THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING
vs.
MIRROR’S EDGE
Link’s Awakening never made anyone download Origin
SUPER MARIO BROS.
vs.
ANIMAL CROSSING
Animal Crossing literally contains Super Mario Bros. None of its elements can exceed the superset. QED
DRAGON QUEST III
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
I have played every Zelda game. I have only played one Dragon Quest game. Its not this one. I don’t care.
Just a bit about Dota 2 vs Elevator Action 2, I’m voting for EA2 because of my Taito bias but I really enjoyed the Dota match I got to participate in with some of you folks. I feel, like with Monster Hunter, I’m overwhelmed by all the systems you’re expected to have mastery of and although the game is a fun spectacle to be a part of when you have people on your team who know how to play I also feel guilty knowing on some level that I’m dragging the rest of the team down with my lack of skill.
Elevator Action 2 is peak arcade Taito work but also kind of want to pair it together in my head as a companion to the Outfoxies, even though it didn’t make it to the list, with its similar sense of humor, meticulous sprite work and animation, and the feeling that every part of the environment could be turned into a tool to tilt the odds in the players favor, each having its own quirks and a sense of weight/inertia. Lights could be shot out or the power cut to double points on any item you pick up; you or lured enemies could be killed by electrical traps; barrels could be knocked over/ignited; doors and elevator shafts could be used to duck away from enemy fire. It’s a good time and in my case, I can play solo or at least only feel guilty towards only one imaginary partner.
I’ll take up that argument. I could never get Yume Niki to work in the mid-2000s. Watching slime play it last week was the first time I had ever seen it in action. I feel like I’m too old and seen too much to be entranced by it. And it definitely seems to have charm and weirdness to it, but don’t know if I can have the patience for it to win me over or I would just be shouting SHOW ME SOMETHING ELSE I AM BUSY. It seems tailored for late nights in your dorm or childhood bedroom the glow of your monitor the only light.
Now I did play Gunstar Heroes and now you get a boring story about it. I played it at a friends house and was so enamored needed my own copy. After driving around Bossier City, Louisiana my mom ended up at Blockbuster. My mother for reasons I will never understand was morally opposed to renting things. She was opposed to used things. I didn’t and don’t get it either folks. I didn’t get to rent a movie or a game until high school. But this one time she went in and bought their copy of Gunstar Heroes off them.
Gunstar Heroes is so candescently great it feels boring to talk about. I will say one of the few times Parish has been good at criticism is this episode which made me actually listen to the Gunstar soundtrack which is just as layered and full of character as the rest of the game. I don’t know if video games do better than DESTROY THEM ALL.
But also these are two extremely different pieces of work and it feels reductive to compare them. But thems the rules of a bracket.
The thing about dota, and mobas in general, is that they fly in the face of modern design trends that favor simple, clean, homogenous, easy to understand and play game design. They are obtuse, high barrier to entry, high personal responsibility games that take glee in nuance and breadth. Dota was a mod, which was a the only way it could have existed. People responded to the idea of actually having to do something in their video games
No one should vote for dota 2 though because it’s a mod valve stole and bolted a store onto, fuck all of that
I remember a comment during the stream saying it probably takes a few years of playing regularly to play competently, and I think that’s too much for me to commit to any game. Like, I’ve spent a lot of my life on games over the years and will more than likely continue to do so, but turning Dota into basically a second job might be too much of a barrier for me to pass.
I have to be honest, I played Klonoa (I actually imported Namco 50th Anniversary Collection for it as it was cheaper than getting the actual US version for a while) and beyond the CGI ending I could not tell you a single thing about the game beyond being pretty sure it did the whole 2.5D thing. If you asked me if it is a platformer where you jump on enemies heads or one where you had an actual attack I wouldn’t be able to answer you and I, you know, beat the game. I feel like there are games in this bracket I haven’t played that I could likely tell you more about.
I don’t believe I could forget the whole opening section of Silent Hill 1 even if I wanted to.
I am unsure whether to vote for FF VI or Rez as I am unsure which is more important: how often Shadow screwed me over and left me in the lurch, or getting the last laugh by leaving him on the island.
I will vote Mirror’s Edge as I don’t know how many more chances I will have to.
I will vote Super Mario 3d Land over Sky Odyssey as its the one of them I played and I thought it was swell enough.
I haven’t played Outrun or FFT, might not vote on this one but am tempted to go with Outrun because it lacks all the “which translation” talk that seems to bog down FFT discussions here.
Baba is You is an incredibly clever sokoban, Bubble Bobble has the best 8-bit musical bop of its entire generation.
I will vote for Aki wrestling as someone should.
I haven’t played Yume Nikki (have played several games likely inspired by it) and was kinda let down by Gunstar Heroes when i finally played it last year, so abstain.
I haven’t played Disco Elysium but have played Silent Hill 2, which isn’t as good as Silent Hill 1. Let’s go Disco.
Silent Hill 1 has that opening segment, it beats Klonoa.
Haven’t played DOTA 2 or Elevator Action Returns, likely abstain.
SMB is still great and is a neat obstacle course in a way many games in the series aren’t. Animal Crossing games may not be healthy to play. SMB1.
I enjoyed Elite Beat Agents even if the story was unintentionally hilarious at times. Never played EDF.
I don’t care for jrpgs anymore and the original Zelda is still swell.
Final Fantasy Tactics vs Outrun
Outrun is still visually stunning with its gorgeous colors and flowing scenery. I especially love the fields of tulips. It’s soundtrack is still jamming and begins SEGA’s tradition of having the chillest tunes. The game, however, is less than the sum of its parts. You can’t enjoy the music because the tires are constantly screeching. Handling feels rigid and jittery in a way that it doesn’t in Super Hang-On.
Final Fantasy Tactics’ dioramas have such an immersive sense of space. The detail of the environments, their changing size and varying altitudes create different moods. There was a moment I remember where you begin a battle standing across from your rival. I was so filled with anger at them that my first move was to throw a stone at them. It wasn’t a strategically wise opener, but it was a way for me to play a part, to engage with Ramza’s persona.
Decision: Final Fantasy Tactics
Yep, the environments are such a key selling point of Tactics for me.
Hiroyuki Itou: ‘It’s meant to be enjoyed like a diorama, or a miniature garden: “ooo, what happens when I turn it this way?” And that’s also a big part of the cuteness factor. (laughs) Before you know it, you’ll be looking at the map and saying things like, “oh, I bet it would look cool if I put this guy up there…” (laughs)’
Having experienced it separately in both contexts I can’t really refute this lol
That’s a good virtual headspace of peacefulness among chaos that I like to mentally inhabit and characterizes some areas of these games to me. It’s hilarious this only exists as like a 6 second excerpt on the OST
I couldn’t have said this better myself. Despite my interest in e-sports as corporate/subcultural phenomenon, the popularity of LoL and DOTA baffles me.
even though sh2 is the best silent hill I can vote for 1 and not 2 in this poll because the music at least was best when it was weirder and more primitive sounding like this in 1. they’re almost too good at what they’re doing by 3 and 4.
at least no one yells at me for using excel wrong
Bubble bobble vs Baba is You
My friends won’t humor me so I haven’t been able to enjoy Bubble Bobble. However, if Bubble Bobble didn’t exist, than neither would Puzzle Bobble 2, and if that didn’t exist, would @u_u? I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t and that would be bad.
Baba is You is a puzzle game that I have not solved most of. That’s rare for me. I love that I can load it up at any time, poke around its problems, and find one new insight. It’s really good.
Hmm at the moment I’m undecided. I could be swayed either way!
Now I feel bad for saying the bubble bobble dinos aren’t cute. I’ve always thought @u_u’s avatar was really great. I guess…they are cute in the right color palette. In the ones I see most often, though, they’re strange gummy candies.
I am legally required to notify you that Bubble Bobble is an all-time great hit. You like freedom, don’t you? Freedom isn’t free. The cost is one quarter, into the Bubble Bobble machine.
jellicle on fuckin fire
WCW/nWo Revenge vs Umihara Kawase
I grew up in a neighborhood crowded with boys slightly older than me who loved wrestling. They watched it on tv, they interacted matches on trampolines, and they played it on the N64. As a kid, I could be somewhat violent. Once, I jumped off a sofa to dive kick my brother’s friend in the back for no reason. My mom began to limit the media I had access to. She stopped letting me watch Power Rangers and she wouldn’t allow me watch wrestling. So when I was hanging out with other kids and “wrestling,” I didn’t know what to do. I thought, “okay, we’re fighting,” and I punched the other kid in the nose, causing blood to dribble down his face. In response, his friend jumped up and punched me in the nose. I was really confused. When I think of wrestling, I think of getting punched in the face.
According to Wikipedia, Umihara Kawase’s name comes from the idiom, “Sea fish are fat in the belly; river fish are fat in the back.” That’s a great name for a game, a beautiful name. Umihara Kawase is the only fishing game in this bracket and fishing games put me at peace.
Decision: Umihara Kawase.
Umihara Kawase (the idiom) came up as trivia on TV last year and I felt like I won final jeopardy against the TV and Lady Rude. Just yelling I KNOW THIS I KNOW THIS. It’s Unix!