Sssshhhhhh! We're not supposed to be here at The 401/1001 Milestone Awards, an unauthorized and completely irrelevant look at the latest batch of video game titles from 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.
Don't tell anyone, but this Milestone Awards post will look over everything from Star Fox 64 to Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves in this one and my unofficial sources say that these awards are going to be full of bias and prejudice based on childhood memories, but don't let that stop you from finding out what I thought of these games - just be aware that the PlayStation might dominate...
We begin as ever by getting The Indifferent 5 out of the way, because they're games that I find to be particularly... gamey? Average? Just generally there? They're games that have to take a back seat because there are other, better games, but that's not to say that these are stinkers. I have it on good authority that I'm just opinionated and these may well be worth your time. They are, in no particular order:
Shining Force III, Camelot Software Planning
Dance Dance Revolution, Konami
Space Station Silicon Valley, DMA Design
Wetrix, Zed Two
Radiant Silvergun, Treasure
Congratulations Konami, who continue to develop indifferent games.
Moving swiftly onto the award that nobody wants to get, though I've done absolutely no research into asking that question to anybody: What Was That 1 Even Put On The List For? It was an instant pick this time around. There was only ever going to be one winner/loser.
What Was Sega Bass Fishing Even Put On The List For?
There's no pla(i)ce for you here.
A 1001 list needs 1001 games on it, so my insiders say, and they've come up with a title to replace that fishing travesty. The opponents you face still have scales, so long as popular media trumps scientific discovery, but these foes are an awful lot bigger...
We shout You Forgot What?! and we shout:
Trespasser is a forgotten gold mine of video gaming, and that video up there is (or was) often hailed as the definitive way to play a game on YouTube. It's so good, I think I'm going to have another watch of it this afternoon. Watching it is easier than playing it, that's for sure.
Uncovering The Top Ten is the real reason we're lurking in these Milestone Awards, however, so it's time to crack on with the best of the bunch. Fifty games, less those that involve fishing or are otherwise unnoteworthy, fighting it out to get to the top of the list. I said it might be full of PlayStation titles. Let's see if it is.
10: ChuChu Rocket!, Sonic Team
In a batch of games with the first 3D Sonic title, Sonic Team makes the top ten with a puzzle game about space mice fleeing from space cats. I think it's clear I have issues with that hedgehog.
9: Xenogears, Square Product Development Division 3
I kept playing and playing and playing and then caught a glimpse of a Mech and that was about it. Need to get back to it and hunt them down.
8: F-Zero X, Nintendo EAD
Wipeout has competition, and it's taken me twenty years to realise that.
7: Banjo Kazooie, Rare
As one of the earliest games I remember watching on YouTube, it's got a funny kind of nostalgic place in my brain, despite not having played it to any real lengths at all.
6: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Nintendo EAD
Credit to Nintendo for making something that I couldn't put down. I eventually did, of course, but then immediately wanted to pick it up again.
5: Quake II, id Software
A similar situation to Zelda, I was playing Quake for longer than I thought I would be playing it for, but it edges the juggernaut through its genre.
4: Half-Life, Valve
Speaking of the first person shooter genre... With so many ways to play it, Half-Life edges past Quake II, and while I prefer straight sci-fi over horror, I'll take some weird stuff happening in the style of Half-Life with no problems.
3: Snake, Nokia
You don't know how much I played this across my first few phones. I don't know how much I played it. I wouldn't even call myself good, but that's not going to stop it from climbing high on this list.
2: Tekken 3, Namco
A few fighting games in this latest run of games, but it's the 3D fighter in the form of Tekken 3 that stands above the rest in my eyes.
The PlayStation reached as high as the second spot; did it manage to reach number 1? The list contains Metal Gear Solid, of course it managed to reach number 1. This game was insane to me back in the day. You don't write to the addresses you find in the manuals unless you care, and by God did I care.
What else do I care about? Trying to cram these games into The Topper Than That Top Ten list, which contains the ten best titles from the 401 we've seen so far, at the time of writing. There's no consistency when it comes to these rankings any more, and certainly no objectivity, but let's see what's still clinging onto the highest spots and what has taken the place of those less fortunate.
10: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Nintendo EAD
I have to say, I didn't think this one would appear this low on the list, even with me being a PlayStation kid, but here it is.
9: Quake II, id Software
When looking back, I might question how this one got so high.
8: Super Mario World, Nintendo EAD
The plumber still lives, though his platforming is plat-falling down the list.
7: GoldenEye 007, Rare
Only a few weeks ago, I was watching about how GoldenEye 007 speed run records are still falling, with players discovering strategies untried in twenty years.
6: Half-Life, Valve
Will O.G. Gordon rank higher than his sequel incarnation? This is the benchmark to beat.
5: Snake, Nokia
###### <5>
4: Super Mario Kart, Nintendo EAD
The music has just popped into my head. I suspect it will stay there for a while.
3: Tekken 3, Namco
And now the music has been replaced by, inexplicably, Paul getting kicked by someone and screaming in pain. Weird.
2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Nintendo EAD
Holy smokes it has happened! Zelda is no longer in the top spot, which can mean only one thing:
1: Metal Gear Solid, Konami
I never thought I'd compare Metal Gear to Con Air but I have and it's stuck. This one might stay a while.
And that's that. That's another unapproved Milestone Awards list, and we won't officially appear again until another fifty games have flown in front of our eyes. The first of them to state what they've got is a little game by the name of Grand Theft Auto 2. I think I've played a few sequels to that one.
Whatever you think about these demonstrably biased lists, do game on. Games are gooood.