I should probably mention at this point that from here until around 35th place I had very little idea of where to rank what, so it's just gonna be sort of a flood of "GB liked this" rather than any definitive ranking. I know I said when we started this wasn't a straight ranking, but it's especially evident here. I have no idea why some games are in one place and some are in another, so let's just take them as they come and when we near the end things should get less muddled as the true giants begin to emerge.
So! With that said, away we go with the next batch of five games. With Mario and Pokemon returning for the second batch in a row, it's mostly Nintendo here again with one exception: Ariel's favorite shmup!
80: ECO FightersGenre: Shmup
System: Arcade
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Released: December 1993
Far, far into the future, it is the age of space development.
People have traveled through the galaxy, dreaming of becoming millionaires.
As a result, many space enterprises were born and have grown from mining the surfaces of planets.
The largest enterprise of all, Goyolk KK, has turned its' planets into dread spheres.
This planet is becoming a dread sphere also...
Dr. Moly is a famous scientist who lives on this planet.
"Protect this planet from Goyolk! You're our last hope!!"
So begins ECO Fighters, an obscure, high-quality shoot-em-up that was only seen in arcades until Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2 on PlayStation 2, where I had the opportunity to play it. The gameplay is pretty great - the main gimmick here is that your ship has an arm than can rotate to face any direction, allowing for greater variety in enemy and boss patterns and designs. There are multiple upgradeable weapons, and the graphics are excellent - every stage begins with beautiful scenery that quickly falls into devastating ruin as you enter Goyolk mining territory.
The fun gameplay is wrapped in a layer of quirkiness - only the text was translated, leaving English players to be baffled at Japanese voiceovers. On top of that, there's the insane bosses, which start out as giant tricked-out vehicles and escalate into humongous mecha by game's end. The Game Over/Continue screen is also worthy of note, depicting a comic showing the player's ship in an imminent crash landing after an enemy blasts him. He then sees a woman in a bikini. If you choose to continue, the sight of breasts inspires our hero to continue saving the planet. If you don't continue, his ship rams into the woman, revealing it was just a billboard and foreshadowing Croaka Cola's death eighteen years beforehand.
A billboard for a Goyolk attraction, no less. Accursed Goyolk!!
ECO Fighters is a hard game (gee, a hard arcade shmup, who woulda thunk it), but you're able to restart from the exact spot you died if you continue, and playing on Capcom Classics Collection 2 allows for infinite credits, so it's all good.
79: Pokemon Battle RevolutionGenre: Turn-based Battling
System: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Genius Sonority
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: June 25, 2007
PBR was Genius Sonority's attempt to make their console Pokemon titles as beloved as the Pokemon Stadium duo. Sadly, they seemed to not quite "get" the whole thing. PBR is a return to straight-up battling for the series, but unfortunately there is nothing else to do. Unlike the Stadiums, there are no minigames and no method of organizing, storing, or using items on your Pokemon. This is likely because unlike the Transfer Pak's constant communication with the Game Boy carts, Battle Revolution links up with your DS, makes clones of your Pokemon, and then the two go their separate ways. There's also a shop full of items you can buy with points earned from battling, but there are silly and unnecessary restrictions (like only being able to buy an item once). The battles are lacking the personality of Stadium, as well - instead of facing trainer types from the games, you fight generic create-a-characters who have interchangeable Pokemon instead of unique teams (The bosses are the only exceptions - minibosses have a signature Pokemon, and the final boss has a few specific teams to use.) Expect to see the same few Pokemon and movesets many times. Oh, and the 3D models from the N64 are back with yet another coat of paint applied, and are just as devoid of characterization as the GameCube titles. Genius Sonority continue to not be geniuses.
Except, yet again, it's based on the Pokemon formula, which is still stubbornly enjoyable! Damn those Pokemon, damn them to the Distortion World! PBR's online scene is pretty barren now considering it's a generation behind, but in its' heyday it was a fun way to fight pogeys online (And it used to be the only official method of fighting random strangers).
78: Super Mario SunshineGenre: 3D Platformer
System: GameCube
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: August 26, 2002
Doot dee doo, checking Wikipedia for release date info-
"The game takes place on the tropical resort of Isle Delfino, which is shaped like a dolphin and comprises ten primary locations."
...DELFINO. HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT. I mean I saw it was dolphin-shaped but the name just didn't- I mean-
GOD DAMMIT
Okay, better. Moving on.
Super Mario Sunshine saw an almost obscene amount of playtime in my house. Even though I never did get all the shines (mostly just need blue coins you can't get unless you spray random walls and crap) I still played it a lot to re-fight the bosses and other silly things like that.
This game is also notable for being the origin of my username. Back in January 2003 I was browsing GameFAQs and-
Wait, shit, did I really-
Okay, just checked, I didn't make that account until February 13, I haven't missed my ten-year anniversary, all good.
MOVING ON.
So I wanted to make a GameFAQs account, and I didn't want to be "SonikHejehogg2983" or whatever, I wanted an original name, preferably the name of a video game character. Having been into Mario Sunshine at the time, and having always liked cephalopods, I decided Gooper Blooper would make a fine namesake - he was recent and not particularly popular, but was from a very popular series, so not only was it likely his name wasn't taken, it was also likely people would know who he was and I wasn't just using nonsense Dr. Seuss words. Worked like a charm, and here we are today.
I've never felt Super Mario Sunshine deserved the hate it got, as I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun with the FLUDD gimmick. I've frequently had difficulty trying to decide whether I preferred Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine. Honestly, I still don't know.
77: Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DSGenre: 3D Platformer
System: Nintendo 64/Nintendo DS
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: September 26, 1996/November 21, 2004
So I'll rank one right after the other.
Due to title design I used to think this game was called "Super 64 Mario", which sounds more like the Hong Kong bootleg version than something that would get through Nintendo's quality control.
In the 90s, I was behind on gaming technology. I knew next to nothing of the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation, and was happily gaming on my Genesis all the way to 1999, whereupon I finally began coming across 3D games. The two N64 games I remember seeing before owning one myself were Super Mario 64 and Pokemon Snap, although I could not tell you which I saw first. I was amazed and impressed by the 3D graphics, although Sonic 3D Blast was enough to convince me the Genesis still had some tricks up its sleeves.
Mario 64 was only ever in my own system as a rental, but it was a fun rental. Later, the DS remake was my first (and for a month or so, only) DS game. I've never beaten the N64 version, but thanks to Luigi I was able to get enough stars to challenge and eventually defeat Bowser in the DS version. I tried to play it again a few years ago and was baffled as to how I managed to play with such difficult controls. Eh.
76: The Legendary StarfyGenre: 2D Platformer
System: Nintendo DS
Developer: Tose
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: June 8, 2009
Took you long enough, Nintendo, jesus.
Here we had a series of cute, fun, Kirbyesque platformers for Nintendo's handhelds that completely inexplicably were never released outside of Japan (their excuse was that Starfy was "too Japanese", but if goddamn WarioWare and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo can find fans here, so can everything else short of Boong Ga Boong Ga). When Nintendo finally localized one, I snapped it right up and was rewarded with a pretty good time, although nothing earth-shattering. There are some cute characters and a bizarre, silly storyline, plus decent music, nice graphics, a bunch of simple boss fights and some wasted potential in the offline-only, only-works-in-certain-sections co-op.
I wouldn't be against diving back into the Starfy series with a compilation or Virtual Console release of the earlier games...
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