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. ::Nick's Top Games of 2004
It seems that every kind of publication has some kind of recap in their respective departments at this time of the year. 2004 has come and gone and if I only know one thing, it's that it was a good year for games. More importantly, it was a good year for niche titles that normally wouldn't come here. Unfortunately though, these games were overlooked. No amount of hype could stop the behemoths that are Halo 2 and GTA: San Andreas. Throwing your teeny little game into the market any time after August is certain suicide. You'd have to really keep up with the game news or work at a game store to avoid missing out on some great titles...
Well here you go kiddos. I'm here to give you MY big contender list of games you SHOULD HAVE bought in 2004. Don't feel bad if you accidentally picked up Grand Theft Auto or Need For Speed by accident. The healing will begin once you open your wallets pour out some flaky green love at your local game merchant. Do yourself a favor and try to play at least ONE of these games. I know I don't exactly have the most common taste.
First of all, I'll list the games I have yet to play since they could have made the list:
-Mega Man Zero 3
-Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
-Pikmin 2
-Growlancer Generations
-Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
-Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Alright let's get this party started with category awards!
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Best Graphics:
Dead or Alive Ultimate
runners up: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or Halo 2
::: I remember when DOA3 first came out and I claimed it looked JUST LIKE THE DREAMCAST VERSION! Well when you really play the game, newfangled technology like textures, bump mapping, and luminosity and vibrance really make a difference. DOAU looks even better running in 480p (hi def progressive scan) than the third iteration. The environments explode with lighting and particle effects and well, the walls explode when you ram your opponent into them too. The game manages to make a cast of 14 abnormally attractive look incredibly real. Hell, even Tengu looks nice. If you're looking for an amazing fighter that ALSO looks amazing...buy Soul Calibur 2 for $20. HOWEVER, if you want something that looks mighty fine and isn't as heavily reliant on counters as DOA3, pick this up as it's the best of THREE versions of the same game.
Metroid Prime 2 must be mentioned since it has some of the finest environments ever put into a game. Although maybe not as diverse as the first game, the improved textures really make a difference. Halo 2 has some very nice character models but the environments literally put me to sleep. I can't rank one over the other because of this so just accept it!
Best Sound/Music:
Tales of Symphonia
runners up: Viewtiful Joe 2 or Katamari Damacy
::: Here we have an RPG, an action game, and a genre busting rolling simulator. Tales really surprised me with the quality of it's voice acting AND musical score. What's more is that the sound effects fit well with battles and exploring. Ok so the voice acting isn't perfect. Robin (Batman's buddy) plays the lead role of the oddly named "Lloyd." He and most of the cast does a good job but they don't say their lines quite right. Something like this could be looked down upon if it weren't for the fact that this happens ALL THE TIME. Just compare Tales to anything translated by Capcom in the PSX era and you'll see why they did such a great job. As for the music, the most important part of an RPG's music is the battle tunes and it doesn't dissapoint. I never grew tired of the music and often times I was taken aback. To put things into perspective, the official soundtrack comes on FOUR discs.
Viewtiful Joe 2 keeps its tradition of being an homage to the likes of Mega Man and Devil May Cry in every way. The music and sound effects keep the high speed action going and at the end of every stage you are literally smacked in the face with scores that may be TOO intense but always sound satisfying. Katamari Damacy is quirky crazy and I love it. I don't know a single person that doesn't like this game. Mixing Jpop and undefinable tunes with beat boxing intergalactic Kings just seems like the perfect mix. It's the best stuff since Mario a cappella.
Best Story:
Tales of Symphonia
but the best dialogue: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
::: Didn't we just talk about this one? I won't go into too much detail of why I feel Tales takes the crown for best story this year. At first it feels just like your average "kids save the world" tale, but before the halfway point you get your first surprise. Nowadays it's a little tough to surprise people in RPG's but I will say Tales does better than most. At times things were a little confusing, but I always like when the enemy is someone that thinks they are doing the right thing. It's more of a battle of ideals than good and evil. Refreshing.
Paper Mario's story was basic, as it should be. It's Mario! However the dialogue is top notch. Nintendo spent a lot of time localizing this game and almost every character likable in some way. Bowser is a goofball yet somehow intimidating. Mario is the typical silent hero, but his brother isn't. With so much text to read in PM2, it's a good thing all of it is so interesting and often hillarious.
Best Constant Action:
R-Type Final
runner up: Gradius V
::: Here's a category exclusive to my awards. There once was a time that action was the main genre and hell, even a football game just felt like another form of action. Nowadays people don't even know what the word means! Some geniuses can't discern their action from adventure. Well because of this, I had to make 2 action categories. Just think of this one as "old-school."
R-Type Final maybe not be as fast and intense as Gradius V, but it's force ball gameplay and replay value more than make up for it. R-Type has always been my favorite shooter series and Final manages to keep that tradition going with its addictive gameplay. I won't go into the extras (yet) but I will say that environments, 3d but not quite 3d movement, and some intense force ball swapping make this one a gem for any shooter fan.
Gradius V happens to be the greatest Gradius experience in that it holds your hand a little, but squeezes REALLY hard! It takes a few pages from Life Force (which is pretty much just Gradius) and lets you keep your options (multiples) after you die. What's more is that you don't start the stage over again once you die. Even R-Type makes you restart! The thing is...Gradius is a lot harder. Your ship's hit detection may be the size of a 4 pixel square, but goddamn is there a lot on screen! One of the later bosses has the entire screen filled with asteroids that you have to destroy just to move around, then his attack shoots out dozens of bullets in every direction, so you have to decide which asteroids to keep as your form of defense. Four kinds of option types also mix up the gameplay and since the game is co-developed by Treasure, the action is insanely intense. Hmm, I wrote more about Gradius even though it's a runner up? Why is that?
Best Regular Action:
Viewtiful Joe 2
runner up: Astro Boy: Omega Factor even though it's also pretty constant
::: Joe remains the only modernized 2d side-scroller/platformer to kick ass all over the place. Add in Silvia's RECORD gameplay and guns and you've got enough change to keep things fresh. You strike with such sexy ferocity that you can't help but enjoy it. The boss battles are much better than most games and the gobs of Devil May Cry references are really appropriate given the games' similarities. If you like to fight in style and don't mind a challenge, then you're all set here. Gameplay is very similar to the first game, but the old montra of not fixing what's not broken works well here. I just wish there were more regular levels and less boss parades.
Astro Boy is made by Treasure.
Oh wait, there's more to say? Well it's like VJ2 in that it takes old school, adds some paint, and explodes in your face with addictive...uhh..man I'm such a tool box. I had no interest in the anime but the game was supposedly awesome so I bought it right away. The control is spot on, it feels a lot like gunstar heroes, and the gameplay variety makes me wish more games could do it so right.
Best Adventure:
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
runner up: Ninja Gaiden
::: Me likem sequels. This is the sequel to the greatest gamecube game ever made. Is it better? I haven't decided yet but it sure is pretty. Exploring is fun, but don't fight everyone you see. I mean some of the standard enemies are more dangerous than bosses! Then again, once you get the super bomb, everything is cake. Well not that last boss...SOMETIMES I JUST LIKE TO...
Ninja Gaiden is a great game. I really wish it could get top honors here but the adventuring aspect of it just isn't up to Metroid. Graphics are amazing, but not quite the best. Combat is more refined than any other adventure game thanks to the DOA influence. So many moves and a nice length to boot. Oh it's challenging too.
Best in House Multiplayer:
Mario Power Tennis
runner up: Halo 2 (only with warthogs)
::: You know something is good when 6 people sit up and yell over a rendered tennis racket hitting a ball. Mario Tennis is both very easy to get into and a deep tennis game for those that put time into it. With numerous modes of play as well as a couple decent minigames that could make up an amazing edition of Mario Party, MPT delivers the most with 4 people. Team play means you can always blame your failure on someone else. Just don't play with someone too serious. Graphically the game looks...well, outstanding. From particle effects to smooth character models, production values are quite high. However, like any tennis game, it can get repetitive after a while and should only be reserved for 4 player matches. Keep it around for non-gamers.
You're damn right I put Halo 2 behind Mario Power Tennis. I probably could put in the time and effort to get great at Halo 2 and kick lots of ass...but it's just not fun enough. Now if you put me in a warthog with the occasional gunner, it gets interesting. I love driving around crushing people and listening to teammates complain that I should "do something." Well when it's time to capture the flag, who's always (sometimes) there to escort you home? That's right bitch.
Best Online Experience:
Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Revolution
I guess it's also fun to: escort the other team around in your warthog in Halo 2
::: This could also be called "best game no one played." It's a standard category really. The main game itself is pretty fun, but online play MADE this game. Unfortunately there isn't much of an online audience on the cube so there weren't a ton of people playing this for long. The online functionality is some of the best I've seen in an online game. Nothing beats the lobbies of PSO games and ep. III takes it even further. It may sound stupid but a jukebox and the ability to move/dance increases the joy of a game immensely. Before playing a match, you can talk, dance, strategize, hover around, and poke little people and run away. One time I hit on the AI desk attendant. She was digging it.
Oh yeah, PSO EP.III provides scheduled tournaments 24/7 so you always have an opportunity to raise your rank. That is, unless no one is around which was sorta the case in most lobbies. Regardless, the small community means your rank is significant enough to show how good you are AND you probably know most of your closest competitors.
Again with Halo 2. I like warthogs. There are too many serious people playing Halo 2. Correction, there are too many weiner kids playing Halo 2. I guess I could have made the category "most fun to harass online" but that's excessive. I once picked up a guy from the other team as my passenger and he said "damnit I can't kill you!" so I just kept driving around and kindly brought him to his base where they all bum rushed and killed me.
Best Fighter:
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
runner up: Street Fighter Anniversary Collection or Dead or Alive Ultimate
::: It doesn't seem too fair to give this award to a game that's merely a revamp of an older PS2 game. Then again, that's about all that came out this year! DOAU is a remake of DOA2 and it looks really pretty, but it's not as deep and balanced as GGX2. Street Fighter AC combines the best parts of Street Fighter 2, but SF3 is where the real action is. SVC Chaos came out on the Neo Geo years ago and it's more unbalanced and chock full of jittery animation than ever. SNK also put King of Fighters into 3d but I didn't bother trying that one (sorry). What's left? Mortal Kombat? That sucked. Get with the times people. You only loved MK2 because you weren't supposed to see that much blood and fatalities were "rewarding." Well Guilty Gear is the finest 2d fighter on the market so maybe you should cough up $20 bucks for that instead. Balanced characters, superb 2d animation, a great soundtrack, tons of game modes, and oh yeah the gameplay is incredibly deep. You manage a tension meter with flawless defense (no chip damage), overdrive special moves, roman cancels (that I havent really tried yet), and some extra time for those instant kills. The game is fast and deep, just how I like it.
Best Car Racing Game Ever:
Burnout 3: Takedown
everyone else was riced up but couldn't even come close
::: Why do people play racing games? Do they like to simulate the exact feeling of driving every single car in existence? Well you have Gran Turismo 4 for that. Do they like to customize the hell out of a Neon until it looks slightly less ugly but a lot lower? Well you have Need for Speed Underground for that. But I remember a time when people played racing games because they liked the sense of speed and the thrill of surpassing opponents. Burnout 3 is the fastest racing game (with cars) you can find. It's not just the best racing game this year, it's the best car racing game ever made. Others may offer nice gimmics but Burnout 3 has the most enjoyable experience around. Slam into opponents and you are REWARDED! Yes finally! I used to do it all the time to turn easily in San Francisco Rush. Now you get boost for beating the crap out of your opponents. The blurring effect (that NFS stole from the Burnout series) makes things fly by realistically and it's a blast. It's not quite as fast as F-Zero GX, but that game is supposed to be thousands of miles per hour! If you like racing games and causing tons of destruction, you can't go wrong with B3.
Best Platformer:
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
runners up: Sly 2: Band of Thieves or Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
::: Oooh this was a tough one. R&C2 was one of my favorite PS2 games and its 3rd iteration keeps the quality going with better graphics, no more annoying shooting levels, and apparently an online mode that I haven't tried yet. The level design doesn't seem quite as "platformy" as the last 2, but the weapons and action are the best yet. Even better is the leveling up system is more complicated than last year. It's got replay value with its hidden challenges and a rewarding hard mode. There's even some old school platforming thrown in with Captain Quark, maybe to make up for more emphasis on 3rd person shooting this time? Anyways, it's a great action/platformer combination for those that long for a 3rd person Metroid (sorta).
Sly 2 was also a great sequel. It changed things around a good deal in order to eliminate some annoyances like easy deaths and...well I actually thought the original formula was fine compared to most publications. I'm not a fan of multiple playable characters as Donkey Kong 64 left a bad taste in my mouth. Luckily it still manages to be fun and you spend most of the time sneaking around with Sly anyway.
This year's Kirby game is the best Kirby game since Kirby Superstar. Sure there haven't been a ton since then. Kirby's Dreamland 3 was too slow and boring for me and Kirby 64 had a nice power combination system but level design was just as lacking as it was in Kirby 3. Luckily the Amazing Mirror returns to a time when Kirby wore hats and Meta Knight existed. The entire world is connected and level design makes plowing through levels just as fun as ever. Powers are also back in full force with nice additions like cupid (arrows) and smash (5 or so moves from Smash bros Melee). There's a bunch of goodies to unlock too.
Best RPG:
Tales of Symphonia
very close second: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
::: Ok, so you know the music, sound, and story are great. But do you know why it's the best RPG of 2004? Well for one thing, the Gamecube somehow had the best RPG's of the year. No one expected the cube's 3 rpgs (this, Baten Kaitos, and Paper Mario) would make up the majority of great rpgs. I really considered Paper Mario for this award, but the length, story, pressence of actual voices, and great battle system contribute to the winning Tales formula. Tales of Symphonia introduces a cast of characters that you can't help but like...even that weiner Genis. The dungeons surprised me in that they didn't suck and didn't have annoying random encounters. The battle progression is probably the best at letting you level as you go to the next location and never becoming too annoyingly repetitive. Once you're powerful enough, you can just wail on enemies with Lloyd's newly aquired techniques and assign someone to heal whenever needed. Battles are in real time so you aren't constantly assigning attacks to characters. You can assign 2 character moves to the c-stick which will probably be 2 healing spells if you're smart.
Paper Mario also has a combat system that is even better than Tales in a way. You use actions during standard turn based combat. Correct timing means more damage or more defense. Special moves require you to do something like tap A rapidly or draw circles around the enemies. The dialogue, as I said earlier, is fantastic and never boring. There are some nice tunes too. The dungeons as well as the drama in Tales really makes it more of a complete RPG though. Regardless, both games are must plays for the cube.
Most Innovative:
Phantom Brave
runner up: Katamari Damacy
::: It's the most strategically complicated game I have ever played and I don't even have to manage items! Well sorta...In Phantom Brave, your party's placement depends on which object on the field you assign them to. What's more is that each character can bring ONE item onto the field and that item can also have a phantom "confined" to it. Battle is pretty much over once you run out of phantoms and not if your initial party is dead. Technically everyone is already dead from the start anyway...I personally haven't even gotten into the meat of the game but the sheer weight of all that you can do makes me put this as the most innovative game of the year. Your movement is based on a measurement of decimeters, not panels. Therefore you can go wherever you want, if you can make it. You can lift friends, enemies, and objects and throw them for more strategic placement. Character creation, item fusing, stat boosting/lowering titles, random dungeons, interesting concept, customizable overworld and killable parties for no good reason, and man there's just...so much more I can't adequately describe to you. Play this if you dare.
Katamari seemed like a shoe in for most innovative game of the year but I had to hand it to the game that did the most. Katamari Damacy has a unique style all its own and it only uses the 2 analog sticks! You roll up your environment until it's big enough to create a star! That's it! The gameplay is simple but also contains some strategy concerning where you should go and when is the best time to go there. What should you pick up first? Watch out for that damned tiny bear or you're screwed! This one is $20 so buy it fool!
Biggest Dissapointment, I hate you Peter:
Fable
next big screw up: Sonic Heroes
::: Mmm, now for my favorite part, the negative award. I bought an Xbox for a few specific games. One of them was Fable. I was hoping my guy would age as I played. I wanted his decisions to count. I wanted a much better story and oh god more than 5 useful weapons! What I thought would be a deep RPG turned out to be an average adventure game with RPG elements. What kind of bullshit is having CLOTHING that makes you evil? Heavens no, that man has a goatee, he must be 20% more evil than the average man! It seems like the guys at Lion Head Studios are all old women walking by Hot Topic, kissing their rosary beads. Oh but that's not why I was really dissapointed with Fable. The story sucked. It sucked so much that I actually told someone the ending without thinking of the consequences of my actions. The graphics are really nice but that's about all I'm saying. I beat Fable in 12 hours AND I did a good deal of extra stuff during that time. Fable is the only game this generation that I have returned, and I own freaking NHL Hitz for god's sake!
Lots of categories there for you. How about the best exclusive games for each system? Well, unfortunately there aren't any of those OH WAIT HERE THEY ARE!
Gamecube:
1. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
::: You'd think that with all the praise I gave Tales of Symphonia, that it would be Gamecube game of the year right? Well it's not my fault that Prime's atmosphere and unique brand of first person adventuring is so enjoyable. The graphics are some of the best seen on a Gamecube, if not THE best. The music isn't stellar but it is perfect for the solitary exploration feeling you're supposed to have. The story is basic but the drive in Metroid games has always been in finding the next item so that doesn't really matter. Traversing between a light and dark world added a nice challenge and lengthened the game a little, but for a game like this, I prefer more varied environments like in the original game. Boss battles are once again really well done and fun. There is a heavier emphasis on the morph ball and it's even required to defeat some bosses which threw me off almost every time. If I was to fault Prime 2 for anything, it would be the item selection. Don't get me wrong, I thought the ammo system for light/dark beams was a nice challenge, but I missed solving puzzles with the wave beam or melting ice with the plasma beam. It's a minor gripe and only a preference on my part. Level design is fantastic and platforming is rarely a chore. If you liked Metroid Prime, then you should really play the sequel. You really don't have to play them both as the story isn't too significant, but I'd recommend it since they're both so damn good.
As a side note, I'd like to mention that the title of the game makes perfect sense if you realize that Dark Samus is actually Metroid Prime infused with Samus' phazon suit from the original game. NO ONE has mentioned this at all and I'm beginning to think even Retro Studios didn't realize this.
2. Tales of Symphonia
3. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
4. Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Revolution
5. Viewtiful Joe 2
Playstation 2:
1. R-Type Final
::: Was R-Type Final the reason why I bought a PS2 in November '03? No, but it was a damn big part! The "force-ball" element of R-Type sets itself apart from all other shooters (shmups) in that it adds a tremendous amount of strategy to the mix. Move the ball behind you to fire at bullets behind you while you shoot your charged beam at the boss in front of you while dodging beams from the sides. You have to keep your eye on more than just your enemies.
R-Type Final is supposedly the FINAL iteration in the series, but at least it's a great send off with lots of fan service. You can unlock 101 ships that all function differently. This provides a lot of incentive to perfect every level on every difficulty. I just wish the levels were a little better in design. Compared to older R-Types, Final seems to rely less on dodging the environment and more on enemy placement. Most shooters do this so it's not a big deal. However, the slowdown, be it intentional or not can be annoying when you're trying to clock more time on different ships to unlock other ones. I understand that a lot is going on sometimes but I'd like it to happen less often. Despite this, I have to say R-Type Final is the most rewarding package of a game on PS2 this year. In time I may find myself changing my mind, but 2004 is gone so it's time to decide! Oh you may be thinking, "where's Grand Theft Auto or Metal Gear Solid?" Perhaps you didn't read the introduction to this little article. I'll probably play MGS3 eventually, but GTA can keep its over-violenced, overplayed carjacking, and poor glitchy programming to itself.
2. Gradius V
3. Phantom Brave
4. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
5. Sly 2: Band of Thieves
Xbox:
1. Ninja Gaiden
::: This is the first Xbox game I ever owned! Yes you should assume that the game I bought an Xbox for (well also Fable...goddamnit) would be game of the year. It's adventuring may come 2nd to Metroid Prime 2, but it's still incredibly polished. Graphics, sound, level design, gameplay; it does everything right. It's a damn hard game compared to most of the stuff that comes out these days, but it's not too challenging if you do things the right way. As you progress through the game, you get new weapons and can upgrade your old ones. Through this you gain more attacks and more flexibility in combat. It even has some Zelda injected into it with arrow based puzzles and dungeon-like areas. Some of the boss battles are incredibly difficult but rarely cheap (damn you Alma!). This is one of those faithful 2d to 3d transitions that goes above and beyond expectations. I'd say it's like Devil May Cry meets Zelda: OoT, with ninjas. That should be reason enough to play this game. Screw Halo 2.
2. Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (exclusive in America!)
3. Halo 2
4. Dead or Alive Ultimate
5. Metal Slug 3
Game Boy Advance:
1. Astro Boy: Omega Factor
::: How is it that the best selling system in the world has the least amount of stellar titles? I blame the kids. Also I blame the incredible success of pokemon. Anyways, Astro Boy is awesome. The PS2 game sucked but TREASURE DIDN'T MAKE THAT ONE! 2004 was blessed with not one but TWO awesome action games by Treasure. I played Gunstar Heroes on an emulator once and it was fast and furious (but not 2 fast or 2 furious). Astro Boy plays very similarly except you now have more flexibility in your movement. You can dash across the screen, pull off special moves, punch and kick, and sometimes even play a shooter type level. The gameplay variety, replay of replaying all the levels, surprisingly good graphics, and RPGish leveling up make this incredibly addictive and you'll probably go back for a quick romp every now and then even after doing everything. Owning a GBA and not Astro Boy is like owning a car without gas.
2. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
3. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
What? You want me to talk about THE game of the year now? Sheesh that's not fair. You know it took a lot of time and effort just to get this far. Awe what the hell:
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
There, you happy? What more can I say? It was an incredibly tough decision as 2004 was a great year for games. If I had it my way, everyone would buy everything I told them to and companies would keep making more of those games. INSTEAD we get GTA clones and The Guy Game. The game industry is like real life in that sometimes you can't take it anymore and you get to the point where you just wish Rockstar was dead.
Here's the tally of games you should go out and buy right now (unless you disagree with me which would make you really odd for reading this whole thing).
Game Boy Advance:
-Astro Boy: Omega Factor
-Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong
-*Mega Man Zero 3
Gamecube:
-*Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
-Mario Power Tennis
-Mega Man Anniversary Collection
-Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
-Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
-Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
-Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Revolution
-*Pikmin 2
-Sonic Heroes
-Tales of Symphonia
-Viewtiful Joe 2
Playstation 2
-Gradius V
-*Growlanser Generations
-Katamari Damacy
-Phantom Brave
-R-Type Final
-Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
-Sly 2: Band of Thieves
-*Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
-Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
Xbox
-Burnout 3: Takedown
-Dead or Alive Ultimate
-Fable
-Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
-Halo 2
-Metal Slug 3
-Ninja Gaiden
-*Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Nintendo DS
-Super Mario 64 DS
*games I'll play eventually
::: Nick Savino :::
