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Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Games you go back to

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06:02 / 04.09.06

The look is dated. The gameplay is simple and at times even tedious. I have about 5 better games sitting around that I haven't finished yet. But for some reason, I'm playing Diablo II again. (If you see a sorceress called Elsha on battlenet, say hi)

It's all the sets and runes you can collect. I'm a terrible sucker for that kind of stuff, the reward centre of your brain all lit up when you whack a monster and you're rewarded with a really rare item oh boy only 4 more to go! All the game really is is a probability engine with graphics. It's almost soothing.

There's been a massive glut of new games in the past 5-10 years as the industry just exploded and the crowded market is exhilarating and a little depressing all at once, because you know you'll never have the time to try out all the games out there. There are still some other favorites I always revisit though:

-Planescape: Torment, arguably the finest story ever told in a videogame. I'll argue it, certainly. I'll go back to it every three or four years to see if the magic is still there and it always is. I have no idea why they've never re-issued the Planescape setting in all its rich, cosmopolitan glory, and keep using the more generic Forgotten Realms instead. (Maybe a copyright or lisencing issue, or maybe Wizards of the Coast has no taste? It could be both)

-System Shock 2/Thief 1/Thief 2: Looking Glass Studios was always pushing the boundaries of what a game could make you feel, bringing a really cool, mature edge to their worlds. (And the sound design! Eric Brosius is their composer and resident sound expert. Hearing he's working on the "spiritual successor" to System Shock 2, "Bioshock", was a happy day.) All three usually wind up on my PC after a couple of years away from them.

-Clive Barker's Undying: Not perfect, but I think it's one of the best FPS horror games out there that delivered an eerie atmosphere and grotesque horrors instead of canned scares and bland monsters. (The scythe is also the best-implemented melee weapon I've ever used in a first-person shooter)

-Tetris. It's my favorite puzzle game of all time and appears in my gameboy with great frequency.

So what games does everyone else return to time and time again?

10:19 / 04.09.06

I've been playing Civilisation 2 since... 1996? Wow. For me it became kind of traditional, as winter set in, to start up a new civilisation and play it out over the Christmas period, ginger wine in hand. So much has been written about Civilisation, not much needs to be said. But I love how its so (I'm sorry but i have to say it)... civilised. Due to its turn-based nature, you have the leisure to take time over your decisions, to browse the "Civlopedia" and actually learn interesting historical stuff, and to indulge in port and cheese. I don't think I've ever learnt so much from a game, and I love its magnificent scope and length. I recently bought Civ 4, and its very good. I may just be being sentimental, but it seems to slightly lack some of the magic of the second one, though I haven't really given it a good go yet. I do miss the amusing FMV advisors you got in the second one, that updated their costumes and dialect as time went on. I guess this is made up for by the excellent music in the new one that changes to reflect the different eras in history that are passed through.

I also can't help returning to the classic Lucas Arts graphic adventure games, particularly Monkey Island 1 and 2. For some reason I'm a sucker for these sort of games, and they simply don't make them like they used to. The sheer humour and inventiveness of the Monkey Island games can be enjoyed again and again, like a classic film or episode of the Simpsons. Never has a game made me laugh out loud as much.

14:35 / 04.09.06

Football Manager - in its earlier guise as Championship manager - has been eating away at my life for nearly 10 years now. I dream about it when I'm not playing. I finally have started to get into the whole reading every detail about the players and their skills rather than just buying the players that I know and going for it with them. It seems to be working too.

Old, old school, would be asteroid, I played it recently in a shop and got sucked right back into it - made me want to find one of those plug into your teevee controllers - but so far I haven't.

09:17 / 05.09.06

Ah, the Lucasfilm adventures. I replay the first two Monkey Island games every year. I never tire of the jokes or the music. Not ever.

Speedball 2 has been a recurring habit of mine for (mumbles) years. I have a genuine affection for the players of Brutal Deluxe that far outweighs any talk of an excess of trademark Bitmap Brothers chrome, not-cool-even-then music and a hell of a difficulty leap when you go up a league. And, of course, I can't get enough of that guy saying, "Ice cream! Ice cream".

Oh, and Powermonger. I can't really explain that one, though. It's fiddly, fairly unrewarding, confusing and mostly brown.

My Mom Thinks I'm Cool

16:58 / 05.09.06

I've been playing Diablo II for about two weeks now. I generally rotate between that and Civ: Call to Power (we refer to it as "Civ 2.5" in my apartment - I'd prefer Civ 2 proper but I lost the !*&! disk.) As for console games, I never buy anything before it's years out of date...I spent most of 2003 with my roommate in an attempt to beat Section Z on the 8 bit NES. Fucking section Z. God damn that game. Mega Man 1, Castlevania 1...Shit! Why is my Nintendo in storage? Why??

09:57 / 08.09.06

System Shock 2 is one I revisit from time to time, though not as often as Deus Ex (the first one, not the crappy sequel) or Masters of Orion 2.

MOO2 may be shelved now though, as I recently picked up GalCiv2 - and while it is lacking the tactical option, it is a good replacement for MOO2 in all other ways (unlike the dire MOO3).

Freelancer sees reasonably regular action as well.

I primarily go back to these games because nothing released in recent years matches them in their genre.
I have high hopes for Bioshock though. If it turns out to be as good as it sounds, it'll replace Deus Ex and System Shock quite nicely.

Still waiting on a good open Freelancer/elite-esque space sim. Had some hopes for Darkstar One, but they seem to be have been scuppered in the release version.

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:36 / 08.09.06

Look like there are some hardy perennials. I get Deus Ex out every couple of years and play it through, and every time I am astonished by what Ion Storm achieved.

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The way you are made to feel sorry for Gunther Hermann, and funny-in-the-tummy for Anna Navarre, is remarkable. My oh-my-God moment with Deus Ex, apart from beautiful moments like superspeeding past Simons and locking him in a room with a machine-gun turret (get _that_ welded, sweetheart!), is when I was using the camouflage mod a lot, and the MJ-12 soldiers started muttering about how they had heard that this terrorist could become invisible. That sort of responsivity was breathtaking. Well, that and the ladies' toilets.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

15:16 / 08.09.06

Deus Ex for me too.

In fact, I think I may install it again now. Just for a few minutes, of course. Not for, like, weeks again, or anything...

Oh, who the fuck am I trying to kid? I'll see you all at Christmas.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

16:21 / 08.09.06

Deus Ex for me, especially because I like hearing people call it DooSex,

The Fallout games will always have a special place in my heart as well. I have been considering making a Vault 13 jump suit for years.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

16:25 / 08.09.06

Just reinstalled Deus Ex... and by crikey, it looks good on my current PC, better than it ever did before. Only problem- it's FAST. Almost unplayably so. Is there a way to rectify this? Or am I doomed to have wicked action at the expense of any atmosphere whatsoever?

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

16:46 / 08.09.06

Stoat, are you running XP?
if so:
You MIGHT try right clicking on the executable file for the game and running it in win98 compatability mode, this may slow it down to old school speed.

18:49 / 08.09.06

Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage for the SNES.
I got it in 1995, when I started reading Spider-Man comics (I even liked the Maximum Carnage storyline back then), and I was blown away by the graphics and soundtrack. Venom and Carnage were the gods of cool.
Itself, the game is indeed dated. Boring, repetitive beat'em up with endless thugs to punch. I guess only a kid could actually enjoyed it at the time. More than 10 years have passed, but I still return religiosly to this game.

21:23 / 08.09.06

I love the really open levels of Deus Ex and the variety of choices available.
(Apparently it is possible to complete the entire game while only killing one person)

The first one with it's wide open spaces and multitude of choices (even though the NSF could have done with a better AI).

The Airfield level before you have to choose between the rebel guy (lebedev?) and anna. Again - nice open spaces to play with.

Hong Kong is just fantastic - so much to see and do there I was almost overwhelmed. I know that, even now after so many plays through, I've missed something there.

The other great thing about this game is the cool book/movie references scattered throughout.

(To be honest...it all comes down to the fact that you get told off by your boss in UNATCO HQ if you go visit the ladies toilets there *8-). Cracks me up every time).

09:33 / 10.09.06

Having dispatched the big project I've been putting off for two years which made me feel guilty about playing games, I am so looking forward to getting back into games big style. First up, finish GTA, then throw in Deus Ex and relive the sheer joy of a well-written bit of nostalgia.

13:38 / 10.09.06

I still play Final Fantasy 6 around once a year, still the best in the series in my humble opinion and on the very odd occasion I will dust off my 2600 and break my wrists playing Joust.

Mario is always fun for Retro goodness.

Kiltartan Cross

14:41 / 10.09.06

Firetrack, it's a lovely shoot-em-up from back in the, uh, distant past. Great theme tune (this from an 8 bit beeb, mind), very difficult; even though there's a limited number of enemy types (eight?), each has a different mode of attack, and by the later levels you can pretty much expect to face waves of all of them at once, all firing nasty homing mines at ya at super-mega-turbo speed.

Oh, and SMAC/X; to my mind the best of the Civ games, for several reasons but most particularly the diplomacy engine, which just has more style and individuality than previous and subsequent efforts in the series. Plus, of course, I can't resist a good star. Which might perhaps explain why I also go back to FFE, I mean, the damn thing has a mostly accurate map of local space out to 20ly, c'mon! Never mind the excessive bugginess, dull combat and ludicrous military advancement missions; there's little to beat taking the Argent's Quest for a spin out to Polaris.

Deus Ex and System Shock I both liked, but for some reason have never been compelled to go back to.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:41 / 10.09.06

Woohoo! Got Deus Ex running properly, and crikey, it's good to be back.

17:10 / 10.09.06

1) Pilotwings on my darling SNES still has a habit of devouring my time even after all these years. A shining example of the "oh shit it's four in the morning and my eyes hurt" genre of videogamery.

2) CHAOS: a shareware zx spectrum game from the late eighties. Multiplayer, up to eight i think, although i don't actually *have* seven friends (see 1). Kind of like a very simple version of Magic: The Gathering. Cast lots of cheesy spells and wreak senseless and total destruction upon your fellow wizards. Still the most fun multiplayer game in the world for my money.

Kiltartan Cross

20:17 / 10.09.06

CHAOS

Which reminds me, on grounds of the author and all: however did I forget to say UFO? (Especially given my addiction to the stellar LSN, one of the few we-go tactical games out there (the Combat Mission series being the only other ones that spring to mind).)
Anyway, UFO, the original and best: nothing beats the opportunity to make like the Dirty Pair with rocket launchers while 'rescuing' hapless civilians from ravening Chrysalids in the dark. Er, well, it's good for a giggle.

I'll stop before my uncontrollable masculine urges to carnage and violence become too pronounced. Now, where did I leave that bazookoid?

Kay is under Mind Control.
Kay has gone berserk!
Fwoomp... fwoomp... zappazappazappa...
Kay has panicked!

05:48 / 11.09.06

Transport Tycoon!

There's something so relaxing and enjoyable about this game. I remember at the time (mid 90s?) that the graphics were incredible, and the greens and towns are lovely to look at...

I usually only play it on easy difficulty, with no vehicle breakdowns, and sit for a good 30 years of game time setting up a train and boating empire... the game does get a bit dull though after 30 years, and I've only once made it the full 100 to finish the game. (although getting bullet trains and monorails in the 80s/90s gives you something more to do for the remaining decades of gameplay...)

11:01 / 11.09.06

If you like Transport Tycoon, you'll love OpenTTD, which takes your data files from TT Deluxe (also available on Abandonware sites) and turns TT into a cross-platform (Linux/OSX/Windows) windowed game.

And adds eight-player multiplayer mode, oh yes.

It's really fucking good.

16:19 / 11.09.06

The games that I will inevitably go back to, during my entire life:
Super Smash Brothers Melee (hard to believe it's been out 5 years or so)
AND
Super Smash Brothers

Greatest game franchise of all time. Hopefully Super Smash Brothers Brawl won't suck. I'm just shocked that nobody has thought to make a clone (or an improvement / ripoff) for another console or PC.

19:27 / 12.09.06

Oh, how good was it to finish GTA:SA? Oohhohhhhh, I love this game and will return to San Andreas to fly my Harrier every month or so.
OK, so into Deus Ex, then.
Other games I return to time and again include the RAilroad Tycoon series and various flavours of Civ. I'd like to say the same about SimCity, but the politics annoy me every time, so I give up.

21:53 / 12.09.06

Halo 2 keeps bringing me back.....The multiplayer, of course.

22:43 / 12.09.06

If you like Transport Tycoon, you'll love OpenTTD...

...wow! That's looks great! Thanks!

14:51 / 15.09.06

Rome Total War and it's many mods on the go. Unreal Tournament 2004 and the still scarey Alien Vs. Predator II.

15:12 / 15.09.06

soul calibur. Soul Calibur. SOUL CALIBUR!!!!

Obviously, the first one, on the DC. One of the most beautifully honed and timed fighting systems ever to be created. Graphics that still manage to look fluid and crisp seven years later (is it really that long?)

It even had a one-player adventure mode that kicked ass and trained you up to zen-ninja levels of twitch responsiveness. I remember playing 'winner stays on' with five of my friends and having to change the rules, cos I'd won the past 100 battles...

I was using Mitsurugi tho...

The fact that someone can come an button-mash their way into a fun and flowing battle, yet a hardcore player can spend years plumbing the depths of every character.

C'est magnifique

It's a shame the sequels weren't as good. 2 was okay, but it just lacked that sharpened edge that the first had.

I might go back and complete adventure mode sometime. Once I can shake this damned WoW addiction.

For that matter, I still love most of my DC games. Sonic adventure is niiice, though i only really play it to blast around the first level. Jet Set Radio, Rez, KoF, Tokyo Highway Challenge...

I Love my DC. I haven't bought (or felt the need to buy) another console since.

08:39 / 16.09.06

I'll second that Soul Caliber love. The best version by far. My expartner and I used to work out our frustrations on this. She had all the high scores for the challenges (stubborn character) and I would usually win the 2P battles (dirty street fighter, could read her like a book)

Super Mario Kart on the SNES. The most intense 2P experience if you were evenly matched.

I sold my DC and SNES to trim down my stuff and raise some cash. Got a DS now. And Advance Wars is looking like a long term keeper.

10:09 / 16.09.06

I sold my DC and SNES to trim down my stuff

seems like cutting off a limb to lose some weight...

10:49 / 16.09.06

Ah, but I was moving abroad. Most of my friends have a house of their own full of stuff. My life, at about the half way point, fits into a one cubic metre.

11:12 / 16.09.06

Count me in with Soul Calibur. Until my DC gave up the ghost, it was basically a Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi machine. I could play the [game mode where you fight enemy after enemy with just a wee health top-up between each fight] pretty much endlessly.

hanabius yamamura

19:09 / 16.09.06

... the legend of soul calibur will never die ...

h

18:00 / 17.09.06

Street Fighter II. Every couple of months the SNES will get hooked up, and pretty soon we remember where the other controller is. Then it's 6 straight hours of HADOKEN! while battling with my brother.

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. I've got Jedi Academy, but for some reason JK2 is just...better. The gradual shift from FPS to jedi mode is always a fun experience, and the multi-player is just so well done.

Starcraft. Sometimes, you just need additional pylons in your life.

Harvest Moon. Anytime I'm too sick to go to class, I start up a new game of everyone's favorite farming RPG/sim. The SNES version only though.

Earthbound. Great SNES RPG that keep coming back to. If for nothing else than the great music and the thrill of SMMAAAASHHHHing menacing crows.

I could keep going for a while. Most of my favorite games are atleast 7 years old. Most are also on the SNES. (oh hey, my 667th post, I'm no longer evil!)

20:27 / 17.09.06

Ah, Bubble Bobble is my poison. Only on the rare occasion that I'm sitting down with a partner to blitz all 100 levels in one go. Love that game. First got it for the speccy and worked my way up from there through the ST, Game Boy and finally MAME. I could honestly listen to that looping tune for days and days on end.

As for Street Fighter 2...

Up until a month or so ago I would have said that too, but since I've been catching up with the Dreamcast's fantastic library, I have to say that SF 3 has eclipsed it. I can't believe I never played it before.

Supers, Parries, Guard Parries, Taunts... that silky animation.... the weight behind it all. It really is just SF 2 made better in all the ways you didn't even know it needed. I went back to Super SF2 the other day and it really just didn't feel the same at all. This'll be a fixture for a loooong time yet.

I've also been known to lose the odd week every year or so to Shenmue and Shenmue 2. I'm feeling the twitch again....

03:38 / 18.09.06

Prince of Persia. 256 colors, the time lag between hitting the keys and watching him react, and his completely unreal upper body strength and general athleticism. Such a great puzzle game, beautifully animated and perfect in its two dimensional simplicity, with some blood and a few gruesome ends for our hero just for good measure.

Also seconding tetris, which I still play all the time, using a crisp shiny downloaded version. I recall the original music and the Soviet-themed details with fondness, though, and some regret.

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