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

nah i can't really complain about snubs since i didn't vote

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4 - Final Fantasy VII - 828 points / 3 First-place votes / 12 Votes

if we ever do the ps2 gen i promise to submit a ballot that has 0 games in common with anyone else's ballot and then cry when they don't place

Oh, what's this one about?

i'm playing this game currently so i don't have a take prepared yet

no spoilers please

yuffie dies

i do not think i will ever play it again but i sure do ahve fond memories of playing all the way to the end, going to my friend's house, getting his save file at the same spot except grinded up to 99, beating the weapons and the game

I was one of the 1st place voters. I know it’s a basic pick and most people seem to think it’s aged horribly but the nostalgia of this one is so strong for me, along with one of the presumed top 3. Also it earns its place for the music during the final battle alone

can you play psx emulators with speed boosts? if you could compress that grinding i think it'd still be playable!

the art direction in its environments -- midgar, that weird casino, the place red xiii was from, was legitimately mind-boggling at the time. i don't think any other game ever felt more like The Future

ok ok ok so

who is ready for the top 3 games

these are extremely real

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3 - Vs. - 829 points / 3 First-place votes / 12 Votes

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2 - Way Of The Warrior - 876 points / 3 First-place votes / 12 Votes

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1 - Bubsy 3D - 111,023 points / 98 First-place votes / 6823 Votes

where's Iggy's Reckin Balls

aw man i should've done four

ok for real here is number 3

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3 - Super Mario 64 - 907 points / 2 First-place votes / 13 Votes

TOO LOW.

the rare game where i’d say the objective is just to move around in it until you have to go to bed.

no one has ever managed to make another game that feels like Mario 64 to play. it is truly singular

much like Iggy's Reckin Balls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTszj4iZUMw

true peace

the rare game

― difficult listening hour,

no that hasnb't come up yet

So much for either of the Fear Effects making it. :\

I voted for FF8, which was my first RPG, full stop, and this OTM * 1000:

triple triad + the demented, uh, elegance of the junction system.

I think I played the whole game with a walkthrough just because of how intimidated I was, but damn, junctioning Ultima to your stats was a heady feeling.

RE2 was the only RE game I've ever played, it was definitely fun but for someone who LOATHES horror and jump scares, I never felt compelled to try any others. And FTR, the scene where the licker jumps out at you the first time STILL scares the marbles out of me.

in that one the objective is to crouch and convince your friends you got “the big version” of your gun

(xp)

also appreciate that FF8 settles on a character art style. looks kinda like a sierra adventure.

but damn, junctioning Ultima to your stats was a heady feeling.

otm otm otm, my most lingering memory of this game is literally getting like 50 ultimas and junctioning it to myself (i didn't even remember the term until now lol)

ok here we go games number 2 and number 1 back to back

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2 - GoldenEye - 958 points / 2 First-place votes / 15 Votes

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1 - Metal Gear Solid - 1022 points / 2 First-place votes / 15 Votes

A HIND D

my number 1 is the number 1 no i did not cheat to make this happen ilx is just correct FOR ONCE AM I RIGHT FELLOW G*MERS

i ride dog sleds. i’m a musher.

GOLDENEYE TOO LOW!

wow majora's mask shockingly low

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valkyrie profile was the other snub i was thinking of though i guess thats more of a cult classic so less surprising than paper mario or spyro

SUPER SMASH BROS. i didn't play until about five years ago when my ex and i got her old N64 hooked up, so i got to experience it really through her eyes, as this delightful mess of chaos and going after your friends with wild button mashing. right around the same time i was present when she tried bumper cars for the first time and she had an absolute blast in the same way, so i think of it as kinda the video game version of bumper cars - just wildly bonking into whoever's there and cracking up if you can send them flying in some awkward and unexpected way. very different from the way i enjoy most games, even head-to-head ones. what's cool is most of that is in the mechanics and not even in the main gimmick of it being a bunch of beloved characters! fun game.

DDR i cheated and voted for even if i'm not sure i ever played the console version, or even much of the arcade version. but it's obviously a really special and important game. an old high school buddy of mine got into it at the local tournament level, i went once to see him play at some combination arcade-and-go-cart place... it was really fun!

TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER i'm sure i've posted about enough... what a great concept, what a blast. i can remember my roommate pinning down the idea that it let you live out a "skater fantasy" and as a non-skater i can't speak to that but it really had a wonderful sense of momentum and defying gravity without it ever feeling weightless or meaningless. you were always in danger of pitching off the edge but instead you kept it going. the sequel is all-around "better" but i ranked this one higher because A, it was first, and B, the sequel dropped the linear downhill levels which i really appreciated, especially the one at the dam/canyon. this was THE game on my freshman year dorm floor, apart from a period when one guy's room was the center of Conker activity and a shorter spell of SOTN.

MAJORA'S MASK i never completely played through by myself - it was actually a collaborative, handing-off-the-controller-between-sessions game with the same aforementioned roommate. that seems insane to me given how complex a lot of the puzzles turn out to be, but it could be that it was really primarily him playing it, and me coming in for some of the dungeons and stuff. but jesus how do you not stan for this bonkers gimmick, and them actually pulling off the ballet of timed NPC encounters that let you figure out, and then execute, incredibly complicated payoffs late in the game as you know where everybody is and figure out what masks you'll need to use? this game is all about that gradual "dawning" moment of putting together in your head what will work, and it's sooooo satisfying as that. i can remember the night my roommate did the big Zora musical puzzle and the exact smile that came across his face as he realized "i'm gonna have to get the band back together!!" great.

MARIO KART 64 is the real "too low" for me, and #9 is a great place to be! i've played the Gamecube and Wii versions and IMO they were both subtly, inexplicably worse though they looked amazing. see Tony Hawk - it's all about NAILING the weight and control, and the later ones just felt too floaty or slippery or smooth, or something. this game is a fucking jam, the only problem is a couple of the courses are kinda boring. i'm stunned to hear that anybody considers it the worst!

it’s-a bond, james bond

GOLDENEYE is wayyyy too high but i totally get why it's there and i can't begrudge that. way way back in ILX history i ruffled some feathers by complaining about its numerous and very obvious faults, but a few years back in the same wave as that discovery of Super Smash Bros., i put a lot more hours into it, single- and multiplayer, and now i finally have at least some of the happy fun couch times memories that made it iconic for so many others.

(that was to stretchy face goldeneye box)

Goldeneye is perhaps too high, but I'll say this for it: it made hanging out with the neighbor kids not just bearable, but an actual good time.

still a pc shooter snob about goldeneye tbh, feels like a dog on its hind legs. those cabins in the snow are an iconic space tho.

xp yeah it was that game, until smash bros came out and became that game for the rest of eternity

yeah dlh i'm with you

I just typed an offensive amount of commentary on the list so I hid it in case people don't want the speed bump, hope it works:

1 - Metal Gear Solid

Well, I guess I need to replay it. I wish these games came with an option to just "remove all plot" and make it strictly about gameplay. My favourite in the series (so far) is MG2, the MSX one, I played it via emulation and it's just as inventive and interesting as MGS (and isn't cancered with a garbage novel)

2 - Goldeneye

Some of these 1-player levels are really aggravating but on my recent replay I've been surprised at how awesome so many other levels are/were. 25 years ago it took me forever to painstakingly work through the Train, now I blow through it in no time at all. Love this game

3 - Super Mario 64

This game is spectacular, and remains my 2nd favourite in the series behind SMB3. I can't think of anything bad to say about it. Highlights: the surprise inner-pyramid boss fight, every Bowser level, the difficulty of those final worlds...

4 - Final Fantasy VII

Any time I have an urge to play this again I just re-read the script, and think "no"

I realize that the text is vastly condensed from the Japanese (in order to maintain the same number of text bubbles) but it doesn't make the story at all comprehensible

I like Final Fantasy VI

5 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

So happy to see this perfect game so high, I've played it through to completion twice and it was exceptionally rewarding both times

7 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Can't decide if this game is over- or under-rated but it'd definitely not in my top 4 Zelda games

8 - Resident Evil 2

Still need to play this-- I enjoyed RE1 (no desire to replay) and loved RE4 (replayed it in early stages of lockdown). I have it for N64 but I haven't played it (the switching of resolutions makes my HDMI converter lock up)

9 - Mario Kart 64

This game is BULLSHIT. I adore SNES Kart and the latest one like no other, but I remember my older brother bringing this home and feeling like the 5min+ races were interminable, I have never been so tested by a game. Battle mode is garbage. Way too high. Diddy Kong Racing was a much more fun racer (despite the garish graphics)

12 - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

This is an amazing game, the dungeons are spectacular and I'm looking forward to getting a "must stay in bed" illness so I can do a walkthrough-free replay and just drift around

13 - Silent Hill

I have never been so scared by a game but I don't remember much about the latter-half. I feel like I'd just be more inclined to replay Dark Souls for whatever reason

18 - Super Smash Bros

This game is great. I have the same complaint about the Switch Smash as I do about Mario Odyssey-- making the game Extremely Large kind of makes it get tedious really quickly. My ex played through Switch Smash to completion but I can't imagine ever having that kind of commitment. This N64 version, on the other end, was great

19 - Vagrant Story

I played this and sold it recently for not a small amount of money

20 - Banjo-Kazooie

Rare are the most overrated developers of this era, it's like they deliberately chose a troll-y colour palette and garbage characters to punish their children, but I do love the design of this and would be excited to play it again. Tooie is on my list of "haven't played yet" carts that I'm excited to get to

21 - Wave Race 64

This game is super fun, still my favourite "water" from this generation

23 - Star Fox 64

Classic classic classic. This format of game is too spectacular and I'm so frustrated that there are not a bevy of sequels and knockoffs. I read recently somebody ranked the Wii U Starfox as "the worst game for the system" and I couldn't agree more-- despite there being at least three levels on it that captured the thrill of this and its SNES predecessor

24 - Final Fantasy IX

I'm an adult and I have adult things to do and do not have time for games like these any more

26 - Perfect Dark

The Flying Mum laptop and Elvis The Alien really ruined this game for me. I need to replay it I guess but I remember it all feeling clunky in its over-ambitiousness

33 - Star Control II

Was this my #1? It was either this or SOTN. It's the best game. I've never felt such a complex emotion as the one I felt when the Slave-y Ur-Quan kept trying to argue that they were just trying to protect you from the Genocide-y Ur-Quan

41 - Blast Corps

I have this on my Everdrive and I've always wanted to finish it

51 - Guardian Heroes

Didn't vote for this one, probably should've, Treasure is my favourite developer-- I just restarted Sin & Punishment 2 for the Wii yesterday and it's better even than I remember. No Sin & Punishment on this list is no surprise, but if it'd gotten a NA release it'd be listed here. The plot is, well, bad, like a condensed Neon Genesis Evangelion with awful characters. Still one of my favourite games ever

55 - 1080º Snowboarding

My younger brother was at one point an Olympic track skier and he'd bring his ski friends over and I'd thrash them on this game and say shit like "watch your line" when they fell behind and it would drive all those future cokeheads nuts

57 - Turok: Dinosaur Hunter

Is this game good? or is it just a bloody soup

62 - Einhander

Surprisingly amazing and highly, highly recommended to anybody who likes Treasure-style shooters, I like this as much as Radiant Silvergun tbh

65 - F-Zero X

Headaches for days bc of this game

69 - Metal Slug

Another blind spot I gotta check out

76 - Driver

Weirdly picked this one up and I remember it being clunky and sterile but super-fun, and that the final mission took me 100 tries to beat, it was so hard

Nope, didn't work. Sorry!

actually pulling off the ballet of timed NPC encounters that let you figure out, and then execute, incredibly complicated payoffs late in the game

the entirely optional wedding scene all of this optional helping people would eventually take you to, each little quest and additional mask contributing another coincidental piece towards your ability to make this happen, is the Real Ending imo: something beautiful+fractal in the way it suggests that if you just keep trying to help people out you’ll trip over accomplishments at a scale both wider and more human than you planned for

Resident Evil 2 was the one of my ranked games that I thought wasn't showing up either, good work all!

I'm another FFVII first-placer, the text on the bottom of that "blindfold and a cigarette" ad reads "Possibly the greatest game ever made is available only on PlayStation. Good thing. If it were available on cartridge, it'd retail for around $1,200." - and yeah, they made the most use of that space - vast and detailed and with incredible cutscenes - and the moment when you careen out of Midgar (sorry ciderpress) and there is the whole rest of the world just sat me on my ass.

I'm a SM64 non-voter - I love platform games, but by the time I borrowed a N64, I had seen so many better 3D platformers (and who didn't have slippy feet) that I just never felt what you all were feeling.

I have played Goldeneye, and it seemed largely bullshit, but then I was only ever playing single-player.

And yeah, MGS is one of those games where it doesn't seem graphically amazing, but it's just close enough to let you forget you're playing and get into the patterns and distractions and gameplay (and insane plot)

I've never felt such a complex emotion as the one I felt when the Slave-y Ur-Quan kept trying to argue that they were just trying to protect you from the Genocide-y Ur-Quan

TODAY, YOU CONSIDER US THE ENEMY. IN TIME, THIS WILL CHANGE.