Super Mario Games: Ranking Worst To Best

 

Super Mario: a true working man’s hero. A humble plumber who went on to find his fortune one coin at a time, but despite his fame and royal connections, he has never lost sight of his roots. He is still wearing the same dungarees he did in his debut in Donkey Kong in 1981. Now 32 years on and he is without doubt the most famous and successful video game character of all time.
Having appeared in so many adventures over the years, it is no easy task to rank his games in some kind of ‘worst to best’ order, mainly for the reason that almost all of them are so darn good. To make the task a little easier we’ll just focus on the platforming games in the Mario series, as it hardly seems fair to stack the vastly different genres like Kart Racing to his sports titles such as Basketball or Football. Without further ado, let’s start at the bottom and work our way to the top.

20. Wrecking Crew (NES)

It feels a little unfair, especially since Mario’s name isn’t even in the title, but Wrecking Crew on the NES gets the honour of being bottom. A platform puzzler where you use Mario’s hammer Donkey Kong style to destroy things, but can’t jump… at all. It’s not bad, and is a fun distraction for a time, but that’s about all. It’s never fun enough. It’s little surprise that Mario has never really picked a hammer up as his weapon of choice since!

19. Mario Bros. (Arcade)

An unfortunately low rank for the game that named him, but the fact is this game, though fun isn’t in the same league as the other games on this list. Like Donkey Kong, this game is set on static screens (rather than scrolling) and the aim is to wipe out baddies that will attack from drain pipes around the screen. It’s fun, and was included in most Game Boy Advance Mario games mainly as a multi player extra, but that really sums up its value as an extra rather than as a standalone release.

18. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)

Mario’s handheld console debut proved that you could have a home console quality experience in the palm of your hand. Sticking closely to the play style of the original super Mario Bros, scrolling happens going right not left, and Mario can still pick up a fire flower as his power up. The low rank feels wrong for such a good game, but it’s just a sign of the tough competition.

17. Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (NES)

Known in Japan as Super Mario Bros 2, it wasn’t released in the west as it was deemed too hard and too similar to the first game. If you loved the original Super Mario Bros then this was the game for you. If you weren’t a mega fan of the original then maybe this wasn’t the game for you, as this game basically started off where the first game ended in terms of difficulty. It also was where Mario and Luigi became more than just palette swaps with slightly different abilities.

16. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy)

A massive step up from the first Game Boy Mario adventure, this game played a lot more like SMB3 and Mario World and was much more action oriented. For the most part this game is a lot easier than other titles, but has a tough finale to ensure its no cakewalk. It was also the game that gave the world Wario, Mario’s evil doppelganger.

15. Donkey Kong (Arcade)

The game that started it all. Mario first came to us in this platformer without his Italian moniker, his usual girlfriend, or his mushroom kingdom pals. It’s incredible how well this game has held after all these years and is still just as playable and addictive as it ever was. This is exactly the type of game which would be a mainstay in the download charts if it were released on mobiles these days. A short game by modern standards, the real challenge came is playing the game on loop to get higher and higher scores. A challenge which was even the focus of a film released a few years back.

14. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo 3DS)

One of two new platformers for Mario in 2012, this brought improved visuals and new challenges to Mario. The theme of more coins then ever before certainly made for a new play experience, but it arguably wasn’t the step up for the series some expected. This title also brought about the dawn of download content for Mario, which displeased some as the stand alone adventure isn’t Mario’s longest, especially when compared to the lengthy classics like Mario World or Galaxy 2.

13. Super Mario Bros. 2 (SNES)

It’s the game that didn’t start life as a Mario title (In Japan it was released minus Mario as Doki Doki Panic before later being re-released as Super Mario USA) and is sometimes not viewed with the same regard as its 2D brothers. That doesn’t take away from the fact it’s still an immensely enjoyable experience. The game was later seen as strong enough to be Mario’s Game Boy Advance debut. That version was based on the SNES Mario All-stars version, with a few additional improvements to make for its best version to date.

12. New Super Mario Bros. U (Nintendo Wii U)

Mario’s latest is unfortunately not his greatest. It’s very very good make no mistake, but after thirty years of platforming, this is perhaps the least innovative platform game the Italian plumber has starred in. The shtick of the ‘New’ Super Mario Bros. games is ironically a healthy dose of nostalgia, but it’s frankly worn a bit thin by this forth outing. Everything about this game is right gameplay wise and the HD visuals do impress, but it in terms of actually playing the game it could just be a download add on the previous New Super Mario Bros. games.

11. Super Mario Sunshine (Game Cube)

The black sheep of the 3D Mario family, like so many games on the Gamecube – it was great, but not quite what people wanted. Very much like Mario 64, Sunshine’s main innovation was Mario’s water jetpack which he had to use to wash away graffiti and fly through levels. The story was based around Mario going on holiday, and the game felt just like that; a trip away before his next epic adventure. Yoshi was playable, but collecting fruit to play as him was at times an annoyance.

10. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo 3DS)

When Mario made his 3D debut he had sixteen gigantic worlds to explore, but through the Galaxy games Nintendo moved the series back towards the more linear path of his 2D games. 3D Land more then any that came before it, managed to fuse the 3D gameplay with the style of the 2D games, and it works beautifully. Whilst not the most challenging game in Mario’s history, its quick gameplay and shorter levels make it the perfect 3D Mario handheld experience.

9. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (SNES)

This game is always highly regarded, but it didn’t quite make the impact it deserved upon its release. Coming out at a time when Saturn and Playstation were wowing the world with polygons, and Donkey Kong Country was strutting some silicon graphics, Mario’s stylised pastel colours didn’t get as much fanfare as Mario games that came before it. This may not have been helped by the fact that Mario himself was only appearing in baby form, and left all the true platforming to Yoshi. Still this was an instant classic and introduced various colour Yoshis, and gigantic foes thanks to the Super FX2 chip.

8. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo Wii)

Again proving that Mario in 2D is where he sells the most units, Mario Bros Wii took the nostalgia factor and hit it to ten. Still, Nintendo didn’t rely entirely on fond memories and loaded the game with new ideas including 4 player co-op play and clever use of tilt and motion controls. This game also brought back a resurgence in 2D platformers on home consoles, and led the way for Donkey Kong Country Returns, Sonic 4 and Rayman Origins.

7. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS)

Just beating it’s direct follow up is the game that put Mario back in two dimensions. After his DS launch remake of Mario 64, the man with a moustache surprised everyone by bringing his first new 2D adventure since the days of the SNES, and boy did he prove he was still king of the 2D platformer. This game went on to sell insane amounts of copies due to its simple pick up and play fun factor. The game also served as a massive nostalgia trip for gamers from yester year with all of the elements that made Super Mario Bros 1 and 3 so addictive back in their day.

6. Super Mario Bros. (NES)

It can be argued that some of the more recent games have eclipsed this game, but it ranks so high for its innovation and the fact that it is still just as playable as it ever was. You have to give the guys at Nintendo credit. With many other genres and game franchises you’ll go back and revisit their early entries to find that they are mere shadows of what they would eventually become.
Some games don’t age as well as others. Super Mario Bros has always managed to remain relevant. Just as they later would with his 3D debut, Nintendo made Mario’s first 2D adventure the standard that all contemporary rival platformers would have to beat.

5. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

A huge step up in innovation after the original SMB, Mario Bros 3 is perhaps the most fondly remembered of the original NES trilogy. The game introduced items and suits so Mario could fly with the Tanooki suit and swim better than ever before with the frog suit. Mario’s new ability to fly and glide is still a pure joy when you have spent hours mastering the exact timing to blast through levels at breakneck speeds. The variety of levels and ideas and the tough boss stages ensure this game a place in the top five.

4. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Wii)

As much praise as Sunshine had received upon its release it couldn’t escape the comment of ‘It’s not quite Mario 64’. So it’s fitting that after Land, World, and the Sun Mario’s next adventure would be so ambitious he would be covering a whole galaxy. Definitely a step up from his Game Cube adventure, Mario featured in his most story driven platformer yet. People were expecting a lot from Mario’s Wii debut, and fortunately he didn’t disappoint.
One thing that may have been a blessing in disguise is how little the game relied on the Wii’s motion controls. Mario 64 hadn’t used them, and this was nearly perfecting the formula created by his 3D debut. That’s not to say it wasn’t without a few flaws. The game had Mario running around spheres, and this at times could be awkward to get used to as the controls would reverse whilst running in a straight line around the planets.

3. Super Mario World (Super NES)

Mario’s SNES debut was the ultimate refinement of the formula created on his NES games. The designs of the characters were launched into the 16 bit era, and whilst some elements have seen updates since (Yoshi was more bulky in his introduction) they have pretty much remained the same ever since. An enormous amount of levels, this game really took the fight back to Sega’s new kid on the block Sonic and showed the world why platforming was the house that Mario built. This was also the game where ‘Super’ Mario finally got a cape.

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo Wii)

Mario’s 3D adventures have always come top of their class in their respective generation, so it seems only fitting that the only game that could top a 3D Mario would be another 3D Mario. For a game that originally started life as a would be director’s cut of the original, Super Mario Galaxy 2 proved only to perfect what came before it. The levels were arguably more creative and imaginative and they also took on board all the possible feedback to improve what Galaxy had established.
As much fun as it was to explore Peach’s castle in SM64, the hub levels became more of a chore then a joy, so they were removed and replaced with a map selection screen like Mario games of old, allowing you to jump straight into the action. Yoshi also joined the fun in a more fun and meaningful way then he had in Sunshine in more evidence that the development team had learned to refine and improve past experiences. If there was one gripe it is that the 120 green stars were perhaps a little too repetitive in nature. Still it gives great hope for what they will achieve with Mario’s 3D Wii U debut.

1. Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64)

And so here we are. As has been listed atop hundreds of best video game lists before this is the obvious choice. Yawn…No! It’s the obvious choice for a reason. There’s a whole generation of gamers who remember the first time they tossed Bower into a bomb or ran from a haunted piano, and it gives a warm feeling inside. Super Mario 64 not only set the rules for a 3D platforming game, but also pretty much nailed them first go. Graphics are better now, but the cartoon visuals still hold up fine. In game cameras have improved, but it was only ever a minor gripe in this game.
For any minor flaws that can be pointed at SM64, it has a million redeeming qualities. If only Nintendo would recreate the game in HD and an orchestral soundtrack the game would be perfection. This game ranks number one not only because of its innovation, and impact on video games, but because when stacked up against the others it still has the best level design, gameplay and imagination. It’s the game every gamer should have played, and if you only ever play one Mario title, this should be it.

Top 10 Final Fantasy Characters

Final Fantasy, really, is all about the characters. The characters drive the story forward. It is the characters who you fall in love with, who you care about, who you emotionally engage with. It is the characters, their design, personalities, and, of course, kick ass special attacks, that make Final Fantasy so beloved. Some are easy to predict. Some... less so. And yes, even some FFXIII characters make the cut.

Tifa Lockhart - Final Fantasy VII

Let's talk about love triangles. Cloud clearly fancied Aeris, but she was more interested in Sephiroth, or was that Zak? Anyway, she died, so that left Tifa, owner of the 7th Heaven bar and member of terrorist group AVALANCHE. She quite obviously fancied Cloud but wasn't really doing it for him. Got that? Good. Tifa's no-nonsense approach and brutal punches endeared her to those who found Aeris too sickly sweet to swallow. She didn't suffer any of Cloud's emo crap, and wasn't afraid to tell him to get over himself when he was sulking. She was as sexy as she was confident, too. She had nice legs and big breasts. What more could we ask for?

Cid - various

There's a Cid in almost every Final Fantasy game. From VII's chain-smoking Cid Highway to XII's wonderfully-named Doctor Cidolfus Demen Bunansa, Cid's usually an airship pilot, or a mechanic, or a tinkerer of some description. But in recent times he's expanded his skill set, and even taken an interest in the more villainous side of Final Fantasy character life. The aforementioned Doctor Cid was a bad guy - the first Cid villain in a Final Fantasy game. And, without wanting to spoil anything for you new Final Fantasy XIII owners out there, that game's Cid is a... how shall we put it... interesting fellow, too. Now, the question we want answered is: why? Why have a Cid as a recurring character name in the Final Fantasy series? What is it about the name Cid, that Square Enix loves so much? Answers on a postcard please.

Snow Villiers - Final Fantasy XIII

He might have a silly, effeminate name, but all Snow, the broad-shouldered, bandanna-wearing fist fighter from FFXIII, wants is to be a hero. But when his wife is turned to crystal, his world turns upside down. How he deals with this, and his difficult relationship with Lightning, and the young Hope, who blames him for his mother's death, is perhaps the most interesting aspect of FFXIII. On a more juvenile level, he's great because his punches sound incredibly meaty and he summons the sexy Shiva sisters, who come together to form a motorbike which he rides on. You don't have to be Professor Love Muscle to spot the sexual references here...

Aeris Gainsborough - Final Fantasy VII

Aeris' enduring appeal owes much to her shocking death halfway through FFVII. She's been martyred, in a way. Up to that point, she was a likeable, inoffensive love interest in the stereotypical Japanese fashion; a flower girl with secrets and a talent for spell casting. But she was valued more on a pure gameplay level: she was also extremely useful in combat, and one hell of a healer. After her heartbreaking death, and subsequent burial, players felt a hole not only in their hearts, but in their balanced front line party makeup. Still, her death ranks as one of the most memorable video game scenes of all time, and one of the bravest moves on the part of a game developer. Watching it on YouTube now, it's hard not to feel tears well up. Well, sort of.

Lightning - Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning is moody, monotone, and an ex-soldier. Remind you of anyone? Comparisons with FFVII's Cloud have come thick and fast, and with good reason. Even legendary Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura has admitted that, for Lightning, he was asked to design a female Cloud Strife. While she may never prove as popular as VII's leading man, she's a worthy addition to this list. Her guilt over her sister's horrible fate lends her a determination during the first half of FFXIII. But she gets really interesting during the second half of the game, when revelations question her very being. Well, there's that, and the fact that she's slap-yourself-in-the-face sexy. There's something about pink-haired vixens and gun blades that get us all hot under the collar...

Bahamut - various

He's not a playable character, and he never talks, but giant winged monstrosity Bahamut still ranks as one of the most memorable Final Fantasy creations. He is, essentially, a double hard dragon you can summon, but his recurring appearance across the series has resulted in a "his master's dog" relationship with the player. He's always there if you need him, appearing from the heavens in a blaze of magic emblems and raining down the pain on all who would seek to harm you. His trademark attack, the Mega Flare, sees him charge up all sorts craziness from just in front of his terrifying mouth before blasting the whole world to smithereens. Boom.

Lulu - Final Fantasy X

Mysterious, calm, and sultry, Lulu is one of the best-designed Final Fantasy characters ever. Her dress, made up entirely of belts strapped to each other, was a work of art, and, occasionally, allowed you a thrilling glimpse at the wonder it concealed. On the battlefield, she excelled as a damage dealing spell caster. Physical attacks weren't her strong point - and it was easy to know why: her basic attack involved laying a doll on the ground and have it trot over to your enemy and smack them - a hilarious sight. But that was the only hilarious thing about Lulu. She was a serious, scathing girl, a bitch witch with an attitude. Square Enix, as it likes to, never missed an opportunity to exploit her lovely figure; when she cast a spell, she'd often provocatively lean forward, showing her ample cleavage to all. She was easily the most interesting character in Final Fantasy X. But that's not saying much: Tidus and Wakka, two of the most annoying characters in Final Fantasy history, were in that game.

Kefka Palazzo - Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI's big bad villain was messed up. Proper messed up. Nihilistic to the core, Kefka wanted nothing more than to set the world aflame. The guy was horrible, killing millions at a whim and forcing everyone he spared to worship him. The game's epic conclusion - one listed by many as their favourite boss battle - is an intelligent philosophical discussion that puts the likes of Fight Club to shame. Kefka believes all life to be meaningless and mortal existence purposeless, and therefore wishes total destruction on the world. However, the player controlled party argue the toss, revealing the meaning in their own lives. Unable to reconcile this conflict, Kafka is enraged. Take that, Heavy Rain.

Cloud Strife - Final Fantasy VII

Spiky-haired emo with a big sword. That's all Cloud was. Now, the JRPG front man is a cliché, but in 1997, Cloud reverberated around the gaming universe. He was so cool - so cool! His sword swipe attacks looked incredible on the PlayStation (go Omnislash!), and his confused, dour personality struck a chord in the heartstrings of millions of teenagers across the world. We all loved him as much as we wanted to be him. He remains the series' most popular character, a poster boy for the entire JRPG genre. The entire gaming world awaits his return. Surely it must come? But will it be via a Final Fantasy VII remake, or something new entirely?

Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII

If Cloud was plus, then Sephiroth was minus. Cloud had bright blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. Sephiroth had bright cyan eyes and long, platinum-coloured hair. Cloud had the big, fat Buster Sword. Sephiroth had the long, thin Masamune. The Cloud/Sephiroth rivalry drove FFVII's pulsating storyline to an epic conclusion. While Cloud eventually defeated his foe, you always felt that Sephiroth was more powerful than anyone who dared to oppose him. But he was just so cool, wasn't he? His nonchalant, condescending behaviour, his devastating sword swipes - really, we were rooting for Sephiroth as passionately as we were for Cloud. As much a victim of mega corporation Shinra as Cloud and his eclectic band of followers, Sephiroth's motivations were shrouded in mystery, and are still debated today. Final Fantasy, and indeed gaming, has never known a greater villain.

The five most murderous Final Fantasy villains

We’re only considering the main numbered games. No spin-offs, no sidequels, just the primary series. So, who caused the most pain, killed the most people or ruined the most lives?
Includes contributions from Brett Elston and Christian Nutt

Vayne (Final Fantasy XII)

Most Final Fantasy antagonists are in your face - personally insulting you, killing your friends and generally being a huge pain in the ass. Vayne isn't like that. He manipulates governments and ruthlessly kills his family to achieve political power. He then flexes this dubiously acquired power over armies, over researchers finding new magical technologies, over anything that will bolster the claims of his Archadian Empire.

Above: Doesn’t get any more exciting than this shot of Vayne talking
Caught up in the sweep of his ambitions, you'll constantly find yourself fighting indirectly against Vayne and his loyal servants. As you cut down these minions one by one, even his younger brother comes to your aid – before long, all of his well-laid plans fall through, and his desire to save mankind from the grip of the gods is brought to a close. Not before this weird-ass final fight, though:

Above: One of the strangest final battles the series has coughed up
Despite this “I’m going to turn myself into an airship cloud dragon!” finale, we loved Vayne as an against-type, almost down to earth antagonist. A welcome departure from the highly stylized and mass-murdering villains of similar games.

Golbez (Final Fantasy IV)

Even though this towering knight is upstaged at the end of the game, you'll hate Golbez's guts from the moment he sets foot on the screen. He plays with everyone’s emotions and secretly rules the throne of Baron Castle, and as such is directly responsible for hero Cecil’s defection, setting the whole game into motion. Golbez affects almost every member of your party on a personal level, either by taking something precious or killing characters in cold blood. Few bosses are routinely in your face throughout the whole adventure – Golbez delights in these hands-on moments like no other.

Above: Why, here he is paralyzing the team so he can feed you to his pet dragon
The final third of the game unleashes astounding revelations about Golbez and his otherworldly origin. This twist makes him, his reasoning and his actions more interesting, and even tragic as the final lines of dialog are spoken. Golbez may not destroy the world, but in 20 short hours he manages to wreck the personal lives of your entire group, order dozens of innocents to their death and nearly usher in a new age of eternal destruction. Damn.

Sin (Final Fantasy X)

It's hard to give such prominent placement to a giant whale… monster… thing, but by the end of the game you'll understand exactly why the mysterious, destructive monster known as Sin ranks so high. What initially seems like a mindless monster with no purpose other than to randomly terrorize the world (and kill thousands of people) becomes a mind-ripping plot twist. Without getting into too much detail, Sin is actually Jecht (the dude up there) and is stuck in a never ending cycle of violence. Yeah, that’s pretty vague. We’ll stick with that.

 

The creature is an indestructible enigma throughout the entire quest, and only when you brace for the final stretch do you realize the terrible truth about Sin and the world of Spira. In the end, Sin is a total mindjob, from creepy introduction to blazing finale. And the ending... that must be the most satisfying high five in the history of games.

Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)

This walking loony bin doesn't have any fancy plots - Kefka just wants to destroy the world. Unlike most other Final Fantasy villains, his methods are painfully overt. It's clear from the first 10 minutes you're going to have to take him down, and even though you (and eventually his villainous Empire friends) try to topple him, Kefka succeeds in claiming ultimate power. He then razes the world, for real, realigning continents and torching what little survives. No joke, he actually does convert an entire world into a charred, depressing relic. The scale of destruction even prompts one of the game’s major characters to commit suicide – though she fails even in that.

Above: This used to be an idyllic green and blue world, now reduced to dust and patches of dying vegetation
An honorable clan of knights refuses to lie down and surrender, so Kefka poisons the water supply and kills the entire town. He uses parts of the broken world to construct his own patchwork lair. There's no respite from a madman who controls the planet, and it takes a herculean effort from the team to even muster up the courage to face him again.

If only there were a bit more meat to his goals, Kefka could have been the ultimate villain in the series. He’s a bit like the Joker, dressing in a comedic costume, laughing maniacally at all those who fall at his feet and causing chaos just for chaos’s sake. Granted, he’s one-dimensional and lacks any nuance that other (and technically better) baddies enjoy, but in Kefka’s case, his utter lack of any other qualities is what makes him stand out. Perhaps he was sane before he got involved with the Empire and its Magitek soldier program, but now he’s a lost cause. Kefka just wants to kill, and relishes the chance to do so.

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII

Yeah yeah, it’s an obvious, popular choice, but even the hardiest of haters has to acknowledge Sephiroth's devious accomplishments. Upon discovering his own twisted, gene-manipulated history, he slaughters an entire village, burns it to the ground and smiles about it as he calmly walks away.

Above: Sephiroth returns to and destroys Nibelheim in arguably the most famous scene in all of RPGs, recreated here in Advent Children
Later, he coldly slices down the beautiful and sweet Aerith, sending millions of pre-pubescent fanboys into teary eyed fits of unrequited love (SPOILER!). At this point in the game you’ve already witnessed many displays of ruthlessness, but this straight-up murder of a primary character does indeed carry a massive weight even today. Aerith is practically about to save the world, then, mere seconds later, dead at the hands of a villain who maintains eye contact as he withdraws his sword. Creepy, man.

After usurping what's left of a powerful alien entity called Jenova (which he incorrectly believes to be his mother), Sephiroth succeeds in unleashing massive monsters from the guts of the planet, turning them loose in a wild rampage that wrecks several major cities. All this while he’s attempting to crash a giant meteor into the world so it will reveal its regenerative Lifestream, which he plans to absorb and take over, becoming a god in complete control of the globe. That’s a lot to process.
Sephiroth, unlike most villains in Final Fantasy, begins and ends the game as your main adversary. He's never dumped at the last second for some pinch hitting omni-boss or revealed to be under the spell of some higher being. He's also not a one trick pony like Kefka - Sephiroth may be vicious, but his back story and motives are much richer than the mischievous stylings of VI's jester. Seph’s even got a bit of Golbez’s tragic past, in that all his misdeeds aren’t 100% his fault.

Above: PSP’s Crisis Core fleshes out his background – he wasn’t always a murderous crackpot
And that's the bottom line. Hate him or not, Sephiroth hits all the major points of excellent villainy and still walks away as a potential victor, even when his final form is all but gone. His inextricable link to the game’s main character, Cloud, makes the story and unfolding drama all the better.
Think we’re full of it? Agree with Sephiroth’s spot but think ExDeath was the most badass tree ever and should be on the list? You’d be wrong of course, but we still want to know what you think.

The Big Three: The Evolution of StarCraft's Zerg, Terran, and Protoss

If you want proof that games are living art, always shifting, changing, and taking on new forms, look no further than StarCraft's Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg.
Today we know them as the avatars of balance in real-time strategy; three unique but equally matched races, each with their own style of play. But fans who have been around since StarCraft's original release will likely remember the Reaver Drops; the persistent turtling on the part of Terran players; and the many, many Zergling rushes. I was there with them, and I remember.

All three have their roots in what was arguably Warcraft II's biggest failing -- its race parity. So long as the Orcs and Humans were relatively simple mirrors of one another, Command & Conquer fans would be able to claim that their favored strategy game was better, because the factions were more diverse (if not really balanced in the least). So came the three factions that ultimately defined StarCraft, and even real-time strategy.
On the face of it, they actually aren't that unique, as each represents science fiction archetypes that have been around since at least the 1950s. The Terrans and the Zerg, for instance, would not be out of place in Robert Heinlein's seminal Starship Troopers, or possibly Alien (there are certainly no shortage of Aliens references). The Terrans are power armor wearing space marines, while the Zerg are essentially bugs or Xenomorphs, with a dash of the Civil War and a bit of Locutus of Borg added for good measure.
The Protoss, meanwhile, are essentially space elves. Haughty and aloof, they are highly-advanced, practically immortal, and ready to wipe humans from the face of the galaxy to get rid of the swarm. They could be Tolkien's elves, or if you prefer, the Minbari.
Their main strength, at least at first, was that they looked cool. Right from the beginning, Blizzard encouraged you to take sides by producing three separate variants of the StarCraft box art, each one featuring a unique unit from one of the three races. For the most part, it worked. I immediately adopted the Terrans as my race and my friend went for the Zerg. They were so distinct that it was hard not to pick a favorite. But even early on, picking a faction meant more than siding with your favorite art style. In a way, it was representation of who you were as a gamer, and how you approach your strategy.

From the beginning, each faction was tailored to encourage certain play-styles. The Terrans leaned toward defense; the Zerg swarmed and overwhelmed opponents; and the Protoss had expensive but powerful units. If there was a problem, it was that the races weren't what you would call fully-developed, even then. Right from the beginning, the Terrans seemed to be at a disadvantage, at least in part because they were the most "newbie friendly" race. To wit, an industry colleague and I were talking about our first experiences with StarCraft not too long ago. Like me, he had chosen the Terrans, since they were the most familiar race. Being a Command & Conquer nut, his first instinct was to build up to the top of the tech tree behind an elaborate series of fortifications. His opponent, meanwhile, responded by capturing every mineral field on the map and smashing him to pieces. This happened a lot.
It wasn't just sheer incompetence holding the Terrans back though. Marines, which were meant to form the backbone of the Terran army, were relatively weak. Missile turrets did negligible damage against Zerg flyers. But more importantly, no one really knew how to play the Terrans. It would be years before viable Terran strategies began to crop up, not the least because they were dismissed almost from the start as the weakest faction.
Of the three, the Zerg were probably in the best position to dominate early. Units like the flying Mutalisk and the Hydralisk were both cheap and powerful, and they could rapidly overwhelm even a well-prepared Terran player. Inevitably, they would start raiding my mineral line, and I would have no response. Even a bunker wasn't really enough to stop them. Meanwhile, the Zerg would expand and grab up all of the mineral patches; and once they were impossibly rich, they would crush me with Guardians that could out-range every weapon in my arsenal.
Even the mighty Zerg weren't all the way there though. The basic unit -- the Zergling -- could be quite powerful in packs, but the adrenal gland upgrade that made them exceptionally fast and vicious was bugged and didn't work properly. And anyway, most people weren't really thinking in terms of "strategy." They were thinking about how to produce a handful of Zerglings and blitz their opponent into submission.

Those were the dominant strategies in those early days; Protoss players relied on the Reaver Drop, and Zerg players loved the Zergling Rush. If those didn't work out, you would see more advanced units like the High Templar and Guardians. But the Protoss in particular loved their Reaver Drops. All it took to succeed was one shuttle, a Reaver, and a lot of clicking. The reason it worked so well was that the Reaver would launch one of its devastating shots as soon as it hit the ground, after which it could be pulled back into the shuttle before the enemy could retaliate. I remember one player bragging that he had gotten it to the point that you couldn't even see the Reaver. All you would see would be a single energy shot obliterating your Marines, Hydralisks, or workers.
This dynamic persisted for the first several months of gameplay. Advanced strategies were relatively rare; cheating was extremely common, and a lot of the units were flat out useless, among them the Protoss Dragoon (wrong damage type), the Carrier (not enough damage), Photon Cannons (wrong damage type again), and Vulture bike (damage type, you're probably sensing a theme here). It wasn't until Brood War arrived that the races evolved into something like the form that we recognize today, which may qualify it as the most successful expansion of all time.
With Brood War, each race received at least one crucial upgrade. Medics made Marines more durable, and missile upgrades enabled Goliaths to take down Guardians at range. The Protoss received the permanently cloaked Dark Templar, and the Zerg likewise received a stealth unit of their own in the Lurker, which could attack while buried. It was around this time that StarCraft began to explode in PC Bangs throughout South Korea, and with the influx of new players came new strategies.
Zergling Rushes would remain in force for pretty much the duration of the game's lifespan; but as players became more sophisticated, so did their strategies. By 2000, the Terrans had a champion of their own in Lim Yo Hwan, known as the "Terran Emperor" for being the foremost Terran progamer, and for his heavy role in developing early strategies such as the Tank Drop. The Zerg and the Protoss similarly gained their own representatives, and their clashes would become legendary in the eSports community.
After that, it became an arms race of sorts between the different races. The Zerg were better than the Terrans for a while, but then Choi Yun Sung, better known as iloveoov, invented "The Fantasy Build," which allowed the humans to bring their armor to bear on maps where it wouldn't normally be feasible. The Protoss likewise developed their own techniques for defeating the other two races, many of which exploit their powerful opening units -- the Zealot and the Dragoon.

  They're like the fighters in Street Fighter; their individual quirks defining who they are and how they relate to their foes. 

With StarCraft II, all three races gained new units and new looks, with the Terran and Protoss rushing out to an early advantage over the once-powerful Zerg. Things have leveled out a bit since then though, especially with high-level players constantly developing new strategies for money tournaments. Even with the new units though, their identities have remained largely the same. It's just that they've come more into focus over the years.
It's for that reason that the Protoss, Zerg, and Terrans are some of the richest, most interesting factions ever developed for a video game. They're like the fighters in Street Fighter; their individual quirks defining who they are and how they relate to their foes. By extension, these races have had a measurable impact on their players, both defining them and being defined by them.
True, it wasn't always clear what they would become in the early going, not the least because neither Blizzard nor its fanbase had any idea what StarCraft would ultimately become. But as these races matured within the context of StarCraft's strategy, so did real-time strategy as a whole. As such, their story has almost nothing to do with the Xel'naga and space rednecks and everything else in their respective histories, and everything to do with how they've come to defined strategy gaming.
The next chapter of that story will be in Heart of the Swarm, which aims to follow in the footsteps of Brood War and possibly revive competitive StarCraft II play in the face of strong competition from League of Legends. As always, the root of StarCraft II's appeal will be in the relationships between its respective races. I look forward to seeing what's next for them.

The Cinematic Nature of Parasite Eve

Square's theatrical RPG was a bizarre evolutionary dead end in video game storytelling.

Parasite Eve is, after fifteen years, a forgotten footnote in the great video game canon. Yoko Shimomura's soundtrack endures lo these many years later, but otherwise it's just another of those wacky experiments from Squaresoft's golden age; a piece of trivia for RPG fetishists and PS1 buffs. Failure is the game's greatest legacy. Not as a game -- it's actually pretty great to play, even now -- but as a model for telling stories in games. Director Takashi Tokita and his team called their game a "cinematic RPG," an explicit attempt to meld the flash of film with what was at the time video game's best storytelling tools. It didn't work, but it was a necessary evolutionary step, fitting for a game that is itself all about evolution.

The common complaint about most story-based video games goes like this: I'd like the game if it wasn't for all the cut-scenes. As video games scrambled tooth and nail to tell stories, they naturally turned to the language of film for creating human drama. How else would you get two people in the game to talk to each other naturally? If you leave the player in control while the characters around them speak naturally, the scene loses its dramatic impact. Think about poor Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2 trying to have a serious chat about the miseries of life under the combine as Gordon Freeman spastically spins in circles, crowbarring everything in sight as he roots around for ammo like a pig for truffles. So the formula has gone like this: play a little game, stop for a brief cinema while the characters talk or there's a big action set piece impossible within the parameters of the game, play some more, watch a long cinema at the end. Technology has improved the formula, smoothing the transition by keeping the game's characters and models consistent across cut-scenes and play, but it's been largely the same since 1998 benchmarks like Metal Gear Solid.
Parasite Eve, another alumni of 1998, saw a different path. The story: On Christmas Eve in 1997, the mitochondria in the cells of New York City's citizens revolt, possessing an opera singer, taking the name Eve, and mutating people into freaky monsters or orange goo. The mysterious cop Aya Brea is the only one who can stop her from ending civilization/ruining Christmas.

Square's other games, particularly director Tokita's previous works like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV, had proven that movie-style scenes complete with spoken dialogue and dramatic staging weren't necessary to make a great game story. Simple, static backgrounds, text dialogue, music, and simple blocking were enough to hook players. Consider scenes from Chrono Trigger like when hero Crono is placed on trial. It's an impressionistic sequence, with slower pacing and simpler dialogue than you'd find in a movie or television, but it works marvelously.
Rather than throw out that storytelling style, Squaresoft kept the format in Parasite Eve. Most scenes with NYPD Detective Aya Brea, her partner Daniel Dollis, and the sinister Eve show characters moving in simple, exaggerated gestures with text dialogue. Instead of using the PlayStation technology to do voiced dialogue sequences, Square added drama to these scenes by adding small touches of animation and flare to highly detailed static backgrounds. These were the same sort of pre-rendered backgrounds seen in Square's recent hit Final Fantasy VII, but rather than massive vistas, these were smaller, more intimate places. One early scene has Brea and Dollis driving in a police cruiser to a crime scene, and the flashing police lights and blurred background mimicking a city streets rushing by add a dramatic flare while maintaining the slower pace of RPG stories.
Eve borrows the scenery activity of film, but not the human element. When Aya is exploring the New York on foot, fighting genetic mutations, most of the backgrounds are completely static. Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, all of them look like frozen paintings with Aya running over them. Had Square kept a consistent presentation, throughout, Eve's silent story might have been more effective.
Consistent presentation wasn't really the point, though, as the other half of Eve's storytelling style demonstrates. Also borrowed from Final Fantasy VII are Eve's approximately 20 minutes of pre-rendered cut-scenes, action sequences drawn in a more advanced graphical style than the in-game characters and locales. Unlike Final Fantasy, Parasite Eve tried peppered these big payoff moments more liberally throughout the game. The intended effect was to have more dramatic peaks and valleys more often, over the course of the game's roughly seven-hour run time. Even with text-based dialogue and mostly still sets, the effect would be a film-like pace filtered through the lens of a familiar role-playing game.
Parasite Eve's little movies don't wow like they did fifteen years ago, but there is a strange beauty about them now. Something about the smooth-lined characters and jerky, rubbery monsters has an otherworldly effect that brings out the personality of the rough polygonal characters you see while you're playing, not unlike Yoshitaka Amano's delicate concept art did for the original Final Fantasy games. No matter how appealing they are, though, they ultimately don't fit in with the actual pace of the game. In the field, Aya, the game's strategic fights, and the pace through would-be "dungeons" like central park and the subway system are all simply too slow to be relied on to keep up a dramatic pace. The game's most cinematic elements, its CG movies, take away from the more subtle cinematic qualities of the animation in dialogue scenes.
So Parasite Eve was an evolutionary dead end as far as storytelling methods go, and Square seemed to realize it quickly as Parasite Eve 2 was paced more like the old Resident Evil games than its predecessor. The game shouldn't stay forgotten, though. Freed of technological restrictions, there's something to be said for a style of game that switches wildly between presentations like Parasite Eve does between its CG cut-scenes, slightly-animated story scenes, and its slow play. Games, after all, aren't movies. Tools that aren't effective when trying to mimic movies could be used to tell stories unique to video games if used correctly. Why else do people still love the way Blizzard builds CG cinemas into games like Diablo III? Square may never revisit these ideas, but today's game makers would do well to re-examine the peculiar failure that was Parasite Eve.

Humble Bundle Loses What Makes Itself Special With THQ Bundle

The launch of the latest Humble Indie Bundle yesterday was an unusual one. Rather than being met with the usual reaction -- people spreading the word, maybe some praise being bestowed for a strong selection of games -- this particular one instead prompted complaints that the Humble Bundle has lost its way. That's because it consists of games published by THQ, a company which, despite its ongoing financial troubles, is far larger than those we normally see featured in these bundles. While I don't find the situation quite as egregious as others do, I do think this is a step in the wrong direction.
The first Humble Indie Bundle was launched in early 2010, and it's still easy to see why it was so appealing: Buyers could get five great indie games for Windows, Mac, or Linux without any DRM, and at any price they deemed appropriate, be it hundreds of dollars, a few pennies, or, in the case of that particular bundle, nothing at all. To sweeten the deal, purchasers could freely decide how their money was divided up between the developers of these games, the organizers of the bundle, and a pair of charitable organizations, the latter of which made it so five games could be had in return for nothing more than a donation to charity.
Subsequent bundles continued these practices, offering multiplatform, DRM-free indie games at any price. Some have offered soundtracks to go along with the games, and others have offered additional incentives for those who exceed the average purchase price. Outside of concerns that these bundles, along with things like Steam sales, are devaluing games, it's difficult to find any source of complaints about Humble Indie Bundles.
More recently, the Humble Bundle has begun to experiment with different ideas. This year has seen four different bundles centered around Android games, one dedicated to music from the likes of MC Frontalot and Jonathan Coulton, one for eBooks, and one for Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight game jam. The Humble THQ Bundle, as it's called, is also undoubtedly viewed as an experiment, but it's one that strays too far from the basic tenets that define the Humble Indie Bundle.
One of the major problems with the THQ bundle is the fact that it doesn't benefit developers. Whereas the money allocated to developers in previous bundles actually went to the people responsible for making the games, that is not the case here. THQ is a publisher, not a developer. While its money allowed the games included in the bundle -- Darksiders, Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon, Company of Heroes (along with expansions Tales of Valor and Opposing Fronts), and, for those who pay more than the average, Saints Row: The Third -- to be made, the developers themselves won't see a dime of the money generated by this bundle. It could be argued that money that ends up in THQ's pockets will go on to fund future games (well, maybe not any Red Faction games) developed by Volition, Vigil Games, 4A Games, or Relic, but it doesn't change that the people responsible for creating these games won't get any money. Buyers could always direct their money to charity, though the default split heavily favors THQ.
Also conflicting with what we've seen from most bundles in the past are operating system requirements and DRM. A number of times games have introduced Mac and/or Linux support as part of their inclusion in the Humble Bundle, and it's become something of a reliable way for getting games for Mac or Linux gamers. All of THQ's games here are Windows-only. This was also true of the Amnesia Fortnight bundle, but that was a much different set of circumstances.
In addition to codes to redeem on Steam, Humble games for computer can always be downloaded right from the Humble website, DRM-free. That's not the case with the THQ games, and the decision is perplexing -- maybe THQ doesn't want to release DRM-free versions of its games, but it's been noted more than once that those willing to pirate it can easily do so. Giving legitimate Humble customers a DRM-free option would not impact that. Double Fine distributing those prototypes exclusively through Steam is understandable, but restricting the THQ games to Steam-only is much less acceptable. As a heavy Steam user, I'm happy to get Steam codes, myself, but there are people who don't want to be bothered with any form of DRM, no matter how widely accepted it may be.
As an aside to all of this, it's hard not to consider THQ's financial position when thinking about why it did this. It's in a dire situation and could potentially run out of cash, so maybe it's looking to looking to bring some money in by capitalizing on older titles not producing much revenue otherwise. The amount it's likely to make from this (it has surpassed $2 million in only 16 hours, and is fast approaching $2.5 million with 13 days to go) won't be what makes the difference in THQ's future, though a few million dollars certainly can't hurt. Assuming THQ digs itself out of its current hole, it may also see a sales boost for sequels to some of the included games, like Company of Heroes 2, Metro: Last Light, and Saints Row 4.
There's nothing wrong with experimentation. GOG.com tested the waters with selling newer games and ultimately dropped its classic game-only focus, but it maintained its other pillars: DRM-free games, bonus goodies, worldwide releases with fair pricing, compatibility with modern operating systems, and solid customer service. The Humble THQ Bundle seems to abandon the very spirit that the Humble Indie Bundle was founded on -- including, most importantly, the whole 'indie' aspect. Although this doesn't signal an end to the sort of indie game bundles we've come to expect, the THQ bundle could have a detrimental effect on Humble's reputation, perhaps by sending new customers to alternatives like Indie Royale or IndieBundle.org. A lot of people may not care, and it is an admittedly good bundle, especially for the cost. But whatever the case, beyond the immediate financial gain, this bundle doesn't do Humble any good.

SimCity: Launch Woes And Perplexing Political Statements

The launch of SimCity has been... interesting? Disastrous? Obvious to everyone at the exact moment they found out it was going to require a constant connection to EA's servers? Entirely avoidable? Let's go with interesting.

What if you wanted to play a private game by yourself while the servers were offline, or while you didn't have access to the internet? You're out of luck for no good reason. Multiplayer is so important that you're not allowed to play without it, even though you can totally play without it - provided you're logged in to the servers.

At first no one could play SimCity at all because the servers were unable to handle the task. A minor inconvenience, to be sure. Then basic functionality was stripped away to make the game somewhat playable some of the time.
Even ignoring the server issues, SimCity has a surprising amount of rough edges. Sims, traffic, power, water, and sewage all behave in the exact same way, dribbling into the first available building instead of heading anywhere in particular. The first casino you can plop down is the only one that can actually make a profit. Emergency vehicles all respond to the same minor fire as the rest of the city burns to the ground. There is a constant demand for industry even when it's not needed at all. As it turns out, you don't need any industry or commercial buildings as long as you have a few parks. Hugely important gameplay systems go unexplained, and can only be grasped by trial and error, often revealing ideas that are completely counter-intuitive.
In spite of all this, the act of playing is incredibly pleasant. The music is pretty much perfect, as is the act of dropping buildings into place and zooming in to inspect your handiwork. More often than not, I'll find myself tinkering around for hours before stopping because of a server issue, a glaring bug, or obnoxious design decision. There's a lot of potential in the game. It's too bad that EA pushed the always-online down everyone's throats, that Maxis couldn't iron out the most glaring problems, and that the game is ultimately a series of puzzles with specific solutions rather than an open-ended toybox. Even though the circumstances surrounding this game are very different, in some ways it's reminiscent of Spore.
I've also been surprised by some aspects of SimCity's design that seem to have sprung from the mind of an Ayn Rand acolyte. A progressive tax system, for example, simply cannot be put in place. Why? Wealthy sims have lower tolerances for tax rates than medium and low wealth sims. They will complain and ultimately move away if they have to shell out more than 10%. While this initially seems like a tongue-in-cheek commentary on real life, there's no way around it. This is presented something you have to accept.
Of course, this is also a game where the government is completely in control of every building in a city, so I'm not suggesting it's a Tea Party simulator. I'm just saying that there are a lot of eyebrow-raising moments that could be misinterpreted as an endorsement of some wacky political beliefs.

• Only lower class, uneducated sims commit crimes. They are also the only ones who make mistakes, get into accidents, and set fires.
• When the godzilla-like giant monster rampages through a city as part of a disaster scenario, it crushes everything in its path save for buildings that fly the Don't Tread On Me flag.
• In another disaster, the meteor storm, only the parts of town that "deserve it" are devastated.
• The game fudges the amount of sims in a city, only simulating a tiny fraction of a population. So, basically, only 1% of the sims really matter.
• When you look at an expanded map of the Titan Gorge region, you'll note that the trees are arranged in such a way as to create a political cartoon of a wimpy scientist making up global warming and feminism.
• You're expected to respond immediately when a rich sim's house is too close to a low income building. When there are shooting deaths, however, you don't have the ability to limit the sale of guns.

Dissecting The Destiny Trailer, Struggling To Find Hope For The Wii U

 

Look On The Bright Side, Wii U!

For thirteen years people have predicted the failure of Nintendo's systems and looked like dumbasses for their efforts. While most arguments about Nintendo's flawed strategies make perfect sense, Nintendo has a knack for slipping out of seemingly impossible (and easily avoidable) situations.
Now Nintendo finds itself in an extra impossible situation. They have a console that refuses to catch on. The Wii U's name remains confusing for consumers, with many still not aware that it's a wholly separate thing from the Wii. The tablet controller isn't being used for anything innovative enough to make up for the system's lack of power. With major developers seeming to back away from the console every week, Nintendo is in a position it hasn't been in since the days of the Virtual Boy. At this point it seems that the Wii U is all but doomed unless the number of upcoming first party games triples.
Still, Nintendo is the comeback kid. If they hope to turn things around this time, the reversal of fortune will likely hinge on a positive aspect of the Wii U that's staring us in the face. Maybe we can find the key to the console's success by rattling off the few things that the console has going for it.

• It's not the Xbox One.
• There has not been a single confirmed case of a Wii U that was cursed by a mummy, leading to thousands of scarabs pouring out of the system when a toddler tried to eject a game.
• The year of Luigi could theoretically be extended to the decade of Luigi, or transition into the year of Waluigi.
• That Nintendo Land title music is really snazzy. Perhaps there's a way to offer it as paid DLC for people who want to add it to the Wii U menu?
• If you compare the Wii U to a console with zero games, the Wii U actually has a lot of games.
• Nintendo hasn't lost the blueprints. If they need to make more Wii U units they totally can. It's not a problem at all, guys, so feel free to buy one.
• There are all sorts of shows about hoarders, such as Hoarders. If these programs are any indication, there is a huge market of people who are willing to buy anything to cram it in their home.

Experience The Destiny Trailer Without Watching It
Hey, it's Buggin' Out from Do The Right Thing! Gus from Breaking Bad! Not Gus from Revolution! He's sitting down to tell a bedtime story while that Destiny moon logo thing hangs out in the window behind him. Okay, I'm sort of into this. Maybe now we'll get some idea of what's supposed to make this sci-fi setting unique.
Aaaaand we have space soldiers on unlicensed Star Wars speeders. Welp. Now three heroes are involved in a shootout. They're trying to kill large (presumably bad) men who are hiding behind shields but the heroes can't kill the large men because the shields are deflecting their bullets. One of the heroes is switching his gun to a revolver, and now he's able to shoot all six of those bad guys and kill them. Because he picked the right space gun. Also, I guess he didn't get so much as a scratch in that entire fire fight.
Now there's another bad guy, but he's got a minigun and he's enormous! Uh-oh! The three heroes spin to face him, then pose to demonstrate how super tough they are. Will they kill the large man with their guns? Won't they? AHHH the mystery! I don't think I can wait for the game's release to find out!