES: belongs in any gamers collection, and deserves to be given its own holiday.
23. Final Fantasy VII
1997 - Playstation
 This is the only Final Fantasy for the PSX that I have bothered to beat. Much has been said about this game, both in print and on the internet, and I will regurgitate some of it here, but hope to add something new. This game is groundbreaking, mainly in presentation and graphics. It extensively employed FMV scenes, made possible by the cd format and a pool of talented programmers. Action took place in an awesomely 3D environment, with battles containing sweeping camera angles and zoom-ins. In fact, this game really did a lot in terms of making video games viable as an emulation of the cinema. The story is so involved, the characters so deep, and the presentation so cinematic that the end result is playing a really long movie.
 Of course, this movie is no where near as boring as some cinematic games have come to be now (Metal Gear Solid 2 comes to mind immediately)- no, there is still plenty to do. Breed a chocobo, gain levels, spawn materia, make money, talk to every last human on the planet, or simply marvel in the beauty that is Midgar. In fact, my only qualm with the game is the immediate downer that occurs once you leave Midgar. For about the first 7 hours, the game has a gritty, urban feel, and seems almost post-Apocalyptic. Once you leave, you are treated to green grass and eventually about an hour straight of storytelling. Some reward. However, things pick up later, certainly making this one of the more memorable games of all time. And how could anyone forget about the awesome Latin chanting by a Japanese choir that appears as the music for the final battle? I know that I couldn't. In fact, I didn't. That is why I told you just now. Because I remembered. Because this game is memorable. What's that? Damn, I'm still here and that didn't fool you. Yep, memorable.
22. Galaga
1981 - Arcade
 AHH! Summer be thy name! This game is the reason to go to the beach. Not the chicks (even though they are nice.) Not the pizza (even though it is good.) One is want to spend a small fortune on this game, and nearly no money on anything else. Yours truly and another unnamable writer cough**Bokista**cough have committed this very crime. Yet, we have both reveled in the true beauty that is this game. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. No, not simplify, simplify, simplify as many a math teacher would have you believe, that is not what the man said. This game is very simple and very enjoyable.
Your mission, and you WILL accept it, is to shoot any and all alien ships that look at you the wrong way. You will rack up points, your fingers will hurt by level ten, and your ears will fall off thanks to the repetitive music, but you will be in heaven. I think that the social allure of this game has much to do with why I like it so much. This is the token classic arcade game. Lots of places have just about every new DDR/Motion Capture/Gun game, and then one solitary gem…either a really beat up original cabinet of Galaga or the Class of 1981 combo unit (with both Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga.) This is the game that defines arcades, and the people in them.
There will be little kids and generic punk teens scattered about the place, but the aficionados will gather around this machine. Also, one will probably find that nostalgic 30-something, the young kid who spends lots of time at video game message boards, and your humble author. I'd venture that this game is the high water mark of the arcades, a pinnacle game from a pinnacle era. Its simplicity, addictiveness and aura of fun still linger today. Also, video game scholars everywhere (and all but two of them either write for or read this site) love it as a social testament to the power and timelessness of classic gaming. VIVA LA GALAGA!!
21. Super Smash Brothers
1999 - Nintedo 64
 I place here my vote for best multiplayer game to contain stock Nintendo players. The Mario Party games cannot hold a candle to it, and the Super Mario Kart games would get their Shriner-car-driving asses kicked by it: this game means business. There is no better way to spend a Friday night in front of the T.V. than with this game and 3 equally dorky friends. It can suck up hours of otherwise useful time in what seem like minutes. The most brilliant aspect of it all is the fact that so many characters from many a series are all together for the first time. What better way to kick things off than by literally having Kirby kick Link off a cliff? I can't think of one. Don't you love rhetorical questions? Was that one rhetorical? I don't think it was. That was a statement. So was that. So was that. So was that. So was that. So was that. Shit.
 Yet, the true reason why this game garners inclusion on this exclusive list is not the fact that it is fun (sure, just because games like Demolition Derby 2 are fun doesn't make them good games,) but the fact that the inclusion of characters is so diverse. Combining the standard Mario crew with heavyweights like Samus Aran, Ness and Link was marketing genius. This is a game for all the fanboys who have had wet dreams about the cross-pollinating of house Nintendo characters. Yet, the game doesn't hinge on people recognizing this, as well it shouldn't: it isn't merely a rehash of old hat ideas, but a renaissance of old people and places, with a hint of rerendering and a hell of a lot of fighting. It is like a Beethoven symphony or a Miles Davis improvisation: magnificent. Well, now you are calling me out as a bullshitter, but as I haven't had much meat today, I shit you not. Video games are an art form, and subtleties of homage and remembrance like those found in Super Smash Brothers are what seal the deal.
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