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The holidays really slowed my progress on my Top 10 decade lists. But I'll be cranking these out a lot quicker now. Here is my Top 10 of 2000 in case out missed it.
2001 was a landmark year for the start of amazingly important franchises as well as revolutionary steps forward for other ones. The year could be considered as the one that truly defined the steamroller that was the PS2.
Big games you will not find on my list:
Grand Theft Auto 3 -- I respect it. I just don't particularly love it.
Halo -- Halo succeeds as a mulitplayer game. Control innovation aside, the series has been nothing more than that for me. And I started multiplayer in Halo 2.
Phantasy Star Online -- I missed this one. And I had Diablo 2. So, yeah.
Brad's Top 10 of 2001:
1. Advance Wars -- I was skeptical of this game at first. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to play a strategy game without the heavy RPG elements of a game like Final Fantasy Tactics. Well I was terribly stupid, as Advance Wars easily became my favorite pure strategy game to date. The units are incredibly well balanced and the AI is fiendishly reactive to anything you throw at it -- there is something very Chess-like about this very well made strategy game. OMG I just got this crazy-ass craving to play some Advance Wars!
2. ICO -- I heard about this game shortly after it came out. I thought it sounded terrible. About a year later I finally tried out the game and found it incredibly slow and a bit boring -- the game was, after all, a glorified escort mission with a girl and a kid wielding a stick. A couple of years later I sat down and gave this game another try and beat it. What I found was a beautiful story with barely a word spoken throughout. There was no lengthy dialogue, no cheesy narrator, and no notes lying around explaining what was going on. Because of the way the characters interacted and reacted to their environment and the way that they interacted and reacted to each other, the relationship that developed did not happen in cut-scenes -- it happened as you played the game.
3. Devil May Cry -- This is possibly the most innovative 3d action game ever made. When I saw the very first footage of this game back in 2000, my jaw was literally on the floor (I was lying down). I had never seen an action game move with such speed and soaked in so much style. While I was expecting something more along the lines of Resident Evil, I instead got what became the birth and standard of the modern character-action genre.
4. Final Fantasy X -- This one is hard for me to discuss. I know I really loved this game while playing it, and had about 130 hours clocked on my first play-through. I remember really liking the story, and still think it has one of the best endings ever in a JRPG. The purely turn based combat was surprisingly strategic and the Sphere Grid was a bold change to the traditional formula. But for some reason, I feel this game (and many JRPGs I played in the past) might fail to stand the test of a current day re-playing. This is understandable for other genres, but RPGs are supposed to be timeless, right? One day I will put this game to the test. As it stands, it is one of my favorite games of 2001.
5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty -- I HATE that people actually call this a bad game. While Metal Gear Solid 1 is my favorite of the bunch, it is the sequel that truly revolutionized this series and genre. All the huge AI leaps this game made were astounding. The new ways Snake could interact with the environment and the enemy AI was years ahead of its time. The first person shooting and the functionality of location based damage (shooting legs to impair movement, radios to stop reinforcements, etc), was a huge step forward and had not been matched until Resident Evil 4. Bottom line is that Metal Gear Solid 2 is what defined the current MGS gameplay model. Now go play Metal Gear Solid 1 (PS1) again and realize just how simple that game is in comparison.
6. Super Smash Bros. Melee -- My second year at UT, a high school friend was placed completely randomly across the hall from me in one of the the largest college dorms in the country. He also had this game and a Gamecube. I blame him for my poor third semester at UT.
7. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec -- The only racing sim I've ever fell for. And I fell hard. I had no idea how to tune or even drive a car, but slapping the most expensive turbo into a Toyota Super seemed like an effective strategy. What surprised me was how content rich and how addictive unlocking all that content can be. There was something incredibly well paced about this beautiful and polished racing game.
8. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages -- 2d Zelda games >>>> 3d Zelda games. Now and forever.
9. Twisted Metal: Black -- The "real" Twisted Metal 3. Now where is my "real" Twisted Metal 4, Jaffe?
10. Shadow Hearts -- Don't believe the hype! This is better than Shadow Hearts 2 any day.
Just missed the list:
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 -- My favorite Tony Hawk game. The Airport! Fuck yeah!
Onimusha: Warlords -- A great start to a great series.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Red Faction
What's on your list?
Brad
Comments
14 years, 11 months ago
2d zelda will always have a place in my heart. Plus they are just the kind of thing you can go back to regardless of how many years its been and just get back into it.
14 years, 11 months ago
This list is missing Max Payne.
14 years, 11 months ago
My game of the year for 2001 was Final Fantasy X, with Shadow Hearts falling closely behind it. Both represent what I love so much about RPG's. Story, characters, battle, setting, levelling.
14 years, 11 months ago
Jak and Daxter would have to go on my list for 2001 games.. Allthough like quite a few old platformers, not reall sure how that would play compared to the games nowadays; I'm almost too scared to actually go back and play it again in case I somehow ruin the great memories of that game.
Some fond memories of SSX Tricky also.. I think that was a 2001? game, not quite sure, but it was pretty fun regardless. And of course some Golden Sun on the GBA. Loved that game too.
14 years, 11 months ago
Onimusha, great START to a great SERIES!?!?!?!?!
I'd say that Onimusha 1 was the BEST one of the series. 2 was pretty good but they just went' extremely down hill from there. This could have be a Ninja Gaiden/Devil May Cry competitor but they botched.
I mostly agree with your statement on Zelda games. even the the oracle duo was made by capcom they were both very good.
Metal Gear Solid 2 was my favorite till I got sucked in to 3. In fact I got every dog tag on every difficulty on MGS2. 3 totally sucked me in but only for about 2 playthroughs with little to no extras. 1 was good and 4 mediocre. I'll give 4 another shot soon but what you say about 2 is true, Raiden was just as fun to play as snake.
I'd have to see what else came out in 2001 but I agree with what you say.
14 years, 11 months ago
Other notables you missed in 2001 the first few are what I would have put instead of a few of yours.
Silent Hill 2 (although I disliked it immensly in 2001 I recently enjoyed it thoroughly)
Golden Sun (arguably better than the GBC Zeldas)
Mario Kart Super Circuit (best MarioKart after Mariokart 64, it included all the SNES tracks)
Other notables
Black and White
Paper Mario
Dragon Warrior 7
Frequency
Tony Hawk 3
14 years, 11 months ago
Brad, you're my new crush for listing TMB. Yes, bring on the next TM Jaffe!
14 years, 11 months ago
As for my list for 2001:
GTA3 was the beginning of my downfall of late night sessions of spraying people down with the firetruck and glitching the shit out of the game with the Gameshark.
Onimusha kicked all kinds of ass and then some. Too bad it fell off the radar after the 4th one.
Silent Hill 2 was the first game to make me sit in a certain area for minutes because I was scared shitless.
14 years, 11 months ago
If you got a PS2 in 2001 and played the games that came out that year, you cant shake the feeling that you wont feel as amazed ever again.Sure,the Dreamcast came out in 99 and there were a few great games and most of the games looked amazing.But the games that came out on PS2 in 2001 were so amazing that the entire videogame industry would change because of those games.
14 years, 11 months ago
Great list. I think almost everyone holds a spot for SSBM on their 2001 lists.
Phantasy Star Online Ep.1 for dreamcast IS what your will find first and foremost on my list. I absolutely loved that game and it alone was worth me buying a dreamcast for.
Paper Mario - In my top 3 RPG's to this day. I went back and replayed it on VC last year it and still held up perfectly for me. So much charm.
Conkers Bad Fur Day - All fart jokes and crude humor aside, its still an amazing platformer that really pushed, and I mean REALLY pushed with the limits of the N64.
Grand Theft Auto 3 - This one speaks for itself.
Luigi's Mansion - May have been short, but damn it was fun while it lasted.
Golden Sun - The first hand held game that really griped me enough to the point where i would sit at home for hours with my arctic gba under a bright desk light instead of playing consoles.
14 years, 11 months ago
Well Brad, PSO wouldn't have made your list I think because of all the glitches...
Then again, it's almost like Diablo. Maybe you would have, despite all the hacks.
...but yea. Advance Wars is a win.
14 years, 11 months ago
I hate to let my age limit me in any kind of conversation, but I was 7 when most of these games came out. I wasn't really playing games much at that age. But going back, there were many great games coming out that year. Great list though.
14 years, 11 months ago
Brad, I knew MGS2 was going to be on the list since last night. I agree with you 100% on MGS2 being one of the best games of 2001.
I'm suprised, however, that SSBM made the list. I guess I never figured you for a SSB fan, but another good game for 2001, IMO.
14 years, 11 months ago
Gameplay wise, yeah, MGS2 was a huge step forward. Raiden and pretty much everything else about the game killed it for me. I pushed through it and beat the game despite wanting to stop several times. Snake reappearing as "Pliskin", a nod to Snake Plissken of the awesome "Escape From L.A./New York" movies whom his character was modeled after, is what kept me going really. I wanted to shove nails into ears after listening to Rose bitching at Raiden over codec through out most of the game. The whole acid trip like ending also kind of put me off too.
14 years, 11 months ago
Red Faction just missed the list? That game controlled like a drunk shopping cart.
14 years, 11 months ago
Hope Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance makes it in your 2002 list.
14 years, 11 months ago
^ As by far the worst Metroidvania? Not likely.
14 years, 11 months ago
golden sun, one of the best handheld games ever
14 years, 11 months ago
Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest is arguably the "worst Metroidvania".
14 years, 11 months ago
Devil May Cry over Metal Gear Solid 2?
Get the fuck out of here.
Besides that, good list...
14 years, 11 months ago
Ah, memories, back when Advance Wars was trying to be freaking "realistic" and the like (lol....)
Devil may cry set standards for it's genre and has inspired so many "rip off's" to it.
FFX holds up because of the story more then the gameplay but it's still surprising considering ones like x-2 and 12 which where both pretty damn bad.
I hate zelda and ico, but good to see twisted metal black in there. Would be an amazing game without those insanely long load times. Still was pretty damn good though.
14 years, 11 months ago
Bleh, when advance wars wasn't trying to be realistic. Although that should go without saying, god they screwed over such an addicting game..
Bleh, rambling..
14 years, 10 months ago
Yes Advance Wars is a really great game!
I like Advance Wars Dual Strike on DS, more content and characters
In 08 the release Advance Wars: Days of Ruin all new characters and online mutilplayer
14 years, 10 months ago
[...] Well I finally got around to writing up my 2002 list. So here are my favorite games of 2002. And in case you missed the previous lists: 2000 and 2001 [...]