75. Zombies Ate My Neighbors

(Snes/MD/Genesis/Wii Virtual, LucasArts, 1993)
Have a look at my profile, see what I like? Exploitation films. From girl gangs wielding switchblades to the finest in Italian horror, I love the cheap, uncheerful world of movies that were knocked out in a week for less than the cost of a bottle of Sunny Delight. Horror was big in the 50s, with every monster ever dreamt up crammed onto cinema screens up and down America. I shed a tear to think that I wasn't a part of that drive-in scene and never will be. Modern multiplexes leave me hollow.

Zombies is a game that takes all those old monster movie cliches and squeezes every single one of them into one of the finest games ever produced, One or two players take control of our heroes Zeke and Julie and must run their way through about 55 top-down levels, arming themselves with whatever they can find, fighting off hordes of the undead whilst rescuing tourists, babies, family pets and cute cheerleaders before the monsters can get to them.

The game features a huge variety of locations and monsters and provides a massive arsenal of household goods to defend yourself with: water pistols, soda cans, lawnmowers, silverware, ice lollies and even tomatoes can be used to fend off the zombies, killer dolls, werewolves, mermen, mummies and blobs intent on making this Zeke and Julie's final reel. A variety of items and potions can be find with various effects, inflatable clowns distract the enemy, Pandora's box clears the screen and one potion in particular turns our heroes into giant raging beasts, able to pound their way through ghoulies and the environment. Upon finding all the innocents, a portal opens to whisk Z+J off to the next level.

Zombies is just awesome. As playable today as it was on release, Zombies has slick, colourful graphics, spooky baddies, humorous weaponry and provides a tough challenge that is still difficult today. The soundtrack, by Joe McDermott and George Alistair Sanger, is one of my favourite soundtracks of all time and is a perfect 16-bit rendition of the spooky, guitar twanging tunes that accompanied many haunted house movies back in horror's golden age. "Evening of the undead" is one of my favourite pieces of VGM ever.

If I could only play ten games again for the rest of time, Zombies Ate My Neighbours would have a well deserved spot on the list. Its fast, it looks good, it sounds better, it has great co-op, it's witty, it's a solid challenge and it's still playable after nearly 17 years.
If you haven't yet, I implore you to play Zombies, it's all the proof you'll ever need that a game doesn't need DLC, celebrity endorsement, Hollywood voices, three different special editions or any other gimmicks, it can get by on being pure, unashamed fun.

76. Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy

(Xbox360/PS3, Sierra, 2008)
Jason Bourne is a cool character, the invention of the late Robert Ludlum, Bourne is a perfectly trained assassin who, after losing his memory, attempts to flee his past and live a normal life. Due to his shady government background however, Bourne is stalked night and day and will be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.

The Bourne Conspiracy is a fast paced third person shooter, with a heavy emphasis placed on hand to hand combat and quick time events. It looks pretty good and has a great movie style soundtrack by Paul Oakenfold, which suits the "Time is running out" situations Jason constantly finds himself in. The game recounts the events of the first film, with some missions from Jason's past added to pad the game out, even with those, the game is very short and will take most players no time at all.

The hand to hand is a mixed bag, Upon encountering an opponent, Jason fights via a series of combos which look quite good but leaves the player a little dry, as if they're not really in control. After landing several hits, Jason busts out a takedown set-piece, these are essentially finishing maneuvers that often use the surrounding environment or, failing that, much snappage of arm and leg. These takedowns are DAMN cool, capturing the spirit of Bourne's fighting style perfectly.
The shooting is badly done. While it isn't totally unreliable, the aiming is questionable and you will often be left perplexed as a blatant headshot appears to completely miss it's target. I understand that it can add realism to have the odd stray bullet in a shooter, but you're playing as Jason Bourne who is supposed to be a honed to perfection assassin, the idea of his shooting being inaccurate is ridiculous and betrays the character.

There is also a psychotically destructive driving level where Bourne and Marie attempt to outrun the cops in Paris. Many critics hated this level, claiming it had ridiculous handling and unrealistic physics, I disagree, Bourne is like Bond and to complain about his world being unrealistic is to miss the point. Why does Bourne drive straight through shops in a Mini Cooper at 200mph and come out unscathed? Because he's Bourne.

Basically, TBC is one of the most cinematic games Ive ever played, its fast paced, violent and sticks closely to the source material. However, its SO cinematic that it sacrifices control and is crammed with QTE's and linear pathways.
It comes down to the trade off, do you mind being blinkered and placed "on rails" if it means you get to play through some great action sequences?
I personally don't mind, because it's a short blast and they're are many other better games I can play afterwards. For me at least, The Bourne Conspiracy is a fast, exciting slugfest which takes up very little of my time. It just won't be to everyone's taste.
Thanks to Sierra, I too can be a 30 million dollar malfunctioning weapon and I can do it in my pants while eating Mullerice and not getting punched in the mouth.

77. Murder

(Amiga, Kingsley Harrison, 1990)
Do you know what I'm awesome at? Cluedo.
Im a man of very few talents, any I may have I lack confidence with, but if you're reading this, I can beat you at Cluedo.
It comes from playing it constantly as a child, I'm not sure what it was about the game, maybe the tension, maybe the red-hot Miss Scarlett, or maybe the idea that someone designed a family favourite around a man's death. In any case, I loved Cluedo and its various spin-offs. So when I was made aware of a murder mystery game coming to home computers, I was most certainly up for it.

Out of interest, I was made aware of its release by this shocking cover of ZZAP! magazine which was quite grisly for the time (Click for full):
Designed by the duo of Grant Harrison and Jason Kingsley, Murder was released for the Amiga by classic publishers U.S Gold. An isometric point and click game, The player controlled a detective who had to solve a murder that had taken place at a country estate, The detective had two hours real time to apprehend the suspect before Scotland Yard arrived and took the case out of his hands. Essentially the game consisted of searching rooms for items, fingerprints and other clues whilst interrogating guests and house staff about any possible motives, opportunities and alibis. Through careful interrogation, thorough searching and even a bit of forensics, you can point your finger at the guilty man (or woman) and go home noticeably smugger than you were when you arrived.

Murder is passable borderline good. It has nicely drawn graphics that lack colour (as an attempt to create a "period" feel) There were allegedly around 3 million cases to solve (randomly generated by you selecting the date at the start) and various levels of difficulty. A nice touch allowed you to customize the look of your detective.
While Murder IS a good mystery game, it can be a little boring, with you often traipsing through rooms and sweeping them with your cursor for clues, then moving to another room and repeating the process.

However, it was still a decent challenge which required some elements of lateral thinking, elimination and even a bit of forensic matching years before terrible CSi games were being developed. The critics were confused with Murder, some claiming it genius while others found it dull.
Its neither, it's a good murder mystery game, that requires logical thinking and efficient investigation, but it really isn't an all time classic.

(As an aside, A C64 version was finished and even sent for review but, a mystery in itself, it was never released.)

78. Soldier Of Fortune

(PC/PS2/Dreamcast, Raven Software, 2000)
As mentioned before in this list, at the time of writing, Activision are an mighty giant smothering the videogame market, they have gotten to this position purely on the sales of two type of game, Rhythm action music games and military shooters, with the Call of Duty series dominating videogame sales.

Nearly ten years ago, Activision had success with a different uber-violent first-person shooter, a game which took videogame gore to a new level, in fact, it was pretty much the main selling point. Soldier of Fortune saw the player taking the role of mercenary John Mullins who works for an underground organisation known as "The Shop" John is sent on a series of missions in order to uncover a plot featuring, guess what, terrorists getting hold of nuclear weapons. Quelle suprise.

What this essentially boils down to is John, armed to the teeth, massacring his way from country to country (at one point even attempting to take down Saddam Hussein) all the obvious locations are used: subway, warehouse, trainyard, office block and the obligatory "arctic" mission.
The game's main draw was the debut of Raven's "GHOUL" engine, in a nutshell, this was the ability to shoot any of 20+ points of impact on the enemy and have them react accordingly, so the enemy would scream and sell the hit body part, providing it was still attached to them. The game was REALLY violent, with the potential to take a body down to just a torso, whilst many games have this level of dismemberment now, at the time SoF was the first to do it so realistically.
The violence caused controversy with the ratings boards and various countries rated the game accordingly, its strange to actually think of people making a big deal over a game getting an adult rating, today many games are giving adult ratings without anyone blinking an eye. In the videogame world, 10 years can change a lot.

Other than the violence it was your bog-standard FPS, featuring all the weapons, locations and plot twists you would expect.
Soldier of Fortune was very successful, it spawned two sequels and the games are still played online to this day. Activision have moved on now and prefer their military murder sims glossier and with added patriotism. Whilst it was fairly numbing and unoriginal, SoF did set a standard in physics engines which is totally taken for granted in FPS games today.

79. UFC Undisputed 2009

(Xbox360/PS3, Yuke's, 2009)
As a pro-wrestler, I met a handful of very good friends, unfortunately, I also encountered lots of people who were some of the worst humans Ive had the displeasure of meeting. Usually loud, arrogant, insincere and hugely untrustworthy, many (not all) pro-wrestlers are horrible people to be acquainted with.
Here's why. Almost all of those people were also massively insecure and lacking in self-confidence. Y'see, Pro-wrestlers have to deal with the fact that they're not really fighting, you think they'd get over that and be proud of their craft, but for some, that seems impossible and they constantly have to big themselves up in a "I pretend to fight but I could batter you in real life honest" kind of way.

MMA fighters don't have such insecurities, as perfectly honed fighting machines, Mixed Martial Artists are fully capable of taking their violent and dangerous practice and raising it to a scientific level and, controversially, an art form.

UFC Undisputed arrived mid 2009, coincidentally at the same time that MMA was reaching its first full-on media acceptance with ratings at their highest ever, fighters on late night talk shows and even it's own reality show. The UFC, once considered a "human blood sport", was now a media darling. With many people just starting to take an interest in MMA, this game needed to deliver.

It most certainly did, UFC Undisputed rocketed to the top of the charts in many countries, as word of mouth spread, more people picked the game up and got to pretend they were legit tough. The game looks, moves and sounds incredible, perfectly capturing the presentation of the UFC show and doing its very best to capture the feel of a sport that's almost impossible to sim.
In a sport where fights can change by the second, Yuke's have done their best to provide an intelligent and highly complex control system which rewards the player who studies it and learns their particular fighter's strengths and weaknesses. The early playing hard punching button bashers were quickly dropped as the games sensitive counter-attack and takedown system was mastered by players who "understood" the science of MMA, as opposed to the people who thought they were playing WWE Smackdown.

The strikes have real impact and the game has good collision detection, a sudden, solid knockout can really make you winch and the online fights, whilst laggy, provide tense action and satisfying victory. I will go on record as stating the in-game commentary is the absolute best commentary for any sports game ever. Flowing naturally, reacting quickly and correctly to the on screen action and delivered with authenticity and passion, it makes any other sports games commentary forced and embarassing.

I haven't gone into the weight divisions, the extensive career and training modes or the unlockable video clips but I simply haven't got enough space to heap praise on this game.
UFC Undisputed 2009 is a solid recreation of a sport that's almost impossible to simulate due to its unpredictability. Its intelligent, good looking, and does what many games forget to; it rewards the player for paying attention and learning its intricacies.
It's place at the No.1 spot in the charts was more than deserved.

80. Under A Killing Moon

(PC/Mac, Access Software, 1994)
"Interactive Movie"
Those two words should send a chill down the spine of any well versed gamers, a phrase coined in the early 90's when CD-ROM became a affordable staple format for computers and up and coming consoles.
A whole host of games were released that were crammed with full motion video, the idea being that nothing could look better or be more immersive than reality itself. But they were very wrong. FMV games were usually linear, derivative and featured shoddy, grainy video starring nobody actors and Z-grade special effects. A new phenomenon in videogames very quickly revealed itself to be a total gimmick, in less than a few years, games went back to the pixels and polygons that had worked for many years, the interactive movie dream was over.

However, delve deeper, for amongst all the blocky shooters and Kriss Kross video makers lie gems, games that can be pushed aside as soon as a "real actor" appears badly superimposed onto a photographic background. This prejudice is unwise, as you might be missing something very special indeed.

Under A Killing Moon was released in 1994 and is the third of the five "Tex Murphy" adventures, set in a post WWIII San Francisco. These games follow the adventures of a down on his luck, lovable loser of a private detective who, more often than not, will get involved in a seemingly normal case that will eventually have far reaching consequences.
In UAKM Tex, with nothing left to his name, is hired to find a missing statuette, so begins a adventure that will lead him into the company of strange mutants, a dangerous cult and, of course, a plot that holds the fate of the world at stake.

The game plays with 3D environments negotiated in first person, using a point and click interface. Tex can interact with objects, search for clues or just make dry witticisms about everything he sees, Upon meeting other characters, Tex enters into conversation tree dialogue, with video of actors playing the part of the characters. Tex can gain clues, interrogate, insult or even chat up the many inhabitants of New San Francisco, the player can choose the method of reply, trying to psychologically outwit the person for extra info, or just to save his own life.
FMV games are infamous for their horrendous acting, even with stalwarts like Margot Kidder and the voice of James Earl Jones on board, UAKM suffers from this "Im just here to get my equity card" syndrome. However, Chris Jones' Tex is great, showing the right amount of vulnerability and misplaced ego, Tex is still a likeable guy who you really want to see get back on his feet.

UAKM is a brilliant game. It has dated of course, but its fifteen years old. At first glance, it features many of the trappings that made those "Interactive Movies" so rotten, but dig deeper and an enjoyable, witty, intriguing and nostalgic adventure will unveil itself.
Under A Killing Moon deserves recognition as a snapshot of gaming history, it managed to get right what a huge selection of early CD-ROM games got so very wrong.


(Visit http://hg101.kontek.net/texmurphy/texmurphy.htm for more info on the Tex Murphy Mysteries)

81. Puchi Carat

(Arcade/Various Home, Taito, 1997)
Puchi Carat is one of those split screen puzzlers along the lines of Puzzle Bobble, Tetris, Columns etc. Essentially a Breakout clone, the player picks a character from a selection of twelve cutesy anime types (all named after various gemstones) then goes into battle in a quest to collect a group of gems that will grant the character their greatest wish, completing the game on hard rewards the player with a comical end story.

As with the all these type of games, Puchi Carat is born for Vs mode, the players move a bat across the bottom of screen, deflecting a ball into the array of coloured gems that march from the top of the screen. Performing high scoring chains will transfer the eliminated gems to your opponents screen. The first player to be have their screen overrun with gems is the loser (or the "runner-up" for you politically correct types)

A basic game that's hopelessly addictive, Puchi Carat oozes charm, with colourful graphics, stylish effects and a hopelessly anime approach Your chosen character appears behind your playing area, cheering you on and reacting accordingly to how well/badly you are doing, chains trigger special animations and an array of stereotypical anime Japanese shouting. Perydot is my favourite character, funny that.. (See pic above)

That's it. Like all the best arcade games, Puchi Carat can be explained quickly and simply, but that simplicity belies the fun times to be had wasting an afternoon battling a friend. With attractive characters, upbeat music and time-killing gameplay, Puchi Carat is best summed up as a smiley piece of happy joy.

82. Pac-Man Championship Edition

(Xbox360, Namco Bandai, 2007)
If you're reading this, you know who Pac-Man is. Launched in 1980, Pac-Man exploded onto the market and soon became one of the most dominating videogames ever made. Toru Iwatani and Shiego Funaki's baby has consistently made its presence felt, with some of the most instantly recognisable characters not only in videogames, but in any media.
The Pac-Man franchise launched an entire marketing bonanza, spawning sequels, horrible cartoons, merchandise, toys and a whole host of spin-offs and rip-offs. As long as videogame history is documented, Pac-Man will be there.
In 2007, Pac-Man C.E was released to Xbox Arcade, but in this age of military shooters, cynical heroes and downbeat endings, could Pac-Man really stand up to the test?

Are you kidding? Always bet on Pac.

Pac-Man C.E is nothing short of pure excellence, it takes a much loved, instantly playable classic and gives it a face lift, along with a host of new modes and interesting ideas. The game has a variety of visual effects and remixed music, it also fully encourages the classic "Score attack" style of play. In a world where most games see you blindly marching forward to "the next level" Pac-Man, like many games of his era, simply encourages you to better yourself at the game, to unrepentantly keep having "one more go" in an effort to top whatever your very best score is.

The new boards and styles also display a return to the classic Pac-Man tactics of yore, while I personally am not good enough to play the game as anything but a mad dash, Pac-Man has always been a game that can be played with mathematical logic, with the very best players operating the game with a confidence and style that is almost poetry in motion.

I cant say much more about this game, it is what it is. Pac-Man has received an update, in its presentation, its gameplay, its sound and even its science. C.E shows Pac-Man as addictive, as enjoyable and as panic-inducing as it was in its first inception.

Play Pac-Man C.E, work at it, live it, hone your craft and maybe, just maybe, you might attain god-like status, everyone will hate you, but they'll only be jealous...
.."Not even Helen of Troy had this much attention."

83. WCW Backstage Assault

(Playstation/N64, Electronic Arts, 2000)
I'm accused by people of being too forgiving of bad games, games that others find "so-so" I find "good" for example.
You want to know why? Sometimes, you play a game SO atrocious, it ruins your standards forever and everything else looks like solid gold in comparison.

WCW Backstage Assault aborted itself onto consoles in the year 2000. Going head to head with THQ's relatively new WWF SmackDown! series, EA released their second game featuring rival company WCW. The only "Assault" here is on the senses.

First up, THERES NO RING AT ALL. Every fight takes place in a "backstage" area such as a car park, locker room, or most appropriately, a toilet. No more than two wrestlers can partake in any match and its always NO HOLDS BARRED! not in the awesome Hulk Hogan movie way, more in the "Horrible graphics and terrible collision detection" way. Apparently other holds EA barred from the match include the deadly "Be-a-good-game-lock" and the dreaded "Don't-look-like-someone-vomited-on-my-television-suplex"

Almost unbearable to control and play, the wrestlers skid all over the place, glitching through the opponents and backgrounds like theyre actually trying to escape the game itself. Picking up a weapon or applying a hold only occurs should the moon and stars align correctly. Not only that, but the wrestlers appear to be unable to perform the most rudimentary wrestling moves, such as "Standing up" and "Walking forward"
Many wrestlers feature incorrect outfits in garish colours and the blockiest body parts this side of 1991. Model design on the absolute lowest level, clothes are represented by colouring in body parts. Seriously, some characters are MISSING NOSES AND MOUTHS. Terrible commentary delivered in bored tones and "comedy" sound effects to accompany groin shots add your ears to the eye raping. Don't forget this was 2000, Smackdown! was already on its second game and the THQ N64 games (thought by many to be the best wrestling games ever made) had been out for years.

Its making me ill to write about this game, its just terrible on all levels. Clunky, slow, ugly, dull, unresponsive and unintentionally funny.

WCW was a multi-million dollar company, mis-management, bad ideas and backstage politics cost the company $80 million over the year 2000 and led to the company's eventual demise soon after.
At its best, WCW was unmissable, at its worst, it allowed this game to be released. It almost seems apt that the final WCW game produced was the worst wrestling game ever made, it matched the product they were showing on their TV screens at the time very well.

84. The Adventures Of Batman And Robin

(SNES, Konami, 1994)
(This writing concerns the SNES version, the Sega version was different)
Some people have recently stated that Batman: Arkham Asylum is most definitely their game of the year, whilst I'm not sure I can agree with that, I'm convinced it's one of the best Batman games ever made, that however, is no mean feat.
Despite numerous incarnations and a wealth of material to draw upon, the Batman franchise has repeatedly failed to capture the essence of The Dark Knight, with various games ranging from damn crappy to God awful.

In my mind, Until Arkham, Ive only really enjoyed two Batman games ever, Batman the Movie on the Spectrum and our topic today. Based on the fantastic animated series from the early 90's, Batman and Robin is a side scrolling platform action adventure, featuring combat and a few logic puzzles.
Each level is based on an episode from the TV show and features a member of Gotham's rogue of maniacal criminal underworld. After receiving his mission, Batman must select tools he considers appropriate for the job then head into certain danger, facing a variety of henchmen, booby traps, murderous robots and eventually, the all-star culprit responsible, usually one of Batman's most famous foes. King Tut does not make an appearance, funny that.

BaR is a cool game, with art and animation that remains faithful to the television show (A tough task, considering the show's quality) an authentic soundtrack and some interesting uses of Mode 7.
The game is fairly straightforward, it doesn't do anything new or set the world on fire, but it is fun to play and a definite must for Batman fans. Despite the title, Robin barely appears in the game and there is no two player mode which is pretty odd. My girlfriend Poison Ivy appears which is a major bonus for me but on the downside there is no appearance by the absolute deadliest of Batman's foes:
Arkham Asylum is a step in the right direction for Batman games, whilst fanboys still crave the "GTA: Gotham City" sandbox concept, they can at least take heart that although many games featuring the Batfriends are lacking, there are a few that can momentarily fill their Dark Knight gaming needs.

Basically put, "The Adventures of Batman and Robin" is Christian Bale to "Batman: Vengeance" Val Kilmer.