The Neptune Christmas Gaming Saturn 2 Extravaganza is back on the air! Welcome, folks! This is, once again, my present to myself for myself, enabling me to chat about whatever I would like, so long as it sticks to gaming and the awesomeness of it. To that end, we will be talking about another concept outside of the Gaming Triforce as previously stated in Part 1. The Saturn is always #1, of course, and the Dreamcast along with the Gamecube bring up a good tie for #2. Now, if there were a #3 that took up the fourth position, which there is because I'm making up math as I go, then that would be the Playstation 2.
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!!! Whoa! Neptune! Stop! What are you doing?! The Playstation?! My eyes! Why would you do this?! We're at war! Sound the alarm! Wake the Ninjas! Fire the Cannons! Bring in the cavalry and kill him!
Hold your horses, literally, there, Jake. We've discussed the Playstation 2 more than once. The Playstation 2 is definitely the fourth spot with the third place because it is, by far, the greatest console on the market.
Oh, yes, I said it and yes, it is actually true. This game console sold so well that it is STILL the #1 BEST SELLING CONSOLE IN THE WORLD TO THIS DAY. I'm sorry, but if that is not just so damned impressive, then close this article and go look somewhere else. We're talking about the Playstation 2, I don't care what console it succeeds and I don't care that it defeated the Dreamcast. Guess what, if there was any that deserved to defeat the good old Sega Saturn 2, it was the Playstation 2. Sorry, folks. Life's a bitch. Get a floatie!
The Playstation 2 was at the height of popularity through most of the 2000's. It took a long time for the Playstation 3 to come out, so its reign had a good long draw and all of the games seemed to gravitate toward it. One great advatange to owning the Playstation 2 is that the games are so plentiful that they are actually quite cheap. Aside from games such as Silent Hill 2 or rarities on the exclusives lists, these games came in droves far more plentiful than the Dreamcast or the Gamecube, as it enveloped both of their lifespans and then some. The PS2 even continued to gain PS3 titles, which isn't too far fetched, but it did it for quite a long time. The Playstation 2 was getting titles until WELL INTO 2013!!! That's a year after I bought my Xbox 360! That only shows how elongated that console was. It really is nice to admire one that deserves such admiration.
10. Tony Hawk Underground
Tony Hawk became popular and I played it over at a friend's house for hours and hours and hours all in one night. As little as I have played this game in life, it has had such a huge impact on my life that I needed to purchase it for my collection, even when skateboarding is very much not my thing. This game is hard for me because the button combos and the dexterity required is not my forte. Is it fun, though? Oh, yes. The music deserves the 90's chef kiss of the radical dudes of the ones before us. Rock on, Skaters.
9. The Simpsons Hit and Run
You can't put a price tag on a game that does sandboxing just right. Yes, it can be expensive, but it is so hard to make, so hard to get right and so hard to maintain that it seems like an art that is all but lost on today's gaming society. Why, then, was it done so well in the console world so many times, yet they still can't seem to get it right with so many devs? The Simpsons Hit and Run took all of the aspects of GTA 3 we loved, took away the death and violence and replaced it with authentic Simpsons humor. Is all of it funny? No. Is it funnier than the Simpons now? YES!
8. Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King
Dragon Warrior is my favorite game of all time. It is the first game in the Dragon Quest series and after it was brought out of the NES consoles, it fourished as Dragon Quest on the market and continues to do so to this day. This title is no shortage of greatness or Slimes. Just kill them good and get the slimes first. Then we can move onto the ghosts! Oh, sorry, that's my Dragon Warrior talking. There is a lot of story here by comparison, but it is a very fun ride, for certain.
7. Soul Calibur 3
This series continues to thrive and be awesome, no matter how the new games are getting slightly worse. Virtua Fighter this ain't, but it is a very solid game series that deserves much of all of the praise from the fighting game genre. It features prominent weapon combat, something that a lot of fighting games attempted but just couldn't really get right with Mortal Kombat 4, Tekken and it kind of looked like Virtua Fighter was trying to maybe incorporate weapons at one point in 4 or 5, but this is the one that seemed to get it down. It was just nice that the blades and axes didn't chop them into ribbons, then it would be a completely different fighting game altogether.
6. Silent Hill 2
This is the Playstation game that is the Holy Grail for many collections and for good reason. The only version that was available to play of this was the Playstation 3 HD collection, as terrible as that sounds, it's all I have. This game is almost impossible to emulate fully and trying to buy a real copy is akin to manipulating dead body parts. It only kind of maybe works. Either way, it was still a very fun experience (mostly because I don't have much experience with the original to go off of*) and playing it in the dark still brought about great scares and joy.
5. Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City
GTA3, the vanilla game, is my favorite of these, bar none. Vice City is my favorite iteration on PS2, though. Don't ask why, but for some reason, the pink aura of the 80's resonating off of this title drew me toward it over San Andreas. Again, there's nothing against SA, but if there were a second place for GTA3, this is it. It's Grand Theft Auto and if I needed to explain what I do on this, you'd probably not like me playing it very much even though all of you do the same thing!
4. Bully
Speaking of Grand Theft Auto, here is a title that only beats it because it has vastly less distractions. Do I consider it a BETTER game? No, but it does what it set out to do better, technically. This game wins out overall from focus. There's less distractions. You can bully other kids, but you can't just go around randomly beating them up too much like in GTA3 and its iterations. You are more driven to finish missions and follow the rules/strategically break the rules and skip/attend classes. Bully is a whole lot of structured fun, while GTA3 is pure choatic fun. Both are beating you in the face.
3. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
Virtua Fighter the Series is no stranger to me. Virtua Fighter 4 is no slouch, and it never will be considred one. It even has the Evolution version which has a brand new version of the original Virtua Fighter. Seriously? If you haven't already played this amazing fighting game, then what is keeping you? It's rated higher than Soul Calibur 3, by all means, play both. The new game mechanics, the new graphics the new touch ups on characters and story, all of it is just a monumental successful upgrade. Let's Virtua Fi-Fi-Fi-Fi-Fi-Fi-Fi-Fi-----
2. Virtual On Marz
Fight! Whoa! Here we go! The only reason that this is not #1 is because it is #1 for the Sega Saturn, technically. Virtual On did not get many titles and it was much later in life when I found out about this one. Yes, it is Virtual On in all its amazing goodness but it is far more mission based and based on fighting multiple smaller enemies as well as boss battles. It is Virtual On slathered with better graphics and high flying action on a much bigger scale. If you don't slam this together with the first Virtual On, then there is going to be Virtual and Virtua Consequences! FINISH HIM!!
1. Mortal Kombat: Deception
FATALITY! Ah! Here we are! Mortal Kombat is no stranger to this blog either. What is a bigger stranger is the 3D era of games. That's the period of games after Mortal Kombat 4, when Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube were all churning out Ed Boon games and Tobias was just freshly straight out the door after his abysmal title, Special Forces. Deception was the middle title. Is it actually better than Deadly Alliance or Armageddon? No, but it is the title that was around and it is the title that was played for many hours along with the story mode, which is awesome, by the way.
Wow, being able to talk about the PS2 and all of my favorite consoles. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Even if I don't have your permission to do it, I do thank you from the bottom of my heart! This is the best Christmas gift ever and if you can find it in your hearts to let me keep this going for as long as it will, I'd sure appreciate it. This is all going to you from me with no script, no anchor, no rules and all just Gonzo Scrapbook Article Writing. This is a vacation for these tired fingers that had to go through college, stories and novels on top of articles and whatever else happened this year. 2023 was not an easy year as stated earlier in the year, but we made it as a family unit. Whether it be with the Sega Saturn or whatever else was played in the retro consoles, that's what going down for this Christmas Saturn Neptune Virtua Extravaganza! Coming Next!
