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3. F-Zero GX
The idea of a very high speed racer hadn’t really been explored before F-Zero, nor has it been very popular since (with the admirable exception of Wipeout). Still, that didn’t stop Nintendo from pulling out all the stops for F-Zero GX on GameCube.
Racers traveled the fastest they ever had, and the fiendish difficulty was compensated with the thrill of overtaking at several hundred miles per hour. It also presented some of the most impressive visuals seen on GameCube and still holds up pretty well today. And yet Captain Falcon is much better known from Super Smash Bros.– there is no justice.
“An exercise in game design so effective it inspired a 600-page book on the subject, Wario Land 4’s levels, bosses, and minigames ooze character.”
Wow, I had no idea there was a book inspired by WL4! Since Robin’s article does not mention what the book is, I did a quick search and found it is ‘Game Design Companion: A Critical Analysis of Wario Land 4’ by Daniel Johnson. Very interesting.
I remember enjoying WL4 when it was still fresh on the GBA, but it’s been too long, and I can’t remember what made the game so special. Guess I’ll have to replay it! (a convenient game to boot up for this Ambassador).
Anyway, solid list of games Robin! I’ve had the pleasure of playing all of them, with the exception of Mother 3. Who knows if it will ever be localized…
Mother 3 has indeed been localised, and the translation team did a brilliant job. You can find their work and instructions here: http://mother3.fobby.net/ (do buy an import copy or some merchandise to keep your conscience clear though).
Wario Land 4 is great fun because it’s got enough level variation and gameplay mechanics to keep throwing new things at you. It’s well worth replaying if you haven’t recently.
Thanks for the link! I was aware of the translation, but I hadn’t really looked into it. I should have clarified in my comment that I was referring to an official Nintendo localization/ American release of the game, though I understand the fan translation is pretty top-notch.
Nice article. Though I would have easily chosen Super Metroid (or Metroid Prime 1) over Metroid Prime 2. That game just wasn’t as solid.
Now, for lack of any better way to communicate this… can you guys *please* come up with a better format for your top 10 list articles? The page listings are so tiny and difficult to click through. Can’t you make some big “next” and “previous” buttons? Even if you don’t want to make them pretty, at least put text links there that would be easier to click. :-\
I blame the tiny page links on WordPress, since that’s how they come out when we format the article. But we’ll work on adding bigger links to our Top Tens from now on to make them a bit easier to navigate!
I love Mother 3, but it doesn’t come anywhere close to the majesty of EarthBound. I appreciate the recognition for Metroid Prime 2, though. One of the most underrated games ever.
Majora is an inspired choice for best sequel. For me, it’s everything a player could want from a direct follow-up.
Great list Robin. Love your choices.
My own personal list would have included Super Metroid, Super Punchout, Mario Galaxy 2, and Excitebike 64.