fuck it at first i was like well i cant say mario 64 thats too easy.
yes i can i still love that game im voting for it im breaking the seal
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I just want to point out that 5 of the 6 games on this list were released on the Saturn and only one was on the PS1. Something to think about…
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Oh I have to correct that imbalance
Little Big Adventure! I played it last month! A legitimate vote!
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We also have to consider how many of these games are PC games. This really was the start of one of the pc golden ages (1996 to 2001)
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Yes I know the initial release of LBA was 1994, but it came out on the psx in 1996. If this disqualifies it, I will concede that maybe I should nominate descent 2, which was a straightforward improvement over the first game and an actual 1996 release date
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Because of who I am as a person, Wizardry Gaiden IV: Throb of the Demon’s Heart. It’s got all the fun extra classes of Wizardry 6 onward, but also in old fantasy Japan.
That’s the nominee.
I will vote for it and Battle Garegga.
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I’m willing to entertain most interpretations of what a 1996 game is. If pther people don’t like it, they can vote for more and push it out lol.
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Just for the record, I’ve played Duke3D in the past month as well.
But Quake was more recent (and a better game)
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I gave Phantasmagoria 2 a good try and I’m not sure where to place my feelings on it. Of course I’m on board with playing this strange intersection of game and film, but I’m not excited to trip over the game’s “puzzles.” Also, scumm crashes whenever I try to use the scrollbar in the in-game computer.
I saw this blurb when I flipped through filfre:
Computer Gaming World did deign to give A Puzzle of Flesh a review, but said review oozes disgust: “Playing this game, if one can grace this morally reprehensible product with such happy terms as ‘play’ and ‘game,’ is extremely unpleasant; to do so ‘for fun’ requires a fascination with hardcore schlock or a hardened attitude toward horror and exploitive erotica. You have been duly warned.”
The game has you playing as Curtis, a technical writer for a pharmaceutical company. The fake website is still up WynTech.org - WynTech Industries
He is struggling with recently unearthed trauma. The horror blends with the corporate environment to make a pretty compelling setup. The juxtaposition of that horror with campy office humor is just plain odd. It is ridiculous and exciting and grim and boring. You will remember your time with this game.
One moment that describes what a lot of the game’s first two hours is like:
CW: Phantasmagoria 2
Curtis is struggling with a psychotic episode in the office. He is especially fearful of this because he was forcefully institutionalized and had undergone shock therapy. His gay best friend takes him out to their favorite bistro.
I click on his best friend to tell him details about Curtis’ past. There’s a break and I click on him again to say that Curtis had just recently realized his mother had died by suicide when he was young. There’s another break and I decide to click on the waiter. This initiates a little scene where Curtis’ best friend flirts with the waiter. Break, click on friend, get reassurance that Curtis should take it easy, and we go back to work.
That little sidebar with the waiter didn’t need to happen and it only happened because I thought to click on him. You can make this game as serious, sarcastic, or funny as you like.
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never waste a good line on a straight man
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hahaha that has to be a fan website. still rules though. trying to imagine therese telling curtis about the company facebook page
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Recommending Panzer Dragoon Zwei and Metal Slug
Metal Slug is my favorite run and gun game. Great pixel art. Nice antiwar messaging in the ending. Well balanced for 1cc attempts.
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the clunky adventure game bs in phanta 2 like making conversations progress in any order you like or the way the progression gating stretches out the flow of time is my favorite part about it. it makes the atmosphere even more goofy & unsettling to me
anyway i will recommend Blue Ice which i’ve posted about before, it contains some of my favorite treatment of time in a videogame (see above but an even more extreme form) & a frighteningly esoteric “ultimate puzzle” that wasn’t solved for 20 years after its release, very corny writing, and looks like this
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I’m gonna go ahead and vote for Metal Slug
<3 Metal Slug
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While I dig into recommendations from others, it’s only right that I make a few of my own.
Dark Savior is my favorite Saturn game. I have written about it before on this site, so now I’m just going to ask you all to play it again.
Enemy Zero is such an odd counterpoint to Resident Evil. Honestly, Resident Evil has some DNA from D, so it’s fascinating to dive into that game’s true successor.
NiGHTS gets so much of its power from the soundtrack. Just thinking about the menu theme puts me in a reverie.
Because I don’t want to recommend Saturn games exclusively, I’ll also bring up Tobal No. 1. I love how it feels. It’s a very simple and fluid variation of Virtua Fighter. Squaresoft got all their musical talent to just have fun on this soundtrack. Akira Toriyama, rest in peace.
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Slug 1 still the best one imo, completely fair with the perfect length
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I’m about two hours in and I have to vote for Blue Ice. It is very singular for what it attempts. It is the most baroque game I have ever played. I don’t just mean that to describe its obscure puzzles. Baroque is also how I would describe its aesthetic. Art, poetry, and music accompany every screen. There are layers and layers of detail.
I actually love the art and poetry, too. It’s strange and specific, just the way I like it. I anticipate getting stuck often. I think I’ll make a rule to consult a walkthrough only once per session.
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I want to do another one of these but I’m tripping myself up because I want to consolidate into one thread. Also, I’m sleepy and I was trapped in compulsive Hades land (just broke free)…
Cannot wait to play and write about EVERBLUE again.
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I like them as individual threads. Hi I am late.
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tagging works you can click the tag and all your crate digging is right there to dig through!
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