Chris Pressey: Favourite Video Games

↑Chris Pressey↓Action Games

Well, I figured that if Wouter could have such a page, and that since I've been told I have good taste in video games...

Gameplay impresses me far more than the graphics or sound effects or "realism" of the game. Music does has some influence on me though, in that an exceptional soundtrack will count for some extra points.

Action Games

These are all "action" games, where reaction time plays a primary role. That's not to say they don't also involve a significant amount of thinking, but when they do, it's definately thinking on your feet.

Typhoon Thompson (shooter, Amiga & Atari ST, mouse)

Quite possibly the cutest game ever.
Pepper II (maze-runner, arcade, joystick)

To the untrained eye, it's a ripoff of Pac-Man: fill in all the regions instead of eat all the dots. But there's something about it that sets it apart — maybe it's that the action is more frenetic and somehow smoother (if slightly buggier,) maybe it's because the strategy is different (more emphasis on getting the power-ups just to stay alive.)
City Connection (platformer(?), arcade, joystick and 1 button)

A jumping minivan? Yes, a jumping minivan. And European police. And a devil-cat-thing with a checkered flag. And a balloon that warps you to other cities. How can you not love it?
Katamari Damacy (maze-runner, PlayStation 2, dual analog joystick)

An extremely original game — sort of a four-dimensional maze game where the fourth dimension is scale. Rolling things up is also surprisingly satisfying and disturbingly addictive. To top it all off, the soundtrack can't be beat.
Liquid Kids (platformer, arcade, joystick and 2 buttons)

Very cute. Quite possibly a sequel or pseudo-sequel to The New Zealand Story, since you play what appears to be a platypus, and there are oblique references to TNZS (in one of the secret chambers, the platforms are arranged in the shape of the kiwi.)
Lost Tomb (shooter, arcade, dual joystick)

Delightful but very hard. I especially liked the 3D effect on the intermediate levels with the staircases. (Even though it's awkward to control and easy to die on these.) The "word from our sponsor" interruptions are also quite cute.

There is something coherent and unified about the design of this game that you don't often see in other games; you get the impression that it was crafted rather than simply produced.
The New Zealand Story (platformer, arcade, joystick and 2 buttons)

"This game is dedicated to all maze fans." However, that should not deter fans of kiwis, archery, flying machines shaped like bears' heads, laser pistols, magical fireball-belching staffs, and the like.
CoolBoarders 2 (sports, PlayStation, D-pad and 6 buttons)

The only sports game on my list, but that's probably because it doesn't really feel anything like sport. It's only barely realistic — for example, there is clearly no limit to the amount of spin you can impart to your jump. The longer you keep holding X and right, the more rotational velocity you'll have when you catch air. Whee! And it has another soundtrack that can't be beat, too.
Ultimate Wizard (platformer, Commodore 64, joystick and 1 button)

To this day, this stands as the best video game that EA ever released. (I can't say best game in toto, because that might be better reserved for ACS.) Sure, it was something of a ripoff of Jumpman. But it added so many elements, played really well, and best of all, had a level editor.
Llamatron (shooter, PC, keyboard)

Fast-paced, psychedaelic, mindless fun, like most Jeff Minter games. Basically a clone of the arcade game Robotron, but with shaggy, smelly quadrupeds. And cans of Coke. And Mandelbrot sets...
Super Monkeyball 2 (maze-runner, GameCube, analog joystick)

I didn't think I'd like this one, since I really don't like those wooden mazes that you tilt with the two dials — which is essentially what this game is. But somehow it manages to be fun. Especially when you start barrelling down a spiral, completely out of control. The party games I could mostly do without, with the exception of racing, which is at least as fun as the main game.
Sonic the Hedgehog (platformer, Sega Genesis, joystick and 1 button)

Trite, isn't it? But yes, I have to admit that I like it. Mainly I like running very very fast and bounding around just for the joy of it, without worrying about safety or progress. This is best done on the first level, where you haven't accomplished much and restarting is no great loss. Some of the later levels also require much more patience and care than this. I think they recognized that for the sequel, which has fewer "slow" levels and is an easier game for it. But the only game in the series besides the original that I like much is Sonic Spinball, which is quite cute.
Cloak and Dagger (shooter/maze-runner, arcade, dual joystick)

There's something that's always attracted me about being able to shoot out bits of wall. The boxes and conveyor belts hold a similar draw. Not sure if I can put my finger on exactly what it is, though.