DieHARD GamePOLL - Console Poll, vol. 3 - 5th Generation RESULTS

Now I want a WaveRace remake that looks like the art in that ad

that's a really good idea!

Puzzle Fighter was another one where I can't say for sure how great of a puzzle game it was, but I gave it votes for memories of having a blast playing it --- maybe saw it for the first time at Anime Weekend Atlanta in the late 90s, was spellbound by the colors and the animation of it, all the crystal shards smashing everywhere. Later, two of my best college gal pals had a copy, at a spot that was sort of a dinky duplex but also the first off-campus apartment anyone in my circle got, so a key locus of laid-back hangout times, and Puzzle Fighter slotted in really perfectly to that as well. One of those where I'd love to play it again, but would hate to discover it wasn't as special anymore.

“zoness” in starfox kinda pulled off that endless summer vibe for me (aside from yr wingmen deploring the pollution)

(xp)

i can hear the shock in Falco's voice as he proclaims "This is horrible."

lol, it hits cuz his mask of callousness drops! very vividly done broad character strokes for a shmup.

totally!!

Big catchup post energy!

Resident Evil 3 had some solid embedding of level design in the dread - at one point you see Nemesis inside a room, and you run away, but just as you (I) realise from the map that your path takes you alongside the room you saw him in, he bursts through the wall.

(on Grandia) the quintessential "i want to play this, bring it to europe already sega" game. They did - for the Playstation.

It seems like gaming became more conservative in the ps2/xbox era (I could be wrong about this, because that was the start of my basically 10-15 year hiatus from gaming)

An argument for the next poll, but one of those a lot more than the other imho.

Tomb Raider way too low for me - Doctor Casino OTM about how keeping some formalism in the jump (sorry) to 3D was key. It's impossible to 'get' this a second time, but just running around in 3D and banking when you turned, and the jump AND turn AND take out your pistols AND start firing - man!

but also the entire game is pretty much protagonist torture porn which was pretty offputting

otm, though the sequels improve on this.

DC also OTM about Soul Reaver (also pretty blocky) - I also liked the "This is a sequel to Blood Omen in that it takes place 1500 years later".

It's interesting what difference a story can make to a game - obviously story driven ones like RPGs, but I definitely wouldn't have played through the rest of the Kain series (which were frequently pretty ropey) without some attraction to this massively goth backstory and the hints of it that came through in cutscenes (is lore basically just "story that you don't play"?)

Tekken 3 is a great example of that, they only went 20 years forwards but it was enough for a new generation - literally so in the case of Jin, son of Kazuya and Jun from Tekken 2. I think it's striking that they're up to 7 now and have never felt the need for another large jump - they've gone the other direction, and added his great grandpa, Heihachi's father! Bryan Fury, Eddy Gordo, Hwoarang - and my girl Ling Xiaoyu! And as Ledge posted above, a LOT of lore :)

Wipeout (3, but also the rest) and Bushido Blade are definitely the opposite, I'm pretty certain there's no story in Wip3out and if there is any in Bushido Blade then I don't remember it, but the simple joy of hacking at your friends / dropping a rake of mines in front of them never gets old.

FFIX is the one with the 'throwback' characters and the terrible cardgame, yes?

There's still 10 of my ranked games left, of which I think nearly all of them will place (though one is a non-Square PS RPG, on which the odds are surely lengthening). On the list of unranked ones, I've kind of given up hope for Gex, Fear Effect, and Worms Armageddon.

Woah, was Worms Armageddon in this era? I never feel like I've played enough games to vote in polls like this but that would be my #1.

Bushido Blade definitely made a big impression on me, playing it at a friend's house. Eventually I played the single player and don't think I got very far (maybe because of that stupid gun fight), and also had the sense that there was a lot more depth to the combat than I was getting into. Also loved that you could just run away from fights, unless I'm misremembering?

worms armageddon is an all time top five but i’ve only played it on pc.

ughhh that cardgame in FFIX... yes... never had the slightest idea what I was doing or what was happening IIRC. the straw that broke the chocobo''s back for me was getting stuck at some point, checking a walkthrough, and accidentally discovering whole side areas and subplots that were earlier in the game and now *completely inaccessible* because they'd been blown up in the course of plot events. so i'd have to either start over or commit to a replay of this gigantic game that i already felt a little silly about playing... sigh.

but again: those beautiful environments!

good to know if i ever pick it up, to get a spoiler-free walkthrough...

There absolutely was a story in Bushido Blade:

Despite characters, themes and weapons similar to samurai cinema set in Feudal Japan, Bushido Blade takes place during the modern era (this is shown, for example, when the player reaches a helicopter landing pad phase set in a large city).

A fictional 500-year-old dojo known as Meikyokan lies within this region, and teaches the disciplines of the master Narukagami Shinto. A society of assassins known as Kage ("Shadow") also resides within the dojo. Once led by the honorable swordsman Utsusemi, he lost his position to Hanzaki, another skilled member of the dojo, in a fierce battle. Hanzaki gained respect as the Kage leader, until he discovered a cursed sword known as Yugiri. He began to change, disregarding the group's honor and the traditions held by its students.[6]

One day, a Kage member escapes the confines of the dojo with its secrets. Several other members of the society, under penalty of death, are sent to dispatch the defector, only catching up to him (or her) within the ruins of the surrounding Yin and Yang Labyrinth Castle. In single player mode the players take on the role of the escaped assassin (independent of whatever character they choose), fighting their way out by killing their comrades one by one. Elements of the game story differ with each character selected.

Prepping the last leg! Number 20 soon!

https://i.imgur.com/Xyb4jl1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9OKHaiG.jpg
20 - Banjo-Kazooie - 305 points / 6 Votes

too high

lol never played it but speak on that

too many collectibles, too much dialogue, too many locked moves. i was frantic for mario64 methadone at the time (i bought “glover”) and this felt so earthbound in comparison (remember that sm64 gives you its entire move set upfront unless you count the caps), so much stricter about letting you careen thru the environments. prob better than glover tho.

https://i.imgur.com/JA4X0rz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/u7JAGIy.jpg
19 - Vagrant Story - 313 points / 6 Votes

i'd say "too low" but like... wow 19 is pretty damn good for this weird little game. fond but vague memories of this one. it's linked in my head to the square fighting game with cloud, ehrgeiz -- maybe one came with a demo for the other? and also, ehrgeiz had a mode in te game that was vagrant story but dumb?

No such thing as too many collectibles, Banjo-Kazooie was great (if occasionally let down by segments that relied on accuracy with the shitty N64 'Mushroom')

Ah Vagrant Story though, what a great game (and I must try to properly start FFXII at some point)

i kinda agree with too many collectibles but i loved how unserious and just-plain-weird banjo kazooie was. and there was so much imagination packed into each world.

and i grudgingly respect the fact that the final boss fight is a game show where you try to remember earlier nonsense from the game

https://i.imgur.com/LeRhq2x.png
https://i.imgur.com/yRULYlC.jpg
18 - Super Smash Bros - 316 points / 6 Votes

unserious and just-plain-weird banjo kazooie was

yeah these are strengths for sure, and i find the title pairing charming enough. just didn’t feel enough like play.

i had fun with smash bros, never felt too strongly about it tho because i only ever played it at uhhhhh ahem cough anime club LOOK OVER THERE

kinda expected it to be higher than 18 tho!

i didn’t vote for it cuz i sucked at it lol and never owned a copy but it was certainly The multiplayer n64 game for the latter part of the console’s life, brought out at more parties than even mariokart. (a strange interregnum with conker’s bad fur day tho, or maybe that was just my friends.)

YESSSSS Vagrant Story! That it came out in the same year as FFIX probably didn't help its sales, but the dialogue and weeeeird creepy vibes were so much better than what FFIX featured.

I looked at videos recently that talk a little bit about it and I have no idea what the stats mean anymore -- but I do remember that I played it so much that character was virtually untouchable by common enemies and maybe even the end boss because I built his agility up so much.

super smash bros was my favorite game when i was 10, and gotta say that 10-year-old me was otm

prided myself on being able to beat my friends with any character (even jigglypuff!). i resented that link had a weak recovery, but he really didn't do much jumping in those original zelda games did he?

big fan of both FFT and (not that it rly has a lot to do w anything) FFXII so i bet VS is gr8, glad it made it up here

https://i.imgur.com/Onac2eP.png
https://i.imgur.com/ye44hED.jpg
17 - Dance Dance Revolution - 320 points / 6 Votes

pre-ocarina (when he still could not jump on command), link could jump only in black sheep zelda 2 and link’s awakening iirc.

xp to ddr i didn't vote for it but i absolutely only played it on ps1 for a long time before i saw it in an arcade (a certain cough ugh uhhhh group i hung out with got dance pad controllers and moddede them onto plywood for maximum danceitude. that place fucking STUNK of feet every week)

ddr's end of the century aka the rave mix of beethoven's ode to joy was my jam.

https://i.imgur.com/p1B4Som.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RjZmrhi.jpg
16 - Wipeout 2097 (AKA Wipeout XL) - 327 points / 7 Votes

haha

I voted Wipeout 2097 entirely because of the soundtrack

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Wipeout-XL/release/53416

i recently dled every single wipeout soundtrack and lemme tell ya that's a real good playlist to hit shuffle on. even including the later ones!

don't sleep on that original wipeout soundtrack that's mostly by cOLD sTORAGE

Design, gameplay and soundtrack about as cool as possible.

my #2 (after wip3out). don't remember those orbital & leftfield tracks though, were they xl (usa) only or on a separate soundtrack album?

whenever i could be heard from the street shouting obscenities at the screen i was probably playing wipeout. i got quite into it.

every Wipeout has an amazing soundtrack

https://i.imgur.com/Ks3K6at.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PPkcpkz.jpg
15 - PaRappa the Rapper - 364 points / 8 Votes

run on games w banging soundtracks

https://i.imgur.com/pXoINq2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QuKrWlk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sLIzjqr.jpg
14 - Tony Hawk Pro Skater - 393 points / 6 Votes

too low