Rate the Game: Week 91

[M-A-G]

Welcome, one and all. I hope the holidays were everything you hoped for and then some. Perhaps you got some new games in your stocking that we can one day discuss in this forum. If you're reading this, sadly, this is the last Rate the Game of the month and seeing as that month is December, this is the last Rate the Game of the year. How will we close out 2021? What waters will we dare sail in the new year? One thing at a time. Let's first worry about last week's Crackdown and then we can kiss 2021 goodbye. Crackdown didn't look like it was up to snuff and it seemed like it was on track to end up dead last but how did it do in the end?

<select><option selected="">Rate the Game Results

<option>1. (TIE) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)</option>
<option>3. Hitman: Codename 47 (4.75)</option>
<option>4. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)</option>
<option>5. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)
<option>6. (3-WAY TIE) Chrono Trigger, Portal, Red Dead Redemption (4.5)</option>
<option>9. (TIE) Mega Man 2, Donkey Kong Country (4.44)</option>
<option>11. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)</option>
<option>12. God of War (4.4)</option>
<option>13. (TIE) Metal Gear Solid, BioShock (4.33)</option>
<option>15. Perfect Dark (4.3)</option>
<option>16. (TIE) Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us (4.28)</option>
<option>18. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)</option>
<option>19. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)</option>
<option>20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)</option>
<option>21. Super Mario 64 (4.07)</option>
<option>22. (TIE) Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda (4.06)</option>
<option>24. NBA Jam (4.05)</option>
<option>25. (8-WAY TIE) Super Mario Kart, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Super Metroid, The Simpsons, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Donkey Kong Country 2, Resident Evil 4, Super Smash Bros. (4.0)</option>
<option>33. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)</option>
<option>34. Mega Man (3.89)</option>
<option>35. (3-WAY TIE) Contra, Castlevania, Devil May Cry (3.86)</option>
<option>38. Half-Life 2 (3.85)</option>
<option>39. Half-Life (3.83)</option>
<option>40. (TIE) SimCity 2000, Final Fight (3.8)</option>
<option>42. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)</option>
<option>43. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)</option>
<option>44. (TIE) Double Dragon, Max Payne (3.75)</option>
<option>46. Tetris (3.69)</option>
<option>47. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)</option>
<option>48. (TIE) Diablo, F.E.A.R. (3.66)</option>
<option>50. Mortal Kombat (3.65)</option>
<option>51. Doom (3.625)</option>
<option>52. StarFox (3.61)</option>
<option>53. Resident Evil (3.58)</option>
<option>54. (TIE) Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi (3.5)</option>
<option>56. Dead Space (3.4)</option>
<option>57. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)</option>
<option>58. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)</option>
<option>59. (4-WAY TIE) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Crash Bandicoot, Wolfenstein 3D (3.33)</option>
<option>63. Gears of War (3.27)</option>
<option>64. (TIE) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Borderlands (3.22)</option>
<option>66. (3-WAY TIE) Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Darkstalkers (3.2)</option>
<option>69. Pac-Man (3.125)</option>
<option>70. Killer Instinct (3.11)</option>
<option>71. (TIE) Virtua Fighter, Rock Band (3.09)</option>
<option>73. (4-WAY TIE) Time Crisis, Tekken, Earthworm Jim, Metroid (3.0)</option>
<option>77. Guitar Hero (2.875)</option>
<option>78. Streets of Rage (2.84)</option>
<option>79. Altered Beast (2.8)</option>
<option>80. (3-WAY TIE) Dead Rising, Gauntlet, Assassin's Creed (2.71) </option>
<option>83. (TIE) Silent Hill, The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>85. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>86. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>87. (TIE) Twisted Metal, Crackdown (2.42)</option>
<option>89. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>90. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option>
</select>

Yay for me dealing with another week where I don't have to do a lot of editing to the list; and with a list this long I'm grateful. Unfortunately that means we face another week where we see a game not blessed enough to crack that upper tier of iconic games as Crackdown has to share the number 87 spot with Twisted Metal with a 2.42 average. Certainly not enough to claim the bottom of the list but definitely not a lot to brag about. Sorry, DAMN iNATOR but you were alone on that branch this week. Maybe this week will be better. How are we going to celebrate the end of 2021? Let's do this, bowl!

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/tBZGnb1nZYPbSIZF7T" width="480" height="269" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/tBZGnb1nZYPbSIZF7T">via GIPHY</a></p>

Yeah, let's ditch the run-of-the-mill stuff for a change. Let's get weird and twisted and little insane. This week we return to the realm of PC gaming by visiting one of the strangest realms in popular culture, the world of Wonderland! It's the warped action-adventure take on Lewis Carrol's classic, American McGee's Alice! How was this dive into Wonderland for you? Let's wrap up the year and journey on towards 2022 by rating and remembering this sucker. Until next week!

[drave]

Man, random ass games.


I think I maybe played this for 30 mins, nothing enough to remember it other than the "Tim Burton" vibe.

[M-A-G]

It does seem like an odd choice to include here but it certainly stuck with me when I first played it. Plus it gave me these awesome Winamp skins:

https://i.imgur.com/zAilwwO.png

https://i.imgur.com/9Ur6x1q.png

[drave]

winamp4lyfe

[DAMN iNATOR]

It does seem like an odd choice to include here but it certainly stuck with me when I first played it. Plus it gave me these awesome Winamp skins:

https://i.imgur.com/zAilwwO.png

https://i.imgur.com/9Ur6x1q.png

But did the game really whip the llama's ass? I wouldn't know, because as my vote in the poll implies, I have not played it.

[Lock Jaw]

Never played it.

[M-A-G]

But did the game really whip the llama's ass? I wouldn't know, because as my vote in the poll implies, I have not played it.

Llamas are too normal an animal for Wonderland. Besides, what'd the llama do to warrant an ass-whipping from it?

That said, no, I don't think it whips the llama's ass. I'm probably going to end up with a 3.

[M-A-G]

Man, random ass games.


I think I maybe played this for 30 mins, nothing enough to remember it other than the "Tim Burton" vibe.

See, I thought Tim Burton would've been a terrific director for this kind of take on Wonderland. Then he did his own version and now I'm not so sure. Visually, sure, almost everything hit bullseyes but everything else, not so much.

[M-A-G]

Oof, finally settled on a score but it looks like I'm the only one. I might have to disqualify this week and have a do-over if this holds true to the end of the week.:-\

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Never played.

[M-A-G]

It's rather cold and alone out on this branch. :(

Well, regardless, the memories I have of this sucker when I first played it were pretty good. I loved the idea and the design was something to behold, even though I owned a computer that could barely run the damn thing. I revisited it when it came bundled with the sequel, Alice: Madness Returns. A lot doesn't really hold up and it's rough getting used to first-person controls in a third-person perspective. Would I recommend it? Probably not. Maybe just for the insane take on Wonderland but that's about it. It's more a curiosity than anything else.