Favorite Games, Part 3

[align=center]I had a moment of total idiocy while putting part 2 together. While doing some editing, I was meaning to "Save Article", but I hit "Submit Article" instead! Thusly, only 10-3 ended up listed.



I apologize. After yelling at my stupid self for a half hour, I realized the only thing I could do was finish with the final two as Part 3. But first, let's recap the list thus far...

20. Centipede (Arcade)
19. Batman (NES)
18. Road Rash (Genesis)
17. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (Genesis)
16. Donkey Kong Country (Super NES)
15. Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)
14. Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance)
13. Dr. Mario (NES)
12. X-Men 2: Clone Wars (Genesis)
11. Super Mario Bros. (NES)
10. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
9. Spider-Man (PlayStation)
8. Mega Man 3, 4, 5
7. Castlevania IV (Super NES)
6. Earthworm Jim (Genesis)
5. Super Mario World (Super NES)
4. Vectorman (Genesis)
3. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

NOW...onto the final two!

2. SONIC & KNUCKLES - Unofficially called Sonic 4 by some at the time, Sonic and Knuckles is basically Sonic 3 part two, as it concludes the Death Egg saga that began in the second game.



This new adventure for the Blue Blur boasted all new levels on the Floating Island, and the same classic fast paced style that Sonic was known for, as well as your choice of playing as either one of the game's namesake characters.




It was also revolutionary for it's Lock-on technology. When this game was released, no one knew what that phrase meant. But, when we saw that one could attach the Sonic 2 and 3 games onto this new cartridge, the possibilities seemed endless.



Knuckles could roam the Emerald Hill Zone and climb to new unknown heights in the Chemical Plant? Heck yeah. Plus plug in the Sonic 3 cart, and carry Sonic and Tails directly into the Mushroom Hill after the Launch Base?

Find the Emeralds, become Hyper Knuckles and Super Tails?



Heck, find 14 Special Stages, grab the Super Emeralds and become a stronger faster Hyper Sonic?



Then at the end of the game as Super Sonic, chasing Robotnik through space for the island's stolen emerald? Man, it just couldn't be any way past cooler.


....and finally....


1. CHRONO TRIGGER - You've probably seen this listed a hundred times on other lists. I'm no different, I freakin love this game.





Even in my pre-adolesence, I had always been interested in stories involving time travel. Be it books, movies, whatever..time travel was the stuff. In 1996 I was hanging with my cousin, doing nothing in particular, and he popped in Chrono Trigger. He had gotten pretty far in it, and knew I'd like it because of it's time travel storyline. In fact, I think he even showed me the final battle against the Lavos Core..so yeah, he had gotten quite far.

It wasn't until nearly a year later, that I finally began to play it on my own. As I made my way through the different kingdoms, timelines and quests, I continued to be bedazzled more and more by the game's winding story. And once I found out there were multiple endings? Oh gees, then the fun really began with attempts at seeing them all.



The battles were fun, and several quite difficult until I figured out that sometimes without the proper armor, I was done for. The fight against Giga Gaia, for example. I probably died 50 times before I caught on I didn't have shadow and fire armor. In fact, the whole journey in Zeal, Earthbound Village and Ocean Palace is one of my favorite parts.

The quest for the Masamune is another plot line that sticks out in my mind, the idea of traveling into different times to reforge a sword was just freakin cool.



Then, you finally got to enter Magus' lair and face the sorcerer that had been mentioned so often.







The battle against the Black Tyrano is also a favorite..



In short, the numerous plots, multiple characters, the growing use of magical attacks, and the overall adventure through time that led up to the battle with Lavos, the fate of mankind hanging in the balance....oh yes.



This is one that I have played over and over, and have yet to tire of it. I even made it a priority to get the re-released versions on PlayStation, and Nintendo DS.

So there you have it folks, my twenty favorite games of all time. I hope the list has stirred up some good memories for you, just as it has for me. Rock on.

~TheOutlaw