Rare released a number of quality games for the NES: R.C. Pro-Am , Solar Jetman , Snake Rattle 'n' Roll , and Battletoads come to mind. But all these were surpassed by Rare's masterpiece, Donkey Kong Country (DKC). DKC uses faux-3D sprites to produce an incredibly beautiful and well designed platformer. The game was so successful it spawned two sequels, DKC 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and DKC 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! All three games were such hits they got Game Boy spin-offs (renamed Donkey Kong Land , of course!) and later Game Boy Advance ports! DKC even got a port on the Game Boy Color somehow! Two more recent sequels, DKC Returns and DKC: Tropical Freeze , have brought the series, and the classic character of Donkey Kong himself, back into the limelight for modern gamers. But it all started with the original. Usually I describe gameplay first, but DKC is most notable for its stunning graphics and music. Hype for the game was real: I watched a preview for ...
Final Fantasy VI is widely regarded as the greatest of the original six FF games. Its decision-based story events, fully customizable magic system, and gritty sci-fi/fantasy setting set the standard for the series moving forward. The enormous cast of characters and elaborate plot-line built on the promise of FF4 (“Final Fantasy II” in the U.S.), shedding many of that game’s cliches (while sticking with the tried-and-true Evil Empire trope) in favor of something more adult. The game’s villain, Kefka, embodies evil, playing on the sci-fi trope of the person driven mad by experimental technology. Final Fantasy VI begins with an amnesiac girl named Terra (you can change her name, of course). Controlled by a psychic “crown”, she pilots a magic-driven suit of tech armor (called “Magitek”). After forming a psychic connection to an “Esper” (what were called “Summons” in FF4), she breaks free of the empire’s control. A thief named Locke, who belongs to the resistance group known as the Returne...