A Ranking of My Games: 180 - 171

Week 1 of ranking my games is over with this update. The theme of this set of games? The difficulty. Not much else to say so let's get to it.


180. Kid Icarus (Virtual Console)
I never played this on the NES, but I picked it up on the VC as soon as it was available. I had heard about the game's difficulty but nothing compares to experiencing it yourself. The game is constantly out to kill you whether through the reapers or the fact that once platforms disappear off the screen, they cease to exist. Allowing the game to scroll would make the game so much easier but the fun is in the challenge. I suspect it's similar to Demon's Souls in that way that you have to learn the levels. As you gradually make your way further and further, you gain information that helps you avoid the same pratfalls the next time. Kid Icarus is a satisfying game but a difficult one.

Best Memory: The music.
Worst Memory: Missing a jump and falling to my death.

179. Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)
I like this game more than I probably should. The controls can be very finicky but when you master a stage and send Sonic zooming through a level, it can be very gratifying. The story is entirely forgettable, but the gameplay kept me coming back for more. The game is also intensely hard if you try to collect everything. There are missions in there that just seem impossible, especially when you have the controls working against you. The multiplayer was tacked on and had no use of actually being there. I actually did play it with friends, gave up because it was so boring, and decided to just pass the controller during the single player. I have to say that Sega can put out some really amazing cutscenes in their games. I just wish the entire game had made use of them rather than the storybook visuals. I was actually interested in Sonic and the Black Knight after playing this game but early reviews and changing the control style kept me away. As it stands, Sonic and the Secret Rings is a nice diversion on the Wii.

Best Memory: Completing a stage without getting hit.
Worst Memory: Anytime you overshot something and had to go backwards.


178. Advance Wars (Gameboy Advance)
I'm a huge fan of strategy games whether they are real time or turn-based. So when Advance Wars came out, I was ecstatic about trying something new. After Front Mission 3, this was actually one of the first turn-based strategy game that I played that didn't feature fantasy tropes. What threw me off though was that it didn't feature the ability to level up your troops. That wasn't a big deal though as you had to make careful use of all your units in order to win. There were levels in this game that were just plain brutal and took me countless tries to get it right. But once you did, you couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. The visuals was one of the high points of the game for me. They weren't fantastic but seeing your lineup of soldiers get taken out endeared you to them and made you want to make sure no more were lost. A great game that only got better as it went on.

Best Memory: Winning a hard fought battle.
Worst Memory: Losing a battle by just a few units.


177. Jump Ultimate Stars (Nintendo DS)
The other game I bought while I was in Japan, this game is an absolute blast if you're a Shonen Jump fan. The ability to have Luffy kick the crap out Goku or Ichigo tear Arale a new one targets that same fun center that Super Smash Bros. does. It is essentially a clone of the Smash Bros. series but it brings enough new ideas to the table that it makes it its own. One is the panel system that determines which characters, supports, and power-ups you will be using in a fight. A five by four grid is laid out on the bottom screen where you place actual comic panels that represent different abilities. The more squares a panel takes up, the more powerful the effect of it will be. This allows a lot of customization and strategy to take place as few use the same strategy. Progress is also handled differently. As you make your way through the game, you visit worlds representing the different mangas. To clear the worlds you must win fights by following specific parameters whether its defeating enemies by using certain moves, only with supports, or with a pre-made set of panels. There are 41 different manga represented and over 50 playable characters available. The game looks good and is a lot of fun to play though a translation guide is necessary to make real progress in the game. It can be done without but you'll end up guessing a lot. It's a real shame a lot of American fans won't be able to play this one due to all the licensing issues.

Best Memory: Trying to get a Japanese hotel desk clerk to translate mission instructions on a level that I was stuck on.
Worst Memory: Tracking down this game was harder than I anticipated.


176. Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo DS)
I passed up this game when I first heard about it mainly because I wasn't impressed with the track list. The gameplay seemed kind of fun but not enough to warrant a purchase. I ended up getting the game thanks to the generosity of elrobo8. As soon as I got the game, I popped it in my DS and just had a blast. The songs still weren't my favorite but the gameplay and craziness that happened in the story just made the game a hoot. It also provided more of a challenge than I ever thought it would as you had to stay on your feet and really stay with the rhythm in order to succeed. The biggest downfall I had with the game is that it was murder on your touch screen. It's no big deal if you have a protector but if not the various stylus controls just tore into that bottom screen. Elite Beat Agents is a surprise favorite and recommended for anyone interested.

Best Memory: The cutscenes behind the game.
Worst Memory: Listening to Sk8er Boi


175. Mario Strikers: Charged (Wii)
Mario sports games tend to be a lot of fun. The Mario Strikers games bring a level of chaos that can be difficult to keep track of at first. So much stuff can be happening on screen as shells, mushrooms, and special abilities fly all over the place while your trying to score a goal. The game was only a modest improvement over the first but the online made it stand out. It's too bad that I never won a single online match. I don't know how those players got so good so fast but I could not beat them. Maybe I just sucked. Of course, the single player seemed intent on driving that point home. Beating boss players was a exercise and a half and impossible to try over immediately. You had to go through the entire cup again. Fun but frustrating is the best way to describe my experience.

Best Memory: Beating Petey Pirahna
Worst Memory: Being unable to beat Diddy Kong.


174. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)
This game made it here purely because of the Rabbids. They are probably some of the best new characters in gaming in a while and their signature "GAHHHHH" cracks me up every time. It's kinda funny how this game evolved from an action/adventure game to a mini-game collection. I'm not sure which would have been better the mini-games did show off the trademark humor of the Rabbids. Some were better than others and there weren't a lot of games to simultaneously play with friends, but Rayman Raving Rabbids was a great game to showcase the Wii Remote. From simple waves to twirling it above your head to the awesome on rails shooter levels to the dancing mini-game, the game had a little bit of everything. Top it off with the Rabbids trademark humor and I had a game that could always have me crack a smile. It's a shame the sequels have continued to be mini-game collections and with so many on the Wii, I just haven't bothered picking them up. I'll have to wait and see how Rabbids Go Home does but if it delivers, I'll likely pick it up.

Best Memory: Dancing to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" with the Rabbids
Worst Memory: The cow tossing game, I just couldn't get it.


173. Legend of Legaia (Playstation)
An average RPG with some pretty good battle ideas. There were only three playable characters in the game but I enjoyed not having to swap out characters just in case only they were necessary for a story sequence later. The game tells the story of Legaia, a land which has been covered entirely in a thick mist that hides terrible monsters in it. The party must travel the world in order to bring life back to the ten Genesis trees and drive back the mist. They are aided by the Ra-Seru, beings which grant them special powers. What made the game truly stand out was its battle system. Instead of just selecting fight, you had the ability to select left, right, high or low, allowing you to strike an enemy in that area. So if the enemy is flying, you wouldn't be able to hit them with a low attack. However, if you have a strong pair of boots equipped, your low attacks will do more damage. You are not limited to just one selection either. Depending on the amount of AP you have, you could string together strikes. If you strung them together in certain ways special attacks would occur, much like a fighting game. This kept the battles interesting as you were always looking for new combos. While it wasn't the best RPG, it brought enough to the table that it wasn't forgettable.

Best Memory: Finding that one combo that kicked ass.
Worst Memory: Random battles happened way too often.


172. Black (Playstation 2)
It's hard not to like this game because I got it from a friend who decided the game wasn't for him. I'm really not sure why he didn't like it because the game was a blast. The guns felt like they had real weight behind them and could tear through certain items like paper. Playing with the sound turned up felt like you were in a warzone, especially when things got truly chaotic. Each gun was a lot of fun to use and the missions could get really challenging. The last level alone put you on such a gauntlet that it was hard not to feel the adrenaline rush. The enemies weren't especially smart but they came at you so hard that it didn't really matter. The game also looked really good and showed off the damage from the guns well. Criterion needs to make a sequel to this game as it would look fantastic on the PS3 and 360.

Best Memory: The bridge level.
Worst Memory: The cheesy live-action cutscenes.


171. Excite Truck (Wii)
This is a game that probably would have ranked much lower if it wasn't for two key features: the ability to put your own music in the game and driving with the Wii Remote. The in-game music was absolutely atrocious making the ability to load music to your SD card to play a godsend. Racing against the other cars to my music just made the game that much more fun. And like I said, the Wii Remote controls were the other part of it. I can't imagine using a typical controller for this game. The fun always came from trying to maintain control of your truck while going at high speeds with a somewhat loose control scheme. It made the jumps that much wilder and the speed much more intense. I beat this game to death, unlocking every star in the game.

Best Memory: Staying in the air for 10 seconds doing a 1440.
Worst Memory: Listening to that music for even a second.