SB 64 part IV: diamond is not crash (voting ends october 17!)

King of Posters
1

wow VERY close contests last week with resident evil 4 / majora’s mask and crazy taxi / undertale huh? we have still yet to have the fabled melty blood netplay tiebreaker though…

so! this week we have:

  • SUPER MARIO 64
  • IKARUGA

0 voters

  • DARK SOULS
  • FINAL FANTASY VI

0 voters

  • PORTAL
  • ICO

0 voters

  • KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
  • THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING

0 voters

  • SONIC ADVENTURE
  • SKY ODYSSEY

0 voters

  • DOOM / DOOM II
  • OUTRUN

0 voters

  • NIER
  • DONKEY KONG '94

0 voters

  • CHRONO TRIGGER
  • BUBBLE BOBBLE

0 voters

  • DRAGON’S DOGMA
  • UMIHARA KAWASE

0 voters

  • SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
  • GUNSTAR HEROES

0 voters

  • QUAKE
  • STREETS OF RAGE 2

0 voters

voting starts october 13 2020, midnight cst, and closes october 17 2020, midnight cst

9 Likes
2

I always assumed Bubble Bobble was a puzzle game based on the box art and learning it’s a single-screen platformer is fucking me up

8 Likes
4

SUPER MARIO 64
vs.
IKARUGA

I can tell this one is going to be close and/or divisive, but I have to go for Super Mario 64. Feels better in my hands, and the first 3D platformer to really nail the joy of jumping, at least in my experience. Ikaruga is good but not my jam.

DARK SOULS
vs.
FINAL FANTASY VI

oh no

PORTAL
vs.
ICO

I’ve not played Ico, but I have heard @HOBO complain about Ico, and it does not look like my kind of game regardless. It just seems a little too try-hard-y for me, and I just don’t care for games with that kind of muted palette. I also hate feelings, so.

Portal is a perfect little gem of a game. It says what it wants to and then it gets the fuck out of town. I can respect that.

KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING

Can’t believe I’m voting for The Gritty Gunboys over Himbo Walks The Dog, but that’s where I’m at in my life. Kane & Lynch 2 took me 3 attempts to get into, but once I was in I was in. Similar to Portal, it says what it has to, and then has a really stupid helicopter mission, but THEN gets the fuck out of town. I love it, I love the aesthetic and the bad shooting and the viscerality and the voyeurism. Great game.

SONIC ADVENTURE
vs.
SKY ODYSSEY

Sorry

DOOM / DOOM II
vs.
OUTRUN

DOOM fucking rules, Outrun seems fine. I have not played DOOM II and don’t really plan on it, but I played Chex Quests 1-3 so I think I’m fine.

NIER
vs.
DONKEY KONG '94

Abstain. Have not played Nier, and DK '94 doesn’t do it for me somehow? Probably because I played it on a keyboard when I was a kid and never revisited it. I’m sure both of these are really good but I have no solid opinion!!

CHRONO TRIGGER
vs.
BUBBLE BOBBLE

I’m clearly picking the blockbusters here because Chrono Trigger is another game that does not outstay its welcome. Bubble Bobble on the other hand seems to be filled with cool secrets but I’m just not good enough at it, and that song grinds my gears after about 5 minutes.

DRAGON’S DOGMA
vs.
UMIHARA KAWASE

Abstain, haven’t played either long enough to form solid opinions

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
vs.
GUNSTAR HEROES

I feel like this is the ultimate, like…Nintendo-feel vs. Genesis-feel. And I’m sad to say that I’m a Nintendo Person and I love SMB3 even though it’s a really uneven game.

Actually both of these are really uneven, come to think of it, and I find it charming in both. But I just love SMB3 so much!!

QUAKE
vs.
STREETS OF RAGE 2

I have played both of these games, and who woulda thought I’d be going for a belt scroller, but Streets of Rage 2 is one of my favorite memories from the last meet(em)up, and I can’t deny that. It made me understand belt scrollers!!

Quake is really good though!! I can’t say anything bad about it, it just…doesn’t excite me, I guess. I like DOOM better!!

7 Likes
5

my favourite bubble bobble is snow bros

6 Likes
6

I’d be curious to know what you think is very uneven about Super Mario Bros. 3! I am a SEGA Gal but even I think Gunstar is incredibly uneven and SMB3 feels like butter to me

7

Really disagree with this, it and the skyscraper descent were the best part of the game to me. It’s like 5 Michael Mann and Tony Scott action scenes jammed into one sharp distilled chunk of cover-shooter. The youtube compression artifacts and blown-out sound are the cherry on top. Also late-capitalism-stark-inequality-highlighting bonus points when the hermetically sealed server rooms, offices and taxidermy displays are juxtaposed against the grimy apartments and sweatshops in the early parts.

2 Likes
8

welcome to the bobble cinematic universe

1 Like
9

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3 vs. GUNSTAR HEROES

oh no

11

Mostly I’d say it’s the difficulty curve. The levels can vary wildly between short romps and long journeys and I’m not super hot on the last, like, 3 worlds.

Also the novelty factor makes this uneven by default - there’s only one level with a goomba shoe!! I think there’s only one level where you wrap from left to right!! It’s kind of a weird game, in a way that I enjoy.

2 Likes
12

SUPER MARIO 64
vs.
IKARUGA
ehhhh, i’ve only played the ds version of sm64, and it was pretty good. i like the ikaruga mode in the 360 port of radiant silvergun more than i like ikaruga

DARK SOULS
vs.
FINAL FANTASY VI
never played ff6, but dark souls is a pretty cool 3d metrovania. though i liked bloodborne better

PORTAL
vs.
ICO
never played portal, but it just brings to mind all that tedious early-00s gamer humour. funko pops weren’t invented yet, but portal occupies the same space in my mind as them. ico doesn’t live up to the reputation it used to have, but it’s still pretty good

KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING
never played dog days and know nothing about it except that there’s some official art with some ugly guy eating cereal

SONIC ADVENTURE
vs.
SKY ODYSSEY
as great as sky odyssey is, sonic adventure appeared at like, the exact right point in my life, and it’s a huge cultural touchstone for me

DOOM / DOOM II
vs.
OUTRUN
i dunno, they’re both really good. outrun has camino a mi amor, though…

NIER
vs.
DONKEY KONG '94
played neither

CHRONO TRIGGER
vs.
BUBBLE BOBBLE
bubble bobble, it took the idea of absurdly obtuse secret bullshit from tower of druaga and put it into an actual fun game

DRAGON’S DOGMA
vs.
UMIHARA KAWASE
never played dragon’s dogma, but it sounds interesting. i like the idea of umihara kawase more than i like umihara kawase

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
vs.
GUNSTAR HEROES
gunstar heroes, easily.

QUAKE
vs.
STREETS OF RAGE 2
streets of rage 2, easily.

6 Likes
13
  • Mario 64 will probably win this one but it’s Ikaruga for me. Mario 64 influenced video games for good but I’ve never liked it much.
  • I had to vote against FF6 the last time (vs. Rez) and now I’m tempted to do it again. You’d think I didn’t like FF6, but I do. I might go with FF6 this time because I voted for Demon’s.
  • Portal is great, but I think ICO is still my favorite modern video game.
  • Not sure I can participate in Dog Days vs. Link’s Awakening because I never finished the latter. I used to play it in the laundromat of my old apartment complex and that was the only time I ever played it. I was distracted and didn’t get very far.
  • Sky Odyssey again, though I haven’t played Sonic Adventure much so I might not be giving it a fair chance.
  • Going with Doom, though I do like Outrun. More accurately, I like listening to Splash Wave from Outrun and not necessarily playing the game.
  • Chrono Trigger vs. Bubble Bobble is tough. This might be another one I sit out and make a choice at the last minute only if it’s very close.
  • Dragon’s Dogma, though it kind of feels wrong to choose generic fantasy over something as original as Umihara Kawase.
  • Super Mario Bros. 3 is kind of like a trump card, especially against another platformer.
6 Likes
14

SUPER MARIO 64
vs.
IKARUGA

I hadn’t spent more than ten minutes with Mario 64 until this year. Ikaruga’s gimmick makes it both really clever and appealing, but also is an extra layer of complexity on a genre I try to love but I’m terrible at. Nevertheless I think Treasure still has the edge here.

DARK SOULS
vs.
FINAL FANTASY VI

Yikes. I think the thing I like about both games is how much hidden optional stuff they have. That’s the one regard that I feel VI has over IV. As much as I love it and think it’s an absolutely perfect formula, I have to be in the proper mindset to deal with Dark Souls, whereas I maxed out Ultima and got everyone Economizers in FFIII, so I guess that’s where I’m going.

PORTAL
vs.
ICO

Despite having the Orange Box for years, and having played Narbacular Drop when that was new, I’ve never fired up Portal. Ico.

KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING

Dog Days has my favorite visual design of any game of the last couple generations, but LA is the next best thing to my topish game, Zelda 1.

SONIC ADVENTURE
vs.
SKY ODYSSEY

I’m still not sure what Sky Odyssey is. Sonic Adventure has nice bright colors, but I think I’ve probably spent more time of my life hearing that Follow My Rainbow song than I have actually playing it. I’ll skip this one.

DOOM / DOOM II
vs.
OUTRUN

Outrun is fun, but Doom is Doom!

NIER
vs.
DONKEY KONG '94

DK 94 does the awful thing of secretly becoming puzzle-y. I haven’t gotten into Nier 1, but 2 was amazing so let’s go with that.

CHRONO TRIGGER
vs.
BUBBLE BOBBLE

Argh. They’re both top notch, but I hit a wall in Bubble Bobble where it just feels unreasonable, and I’m not sure if it’s on the same footing as Ghosts n Goblins where that opening stage is just so strong that who cares if I just replay that regularly. Rainbow Islands hits that mark better. So, CT.

DRAGON’S DOGMA
vs.
UMIHARA KAWASE

Dragon’s Dogma rules so much. I keep recommending it to friends and non of them will listen!

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
vs.
GUNSTAR HEROES

SMB 3 never clicked with me. I vividly remember my friend getting it on release day and being amazed with all the variety in it compared to the original, but it also felt too big for one sitting. I was already into games with passwords and batteries, and this seemed like it was screaming for one of those. By the time All Stars fixed that, World felt leagues better than 3 ever was. Meanwhile Seven Force is the most amazing thing ever. Gunstar 4 life.

QUAKE
vs.
STREETS OF RAGE 2

This one hurts. I absolutely love Streeets of Rage 2 (shout out to old EGM heads)–the music, the carnival alien weirdness, the Street Fighter style special moves. I think it even edges out Gunstar Heros as my favorite Genesis game? But Quake 1 was My Game for the first couple years of the 2000s. I played deathmatch every night late into the night. I designed my own Quakeworld skins. I even hobbled together some tutorials to make a DM mod which I still think is pretty rad, and an single player mod that I should probably revisit some day. I always wanted to get into mapping but none of the tools were clicking for me. No matter how shitty my computers at the time were, and they were–old parts from friends cobbled together and running the very first couple releases of Ubuntu–they could run the hell out of Quake perfectly. I gotta vote for Q1.

8 Likes
15
Super Mario 64 vs Ikaruga

not superhot on ikaruga. I love stgs, but the scoring system of having to alternate enemy colors in groups of 3 to maintain a chain gives me an ulcer. for real, I find ddp chaining so much less stressful. how do people get mad at ddp chains but go “ah yes” at ikaruga?

but it’s the only stg on here and thus the genres entire representation here.

super mario 64 however is one of my formative games. I got it close to release, so damn sold on this new 3D type of game from the commercials. played it and replayed it countless times as n64 games were expensive and I got like one each year.
it handles like nothing else, which like, anyone who loves this game will attest to

despite loving sm64 and feeling kinda annoyed at ikaruga this is hard for me, cause stgs did at some point supercede my feelings towards mario. if this was garegga or rsg I would unquestionably vote against my childhood.

not yet sure where I’m gonna fall on this.

Dark Souls vs Final Fantasy VI

even if my opinion on ffvi would change on a replay (which it can, that has been happening a lot lately) it’s not gonna beat out dark souls for me.

demon’s souls is a lot more thematically and aesthetically fulfilling, but the connected world of dark makes it a very different thing that I can appreciate on its own terms. it’s still a vile and disgusting fantasy, even though it’s a little bit less weird and grody. but that’s also kinda fine. dark souls is prettier, but this works with it. it’s a traditional, pretty fantasy world that has warped and decayed, because the fundamental power it was built on just wasn’t meant to last, and so it feels more sombre and tragic than demon’s souls did.

Portal vs Ico

portal is a pretty good puzzle game but I don’t find it funny.

ico is a massive mood. I may have a problem where I’ll always prefer games that feel a bit sad.

Dog Days vs Link's Awakening

uhhh… shit. I can’t actually remember dog days other than it hit. it was a sickening violent ride and yeah that’s always good, but all I remember right now is like a shootout in a fancy restaurant with the walls getting torn up and that was really cool. long overdue for a co-op run of this but I can’t really set that up right now.

I can remember link’s awakening but I don’t know if I like it more than dog days? maybe? probably not? although? hey, the above ico thing about sad games, link’s awakening is one of those. but so is dog days. oh boy.

Sonic Adventure vs Sky Odyssey

still voting sky odyssey based on previous talk of it. it’s also easy cause I don’t like sonic adventure that much, sorry

DOOM vs Outrun

battle of spritescaling. I really like outrun and I’m gonna finish a route some day dammit, but yeah, doom is a bigger and much more engrossing thing and I actually played through all 4 episodes and doom II once and it was great but now the memories are blurry.

Nier vs DK94

SAD! GAME! WINS!

props to dk94 on only tricking you into believing it’s a port but then dropping like, a whole 90’s platformers worth of levels on you right after the “end”. also appreciate a 2D mario who can backflip.

there’s a part in nier where one of your friends gets turned into a spooky skeleton and as he’s crying the protag just hugs him and tells him it’s all right and why does that scene make me cry so hard?

Chrono Trigger vs Bubble Bobble

I think my favourite part of chrono trigger is just the first time you go to the past and the world map plays yearnings of the wind. you are stuck in a place that is familiar yet so far away from home, and I just think that song is the perfect mood for that. other than that it’s a nice adventure, though I’m feeling it most in moods like that. the corridor of time is another place I really like.

I also might like it more than bubble bobble, which is cute and good but also kinda annoying.

Dragon's Dogma vs Umihara Kawase

I love both these games so much don’t make me do this

did I already talk about how umihara is built around the kinda fidgetty momentum based platforming I like? I don’t really need to talk about it again.

dragon’s dogma is special and weird and so much more insane than you could ever convince anyone through screenshots and trailers. also the endgame is completely insane and nobody should talk about it just convince everyone to play this through it’s worth it.

also, be sure to get someone to fall in love with you. the shopkeep or whoever you pick getting an anime blush every time they talk to you is charming in a really dumb and trashy way

Super Mario Bros. 3 vs Gunstar Heroes

yo, I love super mario bros. 3. it has a whole bunch of great levels, and this is the first one with slopes, which is a super big thing. remember how mario maker 1 didn’t have slopes?? that’s why that engine was a ripoff and only mario maker 2 is real

Quake vs Streets of Rage 2

I almost like quake, but I don’t quite like quake. lots of cool stuff about it, but too many enemies are really spongy which doesn’t quite feel good. I never finished it though, only got as far as ep2 on hard.

streets of rage 2 feels really great though. and it sounds great! I feel like it’s the strongest game with the default beat’em up aesthetic, like, overcoming it’s predecessors final fight and double dragon on the urban punch-em-all genre by feeling snappier and being way more stylish

13 Likes
17

a sisbro of refined taste here. hell yeah.

3 Likes
18

SUPER MARIO 64
vs.
IKARUGA

There’s only one good 3d platformer, and it’s called Quake 3 Arena

DARK SOULS
vs.
FINAL FANTASY VI

I feel like there has been a backlash against Dark Souls the last few years after that subseries has become oversaturated, but it still remains wonderful. There’s something so characteristic and memorable about the writing and npcs and environments in the majority of Dark Souls.

PORTAL
vs.
ICO

Look, I still like Portal. I also still like Ico. I wouldn’t have included either of these games in my personal top 64 but what can you do. Ico has flaws, so it gets my vote.

KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING

I just hate the shooting in Kane and Lynch, but I think I just hate all 3rd person cover shooters

SONIC ADVENTURE
vs.
SKY ODYSSEY

Sky Odyssey deserves to win especially over fucking Sonic.

DOOM / DOOM II
vs.
OUTRUN

My vote for Doom and Doom II includes the decades of fanmade wads as well, because how could it not? Those have kept the games relevant and vital. Doom has a better soundtrack than Outrun.

NIER
vs.
DONKEY KONG '94

Nier has a cool soundtrack but the writing is edgelord shit, the characters are all eminently hate-able, and the character designs are atrocious. The only good thing about the game besides the soundtrack is hog drifting.

CHRONO TRIGGER
vs.
BUBBLE BOBBLE

I’m voting for Chrono Trigger because I’m basic

DRAGON’S DOGMA
vs.
UMIHARA KAWASE

Dragon’s Dogma is really cool, but Umihara Kawase is sublime

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
vs.
GUNSTAR HEROES

There are way too many sega games on this list and Gunstar Heroes has only ever been ok.

QUAKE
vs.
STREETS OF RAGE 2

Beat Em Ups are the worst genre

9 Likes
19

SUPER MARIO 64
vs.
IKARUGA

Perfection of a new genre vs perfect innovation of an old one.
I know in my heart its Mario64 but in my heart I cant vote against Ikaruga.
Its Ikaruga.
Im changing my vote after much reflection.

DARK SOULS
vs.
FINAL FANTASY VI
This is like the same question as the above.
FF6’s presentation and characters put my over the line.

PORTAL
vs.
ICO

I dont think Ico is nearly as interesting as people think it is. Portal is similarly over inflated, however my first play-though of portal was a revelatory experience.

KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING

I haven’t played enough K&L to judge.
LA is a game that helped define some of my imagination space.

SONIC ADVENTURE
vs.
SKY ODYSSEY

I have no idea, just put tales in the sky odyssey planes.

DOOM / DOOM II
vs.
OUTRUN

Both inspired my imagination. Outrun’s frictions are infectious but DOOM is a multiplayer beast and Ill always favor multiplayer. As a game Doom but as a presentation, as a thing, as a dream Outrun.

NIER
vs.
DONKEY KONG '94

DK94 is the best handheld Mario game. Its physics and systems are amazingly tight and its just just so fun to simply move around. The elements are all joyfully made and are recombined in every which way. Its the video game equivalent of a trampoline and a swimming pool on a summer day.
10/10 would recommend

NEIR is ambitions sludge but still sludge. Having the dollar-bin-at-Fredrics-of-Hollywood-nightgown anime girl on your screen make you look like a creep. Its core is super nihilistic and sad. I can feel the like alcoholic nerd breath heat in every beat. The fact that brother-sister version is the cannon version now and not papa nier is kinda sad. Anime brother-sister tropes give me the deep creeps on their own. Hey sure, It made me think but I hate every thought it gave me.
2/10 would recommend?

CHRONO TRIGGER
vs.
BUBBLE BOBBLE

Ugh jeez.
ChronoTrigger has a palpable consistent flavor that washes through my brain. Its elemental like summer grass or fall leaves. How did it get here?
Bubble Bobble is pure, its got frictions, its got GREAT multiplayer with SECRETS but exactly one music.

DRAGON’S DOGMA
vs.
UMIHARA KAWASE

Them flopp’n physics! Dragons Dogma is a game designed perfectly to make me regret the use of my time while also being incredibly interesting. I love it! Errg whyd I do that?! Im Lost! Do I just let myself die or struggle fight this monster for 30 minutes to keep my progress?!? Traveling traveling traveling.
UMIHARA KAWASE however is fun on a bun from minute one.

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
vs.
GUNSTAR HEROES

Both these are games you could play for years. GUNSTAR is just way more interesting, Mario 3 is just a better Mario 1.

QUAKE
vs.
STREETS OF RAGE 2

Quake is just old to me. Its good but eh.
I don’t really get how to read beat me ups but it looks/sounds cool.

8 Likes
20

nobody said anything about fucking

6 Likes
21

I can read between the lines

8 Likes
22

SUPER MARIO 64
vs.
IKARUGA

Wet-Dry World and Hazy Maze Cave suck but even they are pretty decent level ideas for an extremely early 3D platformer. Mario 64 is still really engaging and probably the best 3D Mario just for how secret it’s world feels. The uncanny emptiness of Peach’s castle is also a vibe never captured again by any subsequent Mario game. Ikaruga’s good but ‘old games that hold up’ like Mario 64 is a competitive criterion to the ‘innovative/experimental but flawed game’ criterion that I’ve often been using to decide these.

DARK SOULS
vs.
FINAL FANTASY VI

Maybe by the end of this tournament I’ll have started FFVI. Until then Dark Souls gets the default vote. I suspect over time I will like FFVI more but not today. Dark Souls has a lot of coherent ideas and holds together well (despite a weirdly paced second half). Probably tied with Demon’s for best soundtrack of the series.

PORTAL
vs.
ICO

Portal has better vibes and I fell off of Ico when I played it. Dealing with the shadow guys was just really annoying. I like the general aesthetic but it was the least compelling of the Team Ico games for me. Holding Yorda’s hand also feels like a mechanic borne of strange intentions and I have no desire to engage with that again. I love the sterile cruelty of Portal and it’s a really nice length for the type of game it is. Great mechanic, great reveal trailer, great voice. It has also led to actual educational initiatives as well as level-making and will generally do more good than Ico ever will. I’m not really convinced that the original Portal was meant to be laugh out loud funny. It’s just a twisted short story in my mind.

KANE & LYNCH 2: DOG DAYS
vs.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK’S AWAKENING

Kane and Lynch 2 actually helped progress my career so I feel a debt of gratitude. It’s a really interesting game in so many ways. The fact that the whole thing starts because you randomly happen to kill the wrong civilian is really neat and it has a chaotic energy that it leans into until the glass shatters to traumatise naked flabby skin. Link’s Awakening is not a Zelda I have a lot of fondness for and is not my first choice to save from the Zelda culling that is happening.

SONIC ADVENTURE
vs.
SKY ODYSSEY

I’m still reeling from the impact of my hidden memory of Sky Odyssey and Sonic has always been an extremely dated and non-functional franchise from my perspective.

DOOM / DOOM II
vs.
OUTRUN

Doom! I went to a games expo last year and had an hour where I didn’t have to work or catch a talk that was happening. A retro PC games stand was unoccupied and I figured I’d give Doom a whirl. I was enamoured and ended up playing it longer than any other new game there.

NIER
vs.
DONKEY KONG '94

I’m a big Nier stan so this is a no-brainer. I really urge people who have only played Automata to grin and bear the combat downgrade. I know a lot is made of Nier being anime melodrama but I genuinely love its story and themes. I think its probably my favourite of the ‘this situation is so fucked and games are so fucked’ subgenre. Drakengard is close but I think Nier works for longer as a more coherent thing (also sad that Drakengard isn’t here). I like how it incidentally has a lot to do with games (the bizarre genre shifts, the city of rules, the temple that presents mods in each room, the duality motif) but doesn’t feel chained by any one idea.

Nier is a game about language (as I’ve said before somewhere else on this forum) and how it cripples our ability to empathise, understand, or do anything except manipulate it for our own purposes. The magic is all word-based and its only ever used to destroy. The main conflict stems from a language barrier which, even when resolved, doesn’t change shit. Donkey Kong 94 is a bold sequel but it’s nowhere Nier.

CHRONO TRIGGER
vs.
BUBBLE BOBBLE

Chrono Trigger is technically the best JRPG. Sorry Bubble Bobble. I have no negative feelings toward you!

DRAGON’S DOGMA
vs.
UMIHARA KAWASE

I’m feeling bad for voting against so many great games. This is a tough one but I’m leaning toward Umihara Kawase for still being such a unique idea. Dragon’s Dogma is an unusually traditional flavour of RPG but I couldn’t stick with it. I find the concept of pawns to weird and unintuitive. It’s got a really nice character creator and magic feels suitably elemental. Umihara has a bouncy uncertainty to it which I think characterises any solid platformer. The skill curve is more interesting and I feel like the game would be fun times with a friend as well.

SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
vs.
GUNSTAR HEROES

I don’t think SMB3 is very fun honestly. I much prefer SMB. I find the world progression a big chore in SMB3 and I feel like the levels are never really that focused. The colour palette really feels like it’s missing a couple of colours as well. I’ve never played Gunstar Heroes but Treasure needs a rep.

QUAKE
vs.
STREETS OF RAGE 2

I’d rather Doom get through over Quake but I don’t dislike Quake. It’s colour palette (not sure why I’m so preoccupied with colour atm) has not aged well. Streets of Rage 2 holds up about as well as Quake so I feel like this one just comes down to a genre preference. Both sound great. Damn, I think this is the hard one of the bracket. I’ll come back to this.

8 Likes
23

Crap! Some all-time favs competing here. If someone put a gun to my head and said “Tell me your favourite game or its a breakfast of bullets in your brain bowl!” I’d blurt out Super Mario 64 and DOOM! And then I’d die I guess because I couldn’t name just one game. Both feel so good, 3D movement pioneers who can still hold their own. What continues to delight me in a way that only video games can, is how vital they remain, a primordial soup so fertile that we can expect to have new ROM hacks and WADs to play with (and create ourselves) for many years to come. DOOM, because id were so cool and generous with their blueprints to a brave new world, and SM64 because even though Nintendo are stingy jerks, the essence of 3D platforming, the building blocks, are so solid and simple and satisfying and Fun™-promoting. I may play devil’s advocate or whatever in other match ups but not with these two, accusations of normie canonization be damned!

5 Likes