Bucket List
Games
This is MonkeyBoxGaming. The place where games go to be
loved up and down. And because of this, I thought I’d go through some games
that should be on a proverbial bucket list of games that you should play in
your life, preferably before you die. Hence – Bucket List Games.
Now there are a lot of games that would make many others
lists, games that I thought about but ultimately decided against, and games
that I just haven’t played. But the list is as follows.
Super Mario
Bros 3
Now we start with a classic. Essentially, without Mario and
the popularity of Mario, a lot of people wouldn’t be playing games today. The
premise is quite frankly, the stuff of a mad man’s drug induced hallucination.
A pair of Italian plumber brothers end up in a fairy tale land of aggressive
turtles and peaceful mushroom people, and have to rescue a princess from a
weird humanoid crocodile/dragon hybrid. Instant winner right? Well…right!
Platform gaming at its finest, colourful, iconic music, replayable and fun from
start to finish. A game that spawned a generation of gamers, myself included.
Minecraft
This one almost slipped my mind. After chatting with the
wife (Carriecakes) this game immediately came to her mind and rightly so. Open
world gaming at its simplistic best, and again a game with a premise that – on paper
– seems strange in a gaming world of blockbuster Hollywood-esque titles. The
premise is that there is no premise. Just go and build, mine, build, mine and
try not to get killed by the mobs that come out at night and in the dark. Yes
there are bosses, such as the Ender Dragon, but defeating it is no sign of
completion. It’s as addictive a game as has ever been made, and proof that
graphics don’t necessarily make the game. Another game that has spawned a
generation of gamers, but also potential architects in the process.
The Secret
of Monkey Island
Aaah now here is a game that does have a good premise! You
are Guybrush Threepwood, aspiring mighty pirate and all round…erm…how
appropriate! You fight like a cow! Now that’s not right. In a golden age of
Lucasarts Adventure games including The Dig, Indiana Jones and Maniac Mansion
to name a few, Monkey Island came along jam packed with gags and broke the
fourth wall so often that it was reduced to a small pile of bricks and dust.
Point and click adventure games were all the rage, and rightly so, they
illuminated the 90’s gaming scene and seemed like they’d be with us forever.
And after many years in the wilderness, have been resurrected pretty much
single handed by TellTale Games. But that’s all beside the point. From complicated
but ultimately hilarious puzzle quests and a fighting mechanic based on
insulting each other, Monkey Island showed us that games could be funny, while
also being playable. Classic characters like LeChuck or Stan and a game that
consistently hit you with gags and funny lines set in the pirate infested
Caribbean makes this game timeless. The HD remaster took nothing away from the
game (so much so you can switch seamlessly between HD and Classic with the only
difference being the graphics) this is one game that you need to chuckle your
way through to the end.
Wolf 3D
I’ve mentioned Wolf 3D numerous times on this blog, and with
good reason. Now there are lots of firsts in gaming. First game with a female protagonist
(Ms Pac Man), first motion capture game (Rise of Robots), first electronic RPG
(m199h) and many more. However the modern era of gaming can owe a lot to Wolf
3D. Called the “Granddaddy of the FPS”, this game is where modern blockbusters
including Call of Duty and Battlefield can trace their roots. Set in WW2, you
are BJ Blazkowicz, and you are being held prisoner in Castle Wolfenstein, until
you overpower your guard and with a pistol and 8 bullets, you must now fight
through waves of Nazi’s to escape. Well that’s Episode One. You need to
run-and-gun your way through floor after floor of enemies and battle evil
bosses such as Hans and Gretal Grosse, Doctor Schabbs and even Adolf Hitler
himself. A game that must be played at some point in your life to truly
understand the FPS genre.
Candy Crush
Saga
Right let me explain. Candy Crush is a game, and is the only
casual game you’ll see on this list. The reason it is on there is because it’s
a game that keeps pulling you back into it, and is quick and easy to pick up
and play whenever you want. On the bus? Play some Candy Crush. Walking to work?
Play some Candy Crush. Having a dump? Play some Candy Crush. Simple to play and
frustrating as hell at times, you need to play this if only to see why most
people seem to be playing it.
Star Wars:
Knights of the Old Republic
KoTOR for short, this game is epic in scope and set so far
away from the movie franchise (almost 4,000 years in fact) that being a fan of
the films is not necessarily a pre-requisite requirement. A game of huge scope,
friendship, betrayal, love and loss, this Star Wars game is storytelling done
right. Expect to take anywhere between 25 – 40 hours to complete, this is
undoubtedly one of the jewels in the Bioware crown. Wield and customise your lightsaber
(or sabers – plural) hone your Force abilities and walk the line between the
Light and the Dark Side.
GTA: Vice
City
Realistically a list such as this couldn’t go by without a
GTA game involved. And after some soul searching, including thinking about GTA
III where the 3rd person GTA’s started, or San Andreas being quite
simply one of the best games of all time I had to go with Vice City. Set in the
80’s, it’s bright, hard hitting and GTA all over from start to finish. Tommy
Vercetti is the name, and Scarface is the game. Impossible to play without
nodding your head constantly to the amazing soundtrack and a storyline with
such a good backbone to it you’d be mad to bypass it – even though it is easy
enough to do with San Andreas and the most recent iteration of GTA V both being
world beating games. Well worth your time and well worth being on this list.
Red Dead
Redemption
Another Rockstar game, this time set in the dying days of
the Old West. A magnificent and beautiful game that has a storyline worthy of a
multiple award winning movie blockbuster. John Marston is forced by the Federal
Government to do their bidding by hunting down and either bringing in or
killing his old gang-mates in exchange for the safe return of his wife and son.
Revolutions and cattle ranching sit alongside his story and the DLC – Undead Nightmare
– has to be included in this entry as it’s an outstanding additional story that
could have easily been a standalone game (when you consider some games that are
released standalone this is better than a lot of them). Classic GTA style gameplay,
with horses and carts replacing motor vehicles and enough side quests and
places to explore to keep you hooked and keep you coming back for more.
Heavy Rain
Out of any game I’ve played, Heavy Rain is the most like
playing through a movie that I’ve ever experienced. Children are going missing,
and then being found in random locations, drowned with a piece of Origami
placed in their hand. You play a father still coping with the loss of his
oldest son, whose only other son is the latest to go missing. You also play a
private investigator who is looking into the murders himself and looking for
the likely culprit. Oh and you also play as a drug addict FBI agent, who is
drafted into the city to assist in the investigation. And finally you also play
as a freelance photojournalist who suffers from insomnia and night terrors who
ends up looking into the murders herself. The game doesn’t follow the usual
path of games – whereby if you make a mistake, just load your last save and try
again – no it’s a lot harsher than that. You make a mistake with a character, a
mistake that could even kill that character, and that’s it. That character is
now dead and out of the game. Because of this, there are multiple endings for
each character, which then results in multiple overall endings when put
together. Compelling and incredibly drama filled, this game needs to be played
by most gamers if only for the snap decisions you are forced into making
especially when you put yourself in each characters shoes.
Plants vs
Zombies
A lighter note. PvZ is another game on this list with a
ridiculous premise. Zombies are overrunning the world, so your obvious choice
of defence is some sunflowers and pea-shooters. Aided by Crazy Dave and faced
with multiple types of enemy, including the standard zombie, and harder zombies
that might have a bucket on their head or holding a screen door, or zombie
American Footballers or even zombies on the back of zombie dolphins, this game
is as ridiculous as they come. And it’s also one of the most satisfying games
to play and complete that you will ever play. Simple and easy to understand
gameplay, it’s easy to learn but can be quite hard to master. The song at the
end will have you randomly singing in a zombie voice “There’s butter on my head”
for months.
Civilization
II
Civ II is a masterful game of turn based strategy greatness.
Start off with nothing but a unit of nomadic settlers around 3000 BC and start
your empire. Research technologies wage war, make peace, create wonders and vie
to be the greatest Civilization on the planet. Play through scenarios, or play
on a map of our world, or play through randomly generated maps, just play this
game and prepare your body for the lack of sleep that it will bring. One of the
cornerstone games of the 90’s, its popularity deserves an HD remaster with no
extra bells or whistles attached to it. The close second in this series of
games is Civilization V – well worth the outlay as well.
Portal
I suppose not strictly a FPS in the sense that what you’re shooting
is a gun with bullets or lasers or some other projectile meant to harm. What
you’re shooting is a Portal gun. Create 2 portal holes on the walls, floors or
ceilings to create a doorway through the dimensions so you can enter here ->
() and come out…
()-> here. Work your way through the Aperture Science lab
being guided by GLaDOS and work your way to the elusive cake at the end of the
Portal Tunnel…it won’t take you long to play through, but some puzzles will
seemingly take forever. Another game with a wonderful post-game song, and
required playing for sane gamers looking for a slice of insane thinking in
order to get through.
LIMBO
Another game on the list that can easily be described as
simplistic. A platform game set in a strange dark place, inhabited by giant
spiders, Lord of the Flies type kids, random machine gun turrets, gravity
defying machines, and puzzle after puzzle after puzzle after puzzle with an
ending that is as open to interpretation as Inception. A dark world of silhouettes
and danger round every corner and over every jump, prepare to do everything you
can to get your little guy to the end where he is so desperate to be.
Mass Effect
Right. Now a list that I was going to write about this kind
of stuff wouldn’t be complete without Bioware’s space opera. A true action-RPG
in a sci-fi universe that actually dares to be as deep and meaningful as Star Wars
and Star Trek. Politics, a brilliant morality system, and a system of saves
that carry’s your decisions over from one game to the next. You are Commander
Shepard, and this is your story. Now Bioware, famously copped a lot of flak for
the way the trilogy ended, and even more when they released a graphic stating
along the lines of “It’s not the destination it’s the journey” – or something
like that, but over the years that is completely true. There’s nothing like
forging the strong bonds between your crew and fighting insurmountable odds all
the while feeling like you’re a part of a much larger universe. A must play
game (and trilogy) that I’ve probably played enough to fill up the worlds quota
of play time on this game.
Right, well that’s it. For now. If I think of any others or
play a game that make me immediately want to add it on, I’ll let you know.
These aren’t in any particular order and these are just a handful of the great
swathes of amazing games out there.
Toolbox24
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