It’s the end of the year, and that means that for sites like us it’s list season. However, rather than count out our top ten whatevers of this year, we have decided to take a look at our favorite gaming moments of all time. Now, I have a feeling that most of the people who write things like this pick stuff like Aeris dying in FFVII, or Link becoming older in Ocarina of Time, (Although nobody puts the cross-species makeout session from Sonic ’06 on their list, and the world is a better place for it.) just like EVERY OTHER person who makes such a list, thus proving the redundancy of the list-based entertainment system. However, my picks are more personal than that. They might not be the climax of a story or anything, but they’re what I remember the most. So, let’s cut to the chase with the first item on our list of no particular order. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the nostalgia.
This game was the best back in the day, and I still remember the first time I saw this on the Super Nintendo. That’s right, this game has moving cutscenes completely made out of sprite art. Whoever was the artist for this game, I salute you. The soundtrack to the game is also fucking great, and adds to the epic intro. For a game that’s basically derivative of Zeta Gundam, Lucasarts sure put a lot of effort into it.
The game itself is also amazing. It’s some of the best 2D combat on the SNES, and a great multiplayer mode. If you haven’t played this game yet, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Another intro? Yeah, but it’s a good one. Coming off of the Super Nintendo, F-Zero X was the first game of the next console generation I saw in action. While it may have graphics that look like boiled ass in comparison to even early N64 games like Super Mario 64, the silky smooth 60 fps gameplay and the amazing soundtrack more than make up for it. If this intro doesn’t get you pumped up for some high-speed racing action, you don’t have a pulse.
I pity anyone who plays The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds before playing A Link to the Past. The whole Dark World thing is there right in the title, instead of being a reveal at the midpoint of the game. Beating the Wizard Agahnim only to discover that there is an entirely new overworld to explore was mindblowing back in the day, and the fact that the overworld enemies are much tougher to beat ramps up the challenge of the game considerably. See Also: The Inverted Castle in Symphony of the Night.
Like many fighting game players, Street Fighter II was the game I cut my teeth on, specifically the Super Turbo flavor. I went from not knowing a damn thing about even throwing Hadokens to being good enough to beat the game perfectly (I have since backslid). Seeing Akuma come in and kill Bison without a word, and then having to fight him in the most challenging match the game can provide was fucking awesome. Even though Akuma might be full of DBZ-flavored bullshit now, back then he was the murderous new hotness.
We round out the list with another N64 classic, Star Fox 64. Getting to Andross on the easy route is simple, but ends with a fight against an Andross that turns out to be robotic. The hard route seems to end on the same fight, until this happens:
That’s right. A flying brain with hentai tentacles and creepy spermlike eyes flying through some sort of weird Technodrome thing. Not a bad way to end a game, and not a bad way to end our list.
Well, that’s my picks for the top five gaming moments ever. Am I missing a few? Maybe, but these are the ones that work for me. As the calendar rolls over to another year, I look forward to more moments in gaming like these, and I look forward to the future of the site in general. We have a lot of interesting stuff planned, so stay tuned.
