Beyond Good & Evil

"Not bad for a little girl and an old ham."

Like many players I'm sure, I was aware of Beyond Good & Evil but had little interest in it. Home consoles were full of action-adventure titles, each with their own fans and audiences. The idea of a photojournalist with a pig sidekick wasn't appealing to me, regardless of how well made a game it was.

The years went by, and Beyond Good & Evil made its way to more and more lists along the lines of 'Games you missed' or 'Games that deserve a sequel', but no matter how much I saw of it, I would always conclude that, yes, it looks pretty polished, but it's not for me.

Well, now I've got to find out for sure. Slap some film in the camera, because we're going to expose some criminals.

EVE Online

You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.

Space. The final frontier. It has been tackled in gaming since the birth of video games. You've been able to fly spacecraft and shoot down your enemies in dogfights for decades. You've even been able to take a much more peaceful route through the galaxy, trading to and from resource-rich planets to further your galactic goals.

Elite was released in the mid-1980s and allowed players to do what they wanted in their galaxy. Twenty years later, EVE Online expanded the horizon quite a bit, allowing players to utterly destroy hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of ships in battles so significant that the entire in-game economy, and perhaps even the political landscape of the user-created factions, is forever altered as a result.

There are single-player games, there are massively multiplayer online games, and then there is EVE Online, and I am most definitely in awe of what I'm seeing.

The Mark of Kri

'The Mark of Kri-key!' more like...

What happens when you let a bunch of former 2D animators run wild with designs for an action-adventure game set in some kind of alternate world Polynesian jungle? Well, you get the lovely stylised characters from a Disney film, for a start, but that's not wild enough for this title...

How about we take those Disney-like heroes and caricatures and maybe turn one of them into, let's see, how about The Punisher?

Now that's The Mark of Kri. Don't let screenshots of this game fool you, it is not for kids. That mature rating is there for a reason, and I've no idea what that reason is. I don't ever remember seeing The Mark of Kri back in the day, so this will be my first graphic introduction to this beast.

Let's put that muscle to work.

TimeSplitters 2

"This one's for you, baby."

It is 2002. Maybe 2003. At some point in one of those years, I was finishing up a work experience week for school when I was offered something for my troubles.

I'd spent a week in a small online electronics store (long since closed down), cocking up customer orders, getting lumped with sorting out used printer cartridges, and thoroughly wrapping everything in bubble wrap so that packages would bounce if the postman dropped them. I was allowed my pick of a game, for free, for my diligent (ahem) work.

Scanning the shelves, I eyed TimeSplitters 2, a game I knew I wanted to play having enjoyed the first one. It was also a game that was going for £44, which I remember being on the ridiculous end of prices at the time, or at least I think I remember it being so. I thought it was too expensive to easily own, compared to any other PS2 game, put it that way. So, obviously, I made sure to choose this game above anything else on that shelf and went home quite happy that day.

But what was I getting into?

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

"Have at thee!"

Source // Moby Games

The Real-Time Strategy genre, so says the 1001 entry to this next game, could have gone so very differently. While the Command & Conquer series kept churning out entries, sequels to Warcraft were thin on the ground. Both series had stamped their mark on the genre, but only C&C was parading it around the place, making its presence known.

It's now 2002, and someone has returned - with friends and enemies - to define the next stage of the RTS. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos sees Humans, Orcs, Elves and the Undead face off for supremacy in a game more personal than you might imagine.

Hotkeys at the ready, because we're about to micromanage!

Super Mario Sunshine

Shine!

Super Mario 64 told the gaming world how 3D platforming was possible, and in the years since, an awful lot of games have taken its ideas and ran with them in their own directions. The genre can be found everywhere, and each of us has our favourite games from it.

When the Nintendo 64 was replaced with the GameCube, you knew it'd only be a matter of time before the next Super Mario 64 came along. After all, Nintendo is now competing with the PlayStation 2, which has so many 3D platformers that they're already fighting amongst themselves. How do you stand out?

You take a holiday in Super Mario Sunshine.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I've got the bloody pig!

How many Zelda titles have been on this 1001 list so far? It seems like all of them. The series can't be that good, can it? Well, I ought to know by now if it is or isn't, having played those previous entries, to some degree... I mean, that was sort of the point in this whole endeavour, wasn't it?

Picture the scene, then. The GameCube is on the horizon, and a new Zelda title has been teased. It's grown up, and moody, in stark contrast to the colourful entries of the past. This is a new age for Zelda, a time where it tackles the tough stuff.

And then The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is released, and our hero is a stumpy little Funko Pop figure, and the graphics are the absolute opposite of dark and moody. Fans flipped, I'm told. I wouldn't know. I wasn't fussed about the GameCube or Zelda back then.

But Wind Waker has stuck around and looks like it hasn't aged. It even got an HD re-release. Why? What's there to improve here? What even is The Wind Waker?

GROW

Words. I have none.

After a string of games that I've been quite aware of, some of which I had played quite a bit, comes something so far out of the left-field that I have to wonder just what makes it a game in the first place.

I've played a fair few Flash games in my time. Most of which would be described as a flash in the pan, but there are some highlights from the now dead (severely crippled?) piece of software. Those of us from a specific age range probably has their favourites, even if it's something as simple as Curveball.

Curveball didn't make the 1001 list, though. GROW did. I've not come across GROW before. I'm not sure I'm best placed to describe it nowadays either.

Let's at least try to, eh?

Ratchet & Clank

"Please return your appendages to the steering mechanism, sir."

Source // Ratchet & Clank Wiki

I've spoken about this series often enough, and it's finally time to see Ratchet & Clank's first entry on the 1001 list. The PlayStation 2 is the place to be, 3D action platformers are everywhere, but why did I find myself gravitating towards Ratchet & Clank?

From the characters, to the settings, to the weaponry, Ratchet & Clank stood out. I like my humourous characters, I like my science fiction, and I like weapons that turn my enemies into chickens. What more could you ask for?

Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire

Gotta catch 'em all.

My name is Frank, and I am an addict.

I was surprised to see that the original Pokémon games most of us are aware of, Red and Blue weren't on the 1001 list. Even Pokémon Yellow, where the iconic Pikachu follows your every move, isn't down as a must-play title, despite the millions of copies sold across the world.

Only two (or four) games from the series make the list, the first of which are Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire. We're already into the third generation of Pokémon and are now on the Game Boy Advance, after the Color entries of the past. Why is this our jumping on point to the series?

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

Warning: Guards are alerted.

In what must have been 2002, I played a demo for a kind of game I'd never played before and was bemused at it being a sequel. "How can there be a Hitman 2: Silent Assassin when there was no Hitman?" I thought, like a fool.

These days, I'm far more aware of the existence of the PC, and other gaming platforms that don't come from Sony, and I know that it was Hitman: Agent 47 that was the start to the series. But it wasn't the first Hitman game for an awful lot of Hitman fans.

Silent Assassin was my first Hitman game, a game of stealth, unlike any other. Hiding in plain sight was the aim of this game, and only the bald-headed, barcoded Agent 47 had big enough balls to get away with it.

I've not played it for a long time now. How much can I remember?

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

HOT CHICK WITH GUN BUSTS AMPHIBIOUS YUCKMOUTH!!!

Source // Moby Games

Like the master thief that he is, Sly Cooper ghosted past me like he was never there at all. I had only a passing awareness that he had a few games and no real interest in them. When it came to 3D action platformers on the PlayStation 2, two far more notable series got the limelight, those, of course, being Ratchet & Clank and Jak and Daxter.

I was a Ratchet fan, there wasn't room in my mind for anything else in that genre, and it would be more than a decade until I saw what Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was about, thanks to this 1001 list.

Don your cap and equip your cane because we're about to retrieve what's rightfully ours - straight out from underneath the noses of a cast of colourful wrongdoers.

Resident Evil Zero

"Zombies and monsters?"

I haven't got a clue where one Resident Evil ends and another begins. I know characters appear in multiple titles, under various guises, and so I assume at least some games follow on from an earlier one, but I don't know the series' timeline and how everything fits together.

Perhaps the release of Resident Evil Zero will make things easier for me. Taking place a day before the events of Resident Evil, we'll get to see something significant happen, I suppose. I don't really know. Is this even an essential game for the story or just a little sidenote for the fans?

Whatever it is, you know the drill:

Shinobi

Not the first, second, or fourth Shinobi, the third one.

The last Shinobi title I played was on the NES, as part of this 1001 list. We've come a long way since then, but apparently, the title is iconic enough to stick around, and so it's time for the PlayStation 2 to have its Shinobi take our attention.

Sharpen up your sword and fish out your best scarf, because we're going to need to schwing our way through the undead before we run out of time.

Oh, and for those of you who need to be forewarned:

Smashing. Let's go going.

Suikoden III

"Is it so difficult for you to be a hero?"

The PlayStation 2 was probably my most used console, owing to it being the one gaming focus I had as a teenager. I bought and read competing magazines based on what was on the cover, or, as time went on, what playable demo was on the disc. Despite growing as a gamer with the platform, I don't ever recall seeing anything to do with Suikoden III.

I am vaguely aware of Suikoden as a weird sounding name of a video game series, and that's about it. I can guess it's Japanese, probably an RPG, so I can guess it's got hundreds of hours of stuff to get into, but that's all I can imagine.

I hope I won't need to read up on the first two games.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

"Just another day at work, Jan."

Let's just pick apart this Jedi Knight series for a minute. It starts with Star Wars: Dark Forces, which was one of the first DOS games I emulated on my MacBook when I still had one of those ten years ago. It continues with Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, which I played for this 1001 blog up until the point where I got lost and/or sick.

Now here we are with the next big mouthful of a title, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, which follows on from the previous games, starring Kyle Katarn as the Jedi with some unorthodox approaches to the whole Jedi thing.

In fact, you've abandoned the Force completely, and have gone back into the murky world of mercenary work.

Panzer Dragoon Orta

"Please chase him!"

Source // Hardcore Gaming 101

There are two titles from the Panzer Dragoon series on this 1001 list, and I've been unable to play both. Panzer Dragoon Orta is the latter title to try, and while it is available for purchase for play on both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, I have been put off doing so from what I've read about the game.

That's not exactly a good start to a post in a series about playing as many of these video games as possible, in as original a way as possible. It's not like it's priced ridiculously, either, and I have definitely spent more money on things that I've gotten less out of than this, potentially, and yet here I am umming and ahhing over it.

Let's see what it's all about, and work out where to go from there.

Neverwinter Nights

1. Continue

When I first knew of people building their own PCs it was back in the early to mid-2000s, and if my mates weren't building them specifically for Neverwinter Nights, then it was a game I heard them mention often enough.

They had their own Dungeons & Dragons group going, but Neverwinter Nights would allow them to adventure together on the computer, using the latest D&D rules, no less. Not only that, but it would allow whoever was the DM to create their own campaigns and alter them on the fly to accommodate the groups' actions. Neverwinter Nights was the future of Dungeons & Dragons.

Or was it?