Q-ZACK: Here & Now

15) Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Sony PlayStation (1999)
The only game ever that made me realize that I was
wasting time off my own life, actually really skating.

14) Dragon Warrior
NES (1989)
Without Dragon Warrior, there is no Final
Fantasy.Yun’ lang!!!

13) Virtua Fighter
Arcade (1993)
Virtua Fighter may have been ripping off Street
Fighter II, but it included something that hadn’t
been seen before: 3D graphics in a fighter. Ever
since, fighters have become more dependent on 3D
graphics. And that is why I chose Virtua Fighter.

12) Mortal Kombat
Arcade (1992)
It changed the way we looked at blood in video
games, and even Congress noticed that video
games
were getting more graphic and real through time.
Without it there would be no rating system on
games today.

11) Metal Gear Solid
Sony PlayStation (1998)
How could this not be on your list? It is the best
PlayStation game ever and without it Syphon Filter
and all those other third-person adventures would
have never seen the light of day.

10) Pac-Man
Arcade (1980)
This question is like asking what the most
influential moment in the history of the galaxy
was. Two words: big bang. A dramatic act of
creation, influencing all that followed. Two more
words: Pac-Man.

9) Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega Genesis (1991)
I chose Sonic the Hedgehog because truthfully he
has always been the force that could always end
Mario’s career.

Resident Evil
Sony PlayStation (1996)
Resident Evil. Two words come to mind when I hear
those words. Survival horror. I mean this game
started a whole new genre. It also spouted off
many clones, but none could match the perfect
gameplay, awesome environment, eerie sounds,
and
top-notch story that Capcom created.

7). GoldenEye 007
Nintendo 64 (1997)
GoldenEye opened the world to a lot of
first-person shooters and pushed the envelope
further than ever before.

6) 6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Nintendo 64 (1998)
It opened up the quest genre and showed that it
had mass appeal. It also paved the way for many,
many games to follow!

5) Street Fighter II
Arcade (1990)
This is it! The game that picked up a dying arcade
scene and began the long line of games in the
fighting genre that ruled the arcades for the next
10 years! The father of all fighting games.

4) The Legend of Zelda
NES (1987)
Miyamoto continuously reinvents genres. All his
games have influenced designers in some way or
another. Miyamoto is video gaming!

3) Super Mario Bros.
NES (1985)
The ultimate video game! This is, without doubt,
one of the most engaging games ever, and at the
same time, it is one of the simplest games ever.
Even my mum, who had never played a video game
for
more than five minutes, got hooked. A brilliant
game that I’ve been playing for 10 years, and I’ll
never get tired of. A masterpiece.

2) Final Fantasy VII
Sony PlayStation (1997)
This game brought RPGs into the mainstream
market
and also defined the "cinematic gameplay" that
most RPGs attempt to emulate today. What’s more
influential than that?

1)Super Mario 64
Nintendo 64 (1996)
Mario 64 kicked off the 3D platform game genre. Do
you think Crash Bandicoot and Sonic Adventure
would have come out without it?

For any comments and suggestions, send me an
e-mail; just type the code for the GodMode:
kuykuy41@yahoo.com

10) Sonic the Hedgehog

Games:Anything that has Sonic in it! Why:Sonic was one of the few characters Sega came out with that actually got stuck into peoples brains. He would be their version of Mario. I think he deserves a little recognition and this spot fits him perfectly!

9) Cloud Strife

Games: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Ehrgeiz, and Chocobo Racing Why: Cloud is a very influential character, I mean he may not be that original but almost every RPG is trying to rip him off anymore. So I think he deserves some kudos.

Dracula

Games: Every Castlevania ever made, and Krazy Racers Why: Dracula did not start off in video games (I’m not stupid) but he is a classic character, I think he deserves this spot, and I mean c’mon what other villian can you think of? Mike Tyson?

7) Doom Marine

Games: All the Dooms Why: The Doom Marine MADE one person shooters! I mean honestly the wolfenstein guy did nothing and there’d be NO Duke Nukem. The Doom Marine is an essential character to most hard ass men that are in video games today instead of these wimpy happy sickening characters. THANK YOU DOOM MARINE!

6) Ryu

Games: Every Street Fighter Game ever made. Why: Ryu is that one fighting character that just made you cream in your jeans. Honestly he is kick ass, he’s cool, and he has about 45 different characters that are trying to be just like him from many other fighting games.

5) Mega Man

Games: Every Mega Man game in existense. Why: Mega Man may just be a side scrolling game such as Mario and Sonic but he added that much needed Robot edge to video games when most games didn’t have it. I think he is a worthy key player in the video game era.

4) Pikachu

Games: Everything Pokemon and Super Smash Bros. Why: Now this one is easy to explain. The phenomenon of Pokemon is all due to Pikachu and this little yellow rat thingy made all those other great monster games you all are playing so popular, even though I don’t agree with it at all, I had to put him on here for the moral value that he actually deserved this spot.

3) Pac-Man    

Games: Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and other such paciness. Why: Do you have to ask, Pac-Man was one of the first characters EVER in a game at ALL besides a ship or a line on the screen (pong) but he actually moved and stuff, sure he was round and yellow, but down inside aren’t we all the same, aren’t we all trying to eat the ghosts that chase us around? (yes it’s corny, but c’mon you woulda used it!).

2) Link      

Games:Legend of Zeldas, and Super Smash Bros. Why: Link is the character that made adventure games, now Mario may be the front man, but Legend of Zelda made actual adventure games what they are today, most action games aren’t side scrollers but have 4 directions you can move in. Link is also very popular it’s sometimes hard to know who the people love anymore him or Mario.

1) Mario   

Games: "Too many to count but almost every other Nintendo produced game." Why: Mario (for a long time) was the face of video games, even though his trendy ways have died a bit he still shows up and surprises us every so often. Mario had to be the character we most related to, being a plumber and still having to save the mushroom kingdom all in a days work for a normal guy who can jump alot. Let’s just say Mario is the king of video games hands down.

10) Sonya Blade Games:Mortal Kombats (all I believe though not playable in 2) Why: Sonya is one of the classic fighting female characters. The fact that they gave her a death kiss gives her the title of "Femme Fatale" and she has been ressurected in numerous games. Let’s just say almost any female character that can kill others was most likely derived from Sonya’s originality!

9) Princess Toadstool (Peach) Games:Everything that says Mario on it (though not playable in all) Why: Peach is one of the classic characters, yet she’s developed on her own. She started off as a Zelda who gets captured and the man must save her. Then in the NEXT GAME she wound up being the most useful character due to the fact that she wore a dress. Now I tell you isn’t that a HUGE STEP FORWARD??

Terra and Celes Games: Only Final Fantasy 3(snes) or 6 (PS1) Why: Terra and Celes helped move RPGs forward. there’re two worlds in FF3/6 In the world of Balance you start as Terra and thus think of her as the main character for the beginning part of the game. When you enter the world of Ruin you start off as Celes who takes over the main character of the game. Some people may argue this but I think it’s neat that not only did they just do one main character but TWO who’re females!

7) Wendy O’ Koopa Games: Maybe Half the Marios (too much of a headache to find out) Why:I debated between her and Mother Brain for this slot… and it hit me Wendy is much more influential then Mother Brain. You knew she was a girl by looking at her, and she was one of the last Koopalings you could fight in the third game.

6) Ms. Pac-Man Games:Ms. Pac-Man Why: She was the first female game to ever get addicted people C’MON! this doesn’t take much brain power, although I mean she was kind of a rip off, but hey they changed that by giving her a PINK BOW for gosh sakes!!

5) Aeris Games:Final Fantasy 7 + Final Fantasy Tactics (though non playable) Why: Aeris died, yes, and she may not have actually done ANYTHING to be influential (not enough time). But how many times have you heard that it sucked when you couldn’t bring her back? I think she was a martyr, yes that’s right. Her death caused a fiasco and now everyone loves our female characters!

4) Chun-Li Games:Every Single Street Fighter you can think of! Why: Chun-Li was the first original kick-ass chick in video games. She was one of the easiest characters to fight with in Street Fighter 2 and then they upgraded her by giving her a fire ball. All in all she deserves to be this high up on the list.

3) Jill Valentine Games:Resident Evil 1+3 and Capcom Vs. Marvel Why: Even though she may not have been the first woman in a horror genre game. She is the most memorable. She was just a co-star in Resident Evil one but when #3 came around who do we see in the spot light? Not Chris Redfield, Not Leon from #2 but Jill Valentine! That’s right she upstaged the men big time! GO JILL! Then she was also featured in Capcom Vs. Marvel (not Chris again).

2) Lara Croft Games:Every single Tomb Raider Why: Lara is just so sexy and smart and an all around cool character to be, I mean she’s like the barbie of the video game industry everyone wants to be her and those who don’t are just lying to themselves. So I really think she deserves this spot!

1) Samus Games: Metroids + Super Smash Bros. Why: Okay so you’re asking how’d Samus up Lara right? Well without Samus there would be NO LARA CROFT. That’s right Samus was the first female to ever be featured in a video game (and have it sell well). And how did they pull that one off to all the Mario and Link fans you ask? Simple they didn’t mention Samus was a girl, and you can’t tell by looking at her. But if you beat the original game fast enough, she’d take her mask off and you found out.. IT’S A WOMAN!!! BWAHAHA You Go Samus!