There are some specific moments, recurring or isolated in our favorite games that are memorable for this reason, and keep us coming back. So how about sharing them? Could be useful to developers who want to figure out ways of making their own games more viscerally appealing, and if not, it'll still be fun to talk about!
To start things off, I'll say that this is one of the things that originally attracted me to Mars Matrix (big surprise, right
). The soundtrack is really intense,if not especially good--though it's grown on me--and the sfx are super loud. I especially like the piercing cannon for this reason. It's really powerful, loud, and a great animation (hard to explain in words why). Normal shot is also pretty good, mostly just because of how it gets visually more powerful as you power it up. It's very powerful looking at level 8, especially for the red ship. Also the spots where you get huge clusters of hundreds of rotating shiny gold cubes (In some areas they'll even induce a small amount of slowdown). Some of the death animations are also really sweet. For example, the 3rd stage boss flashes red as it's exploding, and I like how the final car of the 5th stage boss keeps following your ship as it's exploding (It's like it's still trying its hardest to kill you even though it's bullet-spamming machinery has been damaged beyond repair). Unfortunately I don't have a good video of that 
. Generally the explosions in this game are pretty good, and loud.Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed how awesome the explosions in Under Defeat are? They're huge! Especially when you're using your bomb. Also the second stage boss. I love how the battleship explodes spectacularly, and then sinks into the water as it begins raining. Also just normal enemies death animations are pretty cool. lots of smoke and craters.
What are other people's faves?
