VW's Top 1000 Games

[Garfield And Friends]

#960: LEMMINGS

Genre: 2D 'god' point-and-click puzzle
Format: Amiga / Atari ST / Archimedes / and more
Publisher: Psygnosis
Year: 1991
Developer: DMA Design (Rockstar North)



Lemmings is a relatively early 'god' puzzle game. You must safely guide a bunch of oblivious lemmings towards an exit, all the while ensuring the stupid little critters don't accidentally kill themselves. As their overseer, you can assign a few skills to individual lemmings, such as making one such creature a builder of stairs.

Apparently the game was shopped around to various publishers, who all turned it down, until Psygnosis copped on to its unique appeal, and it went on the become a huge success.

It is one of the most ported games ever, with good reason.

Lemmings was even ported fairly successfully to mouse-less low resolutions systems like the C64 and the Amstrad CPC too.

The music catchy stuff; it's mostly covers of stuff like 'How Much Is That Doggy In The Window' and so forth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JPl4K26uUU

[Garfield And Friends]

#959: MIRROR'S EDGE

Genre: 3D first-person platforming
Format: PlayStation 3 / XBox 360 / Windows
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Year: 2008
Developer: EA Digital Illusions CE



A breath of fresh air for modern videogaming. EA took the old concept of 2D platforming, and turned it a 3D 'free running' affair... from a first-person camera viewpoint.

I like the puzzling platforming sections best; the gunplay bits... less so.

I can hardly wait for the sequel, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYoCmZ1SMFQ

[Garfield And Friends]

#958: DEFLEKTOR

Genre: 2D puzzler
Format: C64 / Amstrad CPC / Spectrum / and more
Publisher: Gremlin Graphics
Year: 1987
Developer: Vortex Software



A puzzle game where you have to redirect a laser light beam to a specific destination via a series of mirrors, all against the clock. Don't redirect the beam onto itself, though, or bad things will occur!

Lovely chip tune title music on the C64 version too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WO5MOd4Y7o

[Phil_A]

#957: Bird Strike

Genre: 2D shoot em up
Format: BBC Micro/Electron
Publisher: Firebird
Year: 1981
Developer: Andrew Frigaard

Bird Strike is gameplay stripped down to it's most basic elements. The entire game takes place on a single screen. You control some kind of anti-aircraft device and are continually dive-bombed by enemy planes descending from the clouds. However, your objective is not to destroy all the enemy but to wing them so that they release a carrier pigeon. Successfully taking out a pigeon adds a note to the stave at the top of the screen. Get all the notes to finish the level. That's it! It seems ludicrously simple now, but it's one of the most addictive games I've ever played.

There's also nice little touch whereby each plane you destroy results in a little cross appearing in the graveyard in the corner, just to make you feel bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCKZX5QRRvY

[madhair60]

#956: Gitaroo Man

Genre: Rhythm Action
Format: PS2/PSP
Publisher: Koei
Year: 2001
Developer: INiS



The second-best rhythm action game yet made, Gitaroo Man offers the player real connection with the music, turning the control pad into an instrument - simple to get to grips with, complex to master.  Stadium rock, grunge, dub, J-Pop, d&b, soul, acoustic and what sounds like Final Fantasy boss music, among other genres.

Can't recommend it enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8qTcx_nzQw&feature=related

[Custard]

#955: Tetris

Genre: Puzzle
Format: Nintendo Gameboy
Publisher: Nintendo/The Tetris Company
Year: 1989
Developer: Bullet-Proof Software



Simply the most addictive game, ever. Ever, ever, ever.

I used to waste hours on this. I think the most amount of lines i ever completed was just over 200. And i still play the game occasionaly on my mobile phone, when i'm in the mood.

I doubt the magic and appeal will ever fade for me. Just a genius, simple idea for a game that anyone of any age can play, and great fun.

[Garfield And Friends]

#954: JUNGLE HUNT

Genre: 2D action arcade side-scroller
Format: Coin-op Arcade / Atari 2600 / and more
Publisher: Taito
Year: 1982
Developer: Taito



You play a Terry-Thomas lookalike adventurer whose girlfriend has been kidnapped by filthy jungle savages. I say! Rescue your woman and see the blighters off. The Duke of Edinburgh would approve.

Jungle Hunt is an EXTREMELY short game. One of the shortest completable commercial videogames ever made. 2 or 3 minutes is about all it takes to free your virtual missus from the clutches of the jungle tribe.

Check that funky music out too. Very catchy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d90relrvLRk

[HappyTree]

One of the most addictive games from the Old School: Paratrooper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP5aA055Ous

This game is great. Deceptively simple, you have to shoot everything to stop your gun turret getting blown up. But there come these waves of pesky paratroopers you must prevent from landing. If you get 4 on one side they climb up and kill you. Then there are the bombers that bomb you with bombs. Quite difficult to get the right angle. Also, firing bullets deletes your score. Do I blast that 4th paratrooper come what may with a hail of bullets or do I try to keep my score up by shooting parsimoniously?

This has that "just one more go" factor in spades.

[Consignia]

Hey, hey, come on over and play

#952: Crazy Taxi

Genre: Arcade Taxi Sim
Format: Coin-op Arcade / Dreamcast / and more not worth bothering with
Publisher: Sega
Year: 1999
Developer: Hitmaker



This was first my Dreamcast game I bought with my newspaper round money. I took a bit of a gamble between this or Marvel Vs. Capcom, but I went for Crazy Taxi based on a few screenshots from the official Dreamcast magazine. I was not disappointed by a long shot.

A wonderful easy to pick up arcade game. I loved the scale of it, you simply given the objective of finding customers and dropping them, but how you did it was up to you. If you wanted to go through a car park to shave a few seconds off, then you could.

The presenation was also amazing, I remember being completely wowed at the time by it. It's been way surpassed now, but it just looked so good at the time. I'm sure others will kick me for this, but I thought the Bad Religion/OffSpring sound track really fit well.

I even invented my own little drinking game for it. Such a pity that everything since the original DC version has stunk including all the crappy ports and sequels.

[biggytitbo]

Rainbow Islands
Genre: Platformer
Year: 1987
Publisher: Taito
Format: Arcade, everything.

This, in my opinion, is best platformer ever made. On the surface level it is a superbly polished and playable platform game, with unusual play mechanics - you always go up to avoid an encroaching flood, and you have a 'weapon', a rainbow that also doubles up as a makeshift bridge. But what really sets this game above all others, including the hallowed Mario series, is its depth. Probably no game of its kind has ever had as many secrets as this - a vast array of secret levels, modes, treasures, power-ups and bonuses are unlockable in the most mind bogglingly elaborate ways - it's all about the colours. You can play this amazing game on the most simple terms and its brilliant, but if you unlock the door to its myriad secrets and riddles it is almost endlessly replayable.

I had the Amiga version, which was probably the best home version of all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_nxx-lCO9I

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

#961 Planescape: Torment
Genre: RPG
Format: PC
Developer: Black Isle Studios
Year: 1999

Yep, that was one I was going to nominate.  The best RPG I've ever played, and I've played a few.  (Well about 10).

It was probably a bit too "weird" for the standard D&D fan, whilst the D&D label probably put others off.

[Viero_Berlotti]

#950:Demon's Souls
Genre: Action RPG
Year: 2009
Publisher: Sony/Altus
Developer: From Software/SCE Japan Studio
Format: PS3



Demon's Souls is a rare thing in 'next gen' gaming in that, despite being published and developed by Sony it really doesn't have that 'designed by committee' feel that sometimes lets down a lot of current console games.

As an RPG it follows the conventions and cliches of the genre in aesthetics only. It's the core gaming mechanics that set it apart. The central concept of the game is really simple, just kill the monsters and get 'souls' instead of XP. However at the same time it's not just a one dimensional hack-and-slash title. Within the simplicity there is real depth of gameplay. Every time you get killed, all the 'souls' you collected up until that point get left at the spot you died at and you start the level again with zero 'souls'. All the monsters re-spawn in the same place so you have to go through the level again to get you lost 'souls' back.

The difficulty level is another plus point. It really is merciless, but at the same time never cheap, it always leaves you feeling you could get past if you tried something different in your next go. In other RPGs, the longer you play the game, ultimately you can easily get yourself to an all powerful level and basically kick anybodies arse. In Demon's Souls however, no matter how tough you are, no matter how long you've taken building those stats up and modifying your weapons and armour, there is always some bad guy that can take you out in one or two hits. It's as much about your skill as a player than about the stats of your character.

This game will go down as a classic of the genre, and there really is a lot to be learnt form its back-to-basics approach to its core gaming mechanics. It brings all the great action and character building from an RPG, but cuts out any boring 'Dwarven politics' story lines, and replaces them with a timeless and addictive arcade gameplay dynamic.

[Garfield And Friends]

#949: CAVERNS OF KHAFKA

Genre: 2D scrolling adventure platformer
Format: C64 / Atari 800XL
Publisher: Cosmi
Year: 1984
Developer: Paul Norman



Despite its arse-awful physics (slow-motion jumping; slow whipping), this arcade adventure is a good 'un. Creepy.

Very atmospheric for an early 8-bit computer game (nice choice of colour palette; spooky music).

The goal of the game is to collect all of the treasures while avoiding sheer drops, lava, falling rocks, and flying creatures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSbA6PT2dnY

[Garfield And Friends]

#948: THE SENTINEL

Genre: pseudo-3D strategy
Format: BBC Micro / Atari ST / Amstrad CPC / and more
Publisher: Firebird
Year: 1986
Developer: Geoff Crammond



The Sentinel is a fantastically original strategy game. The nascent UK videogame industry of the '80s was quite good at allowing strange titles like this to crop up and flourish. If you did not have the instruction manual, you would be hard-pressed to figure out what the point of game is.

Originally programmed by Geoff Crammond on the BBC Micro, the goal of The Sentinel is to reach the highest point on the forboding virtual landscape, and to defeat the resident sentinel boss there by absorbing its energy. Each landscape (aka. level, of which there are 10000) has a fixed amount of energy, which changes in form but not in amount.

It's not as simple as wearing your hiking boots and donning a walking stick though! The only way you can move is by teleporting onto squares whose top surface you can (just about) see.

Similarly, if you can see the square surface on which a tree resides, you can absorb its energy. With enough energy, you can generate artifical boulders (to increase a square's height), then teleport to this newly higher structure. All this traversing the landscape is done under the watchful eye of the rotating sentinel, who begins to absorb your energy if it spots you for long enough. If you lose your energy, you die!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_pgo3vgiI

[Borboski]

Demon's Souls is import only right?

Im waiting for my copy of MLB 09 The Show to arrive :(

[Viero_Berlotti]

Demon's Souls is import only right?

Yeah, I forgot to add that, it has only been released in America and Asia. It has yet to get a European release and there are currently no plans to release it over here. Baffling really when you consider some of the dross that does get released.

[Garfield And Friends]

#947: CHILLER

Genre: 2D light gun shooter
Format: Coin-op Arcade
Publisher: Exidy
Year: 1986
Developer: Exidy



Banned in the UK.

Schlocky blood 'n guts shooting ahoy. Sadistically shoot unfortunates trapped in torture racks for fun and high scores. Ha ha! Mister programmer, with this immorality you are really spoiling us!

Not even the dead escape your Chiller arcade light gun crosshairs, as later levels allow you to shoot ghosts and ghouls too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAXDwuSRVpU

[Garfield And Friends]

#946: THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE

Genre: 2D action puzzle
Format: MS-DOS
Publisher: Sierra
Year: 1992
Developer: Kevin Ryan / Dynamix



The Incredible Machine sets you challenges such as asking you to somehow get a stationary baseball (on a lower resting point) into a higher containing area. The game provides you with a limited number of bizarre contraptions to aid you in this task, such as a set of see-saws, boxing-gloves-on-springs, sloped sections of pipes, and so forth.

It is up to you to figure out the necessary gizmos and where they should be positioned on-screen in order for a mad chain reaction of successful executions to occur, and thereby completing the level's described task.

It's an addictive puzzle game. Sometimes your working chain reaction can vary quite a bit from what was probably the intended solution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09FnpoZ7x64

[torz77]

#945: Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

Genre: 1st Person Shooter
Format: N64, PC
Publisher: Acclaim
Year: 1998
Developer: Iguana Entertainment



A game which split opinion amongst most N64 owners over whether it was a work of (flawed) genius or a piece of crap. I fall into the former category.

Turok2: Seeds of Evil was the second and best Turok game to appear on the Nintendo 64. Coming out a year after Goldeneye it was often compared unfavourably to Rare's iconic and game changing FPS, which was a bit unfair imho as they were both being developed at around the same time.

That said, Turok2 did incorporate various different missions you had to complete (rescue the children, save the prisoners, activate the warp portals etc. etc.) but ultimately it was a romp through several massive, beautifully textured levels blasting absolutely everything in sight, with some of the best array of weapons in any FPS... ever. My personal favourite, and still my favourite weapon in any game of it's genre, was the Cerebral Bore which fired a drill bit that homed onto the nearest enemy, drilling into their brain before splatting their brains all over the place. Stunning. I will never get bored of that.

Gore, generally, was relatively high, with blood splattering walls as you shot enemies, or squirting out of their bodies as you blasted another limb or head off. This was a game which demonstrated that the N64 was not just for kids. The AI was also very good. If you send a Cerebral Bore at an enemy they will try (and fail) to run away. Often an attacker will break off to fight another enemy, as the various different species of enemy don't seem to get on too well with each other. In one scene you're riding around on a Triceratops, so the enemies who would previously be very aggressive towards you will attempt to do anything to get away, generally flailing the arms around in the air.

The enemies, mostly dinosaur/reptilian type monsters often with body armour and weapons grafted onto them were diverse enough to keep the game interesting, whilst again being beautifully textured (for it's time). This game really did demonstrate the graphical power of the N64, where so many other games failed.

I also loved the cinematic soundtrack that the game had. Sure it was repetitive, but somehow it never got boring. I don't think I'm alone, as there are several videos on youtube just showcasing the soundtrack.

On the downside, the sheer scale of the levels could get confusing at times, and save points were spread so sparsely around the place that I missed many university lectures at the time as I refused to turn off the game until I had found the next save point. This was a small price to pay for what was ultimately a very rewarding experience. The size of the levels meant you really did have to explore every nook and cranny, which is something I miss in games like Half-Life 2, where you feel that a lot of the stunning scenery just zooms passed as you speed through it.

I've recently started playing this game on an emulator, and the ability to 'save state' vastly improves the experience. I am getting just as much fun out of this as when I first played it all those years ago.

Ultimately, Turok2 is a bit of an unsung hero amongst the N64 back catalogue.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWgwBBNWpZU

[Jemble Fred]

Hey, this is the proper Chiller! And it's a quite-good platformer:

[Still Not George]

#944 Emperor of the Fading Suns

Wouldn't it be great, right, if someone made a game that was basically like Panzer General, but you could fight on lots of different planets? And you'd, like, send troops to other planets and take them over. And you could have politics and a Galactic Senate and trade and stuff - kind of like VGA Planets, only with ground combat done on hexes with tanks, and city-building elements a la Civilisation.

Obviously you'd need a really strong storyline to support all this. Maybe a sort of cross between 40K and Dune, with noble houses fighting over the wreckage of an earlier better Age and facing off against invasions from waves of aliens and suffering under a really oppressive Church. Wouldn't it be cool, right, to have just finished inventing some cool tech like genetic engineering or something and then the Church descends with flamethrowers to torch your scientists for heresy! And then lets have a Trade Guild you can buy shit from (at a massive modifier, of course) and sell stuff to, and lets have them hoard cash and units and then try and take over the whole Galaxy.

Oh, and just for extra sauce, lets make it playable multiplayer. And lets make it playable multiplayer by email, so you can setup games that people can play any bloody time they like.

But obviously, all that's just a pipe-dream. Games that cool don't get past the design stage, they're just too non-commer... What, you mean someone already made it?



Well, that does explain why I keep losing whole months of my life. I was blaming drugs.

[Viero_Berlotti]

Wow, I've never heard of that game before it sounds really good. In 1997 I was in a stage of advanced hedonism, and computer gaming was completely off the agenda for me so that's why I missed it. I'm going to have to track a copy of that down now it sounds right up my street.

[Still Not George]

If there's one thing about 90s PC games I'd like to see make a comeback, it's Play By Email. Only one I've seen in the past few years (aside from periodic updates of GalCiv and VGA Planets) is Solium Infernum.

[Rev]

#943: It Came From The Desert

Genre: Not really
Format: Amiga (definitive version), PC
Publisher: Mirrorsoft
Year: 1989
Developer: Cinemaware


Style-over-substance outfit Cinemaware were a frustrating bunch.  Whenever they released a game you'd at least need to have a look at it, although a look would generally be enough; their games were generally better-suited to running on a display computer in Dixons than actually being played in your home.

Someone will no doubt make a case for Wings - which was good, don't get me wrong - but for me, this was the one time they got it completely right.

It's difficult to categorise, because there hasn't really been another game like it.  Big giant ants have invaded the desert town of Lizard Breath, and you're the only guy level-headed enough to alert people to the danger.  The cunts won't listen, though.  Played out via a map screen, you have to choose who to visit in your quest to make yourself heard - the sympathetic scientist, the mayor, the radio station, or perhaps a remote site where 'activity' has been spotted - but the clock's ticking, and a fruitless visit will cost you valuable time.

Reaching your destination will usually end up in a multiple-choice conversation, but not always.  Sometimes you'll need to take down an ant in a proto-FPS sequence, or flee in a top-down-view arcade mini-game, throwing grenades about.  Or you might be delayed by having to play chicken with the local tough.  Screw that up and you'll end up in hospital, where you can decide to stay and recover - but waste time - or try to escape in a Bennyhillesque chase game.  Variety!

The real masterstroke in this game is that it gives you a very clear goal to work towards, but doesn't end if you don't achieve it in time.  The idea of that being a way out is simply removed from the table, and you're left to contend with things as they get a hell of a lot worse.

[torz77]

Never heard of this.

Sounds awesome! Time to fire up UAE...

[Borboski]

Ooh, what was the one on the amiga that was a cartoonesque US civil war game?  There was a map screen, and you could move around with some sub-games like running along a moving train, I think.

Then the battle had your units lined up on the left side of the screen, there's on the right, I think units may just have moved left to right in motionand then reappeared ont he left.

#942: North and South
Genre: RTS?
Format: Amiga
Publisher: Infogrammes
Year: 1989

[biggytitbo]

You can download It Came From the Desert for free from Cinemawares website. It is great!

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

If there's one thing about 90s PC games I'd like to see make a comeback, it's Play By Email. Only one I've seen in the past few years (aside from periodic updates of GalCiv and VGA Planets) is Solium Infernum.

Incredibly, KJC Games are still going!

http://www.kjcgames.com/index.php

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

#941: The Nomad Soul (Omikron)

Genre: RPG/Adventure
Format: PC, Dreamcast
Publisher: Eidos
Year: 1999
Developer: Quantic Dream







Like many high-concept RPGs, The Nomad Soul ran the risk of being misunderstood and underappreciated by games reviewers without the time and it has to be said- the guile to get to grips with anything resembling complexity. However it developed a huge fanbase among gamers lucky enough to have perservered and explored what lay beneath.

While Shenmue was making waves, The Nomad Soul combined elements of gaming in a much tighter fashion. The game was essentially a 3rd person adventure, an RPG, a beat-em-up and a FPS in one. Granted- it excelled in none of them, but it was a true trailblazer of the idea that one day games would exist that were hybrids from various genres of gaming.

The high concept element was that as the game progressed, you inhabited the soul of different characters, each with specialist skills and particular weaknesses. The storyline was classic dystopian/cyber-punk subterfuge, with certain set pieces that were extremely filmic in nature.

The weaknesses of the game were, as they often are in these type of games, the ambition surpassing the technology. The cities were limited in both size and scope. The animation was sometimes poor, and the beat-em-up elements were fun but a bit clunky.

However, what it did have and still have going for it is that great story, an immersive and unusual idea at its very core, some great changes of pace and lots of gameplay to get stuck into. The Nomad Soul gave us a glimpse into what gaming would be like 10 years in the future, but few people at the time knew it. The game still carries a unique, heady atmosphere and for that reason alone I would implore anyone not yet acquainted with it, to do so immediately.

Oh, plus you got to have sex in it, or something.

[Lt Plonker]

If there's one thing about 90s PC games I'd like to see make a comeback, it's Play By Email. Only one I've seen in the past few years (aside from periodic updates of GalCiv and VGA Planets) is Solium Infernum.

Civilization IV does email play. Seems like it'd take ages to get anywhere considering how slowly each game starts off.