Lurker > MrSmartGuy

#21 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U, 2017)


The lone Zelda title you will see on my list, and it barely misses out on my top 20. That said, its still an easy 10/10, and its the first Zelda game to ever really click for me. I think that says more about my opinion of Zelda games than it does anything else. Going through dungeons and looking at a door and wondering if I have the means to open it now or if Ill have to come back an hour or two later once Ive explored a bit more and gotten new items and such just doesnt appeal to me at all. Conversely, Breath of the Wilds isolated shrines, where you know you already have what you need to solve the puzzle within, are right up my alley. If you are ever attempting to make progress in Breath of the Wild, you pretty much always are. That's not always the case with other Zelda titles, and I think that's the main reason those don't appeal to me like BotW does.

Remember how I said earlier that THPS3 on Christmas day, 2001 was the second-to-last game to ever induce me to go into a full-day single-game marathon? Breath of the Wild is that more recent game, where I spent basically an entire week glued to my Wii U. Running around its expansive world and discovering shrines, koroks, and other little secrets is one of the most addictive gameplay hooks Ive ever come across. I replayed the game last summer, and I had basically the exact same experience. As soon as I turned it on, I was hooked all over again.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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As I say that, I realize I have opened a door I would rather remain closed, so let's just pretend I never said anything.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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I will say that the bad half of the DR3 anime has a gimmick to it that is fun to guess. Everyone has a secret something that they have to keep to themselves, and when I did a watchthrough topic for it, I had a legit fun time trying to reason what everyone's was.

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Hades

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Zebrahead - All My Friends Are Nobodies
Tommy James - Draggin' The Line

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#22 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN, 2001)


The game that started it all. Smash 64 was truly novel, but it just wasnt a great game. The characters were real floaty and it was hard to get any kind of combo going. There werent many modes to play if you didnt have friends to play with. You just did runs of classic mode or regular battles against CPUs.

But Melee went above and beyond. Its like Smash 64 in fast-forward. It feels amazing, especially for its time. There are several more ways to play, with events, a big extensive adventure mode, home run contest, all-star mode, tournaments, and coin and stamina battles.

And yet I would say a good 60% of my time spent with the game was just with good ol regular 4-player stock matches. I cant really explain why its so much more fun than the other games in the series, other than because it feels good. But Im pretty sure most everyone else is in the same boat, so I wont bother trying. Its just a super polished game that my friends and I all loved dearly.

Falco > Captain Falcon > the rest

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#23 - Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational - (VITA, my GotY for 2011)


World Invitational is my favorite entry of my favorite golf series ever, so it makes sense that it would be my top golf game on my list. Also my first VITA game to pop up. For those that remember at the beginning, I shared that my list had 4 of those, so they are definitely overperforming.

World Invitational is Hot Shots Golf at its very best. The single-player is the most extensive the series has ever had, up until Everybodys Golf for PS4. There were tons of challenges to take on, and each had a bonus incentive to do something else inside them to earn you crowns that will unlock new characters and courses. It had 9 diverse courses to play on, that all looked absolutely gorgeous on VITA, and it was the most recent entry to still have unique characters instead of create-a-guys, and Ive always loved the cartoony style of HSG.

But the meat really came with its online functionality for me, and it was a very simple and obvious addition that changed it all. They introduced daily tournaments. You could turn the game on any time of the day, head to the online section, and there would be a round available with various different conditions that you could compete with everyone else around the world in.

You got one shot, and if you blew it, then well, better luck next time. It doesnt run into the same problem Mario Golf World Tour did 4 years later, where players would play the same round over and over for days in a row, hoping to play the round of their life so they could get a high score. In World Invitational, it was a pure competition of skill, and it was really fun (and a lot of the time, humbling) to see where you stacked up against the best players out there, and it kept me coming back day after day for years to keep trying.

Oh, and Gloria is best girl forever.

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Hades

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#24 - Elite Beat Agents (DS, my GotY for 2006)


Elite Beat Agents is an absurd game. If you ever run into some situation you cant quite handle on your own, you can just scream for help, and a secret organization who runs surveillance on everyone (including animals, historical figures, and.. blood cells) will notice and send out three of his trusted minions to help you dance your problems away. These arent just any problems, though. Maybe theres a group of thieves that are ransacking the casino you work at. Maybe you get stuck on a deserted island and have to survive off the local fauna. Maybe A FIRE BREATHING GOLEM is attacking the amusement park.

And EBA plays it off with an incredible sense of humor. I love every single stage. They all instill a sense of pure joy that very few games could ever hope of giving you. The soundtrack is surprisingly amazing, too, including the likes of The Rolling Stones, Queen, David Bowie, Chicago, Cher, *cough*Ashlee Simpson*cough*, The Jackson Five, Deep Purple, and Madonna, and theyre (almost) all used to perfection. The beginning of the final level, when everyones chanting and the guitar syncs up with the cracks and the glowing.... God, its so fucking hype. Its like the ultimate objective of the developers was to give the player the biggest smile they could, and they succeeded.

Except for one stage. You know which one. It gets a pass.

Top 5:
Jumpin Jack Flash > Youre the Inspiration > The Anthem > September > Highway Star

Bottom 5:
Walkie-Talkie Man < Without a Fight < just kidding there are only two bad stages

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#25 - Pokemon Gold/Silver Version (GBC, my GotY for 1999)


Whoa, Pokemon did well enough to get a sequel? Thats crazy.

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#26 - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS, my GotY for 2012)


999 was pretty good, but it had some gameplay-related issues. The sequel, VLR, takes those issues and makes them strengths. How it does this is a spoiler, and honestly I cant really go over anything about this game without diving neck-deep into spoiler territory, so Im just going to say the one thing that best sums up why I love this game and leave it at that. I have never played a game that makes better use of a flowchart than VLR.

Zero Time Dilemma is awful, but still charming. It was not close to making my list; I'd give it a 7/10.

Phi > Luna > Sigma > K > Tenmyouji > Dio > Clover > Quark > Alice

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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I literally can't recommend Outer Wilds enough. It is that fucking good.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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It was so fun the first two times, let's try a third! If you missed the first two topics, they're still there, so go give em a looksee! Me, Nick, Bartz, Wigs, Naye, Nee, Arti, Cokes, Eddv, and now KCF are all sharing our favorite video games of all-time!

We're in deep now! A few of us are into our top 30, and everyone else is getting close. This may well be our last topic. Maybe one more, we'll see.

Anyway, here's my personal list so far:
HM. Nintendo World Cup
HM. Tecmo Super Bowl
HM. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
HM. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
HM. Burnout 3: Takedown
HM. The Urbz: Sims in the City
HM. Winning Eleven 9
HM. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
HM. Hitman: Blood Money
HM. Deadly Premonition
HM. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
HM. Hades
HM. NHL Hitz 20-02
100. Earthbound
99. Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
98. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
97. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
96. FTL: Faster Than Light
95. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
94. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
93. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
92. Beat Saber
91. Pocket Card Jockey
90. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006
89. Persona 5
88. Trauma Team
87. HITMAN
86. The World Ends With You
85. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
84. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
83. Pokemon Stadium 2
82. Mass Effect 3
81. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
80. NES Open Tournament Golf
79. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
78. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
77. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
76. Mario Party 2
75. The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain
74. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
73. Saints Row: The Third
72. SSX3
71. Doki Doki Literature Club
70. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
69. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
68. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
67. WarioWare: Twisted!
66. TimeSplitters 2
65. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
64. Chrono Trigger
63. Tetris Effect
62. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow Version
61. Dark Souls
60. Hot Shots Golf Fore!
59. Mario Kart 8
58. Return of the Obra Dinn
57. Mario Golf (N64)
56. Hotel Dusk: Room 215
55. Dark Souls III
54. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
53. Last Window: Secret of Cape West
52. Borderlands 2
51. the jackbox PARTY PACKs
50. Batman: Arkham Asylum
49. Pokemon Black/White Version
48. Fire Emblem
47. Paper Mario
46. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path
45. SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
44. Shadow of the Colossus
43. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
42. Rock Band 2
41. Mario Golf
40. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
39. Skate 3
38. Snowboard Kids 2
37. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
36. Mario Tennis
35. Diddy Kong Racing
34. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
33. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
32. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
31. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
30. Mario Tennis
29. SNATCHER
28. Pokemon Puzzle League
27. Horizon: Zero Dawn

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#27 - Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4, 2017)


2016 was not a strong year for video games for me. There were a few games that I was ridiculously hyped for that just kinda met expectations and that was it. I was secretly hoping that at least one of Spirit of Justice, Dark Souls III, and Persona 5 would really blow me away, but they didnt. SoJ came the closest, but one of its three full-length cases wasnt great, and the two shorter cases were not good. And that was good enough to win my GotY by quite a bit. It was the only game that year that barely squeaks out a 10/10 from me, and it was basically just because it was a great Ace Attorney game. I was beginning to think that maybe video games were beginning to lose their luster.

Cue 2017. Gonna be upfront right now; see up at the top that this didnt get my GotY? Yeah, it doesnt even make my top 3. 2017 is probably my second-favorite year for video games of all-time to 2004, which uh, spoilers, has a very similar situation going on with my list. And 2017 came at just the right time to save my love for gaming.

That is in no small part due to Horizon: Zero Dawn. It came out of nowhere, too. The three other 2017 games to come up were all part of established franchises that demanded my attention, but Horizon stormed onto the scene with an incredible original title.

The game takes place in a time where humankind is at a very primitive stage of development. Yet somehow, there are giant technological creatures that roam the land and terrorize them constantly. You play as Aloy, a little outcast girl who gets fed up with being treated unfairly just because she was abandoned by whoever her mother was (who nobody seems to know). She takes matters into her own hands and decides to take on a physically challenging coming-of-age ritual for all teenagers, run by the nearby village, called the Proving.

Afterwards, a massive series of events leads to Aloy and the player both discovering what the big mechanical animals are, where she came from, and what the exact circumstances behind the entire world are. Its seriously one of the most gripping stories ever told by a video game. Aloy and her surrounding cast are great, the plot moves at a pretty brisk clip, and it eventually comes to a very satisfying conclusion.

Oh, and by the way, this game is an absolute blast to play. Aloy has several equally-useful tools at her disposal to help her dispatch with the technological menaces that dot the landscape. They also are fairly customizable to help fit your playstyle. Youve got bows, youve got explosives, youve got wire traps, youve got a hacking staff that can turn enemies against each other, youve got an airblaster that helps rip parts off, youve got net traps that pin the animals to the ground. You can destroy mounts for guns off of enemies and then run over and pick them up and use them on other enemies. They are all both super fun and legitimately really helpful.

You typically want to use several of them at a time, and the quicker you learn when to switch weapons to fit the situation, the more youll grow as a player. Its the main game I would point to when I think of impressive game difficulty design. Yes, your weapons get bigger numbers and youre technically getting more powerful as the game goes on, but I would actually argue that the players technical abilities getting better over time actually plays a bigger factor in how well you perform in the game. Wiping out a group of enemies never fails to feel amazing in this game. Check out the fun time I had when taking out a big herd of bull enemies one time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zXIXcE0MtQ

Also, Wigs said I am contractually obligated to include this video in my write-up, so here you go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsUoVgnEexo

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Amen.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYSlTPrVQ5A

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

I too bought a Broken Sword game just because it had Sword in the title and it sounded cool, and didn't get what I expected at all. The one I got was Shadow of the Templars for GBA.

I legitimately don't remember a single thing about it. I think I only played it for a day and then got stuck somewhere and gave up.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Brock's theme was my favorite growing up, and it turned out to be Viridian City, my favorite song of the bunch, too. I actually didn't even know about the Pokemon CD's existence until like 4 years ago and now I have a few of the songs on my main Spotify playlist, just from Pokemon Puzzle League nostalgia.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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#28 - Pokemon Puzzle League (N64, 2000)


This isnt so much a testament to PPL in particular being a crazy good game on its own. This is more a blanket statement on the Tetris Attack/Puzzle League formula, and PPL was the game that introduced it to me.

Puzzle League is the perfect puzzle game. Absolutely perfect. Its simple to learn, but very difficult to master; there are a lot of intricacies to learn if you truly want to become an expert. But you dont really have to if you dont want to. Managing to pull off a 15-chain is actually probably detrimental to your chances of winning against another skilled player, because it might make your stack too low to be able to clear your garbage that is about to rain down on you, and it sets up your opponent for his own massive chain, because they have the entire time the one garbage block is clearing to make their next move.

. BUT FUCK THAT! IF I EVER GET THE CHANCE TO MAKE A 15-CHAIN IM MAKING A GOD DAMN 15 CHAIN BECAUSE IT FEELS AWESOME. If you are playing a Puzzle League game and youre not just trying to create the biggest fucking garbage block the world has ever seen, you are playing it wrong.

Not even an exaggeration, I think I have played a form of Puzzle League at least 33 out of the 36 days of 2021 so far. Ever since they released Panel de Pon on the SNES library of the Switch Online service, its been the perfect game to bust out when I need to pass the time for 10-15 minutes. Ive got a bunch clips Ive saved on my Switch as sort of a highlight reel: of me beating the second-to-final boss on Hard in 14 seconds, of an 11-chain right off the beginning into a 24-second win, of a 10-chain immediately followed up by an 8-chain in the same 30-second clip, and of a 12-chain into a 26-second win. Are these very impressive? Maybe, but it feels so fucking good to do it that I dont care.

All this said, Pokemon Puzzle League in particular did do a lot of things right. It was the last game to have a vs CPU mode where you could see your opponents board (how is this possible). It made weird midi covers of the weird 1999 Pokemon CD as its soundtrack, which was honestly pretty dope. It had absolutely brutal difficulty settings. It had the most modes of any Puzzle League game. It introduced 3D mode, and it should seriously be a crime that this mode hasnt ever seen the light of day ever since, because it was awesome. It had some crazy slowdown, but you dont think a 2020s version of Puzzle League couldnt handle a bunch of flashing blocks?!

So yeah, while it was my first Puzzle League game, and introduced me to the concept in the first place, looking back, I do still believe it was far and away the best iteration of the game to boot.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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This is still one of the most hype openings to a theme I've ever heard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlhyUGOx_oE

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Super Duper Honorable Mention - SNATCHER (PSX, my GotY for 1996)

Oh boy, time to invalidate the entire series, because I just made my list contain 100 games! I cant believe I fucking forgot to include this game. I mean, I guess I can, considering Ive never actually played it myself, but even just watching it has left a very lasting impression on me. Maybe even more so than any of Kojimas other works. Had I remembered to include this game initially, I would have placed it here at my real #29.


SNATCHER is more or less a traditional adventure game, originally created for the PC-8801 and MSX2 in Japan way back in 1988, and never made it to the States until 8 years later, but it still really feels like a game made in the late 80s. Youre stuck in a first-person perspective and have fairly limited options for interacting with the environment. There are only a few options the game gives you, depending on the situation youre in. The game does its best to poke fun at itself for this, though. At one point, during a particularly harrowing scene where you are truly desperate, none of the 4 options the game gives you will work. Upon trying all of these, a 5th option Pray to God will appear. If you try that, there is a quick scene, at the end of which, your sidekick will exclaim Look, a new command has appeared in your menu!


Occasionally, you will come across an enemy, and the game will go into a shooting stance, where you have 9 squares that cover the entirety of the screen, and you will have to shoot something in one of them, QTE-style. Other times, it will go full shooting gallery and multiple enemies will swarm your screen and you have to shoot all of them as quickly as you can before they deplete your health bar.


Both of these segments are augmented by a tremendous soundtrack. Several tracks have stood out to me over the years as true classics. I dont think a game has ever made me feel as on edge as SNATCHER does quite so regularly, and its because of its plethora of tense music to go along with it. Whether youre investigating a potential SNATCHERs home, or investigating your partners abandoned home for clues, you never truly feel safe. That any minute, theres gonna be a bloody robot that bursts through the window to get you. Still, though, playing the game itself isnt the reason youd play the game. Its because of its amazing story.

SNATCHER tells the tale of Gillian Seed, an amnesiac living in the cyberpunk future 50 years after a biological weapon is released into the atmosphere, killing 50% of the human race. He decides to become a JUNKER, one who hunts body-snatching robots that have been infiltrating humanity in a secret plot to take over the world. He travels from location to location, gathering clues, talking to witnesses, and blasting enemies in an attempt to unearth SNATCHERs before they can take hold of important roles in society. Over the course of the game, deciding who he can and cant trust is crucial to not just his survival, but the dwindling human races.


The overall idea is a gryffin-like mix of Blade Runner, Body Snatchers, and typical Kojima fare. At one point, you discover a weeks-old body and have to figure out who it is, so you can deduce who has been snatched. Your little robot friend (who is named Metal Gear btw), then goes through 50 different processes, explaining in minute detail each one, to utilize the skeletons cranial features to piece together what age, race, and other features might be, to output a rough sketch of what the face might look like. If youve played any of the actual Metal Gear games, you know how bad Kojima loves to show off his science boner, and its in full display here.


But you dont read my write-ups to get juicy details about Kojimas weiner, you come to read why a game is good and should be played. I can sum that up quite aptly. Its because SNATCHERs story is just that good. I dont want to get too into detail, because its legitimately one of my favorite stories of any medium. As soon as you think you know where the games plot is headed, Kojima swiftly yanks you aside and screams GUESS AGAIN BITCH! It is legitimately an insanely wild ride from beginning to end.

Slowbeef did a fantastic LP of the game years and years ago, and its held up super well over time. Go check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkDfOiLbHa0&list=PL-DNICST8ZbwUgG_Pmdqs2TANCcKo6G8-

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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#29 - Mario Tennis (GBC, 2001)


MSG how could you? You have the other GBC game higher than golf too?! Yeah, its still better. Just gonna kinda piggyback off my N64 write-up, but Mario Tennis is by far its best at its simplest. And the handheld version played just as good as its console counterpart.

The big step-up here is that you have a very similar RPG story mode as the GBC Mario Golf. The main difference here is that you have to climb the ranks in just the Academy, as opposed to participating in tournaments on different courses. Once you get to the #1 ranking in the school, then you have to battle a varsity team member to get a spot on the traveling team. Once you do that, theres one final tournament where each of the 4 nearby schools (Academy, Union, Empire, and Factory) sends its 4 top competitors to compete in a best-of-the-best tournament. Once the game gets here, there are actually a few plot twists for both singles and doubles play, which is legitimately shocking, given this was the first Mario Tennis portable game.

Afterward, surprise surprise, you gotta go face Mario, but seriously, I really think the high point of any Mario sports game ever has gotta be that big area-spanning tournament. I have to imagine it was a step out of Nintendo and Camelots comfort zone, and Im glad they took it. It was a ton of fun.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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#30 - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3, 2011)


Uncharted is a fantastic series. I think 1 is even a bit underrated. It didnt quite make my personal list, but I was still glad to see Bartz included it, so it could at least make it on the board. Seeing 3 here would make it pretty obvious 2 is going to come later, so Im not even going to try and be coy about it, because 2 is very obviously the zenith of the series to anyone thats played it. This way I can compare 2 and 3 easier.

In many ways, I actually think 3 is even better than 2. It has the single most memorable set piece with the sinking ship. The way the environment around you changes based on how tilted the ship gets is maybe unparalleled still in the genre. I like the background story better than 2s. It focuses more on Drakes upbringing, which is a nice change of pace.

But there are two specific areas where 3 falters. The pacing of the second half of the game is so bad. The desert section is almost nonsensical. Drake spends a day wandering the desert, without food or drink, to the point that hes about to collapse. Then some people find him and start shooting at him, so now hes able to roll around corners and run full-speed? It really blasts through any sense of consistency for the game.

And the very end may be even worse. There were rumors that they ran out of budget at the end. I dont know how founded those are in reality, but it sure checks out, in terms of how the game went. It just kinda ends with a thud. ENDGAME SPOILERS: The big bad just falls in a hole and dies without any recent build-up or immediate payoff. Uh.... OK.

But functionally, its just as good a game as 2, and wouldve been better if the second half held up its end of the bargain.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Tom Petty - Runnin' Down a Dream
The Naked and Famous - Punching in a Dream

Remembered a song, so I edited and changed a nom. Hopefully that's allowed.

The song I took out was Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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Tony Hawk

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
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#31 - Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2, 2004)


There are a few more Ratchet & Clank games that came very close to making my list. Obviously, the PS4 remake made my honorable mentions, and Crack in Time was #92, but Going Commando and Tools of Destruction are also super solid titles in their own right. However, there was a single R&C game where they absolutely got everything in the formula perfectly right, and that was Up Your Arsenal.

The humor was at its best here. Captain Qwark brings his absolute A-game here. Every single mission briefing had me totally guffawing, and the little Qwark vidcomics are an amazing touch to give him a little extra screen time. Dr. Nefarious is 100% the best villain in the series, and all of his exchanges with Lawrence, his butler, are incredible. The Courtney Gears plotline may be a little dated now, but back in 2004, it was pretty great.

The weapons are the best the series have ever had. Youve got the most super-solid early arsenal of any game with the N60 and the Shock Cannon, but its the others that really steal the show later. The star of the game is definitely the Qwack-O-Ray, the best transformation gun ever. When upgraded, it makes your ducks explosive, and at max level, turns one into a massive fire-breathing dragon thing that flies by your side and tears enemies up. That said, I always found myself switching from a vast number of weapons that always felt amazing to use, mostly the Annihilator, Bouncer, Disc Blade Gun, Agents of Doom, Spitting Hydra, Plasma Whip, and Miniturret Glove.

But most importantly, I think, Up Your Arsenal had the absolute very best side-missions. Whenever I think of my fondest time playing any Ratchet & Clank game, my mind always goes straight to either Annihilation Nation or the Aquatos sewers. Annihilation Nation had 25 arena challenges that forced you to take on a number of waves of enemies with certain battle restrictions, like using only a certain weapon, or giving you a strict time limit. They also had unique boss fights here and every challenge could be replayed infinitely, which were all tons of fun.

But imo, the real superstar here was the sewers. In the main story, you have to go through a set of sewer pipes and clear out a bunch of these green slime creatures and collect a number of sewer crystals. The original area is pretty straightforward, and theres only a handful you can get to beat the original mission. Later in the game, you get gravity boots that let you walk up walls, and thats when the sewers completely open up and become this massive three-layered labyrinth. Then you can go back and find a total of 100 crystals throughout the entire thing. My favorite part of every playthrough is trying to keep track of where all I havent been on the different levels and methodically picking apart the whole area to get the crystals to sell for a massive amount of money.

Just writing this up makes me realize its been quite a few years since Ive played and Im really starting to get the itch to go back through it now. Thats the sign of a truly great game.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Tony Hawk 1+2

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#32 - Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (GBA, 2003)


Yay, more Advance Wars time! AW2 is where the series peaked. It was the sequel to the game where 60% of the campaign was spent teaching you game mechanics and the prequel to the game where they threw all sense of CO balance completely out the window. The campaign was fantastic and pretty difficult, the amount of extra content afterward was staggering, and the new COs arent super fucking awful like Jake was. I already kinda went over why I love the series before, so now that Ive posted my favorite, heres my full series ranking:
2 > DS > AW1 = AW:DoR > Wargroove >>>>>> Battalion Wars

Alright look, I know Wargroove isnt an Advance Wars game but come on it really is actually. Anyway, Id give 2 a 10/10 and everything else but BW a 9. I guess Wargroove would get an 8. Every single game (above BW) is super solid and a worthy play for any TBS game fan. Would highly recommend.


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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#33 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice (3DS, my GotY for 2016)


Hey, more Ace Attorney! This one is even better! Divination Seances are neat. I always appreciate more variety in the game, as long as it doesnt actively detract from the experience (Perceive), and seances are basically just as good as the core trial gameplay, so Im definitely on board with it. Anyway, thats about all I have to say about the game itself. This is board 8, lets talk about the cases!

Case 1 is standard Case 1 stuff. The villain is great, though, and has some of my favorite animations in the entire series.

Case 2 is solid, though not the best mystery. At least it focused on main characters and delved more into their past, which was cool. It also introduced the detective for the game, which made me fanboy squee a bit.

Case 3 is fantastic, and one of my favorite non-finale cases in the series. The old cast is great, the new cast is great, and the way it wraps up both trial days is pretty unique and fun.

Case 4 exists.

But Case 5 is the single greatest case in AA history. Better than 1-4. Better than 1-5. Better than 2-4 and 3-5. It easily has the greatest plot twist in the entire series, and Im not even talking about the one that comes right before the first trial day, which is still top 5, at least. It has two full trials in it, and both on their own would be top-tier. It takes poor, underdeveloped Apollo and immediately transforms him into the best AA character. Yeah, I said it, wanna fight about it? Alright so maybe the villains arent the best-written characters, but they kinda just take a backseat to Apollo anyway, so its forgivable. And it wraps up the second trilogy superbly, just like 3-5 did for the original.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Suprak the Stud posted...

Something I kind of wished we saw (although maybe I'll get more in the missing free time segments) is what drove these characters to despair.

Do I have good news for you! That is what half of the anime covers! So get to UDG already, so you can hop into that!

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

The minigames get better for V3. Except Logic Dive turns into a slightly worse, slower, more boring equivalent, for some reason. Hangman's Gambit v.3 is a thing, but it's by far the best version of it. Rebuttal Showdown comes back and is slightly different, but not really better or worse. Then there's a decent number of new ones that range from "fine" to "highlight of each case".

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Suprak the Stud posted...

In fact..uh, the three guys that came back from DR1 straight up suck here? Is that just me. They're rude as hell and being absolutely heartless to the fact we are facing this unimaginable truth.

I feel like you just weren't paying enough attention in the first game if you're questioning this, because this is EXTREMELY in-character for both Kyoko and Byakuya.

And yes, given that Kyoko still managed to be an upper tier character for DR1 really sells the fact that DR2's cast is waaaaaaaaaay fucking better than 1's.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

#34 - Diddy Kong Racing (N64, my GotY for 1997)


First off, fuck all yall. This is legitimately my favorite kart racer ever made. Was it the best? Nah, I honestly think Mario Kart 8 might have that title locked down forever. Id love to be proven wrong!

I will clarify, though. Diddy Kong Racing isnt this high up because its a bastion of multiplayer greatness. I actually dont think Ive ever done races with other actual people, just the battle modes, which were.... OK. No, this game lives and dies by its single-player campaign. And its so fucking good. I dunno if they got lazy during development, or just didnt feel like programming a better AI or what, but instead of having harder races, they just had you collect 8 coins all over a course while still winning the second time through. I gotta commend their spirit, cuz that is 100% the kind of shit I would try to pull if I was a game developer. And it works so well. Trying to manage going fast while still going out of the general path of the course to grab collectibles works really well.

Your prize for doing all this? Racing some big ol scary bosses around their home turf. Theres a big triceratops, a walrus, an octopus, and a dragon. Not the most creative bosses, but they typically like to cheat in various ways, some that come back to haunt you years later. I will never forget Bubblers fucking laugh as he spits bubbles all over the course. AhaHAA! *shudders*

And the courses are some truly great stuff. You have to race on the moon, through a space base, through a space colony, and on an alien planet with UFOs shooting at you. And thats only the last set of courses in the game. This one has you board a pirate ship, turn, and maneuver quickly through its lower levels, before hopping out a port on the other side.

And to me, its just more fun to play than other kart racers of its time. It never felt like a slog, like Mario Kart might at times. There was always a better line to take, or an item balloon to pop, or a coin to veer off the road for. Maybe the items in the game werent the most useful kart racing items, but thats less noticeable when not playing with other people, so I dont really care.

It also marks the debut of both Banjo and Conker, who.. kiiiiinda had runs of their own as main characters! And thats pretty cool! It also has a fuckin' outstanding soundtrack, some of my favorites being Jungle Falls, Star City, Crescent Island, Greenwood Village, and of course, the title theme. Definitely my favorite David Wise handiwork, and that's a pretty tall bar.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

1 had naked Shannon Elizabeth, which is like 90% of what I remember about any of the movies.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

oh boy oh boy oh boy

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

I've been purposefully quiet while you were going into this case, because I didn't want to raise your expectations too high, but 2-5 is legitimately my favorite murder mystery in all of fiction, and it's why Nagito is my favorite character in all of Danganronpa. Thankfully, it seems like you agree with both counts, and I couldn't be happier about it. 2-5 is the first major reason everyone gets really excited to see a Danganronpa playthrough topic.

Suprak the Stud posted...

I have to do a rebuttal showdown against her and the music stops entirely. That is a really, really cool touch.

Yeah, the last half hour of the trial is sooooo fucking good, and it's the little details like this that really add up to make it a master class of writing.

And good call on waiting until today to finish, cuz 2-6 takes a while.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday, that starting with Snowboard Kids 2, the rest of my list are games that I consider a perfect 10/10. Everything below that would round down to a 9.

#35 - Mario Tennis (N64, my GotY for 2000)


What do you mean the golf guy has the other N64 Mario sports game higher than golf? This is blasphemy!

Nah, Mario Tennis is just the better game. Its just more fun. I honestly couldnt tell you how many times I went through the Star Cup as a kid. It was easily in the hundreds. I wouldnt doubt it if you told me the number broke four digits. And I would watch the credits every single time. I dont even remember if you could skip it, but I never did because I loved the fact that it personalized each tournaments credit sequence with an exhibition match between your character and whoever you faced in the final. Also, the credits music brings back some truly cherished memories. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The game didnt have a great amount of depth to it, but I didnt need depth in my game back in 2000. The tennis formula was just more fun without all the rigmarole that came with the future titles. I didnt need power-ups and defensive abilities. Every point in every game in every match would become a battle of attrition: who would fuck up first? Whose reaction time would falter by the fraction of a second needed to turn the tides in the other guys favor? Every point was tense as hell, and when you start to get that edge and the star begins to appear on your side of the court: not many video games in the world can make you feel more empowered than that.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

EXXXXTREEEEEME BLOCK (even more cont.)

#36 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (GCN, 2001)


Lets rewind to Christmas Day, 2001. I was super excited to get my new shiny Nintendo console. I wasnt sure what games I would get with it. I knew I was super passionate in wanting Smash Bros, but I didnt know how many others I would get. Would I get Wave Race? Luigis Mansion? Super Monkey Ball? Well, given my #39, it shouldnt be a big surprise what lone other game I ended up getting: Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3. I sat there looking at it and SSBM, trying to decide which one I was more excited to play first.

I eventually settled on THPS3, deciding it would be a quicker play. What I thought would be an appetizer before getting to the main course ended up literally taking over my entire Christmas day. Its the second-to-last time Ive ever gone on a 14+ hour binge on a single video game, and that other game will be making an appearance later.

Tony Hawk 3 is the absolute pinnacle of the series. The gameplay is perfectly refined with the addition of the revert; most further additions to your skaters repertoire after this just bloated everything imo. You could now easily combo an entire level, and vert-skating was back on par with street-skating. This was the last game with the 2-minute timer, keeping the very arcade-y feel of the first two games. The levels are the best theyve ever been. I mean, none of them are School 1, but no level is School 1. But overall its the best slate of any game. Canada, Airport, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Cruise Ship are all top-tier THPS stages.

Honestly, I ended up with THPS2 over 3 for most of the time when deciding my rankings, but once I started writing these up, I realized that the stage list for 3 is just so much better than 2s, and I remembered my 14 hour Christmas gaming marathon, which ultimately gave it the edge in the end.

And thus concludes.

EXXXXTREEEEEME BLOCK

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Fire grenades are real. Just FYI. They aren't used anymore, and haven't really since the early 1900s, but they existed and worked as intended. They were just... very chemical-y and didn't leave wherever you threw them very safe. Probably why Monokuma got everyone the fuck outta there.

Suprak the Stud posted...

I have thoughts on the final cast here, but maybe I'll just save them since one more might be dying still and we're close to end game likely anyway. I kinda wanted to do a full case/character ranking between the two games so maybe I'll save thoughts for that instead and stop tiering the characters so much. Things have shifted some, as you may have guessed from recent updates.

Yes, this is a good idea.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

EXXXXTREEEEEME BLOCK (more cont.)

#37 - Snowboard Kids 2 (N64, 1999)


God this game rules. I really enjoyed Snowboard Kids 1. Out of nowhere, here came this new series that was basically a kart racer in disguise, but you did tricks off ramps to get coins to spend on item boxes and weapons. It was ingenious. It had some good variety in the courses and characters, and was a blast to play with friends.

But it wasnt until Snowboard Kids 2 until I realized the potential this series could have. Flips were made much quicker, leading to more technical tricks. The levels were cranked up to 11. You say the first game had a night course and an amusement park? Fuck it, this game has you snowboarding in space. You want more? How about they go back in time and race a velociraptor. Oh, thats still not enough for you? What if the kids all get blasted by a shrink ray and then have to race over a piano and through the sink over dirty dishes as they blast through one characters house? And every character has their own outfits for all the different, weird courses. Like, they all have Halloween costumes for the haunted house race. That first picture I posted shows Slash in his space suit. There was no real need for them to go that far, but they did, and its that level of polish that made me really love this game.

And that wasnt enough. Apparently, at some point, they were like hey, why dont we put some boss fights in our kart racer? At one point, you have to shoot bombs at a fuckin snowman tank. Then you have to fight whatever the hell this demon robot is.


I have no recollection of what BK is. Is he sponsored by Burger King? Fuck if I know.... BUT REALLY WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS GAME IT WAS SO AHEAD OF ITS TIME

And the music is just mwah (pretend I did like a chef kiss). I still go back and listen to this games soundtrack every now and then. Sunny Mountain, Wendys House, and Hurry! Hurry! are some sick jams. And the first 40 seconds of Lindas Castle give me goosebumps. Maybe my favorite 40 seconds of video game music ever, and Im not even exaggerating. I never learned even the basics of playing the piano, but I remember sitting in my room with an old Casio keyboard teaching myself how to play the ending credits song. God I have a ton of memories of this game. I dont think Ive played it in over a decade, and now I really want to. I hope I still have my copy, cuz they sure aint cheap nowadays.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

I got too stressed from looking at the numbers all day, so I sold 16k off and now have banked $12 more than I bought in with in the first place, with 30k more dogecoin in the wing. Now I don't have to dwell on it so much. I have a massive headache from all the worrying I've been doing tonight.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

(I am 100% selling probably 10,000 of these tonight and putting a stop limit on the rest just so I can sleep tonight because multiple thousand dollars is a lot to me)

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

I bought 46,000 of them this morning wheeeeeeeee

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Johnbobb posted...

Genesis - Invisible Touch

Snake5555555555 posted...

Hootie & the Blowfish - Hold My Hand

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

EXXXXTREEEEEME BLOCK (cont.)

#38 - Skate 3 (PS3, 2010)


I really like the entire Skate series, but its 3 that stands out to me above all the rest. I played most of it before I even knew it was a completely broken mess, and I still had a wonderful time.

The controls are great. Your left thumbstick controls the direction you want to go, while you use the right thumbstick to mimic what you want the board to do. If you hold down, you will crouch, and then you flip up, you will ollie. Flip up and to the right or left, and you will do a kickflip. Land on a rail while holding up and you will do a noseslide, while holding down will do a tailslide. If you hold a trigger, you will grab the board with your hand. It all feels incredibly intuitive in the first place, and the more you play, the more you will feel like you can do some crazy shit.

However, because of this control scheme, you arent just going around comboing from rail to rail like a Tony Hawk Pro Skater madman. Skate is much more grounded in reality, at least in terms of the tricks you are able to pull off, and despite what that screenshot I chose to include would indicate. Your typical combo in Tony Hawk might be 20 tricks long. Your typical combo in Skate is a pop shove-it into a grind of a rail until you fall off the end. Something you would see in a real skate montage.

HOWEVER. That does not mean that Skate 3 itself is grounded in reality. Oh no no no, far from it. One of its main modes is called Hall of Meat, where you purposefully bail and try to direct your skater into as much harm as possible, breaking as many bones and getting as many bruises as you can. Not gonna mince words here, this is easily my favorite mode.

But wait, theres more! Thanks to some trailblazers like HelixSnake (pictured above), players have found out that the code behind the scenes of Skate 3 is. shaky at best. As a result, there are some fabulous and insane things you can pull off, just by a few presses of a button. Here is Helix making his character completely implode several times:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpdvELrfFsU

Here he is, after he figured out that plywood can make you fly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Vncc0B6TU

Long story short, Skate 3 is a wonderful and beautiful mess, and I love everything about it.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Heads-up.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1354924057825837060

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

Time for the........

EXXXXTREEEEEME BLOCK

#39 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (N64, 2000)


Tony Hawk is a series that prides itself on feeling good to play. THPS1 was fine, but options were limited by what was directly lined up to combo with. With the addition of the manual, Tony Hawk very suddenly became one of the most fun games to just pop in and play of all-time. Levels were no longer so restricted and were allowed to be more open. You could feel like a skateboarding god, comboing from line to line all over the place. Street skateboarding was super OP all of a sudden.

Sadly, I do think the levels took a slight step down from Tony Hawk 1, though. Only Venice and Philadelphia really bring back fond memories from my youth, compared to 5 levels from THPS1. But thats mostly beside the point, since the game just feels so much better to play. After 1 fun game, I wasnt sure it wouldnt just be a flash in the pan, but after a second amazing game, I was inspired to take up skateboarding myself. I was absolutely awful at it, and never landed a single kickflip or shove-it, but I could ollie and manual pretty well! One of my best friends was so into it, he got his dad to help him build a 7 foot tall quarter pipe in his massive backyard shed that we would take turns falling on our faces trying to skate down. I never did manage to pull that off, either, but thats not THPS2s fault.

Just to make sure I was being fair having this at the bottom of my EXTREME BLOCK, I went out and bought THPS1+2 on Tuesday and 100%'d it over the last few days. It is in fact still a fantastic game.

........ but not quite the best Tony Hawk game ever....

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/status/1354857130898071553
XFD

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif

He meant 2-4.

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Xbox GT/PSN name/Nintendo ID: TatteredUniform
http://www.scuffletown.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/tRBE1.gif