Japan Gaming Guide

80. Cannon Fodder (Amiga)

War had never been so much fun.  Sensible Software’s wonderful take on warfare sees you leading a squad of troops through hostile territory – the game caused moral outrage in the U.K. despite it carrying a strong anti-war sentiment.  Your little troops all had names, and losing a man (a frequent occurance, particularly on the viciously hard later levels), meant a gravestone was added to the background of the menu screen.  The tiny graphics had bags of personality, and the novel gameplay still feels fresh today.

79. Panzer Dragoon Oorta (Xbox)

On paper the on-rails shoot-em-up sounds like the most restrictive game genre around – but this game shows what can be done when designers have such a tight hold over the players experience – this game never feels over simple or dull, just the opposite – the journey through smilebit’s universe always has something new round the corner – one of the best looking games available of its generation.

78. Chrono Trigger (Super Nintendo)

Squaresoft’s classic had everything a Japanese RPG should have – an epic plot, bizarre characters, well balanced gameplay and a branching story that still makes our brains hurt just thinking about it.

77. Jason’s Gem (Spectrum)

Descend through caverns, then pass through a short platform section to find riches beyond your wildest dreams.  This game was a short, focussed action/adventure – a rarity in the days when game designers were often trying to defeat the player rather than engage them.

76. Black & White (PC)

Cast fire, rain and lightening from the sky, and then train a 30 foot cow to do the same.  Slap animals, burn villages and, er, clean up poop.  You know you want to.

75. F19 Stealth Fighter (Amiga/PC)

Flight sims generally fall into two categories: Realistic ones, which tend to be rendered  a little dull owing to the long range and distance of modern weaponry, or unrealistic ones, which are fun but lack depth.  F19 walked the masterful tightrope in between putting you into the cockpit of a stealth bomber – the empty sky suddenly became a maze of hostile radar signals that had to be avoided at all costs.

74. Outrun 2 (Xbox/Arcade)

Perfect pure arcade escapism – zoom around the world in the Ferrari of your choice, scream round corners, weave through traffic.  Takes all the elements of the classic original, gives them a lick if paint, and comes out with the best stress free racing game around.

73. Tomb Raider (Playstation)

With all the Lara Croft hype its easy to forget that the Tomb Raider franchise began life as an absolutely outstanding video game. The first game in the series offered a real feeling of exploration – and had a great balance of adventuring and combat. Fights would often start just when you least expected it – and who can forget the moment when, having just offed a few veloceraptors..  well the remake’s out next year so no spoilers.

72. Baldur’s Gate 2 (PC)

A massive, massive western style role playing game.  Hugely deep and complex and at the same time accessible, this game’s epic plot was offset by its good sense of humour and great characters including a barbarian with a space hamster.  Despite the game’s sprawling scale, developer Bioware managed to fill the game with detail, not one of the game’s many subplots feels like fluff or filler – and the game is compelling until the very end.

71. Space Channel 5 (Dreamcast, PS2)

Quirky rhythm action game.  Retro-futuristic heroine Ulala has to save the world – through dancing!  Shimmy and twist your way through space, taking on giant marshmallows and Michael Jackson along the way.

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