The Magazine thing is (like the hostessses) because it is tie-ins with real magazines that’s just lost on the non-J.
But if you don’t like the walking around or all the minigames or the crime story or the multi-layered voice performances or choosing different drinks from a menu or punching a bunch of dudes then I guess the game isn’t for you.
Anyways I’m not voting for Snake Eater becaus I’ve given myself multiple chances to start it again and each time I go “eh no.”
Dragon Quest III
vs.
Mother 3
There are many things that connect these two games. I don’t think Shigesato Itoi, who immediately rushed out to buy DQ II after completing the first, would’ve made games if it weren’t for Dragon Quest. Yuji Horii finished his second sequel one year after the previous game. Itoi finished his in 12 years. Horii was 34 when Dragon Quest III was released. Itoi was 58 when Mother III was released. Dragon Quest III looks to the future of JRPG design. Mother III has seen it all.
I have only played up to the tower at the beginning of Dragon Quest III. I downloaded it and the other NES DQ’s after beating the first one on my dad’s computer. I was stuck in central Florida for a summer and only had a Wii besides. I had already run myself ragged in Dragon Quest II by the time I tried the third game. After nibbling on its delicious opening, I told myself, “this is something I will save for later.” That was some time 15 years ago. I think it’s time for me to take it out of the freezer and dig in, just as I did with a three month old birthday cake 15 years ago.
I played through Mother 3 in VisualBoyAdvance when I was in college. I anticipated its fan translation by listening to its incredible soundtrack. When I finally got to play it, I was disappointed that the latency in the emulator would not allow me to fully engage with its rhythmic battle system. I am saving a more ideal play through of Mother 3 for later. Later might also be this year. I have had so many experiences since I last played it that I don’t even know what my response to it would be at this point.
oh yeah, when was voting for this supposed to begin?
There’s some tough ones on here!
Dragon Warrior III vs Mother 3
So on the NES, DWIII and IV felt like they landed near back to back, and as a result I never finished 3 but played 4 to nearly the end until I got stuck. I don’t think I even made it through that conveyor belt puzzle pyramid in 3 that was all over the Nintendo Power tip pages, whereas I was in the final dungeon in 4. Three’s more open ended D&Dish class system was initially more appealing for me, but compared to the more narrative focused fixed characters of 2 or 4, I was convinced I shot myself in the foot as a kid by picking classes that were cool rather than useful. What I’m getting at is DW3 isn’t my favorite of the series on the NES—I’d go with 1 or 4 if it were up to me.
Likewise, Mother 3 is probably amazing. I bought a flash cart for it as soon as that patch hit. But for whatever reason have still only played that first section.
Ugh, I guess, I’m going with Dragon Warrior just on the strength and significance of the four NES games, even though SB once again picked the wrong one.
Warioware Vs EDF
I love EDF so so much, but Warioware is such a wonderfully done video game about video games that I feel it deserves the nod so much more.
Snake Eater vs Elevator Action Returns
I’ve said it every time this comes up, but I feel like harping on how great Returns is comes off as some kind of slight against the original game. Let’s go with Snake Eater even though that’s shamefully the Metal Gear I’ve spent the least amount of time with (aside from stuff like Peace Walker that no one even remembers exists).
Silent Hill Vs Yakuza 0
This is the instance where SB picked the right entry in the series. The original Silent Hill was a revelation back when it hit. And I feel it’s overall impact eclipses all the narrative stuff that 2 usually gets celebrated for. There’s a ton of Yakuza games and people seem to dig them, but is 0 even the favorite?
Spelunkey Vs the GC REmake
Speaking of impact, again ya’ll goofed by pushing the first first Resident Evil remake over the original. RE1 is campy voice acting and bright PS1 polygons.
On the other hand Spelunky is the game I mix up with La Mulana. This has been going on for years. I tried to watch a video of Spelunky to figure out what’s up but it turned out to be a Japanese language ASSMAR thing with a guy making fart noises. I’d rather just play NES Temple of Doom while listening to Adult Themes for Voice, thank you.
I guess I’m sitting this one out. Don’t tell P “Vote or Die” Diddy
The Greatest Genesis Game ever Vs some boring old computer game
Come on
Bubble Bobble Vs Rez
Ohhh this one hurts! These are two all time favorites, and there was a period of my life where I was playing a ton of both and nothing else thanks to those PS2 reissues. As much as I love Bubble Bobble and want to support the most New Zealand Story adjacent game on this list for tradition’s sake, after much deliberation I need to go with Rez. If this were Rainbow Islands Vs Rez it might be a different story.
Outrun Vs Donkey Kong 94
The best Outrun takes it over the dirty bait and switch puzzle game.
See this ain’t somethin’ new
That’s just gonna come out of nowhere, no!
This is somethin’ old! And dirty!
dunno, but i do feel like even if one of the other numbers is overall better, 0 was probably the one yakuza game you should play if you are only going to do one, since it’s a good starting point that doesn’t rely on already existing familiarity with the setting. 1/kiwami could also apply but 0 is a hell of a lot better.
yakuza lad has come out since these polls started tho and maybe that’s the new best starting point?
It’s hard to contend against this!
Is the best starting point the best one though?
The sounds are great but the feeling is off!
don’t know, feel like this is a case of might as well be, cause i’d feel bad sending someone down the path of playing every yakuza game
silent hill >>>>>>>>>>> what is it even up against? doesn’t matter. silent hill wins
- K. Gordon is a reference to Sonic Youth bass guitarist Kim Gordon. This is confirmed by the reference to three more teachers who bear the names of “T. Moore”, “L. Ranaldo”, and “S. Shelley”. These are also the names of Kim’s fellow bandmates: Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, and Steve Shelley, respectively.
Memorialized in the FKW version of my usual NBA Jam Kim Gordon avatar over on the locked down SB1 forums
I seem to usually be on the losing side of these things
Dragon Quest III: I prefer dq 5-7 but I want to repost what meauxdal said about mother 3 because it’s true
EDF: This was hard bc I love 2 & 3 but not any of the later ones. the bugs need to bounce around like popcorn when they die and people shouldn’t get gored/dragged around the pavement and scream in pain, that’s just a bummer.
Elevator Action Returns: is one of the greatest games ever. It is a glimpse into a mythical future of extremely laid back, luxurious action shooting games where you’re mostly in it for the ride, to experience different audiovisual moods/vibes, to enjoy the feeling of the movement and the guns, and–most importantly–very light on actual objectives or challenges. I would put panzer dragoon zwei (one of my nominees) in this category too.
I didn’t vote for Rez but I just wanted to say, because of these brackets we’ve been doing and everybody’s enthusiasm I finally tried Rez and Crazy Taxi, two games I had no prior interest in whatsoever. They are pretty good! I had fun.
DK '94: I never had the patience to get very far in DK, but while I like having Outrun on this list (acknowledging that it is still better than 99.99% of videogames) Outrun 2 should have a pretty big lead over 1 in the end if we’re trying to be realistic here.
Years ago, my wife was the manager the RAs reported to in a dorm, where we had to live for the time she had this job, part of her grad school. And it was in this time that I realized that the kids she had to deal with were kinda the outliers of the college experience, who I dubbed “the suck-ups and the fuck-ups”, and pretty soon I was able to be honest about finding the fuck-ups way more enddearing, and being one myself. So that is what this round’s voting is based on.
DQ3 v Mother 3
I have finished neither of these games. I can say that about a lot of games. I can say that about a lot of my life. I started life as a suck-up, but given how it has gone, I am probably gonna end it as a fuck-up, and that is just fine by me. Closure is a myth, but even more of one when you have a problem finishing what you start. DQ3 lets me fuck up more, so.
WarioWare v EDF
WarioWare is about constant tiny fuck-ups, but never feels too bad to recover from. Sandlot has made a lot of game memories for me, mostly involving my continual inability to plan ahead, and my continual ability to work my way out of the resulting fuck-ups. Maybe one of my favorite features in games is their ability when tuned just right to cause me to panic at any plan I had falling apart but then allowing me to somehow come back. EDF does this all the damn time; sometimes the comeback is a long slow grind to snipe off each kill, sometimes it is a panicked flight from a wave of bugs that seems to keep growing until it doesn’t. It doesn’t always work, and it shouldn’t. If it did, it would feel hollow when it happened. But it still feels great when it happens. EDF! EDF! E D F!
Elevator Action Returns v MGS3
Ugh, this is a rough one for me. EAR is so solid and tight, and full of delicious art and 90s action movie anime attitude, but MGS3 works so well in the same way EDF does, a game that I constantly fuck up and have to develop coping mechanisms to handle my continual fuck-ups. This feels like an echo of my life, right down to having to slog through the ghosts of every fuck-up later on. EAR is the life I wish I could lead dressed as the life I wish I could lead; MGS games are the life I lead dressed up as a different life I never could lead. So MGS3.
Silent Hill v Yakuza 0
Silent Hill is the more artistic game here, no doubt. But the Yakuza series is a part of my life. So many different moments in my life have been spent with Kazuma Kiryu and his variety of dadly fuck ups. That is one of the things people seem to miss in these games, which is understandable given the way he punches his way out of them, but Kiryu is pretty constantly fucking up and then having to Kiryu his way out of shit. It’s a power fantasy, sure, the use of fists to solve problems, but it’s a wonderful one, and as the series has gone on, Kiryu’s fists have become instruments of friendship as well as ass-beating. So while I don’t get to be the one fucking up like I do in EDF and MGS3, I am still getting to work out of a fuck-ups.
Deus Ex v. Gunstar Heroes
Soemtimes you aren’t the reason you are a fuck-up. Both these games kinda have moments that make me remember that. Deus Ex being all about a giant conspiracy and such just sets the whole system up to reinforce that idea, that there are powers far beyond you that can fuck you up and you can’t do too much about it (until maybe you can but whatever). Gunstar doesn’t seem like it is that until you get to the Dice Maze, and there you learn that the powers causing you to fuck-up aren’t a grand conspiracy, just an RNG that doesn’t give a shit about you. Yes, it’s probably an illusion of RNG, but it still feels deisgned to fuck you up. So Gunstar Heroes, because I don’t think there is a grand conspiracy to fuck my life up on a personal scale (there always is capitalism, but that fucks most of us up), just a lot of RNG.
Bubble Bobble v Rez
I think I am voting suck-up here. Rez is a suck-up of a videogame, simultaneously a little weird and begging you to love it. It works for me. Bubble Bobble has the ultimate “you fucked up” moment, by letting you get alomst to the end before telling you that you should have a friend. It’s great.
DK '94 v Outrun
I don’t know a thing about DK '94, so whatever. But Outrun? That is a game about being a total fuck-up, but not looking like it. Your dude has the girl, and the Ferrari, and all they want to do is drive. But look at that title. What is he outrunning? What has he done that he needs to get away from? Is it his impending mortality? Is it just getting fired from that job that he got the Ferrari because of? Did his girl get close to discovering his dark secret past, and so he had to distract her away from it all? Is some branch of organized crime coming after him? Who knows? But I know sometimes when I have fucked up too much, driving a car fast away from it feels like maybe doing something. Fuck-ups gotta outrun some shit.
I wouldn’t mind running it for a bit if no-one else steps forward.
OUTRUN is life!
