13. Vigilante8: 2nd Offense
Type: Action, Driver
Platform(s): Dreamcast, PSX, N64
The Twisted Metal franchise may have been the originators of the genre, but Vigilante8: 2nd Offense was the game that got it right. This can be easily proven by much of the gameplay and style of Twisted Metal: Black. While the latter's series was quickly becoming stagnant with its ailing gameplay and lack of innovation, 2nd Offense was a breath of fresh air to the mass destruction driving game. The developers took notice of this and with the release of Black it was clear that they drew many of their ideas from the upstart succession. Anyways, 2nd Offense was an instant classic upon its release. The gameplay was incredibly tight, boasting a wide array of different weapons, powerups, and tons of secret areas and destroyable terrain. No two games were ever the same. And it was equally as enjoyable playing by yourself or with a few of your best friends. The story mode was highly detailed and lended itself to be an integral part of the game as it was the only way to unlock the hidden characters. The only problem with the game though was that it was riddled with bugs. A lot of the fun of the game was acquiring the powerups for your cars which would take many hours to finally accomplish. However, the system would frequently crash and your hard work would prove to be for naught. 2nd Offense was definitely the greatest game ever produced in its genre and it would be a shame if we were never able to play it at its full potential.
12. X-Men The Arcade GameType: Side-Scroller, Action
Platform(s): Arcade
The title to perhaps the greatest multiplayer game of all time goes to X-Men The Arcade Game. The reason for this is obvious. You could play with 6 people at once! This may seem like no big deal now with Massively Multiplayer games dominating the scene but back before the days of the internet the arcade was the forum of choice to duke it out with a bunch of friends. You could choose to play as one of six X-Men: Cyclops, Dazzler, NightCrawler, Colossus, Storm, and the ever fought over Wolverine. Gameplay was decidedly simple as were most of the arcade games at the time. There were only three buttons. One for attack, jump, and your special maneuver that was unique to your character. This didn't mean the game was boring though. In fact, it boasted non-stop action that forced you and your friends to constantly watch each others backs as swarms of sentinels and other baddies constantly infested the screen. Half the fun was just watching all the mayhem. Sadly, the title never received a port of any type and with the waning of the arcade scene it becomes harder and harder to regale the experience. Hopefully in the future we will be blessed with a remake of the classic and perhaps with many of the other quarter munchers of the time in tow.
-RaiNny
RaiNny said...
Newbie, I'm surprised you haven't made a comment on my Vigilante8 choice yet...trashcan boom!
hk_newbie said...
"Newbie, I'm surprised you haven't made a comment on my Vigilante8 choice yet...trashcan boom!
That's cause I've been out in the freaking mountains surrounded by coyotes, bears, and moutain men.
Trashcan fucking rocked. And the game loved me, it refused to recognize any scenario where I lost; instead, it just froze up!