Line Rider

Wheeeeee?

Many games allow players to get creative using inbuilt tools. Maps. Characters. Even whole games, built within other games. But how many of us don't bother? No matter how easy the tools are to use, we know other people have more time, energy, skill, and desire to put us to shame. There is, perhaps, no better demonstration of this than Line Rider.

Armadillo Run

Oh, snap.

You think Half-Life 2 is the only game with physics puzzles? Bah. You've not tried to get an armadillo to roll into an interdimensional portal in Armadillo Run. Also, what the hell have I just written?

X3: Reunion

TRADE FIGHT BUILD THINK

Been a while since you found yourself alone in space? The likes of EVE Online too daunting? Perhaps a single-player offering with a similar scope can get you into spaceshipshape and ready for sci-fi action. Something like X3: Reunion.

The X series has been taking players to space since 1999, and despite continually seeing releases as recently as 2018, I know absolutely nothing about it. I've never come across it, mostly because it doesn't dare venture over to consoles, but in various PC magazines or videos or whatever, I can't even recall it being referenced in passing.

It's lost in space, except to those devoted fans who keep exploring the stars. How soon will I find myself lost in space?

Resident Evil 4

"I knew you'd be fine if you landed on your butt."

If there's one thing I know about the Resident Evil series, it's that Resident Evil 4 marks an incredibly important - indeed pivotal - moment. The switch from fixed cameras to an over the shoulder point of view. Finally, the gaming public would be able to play a survival horror title whose horror wasn't the controls.

This revolution wasn't enough to interest me to play it back in 2005. I had practically zero interest in anything Resident Evil, no matter how you were able to look at it, and in the decade and a half since that view has changed little. Well, no, I take that back, because I have seen some nice Resident Evil stuff thanks to this 1001 list, but I haven't dropped everything to carry on playing like I have with, say, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. Which must tell us something about my gaming tastes...

Leon S Kennedy is a man on a mission in a muddy brown Europe, one that we can see from all kinds of new and exciting angles. Where are the zombie dogs going to jump out at us from this time, eh? Their jobs just got a lot harder, that's for sure.

Ninja Gaiden Black

Slow down there, Ryu.

Source // PlayStation

When the 1001 write up to a game mentions how soul-crushingly hard it is, you can bet that I start to fill with dread. When the first paragraph goes on to say how many players got to the first boss fight and quit, never to return, my memory started to return. I've played Ninja Gaiden Black, haven't I?

I only played a demo of what would have been the PlayStation 3 port, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, where most of these screenshots come from, but a staggeringly tough boss fight at the end of the first level of a ninja game seems awfully familiar.

I've got that PS3 port in hand, however, so let's put my memory to the test.

SWAT 4

Open doors, shout loudly, zip tie everything, be back in time for donuts.

The SWAT team. Though seemingly every police officer looks like they belong to one these days, the highly trained and disciplined unit makes for quite the depiction in film, TV, and video gaming. Specialised team members all reading from the same page, acting as one to strike hard and fast to apprehend a suspect or bring a situation to a close. One part military force, one part psychological chess match, there's a certain appeal about the way they go about things.

In theory, at least. Perhaps. If you ascribe to that way of thinking. What am I trying to say here? That a properly trained SWAT team is an incredible asset, and that SWAT 4 is here to show you how tough they've got it. Yeah, let's go with that.

First-person shooters are usually all about going in guns blazing. SWAT 4 is about never having a reason to shoot. Can you make that switch?

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath

"Now that's how you get 'em."

I wasn't - and still aren't - a massive fan of the Oddworld games of old. Yes, they looked weird and disgusting but were humourous and clever too. Not that that helped sell them to me. Just not the kind of thing I want to play.

Despite the title, though, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is rather different. The 2D platform puzzler is gone, as is Abe and the Mudokons. In its place is a third- or first-person bounty hunt set in Oddworld's rendition of the wild west.

I'm much more interested in that than of saving workers from a factory, that's for sure.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

"I already don't like you - don't make it worse for yourself."

You're not afraid of the dark, are you? In a world of Tom Clancy's making, you should be. They lurk in the darkness. They strike from the darkness. They embody the darkness. And no game renders darkness quite as well as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the third in the stealth series.

Sam Fisher returns in all his gravelly-voiced glory to split jump up walls, dangle from pipes and interrogate soldiers before ghosting back into the shadows. The many, many shadows. May your brightness and contrast settings be set in your favour.

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

"It's time to split!"

Time travel. An endless source of science fiction storytelling. A huge well of potential for exotic locales and larger than life characters. An excellent excuse to include monkeys in a first-person shooter.

Hitting the PlayStation 2 for the third time is TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, standing on the shoulders of TimeSplitters 2, or perhaps more appropriately, going back in time and stealing what worked for a solid foundation to build upon.

You know what to expect. Gangly-looking characters, a silly plot, exaggerated acting and amazing multiplayer support. Let's relive the good old days.

The Warriors

Come out to play.

There's only one thing I know about The Warriors, and it's that quote. "Waaaarrriors. Come out to plaaaay-aaayyyy." I have literally no context for it, though. Not a clue. Something about gangs and that's about it. Will my lack of knowledge of the film impact my enjoyment of The Warriors, the video game adaptation, I guess you'd call it, released a quarter of a century after the film?

That's what we're here to find out, as we tear through New York City streets under the cover of darkness to wreak havoc and spray paint and kick the shit out of seemingly everyone. I don't really know what we're going to get up to, to be fair. Just a vibe I'm getting.

The Movies

Action!

Source // Moby Games

The urge to create can be found within us all. Some of us want to do it more than others, granted, but deep down, we humans like it when something new comes into this world, especially when we put it there.

Back in my youth, I was into movie making. Nothing remarkable, mind you, even after A-Levels and Diplomas. The movie-making bug has long since been cast out of my system, but I certainly see the appeal in going through all that effort, the blood, sweat, and tears, to get your vision onto the screen, and so does The Movies.

One part machinima creation suite, one part Hollywood Movie Studio business simulator, The Movies lets players live out their movie star dreams, taking on the role of basically everything as you strive to run a successful studio, churning out your own movies, even sharing them online for the world to see.

Will it rekindle the spark I had way back when? Am I the next Spielberg?

Psychonauts

"One time, I made someone's head explode."

Imagination. For every wonderful idea you get out of it, there's an equally dreadful idea competing for attention. Wouldn't it be adorable if dogs brought you your slippers by wearing them? Leaving their bacteria covered teeth exposed and capable of biting you when you got too close to take your slippers. Your skin punctured, dog dribble seeping into the wound, you start to panic. You turn white. You don't want rabies. I just wanted my slippers.

Imagination. It can lead to some remarkable things, as proven by platforming spectacle Psychonauts, an exploration of the inner workings of us all. Memories, fears, hopes and dreams, secrets locked away, and a scattering of emotional baggage. We've got it all. And it's all very weird.

Shadow of the Colossus

What, uh... What's the weather like? Up there? You know... because you're tall.

The PlayStation 2 was home to an incredible range of hits over more genres than I could list. There really was something for everyone, and if you wanted an artistic, thought-provoking, giant killer, was there anything that fit the bill better than Shadow of the Colossus?

Taking on the role of Wander, you'll traverse lands empty of life but full of colossi, huge (like, really, really big) beasts of all shapes and sizes. Colossi that need dealing with. Are you up to the task?

Silent Hunter III

Dive! Dive! Dive!

For the good of the country, you have been asked - ordered, perhaps - to remain indoors wherever possible. If you can work from home, do so. Get yourself enough food to not need to go to the shops for a while (but don't be a dick and horde things you don't need), and settle in for what might be a long time. Keep your spirits up and help your neighbours, because we're in this together. Also, you're underwater in a metal coffin, dodging depth charges and naval convoys in the middle of the Atlantic. Good luck.

As I write this, the UK lockdown is easing (Wrongly? Rightly? 2021 will tell us, I'm sure), but the whole experience does put some perspective on the incredible lengths people will go to - must go to - in times of war. You know, they're being asked to change their lives, you're being told to stay on the sofa. It doesn't compare.

One of those insane feats is to willingly serve in a submarine crew, an experience faithfully recreated in Silent Hunter III, a Second World War submarine simulator. You're good with tight spaces, aren't you?

We ♥ Katamari

"Royal Rainbow!"

The absurdity returns to the 1001 list with We ♥ Katamari, the sticky ball roller that was such a surprise hit that even its designer had to question it all. Why was there so much love for such a strange little game? Can you even make a sequel to such a thing? Wouldn't it just dilute whatever the first one meant to people?

To give thanks to the fans, the Prince is back to give them what they want. More of the same, essentially.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Any, uh...

Is there a more iconic word in video gaming? Well, probably, yeah. Is there a more iconic written word in video gaming? Nothing springs to mind, so let's run with it.

Would you imagine a courtroom to be a place to base an entire series of games around? Could a lawyer really be that likeable? You wouldn't think there's much of an entertaining game to be found here, but Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is more than happy to prove otherwise.

From digging through the case files to find a contradiction, to the over the top characters doing anything to get off the hook, Ace Attorney tells the tale of Phoenix Wright, rookie defence lawyer, as he pokes holes wherever they need to be poked. Assuming you were paying attention to the story.

Button up your shirt and tighten your ties. The court is in session.

Rebelstar: Tactical Command

Not for the over-30's.

Rebelstar. Rebelstar... where have I heard that name before? Turns out, long, long ago, I failed to emulate Rebelstar for this very 1001 list. I was apparently really rather interested in seeing X-Com on a ZX Spectrum and was saddened by not being able to play it.

I've still not gone back and tried to get it going again, but maybe now that Rebelstar: Tactical Command is making itself known on the Game Boy Advance, I'll be more inspired to try getting Rebelstar going again.

Wait. The Game Boy Advance? There's an X-Com on the GBA?

Trauma Center: Under the Knife

Fetch the machine that goes 'Ping!'

"If you want something pleasantly disgusting to do on a train journey," says the 1001 entry, "then Trauma Center: Under the Knife is societies only acceptable answer, really." Who is asking that question in the first place?

Trauma Center is a series of surgery 'simulations', linked together into a visual novel, which kicks off with the first entry, the Nintendo DS's Under the Knife.

Your stylus is the only tool you'll need, doubling as scalpels and syringes where necessary, but do you have a steady enough hand to cut the correct parts? Who does surgery on a train, anyway?

Tower Bloxx

This is definitely a hard hat area.

Gaming on mobile phones kinda exploded when the likes of the iPhone were unleashed into the world. It was practically impossible to not find something entertaining to play, whether you wanted to match gems, bounce balls, or create tower blocks.

Wait, what? Create tower blocks? How can that be a game? How can that be fun? How, Tower Bloxx? How?

Nintendogs

Where my dawgs at?

Source // Moby Games

So, who had a Tamagotchi? I think I had a chicken. I don't think I ever saw it as a chicken, though. Why would I want to hatch a digital egg and feed a digital chick so that it turned into a gloriously pixellated chicken that required attention? Actual attention. Every waking moment of the day. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Except people do, and if they had a Nintendo DS, you can bet they got hold of Nintendogs, the 21st-century video game Tamagotchi equivalent.

Prepare to go nuts for puppies.

Project Gotham Racing 3

Screaming Kudos!

Source // Moby Games

There are a great many series of racing games. Some I'm not really interested in, and some I never had the chance to play, being exclusive to a platform I didn't own. One such game is Project Gotham Racing 3, a game with a weird name on a new system, the Xbox 360, that I didn't want.

As a release game at the start of the next generation of consoles, PGR3 would be raising the bar, and I had to double-check that this was indeed an Xbox 360 game that I was playing next for the 1001 list. It feels too early, somehow. Surely there can't be hundreds of games from the seventh generation to keep us going. How many sequels will we be playing?

A question for another time, for we've got some street racing to do. Legally, this time.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Get in.

If there's one racing series that I've almost actively not taken a look at at every single opportunity, it has to be Need for Speed. I don't know what it is about it that doesn't appeal to me, especially when the series has done seemingly everything from road races to police pursuits to illegal inner-city street racing.

The 1001 list has plenty of games to choose from and deems the ninth entry, Need for Speed: Most Wanted as worthy of a look. The city of Rockport seems to be a street racing hotspot, drawing all-comers and their pimped up rides to temporary street circuits, point to point races, and more.

How well can we shift through the gears in this one?


Oh, and remember:

Always wear a seatbelt.

Rogue Galaxy

"We don't look suspicious at all."

It's completely normal to not know a developers entire back catalogue of games. There is always the possibility of a quirky little release on the side or a game that gets rightly forgotten about. I've just learned that Jade Empire was a BioWare title, for instance, and I'm about to learn something about Level-5.

Here are their first four games. Dark Cloud, the RPG where you rebuild the world as you see fit (ideally in a way that pleases the townsfolk). Dark Chronicle, its cel-shaded sequel, worthy of the 1001 list. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, the cel-shaded RPG that brought the main Dragon Quest series to Europe, also on the 1001 list. Rogue Galaxy, the cel-shaded sci-fi action RPG that we're about to launch into on the 1001 list.

Of those four games, I've played three, enjoyed three. Finished none, but still. It's looking like I'm drawn towards Level-5 and their games. And then I found out Rogue Galaxy was basically Star Wars...

Jade Empire

No resting in peace leads to quite the problem...

Role-playing games can take players anywhere in time and space. If you favour the dark dungeons of fantasy, you can spend tens of hours wandering through Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights. If you prefer some science-fiction in your fantasy, then Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic fits the bill nicely.

Those of you familiar with those three games will note that it seems BioWare knows how to make RPGs, no matter where they're set. How do they fare in a setting inspired by Chinese mythology?

Originally an Xbox exclusive - the reason I know nothing about it - Jade Empire sees players navigate the mysteries and the many dangers of a world where the dead can't rest. How are your martial arts skills?

Mario Kart DS

Mama Mia...

The longer this 1001 list goes on, the more I question some of the inclusions. Usually, that's as I come across them - a sequel that just tacks a '2' on the end, for example. But sometimes an entry lets me look back and wonder why clearly inferior versions of a game were considered must-plays.

This is the fourth Mario Kart title to be featured on the 1001 list. Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport are on here twice. Ridge Racer three times. Mario Kart... well, no spoilers, but it's not done yet, even after its fourth 'worthy' inclusion, Mario Kart DS.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

BACK TO TUTORIALS!

What would a 1001 list be without 101 Mario titles on it? Well, it'd be much like the 1001 list I'm following, for starters, because there aren't that many entries fronted by the plumber. It does feel like it at times, though...

Another sequel. Or another prequel. Or both, actually, this time around, in the form of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, an RPG for the Nintendo DS in the same vein as Superstar Saga from the Game Boy Advance, the 'stick Mario on one button and Luigi on the other' game.

Ok, yeah, that wasn't a terrible time at all. How is it spruced up on the DS?