10 video games that made my life gayer (#10): Rhythm Tengoku

How do I love this import-only GameBoy Advance title? Let me count the ways.

1) I love its hairy--and Arabian, apparently--onions and turnips.

2) I love its heart-shaped flowers and (smiling) star-filled skies.

3) I love its marching men in rabbit suits.

4) I love its safety-seeking rodents.

5) I love its tap-dancing primates.

6) More than anything, though, I love its amazing--and amusing--soundtrack.

For more reasons to love this Kazuyoshi Osawa-conceived game, check out Kurt Kalata's first-rate write-up over at hardcoregaming101.net.

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#9): Animal Crossing

Would you believe it if I told you that I held off on buying a GameCube until early 2004--more than two years after its North American debut? Well, it's true.

What prompted me to (finally) pick up Nintendo's boxy little system? By the time I bought one, they were just $99, for starters. And then there was the release of Animal Crossing.

OK, so that game was released (in the States) in late 2002--more than a year before I acquired a GameCube. I'd had my eye on it from day one, though, and as such it was the game I bought alongside my (now beloved silver) system.

Was it worth the wait? In a word: Yes. I've rarely put as much time into a game as I put into Animal Crossing. Something about its "life simulation" concept really resounded with me, I guess.

"Animal Crossing Painting" by Pocketowl

I know some people consider the game to be boring or tedious, as most of the time you're running errands, planting trees, picking fruit and watering flowers. Well, call me crazy, but I seem to enjoy those rather mundane chores when they're wrapped up in such cute packaging.

My only beef with the game? No matter how many love letters I sent to my female neighbors (my character was female, too), none of them reciprocated. Oh, well; you can't have anything, right?

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#8): Crazy Taxi

It used to be the Holy Grail of every gamer I knew: the "arcade perfect" console game. Well, Sega's Crazy Taxi was the game that made me feel I had finally found that legendary chalice.

Was it a rather superficial affair, with a limited amount of replay value? Sure, you could argue that. Of course, it was addictive as all get-out, too, which helped draw things out a bit.

The point of this post isn't to make a case for Crazy Taxi being one of the greatest games ever made, though--hell, I don't even necessarily think it's a great game. It is a great port of an arcade game, though, and that was more than enough for me back in the day.

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#7): PaRappa the Rapper

I wouldn't go so far as to say I tend to choose style over substance when I buy games, but I definitely find the former more important than the latter from time to time.

Case in point: My decision to pick up a copy of the NanaOn-Sha-developed PaRappa the Rapper.

Before this 1997 release, I'd never played (or even heard of, probably) a "rhythm game." After seeing this commercial, though, I decided to give the genre a try--due in large part to PaRappa's paper-cutout aesthetic.

Thankfully, I quickly discovered that the game was not simply another example of "style over substance." Instead, it was an example of "style marrying substance and then populating the earth with a multitude of stylishly substantial offspring." (Or something like that.)

Sure, on the surface PaRappa seems to be little more than Milton Bradley's Simon wrapped up in a pretty polygonal package. Scratch that surface a bit, though, and you quickly discover that this game offers brains as well as beauty.

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#6): Super Mario 64

Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo of Japan sure hit it out of the park when they moved Mario into the third dimension, didn't they?

I remember being absolutely amazed by Super Mario 64 when it was unveiled at Nintendo Space World in 1995. A year later, after receiving a Nintendo 64 and a copy of the game as a birthday gift, I was even more amazed as my college roommate and I played through it during a wintry Thanksgiving weekend.

The fact that my roommate played it at all was amazing in its own right, as he was (and still is, I believe) otherwise completely repulsed by the idea of playing video games. (He's a twink, what else would you expect?)

If that doesn't speak to the game's accessibility, I don't know what does.

I didn't include Super Mario 64 on this list because it's accessible, though; I included it on this list because it's enjoyable. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it is one of the most enjoyable games--if not the most enjoyable game--I've ever played.

The aforementioned roommate and I played an awful lot of Super Mario 64 that year, and the next year my new roommates (all five of them) and I played it even more--and all the while we had huge smiles plastered on our faces.

Sure, we liked how the game controlled and looked and sounded (especially that wacky, hillbilly-meets-Mario "Secret Slide Theme"), but what kept us coming back for more (and more and more and more) was that the game was fun with a capital "f."

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#5): Gunstar Heroes

I've never been much of a fan of run-and-gun games. You know, games like Contra, Ikari Warriors and Metal Slug.

In fact, the only run-and-gun game I've ever enjoyed is Treasure's Gunstar Heroes. I've enjoyed it a lot, though, so I guess that kind of makes up for my lack of love for the genre as a whole.

I can't imagine I'm alone in my admiration of this Genesis/Mega Drive classic, released in both Japan and North America in the autumn of 1993. After all, it's pretty darn accessible as far as side-scrolling shoot 'em ups are concerned, and it's also less realistic and violent than most of its genre cohorts.

That's not why Gunstar Heroes put a big, stupid grin on my face back in the day, though--and why it still does so today. No, for that I can thank the game's beautiful sprite work, creative level design, mind-boggling boss encounters and unique weapon system. Oh, and it has a wicked (in the good sense) soundtrack.

Was Gunstar Heroes my one chance at finding true love with the run-and-gun genre? I'm starting to think so. That's OK--as Alfred Lord Tennyson once said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#4): Parodius

I know what you're thinking: Wait, I thought he wasn't writing about games that literally made him gayer?

Although I can understand why you might feel that way, the truth of the matter is that I'm still writing about games that, at one point or another, made my life happier and merrier. (Yes, merrier.)

In the case of Parodius (aka Parodius Da!), well, it made my young life gayer (happier) in a few ways. For starters, it was the first game I imported from Japan (back when you had to do it the hard way--by calling someone on the phone and then giving the person on the other end of the line your dad's credit card number). Second, and more importantly, it was the first shoot 'em up I really savored.

Sure, I'd played--and rather enjoyed--Gradius and R-Type and other well-regarded representatives of the genre, but they always felt a bit too serious and sterile. Parodius, on the other hand, slathered itself in silliness and absurdity.

Anyway, the game had me hook, line and sinker from the second I hit the power button on my trusty TurboGrafx-16 thanks to its silliness as well as its strange intro (see screenshot at right), insane(ly sweet) graphics and incredible tunes. Oh, and it didn't hurt that it was addictive and enjoyable and offered just the right amount challenge, too.

All that said, I wouldn't suggest picking this one up if you're a Parodius virgin, as each of its successors--especially Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius (available for the Super Famicom, Saturn, PlayStation and PSP) and Sexy Parodius (available for the Saturn, PlayStation and PSP)--best it in practically every area.

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts

10 video games that made my life gayer (#3): Ys Book I & II

Would it surprise you if I said that Monster Lair, and not the great Ys Book I & II, was the game that sold me on the TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM attachment back in the day?

Well, it's the truth, shocking as it may sound.

That's not to say Ys Book I & II didn't jump to the top of my "to buy" list as soon as I laid eyes on it. Honestly, how could it not--what with its amazing (at the time) animated cutscenes and Red Book audio, both of which were unheard of in the (console) gaming world until the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM attachment was introduced?



Although I find the game unplayable today--those bump-into-your-enemies battles were acceptable back in the day, but today they're the definition of boring--I was pretty fond of it in 1990. Granted, I think I was a bit blinded by the game's superficial sheen (i.e., the above-mentioned animations and audio), but it's not like it was behind the RPG curve in terms of gameplay when it came out. (For comparison's sake, the seminal Final Fantasy II/IV wasn't released until the following year.)

Anyway, none of that is important at the moment. What is important is that Ys Book I & II, like Final Fantasy before it, solidified my interest in the RPG genre--something for which I'll always be grateful.

Note: In this post, and in all subsequent '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts, gayer is used in the old-fashioned sense, as in happier or merrier.

See also: '10 video games that made my life gayer (#1: Bubble Bobble) and (#2: Final Fantasy)'

RE: 10 video games that made my life gayer

Well, it seems I've stumped a few of you with the "10 video games that made my life gayer" series that I started yesterday. (Here's the first one and here's the second.) Specifically, my use of the word gayer seems to have stumped a few of you. Sorry about that.

I probably should have started the first post in the series with this disclaimer: "In this post, and in all subsequent '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts, gayer will be used in the old-fashioned sense, as in happier or merrier."

Actually, I considered doing just that early on, but it seemed so awkward; I'd much rather get right to the meat of the post. That said, I think I'll put the above-mentioned disclaimer at the end of each of these posts from now on.

(By the way, as I mentioned in a recent comment, I'd definitely be up for writing a few posts about video games that literally made me gayer--i.e., more homosexual--but I'm not entirely sure at this point which games would be included in such a series.)

10 video games that made my life gayer (#2): Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy wasn't the first RPG I ever played, but it was the first RPG I enjoyed.

Although I played through Dragon Warrior shortly after it was released in the States--all the way back in 1989--I didn't fall head over heels in love with the RPG genre until I worked my way through the formidable Final Fantasy about a year later.

I can't remember exactly what it was about the latter game that prompted that change of heart, but I have a feeling its visible party members--not to mention visible spells and weapons--had something to do with it. (I've always been a sucker for such superficialities.) The title's deeper, more engaging story--compared to Dragon Quest and other RPGs of the time, at least--and eternally memorable tunes (such as this nasty little earworm) likely played a role, too.

All of those features and then some bring me back to the original NES version of Final Fantasy--I'm not a big fan of the GBA, PSone or PSP remakes--on an annual basis, despite the fact that the game is, as many critics and gamers proclaim (and complain), archaically clunky.

Even if I didn't regularly respond to Final Fantasy's siren call, though, it would have earned a place on this list--and in my heart--simply because it's the game that turned me into a lifelong RPG fan(atic).

See also: '10 video games that made my life gayer (#1): Bubble Bobble'

10 video games that made my life gayer (#1): Bubble Bobble

I have a distinct--and rather fond--childhood memory of regularly running down to my hometown bowling alley to play a few rounds (or more) of Bubble Bobble.

Sure, said bowling alley sported a number of newer, more graphically impressive arcade games that I could have blown my allowance on, but for various reasons I almost always fed my handful of quarters to the establishment's beat-up Bubble Bobble machine instead.

Why? Well, it starred a so-cute-it-was-sick green dinosaur, for starters. Also, that dinosaur blew bubbles--and then used those bubbles to encapsulate the game's similarly cute-as-buttons enemies. Sealing the deal was that, when defeated, those formerly encapsulated enemies would transform into anything and everything edible--including bananas, cakes, martinis and sushi. (I've been a bit obsessed with such things ever since my first experience with Tōru Iwatani's fruit-gobbling Pac-Man.)

Bubble Bobble had more going for it than charming visuals, of course. It also had catchy tunes and tight controls. (The latter being a necessity given the game's challenging nature.)

For me, though, all of the above-mentioned "features" pale in comparison to the warm-and-fuzzy feeling of nostalgia that washes over me as soon as the game's start-up jingle begins to play.

See also: 'Bookmark this site, too (101videogames. wordpress.com)'