100th BPoT Spectacular!

To celebrate the 100th posting of The Best Part of Today, I've come up with another 10Best, following the 10 Best book series' I listed for the Fiftieth Post Extravaganza.

Today we have the 10 Best Video Games, not necessarily in any order.

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gamecube): This is a phenomenal game. The best in the Zelda series, in my opinion. One of the most important things a game needs in order to be successful, no matter what kind of game it is, is a good storyline. I don't care how cool it looks or anything else about it, anything from an RPG to a FPS will not be a good game with some reason to play it. There has to be an answer to the "why should i care?" question. This game sets up the characters' background and relationship so you feel for them when things go wrong and you actually want to help them. It keeps you interested because the story is full of suspense and intrigue, and whenever you think you've passed a milestone, or even have come close to the end, it surprises you again. The art is also inspiringly beautiful for a video game, close to the detail and expressiveness of good anime. It's one of those games that never gets old, no matter how many times you play it, too. It's so intricate that whenever I get a hankering to start a new game, I remember each part as I play it, but I don't exactly remember how to do everything so it's still a challenge. But neither is it so hard that I get to a place and stop because I can't figure out how to go on, nor is it too boring that I don't want to continue. I know I said these weren't in any particular order, but this may be my favorite video game of all time.

• Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) An adorable game for cuteness-lovers only. But don't be fooled, just because you're confronted with the "awww" urge almost incessantly doesn't mean this game is a breeze. The first couple of levels are pretty simple so that you learn the basics of Kirby's operation within "Patch Land." Essentially the goal is to collect enough beads to earn a new patch and thus gain access to a new level. Nothing can exactly hurt you, and some "enemies" just fall over if you bump into them. This I think, kind of lulls you in a false sense of security as you move on and think all your enemies will be pushovers, literally. But then you start to encounter dangerous enemies that make you drop your beads if they touch you, shoot arrows at you, throw snowballs at you or knock you of cliffs. This last one is the worst because bumping into an enemy only spills your beads, allowing you pick them back up again, whereas falling off something calls a Shy Guy to rescue you, dropping beads as you go. Thus the farther away you fell, the more irretrievable beads you drop into the chasm you were just scooped up from. Think twice (and actually play the game) before using this game's cuteness as an indicator of its difficulty.

• Paper Mario (N64): Similarly, this game is a delightful spin on a traditional Mario adventure. Mario is in a fact a 2-D piece of paper, along with all of the other characters and some of the scenery. He ventures out to rescue the Star Spirits, which have been imprisoned in playing cards by Bowser and the Star Rod. Throughout out the game, Mario acquires partners that help with special powers like floating across spikes or lighting up rooms. The game has fun quirks, like when Mario or someone has been beaten, they float down to the ground like a loose sheet of paper. The next installment, The Thousand Year Door (Gamecube), is equally as good, and makes even more use of the paper world by endowing Mario with all the powers paper posesses. He folds into several different configurations from a paper airplane that flies to boat that floats. This is followed by Super Paper Mario, which takes full use of the Wii's technology, allowing Mario jump back and forth between 2-D and 3-D so as to slip past some 2-D enemies, as well creating a sort of special "flashlight" that detects hidden items when you point the wiimote at the screen (as opposed to holding it sideways like a conventional controller).

• The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker (Gamecube): Probably my second favorite game of all time, if how many times I have played it is any indication. And yet, like Twilight Princess, it is a long game, which just goes to show you how compelling it is. The story is fantastic, the characters are great, and the gameplay is immensely satisfying. You play as a cartoon-style young Link, who happy-go-lucky but also seriously courageous (a quality that is very important later.) Unlike other games, though, the setting is not Hyrule or any other land, but rather the ocean, which he traverses on his trusty ship, King of the Red Lions. You travel from island to island, slowly filling your sea chart, which is a task in itself. The chart is divided into a grid and there is one island per square; many of them aren't necessary to visit in order to beat the game, but they all house treasure, puzzles, sidequests, and fantastically designed locales. I have played the game over 5 times, all the way through to the boss, which is extremely challenging but not unbeatable (unlike some games) and I still don't think I have encountered everything the game has to offer. Part of this is because the game offers incentives for multiple plays. If you beat the game once, you can choose to save your game there and keep playing from that point, exploring everything you didn't get a chance to earlier. Or you can start a new game without actually erasing your file. If you do this, then you get to wear Link's clothes that he was wearing at the beginning of the game instead of changing into the hero's clothes. You also get to understand anything spoken in Ancient Hylian, which was previously a bunch unreadable runes. Other spoils await you if you eat the game and choose to replay it successively. This is one game that really give you your money's worth.

• Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube): This game is completely unique. I have never seen anything else like it, before or after it came out, on any other console or in ay other series. Basically, Mario gets framed for mucking up the island he was vacationing on and is sentenced to clean it up with a FLUDD (Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device). Essentially, it's talking water pump. Mario wears it like a backpack and uses it to spray away the offending muck that covers Delfino Island. It also propels Mario around like water-power jet-pack, allowing him to run and hover as long as the tank is full. Occasionally, a mysterious goopy figure steals the FLUDD from Mario and you have to long-jump and wall-kick your way through perilous levels that make your realize how hard this game would be without it. But wait...wasn't that what Super Mario 64 was all about? It didn't seem so hard then.

• The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS): Like Sunshine, this game is also totally unique. It's a Zelda game with trains after all. Totally weird. Zelda is a medieval-magical-type swordfighting, arrow-slinging, horseback riding games...where do the trains come in? First of all, this game is the sequel to the Phantom Hourglass, another DS game which is itself a sequel to Windwaker. Like Windwaker, Phantom Hourglass takes place on the ocean, albeit on someone else's ship. Spirit Tracks supposedly takes place 100 years or so after Phantom Hourglass, when all the character's descendants have made new lives on land. The new Princess Zelda appoints court engineers to protect the land's train tracks, which actually serve the purpose of sealing away a great evil, much like the Master Sword. It's a terrifically fun game for all DS players that love Zelda, especially Windwaker.

• Super Smash Brothers Melee (Gamecube): Some prefer the original N64 version, some like the new Wii version (Brawl), and they're both pretty fun, but I personally find them both equally difficult. Not so much that they're hard games, just the control isn't very intuitive in my opinion. Contrarily, I find Melee to be the perfect balance of ease of use and a fun challenge. Melee is always the perfect choice for a part game with lots of people or a quick battle between two friends. Even if you don't know how to play, all you need to do is move the control stick and press random buttons and you'll do all right. Always a good time.

• Harvest Moon (Gamecube): This game is a lot like Animal Crossing but a lot less well-known. The games opens with you inheriting a scenic farm near a beach and learning how to tend it. It starts out pretty small, but you plant vegetables, milk your cow, get eggs from your chickens, and shear your sheep and sell all your produce to Sunday market and soon you're making money. You can also fish at the waterfall, in the streams and the oceans, and scavenge for valuable plants and herbs, all of which you can also sell. Another one of your goals is to woo and marry one of the girls in town, with whom you might have a kid. Over time you can expand your house and your farm, but it's kind of hard to keep track of how much time has passed. The "years" are more like chapters in the game's story rather than a cycle of 4 seasons, and I still haven't finished the game. But if ever you need a nice relaxing game without the threat of dangerous monsters, or the stress of avoiding being killed, Harvest Moon is your game.

• Banjo Kazooie (N64): An fun adventure game I could never have thought up by myself. You play as Banjo the bear accompanied by Kazooie the bird, who inhabits Banjo's backpack, with Banjo's little sister, Tooty. The evil witch Grunty kidnaps Tooty, intent on stealing her youth and beauty. You explore Grunty's mountain castle for golden puzzle pieces, which form into magical paintings that you can jump into, and earn access farther up the mountain.

• Pokemon: I can't choose. I love old-school Blue, traditional Crystal, and pretty much all the newer ones like Diamond, Platinum, HeartGold, and White. I also love the Pokemon Ranger and Mystery Dungeon varieties. The only definitive thing I can say is that Pokemon has always been 1000x better on Gameboy (and now DS) than it has on any other platform.