 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
20 |
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat |  |
|||
| Possibly the most unique 2D platformer to come out of the generation, Jungle Beat was designed with Nintendo's Bongo peripheral in mind, an unlikely combination which actually works far better than you'd think. The Bongo's give a real interactive and kinetic feel to the gameplay, you tap on the drums to move left or right and clap your hands to grab at bananas, rapping on the drums whilst you're atop an enemy delivers an epic beat-down, its elements like this that really help to draw you into the experience. Levels themselves are inventive and fun, with you bouncing off walls and being thrown around the screen at a quick pace. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
19 |
Super Monkey Ball |
|
|||
| Sega got a raw deal during the 6th generation, they produced a fantastic console and provided a plethora of great games but alas it was not to be. Sega's misfortune however was to be Nintendo's gain, instead of having an extra competitor at launch Nintendo ended up with the latest Sonic game, Crazy Taxi, and this excellent little slice of Monkey madness bolstering up the early line-up. Monkey Ball is a lively and unique game in the tradition of Marble Madness, you have to roll balls around the courses by precisely pivoting the ground, avoiding all sorts of hazards along the way. Outside of the main game you get a bunch of accessible multiplayer party games to compete against your friends with, all of which are fun and original. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
18 |
Kururin Squash |  |
|||
| Another very unique experience, Kururin Squash is a clever puzzle game that was never released outside of Japan (though a GBA version did make an appearance). The game has you navigating a rotating stick through labyrinthine, constrictive levels trying not to touch any of the walls or hazards. It doesn't sound like much, but its actually a lot of fun and includes a lot of ideas, such as bumpers that change the direction of your rotation, and many other different abilities which come and go (one has you able to sink under water, another gives you an attack to deal with enemies etc etc). The game has bright and breezy graphics and some cool boss fights too. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
17 |
Rogue Leader |  |
|||
| Factor 5 return with this superlative 3rd person rail-shooter sequel, and this time they even get to use the dogfights directly from the classic film trilogy! Incorporating the sounds and missions from the movies really makes a difference here, with the already excellent gameplay really coming alive to a new level. Any fans of the films are sure to be humming along to the music and getting drawn into the action like never before. Note that this game is actually all included in the (otherwise disappointing) sequel, Rebelstrike, but only for 2-player co-operative, if you want to experience single player unfortunately you need this one. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
16 |
Tomb Raider Legend |  |
|||
| Tomb Raider returns revamped and rebuilt from a brand new development team. This time the game is from Crystal Dynamics, the Canadian company previously known for their Soul Reaver games. Sumptuous graphics and smooth control abound, with the game taking a lot of influence from the Prince of Persia series. Swing, climb and shimmy your way through the temples and set-pieces taking pot shots at the bad guys and solving some clever puzzles. Nice and very memorable game. | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
15 |
Beyond Good and Evil |  |
|||
| Definitely has to be one of the more underrated games of its generation, Beyond Good and Evil is a lively action-adventure game from French publishers Ubisoft. A lot of work and polish has clearly gone into the game, infusing it with great art design and some brilliant storytelling, including fleshed out characters and a nice plot. The world is ambitious for its time and there's a commendable amount of things to see and explore. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
14 |
SSX 3 |
|
|||
| This is a real first-rate snow boarding game from Electronic Arts with excellent graphics, gameplay, and soundtrack. Like its predecessors SSX 3 involves racing other competitors whilst doing tricks to fill up a boost bar, the game builds on its forebears, really polishing everything up to the next level. There's another release after this one, "On Tour" that has some nice extras (such as having Mario as a playable character) but I felt that this slightly trumped it with better art design and style. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
13 |
Ikaruga |
|
|||
| Smart shoot-em-up from developers Treasure that breaths new life into the genre. The gameplay involves you swapping your ship between two colours, with you immune to bullets that share your current colour. Its a clever concept and the game is chock full of nice ideas, set-pieces and memorable moments. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
12 |
Soul Calibur 2 |
|
|||
| Addictive 3D fighting game filled to the brim with longevity and content, with some great graphics and a very solid fighting system to learn. Each port of the game actually had its own exclusive character to play as, with the GameCube version arguably getting the best deal by including the ever-popular Link from the Legend of Zelda series! 3D fighters were in somewhat short supply on GameCube, but thankfully this one goes some way to taking up the slack on its own! | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
11 |
Pikmin 2 |
|
|||
| An excellent real-time strategy game from Nintendo where you command a group of walking vegetable-like creatures called "Pikmin". These creatures can be sent to attack monsters and carry raw materials back to their base to create more Pikmin (and at an alarming rate! given the planet's similarities to Earth I find myself wondering what happened to the human race? perhaps a plague of Pikmin wiped us out to use us as raw materials?!) Anyway, I digress. There are many different types of Pikmin in the game each with different abilities, and using their abilities to solve puzzles and strategise against enemies is the main crux of the gameplay. This sequel irons out the wrinkles of the original game admirably, its much longer, and the new inclusion of a secondary character cuts down on some of the backtracking. | |||||
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |||||
