The Video Game Critic

So I had this idea which I thought might be kind of fun.  If no one likes it then no harm done apart me looking like a bit of an idiot.  I thought it would be nice to have a topic which collated game recommendations from all the users on here.  I just thought it would make a really interesting read.  To stop it from simply becoming a rather boring list I figured some self enforced rules would improve it:

1.  One game posted per person once per week.  This way everyone gets a chance to post equally and the lower volume of games means that people will read each one.

2.  No reposting a game that someone has already done (excusing problems caused by the delay of making a post and it appearing on here).  It's already been recommended so it would seem silly to have repeats.

3.  No comments on other people's choices.  Of late this board has become something of a fighting arena regarding the next gen consoles.  This is something I have been guilty off and this thread will hopefully be about celebrating games, so it would be great if conversation about picks was kept to separate topics.

4.  The game doesn't have to be a 10/10 game.  Just something you enjoyed that you thought was cool and which you think more people should try out.

I think these guidelines would help keep this thread an interesting read but if people don't agree then hopefully it won't be too long before this thread falls of the front page.

My first pick:

Sheep, Dog and Wolf [UK title], Sheep Raider [US title] - PlayStation.

06 Feb 2006

While the 16bit generation saw host to a wealth of excellent cartoon licensed videogames... since then... not so much.  We usually end up with a watered down platformer aimed at the less demanding child demographic.  That makes this game such a hidden gem.  You play Wile E. Coyote's cousin trying to steal a number of sheep from under the nose of the guard dog character (I am not familiar with his name).  It blends a mixture of light platforming action with stealth and puzzle gameplay elements, all wrapped up in a very funny ACME bow. 

Each level plays pretty differently to the others thanks to clever use of a wide variety of different gadgets and little cameos from other Looney Tunes characters.  The visual style of the game really pushes the PlayStation with clear cut, crisp definitions and bright, vibrant gourard shading over pretty much everything.  All models have tons of character to them and the whole game does a near perfect job of representing the feel of the Looney Tunes universe in a game.

Coming from someone who is really not a fan of stealth games, while in places this game can be a bit hard working out how to get around the obstacles ahead of you the mixture of the great visuals, entertaining death scenes when you lose and the varied gameplay mean that it never really feels frustrating.  The puzzles you face and the way the gadgets are used is very cleverly implemented.  Overall a great game that is hard to categorise and offers a unique experience.

I like the topic bluemonkey, and keeping out the system wars is icing on the cake.

Here's my game: Spot (NES)

As you can see from the picture, this is not the same type of game as Cool Spot (Genesis). No, Spot is simply one of the best 2 player (possibly 4 player, I don't have the attachment to check) NES games around.

In the picture you see 2 different color chips. The objective is to have the most blank squares filled by the end of the game. If you move to an adjacent square you get that square filled, and keep the square you are on. You can also hop one square in any direction, but if you do this your chip simply moves, and you don't increase the number of spaces you fill.

The fun starts once the chips get closer to one another. Whenever you move your chip next to someone else's chips you steal their spaces. If you squeeze your chip into a spot next to 5 of theirs they lose 5 chips and you gain 5. If you play the game with 2 computers (you can have 4 colored chips) and a friend it gets pretty intense. Choosing between taking the computers chips, or your friends is rough, because on the one hand the computer has less chance of winning, but on the other you know your friend will get revenge if you take his chips.

You can tell from the picture that Spot has simple graphics. It also has very simple music, mainly just beeps and familiar tunes playing when you touch or move chips. But the game is a blast and one of the best NES games around, so don't let that stop you from picking it up.

Great thread idea. I'm game:

Faxanadu: NES.

I would easily give this game an A, and unlike some old school games, it is as fun to play today as it was yesterday. It's an action adventure RPG, somewhat similar to "The Adventure of Link" (except no overhead view at all).

With a cool story and some of the best NES music ever, this is a must have for NES fans, and here's hoping that Nintendo puts this on the Virtual Console someday.

OGRE BATTLE 64

This game was a real surprise. I bought this rare title as a Nintendo 64 owner looking for a hidden gem and I hit triple 7's with this one. Ogre Battle 64 is a quasi-RPG with an exhaustive but intriguing story that focuses on turn based combat and military strategy. This game is very similar to the excellent Final Fantasy: Tactics, but I probably prefer this one due to the fact that OB64 is easier… not to say that this game is a walk in the park, but OB is more rewarding that headache inducing. With Final Fantasy Tactics, I would scratch my head a lot and look at the floor for several seconds, only to burst out loud with, "I don't know what I can do better!" This game was fun because I got to see the fruits of my labor at a more satisfactory rate of speed. This game is very similar to Tactics, with a few tweaks here and there that affect gameplay differently. For one, you do not control your unit when a battle starts. You can assign some pre match strategies and during the battle you can retreat, change strategies, or use this game's version of the atom bomb: One of four possible spiritual attacks. But this game's most important strategy comes in the form of maneuvering your units around a large map. As you take over the area, surprises can happen, forcing you to make split second decisions with your units. Some units will become stronger and more dependable, others… not so much. The trick is trying to get every platoon enough experience so they all can be effective. Still, you can't help but having favorites. Keeping members of a platoon together helps them improve as a unit, and eventually they can perform awesome moves together. You also get to come up with different formations with your units, which is fun to see what works best. I had one unit of Valkries that got so good at one point that about every battle they all spun their weapons around at once and hit every stinkin' fool on the other side with some sort of magical blast that scares the pets in my house... killing a few baddies before they even had a chance to unsheath their swords. Now that is a cool way to start off a battle. In another unit, I picked up a former slave named Vlad who was a grappler, and put him with a barbarian who called himself the Iron Hammer and his healing priest daughter. Along with a couple of guys that I promoted and named after friends, this group was the shiz. Naming the warriors after family and friends adds a few extra degrees of stress, by the way. There's nothing quite like your neighbors hearing you yell out, "NO! MOM NOOOOOO!!!"

You can pick up straggler warriors along the way, and by visiting different towns with certain people, you can unlock different side quests that can benefit you with rare items that can give you new classes like the mucho grande Dragoon and the ruler of everyone including you, the evil Lich. You can have grapplers, knights, witches, wizards, clerics, beastmasters, several types of beasts, and even killed in action warriors can remain as smelly zombies. This game gives you more of a "I'm a General overlooking my army" feel than Tactics, but don't let you think that you get the day off. It's hard work, but it's a blast all the same. Depending on how you do and who is in your army, countless endings are available to you after you finish the game. Major ups on replay factor for that one.

Double Dragon 3 (NES)

Another good follow up to DD. This game has more challenge than the other games, but it is still very enjoyable.

Another week, another game:

Alien Trilogy - Saturn, PlayStation and PC.

A Doom engine game that blows all others out of the water.  The game awkwardly tries to put a plot together that pulls locations from all three films but that doesn't matter when the game plays this great.  The graphics are basic with bitmapped enemies and the inability to look up and down but they lend the game a nice old school charm.  Something about the slight primitiveness of these graphics also adds to the scare factor, like a low budget horror movie.  The sound effects are all ripped straight from the films and the amazingly good haunting background music and effects really add to the game.  Environments are recognisable from the films and the developers really pushed the engine with tons of neat little aspects like moving forklifts, destroyable glass walls and interactable sleeping chambers among others.  The great textures and all the effort clearly lavished on capturing the feel of these films make this game great for fans of the flicks.  While there are technically better Alien games out there this is the one that is closest to the films in feel by far.  Levels have tons of hidden secrets and their design is one of the strongest elements of the game.  The game also captures that exciting period where 3D was really pushing things forward.  If only it hadn't come out at the same time as Exhumed/Powerslave it might have done even better than it did.

Herzog Zwei
Sega Genesis
I'll tell you what, Herzog Zwei is one friggin' great game. Sources around the internet say this was the first RTS (Real Time Strategy) game for a console. I dunno if it is, and I honestly don't know what that means . I've always told people that this was a Sci-Fi- war strategy- with a Transformer robot thrown in- game. Does that help? Oh well. Let me try to explain it again, like I would to a child...

You have the good guys (red) and the bad guys (blue), and they want to destroy each other's main base. There are several small bases located throughout the board, and they can be controlled by either side. The more small bases a side has, the more money the side makes, and the faster it rolls in. Why do you need money, you ask? Simple... to build and equip your army. You can build small infantry robots, tanks, missile launchers, gunboats, medic trucks and much more, and you give each of them specific instructions. They can defend an area, remain stationary, attack the main base, take over a small base, or any number of other tactics. So far, it sounds like I'm describing a "sit back and watch" war, but what makes this game so unique and fun is that you get to control the most powerful piece in this chess game. You control a robot that can change into a jet and vice versa. As this "John Wayne" Go-bot, you get to pick up and place your army units, attack your enemy's minions, or heal them. What really sets the game apart are the lavish and well thought out terrains. You can duke it out over a lava world, a futuristic city, a swampland, a confusing cave, an ice river and several other types of domains. Each terrain poses new challenges for you to overcome. This game is the perfect mix of war strategy and action, and it's excellent by yourself or with a friend. I also want to add that this game pumps out some killer music.