ModDB – Half-Life 2: Goldeneye Source

Ok, this is one of my favorite Zelda song’s of all time. Its catchy, melodic, and salsa. Yes. Salsa. Its a wonderful example of a stereotypical desert theme and a completely batshit crazy example of a Zelda song. Its so god-damned different from the rest of the music in the entire series that it absolutely deserved a plug.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Gerudo Valley

I no longer think of the Banjo as an instrument of musical wonder, I think of it as a bear. Banjo-Kazooie is one of the most well respected platformers of all time, for good reason!! Back in the day, there was this little company called “Rare”, and they were the best. Not just the best though, they were on top, number one, the big cheese, the chosen one. Rare made the best of the best. Note I said “Made”. Unfortunately for everyone that plays games, Rare has fallen from grace. Over the past 5 years, they’ve made nothing but shit (with the possible exception of Viva Pinata, which was pretty good at best. But enough about Rare, lets get to the game.

(Click images for some high-res awesomeness)

Banjo Kazooie is one of those childhood games that you play and never forget. This game took up the majority of my time while I lived in Oregon between houses. Crammed into a tiny apartment, I adventured across Spiral Mountain, Cranker’s Bay, Mumbo’s Mountain, Freezy Peak, and many other places. The places you’ll go, just like any good game, each have their own feel and style. From an industrial dump to a pirate themed “Treasure Trove Cove”, you’ll remember each and every place you visit.

This goes for characters too. Grunty, the main antagonist, is one of the best written characters in gaming. She has an inferiority complex stemming from her being a self-referenced ‘ugly old hag’. The main story revolving around her wanting to suck the ‘pretty’ out of Banjo’s younger sister ‘Tooty’. Throughout the game, she’ll pop up from time to time taunting you with nursery rhymes. She also has a good sister that will give you trivia throughout your adventures, which shouldn’t be ignored. The casual player will go through the game not paying attention to the little bits of supposedly ‘useless’ information, but at the very end of the game, your survival depends on them. Making you compete in a trivia game show for your life. Its an effective and innovative section.

All in all, this game is something to be experienced. Great music, good graphics considering the time, even though I would like slightly tighter controls, they serve the game well. Play it, love it. Never again will I think that bears and birds can’t team up to stop a wicked witch.

N64 – Banjo-Kazooie

Impressive Star Fox! This song has some skill! But don’t party just yet… I am the great Leon!

One of the most memorable tunes in the Star Fox series, this one is just awesome.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl OST (originally from Star Fox 64) – Star Wolf

Built off of an improved Goldeneye engine, Perfect Dark was a game that is still truly one of the best first person shooters you could spend your time with. The story is amazing, taking you on all kinds of insane missions. Through the buildings of opposing corporations, to being a stewardess on Air Force One, to infiltrating Area 51 to free a giant-headed little grey man. The mission difficulty, like Goldeneye, does more than give you tougher enemies, it also gives you more mission objectives to accomplish. Perfect Dark is one of those games that you’ll remember for a lifetime.

The single player has an insane number of weapons, all of them with alternate fire modes. Don’t want to use the Laptop Gun as a standard automatic? The use the alt-fire to through the gun at the wall and have it be a robotic turret. Out of ammo in the Dragon Assault Rifle? Throw it in a doorway as a proximity mine. Many of the game’s weapons have crazy uses such as these. Some weapons and attacks leave the person on the business end disoriented, the screen leaving vast amounts of motion blur behind, pretty much ruining any chance you have of aiming correctly. One of these weapons in the tranquilizer gun. Yes, a tranq gun that actually disorients and immobilizes your opponents. Even the AI bots react realistically, running into walls, and flailing their guns around in an effort to put you down. All in all, the weapons are plentiful and memorable.

The multiplayer in the game is just as unforgettable as Goldeneye’s. As usual, 4 people can have at it, tearing each other apart in one of the game’s many multiplayer maps. The game’s ludicrous amount of options paved the way for Time Splitters and Halo’s highly customizable multiplayer modes. The ability to save game settings as a new multiplayer mode is seen in today’s Halo franchise. But options weren’t the only thing Perfect Dark gave you the ability to control. This game contained many customizable multiplayer “Simulants”, or bots. These guys are further broken down into AI difficulty and AI type. Everything from a peace-loving hippy AI to a bot that kills the person in first place, to a bot that is obsessed with disarming people. Did I mention you can disarm people?

The game is a true marvel. It includes options that most games should have included, but don’t to this day. Such as the option for widescreen play (I’m looking at you, last-gen consoles), Co-op everything (and if you don’t have a buddy around, a simulant can help you out), Winner Out/Loser Out multiplayer options, per player gameplay options (control schemes, character models, basic gameplay options), the ability to customize bot AI, and one of my personal favorites, that I’ve never seen in a game since: Counter-Op. Counter-Op is like co-op, only the second person takes the place of an enemy in the game, with that enemy’s particular skills/weapons, if they die, they switch to another enemy. Makes for a wonderful cat-and-mouse gameplay type. Want to shoot a rocker launcher without being in the level? Have a go at the targeting range. Want to immerse yourself in this world even more? Take your shoes off, park on the couch and read the myriad case-files, bios, and documents on all the characters, weapons, missions, and gadgets. This game is, to this day, one of the best shooters you could ever immerse yourself in.

Perfect Dark also has a slew of graphical options, from screen size to the option for “high-res” textures, to the ability to play with two N64 controllers at once (one in each hand). If you’ve never tried “Double” control, I highly suggest you do, its fucking incredible. It actually reminds me of more modern control schemes today.

Side Note: Perfect Dark Zero is a steaming pile of shit, don’t even bother.

N64 – Perfect Dark (30 Mb)