Actionbutton.net's 25 best games

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Actionbutton.net's 25 best games
Topic Started: Saturday Aug 2 2008, 10:02 PM (242 Views)
Demaar	Saturday Aug 2 2008, 10:02 PM Post #1
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	My favourite review site actionbutton.net has a new feature going (which explains why it hasn't been updated in a long long time). To counter balance the outcries of fanboys against their critical reviews of shitty games, they're doing a top 25 games of all time review feature type thing. Basically uploading 3 reviews a couple of times a week starting with numbers 25, 24 and 23 until they finally hit #1. Obviously these reviews are instant 4/4 stars, so if you're the type that jumps to the scores at the end of a review, this ain't for you. In fact, AC's reviews aren't for anyone in general as they digress a lot (into relevant subject matter) and are very critical (which upsets a lot of people for some reason). So yeah, anyway... the first 3 reviews can be found here. Odd picks I thought, but reading the reviews, I really wanna play those games now. Quote: #25. castlevania: bloodlines (Vampire Killer (Japan)) (Vampire’s Kiss (Europe)) Bottom line: Castlevania: Bloodlines is “the greatest stupid game ever”. #24. spartan: total warrior Bottom line: Spartan: Total Warrior is “the sharpest game of all time, bar slitting your wrist with a DVD shard.” #23. monster hunter portable 2nd G Bottom line: Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G is “the son of Street Fighter II“. #22. secret of evermore Bottom line: Secret of Evermore is “confident and modern”. I'm still reading through #23. Long reviews are looooong... Quote: Castlevania: Bloodlines is the best Castlevania game, and the best side-scrolling “beat-em-up” action game in history, if we had to pick right this moment. Why someone would think they prefer another side-scrolling action game is easy enough to understand — maybe they don’t like the goopy-gory schlock-horror theme of Bloodlines — though why anyone would prefer another Castlevania game is an unsolvable mystery. Some people say they like Dracula X: Rondo of Blood for the PC-Engine CD better, because it’s more rare, or that they like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night better, because it’s “epic”; some people stoop to say Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse for the NES is the best in the series, because they’re in-touch with the “old-school”. I have been, in truth, for the longest time, one of those people who will just claim whenever asked that I prefer Castlevania III, though I’m really only ever just posing. I’m willing to confess to my own posery — and not only that, I’m willing to fully pardon anyone who has ever failed to precisely acknowledge that Bloodlines is far and away the best game in its series. It’s archetypically great; every human being knows it, whether they’ve ever played it or not.
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Demaar	Saturday Aug 9 2008, 12:17 AM Post #2
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	They've done two updates while I wasn't looking, so now numbers 22 through 17 are up and ready for reading. What games are they, you ask? Quote: #22. secret of evermore Bottom line: Secret of Evermore is “confident and modern”. #21. dragon quest v: hand of the heavenly bride Bottom line: Dragon Quest V is “the friendliest game ever”. #20. breath of fire v: dragon quarter Bottom line: Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter is “the most elegant role-playing game ever made”. #19. the lost vikings Bottom line: The Lost Vikings is “the best viking game ever”. #18. metroid prime Bottom line: Metroid Prime is “so slick you might think it’s vanilla”. #17. winning eleven 7 Bottom line: Winning Eleven 7 is “the only game you’ll ever need to play, if you love soccer”. The first appearance of long standing franchises. I've been meaning to play Secret of Evermore since forever. That boss in the first area is so hard, though! I'm pretty sure I have a copy of BOF5 sitting on my shelf that needs playing, too. Looking forward to reading these reviews, especially Metroid Prime's... Quote: Above all else, Metroid Prime is about atmosphere – and that’s kind of been the point from the start, with the first game’s creepy-crawly caverns and hidden rooms. On a larger scale, and more often than any other medium, video games are about atmosphere, how it feels to exist in their universes, a characteristic strengthened by putting you in those places and letting you feel the friction of Avatar against World. How do we dwell on games? It’s usually not going to be the way we remember a movie or novel, which often relates to characters, their relations, the overall narrative. Instead, it’s more like conjuring up spots we’ve existed in. The memory of walking above mounds of crimson woodchips in Maine on a steaming summer day is not too dissimilar from a memory of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, or even Super Mario Bros.. In the end, it depends how conscious the game’s focuses on its ambiance is. Metroid Prime doesn’t assume you’ll go on because you like Metroid. It works its hardest to ensure that you, whoever you are, will enjoy being a part of its world, emotional baggage or not, and succeeds like few efforts out there.
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Link	Sunday Aug 10 2008, 03:06 AM Post #3
うるさい!!! Posts: 4,511 Group: Moderators Member #53 Joined: February 19, 2005	Man, i'd read these reviews, if only the site had more colour. reading such huge walls of white text in nothing but black really kills my eyes
	World of Warcraft: Elrahd Level 70 Night Elf Balance Druid <Golden Dawn> of Maelstrom Server


Demaar	Sunday Aug 10 2008, 04:48 AM Post #4
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	Yeah, it started bothering me too, so I turned off the page style setting dealie so it was plain black text on white... kinda fuglies up the layout, but easier on the eyes.
	My DSA Blog, Twitter


Demaar	Sunday Aug 17 2008, 10:53 PM Post #5
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	Just thought of another way to help the visual problem; increasing the text size makes it much easier to read. Anyways, they've updated again over the past week or so and now they have up to #11 listed. Some more surprising additions. Quote: #16. outrun 2 Bottom line: OutRun 2 is “love: the videogame”. #15. DOOM Bottom line: DOOM is “a Vintage Ford Truck of a Videogame.” #14. ikaruga Bottom line: Ikaruga is “the alpha and the omega of 2D shooting”. alternate #14: bangai-oh spirits #13. panzer dragoon zwei Bottom line: Panzer Dragoon Zwei is “morbidly delicious”. #12. katamari damacy Bottom line: Katamari Damacy is “basically pop-art”. #11. shadow of the colossus Bottom line: Shadow of the Colossus is “close to an air-thin miracle”. Outrun 2 is a very interesting choice. I haven't played it, but I've seen Acerlyte play it and it sure does look like fun. Dunno, I guess you could argue it's better than other racers I prefer though, in that every racer I'd list as better than it probably irritated the crap out of me as I played it, but Outrun 2 looks like pure joy. Doom is very understandable. I can go back to Doom now and still enjoy it. I'm not even kidding. Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Man... I played that over and over every morning before school when I first got my Saturn, and that was just the demo! Completely forgot about it, but now that I'm reminded of how awesome it was, I wanna play it over and over again now :) I'm really looking forward to the top ten :)
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nspa	Thursday Aug 28 2008, 08:36 PM Post #6
Outer Heavenin' Posts: 1,350 Group: Members Member #905 Joined: September 22, 2006 XBL Gamer Tag nightso	Also had to turn off the colour settings...DSA sure looks wierd without colours. Anyways, now I have something to read whilst waiting for stuff to finish =)
	[!!] COMPLETED: Zzz... [>] PLAYING: GTAIV, World of Warcraft [//] NEXT: Fallout 3


Demaar	Thursday Aug 28 2008, 11:48 PM Post #7
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	Well, they've updated all but #1 now, and I gotta say some picks surprised me. Some because I just plain didn't think of them, and others because I thought Actionbutton would scoff at the snobbishly, guess not! Here are numbers 10 through 5: Quote: #10. metal gear solid 3: snake eater Bottom line: Metal Gear Solid 3 is “Metal Gear Solid: Grown Up“. #9. chrono trigger Bottom line: Chrono Trigger is “hands-down the best ‘japanese RPG’ of all-time”. alternate review by brendan lee: Chrono Trigger is “intimate”. #8. cave story (doukutsu monogatari) Bottom line: Cave Story is “better than art — it’s science”. #7. street fighter iii: third strike Bottom line: Street Fighter III: Third Strike “had balls”. (by david cabrera) VERSUS Bottom line: Street Fighter III: Third Strike is “mind games”. (by heather campbell) #6. gears of war Bottom line: Gears of War is “the game of the decade”. #5. pac-man: championship edition Bottom line: Pac-Man: Championship Edition is “actually a videogame”. MGS3 really surprised me. Not because I think it's bad (MGS3 is probably my fav in the Solid part of the MG series), but because... I dunno, maybe I just need to go back and play it again. I guess the other games just give it a bad reputation as that "watch more than play" series of action games. Chrono Trigger I'm not overly surprised with, it probably still is the best Japanese RPG I've played to date, and I love me some Japanese RPGs. Cave Story was very surprising, again not because it's bad, but because I just plain straight didn't expect an indie game on there. It's a wonderful game and reading the review has made me want to re-re-replay it :) SF3 I dunno anything about. I've heard good and bad things about the parry system. The reviewers obviously seemed to love it, and they make a good case. I look forward to getting a chance to play it. Gears of War, man, heard so many good stories. The only thing holding me back is that I need a PC that's manly enough to handle it. What I have played was very fun, and if the pacing and level design is solid, I can definitely understand why it's on the list. Pac Man CE baffles me. It's definitely one of those games you can endlessly play over and over, but you can do that with Geometry Wars as well. I guess the difference is that Geometry Wars WILL piss you off though, Pac Man won't. Been playing a lot of it lately, so I'm in no place to argue. Anyway, now for numbers 4 through 2! Quote: #4. mother 3 Bottom line: Mother 3 is “for better, worse, and everything in between, the closest games have yet come to literature”. #3. half-life 2 Bottom line: Half-life 2 is “a miracle”. #2. super mario bros. 3 Bottom line: Super Mario Bros. 3 is “a lifelong obsession”. Never played Earthbound (Aka Mother 2) or its prequel (Earthbound Zero aka Mother 1), but I really intend to at some stage. That said, it's gonna take a lot of will power not to skip straight to the third when the fan translation is released, because it sounds fricken great. Half Life 2 I really really doubt could be justified, and I think Acerlyte will join me on this one. The game is FANTASTIC up until you finish Nova Prospekt. Hell, it's still solid even after you get back to City 17, but after doing some stuff with the resistance it REALLY starts to drag and the pacing (arguably) falls to shit. I think the episodes are far better. I haven't read the review yet, so maybe he's including them, in which case I'd have difficulty arguing against them. SMB3. Did NOT expect this at all. In fact, I expected it to NOT be on there as a statement about the list. But hey, I guess the fact that it's NOT SMB1 makes just as much of a statement. The list isn't about the relevance/importance of games, but their fun factor, and SMB3 craps all over SMB1. Still haven't read the review yet, so I'm interested to see the justification. REALLY Interested to see what #1 is now :)
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Demaar	Friday Aug 29 2008, 11:07 PM Post #8
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	Well! Joke's on everyone! The first 24 games in the list are intended to put #1 in perspective. As in, here are 24 games to show that this game is definitely not the best game ever. I guess that makes Super Mario Bros. 3 the real #1? Anyway, the "winner" is...! Quote: #-1. METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION Bottom line: Metal Gear Solid 4 is “absolutely not the best videogame of all-time.” Bastard. That's all I gotta say.
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Demaar	Sunday Sep 7 2008, 10:53 AM Post #9
Sometimes I think I was born backwards Posts: 9,694 Group: Moderators Member #195 Joined: August 24, 2005 XBL Gamer Tag EssThree	OK, guess they double trolled us, because they finally revealed the real #1 this week, and boy was that a surprise... Quote: #1. another world (aka “out of this world” (aka “outer world”)) Bottom line: Another World (Out of this World (Outer World)) is “the best videogame of all-time.” Quote: Another World (released as “Out of This World” in the US and “Outer World” in Japan) is, perhaps by default, the best game of all-time by our criteria: it was designed and programmed by virtually one man, it is not long, it features no heads-up display to clutter the screen, it features precisely one weapon which can be used for three purposes (regular attack, charge attack, shield) using only one button (we love games that let us hold down a button and then let go), it possesses unshakable confidence in the sharpness of its mechanic (conveyed in level design that prompts the player to use his multi-faceted gun in many creative ways), it features puzzles whose solutions require no more than common sense, it has amazing music, it is gorgeous to look at, and it tells a story while it moves, relentlessly, never stopping, never preaching, never speaking, from the frightening beginning right up to the heartbreaking conclusion. Out of This World was ahead of its time in 1991, and it is still ahead of not-its time in 2008. One might call it an art film of a videogame. This wouldn’t be a wrong description so much as a lazy one. It’s more of a silent film of a videogame. Or, better than that, it is a videogame of a videogame. Any of you guys played Flash Back? It was published by the same company and used the same technique for its animation. While (apparently) not as good as Another World, I still enjoyed that game immensely. Guess I'll have to add this sucker to my list of must plays now...
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