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NinTEN Part 3
May. 9th, 2019 07:50 pmI hope the handful of people that read this have been looking forward to the final entries on my list. As I've been surveying my collection to decide on the definitive order of these last few titles, I've also been playing Super Mario Odyssey, almost to completion (only 200 Moons or so left), and that may well make the next incarnation of my Top Ten list, since I'm enjoying it so much. It, along with other games, like Pokémon Red/Blue and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, deserves an honourable mention. But unfortunately, only four amazing games have survived the qualifying rounds to make it this far. Here are the Elite Four (potentially five, as you'll see).
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC + Wii U)
Granted, Wind Waker has its problems, which will probably only be exacerbated in your mind when you've played the streamlined HD version. For one thing, there are far too few dungeons (at least two places where it's hard to ignore their absence), and the Triforce quest at the end largely equates to filler, especially when you have to raise the funds to pay off the spandex-wearing Tingle brothers. This latter problem is somewhat resolved in the HD version, where the Triforce mission is significantly shortened. I'll also admit that, when the glossy Gamecube Zelda demo made its debut at Spaceworld 2000, I couldn't understand the change in direction prior to Wind Waker's release in 2003: the shiny hi-res graphics seemed to have devolved into a grainy cartoon. But despite these problems and my initial reservations, I loved, and love, the finished product: Wind Waker is a masterpiece, and fans' appreciation for it has only increased with time. Possibly the best moment (my favourite, anyway) in gaming is when you're racing from Outset to Windfall in the midst of a wild storm, dodging cyclones and hearing the music double in intensity as it gets mixed with Ganon's Theme. I vividly remember the Friday afternoon when I came home from secondary school and my mother presented it to me as an early surprise - I flew through my homework and set sail. What an adventure, and no other Zelda (bar perhaps Breath of the Wild), matches it for the thrill of exploration. Play it, and if you're one of the naysayers put off by its childish visuals, don't be. It's magical.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 3DS)
Now we venture into truly hallowed ground - uncharted territory where only classic titles may take their place. Today, in 2019, we think about games being extremely popular upon release, and selling out quickly, necessitating pre-orders and so on. And at Christmas, say, some games or consoles sell out quickly, and there's a rush to pick up the few remaining copies. But any shortage or rush which you might have encountered in recent years is nothing compared to the literal race that took place in December 1998, when The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time descended from the heavens. My parents scoured the town (no Amazon then, remember) looking for copies, and most of the assistants they spoke to were being inundated with pleas for the last remaining Zelda cartridges. There was nothing that could be done - most people didn't get it that Christmas, due to first, its popularity and success, and second, Nintendo's long-standing tradition of increasing demand with a limited supply. It was April 1999 before I finally set my hands upon that fabled black and gold box: I saw an advertisement in the Evening Echo Free Ads, where a teenager in Ballincollig was selling his copy of Ocarina for 30 pounds. On the way home - and it was a gloriously sunny evening, like the best of memories - we stopped at my aunt's house and played it on my cousin's N64. Those initial, long-awaited moments of discovery, along with almost every square inch of that game, are burned into my brain. Wind Waker excels at the feeling of adventure; Twilight Princess has excellent dungeons; Majora's Mask has the best story and characters; and Breath of the Wild is the best-designed, most innovative Zelda. But Ocarina of Time... It's the turning point of the whole franchise, as you'll know if you've read the Hyrule Historia. It's challenging, beautiful, interesting, massive, and unforgettable. There's a reason why so many consider it the best game of all time.
2. Super Mario 64 (N64 + DS)
Okay, here's where we're really going to have to keep from crying. Super Mario 64 might not have been the first game to use 3D, but it was the first to use it so comprehensively and so successfully. The concept of the 3D floating camera, which we take for granted these days, and which still bamboozles Natalie, I think, was pioneered with Super Mario 64: a game that allowed you to go practically anywhere, however you liked, and to shoot the action from any angle. It's also the best launch game ever made, maybe the best Mario game ever made, surely the best platformer ever made, and the best example of a 2D series making a triumphant leap to 3D. It deserves all the accolades we can heap upon it, along with it being (almost!) my favourite game.
Right up until the night before I got my N64 - and Super Mario 64 was my first game - I wanted a PlayStation instead. I had been coached in the ways of the gamer by my cousin Aidan - that Nintendo-owning relation I mentioned above - and wanted to carve a separate path: if he had an N64, I'd get a PlayStation, and then we'd have the best of both worlds. But something caused me to change my mind... Instead of a PlayStation with Crash Bandicoot or Spyro, I convinced my parents to buy me an N64 instead, with a second-hand copy of Super Mario 64. I don't know what changed my mind. I didn't have access to the internet to research my purchase, and I hadn't yet come across any video gaming magazines. It was a decision based purely on instinct, and yet it was fate. Destiny. While I own a PlayStation console now, if I hadn't started my journey with Mario, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Super Mario 64 burrowed deep into my soul... I got it when I was in about 2nd Class, and it's almost at that point that my memory becomes clear... I made friends, I became good at English, I stopped hating school... Prior to that, I was into TV and reading, of course, but I can't remember much about school or my friends. I used to pretend to be sick quite a lot when I was around 6 or 7. It's almost as if this interest, this love, caused everything to fall into place. So I owe Super Mario 64 a lot - I even associate it with my parents, because I remember playing it with them, and even my sisters (extremely young at that age) have vague, old memories of my early N64 games.
And aside from how much it means to me, it's a phenomenal game, too. Superb music, vibrant worlds, challenging platforming - it's all here, and it has provided the model for hundreds and hundreds of games. Mario - voiced here by the lovable Charles Martinet - is upbeat, determined, heroic: he doesn't need to say anything more than "Wahoo!" or "Mamma-mia!" to inspire positivity and fun. It took me two months to earn all 120 Stars (not bad for my first time), and I've completed it multiple times since. I know it inside-out, and II'll likely be playing it until I'm old and grey.
1. The question is, now, what kind of mystical game could possibly outrank Super Mario 64? While it didn't make the top spot, Super Mario is the game that means the most to me, for the aforementioned reasons. But my favourite game... The one that I think is still probably in a league of its own...
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC + Wii U)
Granted, Wind Waker has its problems, which will probably only be exacerbated in your mind when you've played the streamlined HD version. For one thing, there are far too few dungeons (at least two places where it's hard to ignore their absence), and the Triforce quest at the end largely equates to filler, especially when you have to raise the funds to pay off the spandex-wearing Tingle brothers. This latter problem is somewhat resolved in the HD version, where the Triforce mission is significantly shortened. I'll also admit that, when the glossy Gamecube Zelda demo made its debut at Spaceworld 2000, I couldn't understand the change in direction prior to Wind Waker's release in 2003: the shiny hi-res graphics seemed to have devolved into a grainy cartoon. But despite these problems and my initial reservations, I loved, and love, the finished product: Wind Waker is a masterpiece, and fans' appreciation for it has only increased with time. Possibly the best moment (my favourite, anyway) in gaming is when you're racing from Outset to Windfall in the midst of a wild storm, dodging cyclones and hearing the music double in intensity as it gets mixed with Ganon's Theme. I vividly remember the Friday afternoon when I came home from secondary school and my mother presented it to me as an early surprise - I flew through my homework and set sail. What an adventure, and no other Zelda (bar perhaps Breath of the Wild), matches it for the thrill of exploration. Play it, and if you're one of the naysayers put off by its childish visuals, don't be. It's magical.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 3DS)
Now we venture into truly hallowed ground - uncharted territory where only classic titles may take their place. Today, in 2019, we think about games being extremely popular upon release, and selling out quickly, necessitating pre-orders and so on. And at Christmas, say, some games or consoles sell out quickly, and there's a rush to pick up the few remaining copies. But any shortage or rush which you might have encountered in recent years is nothing compared to the literal race that took place in December 1998, when The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time descended from the heavens. My parents scoured the town (no Amazon then, remember) looking for copies, and most of the assistants they spoke to were being inundated with pleas for the last remaining Zelda cartridges. There was nothing that could be done - most people didn't get it that Christmas, due to first, its popularity and success, and second, Nintendo's long-standing tradition of increasing demand with a limited supply. It was April 1999 before I finally set my hands upon that fabled black and gold box: I saw an advertisement in the Evening Echo Free Ads, where a teenager in Ballincollig was selling his copy of Ocarina for 30 pounds. On the way home - and it was a gloriously sunny evening, like the best of memories - we stopped at my aunt's house and played it on my cousin's N64. Those initial, long-awaited moments of discovery, along with almost every square inch of that game, are burned into my brain. Wind Waker excels at the feeling of adventure; Twilight Princess has excellent dungeons; Majora's Mask has the best story and characters; and Breath of the Wild is the best-designed, most innovative Zelda. But Ocarina of Time... It's the turning point of the whole franchise, as you'll know if you've read the Hyrule Historia. It's challenging, beautiful, interesting, massive, and unforgettable. There's a reason why so many consider it the best game of all time.
2. Super Mario 64 (N64 + DS)
Okay, here's where we're really going to have to keep from crying. Super Mario 64 might not have been the first game to use 3D, but it was the first to use it so comprehensively and so successfully. The concept of the 3D floating camera, which we take for granted these days, and which still bamboozles Natalie, I think, was pioneered with Super Mario 64: a game that allowed you to go practically anywhere, however you liked, and to shoot the action from any angle. It's also the best launch game ever made, maybe the best Mario game ever made, surely the best platformer ever made, and the best example of a 2D series making a triumphant leap to 3D. It deserves all the accolades we can heap upon it, along with it being (almost!) my favourite game.
Right up until the night before I got my N64 - and Super Mario 64 was my first game - I wanted a PlayStation instead. I had been coached in the ways of the gamer by my cousin Aidan - that Nintendo-owning relation I mentioned above - and wanted to carve a separate path: if he had an N64, I'd get a PlayStation, and then we'd have the best of both worlds. But something caused me to change my mind... Instead of a PlayStation with Crash Bandicoot or Spyro, I convinced my parents to buy me an N64 instead, with a second-hand copy of Super Mario 64. I don't know what changed my mind. I didn't have access to the internet to research my purchase, and I hadn't yet come across any video gaming magazines. It was a decision based purely on instinct, and yet it was fate. Destiny. While I own a PlayStation console now, if I hadn't started my journey with Mario, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Super Mario 64 burrowed deep into my soul... I got it when I was in about 2nd Class, and it's almost at that point that my memory becomes clear... I made friends, I became good at English, I stopped hating school... Prior to that, I was into TV and reading, of course, but I can't remember much about school or my friends. I used to pretend to be sick quite a lot when I was around 6 or 7. It's almost as if this interest, this love, caused everything to fall into place. So I owe Super Mario 64 a lot - I even associate it with my parents, because I remember playing it with them, and even my sisters (extremely young at that age) have vague, old memories of my early N64 games.
And aside from how much it means to me, it's a phenomenal game, too. Superb music, vibrant worlds, challenging platforming - it's all here, and it has provided the model for hundreds and hundreds of games. Mario - voiced here by the lovable Charles Martinet - is upbeat, determined, heroic: he doesn't need to say anything more than "Wahoo!" or "Mamma-mia!" to inspire positivity and fun. It took me two months to earn all 120 Stars (not bad for my first time), and I've completed it multiple times since. I know it inside-out, and II'll likely be playing it until I'm old and grey.
1. The question is, now, what kind of mystical game could possibly outrank Super Mario 64? While it didn't make the top spot, Super Mario is the game that means the most to me, for the aforementioned reasons. But my favourite game... The one that I think is still probably in a league of its own...
