Last week we had an early Halloween Debate between Silent Hill and Resident Evil 2, as well as a separate debate between the two series. Both games proved to be huge winners in earlier PlayStation One debates, and this week each game came out a winner in one area. Here are the results:
- Silent Hill (44 votes) > Resident Evil 2 (20 votes)
- Resident Evil series (38 votes) > Silent Hill series (14 votes)
Interestingly enough, if you add the results of both debates, you get a tie. It will definitely be a debate we revisit once a year. This week we move on to the Nintendo 64 round of odd debate brackets, with two incredibly successful games of different genres.
Don't forget -- the point of these odd debates is not to just vote with your gut -- it forces us to be more analytical and think like a game designer. It gives us unique discussions that force everyone to think outside the box, consider all the pros and cons of each game, and compare and contrast them in a way that really makes us think about why we did or didn't enjoy a certain game.
Which games do you think is better, and why? Give it some serious thought, get some N64 friends to share their opinions as well, and check back next week for the winner.
P.S. So far, it looks like I've stumped you guys again! This week's Monday Mind Teasers still has an unsolved cover.
Contest:
10:39 PM on 10.21.2008
| 
smash bros. all the way
Goldeneye.
To be honest, I'm surprised to see someone already voted for Super Smash.
I liked Perfect Dark on the N64, but I never really played much Goldeneye. I haven't been a fan anyway, though, so I would probably still pick Smash even if I had played more of Goldeneye.
For this week, I'm definitely torn. But honestly, not for long. Sure, I spent just as many summer hours playing GoldenEye 64 with friends in their basement as I did playing SSB 64 in their basement. I played both games more in one summer than I spent all year on homework, these games were huge parts of my childhood.
But last year I went back and played both of them for the first time in many years, and it was obvious which one stood the test of time, and which one didn't. While 007 was groundbreaking in that it brought the FPS genre to more mainstream non-PC markets, it still doesn't change the fact that it doesn't play well to this day. Framerates drop, graphics are laughibly blocky, and it's just not as fun (on any gameplay mode) as current FPS games.
However, when picking up SSB 64, the graphics aren't bad enough to take away from gameplay, the multiplayer aspect remains to be more fast and vicious and stratgic than basement-roaming blind bullet-spraying. Not to mention that I STILL honestly like SSB 64 better than Melee and Brawl. The controls feel tight, not over smoothed, and Hammer will always trump Proximity Mines in my heart!
VOTE: Super Smash Bros. 64 by far.
For this week, I'm definitely torn. But honestly, not for long. Sure, I spent just as many summer hours playing GoldenEye 64 with friends in their basement as I did playing SSB 64 in their basement. I played both games more in one summer than I spent all year on homework, these games were huge parts of my childhood.
But last year I went back and played both of them for the first time in many years, and it was obvious which one stood the test of time, and which one didn't. While 007 was groundbreaking in that it brought the FPS genre to more mainstream non-PC markets, it still doesn't change the fact that it doesn't play well to this day. Framerates drop, graphics are laughibly blocky, and it's just not as fun (on any gameplay mode) as current FPS games.
However, when picking up SSB 64, the graphics aren't bad enough to take away from gameplay, the multiplayer aspect remains to be more fast and vicious and stratgic than basement-roaming blind bullet-spraying. Not to mention that I STILL honestly like SSB 64 better than Melee and Brawl. The controls feel tight, not over smoothed, and Hammer will always trump Proximity Mines in my heart!
VOTE: Super Smash Bros. 64 by far.
Don't get me wrong, GoldenEye was a pretty sweet game in its own right, but my vote definitely goes to Super Smash Bros. on this one. Falcon punch!
For one, Brawl is sill playable and Goldeneye isn't. It was a lot more fun in a party environment over Goldeneye.
Looks like this might be a close one!
Now, I know Smash Bros. is not going to win. That is obvious. However, all things considered, I do think it is a superior game in a lot of ways.
I'm not saying Goldeneye was a bad game. Far from it. The single player campaign was pretty solid, it was graphically sound, followed the plot of the movie pretty well, and had great multi-player modes. I do honestly beleive that the game is retro tinted to an almost obscene degree by gamers of the era, however. Most gamers will froth with white-hot nerd rage at the sheer mention that something in this game was flawed. They will practically toss each other off at mention of a possible release on the Virtual Console or the XBLA, and most probably refresh the page for the fan-based port of the game into the Source engine on an hourly basis.
Honestly, while good, it just didn't hold my attention the same way that Smash Bros. did (right up until Brawl, anyway, but that's a discussion for another time). I've had many, many, many sleepless nights playing that game with friends over a greasy pizza and more than a few bottles of alcohol, and more than a few laughs. It's a better constructed game in my eyes, and a better game for bringing friends together overall.
Feel free to flame at will.
I'm not sure why you're referring to it as "the Wii version of Brawl," as A) Brawl was only on the Wii, and B) it's not the game we're talking about.
The most influential game of my college years.
Pistols only, no radar, one hit kill was THE standard for proving your skills. It got to the point where some people were learning how to play the game with 2 controllers to take advantage of two analog sticks.
Also, I still haven't beaten Trevelyn yet on the hardest difficulty.
It is still the best smash to be released. Melee was very unbalanced("Oh your playing as Link? I'll just go home then") and Brawl just has way to much luck involved(smash ball, dragoon, tripping, ect, ect). Smash64 had a great line up that where all very balanced.
Goldeneye, although bringing FPS to the console, was kinda crap. When you compare it to Half Life (released just a little over a year after) it's a complete joke. Multiplayer was also completely broken due to the character models.
goldeneye ftw!!!
only because Perfect Dark 64 > Goldeneye 007
I just played it yesterday! I got owned.
@oni carlcastello -- you and me both :) you and me and about a million other people I'd love to meet and play SSB 64 with. such great memories, we still pass up Brawl and Melee and hit up the first whenever we're home for the holidays.
Goldeneye was fun, but I put way much more time into smash. Call me crazy, but smash 64 is still my favorite out of the series. Plus, you didn't have a split screen to hinder the sight of 4 simultaneous players.
I'm smelling a Super Smash Bros. exclusive NARP!
Goldeneye wins in a landslide
Simply because of License To Kill + Pistols + Complex
I based my decision on being able to beat my friend with a handicap. KIRBY FTW!
Besides, I was never beaten in anything except perhaps proximity mines :P Hated the things. SO cheap. Hahaha, good times, tho.
I actually just brought my old Dreamcast, N64, and old Gameboy gear out of storage to my apartment and Goldeneye was the first thing I had to pop in the N64 once it was set up. Protip: don't play on an HDTV after having done the same with an emulator. The visual quality is actually saddening, haha.
Super Smash Bros basically created a genre and turned into a huge cash cow for Nintendo. I'm having trouble thinking of another mildly succesful game even similar to it (Power Stone ?). They hold massive tournaments for whatever the newest one is, there are people that play it till their fingers bleed figuring out weird block/jump/punch cancel stupidity that just boggles the mind.
Ah, its so hard to really choose, as I had immense amount of fun at countless sleepovers with both games, but in the end, Smash Bros takes the cake.
Now: Smash-Bros. All the way.
First of all, Goldeneye has NOT aged well. Secondly, it may well have ushered in the age of the FPS, in which case it is retroactively the worst game ever.
smash64 is that game.