Top 50 Videogames: 17 and 16
As I get closer and closer to the ending, it gets tougher and tougher to get up the will to do these, since I'm getting fewer and fewer replies. WTF, guys (I say guys because apparently, based on all the responses I've gotten, no girl anywhere plays video games).
17. Mega Man Anniversary Collection (2004, PlayStation 2)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: This is about 12 games in one. I'd say it ranges from 6-9. Most of the games are pretty damn hard near the end.
Played it with: Cathy. And at the time of their original releases, everyone else. Mainly my brother Nick and Jon Mullaly, I'd say.
Did I complete it? I've beaten many of the games in the series, but not all. So...technically no...?
This is a total cheat...the right thing would've been to pick one game in the series (Mega Man 2, if I'm remembering correctly), but since the first 10, 12 or whatever games were put into one PS2 disc, I went for it. The premise for each and every game is the same: an evil dickish mad scientist (usually Dr. Wily, which most of my brother's friends retardedly referred to as "Dr. Willie," although I think another mad scientist or two was mixed in) has created eight (give or take) evil robots for whatever reason. World domination, I suspect, though I can't really remember and it totally doesn't matter because the story isn't a big deal in this series. Mega Man and sometimes a buddy or extra gadgets are sent after the evil robots, and after Mega Man destroys all of them, he's able to go to the lair of Dr. Wily, which usually ends up being shockingly/appallingly long, with several more--usually enormous and beautifully drawn--mechanical bosses.
There. You now know the storyline to every game on this disc, which is the only real knock I have against this series. For instance, I remember without hesitation that the above photo is from the Bubble Man level, I remember what Bubble Man looks like and how he fights. I even remember that, on that game, the only way to beat the final boss is to use Bubble Man's special weapon, which is called the "Bubble Lead." Despite all this, I can't remember for my life which Mega Man game it's in. Two, maybe? I'm thinking anywhere between 2-6 (I'll look after this, because now I'm annoyed. But it's not like the answer's going to be interesting or inspiring. "Hmm. It's that number," I'll say).
Anyway, it's the bosses that really make this series great. They're interesting, unique, and all provide a challenge for the brain as well as the fingers. Yep. Good stuff, that.
16. MVP Baseball 2005 (2005, PlayStation 2)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: 7. Really quite difficult for a baseball game, which I appreciate. I'm quite good at the pitching...less so at the hitting. Interestingly, that's actually me as a kid: good pitcher, great fielder, abso-shitty hitter.
Played it with: Greg Johnson, Josh Mitchell. I think. That may have been a previous baseball game, though. Well, it certainly was a previous game. But I think we played this one together too.
Did I complete it? Actually, no. I just pick it up periodically and play a couple games and never finish the mammoth season like I plan to. Plus, there are eight jillion unlocks, of which I've only scratched the surface, and realistically by the time I'm thinking of picking it up again, I'll have a baseball game for the PS3.
Why this one? Well, of all baseball games ever, it's the one that has the smoothest play. For anyone who doesn't know (and all of you should), baseball is my favorite thing of all things that are not alive. I like it more than video games, in fact. I might even like it more than sex. My love for video baseball started way back with RBI baseball, still charmingly great after 20 (holy crap) years, continued with Bases Loaded, and eventually translated to this game.
EA Sports was, like with most of its series, making a shitty baseball game that was still the most popular because people are sheep and pay for the EA name no matter what product they put out. It was called "Triple Play," and honestly, I can't tell you what a joke it was. On the very hardest level, I would score a minimum of ten runs a game effortlessly. I won't bore you with how the batting engine worked, but it was embarrassingly easy. Even worse was the pitching: without trying very hard, I'd throw a perfect game probably once out of every eight or ten games (for those who don't follow baseball, there have been fifteen perfect games in all of baseball history. I would give my left everything to witness a perfect game, even on television).
But in 2005, MVP Baseball came out. Every aspect of the game was increased to the point where they went from most shitty and overhyped to blowaway best baseball game in the industry. There are great mini-games, awesome old fields that can be unlocked (including the old Met! WHOOOO!) and a fielding engine that actually makes me forget I'm playing a video game, it's so smooth. Sadly, because EA were dicks and denied all other video game developers the right to create NFL video games when they bought the exclusive rights (they could've allowed the games to be made while still being the only series pimped by the NFL), another company bought the exclusive rights to the major leagues and disallowed only EA from making an MLB game. I was pretty pissed (and remain so, although another great baseball series has surfaced), but it's their own damned fault. Fucking EA.
17. Mega Man Anniversary Collection (2004, PlayStation 2)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: This is about 12 games in one. I'd say it ranges from 6-9. Most of the games are pretty damn hard near the end.
Played it with: Cathy. And at the time of their original releases, everyone else. Mainly my brother Nick and Jon Mullaly, I'd say.
Did I complete it? I've beaten many of the games in the series, but not all. So...technically no...?
This is a total cheat...the right thing would've been to pick one game in the series (Mega Man 2, if I'm remembering correctly), but since the first 10, 12 or whatever games were put into one PS2 disc, I went for it. The premise for each and every game is the same: an evil dickish mad scientist (usually Dr. Wily, which most of my brother's friends retardedly referred to as "Dr. Willie," although I think another mad scientist or two was mixed in) has created eight (give or take) evil robots for whatever reason. World domination, I suspect, though I can't really remember and it totally doesn't matter because the story isn't a big deal in this series. Mega Man and sometimes a buddy or extra gadgets are sent after the evil robots, and after Mega Man destroys all of them, he's able to go to the lair of Dr. Wily, which usually ends up being shockingly/appallingly long, with several more--usually enormous and beautifully drawn--mechanical bosses.
There. You now know the storyline to every game on this disc, which is the only real knock I have against this series. For instance, I remember without hesitation that the above photo is from the Bubble Man level, I remember what Bubble Man looks like and how he fights. I even remember that, on that game, the only way to beat the final boss is to use Bubble Man's special weapon, which is called the "Bubble Lead." Despite all this, I can't remember for my life which Mega Man game it's in. Two, maybe? I'm thinking anywhere between 2-6 (I'll look after this, because now I'm annoyed. But it's not like the answer's going to be interesting or inspiring. "Hmm. It's that number," I'll say).
Anyway, it's the bosses that really make this series great. They're interesting, unique, and all provide a challenge for the brain as well as the fingers. Yep. Good stuff, that.
16. MVP Baseball 2005 (2005, PlayStation 2)
Difficulty from 1 to 10: 7. Really quite difficult for a baseball game, which I appreciate. I'm quite good at the pitching...less so at the hitting. Interestingly, that's actually me as a kid: good pitcher, great fielder, abso-shitty hitter.
Played it with: Greg Johnson, Josh Mitchell. I think. That may have been a previous baseball game, though. Well, it certainly was a previous game. But I think we played this one together too.
Did I complete it? Actually, no. I just pick it up periodically and play a couple games and never finish the mammoth season like I plan to. Plus, there are eight jillion unlocks, of which I've only scratched the surface, and realistically by the time I'm thinking of picking it up again, I'll have a baseball game for the PS3.
Why this one? Well, of all baseball games ever, it's the one that has the smoothest play. For anyone who doesn't know (and all of you should), baseball is my favorite thing of all things that are not alive. I like it more than video games, in fact. I might even like it more than sex. My love for video baseball started way back with RBI baseball, still charmingly great after 20 (holy crap) years, continued with Bases Loaded, and eventually translated to this game.
EA Sports was, like with most of its series, making a shitty baseball game that was still the most popular because people are sheep and pay for the EA name no matter what product they put out. It was called "Triple Play," and honestly, I can't tell you what a joke it was. On the very hardest level, I would score a minimum of ten runs a game effortlessly. I won't bore you with how the batting engine worked, but it was embarrassingly easy. Even worse was the pitching: without trying very hard, I'd throw a perfect game probably once out of every eight or ten games (for those who don't follow baseball, there have been fifteen perfect games in all of baseball history. I would give my left everything to witness a perfect game, even on television).
But in 2005, MVP Baseball came out. Every aspect of the game was increased to the point where they went from most shitty and overhyped to blowaway best baseball game in the industry. There are great mini-games, awesome old fields that can be unlocked (including the old Met! WHOOOO!) and a fielding engine that actually makes me forget I'm playing a video game, it's so smooth. Sadly, because EA were dicks and denied all other video game developers the right to create NFL video games when they bought the exclusive rights (they could've allowed the games to be made while still being the only series pimped by the NFL), another company bought the exclusive rights to the major leagues and disallowed only EA from making an MLB game. I was pretty pissed (and remain so, although another great baseball series has surfaced), but it's their own damned fault. Fucking EA.