Today I saw a note in my Facebook feed that started with the following text:
“Don’t take too long to think about it. 15 video games you’ve played that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen (or more) friends.”
Instead of tagging 15 friends, I’m tagging all of you. Below are my fifteen. Comment with your fifteen!
-BF
1) Final Fantasy IV (Originally Final Fantasy II in the US)
What can I say? Kickass music, a nice twisty plot, and great characters. And–while it’s controversial–I’m just gonna say I like how they kept it manageably short as opposed to the eleventy-billion-page novel that was Final Fantasy VI.
2) Chrono Trigger
You take a kid who likes Back to the Future and RPGs and sit him in front of this game, he’s gonna have a good time. The soundtrack is a bit hot and cold with me, but when it’s good, it’s a-fucking-mazing.
3) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Classic, yet innovative. It was to the Zelda series what Super Mario Bros. 3 was to the Mario franchise (and not just because it was the third installment). For my money, it’s the only Zelda title that can compete with Ocarina of Time for the title of “arguably the best Zelda game”
4) Thief: The Dark Project
This was the game that got me into PC gaming. No memorable music to speak of, but I can’t think of another game that has ever gotten my heart to race like this game when it first came out. Thief was a pioneer of the “stealth shooter” concept, and to this day holds up as one of the most immersive gaming experiences ever.
5) Deus Ex
The RPG genre has been combined with platforming (Zelda II), action-adventure (Secret of Mana) and even the Disney universe (Kingdom Hearts). But rarely has it been combined with the FPS category. Deus Ex was a groundbreaking mix of both, and the genius of its concept has never been duplicated–not even in its disappointing 2003 sequel.
6) Road Runner’s Death Valley Rally
I’d be afraid to dust this game off today, because it’s probably really bad. In 1993 though, it was one of the only new games I had for the SNES. Basically, this one wasn’t so much life-changingly good as just a game I spent many hours playing.
7) Mega Man 3
This was my first Mega Man game and as far as I’m concerned it has the best title theme of all time. Some of the design choices are questionable, and it’s a frustratingly long game considering the simplicity of the Megaschtick, but it had a great soundtrack, particularly the boss fight themes and the ending credits theme.
8 ) Final Fantasy
I got to Final Fantasy a few years later than most kids. It had sold so many copies that Nintendo Power was giving it away to longtime subscribers. Having played Dragon Warrior, it was easy enough to understand. Delicious but now-obscure tunes completely INFEST the soundtrack, and it’s easy to see how one of the biggest franchises in history grew out of this humbly ambitious game.
9) A Boy And His Blob
Not a perfect game, but definitely one that made you think. It really only had one song looping throughout the entirety of the gameplay, but it must have been good considering how many nights I skipped homework to be chased around by an obese, candy-addicted beanbag.
10) Civilization
Ultimate jurisdiction. Ultimate oversight. Ultimate power. As a young kid with very little influence on the world around me, I got to exercise plenty of executive decision-making with this franchise. Also Civilization II was the first game I’d ever played that had live-action video as part of the gameplay; at the time it was amazing.
11) Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
I picked this particular installment in the Street Fighter series because it was my favorite growing up, due in large part to Cammy’s adorable win animation where she shows the player her perfect I-would-eat-scrambled-eggs-off-of-it ass for a few seconds and then smiles. It was a magical time for my wiener and I. Also, over the three-year process of writing the musical I’ll Be Damned, my collaborator and I often rewarded ourselves for a hard day of work by blowing off some steam playing this game. To this day, it’s the only fighter where I feel confident talking trash.
12) Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
This game is like a big, fun cartoon. It’s got real suspense and white-knuckle moments paired with endless charming details and good tunes.
13) Banjo-Kazooie
I didn’t play many games on the Nintendo 64 because the 64’s heyday was right around the time I was becoming a PC gamer. This game stuck out though, due in large part to its super-fun soundtrack. I also really appreciate the detail and thought that went into the game, made most apparent in the fact that as you walk around a level, different areas have slightly different musical arrangements for the same song.
14) Super Mario Bros.
This is definitely a facepalm entry to any list, but I feel it’s important. Most 80’s babies whose family owned an NES bought the bundle that came with the Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge. This shaped our perceptions of video games forever; how would gaming be different today if the bundle game had been Donkey Kong, the original Legend of Zelda, or even Metroid? Super Mario Bros. set a standard of excellence and brilliant simplicity and one could argue that it is chiefly responsible for the early success of the NES, as well as the revival of the home arcade industry.
15) Mario Paint
Picture this: A person with all of the creative potential and urgent need for attention as yours truly. Now imagine that person is eight years old. It was the late summer of 1992, and I had seen the ads for Mario Paint. I had read about it in Nintendo Power. I had to have it. Back before the internet and before every household had a computer, there weren’t as many ways for a kid to express himself through technology. These days, any punkass five-year-old can use a webcam and upload a Youtube video, but in the early 90’s, creativity and readily available technology rarely mixed. With Mario Paint, I could compose my own tunes, draw complex pictures and even animate my own characters. I’ll never know exactly how much of an impact this game had on me as an artist, but I can say with certainty that it gave me a safe place to experiment artistically. In school, you’re always writing and making things that will be seen and reviewed by teachers and parents. Mario Paint allowed me to try stuff I would never do in school. In short, it was a huge part of my creative development and I am thankful that it came into my life when it did.
Those are my fifteen… what are yours?
-BF
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