We apologize for the huge lack of posts this last week, but we are ramped up and ready to go now! In comes #11 of the Greatest Video Game of All Time! If you are unfamiliar with this list, then check the following out: #25, #24,#23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, and #12. Enjoy #11!
Kai – SimCity Series – For those few of you who haven’t heard of it, SimCity is the city-building game by Maxis that started the entire “Sim” franchise. I played the original in elementary school (patiently waiting my turn as my school only had a couple Macs). It was simple but straightforward. As mayor, you zoned the city and managed police, fire, education, and tax revenue.
The next game of the series was the amazing SimCity 2000, which switched the perspective from top-down 2D to isometric and really expanded the depth of the game. It added city advisors, alien attacks, scenarios, and new city services.
Several iterations followed, culminating with SimCity 4 (released in 2003). EA and Maxis followed that with SimCity (2013) which basically killed the franchise due to bugs and a very small city size. Since then Cities: Skylines has admirably taken up the mantle and made a city-building game worth playing.
I can’t recommend any of the previous games over Cities: Skylines, but they’ve provided awesome memories and created an entire genre of nonviolent, creative games.
Po – Tales of Symphonia – I love this game. I played it as a teenager and it defined the spring season–I dedicated dozens of hours to it. The storyline of Zelos Wilder is one of my favorites in any type of media.
Andrew – Star Trek Bridge Commander – 25th Anniversary, Armada, Final Unity, Hidden Evil, the NES/SNES games…I could go on and on. The previous games (except Hidden Evil) had a nice blend of starship combat and landing party interactions, Bridge Commander lacked the landing party aspect but it made up for it with its starship combat. I would say that the quality of the combat is above Star Trek Online. You make your way from the Captain of a Galaxy class starship to a Sovereign class interacting with Jean-Luc and Data along the way. There were one or two sections where stealth was required but in general this was a raw power game. You could form different alliances (which mainly just effects how the final battle goes) based on very few dialogue options/choices (not the best system on this one). I was shocked (SHOCKED!) when no Bridge Commander 2 came out, I waited for this game like I waited for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time…sadly it never came out.
Fit – Super Smash Bros. Melee – Some may call me a traitor for picking Melee over the original, but I gotta be honest. The original game definitely got me into the game, but I was only able to play at other friend’s houses because we didn’t have an N64 at home. When we got the game cube, we played the heck out of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I always play as Link (obnoxiously) and I always have a good time. This is such a good group game, I can’t even begin to say! Single player is entertaining too as it is always fun to unlock new characters. This game is rich with memories for me and I can return to it again and again.
Hungry – Digimon World – Being a fan of the TV series and Card Game, getting this was a no brainer. This was my first game on the PS and I didn’t even have a Memory Card the night I started playing. My brother and I explored every possibility in this game, intent to digivolve our rookies into those elusive ultimates. If you thought breeding Chocobos was a challenge, you wouldn’t last a day in the digital world. It offered us endless replay value and took Tamagotchi to a whole new level. I played the second one but never finished it, which makes this entry all the more valuable to me. Classic.
That wraps up #11 for the Greatest Video Games of all Time! Next week, we break the top 10! Exciting times…and as always, stay hungry and fit!
I feel like I watched you play through all of Bridge Commander. It’s hypnotizing.