The same rules applied to this list - our definition of a game from 'last generation' was any game that was released at any time on the Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, or any PC games released between the years 2000 and 2006 (inclusive).
If you haven't checked it out yet, have a look at our reader voted list. But now we present the PALGN Top Ten of Last Gen – staff picks!
Games are listed alphabetically
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Half-Life 2
Platform: PC
Developer: Valve
Released: 2004
Six years after the original Half-Life set the bar in the single player FPS genre, Half-Life 2 brought it to the next level, setting a new benchmark for interactive storytelling. Picking up where the original left off, Half-Life 2 opens with the mysterious 'G-Man' waking nerd/hero Gordon Freeman from ten years of artificial hibernation, to a world overrun by the oppressive forces of the Combine.
While featuring fantastic graphics for the time, varied gameplay, inventive weapons and intelligent enemy AI, what set Half-Life 2 apart more then anything else is the atmosphere. While playing the game, you really feel like you are stuck in a dystopian environment, and discovering the mysteries of the often expansive world while simultaneously just trying to survive in it is as compelling as anything you're ever likely to play.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: Konami/Kojima Productions
Released: 2004 (NTSC), 2005 (PAL)
The first Metal Gear Solid on PlayStation was an amazing re-birth for the dormant series. A very influential game, it was title that ushered in the stealth genre, as well as being one of the first games to achieve some of the cinematic promise of 3D gaming. It was so successful that the sequel practically sold the PlayStation 2 to many buyers before the title was even released. But while Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was reviewed well, it divided gamers, primarily because it was just more of the same, and its story, setting and characters just didn't have the appeal of the first game.
Not waiting another generation for the next in the series, creator Hideo Kojima went back to the drawing board, and for part three went with a very different setting, and even date. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is set in the 1960s and stars Snake's 'father', the man who would become known as 'Big Boss', and took place in a Russian jungle. With much of the high-tech gadgetry taken out of the equation by the period setting, the game became about survival, camouflage and ambush. With a much more appealing setting and characters, some stunning cutscenes, and some original and enjoyable bosses, Snake Eater is possibly the best in the series, and one of out top ten of the generation.
Metroid Prime
Platform: GameCube
Developer: Retro Studios
Released: 2002 (NTSC), 2003 (PAL)
After a nine year hiatus, Nintendo finally resurrected the Metroid series in 2002 with both an official sequel to Super Metroid – Metroid Fusion on the Game Boy Advance, and with a new first-person side series: Metroid Prime on the GameCube. Co-developed by Nintendo EAD employees (including Shigeru Miyamoto and Super Metroid composer Kenji Yamamoto) and the recently acquired Texas based Retro Studios, many doubted the much celebrated Metroid gameplay would work from a first person perspective, and it would end up being a mindless shooter. But they needn't have worried, as Metroid Prime took the heart and soul of Super Metroid, placed it in a magnificently realised 3D alien world, and added a few new tricks of its own to create a landmark title, and one of the best games ever made.
The Metroid formula remained intact – you still explored a hostile alien world as Samus Aran (in this case an ancient alien sanctuary known as Talon IV), gaining upgrades to Samus' suit that both boost your offensive capabilities and open up new areas. While technically just a well designed key/door mechanic, it was so well integrated that progression felt natural. The graphics engine and art deign were top notch, the environments and enemies creative and detailed, and the bosses spectacular. And it all added up to something significantly more then the sum of its already impressive parts. Metroid Prime was simply a testament to intelligent game design, and a worthy candidate for game of the generation.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Platform: PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Released: 2003
After the mediocre Prince of Persia 3D, Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia series was effectively dead. Acquiring the seemingly unwanted license, Ubisoft Montreal went about re-inventing the Prince, and by re-thinking the action platformer from the ground up, they ended up creating one of the most original and enjoyable action games in years.
Everything about Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was just so much more fluid then other platform games around at the time. The Prince's ability to run up and across walls, climb pillars, and swing from branches made the whole world a jungle gym the player could just have fun playing around in. The 'two sword' fighting system breathed new life into 3D close combat, and the addition of acrobatics to the swordplay made it feel more like you were toying with enemies then the chore they could be to defeat in similar games. But the game's greatest innovation was the eponymous 'sands of time' that allowed a limited re-wind of anything the Prince did. This clever mechanic encouraged creative play, as you could try anything once, with failure only leading to some lost sand. The level design was top notch, the graphics and music stylish, and the whole game was held together by an engagingly told story.
While its inferior sequels have unfortunately tarnished the Prince's name again, The Sands of Time remains and great and influential game.
Resident Evil 4
Platform: GameCube
Developer: Capcom
Released: 2005
What can be said about the game that re-created survival horror genre, re-ignited third person shooting gameplay, and received more game of the year awards they you can throw a stick at? Shinji Mikami action horror masterpiece Resident Evil 4 was a rare case of great graphics, original gameplay and unsurpassed atmosphere coming together in a mainstream game. The story is cheesy but well told and acted, and stars Resident Evil 2's Leon Kennedy. Set in rural Spain, Lean, now a special agent, is searching for the president's daughter, who has been kidnapped by a strange cult who also possess some secrets a certain Umbrella corporation are interested in.
Resident Evil 4's graphics were probably the best of any game at the time of its release, and still hold up very well today. Mikami and his team pushed the GameCube to its limits, with huge amounts of brilliantly textured geometry, great animation, dozens of fast moving enemies on screen at a time and robust and flexible particle and lighting engines. The gameplay was also great, as the move to fully 3D environments and a behind the shoulder camera view allowed for accurate aiming. Add to this some simple but satisfying melee moves, well integrated environmental interaction, and a fun selection of weapons, and for the first time Resident Evil was actually competent in the action department as well.
But possibly the greatest achievement of Resident Evil 4 is the atmosphere, attained by the combination of the remarkable graphics engine and the loving attention to detail of the creators. Every area features its own unique brand of the 'impending doom' feeling, from the misty village, to the lightning-lit graveyard, the heat distorted lava room and the shadowy caves.
Shadow of the Colossus
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: SCEJ
Released: 2005 (NTSC), 2006 (PAL)
While beloved by many for its striking visual style and haunting atmosphere, Shadow of the Colossus spiritual predecessor Ico's weakest element was its combat. It was clumsy, imprecise and often quite a chore, so when news got out that creator Fumito Ueda's next project, codenamed Nico, would be an action game, some were worried. They needn't have been, as Shadow of the Colossus turned out at be one of the most engaging action games in years. It tells the story of a young man Wander who enters a forbidden land on a quest to revive a dead girl. He makes a deal with a spirit named Dormin, who will revive the girl if Wander defeats sixteen animated colossi.
While Shadow of the Colossus is essentially a series of boss fights, the colossi are often breathtaking, levels in and of themselves. Between Wander and his steed Agro the player has a large number of moves at his disposal, and the colossi's methods of defeat are so varied that the game succeeds as both an action and something of a puzzle game. The visual style and strong but subtle narrative elements have been maintained from Ico, and at it its peak, Shadow of the Colossus is a spectacular looking game, among the best on the PlayStation 2. The game has its problems – it's too ambitious for its own good at times, leading to some terrible framerate drops and some nasty aliasing of the textures in the overworld. But the good more then outweighs the bad, and Shadow of the Colossus is a deserving entry into the top ten games of the generation.
Shenmue II
Platform: Dreamcast
Developer: Sega
Released: 2001
The second (and at this point in time likely final) chapter of Sega designer Yu Suzuki's opus Shenmue II took the potential shown in the first game and harnessed it into a streamlined narrative package still yet to be beaten. Detailing the continuing adventures of Ryo Hazuki on his quest to avenge his murdered father, Shenmue II painted on a broarder canvas then the original, and helped re-define what could be achieved in a gaming world.
The Shenmue games popularised the use of of 'quick time events' (QTEs) - interactive cutscenes where you must hit certain buttons in time with on-screen prompts – and Shenmue II still probably has the best implementation of them of any game released. By adding some player involvement to the cutscene interactions, Shenmue II really helped the player feel they were part of the world. And what a world it was. Set in a variety of locales in and around Hong Kong in the late 1980s, the often densely populated environments were full of life and detail, and pushed the humble Dreamcast to its graphical limits.
While the game was released on both the Dreamcast and the Xbox, we preferred the subtitled Dreamcast version to the dubbed Xbox build, so the Dreamcast version is the one to make our list.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Platform: Xbox, PC
Developer: BioWare
Released: 2003
Dozens of Star Wars games have been released over the years, and while many were forgettable, some were quite good, and like all good licenced games they allowed fans of the franchise an opportunity to engage with the property they loved. But one game was different. BioWare's Star Wars role playing game Knights of the Old Republic was just so deep, so engaging, and so polished, that it not only does the property justice, it's one of the best uses of a license ever made, and actually meaningfully adds to the property - some claim even more then the first two prequel movies.
Taking place thousands of years before the movies, in Knights of the Old Republic a Sith named Malak is running amok in the republic, and you play as a young Jedi in the thick of the battle who must decide between the light and dark side of the force. The ability for you to choose the light or dark side by the way you behave is one of the game greatest strengths, and allows for great replayablity, as the whole game changes depending on your choices. Add to this a great core narrative, fantastic graphics and sound, and engaging Dungeons & Dragons based role playing gameplay, and Knights of the Old Republic is a must-play for anyone even remotely interested in role playing games or Star Wars.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Platform: Arcade, Dreamcast, Xbox, PlayStation 2 (NTSC only)
Developer: Capcom
Released: 1999 (Arcade)
The 2D fighting genre slowly slid into obscurity during the 32/64-bit era, and by the time the generation in question here had begun, sprite-based combat had been left as a small niche. It didn't help that the main companies behind the genre – Capcom and SNK – had released so many games and revisions over the years that they had all started to blend together to the casual observer. But amidst the flashy fluff of Xmen vs Street Fighter and the hard to appreciate depth of the King of Fighters series, something remarkable happened. When Capcom finally got around to producing Street Fighter III, they put in some actual effort to re-think the whole series – nay the whole genre. After two strong but unpolished entries, Capcom nailed it with the third and final revision, and in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike they had created possibly the greatest 2D fighter ever made.
Featuring unsurpassed animation, the Street Fighter III series allowed for incredibly accurate hit-detection, and the innovative 'parry' system allowed for many more defensive options then ever before. Between two experienced players, it becomes a mind game as much as a test of reflexes, as a bad decision could be severely punished. 3rd Strike's selection of characters was large and varied, with each having a unique fighting style that must be taken into account by the opposing player.
While the definitive version is the arcade, 3rd Strike was ported to the Dreamcast, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 (in NTSC regions only), and while the versions feature slight differences (the Dreamcast version is based on a later, more balanced, but less popular arcade revision), all versions are competent ports and worth it.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Platform: GameCube
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Released: 2003
Link's GameCube debut was quite a departure from his previous three dimensional adventures. Gone was the traditional medieval fantasy look, and in its place was a whimsical cartoon-like world with elements of Irish, Indian and Japanese culture. While many Zelda games deal with some sort of apocalypse, Wind Waker got the whole thing out of the way in its delightful intro, and you begin the game as a resident of a flooded world who has never known anything different. The mystery of this watery universe leads to a much stronger narrative, as Link, pirate queen-bee Tetra and many other characters are thrown into their fated quest like leaves in the wind.
While initially controversial, the game's cell shaded graphics allowed for one of the most complete visual packages ever produced. A beautiful game from start to finish, the game engine also allowed for some spectacular bosses and locales. While in many ways resembling the SNES Zelda game A Link to the Past, Wind Waker forged it's own unique visual identity, with many subtle graphical effects, and a consistency of design that helped create a true sense of place.
The game has some pacing flaws toward the end, and all the sailing got to be a bit much for some people, but The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker remains a triumph of art and technology that will remain visually and aurally stunning for years to come.
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And that concludes our Top Ten of Last Gen double feature. Did you agree more with our readers, or the staff? Tell us what you thought were the best games of the generation in our forums!
yes i'm a Sega fanboy let me dream! ^_^
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