Rate the Game: Week 88
 

Here go again, folks! Welcome to December. The countdown to Christmas is underway! Or Hannukah, if that's your bag. Everyone's welcome here. Just thinking about the goodies that we'll be unwrapping during the holidays is enough to get me pumped. Perhaps one of the games on our illustrious list here can make a great present. Maybe this week's game? Well, we'll get to that in a bit but first let's perform our ceremonial duty of putting last week's Final Fight in its proper place. How does it stack up?

<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. Dead Rising (2.71) </option>
<option>81. (TIE) Silent Hill, The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>83. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>84. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>85. Twisted Metal (2.42)</option>
<option>86. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>87. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option>
</select>

Well it doesn't have enough to get to the top of the pack but Final Fight enjoys some company in the number 40 spot right next to Sim City 2000 with a 3.8 average.

IDEA TIME!!! A Final Fight/Sim City crossover game where you roam the streets of your custom city as Final Fight characters, beating the shit out of criminals!!! LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY!!!

OK, enough of that. Let's get back to business here. It's the 88th week of this shindig so let's have a look at what we're tackling this time. I summon the bowl!!!

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/fSgSgA13sCvZ9Y7bls" width="480" height="269" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/fSgSgA13sCvZ9Y7bls">via GIPHY</a></p>

Well, back to the arcade past once again this week as we look at what I consider the grandfather of a lot of arcade titles, the legendary Gauntlet! Yellow Wizard may need food but we need to know how this game ranks amongst the people of TPWW. Let's do that rating thing and hopefully the month of December treats us well. Until next week!

Played the NES port which was ok but pales in comparison to #2.

Man I dunno how to feel about this. the NES port was shit and I hated it, but I think I was too young to understand everything that Gauntlet demanded.


The arcade version I remember enjoying because it was always LOUD and looked much better.

Hated this game.

The level where there were exit tiles everywhere and running over them until you found the right one pissed me off.

The only one I played was Gauntlet Legends on N64 and probably arcade.... does that one count or are we talking about the original here?

I quite like this game.

The original; but don't worry. Gauntlet Legends is part of the new pile so we'll be tackling that one eventually.

4. Very fun, at least the first time around. However, I can't quite justify ranking it in the pantheon of truly classic 8-bit gems.

I might be tipping my hand about that entry but I don't care, that by far is my favorite entry in the series. Something so fun and satisfying about hunting and eventually finding each of the 13 runestones and killing Skorne.

In that case: Never played it.

haven't played it

Probably one of the funniest references to this game is in Ultimate Alliance 2, I believe, where Deadpool reaches critically low health and calls out to you, saying "Deadpool needs health...badly!"