Best of the Decade: Okami

Okami

Platforms: Playstation 2, Wii

Release Date: September 19, 2006 (PS2 version)

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Clover Studio

Despite the immense popularity of the Zelda series, there aren’t as many competitors to the franchise as you’d think there might be. Epic adventure games full of dungeons and gadget collecting do show up every once in a while, but the Zelda series is largely left to itself.

This is a shame. The Zelda games are some of the best around, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other compelling ideas that could be injected into its brand of adventure gaming. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would take the basic framework of Zelda and rethink it, making it into a fresh, modern game that takes exciting liberties that the well-established and stagnant Zelda franchise can’t afford to?

Enter Okami.

Click to read more ...

Best of the Decade: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Platform: Wii

Release Date: March 8, 2008

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo, Game Arts, Monolith Soft

Like many gamers of my generation who grew up on the NES, I have a soft spot for Nintendo. I’ve had plenty of criticisms of the company over the years, but no matter how many times they screw up, I can’t help be drawn back in by their charming titles. Nintendo seems to have a knack for delivering pure, unadulterated fun more consistently than just about any other studio.

That fun comes at a cost however, and that hasn’t ever been more evident than this latest generation of consoles. Nintendo has still managed to produce a steady string of quality games, but thanks to the success of the Wii, those games are now buried in minigame collections and cheap third party swill. Not only that, but Nintendo’s increased focus on the casual market means that the games true Nintendo fans crave are farther apart than ever before. 

But, if you’re willing to persevere and hold out for the occasional gem Nintendo throws your way amongst the Wii Sports sequels and crappy party games, they’ve still got some fantastic stuff up their sleeves. 

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a celebration of all those good things Nintendo has managed to produce over the years. For a gamer like me, there is no other game that can produce the sheer amount of nostalgia and child-hearted glee that a Smash Bros. game can. After Melee I wondered how they could possibly top themselves and do it again. With Brawl I found out. 

Click to read more ...

Best of the Decade: Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy

Platform: Wii

Release Date: November 12, 2007

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo

Everybody that buys Nintendo consoles anxiously awaits those rare days when we get to unwrap the plastic covering a precious new proper Mario game. Mario may be in half of the games Nintendo releases these days, but his proper platforming outings, the ones for which so many gamers hold him so dear, are still fairly few and far apart.

There’s a reason for this. Every last one of Mario’s games has been stellar. Some perhaps more or less than others, but more than just about any other franchise in Nintendo’s stable, Nintendo keeps each of Mario’s outings fresh and unique.

The ultimate case in point is Super Mario Galaxy. Nintendo made us wait for this one. Like Super Mario Sunshine, Wii owners were left without a new Mario game at launch. Sunshine, while a terrific game, received an unusually tepid response from the masses, for a Mario title at least. This left people wondering what would follow. Had Nintendo lost their touch? Could they revive the magic of Super Mario 64 two generations after the landmark title had come and gone?

Indeed they could. 

Click to read more ...

Best of the Decade: Wii Sports

Wii Sports

Platform: Wii

Release Date: November 19, 2006

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo EAD

As geeks go, I must admit to being a somewhat boring example of the breed. I don’t often stand in lines at midnight waiting for new games. I haven’t stayed up playing a game for 24 hours straight. I haven’t played every game in a series through in a marathon session on a whim. 

At least, it used to be that way. November 19, 2006 marked a turning point of sorts in my geekdom. It was when I decided to head out into the cold winter night and create my first geeky tale. I’ve had others since, waiting in line for Left 4 Dead 2 at midnight, standing in line for countless hours in a packed mall to buy an iPhone 4, but nothing matches the wild, impromptu journey I took that night.

Click to read more ...

Best of the Decade - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Platform: GameCube

Release Date: March 24, 2003

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo EAD

The Legend of Zelda series is often accused of being stagnant, of reusing the same tricks over and over again without embracing new ideas. Sure it’s true that most Zelda games feature a similar progression, set of weapons, and basic thematics, but if you look beyond the basics, this is a series that has actually done quite a bit to play around with the formula over the years.

Link’s Awakening brought the series to the portable realm and gave us a rather bizarre little story not at all like the Zelda norm. Majora’s Mask dared to take things in an even darker direction than Ocarina of Time. It featured a more touching storyline and played around with the accepted Zelda mechanics more than perhaps any other game in the series with its time-traveling antics. The handheld pair of Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages saw Nintendo dare to hand the development reigns partially over to an outside studio. Phantom Hourglass showed us how much fun a Zelda game could be when controlled entirely via the touch screen.

The Wind Waker deserves to stand among these series entries that dared to be different. At a time when gamers were clamoring for more Ocarina, for more of that dark, brooding world they had come to love, Nintendo created a vibrant, colorful, and cheerful world that rubbed many the wrong way when it was first announced. Despite the initial skepticism, the world gamers eventually had the opportunity to explore in The Wind Waker is one of the most enthralling and memorable in Zelda history precisely because it was unique.

Click to read more ...