Rudie’s Top 100 Video Games

Ape Out

PC/Switch, Gabe Cuzzillo, 2019

I want 100 games with the energy of Ape Out, a procedurally generated drum soundtrack while an Ape gets Out. I played it thanks to one of those game buffet services that threatens to destroy owning games. I find myself thinking, “That game where you are an ape and you have to get out? That game was great.”

Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter

PS2, Capcom, 2002

In Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter, failure is possible. I can arrive at the last boss with 99% D-Counter, tick over to 100% and end that run permanently. I’ll restart at the beginning of the game with the knowledge that I should maybe play more conservatively. Most people would quit the 12 hour game at this impasse.

I was about halfway through the journey to the surface when I died and had to restart. I would then go on to the ending credits and Chihiro Onitsuka’s beautiful song “Castle Imitation”.  I would whisper to myself, “Woah.”

This chance of permanent failure and knowing that I am in for the long haul causes me to make tactical decisions I wouldn’t in other games. I have to use the D-Power because the enemies are stronger than me, but I need that D-Power to last until the end. I cannot just spam attack and survive. Games don’t have tension like that, where survival could also mean failure.

Kane And Lynch 2: Dog Days

PS3/360, IO Interactive, 2010

Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days looks at the millions of bodies that video game protagonists generate and wonders what is the kind of character that would generate that kind of body count? What situation would trap them to even further that body count?

The setting is Shanghai, and for one of these men, it is one last job. The dialog is sharp and funny. The player exists as a disembodied handy cam twisting and bobbing around as if this was live footage uploaded to YouTube. 

In an ideal play session, I and a friend are Kane and Lynch and the brilliant level design reveals itself. That I must constantly cover and flank my teammate if we have any hope of making it past everyone with a gun in China trying to kill us. These men will never find and do not deserve the salvation of peace. A true ending is whenever the game cuts to black because I died during game play. 

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

GBA, Square, 2003

On Christmas Day 2003, I found myself in the light of a Jewish friend’s grandparents’ Christmas tree playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. As it was my first Tactics game and I was a brand new adult, I concentrated on one tactic: my entire team was Bangaa. That evening we played the cooperative and competitive modes, but the details of those escape me years later.

The game is playable by someone who doesn’t know anything, with dozens of successful strategies despite the conditions laid down by the judges. I still think about the story where the opposition had an excellent point and in the end maybe the hero’s own selfishness is the tragedy.

Castlevania

NES, Konami, 1986

Despite reputation and actual difficulty, Castlevania is a game anyone can conquer in a day. They will die and die and try again. The moment they beat Death will be a supreme triumph. The jumps are strict. I have to think about myself, my enemies, and my environment in a way few games can match.

Dancemaniax

Arcade, Konami, 2000

Moving my hands below and over sensors to forgettable electronic music is the most fun I’ve ever had in an Arcade. Dancemaniax was an absolute joy to play every time, from the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi to Coin Ops in Ingram Park Mall, San Antonio to TRY in Akihabara. Friends can attest the screaming joy I admitted upon seeing a Dancemaniax machine. May my hands pass above and below it one more time, like Haruki Murakami’s Pinball 1975.

Gravity Rush 2

PS4, Team Gravity, 2017

Gravity Rush 2 is a beautiful dream of open world games. I move across it by changing the force of gravity that our heroine Kat can barely control. The cities I navigate are gigantic floating metropolises that extend ever more vertical. 

What is lost to time is a passive multiplayer experience where I could take a picture hiding bobbles then send it out to other players for them to find. 95% of players played fair and tried to find the exact balance of difficult and possible in their clues. It made me really examine the city in a way open world games don’t. Normally, I am made to blaze past hundreds of man hours of work just to arrive at the main objective. 

Gravity Rush 2 is a stunningly beautiful game. I’ll refrain from pointing the obvious French/Belgian references because honestly, I would be wrong. I can’t believe a video game looks like and plays like Gravity Rush 2. And because they knew it was their last chance they threw in the whole world of Gravity Rush for good measure. 

Space Harrier

Arcade, Yu Suzuki, 1985

Welcome to the Fantasy Zone! It’s a simple game about shooting weird freaks as I run endlessly across an alien landscape. Avoid the geometric shapes. Since I played the 32X version (of all things), Space Harrier has never been far from my mind. I will pour at least 10 credits into it every time Sega puts it in another game. I bought the Sega Genesis Mini 2 just to play 60fps Space Harrier 2. I cried with joy at actually getting to play the moving cabinet, and cried with tears as each arcade in Kanto closed. If this was a ranked list, Space Harrier would be number one.

Metal Slug X

Neo Geo, SNK, 1999

Let’s face it: Metal Slug 3 is too maximalist. It’s too much of the best video game. It’s a challenge burger at a truck stop diner with a filthy MVS cabinet by the bathroom. 

I’d encountered the opinion that actually the new weapons in Metal Slug X suck (yes) and that makes Metal Slug 2 better. My investigation shows that I can’t get over the slow down. Metal Slug 2 deserves better than its slowdown. SNK thought so and thus Metal Slug X was born. Which is the second Metal Slug, just a bit different. There’s camels with guns I ride, monkeys with guns I recruit, giant dangerous bosses, mummies. Heck you can become a mummy, or BIG. 

It is excessive, but just enough to still be handleable. I can reach the end of Metal Slug X on 15 credits and think “I bet I could do 14 next time.” 

Resident Evil Remake

Gamecube, Capcom, 2002

The first time through the Spencer Mansion is tense. It will end in multiple failures. The first time the player will have to replay sections, or perhaps whole hours where they got greedy and decided not to save. The second time through will be tense but quicker.

Then their brain will awaken. They will start plotting routes, thinking of how to cut down the time even further. Their knowledge will overcome their fear. They’ll use the weapons because they are fun and aren’t meant to be stockpiled. Resident Evil is about playing a video game over and over, in success and failure. Do give Type-C controls a try, driving a man or woman around zombies is fun.

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