Top 50 Videogames: 45 and 44
A day goes by here, another goes by there...I feel like tomorrow will always have a better time. I swear I won't lose sight of this.
45. TMNT II: The Arcade Game (1990, Nintendo)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: 5. I say this in part because I can't remember. But something's telling me that while the gameplay itself wasn't difficult, the game didn't give you nearly enough lives.
Played it with: Everyone I knew at the time it came out. The first TMNT sucked and was this laughable thing where you could hardly make out the turtles, but this was a great multiplayer game...shame there was no four-player at the time.
Did I complete it?: In the arcade, yes. At home? I can't remember.
Seriously, the first Turtles game for the NES was a mess. There was this huge, nigh-upon-impossible and not-fun-to-play water level. First, why is there always a water level in every side scrolling game? Can you think of a single person who likes them? Or a single one that's fun?
Anyway, enough about that debacle; here's a game where I guess the only main issue I had with it is that for some reason, that huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles logo was at the top of the screen for literally the whole game.
This game wasn't all that different from a million side-scrollers (especially in the arcade, although there were already a number of games like this on the NES, like Double Dragon...which I forgot on this list), but it had the fun (for some reason) turtle characters and some pretty clever boss battles. The recent TMNT game on the current systems would do well to remember these games...in one of the weirdest things I've ever heard in gaming, the new TMNT games are single player. WTF?
44. Faxanadu (1989, Nintendo)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: 7. I think if I played this now it wouldn't be so tough, but at the time I remember the (very slight) RPG elements were hard for me to get used to.
Played it with: Nick, Jon Mullaly and Ben Mullaly. In this game, when characters talked the capital H's looked like N's, and so nearly every non-player character started with "Nello." This was endlessly funny to all of us, because we're tools.
Did I complete it?: Yep. A few years later when I'd gotten used to RPGs thanks to Final Fantasy, I went back to it and beat it.
I'd never really played much in the way of RPGs to this point. Like, nothing, I guess. The idea of buying stuff to make my character better was foreign to me...I was used to playing Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania, where at the beginning of the game, you were who you were until you just found weapons laying around.
I took to Faxanadu pretty quickly, though, and I still say "Nello." And the soundtrack ruled. The story would be pretty light and simplistic by today's standards, but at the time, getting any sort of overarcing story was pretty rare (again, besides in Ninja Gaiden).
This game led to a life of playing an assload of RPGs, many more of which would be on this list if I allowed for repeaters in a series. Jon introduced me to this game and to RPGs in general, so I do hereby declare my undying love for him. I love you, Jon. Love, Kelly.
45. TMNT II: The Arcade Game (1990, Nintendo)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: 5. I say this in part because I can't remember. But something's telling me that while the gameplay itself wasn't difficult, the game didn't give you nearly enough lives.
Played it with: Everyone I knew at the time it came out. The first TMNT sucked and was this laughable thing where you could hardly make out the turtles, but this was a great multiplayer game...shame there was no four-player at the time.
Did I complete it?: In the arcade, yes. At home? I can't remember.
Seriously, the first Turtles game for the NES was a mess. There was this huge, nigh-upon-impossible and not-fun-to-play water level. First, why is there always a water level in every side scrolling game? Can you think of a single person who likes them? Or a single one that's fun?
Anyway, enough about that debacle; here's a game where I guess the only main issue I had with it is that for some reason, that huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles logo was at the top of the screen for literally the whole game.
This game wasn't all that different from a million side-scrollers (especially in the arcade, although there were already a number of games like this on the NES, like Double Dragon...which I forgot on this list), but it had the fun (for some reason) turtle characters and some pretty clever boss battles. The recent TMNT game on the current systems would do well to remember these games...in one of the weirdest things I've ever heard in gaming, the new TMNT games are single player. WTF?
44. Faxanadu (1989, Nintendo)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: 7. I think if I played this now it wouldn't be so tough, but at the time I remember the (very slight) RPG elements were hard for me to get used to.
Played it with: Nick, Jon Mullaly and Ben Mullaly. In this game, when characters talked the capital H's looked like N's, and so nearly every non-player character started with "Nello." This was endlessly funny to all of us, because we're tools.
Did I complete it?: Yep. A few years later when I'd gotten used to RPGs thanks to Final Fantasy, I went back to it and beat it.
I'd never really played much in the way of RPGs to this point. Like, nothing, I guess. The idea of buying stuff to make my character better was foreign to me...I was used to playing Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania, where at the beginning of the game, you were who you were until you just found weapons laying around.
I took to Faxanadu pretty quickly, though, and I still say "Nello." And the soundtrack ruled. The story would be pretty light and simplistic by today's standards, but at the time, getting any sort of overarcing story was pretty rare (again, besides in Ninja Gaiden).
This game led to a life of playing an assload of RPGs, many more of which would be on this list if I allowed for repeaters in a series. Jon introduced me to this game and to RPGs in general, so I do hereby declare my undying love for him. I love you, Jon. Love, Kelly.