My top 10 all time favorite games? OK, here it goes.......
1) Gauntlet- arcade. This was the game that got me through college. The multi-player action was cool, how each character had his own strengths and weaknesses. Everyone always argued over who got to be the Wizard, but I liked the Warrior and the Valkyrie also. The Elf was OK too.......
2) The Entire Wing Commander Series- PC. Chris Roberts and Origin made me a life-long fan with these. The story line was complex and really kept my interest. The series featured many firsts for me in a PC game series- speech, expansion packs, full motion video, etc. I enjoyed everything about all 5+ installments and have only 1 regret: They aren't making any more.
3) Doom- PC. The standard in first person shooters that everything since has tried to best. Playing Death Match or cooperatively over a network was one of the coolest gaming experiences I have ever had. I am in the process of making $500 in unpgrades to my PC so I am ready to play Doom III when it hits the stores. Need I say more?
4) Robotron- arcade. I probably put more quarters into Robotron than any other game except Gauntlet. The two joysticks were way cool.
5) Rogue Squadron- PC. Truly the first PC game ever made that lived up to the Star Wars name- breathtaking graphics, great flight controls, interesting mission profiles, and a unique scoring system. This game wasn't perfect, but it was way ahead of its time. Even today, having first played it almost 7 years ago, my pulse quickens when I hear the opening score and the laser blasts in the background.
6) Aces of the Pacific- PC. Until I bought this game I had no idea how cool computer games could be. I had actually avoided them and only played games on my Sega Genesis. Boy was I shocked when I loaded it and tried it for the first time. I was hooked within 2 minutes. For its time it was the best combat flight simulator, hands down. I have yet to find its modern equivalent desspite many attempts.
7) Moon Patrol- arcade. This was a great game from the "Golden Age"
of arcades. The biggest thrill was finally beating it all the way through level "Z" for the first time. Of course, then it started over.......
8) Granada- Sega Genesis. The leap in technology from an Atari 2600 to the Sega Genesis was absolutely astounding. I had almost given up on home systems, but I was literally blown away the first time I saw a Genesis. Grenada happened to be the game being played. I guess it was fate for Grenada turned out to be my favorite arcade-style game I ever saw for that system. It was hard, and beating it for the first time was a real accomplishment.
9) Joe Montana Sports Talk Football- Sega Genesis. Probably the only sports game I ever really liked. The action was non stop. I must have broken 3 controllers by throwing them after a missed tackle, a fumble, or an interception. We would play tournaments and compete for a trophy.
10) Adventure- Atari 2600. A great fantasy game complete with castles, dragons, a confounded bat, and a magic chalice. The graphics were about par for the atari, the sound was OK, and the premise was slightly above average. The neat thing about the game was it had the first "Easter Egg" of any offering then made. So, in a way, it set a prescedent for all that followed.
Honorable mention:
1) Abrams Battle Tank- Sega Genesis. I once took an entire Saturday, 10 hours, and played the game non-stop from start to finish. I had never done that before, nor have I done it since.
2) Hydro Thunder- arcade. The concept is novel, the gameplay unforgiving, the rewards well worth it if you manage to win a race. It really felt good seeing my initials up on the machine in Orlando's Friday's Front Row 2 years after I put them there. The adaptation to Playstation isn't too bad.
3) Specter- PC. This was a fun tank game which had a neat 1 versus 1 multiplayer option. I spent hours kicking my neighbor's ass with a borrowed modem and a serial cable running from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor of my apartment building.
4) Knights of the Sky- PC. Another flight simulator but with a multiplayer option, much like Specter. This WWI dog fighter was another blast to play via a borrowed modem.
) and Civilization.
