PS3 Game Review: Last of Us DLC: Left Behind

Just finished the first DLC add-on to the amazing Naughty Dog PS3 exclusive, The Last of Us entitled Left Behind.  This story focused on a vignette of Ellie immediately after Joel takes the tumble on the rebar in Colorado from the original game and she has to fix the hole where the blood's coming out so to speak.  While we are guiding Ellie through this add-on of the Winter Chapter, we take intermittent flashbacks of Ellie's days in military boarding school  in Boston with her best friend Riley who, up until now, was only briefly mentioned.

Game wise, it's a one hour/hour and a half quick solid play through.  We pick up right in the middle of the action from the original game setting a nice sense of continuity.  I didn't really know what to expect but it was a good choice on the developers to add onto the only part of the original game were we did have control of Ellie.  I was not expecting to play anything additional to the original story's time frame so this was a nice surprise.  It makes sense in many forms and I'm glad they went this way to keep a harder,  weapon wielding, resourceful Ellie in the game.  To have her doing this stuff in a flashback really would undo her hardened character as the original plot developed and it also serves as a great way to juxtapose the powerful solo Ellie mission against the much lighter Summer rendition of the character before she even knew she was immune and still much more of an adolescent.  Even when you play as her in the flashback, you aren't really playing as much as guiding her through a story as she interacts with her friend and sets up a bitter-sweet bond that sets the precursor to the character we later meet in the full game.  There's no real "action" so to speak until the end in the flashback scenes leading right up to the fatal attack on Riley and the events that immediately precede the final scene really puts the hook in you and their meeting and exploring still sets an atmosphere that hangs heavy with the rank and file anticipation you've come to expect.  It shows that although these are characters that have grown up in this hellish world, they are still very green and act carelessly that you as a player of the first game are thinking to yourself, "be more careful...don't turn on the lights...oh man, don't play that stereo!"    The creators of this game handle the girls' character development, interactions, dialogue and facial expressions in a way I've yet to see in a game and nothing seems forced at all.  Very rarely do you get to live out such honestly youthful and sweet moments in a game like listening to a mixtape, playing an imaginary video game, telling jokes, messing with a magic 8-ball and playing "guns" with supersoakers...I couldn't help but smile since they were directly playing with the Supersoaker 50.  A lighter side of the Last of Us but a necessary side nonetheless.  The cut scenes flow with the game play so well they don't seem hamfisted or unnecessary and Ellie has been hashed out so well in the previous content that you really want to see what she is doing and thinking.  A lot of love was put into this character and it definitely shows.

Our two leading ladies

I don't want to give too much away but it evokes some true emotion, not so much as the first games bigger moments but it still holds its own in my opinion.  It looks amazing and really feels like its own separate story within a story.  It is delivered in content in a way I only think could be in an add-on chapter and if it were spliced into or included in the original story wouldn't have worked nearly as well especially since it would have majorly taken away from the power the original games first playthough had when you start the Winter chapter with just Ellie and have no idea what happened to Joel.   We are really only playing a real-time hour of Ellie's life from two different moments and this hour show us so much in character development that 6 hours of cut scenes in Metal Gear could only dream of.  (Metal Gear is great, don't get me wrong but...) 



Plenty of this to go around too.

The majority of the action is held in the segue of Ellie finding medical supplies for Joel's massive wound.   They are hiding out in a mall in Denver and we see their second run in with the cannibals. This is the only thing that doesn't work for me because this shows that Ellie is aware that the attackers from the college are still looking for them and would have taken the gravity out of David's confession to her in the first game since she would been likely to be much more "onto" him than when he tells her his true intentions.   The action is solid and the setting is nicely developed.  You are mainly getting a medkit from a Med-evac helicopter crashed through the skylight.  You get a nice set of background notes about the demise and fate of the surviving crew and I found it to be an "aw man" moment when you finally find the remains of much talked about Ellis who had his arm amputated by his commanding officer.  It made me immediately think of the character of Ish in the sewer tunnels as you read so much about him and then his story line just vanishes.  At least here, you get a "fleshed out" end to a small little story within a story. There's one very cool element added to this that the entire first story doesn't really touch upon was the occurrence of enemy survivors coming into contact with the infected.  You'd think this would happen all the time but you never really see it in the sense of a three way battle.  Here you get two specific instances were you get to use the infected as a tactical weapon in just as much sense a nail bomb or Molotov. It's a gameplay mechanic that sings and I loved every minute of it.

I've seen a few complaints about the pricetag of 15 bucks around this game but I very much enjoyed it and thought it was well worth it...I've paid much less for games on sale that had way more content that bored me to tears (Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway for 5 bucks comes to mind) and didn't have a fraction of the enjoyment this game fostered in me.  As a story, it was great.  Production was completely on par with the super high levels of the full game and the game play was a natural addition to the what made the full game many critics game of the year.  I can only hope this isn't the only bit of DLC we see for this game.  Maybe so since I'm hearing a sequel is planned.

Everything Must go Sale!

Selling a ton of my collection to downsize, create space and generate some scratch for the summer.  Check my ebay profile or the sidebar for some nice vintage and modern items.

League Assignment: First Impressions

I had a couple ideas for strong first impressions but I'm about a month late and alas, Unicron, the opening Star Destroyer Crawl in New Hope and Mario 3's intro in the wizard were all taken...you snooze, you lose, right?

I consistently gravitate toward video games so quite a few introductions came to mind since (especially now) as games become more cinematic they need to draw their audiences in with a strong introduction.  Some instances come from my high school years and the playstation era with your classics like Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid and later God of War and Shadow of the Colossus. But for a true pop culture introduction and first impression, I'll hearken back to the good old SNES and the Final Fantasy Series. 

Both Final Fantasy II (IV) and III (VI) absolutely blew my 10 and 12 year old mind when I was first exposed to these masterpieces with amazingly epic soundtracks that pumped you up like "Rise of the Redwings" in II and the dramatic, slow and deliberate trek through the snow in III on the way to Narshe village.  These both set the mood expertly and gave games with simple (great for the respective system) graphics the ability to show exactly what the console could do and do something that was unheard of in a old school game...create a true atmosphere.  There was something bigger about these games.  Something that made them seem adult or that this wasn't a story for children, like one's first novel or classic piece of composition they are exposed to at a young age.

Can't ask for anything more from this masterpiece.

Unfortunately, I feel like the limitations of the earlier systems are where this game was truly able to shine and once the seemingly limitless capacity for technical flare and graphical bells and whistles kind of blows the lid of and endlessly flows the paint saturating the canvas.  Final Fantasy worked best when it had technical limits so the non-graphical things could shine like character development and story.  I may not enjoy where the series has since gone over the past 25 years but boy, did I love its beginnings.

Bah

League Assignment: Spies (catchup)

Well, you thought you were getting a week off, but I ended up stretching it to two, sorry. This week’s assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, should you choose to accept it:
–
“Spies.”
—
Warning: This assignment will self destruct in 3… 2…. 1…

Hey there people,

If you didn't read, I previously posted this week that I've been a bit reclusive over the past 14 days due to the birth of my son, Luke.  I'm now going to try to play a quick game of catchup to cover my dereliction of league and blogger duties.   What better way than through some lists of Spies I'm fond of.

Spies - Command and Conquer Series - These little guys wreaked havoc on the battle fields...just keep them away from Dogs who could sniff them out.  I loved when they infiltrated a building and there was the perfect effect of muffled gunshots and the building turns your color.  Way to take out those guards and capture the structure, Mr. Spy!  They were Red Alert's version of the GDI commando who sounded surprisingly like Yukon Cornelius.

Spy Vs. Spy - Never really was a reader of MAD magazine religiously but did take time to look at the pages when they spoofed a movie or property I was particularly fond of. One thing that was always a part I looked at was the Spy Vs Spy cartoon.  I knew about them before I even knew about MAD magazine because of the NES game.  (It actually was how I learned that Vs. meant Versus)  I loved the illustrations, the fine attention to detail that was incorporated into such over the top Wile.E.Coyote fashions or that Tex Avery "dynamite-down-the-pants" type gags.

Zartan - Now here is a spy who doesn't mess around.  gun for hire, master of disuse, runs a rough and tumble Aussie biker gang, has a chameleon brother and a expert infiltrator for a sister, this guy is bad ass.  I loved his action figure with the color changing skin and armor plating on the legs and chest, the extra "face" in his backpack and even the weird smell that came off his hood.  If you want to see Zartan at his full most ruthless potential, look into Resolute or the fan film Operation: Red Retrieval.

Spy Hunter - dunno if it's the car, the driver or that they are neither and they are simply killing spies throughout the game that simply loops the Peter Gunn theme throughout its course.  This is one NES game that doesn't mess around with spiked tires, smoke screens, snipers shooting from limos... oh yeah, there's nothing quite like slamming one of those bullet-proof bastards off the road.

Aeon Flux - Steampunk before it existed in Peter Chung's dominatrix inspired femme fatal leaping from planes, elevators, stealing alien eggs, pulling microfilm from false hinged teeth...and dying every single time.  This Monican agent (we found that out in the way less entertaining series where they talked...wayyyyy too much) was at constant odds with her Breen arch-nemesis and lover Trevor Goodchild.  Ah hell, whatever issue you may have with the series, the shorts (especially the one entitled, "War") were a pinnacle of MTV's heyday when Liquid Television was on the air.

 

Soundwave - I thought to myself, why wouldn't this guy be counted as a spy?  He's all about unseen surveillance, always gets in under the Autobots radar, has an endless army of small minions to do his bidding and listening, and always is gathering information.  He's one hard-core spy and by far has the coolest voice on this list.

Bothan Spies - Little is know of these ubiquitous spies in the Star Wars saga except that "many of them died to bring us this information"...for apparently no reason too since the emperor gave them that false information to lure the rebels into a trap of charging their entire fleet at a fully armed and operational second Death Star...thanks Mon Mothma.

The Spy (Team Fortress) - French, smokes, stabs you in the back...oui oui.

 

Monkey man from Raiders - I guess he's more an informant but he still does his job very well in Raiders and lives to tell the tale unlike his monkey who falls victim to the 'bad dates'.   Raiders really never seemed to have any central villain in my mind besides Belloq who just seemed like a waste.  We never get to know that Deitrich or Toht even have names until post production and you looked it up.  I found out in the Marvel comic version.  and with a movie where bad guys are "mean Mongolian", "monkey man", "German mechanic" and "Arab swordsman", you really can't get much more generic that "Bad guy 1" and "Bad guy 2".

Da Fino - I'm a Brother Seamus! - an Irish monk??? - I coulda did Eddie Valiant, Sam Spade or even Duck Twacey but you gotta have a dick on the list and this guy its just great. 

League Assignment: Cowboys (catchup)

 

Last week’s topic was a little vague, and the vagueness continues this week! This week’s assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, if you’re man (or woman) enough to accept it:
–
“Cowboys.”
—

Are you starting to see a theme here? Stick with it this month and I think you’ll be happy with the results.

Hey Dudes...Onto post number 2...Coyboys.  I dig it.  Watch out for those jackrabbits and that killer cacti.

This is also coming in late but I honestly tried to get this one out a few days back but honestly was looking for the title of one of my cited sources and I just found it this afternoon.  I'd like to talk about a few different types of cowboys, from cyborg, to pirate to space cowboys, this archetype character shows time and time again that the saga of the old west can live and relive at an infinite amount. 

 

Hong on the Range - William F. Wu - this comic series based on the work of fiction from 1989 tells the tale of Louie Hong who travels across the desolate futuristic American west on the run from bounty hunters and the law after a gang of cyborgs blame him for a bank robbery.  Very cool artwork, stylized characters and a very cool steampunk look to it.  Definitely give this a read if you can find it from Image comics. 

 

Iron West - Doug Tenaple - another great steampunk-laden saga filled with robotic bounty hunters in a great black and white ash-can style from Earthworm Jim's creator.

Scud: the Disposable Assassin - Rob Schrab...has a lotta western inspired story-telling from this robot hitman who rides a mechanical horse, has guns that never run out and is essentially a weapon for hire. On top of that was the spin-off series "Tales from the Vending Machine" which actually had an issue which was set in the old-west with a powerful strong silent type by Ruben Martinez.

If reading about futuristic cowboys ain't your thing...try blasting away some varmints on either an 8 or 16 bit console. 

Gunsmoke -  Great NES 8 bit shooter...shoot shoot shoot and shoot some more to a killer western soundtrack in an Ikari Warriors style birdseye blaster!

 

 

Wild Guns - For 16 bit, this Western future shooter nails the arcade inspired action and has very innovative control style with furious action.  I only got a change to play a mod of this on my PC with a Keyboard and I must say, it wasn't the same.

Mad Dog McCree - This LaserDisc engine arcade cabinet blew my mind when I saw the dollar a try game at Hershey Park's arcade.  This was like no other game I ever saw and really was quite a spectacle.  Even by today's standards, I still think of it with fondness...not so much for the glitchy, grainy Sega CD version.

Check out the League hub at Cool and Collected for this week's post.

XBLA impressions: Walking Dead episode 1 and Fez

 

I've been playing a few nights away at two Xbox Live games I picked up.  I've been seeing quite a buzz over the past few posts from my favorite gaming sites about these 2012 releases in various end-of-the-year roundups.  Granted, these aren't exactly new releases but I just want to spread the word to anyone who perhaps was sitting in my boat being aware of these games but not really taking any actions to play them.  I saw Walking Dead was released and didn't exactly move toward the whole point and click adventure aspect and kind of assumed it was based more on the television series rather than the comic series which I love.  I kicked Fez around a bit when the demo dropped a few months back and I just didn't have the time to really give it a fair day in court.  Speaking of comic series that I loved which spawned live action versions I wasn't crazy about, Fez's cover art was drawn by Bryan Lee O'Malley of Scott Pilgrim fame.

GamesRadar gave both of these games number 1 stats for two categories...Fez for best downloadable game and Walking Dead as best game of the year!  Quite remarkable that sleeper hits received such notoriety. 

Something about this game just captured that fresh, brand-new, out of the box feeling you got from Green Hill Zone 1 in Sonic the Hedgehog, Level 1-1 in Mario and the first Dungeon in Legend of Zelda.

After playing Fez a few nights, I really was turned on to the whole feel and aspect of the world.  It is so brightly colored, well designed and interesting to explore.  It really served as a game you could visit and revisit while consistently being rewarded and convinced that you truly were unlocking new corners and dimensions with every passing screen.  There are no enemies to vanquish, no permadeaths, ...just using your wits to play around with the environment to get you from point A to point Z and everywhere in between.  Musically, it is a variety of chiptunes and 8-bit ambiance which sets an ethereal mood as you traverse the NES inspired landscapes while the seagulls chirp and the worms crawl and the frogs hop.   Unlocking the very beginning plays with the very essence of the games that shaped our views of taste in gaming and breaks our expectations and the fourth wall rather quickly as our hero, Gomez is bestowed with the Fez and actually resets the game back to the title screen and we begin anew in the new pseudo-3D world.  You get a great variety of challenging platforming, innovative level design and a real sense of care placed into every building, background and element in the game...Give it some definite consideration.  I couldn't help consistently going back to thinking of Cave Story as I played though.

Onto Telltale Games, The Walking Dead.  Wow, what an absolute surprise.  I let this game go right past me when it was originally released but this week for a New Years promotion, the first episodic chapter of this game was on XLBA for free.  It was too good of a deal to pass up.  I dunno, earlier in the year,  I tried to get into the Sam and Max reboots from this publisher but I just couldn't get back into the LucasArts point and click inspired gaming but after this experience so far I am really gonna have to look into giving those reboot demos a shot.  I gotta admit I loved those games when they originally came out...Sam and Max, Maniac Mansion, Full Throttle, Monkey Island...great, innovative and original writing and gameplay.  This game brought up all of those positive memories and then brought it up to an 11 with intensity, brutality and a lasting feeling that no prior game ever left with me. 

My strategy thus far...keep the people who are good shots alive.

Yep, Clementine saw you do that....

I have only played about 2 hours into a 3 hour game for this first chapter and man was this some heavy gameplay.  Every line of dialogue means so much more to the flow of the story, the interaction of the characters and the bonds you forge between potential friends and foes than you ever would think.  You are cast in the role of protector of the young girl named Clementine who you meet early on in the game and the first time I admitted something harsh to her and that "Clementine will remember you said that" message came up, I instantly was like "Ohhhh shit."  The severity and the Constancy of every move you make really leaves a sense of importance and gravity that no other game with a morality gauge or dialogue tree ever remotely captured.   The art direction follows the look and feel of Tony Moore's style in the comic series and it really unfolds as an incredibly atmospheric  and believable setting.  Gameplay mainly consists of momentary quick time events but you really have to be fast in decisions and quick reflexes before you or party becomes quickly bitten or ripped apart.  All of this is molded behind some of the best written storytelling and expert pacing you'll ever see.  You owe it to yourself to check this great game out.  I can freely say I am hooked and will definitely be checking out the Sam and Max and the Monkey Island demos if they are anything like this game.

Halloween post! Video games, Star Wars and GI Joe!

Many pirates, ninjas, and pirate-ninjas in class today.

This Halloween has indeed been a strange one.  At my school, I witnessed my kids go from an instantaneous flux of excited to bummed out to blown away as some arrived in costume after our two days off from the flood hysteria in Northeast PA (Scranton area got relatively nothing...especially nothing worth cancelling two days of school over, God bless those who are still dealing with this terrible situation) to find that Halloween in school for today was cancelled (awwwwwwwww) and then were told that costume day was pushed to Friday with an early dismissal..."Wait...what's that??? Two Halloweens??? SWEEEET!!!!"  It was very fun to watch. 





This was coming into school while still high on the fumes from the  news of Lucasfilm being acquired by Disney which could only mean great things...Episode VII, new story with Lucas only consulting, the possibility of a Star Wars TV show a la Avengers and the upocming Joss Whedon written S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series (which has solidified my belief that Disney has a golden touch), an OTC cartoon, Indiana Jones being resurrected in a not horrible digital monkey sorta way...cannot wait. Only bummer is I hope this doesn't kill the Clone Wars (which it might..at least their stay on Cartoon Network) and I hope Disney's less than humorous legal division doesn't put the axe on Redlettermedia guys. 

On top of that amazing mind blowing news, I apparently am the last person in the world to see that Kre-O is releasing GI Joe building sets!!!  I'm not sold on the whole series but I need to get my hands on a Trubble-Bubble and a F.A.N.G. chopper.

I have especially been getting into the All Hallow's Eve spirit through the joys of video games.  I took advantage of the XBox Live Halloween special and downloaded Resident Evil IV HD....God, that opening past is amazing...I was on the edge of the couch as those villagers stalk you from room to room of the village...the awkwardness of the controls really heighten the tension and make you all the more frantic.  Between playing that I resurrected the amazing creepy and atmospheric game Dead Space and pretty much gave myself a panic attack the last three nights, especially on Monday when the 50 mph winds were raging outside my dark living room.  If you want to be frozen in terror, play that game on anything above easy...even medium gives you an impossibly tense scenario. 

Beyond any of these games if you want to scare the bejeezus out of yourself, download and play Amnesia: the Dark Descent.  For a game that is obviously technologically limited, it shines in doing what it is made to do...give the helpless player an enveloping sense of dread and fear while the mostly unseen creatures lumber in the dark and hunt you.  You owe it to yourself to give this game a download and start freaking yourself and your digitized character out.

Anyway, hope you all had a great Halloween!

Beep Bop Boop: Top 10 Favorite Video Game Musical Tracks

I’ve been gravitating more and more toward video games if you haven’t noticed.  I don’t necessarily think this is straying too far from the toy theme.  Take a look at Mark Bellomo’s “Totally Tubular 80’s Toys” and you’ll see he has a whole section of vintage game machines from Coleco Vision to the Nintendo Entertainment System.  I did start my blogging on joystickdivision.com and the cblogs over at Destructoid so I'm just expanding this direction a bit more.  Also, I've kinda gotten back into playing a bit heavier since February when I was teaching full-time so it's on my mind a little more often.   I've been wanting to do this post for a while now but haven't organized it sufficiently (or was motivated) enough to complete it.  Don't worry.   I have a Transformers and Star Wars post coming up very soon.

What I'd like to speak of is what, in my opinion, is the finest selection of music presented in video games over the years.  This is an all-encompassing list from 8 to a million bits and everything in between.  These are all from games that, for the most part, have amazing total soundtracks and really presented challenges for me to actually pinpoint and choose one specific track.  Tell me what you think whether you agree, disagree, or have some choices of your own!

1. Peaceful ending – Act Raiser

In-Game Version

Orchestral Version

This song is absolutely beautiful.  Probably the first time I heard a track in a game and really thought to myself, "this could easily be in a movie."  Composed by the masterful skills of Yuzo Koshiro who actually had it performed in a special symphonic suite in 2004 in Leipzig, Germany.   This finale track really let's you sit back and take in everything you've done as you observe each of the lands you saved with exceptionally well written stories to wrap up each of your town's elders stories.  After all is said and done, you get a nice picked up medley of themes starting with (somehow) the 20th century Fox fanfare to kick it off to boot!  No matter where you go in this game, you have amazing tracks.  The opening title screen is epic, the sky palace has ethereal organ music to accompany your deity, even the crescendo of descending into the battles is great with that sustained lone horn as you are about to play the level.

2. Maniac Mansion – Opening Theme

This soundtrack was composed for the NES version by David Warhole (AD&D series) and George Sanger (7th Guest and 11th Hour)  and it is one of the best NES overall soundtracks.  It really utilizes everything it can get form the chiptune limitations.  Each character has their own individual track from funk to punk rock to surfer music but the opening theme is my personal favorite.  I remember most of the Lucas Arts games having some great old-school music.  Both of these composers would team up again for the NES version of Disney's the Rocketeer.

3. Toe Jam and Earl – Big Earl Bump

Probably some of the best original music in a game.  By original, I mean a game that truly produced stuff you will never hear again in a game of any thematic selection.  I doubt there are many Funk based-Alien-Beatbox titles slated for release any time soon.  Composer John Baker does a great job with the Genesis library of sounds and puts forth some of the catchiest music ever put out on the system.  In the first game, especially, the music outshines the actual game.

4. Final Fantasy II (IV) - Battle Theme

This was one game where I really think the whole soundtrack could be on the list.  From the Redwings theme, the towns, Palom and Porom's theme, the town music, boss battles and the opening which is one of the all time best tracks in video game music's history.   The track is selected is the Battle Theme.  It just really encapsulates what this game is about.  Banding your party together, hanging on as you take on insurmountable odds, keeping each other alive...I never saw this in a game or heard music like it and my 11 year old mind was blown.  Nobuo Uematsu composed this soundtrack as well as almost every other Final Fantasy game ever made.  This, I think, is his finest work by far.

5. Star Tropics - Captain Bell

Very unsung or overlooked gem of a game with a smashing soundtrack to top it off.  People have called it a Zelda clone, Action, RPG, etc.  However you slice it, it is an immersive, original piece of work deserving of proper attention.  The soundtrack is very well done with an island theme appropriate to the settings while it turns up the drama as the stakes get higher in the caves and eventually spaceship? Yeah, I know...I hate the end to this game too.  This and Shecola are my two favorite Island themes and who could forget playing the giant organ? This composer was hard to find out much about other than a name of Y. Hurai...strange, wish I could find out what else he's done.

6. CASTLEVANIA
(I couldn't decide on one specific track for each game let alone the series so I broke it into 3 and a half tracks from 3 separate games, enjoy!)

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest – Silence of Daylight (Town Theme)

This game by far has the best music of any NES Castlevania title.  Composed by Kenichi Matsubara and containing classics still used today like Bloody Tears, you can't go wrong with this game's music, despite what problems the game itself may have.  I also love the woods and mansion themes.  This town theme though, what a great multi-leveled 8-bit piece of talent!

Symphony of the Night – Requiem for the Gods (Royal Chapel)

A perfect Castlevania theme if ever there was one.  This was composed by the very talented Michiru Yamane who has done every sequential sequel for the series since SOTN. (she also did SkullGirls and Rocket Knight Adventures...weird) This is a perfect mix of organ. chorus and works in game even better with the hollow sound of the church bells in the tower lofts.  Sad, Lonely and perfect for a game with vampires fighting vampires.

Super Castlevania IV- Entrance Hall/Chandeliers

In-game Version

Orchestral Version

Wow!  This one is the beginning 6-1 and 6-2 of the level.  My favorite level of the game as well when you finally get inside Dracula's castle.  It's pure 16 bit throwback to the original Castlevania's first level.   Then you are balancing for your life swinging from chandelier to chandelier in mode-7 craziness.  It was duel composed by Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo (Super Mario RPG) from Konami studios.  This track was so good they remastered it in orchestral goodness at Castlevania: The Concert in Stockholm,  Sweden in 2010 where SOTN composer Michiru Yamane was performing on the piano along with the full orchestra!

7. Metal Gear Solid – Encounter!

"INTRUDER!"  Such great, dramatic music that raises the frantic level about 100 points.  If stealth, evasion and sneaking could have a flag-track, this would be it.   Granted, there are some other great tracks like Psycho Mantis's theme or the intro music or even the title screen's computer-esque motif with the ever present woodblocks touches when you're sneaking around.  Pure tension on overdrive. All of this was brought to life by the in-house Konami composer musicians, notably Kazuki Muraoka who did the original Metal Gear.

8. Batman Arkham City – Title Screen

I could listen to this track and be totally in a Batman induced trance.  Such a great buildup with the low horns.  Honestly, I'm waiting for the Nolan BatMan theme to kick in at any time over the low staccato beats in the beginning.   It seems like a perfect mix of the Burton, Nolan and animated themes rolled into one yet original on it's own.  Dark, Heroic and Dramatic.  Nick Arundel, who also did Arkham Asylum, hits it right on the head next to Danny Elfman or Hans Zimmer.

9. Rygar – Guru

This track is mysterious, moody and fits the setting perfectly.  Composed by T. Hasuya who was also known for his awesome work on Clash at Demonhead. (Waiting for that VC release any year now) Sad that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ripped it off note for note.  Rygar is an overlooked old school gem that I often hear people discount as a throwaway game for being to hard, to slow, or boring.  I enjoyed it profusely and that has a lot to do with the sound direction.  It has such an early feel to it and I think it works perfectly.

10. Rayman Origins – Treasure Chest Chase

Few games based on cartoons really put you in a situation where the music is a character all it's own.  This is one of those games where every frame of animation oozes the love and time put into it and the soundtrack is no different.  Again, as with most mentioned games here, each level has its own unique feel but I gotta say, I  loved the banjo twang of the treasure chase scene since I heard it as the promo theme a year ago.  Christophe Heral and Billy Martin put this together so nicely, I don't even mind dying over and over and over trying to win that ruby tooth.

LEVEL 1: Top 10 (well...13) All-Time Favorite Opening Stages in Video Games

Forever burned into our retinas.

Back to some video game attention.  Let's be honest, there are so many games from our past that always seem to start with a bang and fizzle out.  This isn't necessarily the rule because as with games like Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time, they certainly ease you into the world by having you find your sword or herd sheep and catch fish for an hour before having you slay any dragons.    Often times, especially in the years of rentals, we mostly liked "Level 1" because it was either the easiest or we ended up playing it over and over due to lack of codes or skills to advance.  Sometimes, it was because it was the game on display in a department store and you only had a few minutes to play it or you were at a lucky kids birthday party and he or she managed to pop in a new title before mom and dad nagged everyone outside to "experience real life". Pshhh.   Knowing nothing but level 1 was especially true in the age of merciless old school NES difficulty.  Anyway, I'm going to list a few of the most influential and memorable oping levels I played in my life and the impressions they left on me.  So, without further adieu in no particular order...

Confined to the super fine details of a ship (or rig later)...

...To the vast breathing room of the following title.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty /and/ 3: Snake Eater - Hideo Kojima's magnum opus gets a tie between the second and third stories respectively.  These are games built around larger than life story arcs, fleshed out and original characters, and massive set-pieces.  I considered including the first Solid game however it just doesn't start in the same scope as its following titles do.  (I will say the first Metal Gear Solid totally reignited my interest in modern gaming as Metal Gear Solid 2 pretty much single-handedly selling me on the PS2)  Metal Gear Solid 2 was especially notable for me because, besides Final Fantasy VII packed with Tobal No. 1, it was one of the only times I remember people buying a totally separate game just for the demo inside as they did with the Zone of Enders for MGS2.  Don't get me wrong, I remember Zone of Enders being a really great PS2 game but I distinctly remember being in a friend's dorm room and the first thing out of everybodies' mouths were, "Where's the Metal Gear demo!?"  That intro, the cinematic feel, the higher defined graphics and sound, rain effects...it was quite a lot to take in.  THIS was how Metal Gear should be.  Unfortunately, Solid gets replaced with Raiden almost immediately but that introduction...man, I wish the whole game just continued from there.  Metal Gear 3, answered our wishes (somewhat).  This time we get Solid's biological dad, soon to be Big Boss...you know, the antagonist from the NES titles, and incremental to every other game.  The into starts us with "Virtuous Mission"...pretty muc serving as an appetizer for a massive game set in the jungles of the U.S.S.R...Honestly, when I put this game in on Christmas morning, I couldn't believe the scope of the surroundings and it floored me that I was playing a Playstation 2 game.  It was one of those "hold all my calls" moments.  

Holy hell was this game dark...try describing this scene to someone in 1999.

10.

Silent Hill - If you want survival horror...look no further than Silent Hill.  This original Playstation title just was something I never saw before.  Granted, I played Along in the Dark and the Resident Evil games but something about this game really hit the nail on the head.  This was truly a game that knew how to utilize the limitations of the PSone's hardware to its' advantage through endless fog and obscured enemies that came out at you from the infinite blackness.  The almost constant inability to see clearly and being enveloped in darkness while unsettling backgrounds, desolate solitude and creepy sound effects immerse you in this town only fitting for a horror environment.  You wander through the abandoned town as you clearly feel the eyes stalking you beyond the menacing fog.  Then you finally get the day/night switch as the sky blackens, the air-raid sirens wail and your bearings are lost.   The twisting camera angles really work as your run down the alley which gets incrementally more unnerving, then you hit a set of previously unseen dead ends while tiny monsters give pursuit.  (The director of the film must have noticed this since this cinematography in the alley scene was perfectly copied in the movie)  This was the first game I played that set you up to seemingly be stabbed to death and really made you as helpless as can be.  The risk worked as we are now seeing more and more of these games that, unfortunately, should have ended a while back.   A true case where better graphics actually hurt a title like this.

This is a grab from the arcade but really, can you tell the difference?

9.
Final Fight - This was the first in-box game I received for my Super Nintendo on Christmas morning.  It was such a stark contrast to the Super Mario World included with the system with gritty fighting through crime-ridden surroundings replaced stomping turtles and eating fire-flowers.  This game was a really eye opener for showing off the SNES's power.  Never before did it really feel like I was playing the arcade in my house.  Granted, there were some differences but to my 9 year old self, this was it for having some coin-op action in my room.  Huge sprites, mindless action, super colorful settings dropped my jaw to the floor.  I think I played that first level more times than I can remember and taking out that whistling boss Thrasher was always satisfying as hell.  You notice how on almost all beat-em-ups.."the streets" are always the first level...Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, X-Men, Simpsons, Captain Commando, Rival Turf, Combatribes. etc.  Any one of these could have made the list, honestly but Final Fight will always have a place in my button mashing heart.

This surprisingly put the SNES to shame...take your victories where you can get 'em SEGA.

8.

Aladdin (Genesis) - I remember seeing this game in Blockbuster Video on display and it absolutely blowing my mind.  I could not believe how spot-on the characterizations where and how fluid the animation was.   This had me sold on a Genesis hook, line and sinker.  It was vastly superior to the Snes title that my cousins had just in the look and feel.  The reason being that Disney Animators were actually taken aboard to design the Genesis version and wow, did it make a huge difference. All the little touches in the first level were absolutely stunning between the snake charmers, the different swordsmen, the jugglers, the coal pits, the spitting camels, Aladdin's expressions!  And...I'll be! Alladin gets a sword in this title!  Sega, you might not have gotten it right every time but you certainly deserve credit where it is due!

You're about to play the best RPG of your life!

7.
Final Fantasy III - This game, in many respects, is possibly considered the best game ever made by many people. (third best to me)   The story elements alone can make you take a step back and ask if your really playing a Nintendo game which is something many often throw out on the possibility of involving or deep plot material.   The introduction is wonderful for setting the stage as the the huge world of intrigue and magic we will be jumping into with our amnesiac heroine Terra.  The lonely trek through the snow, as the low build to the music comes about and eventually has us arriving in the snowy mountain town of Narshe and then we see the true elements of what Final Fantasy means with mechanized technology, magic, monsters, espers, guns...a timeless world encompassing elements of every fantasy genre one can think of.  Hey, if you don't get a little bummed when Cid dies, you have a heart of stone.

Ridley...we meet again.

6.
Super Metroid -  Another one of the tops of the charts games for the SNES and often considered the perfect Metroid game, this game starts out with a great introduction.  It's interesting to note that as the era of 16-bit came about, we saw more games that tried to set us up with an actual plot and introductory level that not only gave a player a tutorial on the ins and outs of the gameplay but also served as a jumping point for the story about to be experienced.   You're introduced to the baby Metroid, the destroyed station, Ridley and an epic escape with nice involving cinematic visuals and music.  I'm ready to play some Metroid, are you?

From this screen forward, Konami gained a fan.

5.
Castlevania - My neighbor had this game and it was a cross between Castlevania and Ghosts N Goblins where my choice was going to go.  I loved ghost games with the whole Halloween feel to them as a kid.  Castlevania edges out the monster game competition though.  With Simon at the gates, the entryway in the courtyard, zombies, dogs, fishmen, bats...this game had it all.  Even with the crumbing steps, the vegetation growing on the castle keep, the rusty gates, rod-iron doors, cave-like basement, torn massive draperies and the super freaky Vampire bat all while the best music in any video game played in 8-bit glory.   This level is only the tip of the iceberg which has since not ceased to stop as Dracula's castle has only grown with time but what a way to enter the world than with this great introduction.

Gotta say I played this level many times in Hill's Electronics Department

4.
Sonic the Hedgehog - Initially, I was a Nintendo kid through and though but I always found myself playing this game (along with Altered Beast).  Be it at friends' and neighbors' houses, family parties, in stores with the Sega display, this game was seemingly everywhere.  Even though Mario was my mascot of choice, Sonic and the Green Hill Zone left a great impression on me with the super bright and vibrant colors, comic like enemies, great sound effects, "Blast Processing" or quick scrolling and I always enjoyed playing this game.  I guess it was the fact that I'm more of a methodical collector when playing a game was the reason why I gravitated more toward Mario as I didn't like that you missed so much of the level and Sonic was never meant to be about backtracking or collecting and favored the "move right and ask questions later" strategy.  Still, Sega Genesis definitely had quite a flag-bearer behind it and I can see why it worked on so many "Sega-Kids".

It all begins as you venture out into the rain...I KNOW, it's RAINING in a video game!

3.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past -  This is my all-time favorite game and I can't go a year without dusting off the SNES and giving it a go.  It is the only game I still have the box and booklet for as well.  Talk about an introduction.  You wake up on a rainy night to find your uncle gone.  You venture out into the storm (which is expertly portrayed) and wander into Hyrule.  This just was mind-boggling to kids whose last experience with the overworld was Zelda II's tiny little Link doll wandering the grid map.   You find your way into the castle past the guards and end up in the basement with actual light effects and perfect huge details to find your uncle slain!  He imparts his sword and shield to you and puts the task to you to rescue Zelda.  You battle the guards of varied armor and weaponry.  Take out a Ball and Chair wielding guard and rescue the princess as you delve deeper and deeper into the castle's basements.  Zelda leads you out and briefs you on the quest you are about to embark on and now after all that, the game can actually start...and those 3 castles you need to complete afterward...yeah, there are 8 more.  I love that these games were packed with so much to look at and take in before you even really started playing.  All of what I just described encompasses only a percent of what is to come and this is why Zelda is the modern epic it still is.

One of those games where you couldn't believe the screenshots were real.

2.
Shadow of the Colossus -   A more modern game from Ico creator Fumito Ueda,  this title leaves us with no side-quests, no underlings, no experience points... it's about as straightforward as can be.  Traverse the land and slay the Colossi.  Sounds simplistic in almost a boring sense, right?  Well, you'd be dead wrong and we get that sensation from the very first Juggernaut we meet.  You leave the huge temple after the sad, lonely title screen showing us how small our character is in this massive land of ruins and overgrowth.  The game makes you really feel like you take on a journey between each beast you encounter which puts us right in the Wanderer's shoes of seeing how big the world really is.  It actually takes time to find and get where you're going and, as with the first colossus, after riding across the plains and climbing a sheer cliff, we come through the landscape and find the first mountain of a challenge.  We literally, have to climb the features and contours to slaw this huge, amazingly detailed beast as the birds nested in his shoulders and head fly away as he comes to life.  But even as daunting as the battle is with expertly forced perspective, cunning strategy and seemingly useless weapons we get that hint of sadness in the music and the pain wanderer experiences as he defeats the first challenge setting up (without saying a word) the events that are to come and which truly make this a game few forget once they've completed.

What a game...I remember my dad building the towns while I fought the battles.

1.
Act Raiser -  This game certainly took its risks.  It was a very close to launch title with no presupposed basis carrying from the previous system.  It was multi-genred taking roles of world sim, God-game, platformer, RPG as well as hack and slash action.  For all of the gambles it placed, they all seem to work together and pay off nicely.  The combination gets the game moving at a decent pace, a story comes out that is told much better than if it was simply all action, and your omnipresent role puts you in a position few games ever previously did.  But as for the action, it all starts with the first level in Fillmore, a forest to be precise, and it is one of the best introductory levels to any game.  It really shows what the Super Nintendo's capabilities were and shines with epic music, a multitude of engaging enemies, every color in the rainbow, walking tree platforms, and a larger than life centaurian boss.  And this is just for starters!  Wow.




Even the password is a mainstay of 30 somethings across America.

ANOTHER FAVORITE
Contra -   Any shooter you ever played with broken controls, awkward weapons or weird level designs have no excuses after Contra.  Contra and it's following games is a series that does everything right almost every time.  The opening stage is awesome from the green jungle, blue water, exploding bridges, turrets, drones, troopers, bullets flying, tons of power-ups and super fast action.  It is pretty much the template for how to design an action game.  It really floors me to think of how bad games like Platoon and the Predator were when Konami was able to nail it so well in a game jam packed with action that surpasses the arcade game it's based on. (same goes with Ninja Gaiden)  I mean with a game that has essentially, Arnold and Stallone on the cover fighting a Xenomorph named after Nicaraguan guerrillas, can you really ever go wrong?