Super Street Fighter IV

I remember my first reaction when I heard that Street Fighter IV was coming to the PS3, 'I didn't even know they'd made Street Fighter III'. That shows how out of touch I am with the beat'em up genre. I haven't played a game like this seriously since Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II on the SNES and Mega Drive. That type of game just didn't hold much appeal to me anymore. Still I was intrigued by this new game, probably because it seems to be playing on the nostaglia factor by making it look like a spruced up version of Street Fighter II.

I decided that I would get this game if I could get it at a good price and a couple of months ago I came across it for €24 in Game. For a game only a few months old and selling for €40 in other shops I thought this was too good to pass up. I have played it a few times now but I'm struggling to get into it. I still have all the moves from Street Fighter II ingranined in my muscle memory but that just isn't enough for this version. There are so many characters and so much to learn that it is overwhelming. It is a good game to have in the library as it is something that can be returned to on and off, especially with some friends that will remember playing Street Fighter II.

WipeOut - PSone

This is the game that made me believe that the PSone really was a new generation beyond the Mega Drive and SNES. Neither of those consoles could have produced the amazingly smooth and blisteringly fast graphics and then coupled that together with a fantastic soundtrack. Along with Worms, Wipeout is probably the game that I played the most on my PSone. After getting over the steep learning curve the game really opens up. I just think of it as a more mature version of Mario Kart and like that game I have played most incarnations on a variety of systems.

I would be interested to play this now on the PS3 to see how it has held up. But it is probably best to leave it as a memory and when I want to play it, just stick on Wipeout HD instead.

Fade To Black

If I remember correctly Fade To Black is one of two games that I acquired in a swap with a friend at school. The other game being Worms. I owned the original game, Flashback on the Mega Drive and was a fan even though I never made it that far into it. I'm pretty certain the same can be said about Fade To Black. Again it was graphically impressive (for the time) and I enjoyed the gun play but I found it very tough. I also think that I had a problem with the 3D perspective, in that it gave me motion-sickness. Like a lot of the games discussed here in recent months I struggle to remember any more details about it. Still, it is nice to have back in the collection and is in pretty good condition.

Writing lists and setting rules

Now that I had decided to rebuild my collection of video games I had to actually try and remember what games I did own at one point or another. This is not as easy as you might think. The best place to start as in most cases is the beginning. I did own a C64 but for one reason or another I have decided not to pursue this part of my collection. So that brings me onto the Sega Mega Drive, probably the best console I've ever owned but that could be the nostalgia talking.

I know that towards the end of the Mega Drive era I had amassed quite a collection of games but I couldn't remember them all when I sat down to write a list. Sure, I remembered the classics that I owned like Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage II and NBA Jam. Other games that sprung to mind were Desert Strike, Mortal Kombat 2, Road Rash and Flashback. That made seven games, but surely I had more than that. A little more thought and I remembered some more but I resorted to Wikipedia to look up popular Mega Drive games to ignite a spark of recognition. Games that I found that had to be added to my list were Ballz, Micro Machines, Tazmania and several others.

The situation was the same with my PSOne collection of titles. I knew a couple, like International Superstar Soccer Pro and Wipeout but it took some looking to figure out what else I had. I didn't have as much of a problem when it came to the PS2 as I was still playing that machine up until a few years ago. Still one thing did strike me about my PS2 collection - it was very small. That was my primary console for five years and yet I rarely seemed to buy any games for it, apart from my annual fix of Pro Evolution Soccer. The Nintendo Game Boy is another console that I've owned in my time but that part of my collection is on the back burner. It is not forgotten but it will have to wait. There are also a handful of PS3 games that I've traded in that I now want back, at the right price of course.

Price. A very important consideration in all this. In order to control the cost, rules were needed. Do I buy only games that I've owned? What about games I loved but didn't own, that I had gotten a loan of. Ah yes, loaning games in school, great way to play plenty of games without paying for them. How about games that I might have owned or rented, like Aladdin. What about games that I could come across that would be great in any collection but I've never played? Finally, it turns out that although the majority of retro games are very cheap, some are surprisingly expensive. Raise your hands (or clenched fist) Streets of Rage 3!

In the end there is no set rule really. If I think it would be good for the collection and at a reasonable price, preferably low, I will try to get it. So when I'm finished it won't be my original collection per se but it will be quite a collection.

Top 5 video games ever

Everyone likes a good list and it seems I'm no different. While thinking about a list of films I want to see this year I began thinking of what games I was interested in this year too. I had intended to write something on that but then I got to thinking about what my favourite games of all time are.

The five games below could probably change if I were to do the list again. As with most lists it is hard to narrow it down and they generally change if you think too hard. So here is my top five of all time.



Streets of Rage II - Megadrive

This game just never got old for me. Myself and my friend must have spend a huge chunk of our youth beating up thousands upon thousands of punks thrown at us by the villainous Kingpin. For it's time the graphics were pushing boundaries on the Megadrive and as for the music that has gone down has the best to grace the system. While some may deride it as simply a side scrolling beat'em up it had a very sophisticated control system. Every character had their own unique moves and plenty of them. To top is all off it was and is a fantastic two player experience. In fact, I only recently downloaded this for XBLA.




Pro Evolution Soccer (all iterations)
This choice includes a multitude of games and I'm including all the different versions of Pro Evo even the original International Superstar Soccer from the SNES (although maybe not the N64 version). I've had versions on the PSOne, PS2 and the Xbox 360.

Always the far better alternative to the FIFA series the game always improves upon itself year on year. Since the 360 version I've been able to take the game online and that has only improved the thrills it provides.





Gears of War - Xbox 360
I'm including this game as it was the first game to convince me that a new generation of gaming had arrived. It was time to upgrade from the PS2 to 360. Nothing from the launch games on the 360 made me think WOW until I saw this game. Then thankfully when I got the console and the game, the gameplay lived up to the hype.

A newer game like COD4 will probably surpass it but the one thing it won't have is that wow factor, the first taste of a new generation of games. Plus it was my first experience of online gameplay, which is fantastic.





Super Mario World - SNES
Sonic was good sorry scratch that it was great and the other Mario games were good. However, it is Super Mario World that brought the platform game to a totally different level. It had fantastic graphics, which have stood the test of time, great sound and world beating gameplay.

Plus it was a challenge, if memory serves it had 99 levels. With those frust. The addition of Yoshi and a caped flying super Mario added some brand new gameplay dynamics. It remains the one game from that period that I still go back to and play the odd time.





Gunstar Heroes - Megadrive
This game my strike some as a strange choice and if I thought hard enough I could probably think of a better game from my gaming history. However, if you've ever played this game you will probably understand. It is (just) a side scrolling shoot'em-up but to label it like that is to do it a disservice as it was bursting with originality.

It had a brilliant two player co-op with both players combing for some wonderful attack moves. Also it wasn't only a shooter but attacks included beat'em-up style moves too. I think this game also pushed the graphical capabilities of the Megadrive to the absolute limit. The game was so addictive I remember one near all night session with a close friend, only to fail at the very last moment.

Honourable Mentions

• NBA Jam (Megadrive) - great two player game.
• GTA: Vice City (PS2) - so violent it was funny.
• Worms (PSOne) - hours upon hours of multiplayer fun.
• Super Mario All-Stars (SNES) - quantity and quality.
• Mario Kart (SNES) - so, so, so much fun.