Top 100 games of all time: part 4

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, as we hop on the trail of the elusive games rated 70 to 61 in this top 100.

70 - Bounder (Various - Gremlin)

Who'd have thought that playing as a massive, bouncing tennis ball with eyes could be so fun. Tricky, yes, but immensely playable that'll keep you coming for more.

69 - Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64/XBOX - Rare)

What do you get if you cross perverse humor, bad language, an N64 console and a squirrel? You get Conker's Bad Fur Day. Also introducing Gregg, The Grim Reaper (who's a little on the short side), a mouse that burps the word "Shit", and a scarecrow called Beardy, who sounds a little like Anthony Booth when he was in Till Death Do Us Part. Lots of fun, and plenty of chuckles to be had.

68 - Sunset Riders (Various - Konami)

Using the same tech that drove the Turtles and The Simpsons Coin-Ops, Sunset Riders is a Cowboy-em-up, with you choosing from 4 different characters, and shooting various bandits along the way, all in the name of justice. Think of it as a remake of Capcom's Gun.smoke from 1986. Hugely entertaining.

67 - The Castlevania Adventure (Game Boy - Konami)

A slow paced Castlevania game, but it is an enjoyable one. For an early GB title, it's very detailed, and, because it's slow, it makes the game more difficult, but don't let it stop you enjoying the game altogether though.

66 - Zombies aka Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES/MD - Lucasarts/Konami)

Played out like a modern 50's B-movie, you have to save cheerleaders, tourists, babies and men with nets in funny hats, all while trying to shoot zombies with your water gun. Somewhat silly, but great fun, it should be in everyones collection, whatever retro system you have.

65 - Medal Of Honor Allied Assault (PC - EA)

With a faithful recreation of the Normandy Beach landing, and many missions from WWII, MoH:AA is probably one of the best WWII FPS games of all time A deep single player campaign, plus the expansion packs, means you'll never get bored.

64 - Batman The Movie (Spec/Ams/C64/A500/ST/PC - Ocean)

The film Batman was awesome. The Game Batman the Movie was also awesome. 5 levels might not sound a lot these days, but doing the levels in different ways meant that every level was a challenge that hasn't been bettered since. Ocean's crowning achievement in their Movie license series, and one the programmers should be very proud of.

63 - Crime Busters (Spec/C64/Ams - Players)

You play Bernie the Burglar, and it's your job to nick stuff. Avoiding the coppers and other nasties, you pilfer paintings, plants, jewelry and even toilets and sinks (?) in your job to make off with the loot. Probably not considered politically correct now, but who cares? It's tremendous fun, with it's cute graphics and simple gameplay that'll keep you hooked.

62 - Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (Xbox 360 - CAVE)

Gorgeous looking, simple to play, and a difficulty curve that doesn't rise too sharply, Mushi is the best choice to start with if you're looking to get into 'bullet hell' shooters. Plus, it's region free, so thats an added bonus right there!

61 - The Spy Who Loved Me (Spec/C64/A500/ST - Domark)

Ten times better than A View to a Kill (which was just a bag of wrong in anyone book), you drive along, picking up Q Points, until you get to a shed where your Lotus turns into a boat. I don't know what happens after that, as I kept dying here, but it's fun, and you can even run people over (before Carmageddon and GTA did it!!)

Coming Up: part 5 60 to 51.

Top 100 Games of all time: Part 3

Thundering on through GamingLand like an out of control freight train, the top 100 pulls up at station 80 to 71.

80 - Rod Land (Amiga/ST/ARC - Sales Curve)

Playing as a cute little fairy wasn't what I had in mind when I loaded this game up for the first time, but it's just so damned addictive, and it's still a gorgeous game after all this time. A game that didn't rely on you firing anything at anyone, but instead picking them up with your wand and bashing them.

79 - Double Dragon (Various - Technos/Data East)

Your mission is to rescue your missus who's been kidnapped by a guy called Big Willy (!?!), beating the crap out of any thugs who get in your way,with not only your hands and feet, but any weapons you can find. It has been bettered since it's release, but it's still fun in it's own right.

78 - Lethal Weapon (Various - Ocean)

Based upon the first three movies in the series (and taking liberties with them), it played as a platform shooter, with you controlling either a short, stumpy Riggs, or a short, stumpy Murtaugh, shooting bad guy scum, collecting evidence (in the form of magnifying glasses) and extra ammo, as you happily blast away anything that might be shooting back at you. Great to look at, and great to play.

77 - Rescue on Fractalus (SPEC/C64/AMS - Lucasfilm Games)

Introducing Fractals instead of standard pixels for graphics, RoF was a typical cockpit-based space shooter, but with a twist: you had to rescue miners from the planet by landing, lowering shields and opening the airlock to let them in. There is the added danger of the enemy aliens trying to get in as well, and causing the ship the crash. Worth £2 of anyone's money.

76 - Virocop (Amiga - Graftgold)

A sequel to the Spectrum's Quazetron and Magnetron, you play D.A.V.E, who's job is to go through a computer system, and destroy viruses with a range of weapons. Easy to play, but hard to master, a quirky little game thats got a charm all it's own.

75 - Thunder Force IV (MD - Technosoft)

Another side scrolling shooter, but with a changable weapon system, variable speed and the ability to select which order to play the game in. Great looking and sounding, It's probably one of the best shooters you will ever play.

74 - Super Mario World (SNES - Nintendo)

Mario's first foray in 16 bits, it's got quite a lot in it to do, with a map to select what level to play and secret areas, and with that urban legend of the an extra level, it's one of the SNES's best games, along with Axelay, Sunset Riders and International Superstar Soccer.

73 - The House of the Dead (ARC/SS - Sega)

An on rails light gun shooter, you can take various routes to get to you goal at the end of the levels. Violent, full of zombies and gruesome end of level bosses, HotD is the definitive light gun game. Although it does have some iffy voice acting, but like Resident Evil, it just adds to the charm.

72 - Mega Man 2 (GB - Capcom)

One word: tough. Very tough (ok, two words). A flick and scrolling screen shooter/adventure, it spawned up to 10 games that are still being released on current hardware. A good game, but with a tough level of difficulty.

71 - Star Wars (NES/GG/SMS/GB - JVC/Capcom)

Playing a bit like The Adventure of Link, the game follows the plot of the movie, and also takes some liberties as well. Plus, you get to pilot the Millenium Falcon AND an X-Wing. So, that makes it a winner surely.

Next Time: part 4 - 70 to 61

Top 100 games of all time: part 2

So, we've had part one, and a diverse range of games. Now, here's 90 to 81. Bring it.

90 -  Resident Evil (PC/PS1/SAT - Capcom)

You'll need more than that, mate!

Zombies. Guns. Brains. Oh, and a big f**k off snake. Capcom's magnum opus is a tense survival horror that is on par with Silent Hill for chills and thrills. Oh, and don't forget the giant spiders, too. Nasty buggers they are. They have beards and everything. Also released in a Directors Cut flavor for added goodness.

89 - Silpheed (MCD/PC - Game Arts)

Bang! Zap! Pow! Pop!

A breakthrough title for the Mega CD, and one of the first released for the system, it showed promise, but was somewhat restricted to just moving and firing, with no control of the direction. Don't let that put you off, for underneath, is a fantastic game with it's own charm. "Tally ho, look at the size of that thing!", and all that.

88 - Sonic The Hedgehog (MD/GG/SMS - Sega)

Oh, Bugger!

Nintendo had Mario. Sega came up with Sonic. A blistering sense of speed, insane platform action, and boss battles that get bigger as it goes on. Don't forget tight level design, and a water level that gives you aquaphobia, and you've got one of the Mega Drive's finest hours.

87 - Comix Zone (MD - Sega Technical Institute)

This is gonna hurt!

It might be a scrolling beat-em-up, but it brought something new and fresh to a tired genre: a comic book setting, with destructable panels, and a hand that draws in and erases your enemies. Good fun, but gets unfairly hard quickly. Perservere with it, and you'll be rewarded with an experience to remember.

86 - Terminator 2 The Arcade Game (Arc/Various - Midway)

They might run like idiots, but they're tough buggers.

In the vein of Operation Wolf, you control the gunsight of the good Arnie terminator, and blast away at anything and everything in the name of points and massive damage. A good use of the license, but does get a bit boring after a while. Fun while it lasts, though, and you can shoot the T1000 into a load of liquid metal at the end, suo I suppose it should be worth completing just for that.

85 - Sensible Soccer (Various - Sensible Software)

You won't see this on Match of the Day!

The natural evolution of ANCO's Kick Off series, it took everything about Kick Off, and made it playable, fun, and great looking. It still gets played today, on the various systems at retro events, and even online through the Kaillera client on WinUAE. Online play? Oh, go on then.

84 - Tempest 2000 (JAG/SAT/PS1 - Atari)

A Minter classic.

Jeff Minter's follow up the original Tempest, is still one the best examples of what could have been for the doomed Jaguar console. Still as playable today, and a damned classic in it's own right. Whoever hasn't played this game hasn't lived.

83 - Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Various - Activision)

Looks awesome, doesn't it?

Better than Modern Warfare 3, this should have had a more conclusive ending. The best entry in the MW series, it had a great storyline, and an involving multiplayer. It's a shame they included the Tactical Insertion in multiplayer, as it tempted people to cheat. And cheat they did. Still, there was great satisfaction in just standing there, letting them use it, and then kill them as they spawn :D

82 - Half Life (PC - Sierra)

Use the crossbow. Less mess, less noise!

Another FPS, but this rewrote the book on the genre. Enjoyable, and highly moddable (They Hunger is an excellent total mod. Think Resident Evil in 1st person view mode, and you're half way there), the graphics are showing their age a bit, but it's enjoyable.

81 - Gynoug aka Wings of Wor (MD - Sega)

That's just...wrong. Very wrong.

A side scrolling shooter, it's graphics are both beautiful and disgusting at the same time. It's the only game where you play a bloke with wings who can fly, so it must be a winner (and, truth be told, it is in my book).

Next time: part 3

Top 100 games of all time: part 1

After seeing Playfire's woeful (and depressing) top 100 list, I thought I'd do my own top 100. Here's the first part, numbers 100 to 91.

100 - Asterix (SNES - Infogrames)

A platform biff-em-up, Asterix is damned good fun, with some great graphics, and some great music. It plays well, and it's got that one more go factor about it. Insanely addictive, a game you want to see through to the very end (if you get that far!)

99 - Trials HD (XBLA)

Based on the internet flash game, it's all about the physics. Lean back, lean forward, and hit the gas. Oh, and flip forward and brake your neck!! Get fast times and bask in glory.

98 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, XBLA, PSN - Konami)

The definitive Castlevania game. Mixing Metroid with the Castlevania series gave the game a boost of fresh blood (pun intended), and is a cracking game. Insane boss battles, two huge castles to explore, and lots of things to pick up and use.

97 - Magicland Dizzy (Spectrum, Amstrad, C64 - Codemasters)

It wouldn't be a top 100 list without the appearence of the eggy one. Tougher than Fantasy Land Dizzy, but it still plays brilliantly, just like it's predecessor.

96 - Super Mario 64 (N64 - Nintendo)

Mario's first foray into 3D is a deep experience and, in my experience, is probably the best example of a Mario game on the older consoles. So much to do, so much to find. It's only just about bettered by the Super Mario Galaxy series.

95 - I, Ball (Spectrum, Amstrad, C64 - Firebird)

Good looking, but needing reflexes like Darth Vader, I, Ball is just pure arcade goodness. Plus, who can forget the digitised speech?

94 - Evil Dead Regeneration (PS2, XBOX - THQ)

Serving as a 'What If...' alternative to the trilogy (what if Ash didn't get sucked into the portal in Evil Dead II), it's as funny as the movies, with a sidekick, voiced by Sam Raimi's brother Ted, you can kick up the arse. Who doesn't want that????

93 - Blitz (VIC20 - Unknown)

Simple in graphics, but has a lot in gameplay. You basically have to bomb cities in your bomber. Stupidly addictive, and stupidly fun to boot.

92 - Metal Gear Solid (PS1 - Konami)

Snake's first outing in 3D is a stunning first chapter, and is just as immersive as ever. Plus, multiple playthroughs gave various rewards (playing the game in a tuxedo James Bond style is always a winner!), and is worth every single minute.

91 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (Gamecube - Factor 5)

To end this segment, and in keeping with the Gamecube's 10th anniversary, it's fitting to end with probably one of the best Star Wars game on the machine. Lots of craft, lots of missions, and that final mission destroying the Death Star II is a winning mix that hasn't been bettered. Buy a Gamecube just because of this game.

Crap Movie Corner: ALIEN Resurrection (20th Century Fox, 1997)

Alien, released in 1979, delivered something awesome to the horror movie genre, with its chest bursting, airway crawling, head mushing, flame-throwing carnage that the film is known for. Plus, it's a tense bugger, too. Aliens followed in 1985, and had a change of pace, being more manic, with more gunplay, more plot (with a saboteur who wants to take the thing back), and a kick ass finale. Alien 3 went back to it's roots, with a more thoughtful film that undeservedly gets a lot of stick, because it a bit more slower paced. Then, along came the 4th installment. And it seems to have gone all pear-shaped.

You're one ugly moth...sorry, wrong film.

Set some years after the events of Alien 3, the USS Auriga has found some DNA samples of Ripley (after she took a swan dive into molten metal. Don't ask.), and have cloned her, to get the alien Queen she was carrying (that also has been cloned). Eventually, a ragtag crew of mercenaries dock with the Auriga in their ship, the USS Betty, with a 'cargo': several humans in stasis who they kidnapped. Just afterwards, the aliens that burst forth from the victims, having some sense of intelligence, manage to escape, and now it's up to Ripley to get the mercs off the ship, and destroy the Auriga before it can get back to Earth.

Pastries are to your left, humans to your right.

I'll admit, the plot does sound alright. But, and I'm probably being an idiot here, but how can a man who has a new found hole punched into the back of his head by an Alien really have enough time to reach around and pull out part of his mushed up brain before he dies? I can't be sure, but all I know is the film sucked. It took everything the last 3 had, and stamped on it like a bully at school. Some of the special effects were rubbish, some of the acting wasn't up to scratch, the dialogue is more stupid than an idiot, and it's just too woeful to watch. It even makes me cringe when Winona Ryder interfaces with the computer and says "All aliens, please go to level XX". It's stupid, just.....just stupid. One of the good parts of the film comes when Ripley comes face to face with all the other clones that have gone wrong, and she burns them all like toast. Another is when they are swimming through the cafeteria (through coolant, I suppose) and are being chased by Aliens (who can swim as well), it's a tense moment, but it's a shame the rest of the film isn't like it. The biggest mistake is, when it's revealed that the new alien queen has, over time, developed a womb like a human (!) and can give birth (!!), which she does to some sort of alien/human hybrid (!!!), it's a sort of what the fu** moment, and you're left scratching your head when the infant decides that the queens jaw looks better on the floor, and looks at Ripley that SHE is it's mother. It's very disjointed, it doesn't sit right, and doesn't feel right in an Alien film. The whole film is a letdown. And the film had such a promising start as well, and the Directors Cut on dvd is even worse, with even more woeful CGI and scenes that add f**k all, it was a kick in the teeth for Alien fans who wanted to see the film in a better light, and give it another go.

Probably one of the worst things I've ever seen in a film. Weird. And wrong. On so many levels.

There's naff all to recommend this film to anyone. If you buy the boxset on Blu Ray or DVD, treat it as a special feature. Other than that, avoid like Herpes.