Try to imagine a world where the most basic form of melee combat, fist fighting, doesn’t even exist in video games. Almost every game these days has an obligatory punch/kick/slap/chop button (how else are you supposed to get your gun from the guard?), but this was not the case until 1976 when Sega released Heavyweight Champ. This pioneering game was originally released as an arcade game, in black-and-white with two motion sensitive boxing gloves that players wore as controllers. The game was simple at best, a side-view boxing match with the option of punching low or high in which the contestants walk up and pummel each other until the other one falls down. However, its simplicity doesn’t detract from its undeniable influence. Who would have ever thought, realistic violence in video games…

Turns out the idea was a hit (no pun) and the ‘side-view fighting game’ concept was reinvented several times over the following years. It wasn’t until 1984 when Data East’s Karate Champ and Irem’s Kung-Fu Master introduced the martial-arts themed, side-scrolling and multiple enemies characteristics we identify with the Beat ‘Em Up genre. This trend culminated with the release of Techno’s Renegade in 1986 which incorporated strategical combo attacks, horizontal and directional movement and the ability to jump. In addition to changing the dynamics of the Beat ‘Em Up, Renegade reshaped the tone by introducing the urban street-combat theme and the “That guy stole my girlfriend/crystal of power/the King, and now I have to go beat him up,” plot-line movement.

The stage was set, Renegade provided the template for the Beat ‘Em Up, but the spark that ignited the Golden Age was Technos Japan’s Double Dragon (1987). The addition of multi-player cooperative play in this game sent the genre to new heights and opened the flood gates, ushering in a wave of some of the most memorable and identifiable games of yesteryear. Atop this wave, cresting in all it’s glory were games such as Final Fight, Arabian Fight, Golden Axe, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Streets of Rage. Some Beat ‘Em Ups even went on to be influential in their own way, such as Crossed Swords, a first person perspective Beat ‘Em Up that became one of the pioneering games of the hack-and-slash genre.

Sadly though, nothing lasts forever and the Beat ‘Em Up Golden Age came to a halt in 1991 when Capcom’s Street Fighter II re-energized the popularity of one-on-one fighting games. This, coupled with the growing interest in 3D games and the loss of interest in 2D side-scrollers spelled doom for the entire genre and by the mid-90s the games started to suffer from lack of creativity. Facing extinction, game creators tried to keep the genre alive by adapting it to the new, prevailing 3D technology. From this sprang the immensely popular Dynasty Warriors series (of which there are 14 games) and the not so popular Fighting Force game. However, these games eventually met with the same criticism of being unimaginative and repetitive. By 2002 the Beat ‘Em Up genre was officially pronounced ‘dead’ as pretty much no new Beat ‘Em Ups had hit the market that year.

A few notable games managed to keep the waning genre on its feet. Behemoth’s Castle Crashers (2008) garnered some attention with its hilarious sense of humor and compelling cooperative game play. Capcom’s Viewtiful Joe (2003) incorporated cel-shading and the ability to shift between 2D and 3D environments was very unique. Rockstar Games’ The Warriors (2005) successfully adapted the Beat ‘Em Up to a 3D environment and added other scenarios to the game that were not possible with traditional 2D graphics, such as chase scenes and a few mini games. Capcom’s God Hand (2006) and Sega’s Madworld (2009) provided more comical relief as they parodied the intense violence of traditional Beat ‘Em Ups. Even some of the original Beat ‘Em Ups, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutrles IV: Turtles in Time, were revamped from their original 1980′s appearances and re-released with better graphics on new generation consoles.

But we all know what happens to crazes when they die out. Consider the flannel shirt, yo yos and skateboarding. When a craze dies out it rises again and experiences a revival. Such was the case for the Beat ‘Em Up genre, except the revival was that of its protege and close relative, the Hack-and-Slash. If any of you retro gamers has had the chance to put down your worn and ‘generously-used’ (see: played until the point of breaking) controllers in the last ten years you may have heard of, or even played, games such as Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, Heavenly Sword and Afro Samurai and noticed the striking similarities these games share with the early Beat ‘Em Ups and Hack-and-Slashes of the 1980′s. You can add as many bells and whistles, glowing demon blades twice the size of your character’s body and crazy, levitating, spinning combos as you want to a game, but really at the end of the day you can never completely outshine those that paved the way. The revival of these games shows that while the physical, archetypal shell of the Beat ‘Em Up may have died off long ago the spirit of this genre is still quite alive in games today. A big tip of my hat to Heavyweight Champ for throwing the first punch, high fives to Karate Champ and Kung-Fu Master for making us all feel like Bruce Lee, solemn hand shake to Renegade for setting the standard and a hearty pat on the back to Double Dragon for igniting the Golden Age of a genre that shaped video games as we know them.

Beat ‘Em Ups you should check out:

Micheal Jackson’s Moonwalker

Mighty Morphing Power Rangers(series)

The Tick

Ninja Baseball Bat Man

X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (series)

The Simpsons

Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja

Batman Returns

Ninja Clowns

Gang Wars

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game

Mutation Nation

Knights of Valor (series)

The Death and Return of Superman

Castle Crasher

Altered Beast

Asterix

Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems

Battle Toads (series)

(Quick answer: Not to!)

 

People debate between PC gaming and console gaming with an almost religous zeal. While there are those brave ones among us who use both systems to play their games, even those will usually lean one way or another. As I have stated up-front, I am a PC gamer all the way, and don’t even consider getting a console. And while I recognize that this will leave me out of playing many great games, I am usually okay with that, because there is plenty enough for me to digest on my computer, and many games do eventually get a PC port, for better or worse.

One strong argument in favor of the PC is that you can open it up and upgrade parts. While this is totally true and a very valid point, this doesn’t mean very much to me because I rarely will run out to get the latest graphics card. They are wildly expensive, and while I agree that a good graphics card makes a world of difference, I am usually okay with a cheaper model that was all the rave a year ago. Much more cost effective, and the games still look fine to me. I never saw much of a difference between, lets say, 56 FPS and 60 FPS. But, to each his own.

One of the biggest reasons I greatly prefer PC games is that because while I was growing up in the 80′s, computer games seemed just much more fun than console games. Now don’t get me wrong, at this time it was mostly the C64 against the NES, and the NES was hugely popular. Super Mario Bros. by itself took the world by storm, and I admit that it was (still is) a great game. However, even at a young age I could tell that the computer, while maybe lacking in graphics and sound, had a much more possible depth.

As an example, I will go back to the game I wrote about previously: Ultima 4, Quest of the Avatar. U4 had almost everything I could ask for in a game. Were the graphics as pretty as in Super Mario Bros.? No, but U4 didn’t need to look shiny. It’s look perfectly fit the dungeon-esque genre is was aimed at. And Ultima 4 just could NOT be played on the NES. Of course, I am well aware that U4 was ported over to the Nintendo, but it was just a different game. It might have looked better, but nothing else about it topped the C64′s version.

Another reason that I will stay with computers is very simple, and yet it surprises me how much this is debated. Consolers, face it and lets be done with it: a controller is just simply inferior to a mouse! Case closed. No? Sigh. Okay, fine. Please riddle me this: if a controller was better then why do ALL computers use a mouse? If it was better computers would come controller sticks, and a mouse would have died long ago. I just don’t understand how players could play a FPS after using a mouse. Of course, the benefits of having a keyboard can pretty much go without saying as well.

I guess a controller could be interesting if puzzling over what button does what is fun for you. I never found that worth dedicating brain cells to.

So, given just these few arguments, it’s clear that consoles, while very good at what they do, are inferior in these aspects to a PC. So, why would a serious gamer want something inferior?

At least, back in the NES days, consoles were instant. You pop a cartridge in, turn on the console, and boom, you were playing. But these days the load times on consoles are pretty high. And while load times are on area that PCs may be slightly lacking, it’s not a big deal. But, if I have to give consoles an edge in anything, this would be it.

I will also readily acknowledge that the Wii is changing gaming, and I give it full credit for accomplishing that.

Aside from that, though, I will say thanks, but no thanks to console gaming.

-JD

Back in the awesome 80′s the personal computer was working hard to get into people homes and each one had its own choice spokesperson. A face that John Q. Public could trust. I’m sure the board meetings at Radio Shack, Commodore and Texas Instruments had corkboards with head shots of the days biggest stars pinned all over it. But who? Who would be the faces to get their products into the home. Let’s take a look at some of the choices they made.

Radio Shack TRS-80 (1982): Isaac Asimov

Radio Shack chose the prolific science fiction writer to be their spokesperson. His name and recognizable face (with his bushy mutton chops) evoked a sense of the future. A future of science and technology. For those who knew his works, it was a no-brainer, but for those who weren’t familiar with Mr. Asimov, his somewhat “bizarre” look certainly garnered a second look at whatever he was hawking.

The Commodore Vic-20 (1982): William Shatner

Of course the Captain of the Starship Enterprise James T. Kirk, would know a thing or two about computers. That’s what Commodore was hoping for. Shatner’s swagger, machismo and good looks literally compelled people to buy a Commodore computer (plus its under $300 price point helped too).

Texas Instruments TI99/4A (1982): Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby was a trusted face. He was telling us to have a Coke and a smile and extolling the deliciousness of Jell-O pudding. So, why wouldn’t we believe him if he told us Texas Instruments home computers “…we’re the one.” It was the first domestic computer with a 16 bit processor but companies like Commodore pounded it silly forcing TI to drop prices lower and lower eventually selling each at a loss. Bill cashed his pay check before Texas Instruments announced is was getting out of the computer biz.

Radio Shack Tandy 2000 (1983): Bill Bixby

After 5 years of being Dr. David Banner on the Incredible Hulk television series, Billy Bixby was available to take the Tandy 2000 and show the world it could be used for Gamma radiation experiments. Oddly, we were expected to trust a man who’s own computer malfunctioned and cursed him with his raging alter ego the Hulk.

Spectravideo SV318 (1983): Roger Mooore

What’s a super spy without his high tech…tech? James Bond always had the best gadgets from a solex agitator to a ski pole gun, so of course he would know all about the Spectravideo computer. It’s a little know fact that Roger Moore has the daintiest little fingers, just perfect for the Spectravision’s notorious “ckicklet” keys.

Compaq Computer (1980′s): John Cleese

Humor has always worked in advertising and for the most part the computer makers of the 80′s had avoided this angle and favored intellectuals or pseudo-intellectuals to push their wares. Compaq hired Monty Python funny man John Cleese to do a series of absurdest and humor packed commercials. They proved effective  and gave Compaq the needed exposure to do battle with Big Blue, IBM.

The Prime Computer (1980′s): Tom Baker

Sticking with the tradition of using science fiction to sell computers, Prime Computer inc. ran four commercials starring Tom Baker and Lalla Ward of British television’s Dr. Who. The Time Lord himself would use a Prime Computer to save the universe or just calculate how long his scarf was.

Atari 800XL (1984): Alan Alda

Atari tapped Alan Alda to be the face of their XL computer line. Gone was his sarcastic MASH attitude replaced with a softer gentler Alda. One who speaks to his dog about the virtues of the Atari 800XL or aids a young girl in correcting a sexist sentence on her word processor. Eventually Alda jumped ship and joined his MASH buddies working for IBM (see below).

IBM PS/2 (1987): The frickin’ cast of MASH

Some how MASH keeps creeping back into the mix. In 1987 IBM hired basically the entire core cast of the famous TV show to peddle their growing line of computer systems. The found themselves out of war torn South Korea and into the war torn American office. Alan Alda soon there after joined his buddies for a happy reunion of sorts thanks to IBM.

Vendex HeadStart (1987): King Kong Bundy

The Vendex HeadStart computer decided to use the massive professional wrestler, King Kong Bundy, to show their computer could release the intellectual in anyone. Hmmmm are you convinced? No? Well what if you were body slammed a few times, would you be convinced then?

It’s pretty safe to say that everyone you know has played the N64 at some point. Ask any gamer and they will, more likely than not, be able to rattle off a list of some games they played or still play  for hours on end with their friends. The stunning 64-bit graphics (try to remember back) and the ability to have 4 person multi-player made games like GoldenEye 007, Super Smash Bros., Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Party and Mario Kart 64 household names and ingrained the N64 in our hearts and minds. However, below this party-friendly, commercially successful exterior lies the dark underbelly of the N64 games catalog. A deep, extensive catacomb with layers and layers of danger and deceit. A place where some real gems have been buried by poor marketing, foreign releases and the sands of time.  I have delved this catacomb, and today I would like to bring you my *queue opening treasure chest music* “TOP TEN BURIED TREASURES OF THE N64″ in no particular order.

10: Fighting Force 64 – A 3D beat ‘em up, how could you go wrong? Well, apparently a lot of critics felt that this game did go wrong as it garnered mostly mediocre to poor reviews. I however, will have to respectfully disagree. This game is a lot of fun. Think streets of rage in 3D with the option of picking up guns as weapons and the ability to play co-op with friends. I will admit that the game is kind of short and the controls are kind of hard to get used to, but hey, once you do you’ve got a 3D beat ‘em up that’s short and sweet.

9: Buck Bumble – You are a robotic bee with guns, flying around and shooting evil mutated bugs. While the single-player story mode was kind of lacking, the multi-player more than redeemed this game in my eyes. Specifically, I am talking about Buzz Ball. A seemingly last minute multi-player option, Buzz Ball is basically a game of soccer played with an enormous ball  by two cybernetic bees with rifles that must shoot the ball to move it. Very simple, but very, very addictive. VEEEERY addictive.

8: Clay Fighter 63 1/3  - A real gem of a fighting game that laughs in the face of every other fighting game. The name, characters and moves were all parodies of other games like Street Fighter, Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombat (Claytalities…GET IT!?). The animation was done with stop-motion and clay mation, producing a very unique effect not seen in many other games and the levels were some of the first to feature multiple stages (example: I uppercut you and you fly through the roof. Now we’re fighting on the roof). It was just so weird, so funny and so unique that I think everybody with a strange sense of humor and a love for fighters should play it at least once. Another version, Clay Fighter 63 1/3: Sculptor’s Cut, featured some new characters and was released for rental only at Blockbuster Video. It’s reported as being one of the rarest and most expensive N64 games out there.

7: Flying Dragon – First released in Japan and then in America with no translations this game was a one-of-a-kind  fighter/RPG with the option of playing with either adult characters or child characters. This game stood out for several reasons. The blend of fighter and RPG was intriguing, your character could level up and gain money and treasure from winning fights, an aspect seldom seen in most fighting games which added depth to the characters.  The game controls were smoother than other fighting games on the 64 and it was actually possible to remember and perform combos and special moves (!). Throw in the fact that you have a  giant robotic Sumo wrestler fighting a Mayan pugilist while they scream in Japanese and you’ve pretty much sealed the deal.

6:  Battle Tanx: Global Assault –  Post-apocalyptic, mutant tank gangs and cultists roaming the ruins of metropolitan areas and fighting for the hell of it, ’nuff said. Each gang had specializations, strengths and weaknesses providing a lot of customization and an interesting strategic option to the game during a time of mostly “fastest-reflexes-wins” kind of games. This was the sequel to Battle Tanx, however 3DO went bankrupt before they could release another sequel.

5: Space Station Silicon Valley – Quirky is the best way to describe this game. Silly yet incredibly hilarious, primitive but in an endearing way and most of all inventive. The premise of this game is that you are a little microchip with legs that must run around inhabiting the bodies of animals on a strange space station.  The different animals have different abilities (yes, apparently sheep can float) which you must use to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. The best comparison I can make is: it’s like Banjo-Kazooie, except it’s a lot darker and instead of just getting a bear and an ostrich (or whatever Kazooie is) you can choose from a bunch of different animals to control. Definitely a breath of fresh air from most of the other platformers on the system.

4: Blast Corps – Two ticking time bomb nuclear missiles need to get to a safe detonation site. However, there are a lot of pesky cities and towns in the way. They must be destroyed, that is your job. This is one of the best single player games I’ve ever played. Mindless destruction of buildings with bulldozers and giant robots mixed with fast paced puzzle solving. It’s very simplistic and very easy to lose track of time while playing this game.

3: Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber – One of the only RPGs for the 64 and definitely the only SRPG (strategic RPG). Ogre Battle 64′s game play is very similar to the other games of the Ogre series (and most other SRPGs, like Fire Emblem, for that matter) but with the benefit of having much better graphics. One of the unique points of this game was that the decisions you make actually have repercussions that change the outcome of the game, so there is no way for you to unlock every character or explore every path in the game one time through. This game can be played over and over and if you’re the kind of person that enjoys SRPGs then this is definitely a must.

2: Winback – This third-person shooter is a stealth based game, very similar to Metal Gear Solid style creeping. A very rare sight indeed on the N64, a shooter where it is actually necessary to take cover.  It provides hours of enjoyment sneaking around and popping enemies in the head on the single player, and even the multi-player can be a lot of fun. Definitely worth a look if you’re tired of running up and slapping your enemies to death all of the time.

1: Vigilante 8 – A  spitting image of the Twisted Metal series, but much less Sci-Fi and much more 1970′s. This game actually had much better graphics and better car handling controls than its PS counterparts.  The vehicles featured cool weapons and the sound track was definitely the kind of the thing that would get you revved up for some moto-violence.  Fun to the bitter end and a more realistic change of pace from the whimsical vehicle combat of Mario Kart

I am now 35 years old, and this damned curse still follows me!

It all started when I first started playing the Ultima games, started with Ultima IV, Quest of the Avatar in the mid 1980′s. At first, I saw my older brother playing the game and only knew that if you kept fighting the bad guys, you will increase in level and get stronger. So I made a deal with my brother: while he was out I would just fight “bridge trolls” over and over again so he would advance in level.

Of course, the tedium of that caught up with me after a while and I got the urge to play the game myself from the start. Having already gotten the gist of the game, my original intentions were just to have fun and play the game as a villain who just killed everyone in his path. So, I named my original character “Destroyer.” This must have angered the gods, because little did I know a curse had been laid upon me! Ignorance is bliss, however.

My good nature doesn’t really allow me to be evil even in digital form, so my original plan went by the wayside and I almost immediately started taking the game very seriously. I spent hours, days, weeks, playing the game. I got so addicted to it that it was pretty much all I thought about (this game addiction still is present with me today). I remember looking at pamphlets of what games were out for the Commodore 64 at that time and seeing U4 in there; I would read and re-read the description, stare at the cover art (tsk, tsk, I had gotten a copy of the game and never owned the original until much later). I clearly remember seeing it described as having about 80 hours of gameplay. I would always think to myself, “I’ve been playing more than that, I must be getting close to the end!” I was very excited.

Anyone who has played Ultima 4 knows that it was quite a large and long game. And me, being the little obsessed child that I was, was eagerly awaiting the triumphant climax of this grand yarn I was in the middle of.

I had gotten to the last dungeon in the game. At the very end, there is a riddle to solve. Well, my young mind couldn’t tackle the mental task put before me, and every answer I tried was incorrect. This left me sour, as the thought of starting over was daunting. You see, as much fun as I had playing the game and even though I loved it wholeheartedly, the idea of starting over and going through all this again just seemed like… work. Not fun, but long, tedious work. So, I put the game aside.

But oh was I excited when the next installment came out! We had gotten a legit copy of Ultima 5, with the clue book and everything! It looked fantastic, and I dove right in. Just like in U4, U5 was a very long, expansive game. It took next to forever for me to be on the precipice of completing it.

During that time, the group of us that were into computer games would often trade with one another, or lend games so that copies could be made, etc. We didn’t know that what we were doing was wrong, all we knew is that “Pio has a copy of XYZ, I want one too!” So many floppy disks were passed around back then. Many a hole was punched out to magically turn a single-sided disk into a double-sided disk.

Anyway, even though I can’t remember the exact circumstances, I had loaned out my U5 disks to a friend of mine. I figured that he would know that he shouldn’t mess with my game, especially given how nice I was to lend the disks to him in the first place. All I really do remember clearly is getting the disks back, and being extremely excited to load up my saved game to finish the final levels of the game. Oh, the confusion as I loaded the game to find not my beloved “Destroyer” in there, but some other name that I didn’t recognize. It didn’t dawn on me right away that all my progress, all my hard work, was totally deleted. I thought I could find some secret place where my precious game was still saved. Alas, that wasn’t the case.

When I confronted my friend about it in the school the next day, I was so mad at him that I started calling him names. He should have known better! He knew how into the Ultima games I was! How could he be so careless?! And the worst thing of all: he didn’t even like the game! He said he played for about 5 minutes and never loaded the game again!

This was a travesty of epic proportions in my young life. Just like before in U4, I couldn’t fathom doing all that work again to get to the end of U5. It was at this time that I started recognizing I had a curse when it came to the Ultima games, but I shrugged it off, thinking it was an overactive imagination.

No, it wasn’t. My curse followed me to Ultima 6 as well. First, it killed me that U6 was released for other computer systems before my trusty C64. I remember looking at ads in the paper where they would say what new games were out, and it seemed an eternity before U6 was available for the C64. Well, as it turned out, I wish it would have taken slightly longer because there was a bug in the game that impeded further progress. So, yet again, I was stuck in an abyss. It was only when I upgraded to the Commodore Amiga that I could play the game through to the end.

But I still loved the Ultima games so much that eventually bought a combo pack of the first three Ultima games. (I still have the box for that on a shelf in my room.)

Ultima I: I think this was a curse-free game. I can’t remember anything bad happening with this game. The gods were merciful!

Ultima 2: Not so much a curse, but it felt like it at the time. Anyone who remembers U2 knows that the game was a bit of a pain to play. There were parts of the game that you just couldn’t do anything unless you had a ship. Well, ships appeared at random and often were not there for you. I remember a day when it had snowed pretty heavily the night before, and I was going to to play and help shovel. I knew I would be gone for a few hours, so loaded U2 and kept “jumping” (it was a way to pass time in the game without losing food), figuring that in all that time a ship would have had to appear. I remember putting a marble on the ‘j’ key, and the game box on top to weigh it down. Hours passed… who knows how many “jumps” were done, but there was no damn ship! Argh! I guess it all worked out somehow, but that was extremely annoying.

Ultima 3: Ah, good to know the curse was still in effect. Towards the end of the game you had to meet a “Time Lord” who would give you crucial information. All I knew was the Time Lord was at the bottom of a dungeon. But I couldn’t find him. I actually started the painstaking task of making maps as I walked through the dungeons, square-by-square, just to make sure I wasn’t missing something. But nope. Every square inch was covered. I guess that Time Lord was on vacation at the time, because I damn-well was sure he wasn’t sitting at the bottom of any of these dungeons! Yet another Ultima where I had gotten so close only to have the door slammed in my face.

Ultima 9: fast-forwarding here, I think it’s fair to say that everyone was cursed with this final installment. It was so buggy that I think everyone who tried it thought they were cursed.

Ultima 8: I can’t really think of any curses here either. I remember there were parts where I was extremely lost, but that was due to game design rather than a curse. I think.

Ultima 7, part 2: This is the last game I played in the series, and only recently too. For some reason, I had never played either part of Ultima 7 when they came out. I think it was because they didn’t port the game to the Amiga. It was at this time that “IBM-compatible” computers were all the rage, and our beloved Commodore’s started collecting dust on the shelves of computer stores everywhere. But, after many years I finally decided to finish out the series I loved so much as a kid. I played U7 and had gotten through it relatively unscathed, but not part II: Serpent’s Isle.

Once again, I had gotten almost to the end. There was an important item you needed to get to a necessary part of the game, but the way U7 handled items was a bit cumbersome. You would have 100 things in your backpack and sometimes finding what you needed wasn’t easy. So, I eventually threw a lot of items out for the sake of cleanliness. The items weren’t important, by any means. At least that’s what I thought. That harmless flute was just taking up space anyway, right?

Ah, well. When the time came where the flute was said to have magical properties, I did a Homer Simpson “d’oh” and started a brand new mini-game inside of the U7:2 called “find the missing flute.” I had no recollection of where I put the thing, just like most people wouldn’t know exactly where they dumped a piece of trash. I eventually gave up the hunt, and still to this day, on some remote patch of dirt in Britannia, there lays a magical flute. It’s magical properties? To curse me! I have still not completed Ultima 7, part 2: Serpent’s Isle. Once again, the idea of starting over proved too daunting. I know that eventually I will play it again, to finish the series I love so much despite this curse following me around for two and a half decades now.

If anyone can do some kind of curse removal, I would greatly appreciate it.

5 – Super Metriod (SNES)

Metriod will go down as a masterpiece, and deservingly so. But Super Metriod really upped the ante. It didn’t change the formula from the original Metriod, it took it to another level entirely. In this game, Samus Aran’s abilities grew, as did her foes. There was an even more expansive world to travel, with new dangers lurking. The replayability was very high here because the game almost taunts you at the end to try to find more hidden items and to do so in as quickly a time possible.

The SNES brought many more options than the original NES did, and the makers of SM ate up these advances with glee. SM is perhaps the closest thing we have gotten to a RPG from a side-scroller. This game had everything: cool bosses, cool abilities, cool story, cool music, and even a tear-jerker ending. This game pushed the limits of the SNES as well as the player. I dare a newcomer to beat this game in under three hours!

4 – AD&D Pool of Radiance (C64)

The SSI “gold box” games were all terrific, but they got their start from Pool of Radiance. This was an enormous game that neatly compiled the many rules of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and made it easy on the newcomer. Character creation is a big thing in D&D, and PoR took it seriously as well. It gave you control on how your heroes would look both from close-up and on the battlefield. It allowed you to pick classes, alignments, and even “roll the dice” to get your ability scores. Once that was done, a huge world was opened up for you. The game guided you well from your meager beginnings to become the most powerful party in the realm. PoR also allowed much greater freedom then did its successors. You could freely travel around the world, but woe be to the adventurer who strayed too far. The turn-based combat worked very well and it would change very little as the years passed. The game was so well put together that players hardly even realized that they were looking only at a small portion of the screen as they wandered about. Only combat and some static cutscenes filled the entire screen. So, while there have been many D&D games since, and even though PoR isn’t the first computer port of a D&D game it still gets most of the credit as the originator.

3 – Portal (PC)

Perhaps the most universally lauded game, and for good reason, is Valve’s Portal. Not only is the gameplay innovating and unique, but your antagonist is probably the best villain in any game ever! Portal is fun from the very beginning to –yes, it’s true– even the ending credits! Nothing in Portal isn’t done well. So, quite literally from start to finish the end is one of the most fun things you can play. It challenges your reflexes, your intellect, and most of all your sense of humor. Once you start you’ll have a hard time peeling yourself away from this one.

2 – Myst II – Riven (PC)

The Myst series holds a special place my heart. I didn’t play the first Myst game until a few years after it had been released. But once I fell into the fissure I didn’t want to leave! Above all others, Myst sets up such a lonely, bewildering atmosphere that you really do feel trapped in a strange place. Using mystical books as travel devices, and seeing the “fly by” preview of the world you will be transported too, you couldn’t help but be intrigued. But you couldn’t just stand in awe forever, because you needed your wits about you to find your way out. Afterall, there were seemingly innocent people being held that you needed to free. As beautiful as each world, or “age” was, you had a task at hand.

But that was the first Myst. And it was great. I never in my wildest dreams think that Myst could be topped, so what Riven did was quite an accomplishment. This time as the game starts you actually are shown that you aren’t the only one here. In this age, there are natives. However, they quickly disperse and you get that feeling of loneliness right away. But this world is much vaster than previous, and you quickly get the sense that something wicked is afoot. And the mysteries are plentiful here.

Among the lonely travels you start to see landmarks that aren’t quite accessible yet, but they are something to look at for sure. You almost can’t wait to see what’s over there on that island, or what’s under that golden globe. This gives you a sense of slight urgency; there are big things to uncover. But what’s the best way to do this? It’s up to you.

Travel on, and you see things like rotating domes. At first it is a stark contrast to its surroundings. Why would this big, noisy, mechanical thing be in the middle of this jungle? Upon closer inspection you’ll notice runes on the domes. Ah, one more mystery to solve. And when you do, you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment. The pieces will start to fit together, and you’ll get more than one “aha!” moment as you traverse the land.

As the story unfolds the world just seems to get bigger as you get access to more and more places you weren’t able to get to before. But the wonder never stops. Ending the game was bittersweet for me; I wanted to finish to see what would happen but I never wanted the game to end! Quite a paradox. Of all the games I loved in my lifetime, none have I wish I could have had a “first time experience” with again moreso than Riven. I put it as a close #2 on my list only because the #1 game was so grand in scope, story, and execution, but in my mind I think it would be fair if these two titles shared the #1 spot.

Riven just did everything right. It was just big enough, just difficult enough, and really was the next best step that the Myst series could have taken. No other game of the genre has come close to what Riven has achieved even all these years later.

1 – Ultima IV (C64)

If Riven has made me gush so much, what could possibly surpass it? Well, as I already alluded to, “surpass” might not be the correct word as each game deserves to be at the top of any “best of” list. But the Ultima series, and specifically Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar, ranks among the greatest in the world, ever.

Richard Garriot (aka Lord British, the benevolent monarch of the lands) created this fantastic series with a limited amount of resources at his disposal. With Ultima I, he did a good job of creating a land full of danger where a lone hero has to take up the mantle to destroy the evil plaguing the world. This game did well and Lord British created a sequel with a broader scope, but it wasn’t until Ultima 3: Exodus that things really started to take shape. In Exodus, the lone hero finally had a small group of companions to help him, and with that the game’s party dynamic came into being.

If Ultima 3: Exodus was a star in the Ultima universe, then Ultima IV, Quest of the Avatar is an entire galaxy! U4 brought in a new dimension of RPG gaming. While on the surface the game looked and felt similar to U3, U4 was an entirely different animal. Gone were the simple, single-line conversations and now the player had full control of interacting with the people in the world. Different terrain affected the player’s movement, and more foes attempted to kill you. The world was expansive, and the quests that needed to be accomplished were plentiful.

But aside from the great gameplay, it is the story of U4 that rises to the top here. This isn’t your typical hack-n-slash RPG. While you will spend a lot, a whole lot, of time fighting in U4, its story isn’t your typical “become strong and go kill the bad guy” tale. Instead, the story is one of religious undertones, where becoming the moral leader of the land is what’s important, not in becoming the ultimate death-dealer. In fact, if you go around and just flex your muscles too much, it will hinder your progress. This is because becoming a true champion of the people means you have to be a strong leader, a compassionate man, humble enough to know your own weaknesses, and honorable enough to gain the trust of all. You have to show valor, you must be honest, and you spirit has to be as strong as your sense of justice. And a true hero knows how to sacrifice for the greater good.

All of these are virtues that one must fulfill to his greatest potential in order to become an “Avatar” of the people. No one facet is greater than another, and all virtues compliment one another. It is not easy to attain the rank of Avatar in any one virtue, and, of course, there are forces trying to throw you off your righteous path at every turn. Once you attain the proper level of virtue, you have to face one final, daunting challenge.

As you can see, this sounds more like a religion than a game! Garriot certainly put a lot of thought into
what is essentially a morality tale. But if spiritual undertones aren’t your thing, don’t let that dissuade you from playing U4. There is a lot more going on with this game than meets the eye. It still stands on its own even today, and there has not been many games that can even come close to what U4 did.

From having to tread through poisonous swamps, to sailing the vast seas, to being instantly teleported via “moongates”, to even flying in an air balloon, you’ll have quite the experience traveling through Britannia.

Special mention should be made to Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny as well. This game closely matched U4′s gaming experience, only with an even bigger world and more refined graphics. A great game in its own right, WoD was a very worthy successor to U4.

Achieving success in Quest of the Avatar is no easy task indeed. If you are up to the challenge you will find yourself playing one of the greatest computer games ever.

For a game to be successful at striking fear into a player it has to combine multiple elements. The better these elements combine, the better effect the game will have upon the player. And while playing on someone’s fear isn’t a new idea in gaming, the advances in technology have made it more and more possible to strike a particular chord in the player. Some older games, like Psycho on the C64, or Friday the 13^th (on either the NES or C64), and Elvira on the Commodore Amiga had their moments, but there are three games that quickly come to mind that brought even more cold sweats to me as I played.

The most recent scary game I played was called “Amnesia: The Dark Descent”. The game was a fairly typical first-person puzzler the puts you in a deserted castle that you need to find your way through. That part of the game isn’t what makes it memorable; what does is that the game pretty much makes you afraid of the dark. It uses a gimmick of having to power light sources with limited resources or else your sanity slips. But even worse, around any creepy corner a zombie-like creature could pop out and chase you. You cannot fight this foe, you must run from it to live and to stay sane. Amnesia uses the ambience it creates very well. There are sounds of ghastly events that happened in the recent past echoing through the corridors of the castle. And as your character gets more and more terrified, his heartbeat and breathing escalates, creating quite a tense feeling of dread. As the player, you will welcome the chance to stand in the light just like the persona you are playing. Your heartbeat will rise as well, and when you hear the moaning of that creature appear out of nowhere you will be wanting to cry out. Play Amnesia in the dark with headphones, and you’ll probably need to take frequent breaks just to calm yourself.

Onto the next scary game: one can hardly bring up fear without bringing up, well, “F.E.A.R.” FEAR is a FPS that weaves the story in and out of real-time and the player’s shadowy past. (Having a lost or foggy memory is a common theme among all these games. Indeed, the idea of being in a certain situation where you don’t exactly know why you are there seems to strike the right nerve in these games.) As a FPS, it does very well with tough opponents, decent AI, and cool weapons. But that is a dime-a-dozen these days. What makes FEAR stand out is the fact that it will shake you up when you least expect it.

Early on, FEAR uses a couple of quick flashes that work very well. I actually think this was underused as it was fairly effective at giving the player a quick jolt. But as you make progress, what was just a normal office building where you piled up the body count becomes a silent, dark, and foreboding place. There will be a hiss in your communications gear, and… what was that? Some shadowy figure just walked through the room! You turn around, and outside the window you see the silhouette of a little girl who definitely wasn’t there a moment ago. Yes, FEAR takes on what has become increasingly popular through recent years from Japan: little girls can be downright creepy! In FEAR, you will feel much more comfortable when you are wildly outnumbered by men carrying heavy weapons then you will in a dimly-lit office in the presence of a child. Tread lightly, you don’t know what’s at the top of that innocent looking ladder!

While Amnesia and FEAR were good in their own respects, only one game comes to mind as being the all-around best.

“The 7^th Guest” was a game that blended various elements of storytelling and gameplay in a well-done, cohesive way that made it one of the most interesting, frightening, frustrating, and fun games of its time. Boiled down, The 7^th Guest is a puzzle solving game, and that is meant quite literally. You are set in a dark, abandoned mansion where you have to solve the puzzles of a lunatic toy-maker in order to make progress.

Okay, that sounds all well and good, but what makes The 7^th Guest scary? Why is it better than other games in the genre? First and foremost, just like in any decent horror movie, it’s the music that really builds the tension. The 7^th Guest has a complete soundtrack included, and the main theme, in various forms, plays throughout the game. The interface itself was intuitive and cleverly done, and the use of live-action characters added to the game’s overall feel. The story was interesting and compelling and the puzzles were fun, difficult, and numerous. Overall, the game wasn’t outright scary for the most part, it was more eerily creepy and really drew the player in to the atmosphere it created. However, I remember getting quite a chill when turning left, and all of a sudden a ghost of a women floated from one door to another. Nice touches like these were dispersed throughout and added greatly to the feel of the game. The acting was good (well, good enough) and the main villain was perfectly cast for the role. The 7^th Guest will always be a favorite of mine, and I wish there was a game like it today that would engulf me as much as T7G did.

So, those are three games that quickly came to my mind when talking about scary games. What others can you think of?

-JD