Rate the Game: Week 147
 

Getting another late start here, but I had some issues to handle with the people who run the place where I rent. Not fun stuff. But I'll tell you what's definitely fun stuff: RATE THE GAME, BABY! Now in its 147th week, this edition is sure to bring us more of the love that we've been sharing throughout its tenure here. But first, how much love did last week's Metal Gear Solid 2 receive? Surely it had the potential to outshine its predecessor in the rankings, no? Let's have a look!


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

<option>1. Super Mario World (4.81)
<option>2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)</option>
<option>3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (4.8)</option>
<option>4. Hitman: Codename 47 (4.75)</option>
<option>5. Mass Effect (4.75)</option>
<option>6. Goldeneye 007 (4.72)</option>
<option>7. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)</option>
<option>8. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)</option>
<option>9. Super Mario Bros. 2 (4.5)</option>
<option>10. Portal (4.5)</option>
<option>11. Red Dead Redemption (4.5)</option>
<option>12. Chrono Trigger (4.5)</option>
<option>13. Final Fantasy 3 (4.5)</option>
<option>14. Silent Hill 3 (4.5)</option>
<option>15. Mega Man 2 (4.44)</option>
<option>16. Donkey Kong Country (4.44)</option>
<option>17. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)</option>
<option>18. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)</option>
<option>19. God of War (4.4)</option>
<option>20. Mega Man X (4.36)</option>
<option>21. Metal Gear Solid (4.33)</option>
<option>22. BioShock (4.33)</option>
<option>23. Ōkami (4.33)</option>
<option>24. Perfect Dark (4.3)</option>
<option>25. Shadow of the Colossus (4.28)</option>
<option>26. The Last of Us (4.28)</option>
<option>27. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)</option>
<option>28. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)</option>
<option>29. Resident Evil 2 (4.14)</option>
<option>30. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)</option>
<option>31. Super Mario 64 (4.07)</option>
<option>32. Grand Theft Auto 3 (4.06)</option>
<option>33. The Legend of Zelda (4.06)</option>
<option>34. NBA Jam (4.05)</option>
<option>35. Super Mario Kart (4.0)</option>
<option>36. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (4.0)</option>
<option>37. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (4.0)</option>
<option>38. Super Smash Bros. (4.0)</option>
<option>39. Super Metroid (4.0)</option>
<option>40. Star Fox 64 (4.0)</option>
<option>41. The Simpsons (4.0)</option>
<option>42. Resident Evil 4 (4.0)</option>
<option>43. EarthBound (4.0)</option>
<option>44. Fallout 3 (4.0)</option>
<option>45. Mirror's Edge (4.0)</option>
<option>46. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (4.0)</option>
<option>47. Donkey Kong Country 2 (4.0)</option>
<option>48. X-Men Legends (4.0)</option>
<option>49. Banjo-Kazooie (4.0)</option>
<option>50. Dishonored (4.0)</option>
<option>51. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)</option>
<option>52. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)</option>
<option>53. Mega Man (3.89)</option>
<option>54. Castlevania (3.86)</option>
<option>55. Contra (3.86)</option>
<option>56. Devil May Cry (3.86)</option>
<option>57. Half-Life 2 (3.85)</option>
<option>58. Half-Life (3.83)
<option>59. Final Fantasy 8 (3.83)</option>
<option>60. Infamous (3.83)</option>
<option>61. SimCity 2000 (3.8)</option>
<option>62. Final Fight (3.8)</option>
<option>63. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)</option>
<option>64. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)</option>
<option>65. Double Dragon (3.75)</option>
<option>66. Tomb Raider (2013) (3.75)</option>
<option>67. Max Payne (3.75)</option>
<option>68. Fallout 4 (3.75)</option>
<option>69. Tetris (3.69)</option>
<option>70. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)</option>
<option>71. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3.66)</option>
<option>72. Alan Wake (3.66)</option>
<option>73. Diablo (3.66)</option>
<option>74. Xenoblade Chronicles (3.66)</option>
<option>75. F.E.A.R. (3.66)</option>
<option>76. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (3.66)</option>
<option>77. Mortal Kombat (3.65)</option>
<option>78. Doom (3.625)</option>
<option>79. StarFox (3.61)</option>
<option>80. X-Men (3.6)</option>
<option>81. Resident Evil (3.58)</option>
<option>82. Kirby's Adventure (3.57)</option>
<option>83. Daytona USA (3.5)</option>
<option>84. Ninja Gaiden (3.5)</option>
<option>85. Burnout Paradise (3.5)</option>
<option>86. Thief: The Dark Project (3.5)</option>
<option>87. Dark Souls (3.5)</option>
<option>88. Shinobi (3.5)</option>
<option>89. Dead Space (3.4)</option>
<option>90. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)</option>
<option>91. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)</option>
<option>92. Crash Bandicoot (3.33)</option>
<option>93. Mortal Kombat (2011) (3.33)</option>
<option>94. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.33)</option>
<option>95. Wolfenstein 3D (3.33)</option>
<option>96. Dead Island (3.33)</option>
<option>97. Left 4 Dead (3.33)</option>
<option>98. Nights Into Dreams (3.33)</option>
<option>99. Condemned: Criminal Origins (3.33)</option>
<option>100. Gauntlet Legends (3.28)
<option>101. Gears of War (3.27)</option>
<option>102. Borderlands (3.22)</option>
<option>103. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (3.22)</option>
<option>104. Duke Nukem 3D (3.2)</option>
<option>105. Darkstalkers (3.2)</option>
<option>106. Quake (3.2)</option>
<option>107. SoulCalibur (3.16)</option>
<option>108. Pac-Man (3.125)</option>
<option>109. Killer Instinct (3.11)</option>
<option>110. Virtua Fighter (3.09)</option>
<option>111. Rock Band (3.09)</option>
<option>112. Earthworm Jim (3.0)</option>
<option>113. Metroid (3.0)</option>
<option>114. Time Crisis (3.0)</option>
<option>115. Tekken (3.0)</option>
<option>116. Halo 2 (3.0)</option>
<option>117. Syphon Filter (3.0)</option>
<option>118. Gex (3.0)</option>
<option>119. Destiny (3.0)</option>
<option>120. The Secret of Monkey Island (3.0)</option>
<option>121. Army of Two (3.0)</option>
<option>122. Sonic Adventure (3.0)</option>
<option>123. Shenmue (3.0)</option>
<option>124. Guitar Hero (2.875)</option>
<option>125. Ecco the Dolphin (2.85)</option>
<option>126. Streets of Rage (2.84)</option>
<option>127. Altered Beast (2.8)</option>
<option>128. Bayonetta (2.75)</option>
<option>129. Command & Conquer (2.75)</option>
<option>130. ToeJam & Earl (2.75)</option>
<option>131. Assassin's Creed (2.71)</option>
<option>132. Gauntlet (2.71)</option>
<option>133. Dead Rising (2.71)</option>
<option>134. Bionic Commando (2.66)</option>
<option>135. Saints Row (2.66)</option>
<option>136. The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>137. Killer Instinct 2 (2.6)</option>
<option>138. Silent Hill (2.6)</option>
<option>139. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>140. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>141. Twisted Metal (2.42)</option
<option>142. Crackdown (2.42)</option>
<option>143. Golden Axe (2.33)</option>
<option>144. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>145. The Secret of Mana (2.2)</option>
<option>146. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option></select>

Oof, a score of 3.66 for Sons of Liberty places it well below the original Metal Gear Solid and its 4.33 average. The first game holds the crown as the best of the bunch...for now.

It's now time for us to ask the bowl for more. It's still loaded with potential goodness and it's ready to share. How about it, boys and girls? What's on tap for this week?

https://i.imgur.com/FBO7p6z.gif

Hmm, back to another franchise. A Nintendo franchise, no less. Well, we already did 3 well-known entries in this series so far, so one more can't hurt, right? Let's go back to the glory days of the Super Nintendo and Hyrule as this week we rate the first 16-bit title of the long-running fantasy franchise. It's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past! Three other Zelda titles have passed through the ringer and all of them are sitting very pretty. Hell, one of them is a super elite title, claiming the number 3 spot. But does this entry have enough to supersede them all? What do you have say about it? Let's hash it out as we say goodbye to August. Until next week!

I played this for the first time in like 2008 and only thought it was ok.

Haven’t played it.

I gave it a 4.

This was the first Zelda game I played. My friend had it.

5.

Amazing game and in my Top 5 for my favorite games in the series and up there with my favorite games of all-time.

Didn't have a SNES growing up nor did my cousins who owned a SNES had this game so I only got around to playing this game many years later when it was on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Only part of the game I didn't really like involved a boss fight that was on top of a pit with a hole in the floor. Kept getting knocked off the platform or sent into the hole which led to that fight being a dragged out and tedious one since most of my time in battle was just spent trying to get back to the fight area and not actually fighting the boss.

Its the best game ever made

Easy 5 from me. The music and the gameplay were great.... replayed this game very often as a youngling

Top 10 game of all time for me. Love it.

Easy 5

Ooo, I get to say this now:

It's "the best game ever" because you played it when you were 5 and had more time than taste.

i didnt play it as a kid. I played after i played OoT even. Ive also played it in the last 2 years. Its the best game ever made.

But i respect the jab all the same

29
 

I mean, I could fire this sucker up via the Switch's virtual console, but I've never had that strong of an urge to dive into the Legend of Zelda series. It looks tremendous from everything I've seen of it and it's almost universally praised, so I'll just have to take everyone's word on it. I'm sure I'd rate it highly, even if I didn't enjoy it personally. It looks great for a 16-bit title and seems intuitive enough.

I hate that the ice rod isn't required for anything in the fire and ice temple except the boss so once you get there you are SOL if you don't have it.

I like the game having (3 i think) optional items. i lean toward being a completionist and having all the slots filled out is pretty satisfying.

Plus the ice rod gets you the friendly bee so im here for it.

But to the Trinexx at Turtle Rock i love the idea of hitting a brick wall if you didnt explore enough. "Oh youve just been running through dungeons? get fucked kid." I down with that.

That god damn 4th bottle......

It's not good game design though.

It's fine.


The game encourages exploration and even gave you a nice map to do so. It gets figured out. It was not difficult to locate.

I hate this concept that good game design both holds your hand and puts a bow on everything for you. The point of the game is to play it. And thats exactly what kids did with it. They wondered and poked around. Good game design is about being compelling, not a checklist.

Good game design would be to have the ice rod be necessary to complete a room in the dungeon before getting to the boss and just being stuck there.

There's literally no difference between those two things. Its not like the game deletes your save if Trinexx kills you, infact theyd spawn you in the exact same spot

The game rewards you for your curiosity. In a game thats built entirely on puzzles this should be what you want from it

When you got stuck, was your thought "Welp, guess I'm done!"


or


"Hmm, wonder what I missed?"




If it was the former, perhaps those games are not for you? It should trigger you to think. That was the point.

^^^^^^

I didn't get stuck my wife did, I had to sit through the whole knowing that would happen because she doesn't like spoilers.

If it was good game design nintendo would still do it but there's a reason zelda games haven't done that since this one.

They should have made it necessary for a puzzle earlier in the dungeon.

One more time: that changes literally nothing

If you death warp or mirror out you go to the exact same spot. Nothing changes.

I don't think you can mirror out of dungeon rooms.The difference is an "Ice rod check" at 99% dungeon completion or 10% dungeon completion. Which do you think is better?

It doesn't matter does it? The end result is still the same.

You can use the mirror in any dungeon to be insta ported back to the dungeon entrance.

Retreading isn't fun.

easiest 5 ever

LTTP is probably the greatest video game ever created

There are dungeons which require "retreading" due to how some of the puzzles work.




Sounds like Zelda just isn't a game "for you" I guess.

You can mirror at any point. Which means if you are 99% or 0.0000000001% done you are always the same distance from the entrance

Which dungeons do you have to go through twice?

I'm pretty sure you can't just mirror back in to the boss fight.

:|




I'm pretty sure you can just find the ice rod pretty easily. But maybe not. but maybe.

Also don't ignore this: