Futari makes my top ten games of the decade feature.

[Rupert H]

Inspired by Spadgy squeezing Battle Garegga into his top 50 games every developer should play feature, I slyly gave Mushihimesama Futari some love in my top ten games of the decade.

http://videogamesdaily.com/features/200 ... de-part-1/

Which shmup would you have represent the genre as game of the decade?

[agustusx]

and Orta is on your list as well, sweet.

[Thunder Force]

and Orta is on your list as well, sweet.

Wow, thank you for giving Orta the respect it deserves.

[Skykid]

A rock solid top ten there Rupe, and compiled with real literary flair.

Impressed that you dared to push games like Psychonauts, Orta and Shenmue under the noses of joe public, although, knowing me personally, I'm sure you're already aware that I don't quite agree with titles like MGS, Fallout 3 (or even the aforementioned Psychonauts) pushing RE4 or Ico out of the runnings.

However, you deserve a kiss (from a girl) for getting Majora's Mask in there. I thought I spent most of my time preaching to deaf ears about that one.

For all it's brilliance, I'd still say there are better Cave shmups than Futari in the last 10 years, but recognising the game in your list is an example of the type of journalism the world needs. Bravo, I'll be bookmarking your site mate!

[Taylor]

I guess I would pick Deathsmiles. Its Halloween style, cute characters*, selectable difficulty, stage order ‘exploration’, extra stages, fever mode and simple scoring suggests Cave know they needs to expand their market to less hardcore players. Yet at the same time, particularly in Black Label, it can still be pushed and has appeal for the fanatic. And of course, it was great game and had complete confidence with the horizontal, collision and two-directional shooting aspects. Maybe not the best shmup this decade, but the one I’d use to represent it.

* Cute to more casual gamers. Hardcore shmup fans know this otaku pandering virtual paedophilia is disgusting filth and should be banned.

Edit: There's a lot of these lists coming out and it's a shame Guilty Gear XX is never on them, but it's weak spritual sequel, dead or alive and smash brothers are. But I decided I wasn't going to strongly contest anything :)

[professor ganson]

Really nice list, Rupert! I loved the inclusion of Pokemon Sapphire, Orta, Futari-- just to mention a few. What do you think of more recent Pokemon titles? I haven't tried anything after Sapphire, which I liked.

[Rupert H]

Thanks for the positive feedback and I'm glad to see so much love for Orta. That game made me buy an Xbox.

Skykid: Glad you appreciated the list and thanks for kind comments. It should have really been called the top nine list as the one game common in all of our lists was Half-Life 2, but other folks had already listed that, RE4, SFIV, Ico and the like, giving me a bit more licence go with more interesting titles.

Taylor: You're right, Deathsmiles is more thematically pleasing and is no doubt easier to get to grips with for beginners. I went with Futari as there's actually a chance somebody might read it and take a chance on picking up without having to jump through the kind of import hoops that even hardneded shmuppers on here seem reluctant to do. Ignoring any alterior motives I would have probably gone for Ketsui or ESPGaluda I or II, as those are my personal favourites.

professor ganson: Cheers! I did play through the DS Pokemons and I really enjoyed them. The main difference to the competitive game is that move types are no longer tied to specific stats (e.g fire and electric from special attack, rock and fighting from attack). That completely altered the competative game, rendering Hyper Beaming Slaking useless, and giving previously limited Pokemon a fighting chance. They are arguably better games and it's perhaps only because of the scary amount of time I spent on Ru/Sa that I didn't pump so many hours into D/P.

[Skykid]

It should have really been called the top nine list as the one game common in all of our lists was Half-Life 2, but other folks had already listed that...SFIV,

Pffft, what?!

[Rupert H]

Does that mean you think SFIV deserves to be on there or that it doesn't? There was a load of overlap between our lists (VF4, SFIV and RE4 were all on my list initially) but other people asked if they could take them and I obliged. Had to argue quite vocally to get Futari on there though.

[chempop]

I just read all the staff lists and I have to say I'm impressed. They all represented many different genres nicely and it was nice to see some of my personal faves among them (Rez, SotC, Futari, Orta, Okami, etc.)

I was a little surprised how few DS games made it though even compared to the PSP which iirc had more total entrees. Also, I was a little sad to not see Wii Sports, Gitarooman, and ZOE2 (someone really dropped the ball to have forgotten this one!)

[Skykid]

Does that mean you think SFIV deserves to be on there or that it doesn't? There was a load of overlap between our lists (VF4, SFIV and RE4 were all on my list initially) but other people asked if they could take them and I obliged. Had to argue quite vocally to get Futari on there though.

It means I think it certainly does not need to be on there, and I think you should know better being a connoisseur of such a distinguished beat-em-up series as VF!
SFIV is good - nay, a thoroughly excellent beat-em-up - but in it's current incarnation it's too flawed to make such an important list.

It's at times like this when I need to remind myself of when you tried to convince me that Snk vs Capcom was 'okay'.

[kengou]

Your list was by far the best, but the other lists were all pretty much god-awful anyway. There was a serious lack of PC games, most notably Valve games (I think I saw the Orange Box listed on a single list). One of those lists was such a joke, he included "Dead or Alive" in there, and actually said that he acknowledged VF was technically the best 3D fighter ever, but he liked DOA's graphics better. Seriously?

[Elixir]

That's a pretty good list, and would be even better if MGS3 and Burnout Paradise were removed from it.

[Doctor Fugue]

Shenmue was released in 1999; localization dates possess no importance when regarding a chronology of games.

[Taylor]

It means I think it certainly does not need to be on there, and I think you should know better being a connoisseur of such a distinguished beat-em-up series as VF! :)
SFIV is good - nay, a thoroughly excellent beat-em-up - but in it's current incarnation it's too flawed to make such an important list.

I think if DoA can get on these lists then SFIV certainly can. DoA anywhere near the word greatest in an article - that is not being ironic or having an insightful and slightly depressing look into marketing; is a bit worrying.

To be slightly pedantic, beat 'em ups refer to games like Streets of Rage and Final Fight. :)

[Rupert H]

Well first and foremost, although this list was compiled with some implicit intention to get a varied selection of games, it was essentially five people's favourite games of the last ten years, and as such, can't be wrong.

Skykid:

I suppose I could've gone for CVS2 or Hyper SFII (that's even more of a cheat than US Shenmue in my opinion though) but the fact is that this decade had very few stand-out examples of the genre (if we're talking 2D). The nineties had SFII, SFZ2, 3rd Strike, Vampire Saviour, Shin Samurai Spirits, KoF'98, Real Bout. Since 2000 however SNK and Capcom were quiet, and much as I appreciate the Arc Systems stuff artistically, I've never been able to get into it properly.

To a large extent, a fighting game's popularity is determined by its community and SFIV caused an explosion of new players, with a real hunger to learn and master the game. I've been involved in the London arcade scene for the last fifteen years or so and SFIV is the only significant event this decade that caused that excitement amongst fans and newcomers. Everybody around me, online and off, was buzzing with the excitement of being a part of it. I don't think SFIV is as good a game as VF4/5 or perhaps even some of the other games I'm less experienced with, but there's no doubt it's the most fun (and competition) I've had in the last decade on a fighting game. I still dream of a world where VF had this kind of player base though.

p.s SVC Chaos was fun. Broken, but fun.

kengou:

While I like to try and experiment with any gaming platform around, I'm no way near what you could call a PC gamer. As I said at the top though, absolutely all of us had Half-Life 2 on our list - it transcends genre as far as I'm concerned. We decided however to make sure we didn't have any overlap, hence one lucky guy got to talk about Half-Life 2 (and sneakily snuck in Portal via The Orange Box).

Doctor Fugue:

I'm well aware Shenmue was 1999 in Japan, but as the vast majority of English speakers (ie our audience) wouldn't have played the game until the US/UK release this decade. It's not like it's an import-friendly arcade title that would've had a significant import market. I'd rather be ride the tricky line of region-releases and cover Shenmue's incredible impact than be technically right and plump for Shenmue II.

kengou and Taylor: I'm completely with you on DoA. I reserve a particularly blackened corner of my heart for the hatred I have for that series, but alas, it wasn't my top 65 and everyone has their choice.

And to be even more of a pedant, I've always heard people differentiate between them by describing Final Fight, Streets of Rage, etc as scrolling beat 'em ups and SFII, etc as just straight beat 'em ups. I prefer the broader Japanese definition of fighting games, that like it's shooting equivalent, covers both types.

[antares]

Where's Rez???

[Skykid]

p.s SVC Chaos was fun. Broken, but fun.

Ha ha, nah man, it was painful.

SFIV is, now I look over the decade, probably a fair one to fly the flag for the beat-em-ups (sorry Taylor) - but only because there's little else that got much of a fever stirring. I agree with the Arc System comment. Pretty, but fairly inaccessible games.
Still, SFIV isn't quite worthy for me. Those you mentioned in the previous decade just serve to show why.
It's still more worthy than MGS3 Subsistence however. I'd slap Kojima for that one.

[Taylor]

I don't know how ASW's fighting games can be considered inaccessible by people applauding Virtual Fighter.

[Skykid]

I don't know how ASW's fighting games can be considered inaccessible by people applauding Virtual Fighter.

Well inaccessible is probably the wrong choice of words - no game is really inaccessible, it just depends on how much time you're willing to spend to learn it.
VF is simple on the surface, but as deep as they get. Arcsys games are complex on the surface, complex beneath the surface and fairly complex to learn - but Incredibly rewarding once you get the hang of it.

[Rupert H]

Antares:

I have a serious amount of love for Rez and was struggling between choosing that or Orta. As somebody else was already sniffing around Rez, I went with Orta.

Skykid

I personally found that having Kojima cock-slap me around the face with fan service for the majority of MGS4 to be too hard to stomach, but each to their own.

Taylor:

Fair comment - it's just what I know. I've played it since VF1 when it was a relatively simple game and I've just learned each new layer with each subsequent sequel. When I sit down with Guilty Gear (and to a lesser extent, Hokuto no Ken) I'm just completely baffled by how alien it is. Everything from the unorthodox button layout to the deliberately wacky system lexicon (Fake Roman Cancel, Fortress Defense, Dead Angle Attacks, Distortion Attacks, Astral Heat , heck BlazBlue can't even call a round a round. ). I guess I don't find it easy to transpose their games onto any Capcom/SNK template of fighting games that I understand, which I expect is the very reason they are relevant - they're original. I have plenty of respect for Arc Systems, but they confuse the hell out of me every time. I still wouldn't mind trying BlazBlue as I hear it's a bit more noob-friendly than Guilty Gear.

[GrimoreLibrarian]

Which shmup would you have represent the genre as game of the decade?

A manly one, something with balls, something not Touhou... like... uh... uhm... Chō Aniki: Seinaru Protein Densetsu?

[Shelcoof]

and Orta is on your list as well, sweet.

Wow, thank you for giving Orta the respect it deserves.

I own 4 copies of Orta.... Shows how much of a gem it really is. Too bad not many people see it the same way

[Rupert H]

With a name like that, I expected you to show up in this thread at some point.

[Skykid]

I personally found that having Kojima cock-slap me around the face with fan service for the majority of MGS4 to be too hard to stomach, but each to their own.

Well after cock-raping me with outdated controls and an excruciatingly over complex and often ill-concieved stealth playing field in MGS3 it was a breath of fresh air!

[Ed Oscuro]

Not a bad list, but Bioshock is a pretty poor game compared to System Shock 2 - especially System Shock 2 online (i.e. post-patch, so weapon degradation is also fixed).

SS2 has useless garbage in it, but there's just enough use to be had out of most items to make up for the few clunkers or sad ends to research trees. Bioshock, on the other hand, is so stripped-down as to present me with no meaningful choices at all. By three quarters in I had maximized my machine gun ammo count and was bashing everything but Big Daddies simply because it was the smart thing to do. Hardly enough playtime to be worthwhile.

Personally I'd have chosen Morrowind over FO3 - I haven't actually *played* FO3 but I've watched it being played for hours on end and it just doesn't look like my kind of game. Better than Oblivion, though.

Honestly, I have to agree with those who say that despite the huge advancements in gaming this decade, my own list of "top games of all time" (judged right now) is incredibly small, as not a lot of games give the same kind of replayability I'm getting out of many older titles. I didn't make it to ten in selecting "top games of all time from this decade."

I put Otogi II and Ninja Gaiden in my list. Haven't played Otogi 1 or Ninja Gaiden Black / Sigma / 2 / et cetera.

[Rob]

Fallout 3 is heavenly. Even when the sky splits open and floods the world with rainbows.