BoB's Top 100 Games

[Jiro]

Mordin is probably my favourite ME character, the guy is just... man. Mass Effect is a really great series.

[Loony BoB]

33. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
PC, 1999

Here you go, Pike. I know, I know, it's not top ten, but it's top 33 and you'll just have to make do. I really loved a lot of the things that this game added to the Civilization standard, and it really miffs me that they don't include them in the Civ series to this day. I should be able to play a game that starts in Earth with a settler and a warrior and then create an spaceship and carry on my work on Alpha Centauri in a single game, and bring back alien worms to Earth to help me ensure I am safe from alien invaders and and and and... yeah!

But seriously, I would really, really love for this game to get a sequel, or for it to become a default feature of the Civ series. It was fantastically done. The factions themselves were far more unique than they are in the Civ series, and playing a different faction felt like a whole new experience. Terraforming was awesome, too, and I just feel this is the natural evolutionary game for Civ II/III. Fingers crossed that someday they will bring this back in a big way and we once again really enjoy a modern gaming masterpiece.

[Skyblade]

33. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
PC, 1999

Here you go, Pike. I know, I know, it's not top ten, but it's top 33 and you'll just have to make do. I really loved a lot of the things that this game added to the Civilization standard, and it really miffs me that they don't include them in the Civ series to this day. I should be able to play a game that starts in Earth with a settler and a warrior and then create an airship and carry on my work on Alpha Centauri in a single game, and bring back alien worms to Earth to help me ensure I am safe from alien invaders and and and and... yeah!

But seriously, I would really, really love for this game to get a sequel, or for it to become a default feature of the Civ series. It was fantastically done. The factions themselves were far more unique than they are in the Civ series, and playing a different faction felt like a whole new experience. Terraforming was awesome, too, and I just feel this is the natural evolutionary game for Civ II/III. Fingers crossed that someday they will bring this back in a big way and we once again really enjoy a modern gaming masterpiece.

I think you need more than an airship to reach Alpha Centauri, BoB.

That said, I never really considered adding this as another phase of a Civ game. But you're right, that would be awesome.

[Pike]

Well at least you picked the best faction to put in your summary.

[Loony BoB]

I think you need more than an airship to reach Alpha Centauri, BoB.

Well, an airship and uhm... some really good breath-holding skills... and uh... shh! *edits*

That said, I never really considered adding this as another phase of a Civ game. But you're right, that would be awesome.

Oh man, really? I was thinking "What, that's it?" the moment I left Earth in Civ II. xD "I WANT SPAAAAAACE"

[Bubba]

At this point, I would like to say that Neocracker finished his countdown in just under four-and-a-half months. BoB's thread is now coming up on seven months and we are yet to enter the top 30.

I anticipate the reveal of his No.1 game to coincide with the launch of FFXVI.

[Loony BoB]

I got sidetracked by various things, big time. xD But I'm trying to do this when I get moments free. And maybe FFXVI is my #1.

[Skyblade]

That said, I never really considered adding this as another phase of a Civ game. But you're right, that would be awesome.

Oh man, really? I was thinking "What, that's it?" the moment I left Earth in Civ II. xD "I WANT SPAAAAAACE"

By the time I finished Civilization II, I had already played Master of Orion. And, while both are great games, the distinctions always kept me from going for the "ooh, now space" bit.

Master of Orion is the game that is actually what a space 4x game should be like. It acknowledges and accepts the differences between working on a planet and working in space. It expands your scope to a staggering degree. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, while awesome, loses a lot when compared to managing your empire across the galaxy.

The problem is that, while I would love to make that transition from planet to space... It would not be a smooth one. The play environments are fundamentally different. Most of space is just that - space. It's empty, with no place to build roads or terraform. This alone necessitates a drastic change to implementation of functionality.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri just feels like it comes up short. Granted, it's every bit as fun as a Civilization game (and probably one of the best, if not the best, in that series). But for a space game, it's missing the space. Heck, Civilization II had the Fantastic Worlds expansion, which added in tons of science fiction and fantasy mods and maps for the game. While playing Alpha Centauri, I couldn't help but wonder "why are we still bound to a single planet"? We're a spacefaring race that never leaves our new homeworld. Which is kind of depressing, and nowhere near as awesome.

And now I have my first ever desire to play Spore, because I heard it made this transition fairly successfully, despite several other problems I've heard around the game's release.

[Pike]

Skyblade, SMAC isn't a space 4X. It's Civ on a different planet with a hard science-fiction bend. If you go in expecting Master of Orion, GalCiv, or Space Empires, you're going to be disappointed because that's not what it's supposed to be.

Lots of brilliant sci-fi fiction is bound to one single planet and that's what SMAC is.

We're a spacefaring race that never leaves our new homeworld. Which is kind of depressing, and nowhere near as awesome.

There is an in-lore explanation for this, and it's a very good one.

[Skyblade]

Skyblade, SMAC isn't a space 4X. It's Civ on a different planet with a hard science-fiction bend. If you go in expecting Master of Orion, GalCiv, or Space Empires, you're going to be disappointed because that's not what it's supposed to be.

Lots of sci-fi is bound to one single planet and that's what SMAC is.

True, but the initial segue into that spin-off discussion was talking about following up Civilization with a "now let's go to SPACE" comment by Loony BoB. And SMAC never, ever felt like that to me.

I'm not denying that SMAC is a great game, it is. I'm just saying that, for me, it never fit that criteria that Loony BoB was describing. It wasn't a space game, and it didn't feel as though it was a natural progression from where my Civilization would have gone. Once we made one ship, and colonized one planet, we could, and would, do it again.

This is what I was trying to say earlier. I would love a game that took Civilization as a basis and then expanded it out to become a galactic empire game like Master of Orion, but I never really thought about it (especially not when playing SMAC, since it isn't that sort of game) because to do that properly, you would have to completely change game fundamentals halfway through, which might be hard to pull off.

Also, Master of Orion II is a better game.

[Denmark]

ITT: ~opinions~

SMAC is a fun game imo. My favorite Sid Meier game that I've played (I've played Civ II, III, and IV along with SMAC), mostly due to the sci-fi setting/colonizing a new planet lore thing. It's "what would we do if we had to start over from the beginning but with all of the knowledge we currently have on Earth".

Also University is the only correct faction and you are wrong if you claim otherwise.

[Loony BoB]

32. Resident Evil 2
PSX, 1998

I was never a fan of what happened to the RE series in more recent entries. What truly defined the RE series, for me, was the awkward angled perspectives that left you creeping very, very carefully not knowing what might be around the corner. I briefly played some of the later games and just filed them away under "Eh, maybe later." I understand that other people liked them a lot, but for me, there is something to be said for this style that makes it a classic and assured of this spot on my list.

Resident Evil is also one of the few game series out there in which I often pick the female when given an option. I can't remember exactly why this is, either. Normally I always wind up playing a guy if it's a straight option. I don't exactly avoid games with female leads, but I guess for me it's natural to pick the person who I relate to most or else I tend to go for the "tank" option... but when all I know about the characters is that one is a guy and one is a girl... *shrug*

[Ayen]

Loony BoB is my new favorite person ever.

These games were a consistent and ever loving part of my childhood and 2 was one of, if not the best in the series.

[Jiro]

You liked the idea of zombies nibbling on your delicate female bits, didn't you

you sicko

[Slothy]

BoB chose the best Resident Evil and SMAC for the list? I don't often say this to you, but well done sir.