Man, I gotta add to the Zelda pile. It’s one of my favorite games to just turn on and blast through in a couple sittings. I’d love to say Dragon Quest is Best, but I’ve only played the GBC version with its quality of life improvements. Not sure how much I’d still love it if I had to select STAIRS from the menu all the time (probably I’d still love it).
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Are the console versions of OutRun easier than the arcade version? My big issue with OutRun is that I’m bad at it and can’t get past the second screen to enjoy all this driving bliss everyone is talking about.
Anyway, it’s gotta be Dragon Quest for me. Not only did it do all that stuff I don’t need to tell you about, I agree with @Funbil that there’s a special something in DQ1 that hasn’t been replicated.
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The Switch (and 3DS) has difficulty/time options that make the game a breezy cruise. I too am terrible at Outrun but have seen all the ending bits on those versions.
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A key moment in terms of refining my taste was discovering how often the “first” of a genre was the best and strangest of the genre. Works of art like this may have created a template but when revisiting them, I’d be surprised at how strange and experimental they were—there were just as many idiosyncratic and unrepeated choices as there were choices that eventually became tropes.
Literature is full of this, but my favorite example is The Sopranos. Essentially created the tv drama as we now know it, but it still remains innovative and immediate even today.
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Hot take: the original Dragon Warrior localization does more for me than the later localizations of the franchise.
The “olde English” dialect is better than the stupid accents they use later on. “May the light shine upon thee.” “Thou art dead.”
The direct naming of spells is incredible. The spell you use to hurt enemies is called “Hurt”. The stronger version is called “Hurtmore”. This is legit good naming. I haven’t played any other versions of DQ1, but I assume they now localize “hurt” to “flameytoss” and “sleep” to “kasnoozle” or whatever, and there’s at least one town where everybody speaks cockney.
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One thing about Outrun is that it was made with analog pedals and steering wheel, something that hasn’t always carried over into ports of the game. This means gently letting go of the acceleration in the original may involve gear shifts or brakes in later versions. It’s simply not as smooth. I had played the game with digital controls for years before I played it with proper analog and it was night and day. Suddenly I could nail entire routes with ease!
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Come on, I know you can find some real palm trees and blue skies.
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damn, I forgot Alter Ego was released in 1986 too, that game makes me cry. I’ve talked about it in the queer games thread, but I’d say it’s tied with Out Run for me.
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Here’s what the vote currently look like! @Tradegood, I did not record a vote for you because of your indecision.
There’s still plenty of time (e.g. eternity) to join the discussion!
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I’m surprising myself by agreeing that Outrun is probably the goty here (in a year with Castlevania? Who even am I?)
There are plenty of other sentimental choices I could have put here, but I think Outrun is one of those perfect packages where literally everything about it is glorious.
Cause after all we’re not saying most influential, we’re saying best game, period.
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Marble Madness has my vote!
Also I realized Athena came out this year. Not as culturally significant or fun as Psycho Soldier which came out in 87… but still an intriguing one to ponder every now and then.
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1 in 6 Out Run voters know that Out Run is 2 words.
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I still prefer passing wind
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Outrun is a real word, Out Run is a nonsense sentence. I respect language over copywriting.
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I feel torn between many games in this year. The Legend of Zelda is one of my favorites of the series; Out Run is pure joy; Dragon Quest is a masterpiece of setting, pacing, and art direction.
Fantasy Zone is one of my favorite arcade games. I appreciate the openness in its design. It feels less like memorizing patterns than other games in the genre, I actually have room to strategize. The colors and soundtrack are so cheerful, it’s a place I want to hang out in. However, it is not the best game from this year.
Add another vote for Castlevania. It’s a wild reversal of the normally fast-paced action genre. The intensity of the action comes from slowness, intention, and precision. The team at Konami must’ve been thinking deeply about what movement in games really means. I love the way Simon hulks forward, his animation suggesting a grim determination. The game is not overburdened with systems- your tools are simple, and the challenges legible. The same elements get remixed, built upon, and elongated as the levels move on, while your toolkit remains the same. This evokes a leveling up of my brain, my skills, as I play. Dark Souls wishes it was this elegant.
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I think in a medium that has titles like Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code, that a title like Out Run is perfectly cromulent.
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As a copywriter, this is very important to me
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