| Desert Island Games
Game 5 – Rampart – Atari Games - Arcade If I’m on a desert island, then I’ll need the arcade version of this, but I’ll also need someone to play against, preferably female! For me this remains the greatest puzzle game ever devised, cleverly mixing tetris with missile command. Build your castle in the given time limit, you must surround one of the turrets on the map with a solid wall to stay in the game. Then you are allocated guns depending on the amount of space you have managed to box in around your turret. Place your guns then prepare for the war phase, aiming your gun sight at enemy ships, castles and walls. Then it goes around again with a rebuilding phase. The holes knocked out of your walls continually get harder to fill with the complicated Tetris shapes you are given. If an enemy boat gets to the shore, the troops will spill onto your land, and do their best to destroy the turrets. Once they are all gone, or you fail to build a complete wall around one, its game over. It all sounds more complicated than it is, it’s actually an incredibly well balanced game, and will while away hours without you even noticing. The perfect thing for a desert Island then, while I’m waiting for my seagull to cook over a candle. Game 6 – Dungeon Master – FTL – Atari ST Surely this game is in everybody’s list; it changed my entire view of gaming, and remains the only game I’ve ever completed on two different formats (Amiga being the other). In comparison with today’s first person adventures it may seem basic, plodding around mazes hunting for switches and working out bizarre puzzles, all while fighting off a hoard of bizarre creatures. It’s responsible for so many role playing firsts, like the language used to make spells, before long those strange symbols become second nature. The way your team could be turned and ordered in battle situations, and their need for food water and preferably light. The amazing wealth of characters, and how they progress with all the experience they gain. Then there is the point and click manipulation of all their items and clothing, and the vast array of amazing objects to be found. Dungeon Master is like a blueprint for game design, it never gets boring, or so confusing you don’t want to continue (unlike its sequel), and the sense of satisfaction at solving some of the harder puzzles is incredibly uplifting. The solutions are never ridiculous, but also rarely obvious. In fact I can think of no other game as internally complicated yet so easy to navigate and understand by the player. Whether it’s being chased around in the dark by a hoard of mummies after your torches have all gone out, or slamming down a portcullis onto the head of a poisonous screamer, it’s the kind of game old players long to tell spooky stories about. Game 7 – Oids – FTL – Atari ST Hang on a minute, two games on the same machine by the same company! I know, you wouldn’t be surprised if it was two Ultimate games, but I need a shoot-em-up, and apart from making the best ever RPG, FTL also made one of the greatest shooters of all time too. First there was Gravitar, the classic shoot-em-up by Atari, then Thrust by Firebird, both proved that inertia based shooting games allowed gamers to really show off their skill. Oids borrows heavily from them but pushes the ideas further, mixing in a bit of Sega’s Choplifter to boot. You have to rescue the little Oids from their planet hideouts, and airlift them to safety in your mothership. This involves carefully taking out multiple gun emplacements, fighting off enemy ships, and navigating the landscape with manual dexterity you never thought was possible with a joystick. One of the things which makes Oids so special is the tiny graphics, which maintain incredible detail thanks to clever animation. Whether it’s the little guys waving on the planet surface (or burning when you accidentally shoot them), it somehow endears them to you, and makes them worth rescuing. What really works though is the skill level, to many this is a very tough game, and when you can complete a later level in a single turn, then watch your friend smash five or so ships straight into the ground, you can’t help but feel smug. Another reason for including it in my list, is the level designer. How could you ever get bored when you can make your own dastardly levels to get blown up in! Game 8 – Zelda Ocarina of Time – Nintendo 64 To say that choosing just eight games was tough for me is an understatement, it’s like telling Jamie Oliver he can only go to Sainsbury’s once a week. My original list was about thirty games, and to hone it down has been really tough. I’m still not sure I’ve got the right selection, no Paperboy, no Soul Calibre or Robotron. One game I really do need is Zelda Ocarina of time. Hang on, that’s not very Retro!! Maybe so, but it is still one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had on a games console, so its inclusion is valid. I’ll be honest with you; I didn’t love this game straight away, far from it. I’d dabbled with Zelda – Link to the Past on the SNES, but at the time, it never really hooked me, I much preferred Secret of Mana by Square. It was only when showing Ocarina of Time to a friend that they urged me to continue my game, at that point I hadn’t even ventured through the forest to the rest of Hyrule. Needless to say, I did continue, and when I suddenly found myself on the open plains, the huge game map spreading out before me, I realised I’d been ignoring it for too long. Months of play ensued, and on the final day, when Gannon was finally destroyed (for then at least), I watched the end sequence with the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Without doubt the most emotional experience I’ve ever had with a video game. There are probably not many people reading this who haven’t also experienced the end of the game, and it somehow makes you proud to be a “gamer” to think we’ve all shared this huge journey. I’m welling up! Let’s all join a commune and where our pants on the outside of our trousers… |
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