Top Games of 2011

I finally got some time to get my top lists together. It only top 7 due to a limited cash flow this year I was unable to buy or rent games to play (we all can relate to that). But here it is my Top 7 games of 2011. These are games I have played if I haven’t played the game it’s not on this list.

7. Lego Harry Potter: Years 5 – 7: The Lego games keep getting better and better. This is a great addition to the Lego game and they have added so much more to the game play this go around. If you have played Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4 you won’t be lost. They also have duals and many other things that make this an awesome game. It is also darker just like the Books and Movies are the farther you get into it the darker is gets.

6. L.A. Noire - This is one of the most original games I’ve played in a while. You get to start as a cop and move your way up the ladder at the LAPD. You have to investigate crime scenes, gather clues and evidence and Question and Interrogate witnesses and suspects. You also have to watch these people closely and figure out if they are telling the truth, fibbing a little or outright lying. If you accuse someone of lying you must be able to back it up. You have to fully investigate if you didn’t fully look over a crime scene you can miss something and if you can’t back up your claim you can lose a case or let a bad guy off the hook. When driving around the city it’s like GTA4 except you are the Law this time.

5. Mortal Kombat – This is an amazing fighting game. The thing I like most is the simplicity. The Moves are easy to do and the graphics are awesome. One small thing in the game that is huge for me is the ability to change your stance just like in a real fight. That may not be a big thing but someone like me who practices martial arts it is a big thing. This brings me back to the first Mortal Kombat. It’s so awesome that they went back to the old school style while keeping it new school. They also brought by the famous uppercut that everyone love. The Fatalities are awesome and you have more to choose from in this game. Even if you aren’t a fan of Mortal Kombat but you like fighting game you got to try this game out. If you Like Mortal Kombat you probably own this game if not go buy it.

4. Pokémon Black & White – An awesome addition to the Pokémon series. It adds so much an awesome story line, lots of content and for the first time you get 2 rivals which later turned its 3 rivals. What is nice about these Pokémon games is that unlike the other games that are pretty much identical games with different Pokémon. Black & White are the same but have a lot of differences like Black has the Black City and White has the White Forest. Also there is a city in the Black version that looks futuristic and high tech, but in the White version the city is an old looking city where the people cling to the old ways. Black has rotation battles and White has triple battles throughout the game. You can battle any way you want online which is awesome. The online battle system is very fun and the trading system is awesome it lets you connect to people all over the world and you can get all the Pokémon you need from others as long as you have a Pokémon they want. If you like RPGs this is a great handheld RPG. This is a great game for the fan I took a hiatus from Pokémon after Gold & Silver and this is the game that brought me back to the series now I have a lot of catching up to do.

3. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – This is an fantastic game I have played other Elder Scrolls games is the past and this game has left the other in the dusts. The other games in the series are good but Skyrim is just that much better. I love the level up system and I also like that you can wield a spell in one hand and a melee weapon in the other. You can build up your character any way you want it feels like there are no restrictions to what you can do. Just like any other game in the series there is a lot to do and you will want to do it all.

2. Gears of War 3 – This was the most anticipated game of 2011 for me and it was a great way to end the trilogy. With 4 player co-op and very fun multiplayer modes this is a great game for the shooter fans. This story is great and pretty much all the loose ends are tied up you also find out if Clayton Carmine lives or dies. I voted to Save Carmine and I know people who Voted to have it killed off like it brothers but if you haven’t played the game I won’t ruin it for you. They added a couple more weapons and some new multiplayer modes include Beast mode which is the reverse of Horde mode. Horde mode is my favorite multiplayer mode to play.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – This game is simply a masterpiece. This game truly blew me away. Most Zelda games do but this game skyrocketed into my list of top Zelda games which I will save for another blog. I have never in my opinion played a bad Legend of Zelda game I thing they are bad one (As I’ve said before I don’t count the games on the CD-I they aren’t true Zelda game and I haven’t played them so it best to leave those games forgotten). I love playing with the WiiMotion Plus it added so much to the game and its pretty accurate. The story is awesome and the game play is as well. This game is a must play and a must own so go get it if you own a Wii there isn’t an excuse for you not to own this game.

Here is my list of top 4 games I haven’t played but want to play. These are based looks and what the reviews have said.

4. Portal 2 – Portal 1 was totally awesome game and then we get portal 2 which looks 10 times better.

3. Batman: Arkham City – Batman: Arkham Asylum was another awesome game and from want I have seen and heard Arkham City is much better.

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – I love the Modern Warfare series I will purchase this game soon. It looks so awesome. If it is anything like the previous Modern Warfare games it will be awesome.

1. Super Mario 3D Land – I don’t own a 3DS but I want a 3DS for this game. I have watched someone play it and it looks awesome this game looks like a good enough reason to buy a 3DS.

Here is my top list of most anticipated game of 2012.

4. Bioshock Infinite – Bioshock came out of the blue and blew me away this series is awesome and I can’t wait for this latest installment.

3. Halo 4 – I love the Halo Series and can’t wait for the 4th installment I love the story line of this series and I love the multiplayer as well.

2. Diablo III – This year marks the 15th anniversary the Diablo Series so it’s a perfect year to release a new Diablo game. I hope that this game come out this year we have been told it will be out in the first quarter of 2012, but we know how Blizzard is they are perfectionists and they will push a game back just to make sure everything is perfect. It’s good to know they do this but its can get frustration as anticipation builds the more and more as we wait for this game.

1. Mass Effect 3 – My most anticipated game of 2012. This is my favorite video game trilogy and I haven’t even played the 3rd game yet but I know it will be awesome. Bioware is the best at making choice adventure games and it always gives you a reason to play the game multiple times. I will be sad to see the Mass Effect games come to the end but all good things must come to an end. That is why Mass Effect 3 is my most anticipated game of 2012 because the first two games and so freaking awesome.

Top 10 Video Game Series That Have Stood the Test of Time

These are games that came out in either the 8-bit or the 16-bit era and are still going strong in the current generation of video games.

10. Mortal Kombat – This fighting game series is an awesome series. This game series was ground breaking in the fact that is the first game to include blood and be very violent. This game also was the reason the ESRB rating system was created. The system needed to be created and it works great. So may disagree but it does work. This game have come out on almost every system.

9. Donkey Kong – This is the game that got Nintendo’s foot into the door of the gaming market. Donkey Kong is an awesome game it also introduced us to Mario who was known as Jumpman at the time. Donkey Kong has gone on to make many different times of games and they are all good games.

8. Street Fighter – Probably the most popular fighting game series. It all started with Street Fighter in the arcade but the series took off when Street Fighter II was released. Street Fighter II also had many remakes and people would buy the games multiple times. Capcom is still doing this with the Street Fighter series. Street Fighter IV came out and Capcom released Super Street Fighter IV which had a few more characters and some extra modes and not they have Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition with a few other add ons and characters. Lucky for us today we have high speed internet with Xbox Live and PSN so we can download the extra features for a lot less than buying the game. Capcom’s ability to keep releasing the same game with more stuff and keep gamers coming back for more Street Fighter is why this series is on the list.

7. Castlevania – This is another series that is still awesome. The Belmonts may not be as well know outside the gaming world but in the gaming world they are the most famous family of vampire slayers. This series of games has been going strong since the NES. Some games may not been as good as other. The old 3D games weren’t as popular but with the Castlevania games on the handheld system the series stayed alive. Then Lords of Shadow came out and showed us there is such a thing as a good 3D Castlevania game.

6. Pokémon – Pokémon is probably on of the most popular hand held games ever made. It's not just popular with kids is also popular with adults. The theme of the games is "gotta catch em all". That was on of the main goals making it a very addicting game to play. You also had different versions of the games like Red and Blue and each version of them game is pretty much the same but each version had exclusive Pokémon which meant you had to have a friend with a different version of the game to get all the Pokémon. You would have to link up your Game Boy to your friends Game Boy so that you could trade Pokémon or you could battle with your friends. Today with the DS we have Wi-Fi we can get only and find random people to trade with making its easier to trade and with the growing number of Pokémon its nice to have. There are also games on the consoles that allow you to transfer Pokémon to the console games like Pokémon Stadium. The Nintendo 64 had a Transfer Pak which allowed you to transfer your own Pokémon to the game. This is a game where you may not like the TV show or anything else to do with Pokémon, but you seem to really think these games.

5. Kirby – One of the most popular character from Nintendo other then Super Mairo. Kirby games are always awesome the game was designed to be a game for Kids and was meant to be easy. As the series evolved the game stayed somewhat easy but they added some things to make it more fun for hardcore gamers and fans of the series. Kirby is a little blob but he is a very popular blob named after a brand of vacuum cleaners.

4. Mega Man – The Blue Bomber is the most popular Capcom series out there and there are still games being made with 8-bit graphics. Mega Man also known as Rock Man in Japan is such an awesome game series. It has had is fair share of spin off games including Mega Man X which became its own series. I remember spending so much time as a kid playing Mega Man and I still have so much fun playing the games. You know a game has stood the test of time when you can have your graphic enhanced for newer games and then go back to the 8-bit graphics for the latest games in the series and people still want to play the game.

3. Final Fantasy – Final Fantasy was Squaresoft’s (SquareEnix now) final attempt at succeeding in the gaming market. Final Fantasy truly met Final Fantasy because if this game failed Square would have gone under. Final Fantasy is the most popular RPG game series out there now. They have 14 games in the main series (two of them being MMORPGs XI & XIV) along with many spin off series. These series include: Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Legend and a few sequels and prequels to some of the games in the main series. Final Fantasy has evolved over the years but you know when you are playing a Final Fantasy game.

2. Super Mario Bros. – Everyone knows who Super Mario is even if you have never played a video game. Super Mario is an awesome game he was one of the main reason the video game crashed. There have been so many types of Mario games. The most popular is platformers. He has also been in racing games, fighting games, party games, sport games and RPGs. Mario has his experience with all types of games. I don’t know if I've even know someone who doesn’t like to play Super Mario game who is a gamer.

1. The Legend of Zelda – This is a series the truly hasn’t lost any its luster. Every game in this series is awesome and I don’t count the CD-i games because they are not part of the series because they don’t have The Legend of Zelda in their names anywhere. This series is so awesome the time line can be very hard to follow but that really doesn’t matter. The game play is awesome and the stories are usually good also. No matter which game in the series I play it always feels like the Legend of Zelda. Technology gets better but the Legend of Zelda will never change. It was awesome when It came out in 1987 and its still awesome now with Skyward Sword (which I’m getting for Christmas). This is truly the game that has stood the test of time the best.

Honorable Mentioning

Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star, Dragon Quest, Metal Gear, Madden, Virtua Fighter and Sim City (and its many spin offs).

Want to learn more about the Legend of Zelda time like check out this video by the Angry Video Game Nerd.

To see more of the Angry Video Game Nerd check out Cinemassacre.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta Test

 

About two weeks ago I had the privilege to be a beta tester for the new MMORPG from Bioware and Lucas Arts called Star Wars: The Old Republic. I was able to test the game for two days and from what I played this is going to be an awesome game.When you get into the game you are going to get to pick your allegiance. You get a choice between The Galactic Republic and The Sith Empire. I choose The Sith Empire because we all know the Dark Side of the Force is stronger. The Character I chose was the Sith Inquisitor. He is a Force driven Sith and is very good with Force Lightning. He is the equivalent of the Jedi Consular from the Light Side. There are a few races to choose from I choose to be a human and Humans have the ability to rally their allies. There are a couple of other races to choose from but one that stuck out to me was the Sith race. If you choose to have a character that is of the Sith race they have a special ability to Punish their allies for screwing up. I'm pretty sure that race isn't available for the dark side. There are also Non Jedi characters and the one I really would like to try is the Bounty Hunter. Who doesn't want to be a Bounty Hunter with Boba Fett being one of the most popular (if not the most popular) character in all of the Star Wars universe. That enough about the other classes back to the Sith Inquistor. The Inquistor's story start off as you being a slave and you have just been recruited by the Sith. You will be sent on various missions to see if you are worthy of this Sith. I didn't get to far but I played enough of the game to get a feel and know that I will be good. I can probably rival the popularity of World of Warcraft but we can't say for sure just yet. We will know all once the game comes out and has been around for a little while. If you have played WOW (or any MMORPG) you should get the hang of this quick. The game is loads of fun and if you are a Star Wars fan you will probably love this game. You might even like this game even if you aren't a fan of Star Wars. The game is fun and have seems to have a lot to offer from what I was able to see. Now on to the cons of the beta. These cons aren't really aimed at the game they are more aimed at the Beta. When I picked a server to play on I was in the Queue for over 3 hours and there was  a lot of lag. The game probably ran slow because my laptop isn't a high performance gaming laptop, but my Internet connection is fast and I experience lots of lag. This was probably because so many people were on and the servers were full to the top with testers and that will be fixed when the game come out. One day I logged on and could barely move around. Aside from the lag this game was loads of fun to play and will be when its released December 20, 2011.

To learn more about Star Wars: The Old Republic check out their website swtor.com.

Upcoming collaborations with the Video Game View

I recently sat down with Bobby Hash of the Video Game View. We decided that it would be a lot of fun if we did some video posts together. Between the two of us we have over 1000 video games. So we have the material to do plenty of videos. Right now we are in the planing phase of what we would like to do first. We have a few ideas of what games we would like talk about first and we are open to suggestions. If there are a game or games you would like us to talk about please let us know in the comment section below.

Top 11 Horror Video Games

In honor of Halloween I have made my top 11 list of my best horror video games. This is a genre I don’t play as much so if there is a game you love in this genre I apologize. If I haven’t played the game I can’t put it on the list though. So here is my top 11 best horror video games list. Why top 11? Like the Nostalgia Critic I like to go one step beyond.

11. MediEvil – This is a fun unique game. You are Sir Daniel Fortesque back from the dead as a Skeletal Corpses (in other words a Zombie with a fully functional brain and motor skills for the most part). Sir Dan is summoned back from the dead to fight the evil sorcerer Zarok. Sir Dan had slain Zarok during his life among the living so it’s fitting that he emerges again to fight Zarok once again.

10. Ghosts ‘n Goblins & Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts – These games are very hard but they are so much fun. This game isn’t the scariest game but its jam packed with Horror. These are very hard games just like a lot of games were in the 8-bit and 16-bit era.

9. Silent Hill – I’ve only played the first game in the series and it is very scary and very fun. I’ve always wanted to play other games in the series but I never got around to it.

8. Resident Evil 1 & 2 – These games make the list because they reinvented the horror genre. They made the survivor horror video game the way it is today. I remember playing these games with my Sister and Brother-In-Law in a pitch black room with only the TV for light. In short that was scary.

7. Doom – One of the best FPS games that still stacks up to the games of this generation. It was a great horror game you got to fight all types of demons and monsters.

6. Resident Evil Code Veronica – I love this game it may not be part of the main series but it should be. Code Veronica is a great Resident Evil game and it out now for the Xbox 360 so you should get it if you like Resident Evil.

5. Resident Evil 4 – This is the best Resident Evil game made to date it improved on everything in the series.

4. Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 – Best multiplayer survivor horror games. L4D2 adds Melee weapons but there games are pretty much the same just with different missions and characters. This is another game that is scary and with TV series out like The Walking Dead you are going to have nightmares about the Zombie Apocalypse.

3. Plants vs. Zombies – Not a very scary game but so much fun. Zombies want to eat your brains and you must protect your house (and yourself) with plants. This is one of the best Tower Defense game ever.

2. Bioshock 1 & 2 – Bioshock 1 has one the best Single Player campaigns ever this game is very creepy and it has an eerie feeling the whole way through. Bioshock 2 is lots of fun it may not be as good as the first but it deserves to be on this list because it gave us Multiplayer in the Bioshock universe and it was a lot of fun.

1. Castlevania Series – I love these games some are definitely better than other but I love playing all of them I will focus of my favorite in the series Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. This is of my favorite games of all times and it’s a pure masterpiece. You are Alucard the son of Dracula and Alucard (if you didn’t already notice Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards) wants to take his father down and you will fight all types of creatures of the night in these games. Now let go back to where it started for me the Castlevania trilogy for the NES. The Belmont clan has been slaying Dracula for centuries and they have had help from other as well but the Belmonts are the one who are burdened with there just because they are a Belmont. So if you are born into the Belmont clan in any way you are destined to keep evil at bay and destroy Dracula if you must. Since Dracula never dies it will happen. There are many Castlevania games I love them all some more than others but if you only play one game in the series play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Then go and play the rest of the games especially the ones on the NES and SNES.

Honorable Mentioning

Deadrising, Deadrising 2, Diablo, Diablo II, Doom II, Doom 3, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil 3, Zombies ate my Neighbors,

Many may not consider Diablo a horror game but you do venture into Hell and fight Diablo himself along with Zombies, Demons, and much more.

Happy Halloween!

I have reached the 100 NES game mark!

A few days ago I bought my one hundredth NES game. Before I get started I know this isn’t a very big collection but it is a big deal for me that I have reached 100 NES games. I purchased the game Gun.Smoke from a local store called Across the Board Games (If you live in Mt. Airy, NC or close to it you need to check out this store). Since then I have purchased three more games making my official total of NES game 103. I am proud of my collection but there are still a lot of games I would like to get. Here is a list of my NES games (in alphabetical order):


1. A Boy and His Blob
2. Adventures In The Magic Kingdom
3. Adventures of Dino-Riki
4. After Burner
5. Baseball
6. Batman
7. Battletoads
8. Battletoads & Double Dragon
9. Bible Adventures
10. Bionic Commando
11. Blades of Steel
12. Blaster Master
13. Burgertime
14. Captain Skyhawk
15. Castlevania
16. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
17. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
18. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
19. Clash at Demon Head
20. Contra
21. Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum
22. Defender II
23. Dig Dug II
24. Donkey Kong 3
25. Donkey Kong Classics
26. Double Dragon
27. Double Dragon II: The Revenge
28. Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stone
29. Dr. Mario
30. Dragon Warrior
31. Dragon Warrior II*
32. Dragon Warrior III
33. Ducktales
34. Excitebike
35. Faxanadu
36. Fester's Quest*
37. Final Fantasy
38. Gauntlet
39. Gauntlet II
40. Ghosts 'N Goblins
41. Gun.Smoke
42. Gyromite
43. Hydlide
44. Ice Climber
45. Ice Hockey
46. Ikari Warriors
47. Iron Sword: Wizards & Warriors II
48. Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road
49. Jordan vs Bird: One on One
50. Kid Icirus
51. Kirby's Adventure
52. Legend of Zelda
53. Legendary Wings
54. Little Nemo: The Dream Master
55. Mach Rider
56. Marble Madness
57. Mario Bros.
58. Mega Man
59. Mega Man 2
60. Mega Man 3
61. Mega Man 4
62. Metroid
63. Mickey Mousecapade
64. Micro Machines
65. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
66. NARC
67. Ninja Gaidan
68. Ninja Gaidan II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
69. Operation Wolf
70. Paperboy
71. Phantom Fighter
72. Pro Wrestling
73. Rad Racer
74. Ring King
75. RoadBlasters
76. Section Z
77. Sesame Street 123
78. Skate or Die
79. Smash TV
80. Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular
81. Solar Jetman
82. Spot: The Video Game
83. Spy Hunter
84. Spy vs. Spy
85. Strider
86. Super C
87. Super Mario Bros.
88. Super Mario Bros. 2
89. Super Mario Bros. 3
90. Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt
91. T&C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage
92. Tecmo Super Bowl*
93. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
94. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
95. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project
96. Track and Field II
97. Trog!
98. Trojan
99. Win, Lose, or Draw
100. Wizards & Warriors
101. Xexyz
102. Yo! Noid
103. Zelda II: The Adventures of Link

I’m a proud of my collection it may not be the biggest collection of NES game, but I feel it’s still impressive to hit triple digits. I keep track of my games with a Excel spreadsheet and its a great thing to do if you are a collector.

*Games purchased after reaching 100 NES games.

My Top 10 Nintendo 64 Games

Here is a list of my top 10 Nintendo 64 games.

10. Mario Party – The name says it all this game it’s a party and its perfect game to play on game nights with friends and family.

9. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask – This game takes place right after the events of Ocarina of Time you have 72 hours to save the world or all will be doomed. This is another awesome Zelda game and it utilized the expansion pak for the N64 (which was required to be able to play the game). It has great graphics and a deep story.

8. Star Fox 64 – If you like the original Star Fox you can’t pass this game up. This game was also the first to have rumble pak support which added a new and different element to home console gaming.

7. Mario Kart 64 – Another great party game for the N64 anyone who is anyone knows what Mario Kart is. This game is probably one of the most competitive games on the N64.

6. Perfect Dark – The 2nd best first person shooter on the N64 this game is so awesome. This game also has great multiplayer. It’s another game that utilized the expansion pak and you couldn’t play the single player campaign if you didn’t have the expansion pak. I heard that you could also take the Game Boy camera and take a picture of your face and transfer your face to a character in multiplayer and have your face in the game using the Game Boy transfer pak. I’m not sure if you can do that because I haven’t been able to try it but if someone can confirm this for me that would be great.

5. GoldenEye 007 – The best first person shooter on the N64 GoldenEye is still played on the N64 and it still holds up to any other FPS that is out there. Some people even say this is still the best FPS ever made. It is another competitive N64 game that is still played at game parties.

4. Mario Tennis – The best tennis game ever made. Whether you are playing single player or with a group of friends this game is an absolute blast.

3. Paper Mario – This is a unique RPG. It has a great story and it’s perfect for someone who doesn’t have much experience with RPGs. Newbies will be able to learn the mechanics of the game very fast. Experience RPG gamers will be able to jump right in and get the mechanics right away. Again this is a unique RPG and it make push the hardcore gamers away but I think they anyone who likes Mario and/or RPGs needs to give this game a chance.

2. Super Mario 64 – The 1st game out of the N64 still can hold up to any other game. It was the 1st Mario game to enter the 3D world. This game is very unique but still had the Super Mario feel to the game.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – One of the best Zelda games ever made game is truly a masterpiece it was the first Zelda game to enter the 3D world. This is on my list of best Zelda games (which is another blog post for the future).


Honorable Mentioning

Super Smash Bros.,Yoshi’s Story, Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Clayfighter 63 1/3, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Wave Race 64.

These are the games that I feel are the best on the N64. I love these games and I hope that you do to. I also hope you try out the games if you have never played them before.

Since I haven’t played every single game for the N64 this list is subject to change if I happen to come across a game that is better than the games on the list. It probably won’t change but you never know.