Winter-een-mas - Nintendo
As a long time SEGA fan it would seem odd that their greatest rival is my second favourite developer. Then again I don't think there's a gamer alive that cannot see Nintendo's quality. Nintendo have made my Greatest game of all time, despite SEGA being overall better.
I guess my love for Nintendo started at the beginning of the 90's. When I moved to my current home one of my neighbours had a NES. Though I would later go in the SEGA direction I did fall in love with Super Mario Bros and Ducktails. Bloody hell a non gaming franchise game that was good! That was the 8-bit and 16-bit era's for ya. Ducktails should be put on NES classics, and it was only right that I would eventually get Super Mario Bros on NES classics.
It was my brother that eventually owned a NES. More highlights would come in the form of Super Mario Bros 3, Teenage mutant ninja turtles (despite us brits using the term Hero), and Probotector (I never owned it but a mate and I played it quite a lot). I tried playing my NES again but alas it's broke. Not even blowing in the cartridge slot would make my games last long enough to play.
Nintendo made the Mario series which was their only real highlight for me. The NES itself though is enough to show Nintendo's quality early on.
Nintendo only went from strength to strength and later would produce the SNES. Super Mario world, Super Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid and a Zelda: Link to the Past (which I would get for the GBA) were nintendo's highlights. Not to mention the Donkey Kong Country series and the Megaman series, that although not Nintendo made their system a must own. Nintendo were worthy opponents to SEGA's Mega Drive (Genesis for you Yanks).
It wasn't until the N64 that I actually felt Nintendo could be better than SEGA. Mario 64 took what NiGHTS had done further (even if it does take the credit for being the first to use an analogue stick, it wasn't). After reliving Mario 64 on the DS I remember what was so great and so bad about the game. It was a week of non stop fun, but after that week there was little to bring you back.
Goldeneye, although not nintendo, completely redesigned the FPS. It's still a classic that stands proudly amongst the list of outstanding FPS'. A lot of time was spent on the multiplayer. As was the case with Mario Kart 64. Both of these games became the party games that got me through my first year of uni and filled any gaps Ocarina of time didn't take up.
Speaking of Ocarina of time, remember how I said Nintendo made my Greatest game of all time. Well this is it. This game was the first to make me feel like I was playing in a living breathing world, not just a game. Added to that the perfect game engine, the ahead of it's time graphics, the endless list of classic moments, the wealth of side-quests, and the magically score it's easy to see why gamers rate it highly (if it's not their best game of all time). My only beef with OOT is the slow frame rate, but it doesn't really bother you. In my eyes OOT is perfect and always will be.
Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask and Super Smash Bros wrapped up the N64's highlights. Though I did have to see Donkey Kong butchered with a very poor game.
The Dreamcast may have been my best console of all time but I had to face facts. It was dead and I needed a replacement. Say hello to the Gamecube. It's the best of the three current ones IMO because of it's diversity. Though Nintendo themselves aren't making it's best games. Wind Waker stands out though. Pikmin too was something new and typically great. F-Zero GX is brilliant too, but that's part SEGA.
The Gamecube still has a version of each of my top five (Ocarina of time, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic adventure 2, Skies of Arcadia Legends and Super Smash Bros Melee). It introduced me to the viewtiful, Viewtiful Joe. Metroid prime and it's sequel are top class. And there's the whole Resident Evil thing. I could go on naming quality gamecube games, even though not many were done by Nintendo. The Gamecube is cheap, powerful and full of quality, Nintendo are doing something right.
Nintendo are also the kings of portable gaming. While I was a little late in getting my hands on a Gameboy I cannot overlook it's quality either. Warioland, Megaman 4, Wario Blast and Donkey Kong Land was the gameboy's highlights for me. It's strongest title being Pokemon which I've spent hours playing. I know that anyone who puts down Pokemon do it because of it's reputation, as I doubt they have played the games. No-one who's played the games can deny their quality.
It wasn't until the Gameboy Advance that my love for Handheld gaming took off. I have loads of GBA games, whose highlights include the Sonic advance series with battle and Pinball party, Advance wars series, Pokemon series, Mario advance series, Golden Sun series, the Metroid games and Mario & Luigi superstar saga. There's probably more but I can't remember them right now. Needless to say the GBA has plenty of quality, which shows why Nintendo deserve to be tops in the Handheld market.
Even now Nintendo are still interesting. The DS is an odd direction to take that typically Nintendo. I see a lot of potential in the system already, but only time will tell if it will succeed or not.
Nintendo I salute you. You always concentrate on making good games with your only real folly is that you don't know how the public thinks. We may have had a couple of disagreements in the past but Ocarina of time still gives me goosebumps, which is enough for me to rate you highly. Have a nice Winter-een-mas.
SEGA's going to have to be some company to beat you. They are.
I guess my love for Nintendo started at the beginning of the 90's. When I moved to my current home one of my neighbours had a NES. Though I would later go in the SEGA direction I did fall in love with Super Mario Bros and Ducktails. Bloody hell a non gaming franchise game that was good! That was the 8-bit and 16-bit era's for ya. Ducktails should be put on NES classics, and it was only right that I would eventually get Super Mario Bros on NES classics.
It was my brother that eventually owned a NES. More highlights would come in the form of Super Mario Bros 3, Teenage mutant ninja turtles (despite us brits using the term Hero), and Probotector (I never owned it but a mate and I played it quite a lot). I tried playing my NES again but alas it's broke. Not even blowing in the cartridge slot would make my games last long enough to play.
Nintendo made the Mario series which was their only real highlight for me. The NES itself though is enough to show Nintendo's quality early on.
Nintendo only went from strength to strength and later would produce the SNES. Super Mario world, Super Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid and a Zelda: Link to the Past (which I would get for the GBA) were nintendo's highlights. Not to mention the Donkey Kong Country series and the Megaman series, that although not Nintendo made their system a must own. Nintendo were worthy opponents to SEGA's Mega Drive (Genesis for you Yanks).
It wasn't until the N64 that I actually felt Nintendo could be better than SEGA. Mario 64 took what NiGHTS had done further (even if it does take the credit for being the first to use an analogue stick, it wasn't). After reliving Mario 64 on the DS I remember what was so great and so bad about the game. It was a week of non stop fun, but after that week there was little to bring you back.
Goldeneye, although not nintendo, completely redesigned the FPS. It's still a classic that stands proudly amongst the list of outstanding FPS'. A lot of time was spent on the multiplayer. As was the case with Mario Kart 64. Both of these games became the party games that got me through my first year of uni and filled any gaps Ocarina of time didn't take up.
Speaking of Ocarina of time, remember how I said Nintendo made my Greatest game of all time. Well this is it. This game was the first to make me feel like I was playing in a living breathing world, not just a game. Added to that the perfect game engine, the ahead of it's time graphics, the endless list of classic moments, the wealth of side-quests, and the magically score it's easy to see why gamers rate it highly (if it's not their best game of all time). My only beef with OOT is the slow frame rate, but it doesn't really bother you. In my eyes OOT is perfect and always will be.
Perfect Dark, Majora's Mask and Super Smash Bros wrapped up the N64's highlights. Though I did have to see Donkey Kong butchered with a very poor game.
The Dreamcast may have been my best console of all time but I had to face facts. It was dead and I needed a replacement. Say hello to the Gamecube. It's the best of the three current ones IMO because of it's diversity. Though Nintendo themselves aren't making it's best games. Wind Waker stands out though. Pikmin too was something new and typically great. F-Zero GX is brilliant too, but that's part SEGA.
The Gamecube still has a version of each of my top five (Ocarina of time, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic adventure 2, Skies of Arcadia Legends and Super Smash Bros Melee). It introduced me to the viewtiful, Viewtiful Joe. Metroid prime and it's sequel are top class. And there's the whole Resident Evil thing. I could go on naming quality gamecube games, even though not many were done by Nintendo. The Gamecube is cheap, powerful and full of quality, Nintendo are doing something right.
Nintendo are also the kings of portable gaming. While I was a little late in getting my hands on a Gameboy I cannot overlook it's quality either. Warioland, Megaman 4, Wario Blast and Donkey Kong Land was the gameboy's highlights for me. It's strongest title being Pokemon which I've spent hours playing. I know that anyone who puts down Pokemon do it because of it's reputation, as I doubt they have played the games. No-one who's played the games can deny their quality.
It wasn't until the Gameboy Advance that my love for Handheld gaming took off. I have loads of GBA games, whose highlights include the Sonic advance series with battle and Pinball party, Advance wars series, Pokemon series, Mario advance series, Golden Sun series, the Metroid games and Mario & Luigi superstar saga. There's probably more but I can't remember them right now. Needless to say the GBA has plenty of quality, which shows why Nintendo deserve to be tops in the Handheld market.
Even now Nintendo are still interesting. The DS is an odd direction to take that typically Nintendo. I see a lot of potential in the system already, but only time will tell if it will succeed or not.
Nintendo I salute you. You always concentrate on making good games with your only real folly is that you don't know how the public thinks. We may have had a couple of disagreements in the past but Ocarina of time still gives me goosebumps, which is enough for me to rate you highly. Have a nice Winter-een-mas.
SEGA's going to have to be some company to beat you. They are.
posted by Master hunter at 1:30 am
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