My Top 30 Games of the Decade
I've been reading so many "top" lists, it was annoying me for a little while. But that led me to considering my own "top" list, and suddenly I found myself using that good old "can't beat 'em, join 'em" logic. So this is my list of the top 30 games I've played over the last decade.
Why 30? Because see, here are the rules I used, and I ganked them from Destructoid:
Rule #1: The game was released between 1/01/00 - 12/31/2009.
Rule #2: I am limited to picking ONE game from any particular series. That's why I had to stick to 30. Any more, and I'd be haggling with myself over the position of games in a given series and trying to compare apples to apples and then to oranges, and that's no good. So the games you see here are only the BEST (IMHO) of that series.
And I stress the IMHO. This isn't an end all be all, ZOMG MY LIST IS THE ANSWER deal. It's about what -I- had fun playing.
So without further adue... I'm about to SPAM YOUR FRIENDLIST. But that's okay, because I've NEVER done that, and for all those memes and silly pictures I know a few of you have posted, you can bear with me this once. =)
30. Rock Band 2 (Harmonix, MTV, EA)
This game really isn’t my jam to be honest, but there’s something to be said about a game that can bring together my girlfriend, my mom, my sister, her boyfriend, and friends across the globe, as each of them picks up one of those plastic instruments and rocks out. Rock Band caters to everyone from the most talent-lacking, tone-deaf hacks to the most hardcore imitation rock stars and allows them to play together, on a single song, without compromising any of their needs. That is a beautiful thing for gaming to have accomplished.
29. Battlefield: 1942 (Dice, EA)
Everyone’s hopping on the Modern Warfare bandwagon these days, but that game would have been nothing without the 16 on 16 matches featured in the original Battlefield 1942. The game drops you into the heart of combat in World War II, from the Russian front to the Pacific theater, allowing you to be everything from a medic to an anti-tank infantry-man to a fighter pilot in a battle for supremacy of the terrain.
While shooters aren’t normally my style, Hamid and I had a great time with this one. I still fondly remember my days as a Japanese sniper on Wake Island, taking fools out from the most unlikely of locations. Another thing that sticks out in my mind, oddly enough, is the music during the load screen. It was so… “Let’s do THIS!”
28. Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (EA)
This one... is kind of a guilty pleasure. Not a good game by any means, mostly because it straight bogarted the excellent battle system from Final Fantasy X, which sadly, is the majority of the reason this made my list. The story was nothing remarkable; you play as several worthless “heroes” of Middle-Earth, trailing behind the Fellowship of the Ring and essentially cleaning up their mess. But it was officially licensed, you got to fight alongside figures like Gandalf, Faramir, and Aragorn, and so... I beat it, and then said it was #28 of my decade. I suck.
27. Mario Kart: Double Dash (Nintendo)
This is another one that I think I got the most enjoyment out of because I was able to play with my friends. Mario Kart has generally stagnated over the years, with each new iteration becoming more and more of cash grab. For as much as people love the N64 version, I detested it, mostly because I thought the SNES version looked and played cleaner. But Double Dash was a step back in the right direction. The Gamecube managed to polish those jagged edges and give us what the N64 version should have been all along with wild jumps, double character action, and enough variation in the tracks. We used to play co-op and competitively, but no matter the mode, it was always a good time.
26. Street Fighter IV (Capcom)
Released only last year, SFIV breathed new life into what I was sure was becoming a more and more niche brand. In the 90s, any male my age would have been laughed out of school for not knowing who Ryu was, or how to do a hadouken. By the last decade, that wasn’t the case. But SFIV, with its “any noob can pick this up and look cool by button mashing” approachability, suddenly the game found its way back into the hearts of a more mainstream audience.
Despite some retarded moves on Capcom’s part (the button configuration, the story, unlockables, and Seth), the game exudes style, with a Japanese brush stroke theme and 2D meets 3D action. Even non-gamers can’t help but be impressed by someone who plays the game with even “baddie” level skill.
25. Dokapon Kingdom (Sting, Atlus)
I had absolutely nothing to do with the making of this game, and that’s why this game is awesome. I got to introduce it to our friends as a gamer, not an editor, and together we played the crap out of it. True to the game’s tagline, and exactly the reason why I brought into the lives of my two most competitive friends, many nights of hours-long sessions ended in tantrums, threats, cursing, and grief, from a different person each time. “The Friendship Destroying game” indeed. It was as enraging as it was entertaining.
It was also something else to watch the Atlus-isms suddenly become ingrained into the vocabulary non-Atlusians. That’s just the kind of charm we put into our games.
24. Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (Ninja Studio, Success, Atlus)
I had absolutely everything to do with the making of this game, and that’s why this game is awesome. Izuna 2 isn’t everyone’s type of game; in fact, it’s a very small minority’s type of game. But it’s also one of the most lovingly crafted scripts that the Nintendo DS has to offer, with, I’m proud to say, not a single character who takes themselves seriously. Full of 4th wall breaking moments, ridiculous metaphors for breasts, and an innocent perversion only a Japanese game is capable of, Izuna 2 is easily one of the fondest memories I have of my work in this industry.
23. Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Camelot, Nintendo)
This sequel to the Gameboy Advance RPG did some great things that set it apart from other RPGs of its ilk. Its puzzles were the caliber of Zelda, asking players to think things through to progress as they used the Psy powers of their characters to manipulate the environment. One part Pokemon, one part classic RPG, Lost Age picked up right where the first title left off, except now you were in the shoes of the first game’s unwilling villain. That alone kept the story interesting, and with a ridiculously complex password, you could even program the party you used to from the first game into the second one, carrying over all their equipment and spells. It just did a lot of cool things.
22. Mario Party 4 (Nintendo)
I don’t know how long this game dominated my social life, to the point where I rolled my eyes every time my friends called, knowing it would be another 30 turn game of Mario Party 4. As Waluigi, my friends could hardly compete with my mini-game busting prowess at first, and I was sure I’d be the party star for my entire life. Fortunately, Ryan eventually caught up to me, as he even figured out a way to beat my Metal Gear-honed button mashing skills at Thwomp Dominoes. I finally got some competition, and a reason to use the R button to make Waluigi laugh while it wasn’t my turn. It’s very demoralizing, I'll have you know.
21. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Nintendo)
Known for punishing players with perma-death, where, when one of your characters dies, they’re DEAD, I don’t think anybody expected Fire Emblem to arrive on the family friendly Gamecube. It’s one caveat? A save state you could use in battle to make things EVER so slightly easier. Naturally, I took up the challenge, and found what I thought to be a good, if not a little clichéd, story. Ike’s coming of age tale actually deals with fairly serious political themes, including racism, genocide, and betrayal, and it did so maturely. It was a challenging, satisfying game from beginning to end.
Why 30? Because see, here are the rules I used, and I ganked them from Destructoid:
Rule #1: The game was released between 1/01/00 - 12/31/2009.
Rule #2: I am limited to picking ONE game from any particular series. That's why I had to stick to 30. Any more, and I'd be haggling with myself over the position of games in a given series and trying to compare apples to apples and then to oranges, and that's no good. So the games you see here are only the BEST (IMHO) of that series.
And I stress the IMHO. This isn't an end all be all, ZOMG MY LIST IS THE ANSWER deal. It's about what -I- had fun playing.
So without further adue... I'm about to SPAM YOUR FRIENDLIST. But that's okay, because I've NEVER done that, and for all those memes and silly pictures I know a few of you have posted, you can bear with me this once. =)
30. Rock Band 2 (Harmonix, MTV, EA)
This game really isn’t my jam to be honest, but there’s something to be said about a game that can bring together my girlfriend, my mom, my sister, her boyfriend, and friends across the globe, as each of them picks up one of those plastic instruments and rocks out. Rock Band caters to everyone from the most talent-lacking, tone-deaf hacks to the most hardcore imitation rock stars and allows them to play together, on a single song, without compromising any of their needs. That is a beautiful thing for gaming to have accomplished.
29. Battlefield: 1942 (Dice, EA)
Everyone’s hopping on the Modern Warfare bandwagon these days, but that game would have been nothing without the 16 on 16 matches featured in the original Battlefield 1942. The game drops you into the heart of combat in World War II, from the Russian front to the Pacific theater, allowing you to be everything from a medic to an anti-tank infantry-man to a fighter pilot in a battle for supremacy of the terrain.
While shooters aren’t normally my style, Hamid and I had a great time with this one. I still fondly remember my days as a Japanese sniper on Wake Island, taking fools out from the most unlikely of locations. Another thing that sticks out in my mind, oddly enough, is the music during the load screen. It was so… “Let’s do THIS!”
28. Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (EA)
This one... is kind of a guilty pleasure. Not a good game by any means, mostly because it straight bogarted the excellent battle system from Final Fantasy X, which sadly, is the majority of the reason this made my list. The story was nothing remarkable; you play as several worthless “heroes” of Middle-Earth, trailing behind the Fellowship of the Ring and essentially cleaning up their mess. But it was officially licensed, you got to fight alongside figures like Gandalf, Faramir, and Aragorn, and so... I beat it, and then said it was #28 of my decade. I suck.
27. Mario Kart: Double Dash (Nintendo)
This is another one that I think I got the most enjoyment out of because I was able to play with my friends. Mario Kart has generally stagnated over the years, with each new iteration becoming more and more of cash grab. For as much as people love the N64 version, I detested it, mostly because I thought the SNES version looked and played cleaner. But Double Dash was a step back in the right direction. The Gamecube managed to polish those jagged edges and give us what the N64 version should have been all along with wild jumps, double character action, and enough variation in the tracks. We used to play co-op and competitively, but no matter the mode, it was always a good time.
26. Street Fighter IV (Capcom)
Released only last year, SFIV breathed new life into what I was sure was becoming a more and more niche brand. In the 90s, any male my age would have been laughed out of school for not knowing who Ryu was, or how to do a hadouken. By the last decade, that wasn’t the case. But SFIV, with its “any noob can pick this up and look cool by button mashing” approachability, suddenly the game found its way back into the hearts of a more mainstream audience.
Despite some retarded moves on Capcom’s part (the button configuration, the story, unlockables, and Seth), the game exudes style, with a Japanese brush stroke theme and 2D meets 3D action. Even non-gamers can’t help but be impressed by someone who plays the game with even “baddie” level skill.
25. Dokapon Kingdom (Sting, Atlus)
I had absolutely nothing to do with the making of this game, and that’s why this game is awesome. I got to introduce it to our friends as a gamer, not an editor, and together we played the crap out of it. True to the game’s tagline, and exactly the reason why I brought into the lives of my two most competitive friends, many nights of hours-long sessions ended in tantrums, threats, cursing, and grief, from a different person each time. “The Friendship Destroying game” indeed. It was as enraging as it was entertaining.
It was also something else to watch the Atlus-isms suddenly become ingrained into the vocabulary non-Atlusians. That’s just the kind of charm we put into our games.
24. Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (Ninja Studio, Success, Atlus)
I had absolutely everything to do with the making of this game, and that’s why this game is awesome. Izuna 2 isn’t everyone’s type of game; in fact, it’s a very small minority’s type of game. But it’s also one of the most lovingly crafted scripts that the Nintendo DS has to offer, with, I’m proud to say, not a single character who takes themselves seriously. Full of 4th wall breaking moments, ridiculous metaphors for breasts, and an innocent perversion only a Japanese game is capable of, Izuna 2 is easily one of the fondest memories I have of my work in this industry.
23. Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Camelot, Nintendo)
This sequel to the Gameboy Advance RPG did some great things that set it apart from other RPGs of its ilk. Its puzzles were the caliber of Zelda, asking players to think things through to progress as they used the Psy powers of their characters to manipulate the environment. One part Pokemon, one part classic RPG, Lost Age picked up right where the first title left off, except now you were in the shoes of the first game’s unwilling villain. That alone kept the story interesting, and with a ridiculously complex password, you could even program the party you used to from the first game into the second one, carrying over all their equipment and spells. It just did a lot of cool things.
22. Mario Party 4 (Nintendo)
I don’t know how long this game dominated my social life, to the point where I rolled my eyes every time my friends called, knowing it would be another 30 turn game of Mario Party 4. As Waluigi, my friends could hardly compete with my mini-game busting prowess at first, and I was sure I’d be the party star for my entire life. Fortunately, Ryan eventually caught up to me, as he even figured out a way to beat my Metal Gear-honed button mashing skills at Thwomp Dominoes. I finally got some competition, and a reason to use the R button to make Waluigi laugh while it wasn’t my turn. It’s very demoralizing, I'll have you know.
21. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Nintendo)
Known for punishing players with perma-death, where, when one of your characters dies, they’re DEAD, I don’t think anybody expected Fire Emblem to arrive on the family friendly Gamecube. It’s one caveat? A save state you could use in battle to make things EVER so slightly easier. Naturally, I took up the challenge, and found what I thought to be a good, if not a little clichéd, story. Ike’s coming of age tale actually deals with fairly serious political themes, including racism, genocide, and betrayal, and it did so maturely. It was a challenging, satisfying game from beginning to end.