Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

Very intriguing.

A long time ago, in an operating system far, far away, I emulated a handful of games through DOSBox with the aid of Boxer, for I was the kind of computer user who preferred the 'it just works' approach, which of course meant I gamed far more often on a console, and not on my Mac.

One of those emulated games was a demo for Star Wars: Dark Forces, a first-person shooter set somewhere in the Star Wars universe I knew and loved, which made an awful lot of sense, even if I found it to be a little cumbersome and old in places - I didn't admire the history of gaming as much as then as I do now.

I don't remember much of it, which is fine because it's the sequel, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, that we care about today. A long time ago, in a little corner of the expanded universe that totally happened but not according to the House of Mouse, mercenary Kyle Katarn is about to face his destiny by confronting the Dark Jedi who killed his father.

I think. It doesn't sound like much of a plot, but we'll take what we can get.

Myth: The Fallen Lords

Casualty!

It hasn't happened in a while, but we're about to play a game I've never heard of in my life up until this point. I guess you could say I've only ever heard of it as a... myth...

What happens when you take a real-time strategy game, strip out the resource gathering rubbish, slap in some fantasy warriors of all sizes and shapes, and plonk it inside a 3D world that soon fills up with many, many bloody remnants of the combatants?

The answer is Myth: The Fallen Lords.

MDK

Murder Death Kill?

I have seen very little of MDK and played even less. After seeing it, I think I filed it away in my memory in the 'weird games' folder, and it wasn't until reading the synopsis before finally getting around to playing it that I understood why.

You are Kurt Hectic, a janitor turned astronaut who, along with mad scientist Dr Fluke Hawkins, and robotic dog Max, have taken it upon themselves to save humanity, whose Earthly home is currently being consumed by giant Minecrawlers on the hunt for natural resources.

You have a gun for an arm, your face turns into a sniper rifle and your parachute is... n't a parachute.

My Dear Knight, what even are you?

The Curse of Monkey Island

The Monkeys are listening.

Would you look at that? Another point and click adventure game finds its way onto the 1001 list - my favourite genre, don't you know?

LucasArts adventures have been cropping up in this list frequently, and they tend not to disappoint so it would seem that the third Monkey Island title, headed by those who were behind Full Throttle, is more of the same and then some.

The Curse of Monkey Island is, so I read, not as fondly remembered as the first two titles, but still has plenty to offer players, especially in the looks department. This twenty-year-old game has not been given an HD re-release of any kind, and it looks like it could have been released twenty minutes ago.

But how does it play? Like a twenty-year-old point and click adventure title? What's going on? Should I have played and completed the previous instalments? I should get going and work towards answering these questions, really.

Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter

Imperial Task Force Vengence, grrr.

Source // MobyGames

Star Wars: TIE Fighter was a hit in my books, but it was marred by its difficulty. I generally want easy games, I'm not going to lie. When I want a challenge though, I want an honest challenge, and humans are better at that (apparently) than artificial intelligence.

If TIE Fighter was too challenging and full of bullshit/pilot error, then Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter is a step towards redressing the balance.

Our only problem is that it addresses it so far in one direction that the game is now a multiplayer-only experience. From the late 90s. With a small player base.

Gran Turismo

Get The New Machine!

I don't drive a car. I have no intention to. But I enjoy racing games and can - should the make and model suit - enjoy looking at cars. For the longest time in gaming you couldn't really do both, and certainly not to the extent that Gran Turismo offered.

One hundred and forty licensed and detailed cars from manufacturers the world over, a simulation mode to take you from your first driving test to your final championship victory, an arcade mode to try out some of the best cars before you find the in-game cash to buy them in the simulation mode - Gran Turismo gave an awful lot to players when it finally hit the shops in the late 1990s, and at some point near its release it gave an awful lot to me too.

I've not played the original game properly since there was only the original game to play. Its many sequels and the console generations that have launched since have given me no need to, though I have always wondered whether it holds up, and just how different it is to the modern Gran Turismo titles.

Fitting, then, that I come back to where it all began while the PlayStation Network is experiencing problems that stop me from fully enjoying GT Sport...

GoldenEye 007

The name's Bond.

First Person Shooters. Video Game Console. The two have a history of not getting along, according to the Internet, and you can see why. When compared to the precision of a mouse and the vast array of inputs available on a keyboard, a limited controller with clumsy digital inputs just doesn't seem like it'd work.

Yet GoldenEye 007 exists and is considered one of the greatest titles known to man, as well as one of the most important milestones along this historical trek of ours - a first-person shooter on a video game console that doesn't suck.

I first saw it somewhere around its release at a friends house. I don't recall much of that day and don't think I ever played it myself, and most of what I know about it comes from watching plenty of speedruns and hearing it almost constantly get brought up in discussions of someone's gaming past.

Let's get this blog done in six minutes, shall we, James?

Diablo

Hello, my friend. Stay a while and listen.

Source // Wikipedia

"Mindlessly satisfying", they say. Just clicking here, clicking there and watching monsters explode. Why, then, is Diablo on the 1001 list?

This action-heavy, hack and slash RPG was inspired by Rogue, the developers seeking to emulate not only the stories players found themselves in but the strategies of when and where to move and act so as to not die as soon as you enter a room.

Then, after a vote to turn the game from turn-based to real-time, gaming changed a tad...

Final Fantasy VII

You look like a bear wearing a marshmallow.

A long time ago, I was told to get Final Fantasy VII because it was just that good. What did I do? I got Final Fantasy VI because it came with a demo for Final Fantasy X, which was obviously the better purchase - a taste of the paste with a glimpse at the future too.

But if you've read that blog post, you'll know that already. It's finally time for Final Fantasy VII, which is - apparently - one of the greatest games ever made in the history of ever, so it's got some clout around these parts.

It's also got some Cloud too...

See what I did there?

Cloud. You play as a kid named Cloud. Is he even a kid? I don't know. They all look like kids.

Fallout

War. War never changes.

This 1001 list is full of memories, but the memory I have for Fallout is one where I was watching a friend play, and while it looked pretty good, I kinda wished I was playing something else instead. On a console, where games were meant to be played.

Fast forward ten or so years and I'm playing my first Fallout title, Fallout 3, or as many of us knew it, Oblivion With Guns. Bar the annoying bugs and freezes on the PlayStation 3, I enjoyed my time in the wasteland, as well as wherever the DLC would take me, and would go on to play Fallout: New Vegas too, enjoying it even more.

Add another decade and I'm sat here, having skipped over Fallout 4 entirely, ready to play the original Fallout and looking forward to it. How soon will I fall, like the nuclear bombs of the past?