Hey folks, I decided to simply take the space and make this my personal area and just write down whatever. I'm going to start things off with a blog I recently wrote on myspace entitled: My Top 5 Favorite Video Games Ever.

Alright, let's kick things off shall we? I warn you now though this is a long read. If you want to add my myspace to yours you may send me a friend request: http://www.myspace.com/heavy_d51488

I'm gonna do another countdown, this time it's my top 5 favorite games of all time. In my eyes, these games are the pinnacle of excellence. It took a long time to come up with this list, considering all the games I've played and really liked, but well, here goes.

5. Sunset Riders (Arcade)

Sunset Riders came out in 1991 by Konami for the arcade. The game has you play as 4 cowboys (Steve, Billy, Bob, and Cormano.) You basically go around as a bounty hunter and take down wanted criminals to make yourself wealthy. The characters are based on gun type. Steve and Billy are both revolver users, whereas Bob and Cormano are both Shotgun/Rifle users. The gun types do make a difference, Steve and Billy are a fast shot, however, precise aiming is needed because they shoot single bullets in single file. Bob and Cormano on the other hand are slower, but spread fire. Cormano was always my favorite character to use, something about a giant pink sombrero and pancho equipped with a shotgun that just screams, "I'm a badass!" Anyway, the game has a point system based on money, the more money you get, the more points you get. A wanted poster will tell you how many points you receive for beating the boss. The music is also pretty badass, definitely one of the best game soundtracks I've ever heard. Everything fits so well, and the gameplay is very addictive. My uncle originally had this game for the Sega Genesis, and I loved it as a kid, but when I played the Arcade version it was just ultimately superior. It had 2 extra characters (Steve and Bob), brighter colors, more levels, more bosses, the music sounded better, it was just flat out better. It's addictive gameplay and just all out fun factor definitely makes this game among my top 5.


Here is a video of the first 4 levels:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmcuZUNkLFc


4. Gyruss (NES)

Gyruss was made by Konami back in 1983 for the arcade, however the game was ported for the NES in 1988 with the help of Ultra Games, to create the (in my opinion) best version of the game. For the NES version, the graphics were made slightly larger, extra levels were added, the game now had mid bosses as well as bosses in general, phasers were also added to your weapons list (and trust me in some of the levels they are absolutely needed). In the original version of Gyruss there was only one song, which was a slightly remade version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. The song was still used, however, that was also remixed into 8 bit gloriousness, as well as adding extra songs to the soundtrack. Gyruss was a very innovative game for your basic schmup (shoot em up) because it featured a tunnel-like style for gameplay, in which you would rotate around the entire screen and shoot inward, with the enemies going through and if you miss them, they will go into the background (you can still shoot them while in the background, but you don't get the 1000 pt bonus for it.) All around this version is definitely better than the arcade version, and to be honest, I find that version kind of boring, however, the NES version is extremely addictive.

Here is a video of some gameplay of Gyruss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oitm9y32Vhw


3. Fatal Fury Special (Neo-Geo/Arcade)

If you know me, you should have known that a fighting game would make the cut, and if you know me that good, you should have known that this particular gem would make the cut. Fatal Fury Special came out in 1993 for the Neo-Geo arcade system and eventually brought to the Neo-Geo home system as well as the SNES and Sega Genesis (although both of those ports are not as good as the original Arcade/Neo-Geo version.) The game basically is a beefed up version of Fatal Fury 2 but unlike Street Fighter 2, we didn't see 10 million different remakes of this game, they got it right with the first remake. The game features all of the cast from Fatal Fury 2 (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Mai Shiranui, Big Bear, Jubei Yamada, Kim Kaphwan, and Cheng Sinzan), as well as some of the cast from Fatal Fury 1 (Duck King, Tung Fu Rue, and Geese Howard.) Also, the bosses from Fatal Fury 2 (Billy Kane, Axel Hawk, Lawrence Blood, and Wolfgang Krauser) are now available to use, as well as a secret character (Ryo Sakazaki of Art of Fighting) who you can fight if you meet certain criteria (do not lose a single fight.) Ryo is playable however only through 2 player mode (Neo-geo home addition, as well as the version on the PS2 compilation Fatal Fury Battle Archives Volume 1.) The graphics are slightly tweaked from the last game, new stages are added (for the extra characters.) The soundtrack for this game is awesome, and probably my second favorite video game soundtrack of all time. The audio in general is great for the neo-geo release of the game. The voices sound pretty clear for it's time. Nothing is more epic than fighting Wolfgang Krauser at the end of the game with his theme playing and hearing, "I'll chisel your gravestone...sleep well!" in crisp sound quality. Fatal Fury 2/Special is the first fighting game to feature a super move system, or in this case Desperation move system (although Capcom takes credit with Super Street Fighter Turbo, however, any SNK fan can tell you otherwise.) The level designs are also very good, giving detail to the levels that you couldn't find in Street Fighter 2. The Fatal Fury games in general have something the Street Fighter games never had also, which is the ability to change planes when fighting, meaning that you could jump into the background (also into the foreground in later games.) In all honesty, Fatal Fury Special is greater than Street Fighter 2 and all of it's updates combined. This would definitely be my favorite fighting game, no contest.

Here is some video of Fatal Fury Special gameplay (Of course I'd have the man Geese Howard be in this video clip):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFqBfqnT63M

2. Megaman 2 (NES)

What can be said about this game that hasn't been said already. It's Megaman 2. This game has my favorite soundtrack of all time, by far, just an a** kicking soundtrack in 8 bit godliness that in my opinion can't be topped. It has the best bosses, the best levels, and is an all around great game. Megaman 2 has a soundtrack so revered bands form because of it. Here is an example:

The Megas: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=18966548

Here are 2 videos of Megaman 2 with remixed soundtracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5holgw14HQo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvgk10YlRtg


1. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Definitely my favorite game of all time. This is one of those games where you can beat it 17 times in a row and want to go for another 90 rounds. This game took what was great about Mario and just gave it a steroid boost of greatness. In the original Super Mario bros, you could only go foward, in Super Mario Bros. 2, you could go foward, backward, up, and down, in Super Mario Bros. 3, you could go up, down, left, right, and now diagonally (which may not seem like much, but it was a big deal for the series.) Mario also gained a new ability to fly after grabbing a leaf giving him a raccoon tail (they were obviously on drugs when they made the Mario series...) The game also introduced the Koopalings which were Bowser's kids. There were 7 of them, all with their own airship. The game also introduced a board game like screen where you would pick the level you want to play, and you could skip levels if you really wanted to (though why anyone would is beyond me.) This game also had many secrets, the most well known secret being the magic flute. The magic flute was brought over from the original Zelda game (same song and everything), and with this flute, you would be taken to a screen where you could select a possible 3 worlds....which three worlds was generally random however, the 3 were always next to each other (except for the final level which was by itself, so for example, there would be a time where you could only pick 2, 3, or 4/5, 6, or 7/8.) There were also mini games within the game. They were Match the piece, which worked kind of like a side ways slot machine, depending on which picture you complete, you will get a certain number of lives (Mushroom 2, Flower 3, Star 5) the other bonus game which you could unlock in certain areas was a matching game, where you would flip cards to match the pictures. You are allowed 1 mistake, next mistake means end of game, and you can't try it again, however, next time you unlock the game, it will continue where you left off. This game has stood the test of time, and many feel to be the best in the series, if not among the greatest games of all time.

Here is a video of Super Mario Bros. 3 gameplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuH8y3H3SfQ


So there you have it, my top 5 favorite games. Feel free to leave comments, and even list your top 5 favorite games (However, you don't have to go into as much detail as I did)