My Favorite Video Games of All Time Vol. #1 Article by: Gregg Dumont Support KR and share this article with your friends! Share Hello, my name is Gregg Dumont AKA The Butcher and I'm a gamer, in the truest sense of the term. The love for the medium started at the ripe age of six with the Atari 2600. When other kids were out kicking soccer balls around I was working hard on completely every NES game I could get my hands on. I've owed pretty much every console that was released in North America and have played through hundreds of games, over 200 on the NES alone. Below is just a handful of my favorite games of all time, spanning all consoles that were released over the years. Now let's be clear about something... This list doesn't necessarily include the best games of all time. They're my favorite games and they're in no particular order. These are games that I've played through multiple times and will continue to play through in the future. I hope you enjoy the article. They're will be many more in the future. Thanks for reading! ADVENTURE Original Platform: Atari 2600 Recommended Platform: Atari 2600/PC This is arguably one of the first adventure/RPG games ever made. The concept of finding keys, slaying dragons and searching through castles absolutely blew my mind when I was a wee lad. The difference between this game and something like Asteroids was absolutely huge. I also liked how there were three levels of difficulty and all the items in the game (sword, magnet, bridge, keys) were placed at random every time you started a new adventure. Awesome, right? I still play this game on my iPod and through the XBOX Game Room. The game design is absolutely brilliant and was way ahead of it’s time. If only we could say the same for E.T. ROBOTRON 2084 Original Platform: Arcade Recommended Platform: Arcade Ready… Set… GO!!!! That’s pretty much the concept of Robotron 2084. As I write this sentence I’m laughing to myself thinking about when I see someone play this game for the first time. They simply cannot believe how much shit is on the screen at the same time. They usually panic and die within seconds. But this is exactly what I like about Robotron 2084. Think Rambo 3. One man VS. 1000. Yes, it’s one of the hardest games I’ve ever played, but when you’re in the zone, blowing through screens like D.A.R.Y.L. playing Pole Position in 1985, you feel on top of the world. Every time I go to Funspot (Weirs Beach, NH) I play this game till I’ve reached #1 on the high scores. Then, with my heart pounding through my chest, I point to the screen and say “FUCK YOU!”. A little too much maybe? Yeah well, so is Robotron 2084. HALF LIFE 2 Original Platform: XBOX Recommended Platform: Arcade: XBOX 360/PC If you’ve played Half Life 2 then you already know why it’s on the list. It’s simply one of the best games ever made within the shooter genre, or maybe any genre. It’s as cinematic as a Spielberg film, brilliantly paced and more polished than Kim Kardashian’s toe nails. I’ve played through this game four times over the years and I could play through it again tomorrow. I love the strange futuristic world. I love driving around the environment in that cool little dune buggy. I love taking down walkers with rocket launchers. And of course, the Gravity Gun is the best toy of the 21st Century. Half Life 2 just might be my favorite game of all time. If you haven’t experienced this game yet then get on it ASAP. SHADOW OF THE BEAST Original Platform: Amiga Computer Recommended Platform: Amiga/Sega Genesis I was first introduced to Shadow of the Beast back in 1989 while visiting my older brother at college. His roommate introduced me to the game on his Amiga computer and I immediately fell in love. Funny thing is… the game is considered, by some, to be one of the most overrated games of all time. But then you have people like me who absolutely adore it. For me, the game screams atmosphere and I love that. The creatures, environments and backgrounds all feel vibrant and fleshed out. The graphics are even great for the time. The music is moody and memorable. All these elements work together making for one hell of a unique experience. Shadow of the Beast is easily one of the most challenging games I’ve ever played and that keeps me coming back as well. I still have yet to complete it without cheats. But someday it’s going down and you can take that to the bank! DRAGON'S LAIR Original Platform: Arcade Recommended Platform: Arcade/Blu-ray If you’re wondering how Dragon’s Lair got on my list, then you didn’t play this game during the 80’s. Seeing a person control a cartoon with a joystick was magical. I can still remember seeing the game for the first time. It was at Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH. This long-haired kid in his late teens (probably wearing a Metallica shirt) was clearing screens like it was his job. He must have had fifteen people around him watching in awe. (I want all the pretty girls saying “Hey, I hear you’re good at Centipede”). Some people will argue that Dragon’s Lair isn’t even a game, but more of a choose-your-own-adventure, which I can agree with on some level. And if you’re new to the series then you probably will get board rather quickly. But if you’re an old school gamer, like myself, and need an injection of 100% unadulterated 80’s nostalgia then look no further. I still play Dragon’s Lair, Dragon’s Lair: Time Warp and Space Ace on Blu-ray and my iPod. The later releases of the games are just superb. SPLATTERHOUSE Original Platform: Arcade Recommended Platform: Arcade/Turbo Grafx 16 The original SplatterHouse is a game that I can play anytime, anywhere. First off, I love how the main character looks just like Jason Voorhees. It feels like I’m playing a Friday the 13th game throughout and that just happens to be my favorite horror franchise. I also love the level design and creatures. I love picking up a 2 X 4 full of nails and whacking the shit out of everything in front of me. Another favorite element of mine is the bosses. We have a haunted room full of flesh eating slugs, a huge scarecrow guy with chainsaws for hands and a large severed head surrounded by smaller severed heads. (Hey, how about a little head?) At one point you’re even walking through a hall of floating alien fetuses. How awesome is that?! This game screams horror and I love every minute of it. I still have yet to play the sequels, but they’re on my list for a rainy day. STAR WARS: ROGUE LEADER Original Platform: Nintendo Gamecube Recommended Platform: Nintendo Gamecube/Wii Out of the countless Star Wars games I’ve played over the past 25 years, none of them have captured the experience of being in the movies like Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. If you’ve played the game, and had the pleasure of taking down an At-At Walker using only a toe cable, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. The game play is exceptionally tight, which is huge for a flying game. Each and every level is unique and brilliantly designed. And the levels like the Death Star trench and the final level where you’re flying through the Death Star’s inner tunnel structure are amazing. But the best part of the experience for me was completing the game at 100%. This requires the player to find all the hidden power-ups and work on completing levels with better accuracy and quicker run through times. And for all this hard work you got rewarded with more levels. To this day, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader is still the best experience I’ve ever had completing a game to a 100%. MIGHT AND MAGIC VI: THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN Original Platform: PC Recommended Platform: PC Before Dragon Age: Origins… Before Fable… Before the Elder Scroll series… There was a magnificent Role Playing series called Might and Magic. I’m sure some of you remember M&M - Commodore 64 anyone? There were nine games in the franchise and they were all pretty good, but Might and Magic: The Mandate of Heaven was by far the best IMO. This is one of those games where you create a party made up of various character types like: Knight, Paladin, Druid, Archer, etc. You start out fighting rats, goblins, then spiders, skeletons, then weak druids, then Sorcerers and eventually red dragons and minotaur kings (Jesus those guys were hard!). Playing from beginning to end probably took around 100 hours and it truly felt like a journey. The game designers were masters at creating memorable moments/quests and knew just when to give you that magical sword or new higher level spell. It’s great too how you can journey to any part of the world at any time (for the most part). So you can see dragons and think… maybe someday I’ll be able to beat them. Overall, Might and Magic: The Mandate of Heaven just might be my favorite role playing game of all time.