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.

We're finally getting into the games that I kind of like but have been pushed aside mainly because they're only entertaining enough for one playthrough. There is something to like about all these games but not enough for them to place higher on my list.

190. Scribblenauts (Nintendo DS)
The ranking of this game should come as no surprise to anyone who read my Buyer's Remorse of Scribblenauts. All the hype I had for this game disappeared within a day of actually playing it. The initial playtime of the game was a lot of fun as I put as many words as I can think of into the opening area. One of my favorite combinations was when I put a family of four in then a vampire which promptly turned them all into zombies who began to chase Maxwell. I then put the sun into the sky which killed the vampire as I shot the zombies with a shotgun. It was fun stuff until I got into the puzzles and couldn't help but be disappointed in the lame selection that never truly challenged you. The controls were the only thing that made the game difficult and one of my most anticipated games of the year became one of my least favorite games in my catalog. It's still a shame that such a potential idea was executed so poorly.

Best Memory: Screwing around in the beginning.
Worst Memory: The puzzles.

It’s at this point where I start getting into games that I like but would put the experiences well below the other games in my collection for various reasons. Those reasons, of course, will be explained upon below:

200. Soul Blade (Playstation)
Soul Blade is a bit of an odd beast for me. For those of you who don’t know, Soul Blade was the first game in the Soul Calibur series. It was a success but the outright love that its sequel garnered made sure that the series would only be known as that for the rest of eternity. But I did not play Soul Blade first, that right is reserved for Soul Calibur 2, a game that I had a lot of fun with. While waiting for Soul Calibur 3, I picked up a used copy of Soul Blade on the cheap to hold me over. The game was nowhere near as good as its sequel but the elements were definitely there that made it fun. What’s more, it had a feature that I wish the other Soul Calibur games used, weapons could be broken. This would leave one player forced to continue the match bare-handed though every character had the same moveset in this state. I get the feeling that Soul Blade would be ranked higher if I had discovered it sooner than Soul Calibur 2, but the way I experienced it, it was good for a week’s worth of distraction. And even in the first game, the story didn’t make any sense.

Best Memory: Seeing how the game evolved.
Worst Memory: Wishing I had experienced the game sooner.

I don't own a lot of games I absolutely hate. The initial ten fall into that category, but this next batch is a bit harder to classify. Some consider these good games, but I just didn't have as much fun with them as I did with the other games in my collection. With that said, let's get started with number 210:

210. Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku (Gameboy Advance)
Before the immense gaming push of the Dragonball Z franchise there was only one game available to fans of the series, Dragonball GT: Final Bout. This fighting game was absolutely horrible. Getting hit caused a three second delay which made it near impossible to get away from a computer's combo. There was a noticeable delay between pushing a button and having your character react. Matches essentially came down to who could put the other player into an infinite loop first. So when more Dragonball games were coming down the pipeline, I was legitimately excited because all initial impressions led me to believe they were much better games. And they were. The problem was, they still weren't very good. Case in point, The Legacy of Goku, an action RPG where you controlled Goku from the Saiyan Saga to the end of the Namek saga if that means anything to you. It's not a bad game by any means, it's just short and doesn't have much variety. For a majority of the game, you are beating up woodland creatures in order to gain experience, I swear to God. Goku, a martial artist who could destroy a planet, is killing rabbits for experience points. The bosses were the worst part. You could go up to them for one on one combat in the vein of the show. You had to constantly run around them firing energy blasts in order to stay alive. It got old quick and certainly didn't make you feel like Goku.

Best Memory: Turning Super Saiyan was a legitimate power boost.
Worst Memory: You still couldn't take bosses head-on.

I currently have 220 games stashed away in my room at the moment whether stuffed in cases under my bed, on bookshelves, or online through the PSN and Virtual Console. This is not all of them to be sure. I have all my NES, Genesis, and Saturn games stored elsewhere plus the games that I’ve played but never owned. I also eliminated some of the repeats due to remakes or what have you. But nonetheless, I will be ranking all 220 games from my least to all-time favorite. They are purely based on the amount of fun I've had with them so many of the rankings will probably be quite different than how you might put them. All in all, this will be a long event considering I'm only going ten at a time...

A while back I did a post where I argued that Squaresoft has actually created quite a few orginal IPs (or intellectual properties) over the years rather than churning out sequel after sequel. I turned out to be only half right. They have plenty of original titles but they're heyday was the Playstation generation. When looking back at their original games, I made sure to only include those that received a US release and were released before Squaresoft merged with Enix. I thought I'd take the opportunity to do the same for Enix, whose titles are much less well-known in the US.

Enix was different than Squaresoft in that it mainly published its games rather than developing them in-house. Even the Dragon Quest franchise was originally created by Chunsoft though three key members always oversee its development. Enix first found success in creating computer games in Japan like Cosmic Soldier, Door Door, and Light Flipper before finding success on the Famicom. It's first Famicom game was a port of Door Door followed by The Portopia Serial Murder Case, an image and text based adventure game. Hideo Kojima actually listed the game as one of the inspirations that made him enter the videogame industry. The first game released by Enix in the US was also their most well-known:

I spent a lot of time trying to find examples of videogame protagonists besides white males. It's difficult to say the least. The black protagonists are typically stereotyped to oblivion, even ones that are based on real people (looking at you 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand).

Surprisingly, female protagonists fare a little better, but they are always white as well. There are precious few black female protagonists. The only ones that come to mind are Lisa from Dead or Alive and Sheva from Resident Evil 5. Asian protagonists are quite large but that's mainly because of Japanese development. It's sad to say, but I believe there are more animal and children protagonists than women or black men.

After watching one of the most recent of Adam Sessler's video blogs, which can be seen here, I can't help but agree with him. Most boss battles, specifically final bosses, are disappointments. There's just something about them that seems deflated from the rest of the game. Sessler also poses the question of how this problem could be solved because he wasn't exactly sure himself. I believe I have an idea what makes a great boss fight but let's take a look at some boss battles which I feel do and do not work.

Scribblenauts is an odd title for me. I love the concept and the execution of the concept but from the (admittedly very) little I've played of the game so far, I'm coming away just a tad bit underwhelmed. This is a game that I ran out and bought right away expecting to use thousands of words to solve the myriad of puzzles the developers threw against me. While I liked the idea of messing around typing in a variety of words and seeing what happened, I knew that it wouldn't be enough to entertain me. The ability to use my word knowledge to solve puzzles was the biggest reason I bought the game. Scribblenauts, so far, has failed to do that for me.

There are plenty of MMOs out there each trying to appeal to a certain gamer. Most are fantasy-based as that's typically the easiest to transfer to a MMORPG type of game. There are others out there like Champions Online for the superhero fan and Age of Conan for the more violent seeking gamers. Many are based on film properties like Star Wars or The Matrix. There are even some for kids like Toon Town Online and Fusion Fall.

So in honor of these games and in the hopes of branching out ideas, here's a list of games that should have an MMO version of itself. Some are more likely than others while certain games would be easier to make the transfer. In no particular order, let's start this off with the most wanted and obvious of my selections...

MMOs are one of the most popular genres in gaming today. They have the unique ability of sucking in millions of gamers to play and explore together at the same time. The worlds are absolutely huge and there are numerous possibilities as far as customizing what your character looks like and plays like.

These are wonderfully deep and complex games that make the player feel like they are a part of this world. Why is it then that no MMO in the market today is able to pull me in story-wise?

Admit it. There are games out there that only had one outing and disappeared forever yet you wish someone would make a sequel out of it. Psychonauts, Vagrant Story, and Eternal Darkness spring to mind for many. So for this feature, I want to create what would be my ideal sequel for the game in question. I'll detail the story and gameplay for the sequel as long as which platform it deserves to be on. For the first entry of this new feature, I'll be taking a look at the long-rumored Metroid sequel, Metroid Dread.

It's no mystery that Batman: Arkham Asylum has become one of the surprise hits of the summer. Fans dared to hope for a Batman game that accurately captured the character while still being a fun game. It seemed impossible but the folks at Rocksteady Studios pulled it off. The game is beautiful, engrossing, and just plain fun thanks to a great cast and greater gameplay.

But just where did Rocksteady Studios come from?

It's Wednesday. I'm bored. I'm browsing around IGN and happen to take a look at the release date list for the DS to find out when Scribblenauts is supposed to come out. As I scroll down, I start seeing games that I had no idea came out in either August or September. Seriously, did anyone realize that these games were coming out this soon?

We've all had those moods. There's a ton of games to play. There's a pile of books to read. And there's a whole slew of movies to watch. But you just don't feel like it. You're too bored to do any one thing and you end up just randomly browsing the internet or channel surfing. Well, in my browsing I came across a little game that is perfect for those bored moments. It has you do something just long enough that you feel like doing something else. The game is called My Brute.

If you have ever tried out the Dragon Quest Monsters games, then the fighting system will be very familiar to you. You start out by creating your Brute, whether male or female, and what hair style and clothes they wear. After that, it's pretty much out of your hands. Your Brute is given a random number in each of their 3 stats: strength, agility, and speed. They also have the chance of getting a special ability, a pet (like a dog, wolf, or bear), or a weapon.

Once your Brute is created, you can challenge other Brutes in up to 3 fights per day. You have no control over the tactics much like DQM but it can be fun to watch. The only control you have is in choosing which opponents you take on. If you win the match, you get 2 experience points. If you lose then you only get 1. With each new level you gain hit points, stat increases, and maybe even a pet, special ability, or weapon. It's simple and only takes about 10 minutes a day, perfect for killing that bored feeling.

So if you're interested, check out this link. You should definitely challenge my brute so I gain a pupil and a way to gain extra experience. Then you can try to gain your own pupils. Here's hoping this helps those moments of boredom.