Day 1
Your Very First Video Game
Pitfall
This was the first game I remember playing. My dad had an Atari 2600 before I ever had an NES and I must've been maybe three years old when I first played this. To this day I still have not beaten this game, let alone trying to do it as a three year old.
Day 2
Your Favorite Character
Diddy Kong
If ties were allowed, I'd say Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong together. I love these two. But I find myself drawn more to Diddy in most games, so I having to choose one over the other, I had to go with Diddy. He is my #1 go-to guy in any game he is playable. This is why I'm partially upset Diddy cannot be played alone in either of the new Donkey Kong Country games. They're still fun and I still love playing as Donkey Kong, but ultimately Diddy Kong is my #1 guy.
Day 3
Your Guilty Pleasure Game
Pokemon
This goes for any Pokemon game, really. Pokemon is one of those game franchises I hate to love, for some reason. Every time a new game comes out, I try to convince myself I "grew out of it" or I "lost interest in it" but the reality is - I still love Pokemon just as much as ever, and I probably will continue to do so as long as new Pokemon games are being produced.
Day 4
A Game That is Underrated
Star Fox Adventures
First, let me start by saying, I know it's not a "true" Star Fox game. It started off as a game called Dinosaur Planet on the Nintendo 64 then when it was moved to Gamecube, Nintendo decided to replace the cast with Star Fox characters to make the game more recognizable. The game received backlash (and still does) just because "Star Fox belongs in the air, not on the ground" and while there is some truth to that, it doesn't make this game bad. In fact this game is very good. It was built off of a Zelda engine and plays very much like Zelda as a result, which is not at all a bad thing, in my opinion. Seriously, if you have held off playing this game because it "isn't Star Fox" you're doing yourself a huge disservice. This game is fantastic and is one of the best games on Gamecube.
Day 5
Game Character You Feel You Are Most Like
Ness
This is a tough one as I really feel there is no video game character that is like me. However, if I had to choose, I had to pick the main character from the game which speaks to me the most. Earthbound is my personality in a nutshell. Though I am not psychic like Ness and company, I still feel like, maybe in my thoughts, I can be a hero like Ness in a very weird, warped version of reality. Ness isn't given a fleshed out personality in the game so you're kind of left to figure him out yourself, but that's just it - he is the player, therefore he is me. Not the real me, of course. I never saved the world from impending doom. But if I did, I would be like Ness.
Day 6
Most Annoying Character
Big the Cat
I'm not sure if he's my most annoying character, but if not, he's damn close. Look at that stupid face of his. Look at it! This dumbass is from Sonic Adventure and while you're hopping and dashing around as the other character, this fat-ass goes fishing. Seriously. Fishing. How useless are you that all you can do is fish? Why can every other Sonic character run fast but this one cannot? Oh, I get it, he's supposed to be big, fat, slow, and dumb. This character marks the point I knew the Sonic series was going downhill. At least they gave him an equally dumb voice that matches his stupidity.
Day 7
Favorite Game Couple
Tidus & Yuna
This may be a cliched answer but I really do love Tidus and Yuna as a couple. From my memory, there is no other video game couple that stands out as much. Neither character was a favorite of mine but as a couple, they just fit. They're also one of the few video game romances I actually cared about.
Day 8
Best Soundtrack
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
This category was particularly difficult to choose for so take this victory with a grain of salt. There are literally dozens of soundtracks that I could've picked for this category. So many that it was actually painful not to include them. But I had to only choose one so I chose Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. This game is a real underdog. It has a small cult following but has generally been forgotten about and I never see its soundtrack mentioned anywhere. But I could literally listen to this music for days, weeks, or months, even. It's simply that good. I also gave it bonus points for having a unique sound to it, something most game soundtracks these days lack. The game is is almost worth playing for its soundtrack alone, in my opinion. Every track is pure bliss.
Since it was excruciatingly difficult to just choose one game for this category, I'm providing a list of games with soundtracks that could have just as easily been chosen (in no particular order):
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy X
• Final Fantasy XII
• Earthbound
• Donkey Kong Country 2
• Donkey Kong Country 3
• Chrono Trigger
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
• Castlevania: Bloodlines
• Bomberman Hero
• F-Zero X
• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Mischief Makers
• Bioshock Infinite
Day 9
Saddest Game Scene
Sephiroth Kills Aeris
One of the most famous video game scenes of all time. It doesn't have a lot of impact on me nowadays but the first time I watched this scene, I actually cried. Yeah, I'm not afraid to admit it. Aeris is one of my favorite female video game characters of all time. I invested a lot of time leveling her and I had my party set from the beginning - it was going to be Cloud, Aeris, and Red XIII - a trifecta of awesome. However, all that time was wasted leveling Aeris since, you know, she died and all that. This scene was very effective, though, since it made me passionately hate Sephiroth for doing what he did. But again, as an adult, it doesn't have the same affect on me, but I'll never forget the first time it happened.
Day 10
Most Shocking Game Scene
Bioshock Infinite's Ending
This wasn't as much an individual scene as it was the entire sequence of scenes that comprised the ending, but this game probably had the best ending of any game I've ever played. We all knew Aeris died so I didn't censor that one, but if you haven't played Bioshock Infinite, you really need to. And I won't spoil the ending for you, but let me just say it is one twisted mindfuck. It really makes you think, long after the game is over and because of it, this game has become one of my favorite games of all time. Seriously, it's phenomenal.
Day 11
Funniest Scene
Any Scene From Conker's Bad Fur Day
By far, this is the single funniest game I have ever played. So much that I couldn't choose an individual scene that particularly funnier than the rest. Not only is this game hilarious but it's a fantastic platformer as well. It truly is the Nintendo 64's swansong. It's a real shame Conker will never be seen again, and if he does resurface it definitely won't be on a Nintendo console since Rare is owned by Microsoft. But going back, almost everything in this game is hilarious, especially the first time you see it. It's a lot of potty humor, but if you're into that, there is tons of it here. Seriously, this game made me laugh more than most comedy movies I've seen. An absolute treasure of a game.
Day 12
Gaming System of Choice
Nintendo 64
Making this decision was heart-wrenching. It's extremely difficult for me to single out a favorite console. I love Super NES for Earthbound, the Donkey Kong Country games, Super Mario RPG, Yoshi's Island, and not to mention the dozens of fantastic RPGs on the system. But I love the Nintendo 64 for the fantastic platformers, FPS's, and racing games. Overall, the N64 has the highest ratio to awesome games to crap games. Then there's the Gamecube which is equally amazing as its two processors. Any one of those three consoles could've won this category, but as I have stated recently in my last post, I have determined that the Nintendo 64 holds the most nostalgia and most fun for me. Like I said, this choice was extremely difficult, so take this with a grain of salt. Super NES, N64, and Gamecube are all equals in my mind. But if I had to pick one, I'd go with Nintendo 64 since I enjoyed the highest number of games for it, and has the most sentimental value. Plus the games are amazing, even to this day.
Day 13
A Game You've Played More Than Five Times
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble
There is only one game that I have played start to finish more than this game (and I'm saving that game for another category). I know Donkey Kong Country 3 like the back of my hand, and could probably play the entire thing blindfolded. This game is one of my all-time favorites and I still play it every so often. Like the other DKC games this one is pretty short by today's standards, which also contributes to its replayability. There are very few games that I have played more than twice, let alone five times. But just to name a few: Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2, Yoshi's Island, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy IV, Resident Evil (Gamecube Remake), and Earthbound.
Day 14
Current or Most Recent Gaming Wallpaper
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
The only time I use gaming wallpapers is at work on my computer. The most recent one I had was this one, from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Besides really liking the game, I just thought the wallpaper looked really cool.
Day 15
A Screenshot From a Game I'm Playing Right Now
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
I'm kind of in between games right now. I'm about to start No More Heroes on Wii and I've been playing Diddy Kong Racing on Nintendo 64 but I always have a game going on a portable. I recently finished Pokemon X for the first time after 80+ hours and now I decided to give Final Fantasy Tactics A2 on Nintendo DS another shot. The first time I played it I didn't really like it, so I stopped after about 2 hours. But I'm liking it a bit more this time, though the extremely slow pace is kinda throwing me off. It's still fun and good though admittedly not as good as either FF Tactics game that came before it.
Day 16
Game With The Best Cutscenes
The Walking Dead: Season One
First off, this game was amazing. Season two isn't shaping up to be as good as the first but this one was fantastic. The majority of the game was comprised of cutscenes, and it only adds in a few gameplay elements to link the cutscenes together. But even though the game is basically one giant cutscene, the story is great. Better than the show and the comics, in my opinion. I actually cared about most of the characters and it sucked when one of them died or I had to make a tough decision. It also stars one of the best female video game protagonists of all time: Clementine. Seriously, she's awesome. This game hits you with great scenes, one after another, therefore this game gets the award for best cutscenes.
Day 17
Best Boss Fight
Any Boss From Metroid Prime
I just spent about an hour trying to decide on my favorite boss fight. I just can't do it. No one boss fight stick out to me as better the rest. However, if I chose a single game based solely on its boss fights, I'd go with Metroid Prime. Every boss fight is fantastically epic. Most of them make you think and most are a good challenge. I tried to pick a single fight I felt was the best but again they're all awesome.
Day 18
Worst Boss Fight
Razorgore the Untamed
No game screams "frustrating boss fights" like World of Warcraft. Interestingly, raid bosses were my least favorite part of the game when I did play. But this douchebag is the worst of them all. Why, you ask? Well, for one, this fight is impossible to win alone. Well, technically all raid bosses are. But even at the level cap, when you are strong enough to run old raids by yourself, this fight still can't be won alone. The fight goes like this: You use some device to take control of this asshole while you use him to break 30 or so eggs, meanwhile your character sits there like a dumbass and is being attacked by other enemies. Better yet, Razorgore the Asshole also gets attacked. And you know what? If he dies, even if your character, the sitting duck, somehow lives, you still die! That's right - you control the boss and you have to keep him alive (well, your raid members are supposed to) and if he dies, so do you. Then if you manage to break all the eggs with this guy, then you have to fight him. Seriously, what the fuck? This fuckface can go to hell.
Day 19
Game Setting You Wish You Lived In
Animal Crossing
Why did I choose Animal Crossing? Because it's a laid back, fun game where there are no rules, you can chill with the animals and do whatever you want, when you want. Who wouldn't want to live there?
Day 20
Favorite Genre
Platformers
Another tough category. For a long time RPGs were my #1 genre, but in recent years RPGs have become too long and too epic for me. It's become very difficult for me to stay tied to any RPG long enough to finish it. That saddens me, but maybe it's because I'm getting older, maybe my attention span is decreasing, I'm sure why. I just started to realize I'm not as big into RPGs as I once was. But if I had to choose a favorite genre, it would have to be platformers. I grew up on them, they still entertain me, and most of them are a good length, long enough to keep me entertained for a while but short enough that I can finish them. Just to name a few that I love: Donkey Kong Country series, Kirby series, Super Mario series, Ratchet & Clank series, Mega Man series, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker's Bad Fur Day. The glory days of platforming games are mostly gone but it doesn't stop me from enjoying all the games I played when I was growing up.
Day 21
Game With The Best Story
Final Fantasy XII
This game was a true underdog story for me. I started out hating this game. I was incredibly disappointed with it. It took me 4 years after its release to finally finish it. And it took a second playthrough to really appreciate it. Once I came around to it after finishing it for the first time, I decided I did enjoy the game but wasn't crazy about the story. However, I replayed the game a second time about 2 years ago and for whatever reason, it became my favorite Final Fantasy of all time. Yes, even more than Final Fantasy IX. I'm not big into political stories, I usually find them boring, but this one really spoke to me. I still think the characters needed more fleshing out but the focus of the story was on the world, not the individual characters. It was the story of a struggle of a small nation, under threat of being taken over and dominated, but ended up standing up and reclaiming its independence. All the meanwhile, the judges were being puppets to the grand schemer, and the twists thrown in were also great. Overall this game's story really spoke to me, even if it two two playthroughs and six years to really appreciate it.
Day 22
A Game Sequel Which Disappointed You
Resident Evil 5
This game won this category by a longshot. How can you go from an absolute masterpiece of a game, Resident Evil 4, to this? How!? Okay, after finally putting my grudges behind me, I sat down and played this game from start to finish a few weeks ago. And I admit, it's not bad. It's a decent game. But it is nowhere near the caliber of prior Resident Evils (and don't get me started of Resident Evil Crapfest...I mean Resident Evil 6). I think the blow was even harder to take because this game (my least favorite one that I've finished so far - I haven't finished RE6 yet) came directly after a game that is not only my favorite Resident Evil game but one of my favorite games of all time, Resident Evil 4. I expected much more than this. But again, it's not a bad game. But it's far from great and it's a terrible Resident Evil game.
Day 23
Game With The Best Graphical Art Style
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
I talked about this one in my list of Zelda games, but I still find it tough to explain just exactly what makes this game so perfect, since it's one of the few games I consider to be masterpieces. Specifically speaking, this game has phenomenal graphic style. When this game was first shown off before its release, the world shat on the "kiddy" graphics, and meanwhile I was in awe at how gorgeous everything looked. It's hard to believe this game is 12 years old already because it looks like it hasn't aged a day. Even better, Wind Waker HD on Wii U looks better than 90% of today's games. It's just that good. It feels like you're playing a cartoon, and let's be honest, that's just awesome.
Day 24
Favorite Classic Game
Super Mario Bros. 2
Not the most popular choice but it was my favorite of the Super Mario Bros. trilogy on NES. And I probably even liked as much or more than Mario World on SNES. It was the first game I ever beat, so I have that connection with it as well. It's one of those games I can play over and over and never tire of and also play the entire thing start to finish with my eyes closed (not literally) but I do know it very well. As far as classics go, there are a ton of them. But specifically for the sake of this article, I'm sticking with NES classics, because while there are a lot of classic SNES, Sega Genesis, and N64 games (as well as others that came before and after those consoles), NES is the most classic of the Nintendo systems and is what immediately jumps to mind when I hear the word "classic".
Day 25
A Game You Plan On Playing
Dead Space
Now that the new generation of video games is upon us, I can go back and play all the games from last generation that I missed. Dead Space is one such game. Actually, up until recently I never cared to try the game. I think it was after seeing the movie Gravity that it really made me realize just how scary outer space is. Dead Space is probably scary is a different way, but I heard many great things about the series, and I figured it's about time I give it a shot. Who knows, I may even end up loving it. Stranger things have happened.
Day 26
Best Voice Acting
Grand Theft Auto V
Okay, first, let me say I am neither a big fan of voice acting (I mean, I don't really pay attention to it) nor a big fan of Grand Theft Auto games (I just can't get into them) but I can objectively say GTA5 is a fantastic game. But we're talking about voice acting here. Yes, this game has probably the best voice acting in any game I can think of. A lot of the time voice acting comes off as emotionless or robotic, or just plain bad (I'm looking at you Resident Evil). And while I don't go out of my way to acknowledge great voice acting, I tried to think of a game where I felt it was really well done. Andf Grand Theft Auto V wins it.
Day 27
Most Epic Scene Ever
Fighting Bowser in Super Mario 64
Okay, so in retrospect the Bowser fights in Super Mario 64 were a bit of a joke. But if you grew up playing this game, think back to the first time you played it. The first time you saw Mario in 3D. Peach's castle in 3D. Bowser in 3D. By today's standards, Bowser in Mario 64 is very ugly and the fight is a cakewalk, but back then it was hugely epic. It's very hard for me to pick individual scenes of awesomeness, and I haven't been "wowed" by the scenes in the vast majority of games in the last 6 or 7 years, but let's pretend it's 1996. Super Mario 64. Bowser. It was an easy fight, but it was epic.
Day 28
Favorite Game Developer
Nintendo
You'd only be fooling yourself if you thought my answer was going to be anything but. Nintendo defined my childhood, my adolescence, and my college years. While I love many games by many other developers, Nintendo's games seem to be the most timeless. They are the Disney of video games. Years from now people will still look back to Nintendo and its characters such as Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and many others, as video game icons that defined video games for a long time. I love many games that Capcom put out, same with Squaresoft (or Square-Enix), and of course Konami, and Bethesda too. But Nintendo is the only one, even after all these years, that have still managed to surprise and entertain me. They were my first love in video games, and though I may have entertained the thought of other game companies being my favorite, namely pre-merger Squaresoft, I always come back to Nintendo. They are my #1 video game developer and will probably remain so until I cease to play video games (which is probably the day I die.)
Day 29
A Game You Thought You Wouldn't Like But Ended Up Loving
Bioshock
This really goes for the entire series, but the original BioShock is probably the best. Actually it was BioShock Infinite that got me into the series. I bought it randomly one day, at full price, mind you, and I knew almost nothing about the game, other than the fact that it was supposed to be phenomenal. Well, anyway, I normally don't play games that way, buying them at full retail price, and knowing nothing about them, but this one turned out to be a great gamble. I ended up loving the game! In fact, BioShock Infinite is one of my favorite games of all time. Afterwards, I went on to play the original BioShock. Despite loving BioShock Infinite, I wasn't sure if I was going to like BioShock as much as Infinite, if at all. So this worried me. However it was cheap at this point so the risk was low. But when I played the game I was pleasantly surprised! The game is phenomenal! A - dare I say it? - masterpiece! Rapture, the underwater city that is the setting of the game, is easily one of my favorite environments in any game. The gameplay was a bit awkward at first but the story was great and the overall fun was high. I loved BioShock just as much as, if not more than, BioShock Infinite. Both games are phenomenal. And if you know anything about me, you know I hate most First Person Shooters (with a few exceptions). Turns out this is the best FPS of all time (possibly tied with Metroid Prime). This is an absolute must play for anyone who owns a PS3, even if you don't typically enjoy FPS's.
Day 30
Your Favorite Game of All Time
Earthbound
What can I say about Earthbound that properly expresses the way I feel about it? It's more than just a game to me. It's an experience. It's a best friend. Playing a game like Earthbound is like spending time with someone who knows the real you, everything about you, doesn't judge you for anything, and simply exists just to make you happy. This game doesn't have that effect on everyone, of course, but that's how I feel about it. If the entirety of my personality could be boiled down into code and made into a video game, Earthbound would be the end result. There is simply nothing else in the world like it. It is incredibly unique, charming, and quirky, and I love every moment of it. It's not a perfect game but it's a game that I have accepted its flaws, and love it for what it is, much like a soul mate. Earthbound is my video game soul mate. It speaks to me at a very deep level, much more than any other video game ever could. The game has so much personality to it, it's no wonder it developed a huge cult following since its initial release. While I no longer own the actual Super NES cartridge, I can still play it on Wii U Virtual Console. I have played this game probably about 20 times through in my lifetime. I used to play this several times a year when I was younger, then eventually down to once a year, and as of today I haven't played it in its entirety in probably 6 or 7 years. I'm really overdue to replay it. But regardless of whether I play it again, the memories will linger for a lifetime. Like a best friend you were very close with and lost contact with ages ago. Although you don't connect with them today, you remember all the great times you had together. Earthbound is that friend. And, to me, that is what makes this game so special to me.
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