My Favourite Games - Part 3

Hello, I'm back a day late! I was too tired to post anything yesterday, I had a nice looong sleep for the first time in a while instead! And that means I've just worked, slept, and worked again since last posting, so I don't have anything interesting to say! So, to resume with my favourite games:

Thunder Force 3 - Mega Drive (1990)

Back in my Sega fanboy days, I used to love it when a game like this came along. It would give me more ammunition to use against those who would seek to besmirch the good Sega name, and would almost always overshadow similar efforts on other machines (at least until the SNES came along!). I can fondly recall many arguments with my Amiga fanboy friend at college. Try as he might, he could never convince me that Project X was a patch on this game! I didn't have to argue hard either. Featuring lush graphics, an awesome rocking soundtrack, kick-ass weaponry, big bosses, and eight varied levels (including the awesome lava stage, pictured), there's not really much more a shoot 'em up fan could ask for here. Many people prefer the fourth game in the series, but it's the third title all the way for me. Perhaps my fondness for this game comes from the fact that I rule at it, but there can be no doubting its quality. After all, how many other shooters are so good they have an arcade version made after they come out?

Datastorm - Amiga (1989)

There aren't too many Defender clones as blatant as Datastorm, but it is without question my favourite, even including Defender and Dropzone. In fact, when I started playing it, I hadn't even played Defender yet! A friend's Amiga was the setting of many of these early sessions, and when I finally got my own Amiga, this was one of the first games I sought out for it. I remember buying it in a second hand store and the guy in the shop accidentally put two copies of the game in the case. Hee hee! Anyway, it's similar in style to those aforementioned great games. The object is to collect at least one of eight pods drifting along the ground of each 'wave' and deliver it to the portal, then destroy the many and varied aliens. That's about it. It's not as insanely difficult as Defender but does have a few extras such as power-ups, bosses, etc, and it's addictive as hell.

Head Over Heels - Spectrum (1987)

There can't be many Speccy owners who didn't play this celebrated classic by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, it's almost as famous as the Speccy itself! I have always been absolutely useless at it, but that never stopped me from loving it! Controlling, first either Head or Heels, then later on both at once, you are tasked with the liberation of the five planets of the Blacktooth Empire. The story doesn't really matter a great deal though, it's the gameplay that counts, and Head Over Heels has it in bucketloads! The stages are creatively designed and full of imaginitive touches and the graphics, though monocrome, are nicely defined and full of character. It is a bit tricky though, I can't even finish the first planet! It's amazing that I like it so much and I've not even seen 1/5th of its 300 screens! Maybe some day, huh?

Everybody's Golf - PSP (2005)

Until recently, this 'slot' was filled by Neo Turf Masters on the NeoGeo Pocket Color, a fine game by any standards, and probably my favourite golf game too. That is, until I got this little gem for my PSP! Generally speaking, there are two types of golf games. The serious, take-an-hour-to-prepare-each-shot type game (eg, Tiger Woods series), and then there's this kind. The arcadey, fun, not-so-serious cartoony sort that come from Japan. And it is this kind which is by far my favourite. The series debuted, of course, on the PS1 some years before, but this effort, which was a launch title for the PSP, is a significant improvement over that already fun effort. It's a lot more forgiving for one thing, but, perhaps more importantly, it has a lot more longevity. Many, many tournaments are available to play though, and there's more unlockable items than seems possible to begin with. New characters are among these items, but they mostly consist of often nonsensical things to customise your chosen character with. Nonetheless, they are a lot of fun to collect, and give an excuse to keep playing! Just need to find a bikini costume for my favourite, Yumeri now!

Worms Armegeddon - Dreamcast (1999)

It's almost impossible that no-one has played at least one game in this classic, not to mention sizeable series of strategy games from Team 17. It's also likely that there are better offerings than this one, such as one of the online play versions, but this is the version I've spent the most time playing, and therefore, at time of writing at least, my favourite. I've most often played this in two-player with my good buddy, Luke, but it can be played by up to four people at once, which can lead to some chaotic but entertaining battles! Admirably, Team 17 have also tried to improve the single player game by including a mission-based game mode, but it is the main game you'll return to most often, even if you're on your own! Nothing beats creeping up on a lairy CPU-controlled worm, dropping a bundle of dynamite next to him, and sneaking off again! Hee hee hee!

Back with the next five tomorrow...