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33 Games for 33 Years – Part 3

33 Games for 33 Years – Part 3

This is Part 3 of  my list of 33 games I’ve played, that I decided to share and comment on for fun, since I turned 33 on the 16th. There is so much to say that I’ve had to break this down into a few blogs. Here’s a link to Part 1 in case you missed it and to Part 2 as well. Commentaries may contain spoilers.

20) Jade Empire

jade empire

One of the best games in terms of surprises you didn’t see coming. Up there with Revan. The characters are fun and interactive and the story is deep. The lore is that of a basic Asian background but takes it into a mythical and historical combined aspect and it’s really nice to see the story come together when discovering who some of the people you are fighting truly are or were. The Water Dragon is a riveting character as well. If you’ve not played this one, I urge you to. One of Bioware’s best games and it’s so good, people keep saying there should be a sequel but a sequel will never live up to Jade Empire’s standards. There can only be one of its kind.

21) Psychonauts
    psychonauts1
Imagine being a cadet, except you have the special ability to telepathically enter a person’s mind and within their mind, bring order to chaos, uncover hidden mysteries to help someone remember something they’d forgotten, calm an angered person, heal past wounds and trauma by helping uncover a memory they’d repressed (that actually would come in handy for some of my issues). Well, as a Psych-cadet, you can do all that and more AND there are the cute little traveling suitcases that cry and when you bring them their matching tag, they get all giddy and happy and do a little cute dance. It’s the Emotional Baggage! Aw! They’re so cute! I never got through the final boss fight though, the guy’s baby self in his mind is one tough boss. The game presents so many fun reflections and parallels with real mental and emotional issues and illustrates what could be going on when one delves deep into their mind. I strongly recommend this game, I really enjoyed it.

22) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

PrinceofPersia1

Different, innovative and it establishes a nice story, even if it’s not really story based or an RPG. It presents a lot of possibilities in the realm of time and space. The movie does not do the game justice, although I enjoyed it for entertainment purposes. If you want the true experience, you’ve got to play the game.

23) Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

PrinceofPerisa2

This one’s interesting, moreso than the first. You have to jump back and forth between the present time and the past and you run after some beast that’s trying to kill you. You keep jumping back and forth trying to change the Timeline, trying to make the Sands of Time not exist or have been created later in the timeline, but ultimately, ‘’you cannot change your fate’’. More explorations about time and the past and the possibilities the realms of time could unlock.

24) Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

PrinceofPersia3

This is the one where you morph into a beast from time to time. Sometimes you’re the Prince and other times, you’re this sand eating beast. Basically it’s an evil side to yourself. The Prince has been infected and has split into two personalities and each possess unique powers. The game presents an interesting end to the trilogy.

25) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

linktothepast

I could never get past when you change the world and Link is a bunny. I got stuck. I vaguely remember the story, but I remember having fun playing it.

26) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ocarina-of-Time

Now this is the game that splits the Zelda timeline into three. Another game where the hero jumps in time from present to past, adult Link and child Link. One of the best Zelda games to exist. An action RPG, although somewhat linear, the story does have depth and the characters are fun. (I mention more about that in my Zelda/Star Wars crossover theory blog.)

27) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

twilight-princess

Okay, people will say Ocarina of Time is the best Zelda game, I say it’s Twilight Princess. Much like the former, it presents some new characters and a new story altogether, and Link is a teen, so everything that’s going on is more mature. He is aided by Midna to help save Hyrule from the Twilight and also help Midna’s world, the Twilight realm. The ending has a really nice reveal too. Songs are similar, but there are new ones too. If you liked Ocarina, you’ll like this one.

28) The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker / Majora’s Mask

Majora'smaks

These are two that I never actually completed. From the Adult Link Timeline, Windwaker presents a different Link, much farther into the future. I don’t know if it’s the cartoonish style that put me off but I sort of gave up on it partly near the beginning of the first big dungeon level. I like the ideas presented, that this Link is a future person but not THE Link that keeps reincarnating in all these parallel realities. As for Majora’s Mask, from the Child Link Timeline, it’s the fact that you only have three days to complete a dungeon that put me off. Even with time slowed, I just could not get passed the third dungeon. I like the concept though about the moon crashing down on Hyrule. A shame I never got to the end of it.

29) Super Mario Bros.

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Ok, I don’t really have anything to say about these except that we all probably played them like a gazillion times and found all the cheat codes and ways to gain 99 lives (jump on koopa shell) and all the warp zones because we were tired of hearing ‘’Sorry but your Princess is in another castle’’.

30) Super Mario Bros. 2 / The Lost Levels

mario2

Did you know that Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels was the original Japanese Mario 2, but they changed it for a dumbed down easy game for North Americans? Good to know that they think we wouldn’t be able to complete the Lost Levels…my brother did, we helped each other, I gave up though. Nintendo changed the name and characters of that easy game to make it be Mario 2. That’s why it’s so different and weird. And what’s with the walking clocks? And that…mask that goes after you every time you grab a key, it’s annoying. And can we not have pink dinosaurs that regurgitate eggs at you!

31) Super Mario Bros. 3

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Ah back to normal Mario, let’s dawn on a frog suit, hop through in a sock and never figure out how to defeat the final boss, too many flying tanks and boats.

32) Super Mario 64

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‘’It’s-ah me, Mario, hallo!’’ /Jumps into painting, runs up stairs, runs, runs, runs, stairs never end, ah ok, needs more stars, runs again, grabs Bowser by the tail and spinnnnn! Hehe. I actually enjoyed the creepy haunted carnival with all the ghosts. And it wasn’t just 2D. Oh, did you lose track of time stretching Mario’s nose and deforming his entire face too?

33) Mario World / Yoshi’s Island

marioworld

I group these together because they are in a different world, you go through levels in regions and Yoshi has a major presence in both. The difference is in the first, Mario is an adult, you don’t have to ride Yoshi, but it’s best to, and when you finish the star levels, all the Koopas have Mario faces with blue caps on. That’s pretty funny. The second, you’re a baby, you have to be on Yoshi, otherwise you cry annoyingly and Yoshi keeps…scratching his chin? Picking his nose? Lighting a cigar? What is he doing, it looks weird. There are also these fuzzy white things floating in the air in some levels, and if you touch them, the music goes weird, the image starts moving, it’s quite psychedelic actually, it’s as though Yoshi walked into some sort of drug and now he and Mario are high.

Thanks for reading. You can expect some more blogs about these 33 games soon and I’ve got some meaty backstories for SWTOR characters for you all, so be sure to check back in soon.

[wpchatai]