TOP 5 Played Games Per System Week 4 XBOX 360

jawa_ wrote:PlayStation. The format that made gaming (a little bit) cool!

Before 1995 it often felt like only geeks such as myself were into gaming.

While PlayStation helped make gaming cool I do think the Mega Drive laid the groundwork for this. Sega's entire marketing in America and over here was that gaming was cool and not just for kids. My own experience in the early 90's was that the "cool" kids who weren't bothered about gaming (or were too "cool" to admit it) were suddenly pretty open about owing a Mega Drive. Not to sell Sony short, I think they pushed gaming into the mainstream but Sega walked so that Sony could run.

But back on topic! For some reason I rarely went back to games on the PlayStation and I'm not sure why. So I guess my most played would be the longer games or ones that had multiple play through routes (Like Resident Evil 2). So, in no order (it was a long time ago)

Tomb Raider
Resident Evil 2
Tenchu
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Grand Theft Auto

Some of the more arcadey ones would have got multiple plays so maybe Blood Roar, Soul Blade and WipeOut 2097

I better put down my 5 most played games, I am not going to put them in order (Except for number 1) but here we go

Xcom UFO Defence AKA Xcom Enemy Unknown .... I could not get enough of this game I played it through more times than I can possibly count, this would be my number one most played game on the system

Castlevania Symphony of the night - I absolutely love this game and played it so much, getting it totally finished and yet even still coming back to it.... tottally changed what I thought a good Castlevania should be and got me permently hooked on this kind of game

Resident Evil 2 - I loved the first game and it would make my top 10 as I played it through a number of times but number 2 was just so much bigger and better in my opinion I loved every second of it and couldnt get enough of it

Vandal Hearts ... for those who have not played it well its basically a game that is very very much like Fire Emblem and I love the living heck out of it.

SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role .... played so much of this (and a lot of the first to be fair) I loved creating wrestlers and going through Career mode with them

Ironhide wrote:Rage Racer had a brilliant urban European dirtiness to it.

Too grey for me, so i skipped that one.

God, this is such a difficult question. Much like asking what my favourite or best PS1 games are, chances are my reply would likely change every time you asked, such was the sheer number of games I played. It was so insanely popular with everyone I knew that it also became easy to trade titles or go round people’s houses and (continue) playing them there. The fact I somehow managed to spend far too long with something as TOTAL HORSESHIT as Spice World because a girl in class had it or that I rented from Blockbuster - and then bought on budget label a few years later - the almost as gooseberry fool Rugrats Search for Reptar about sums it up. I remember when my Dad broke his leg and had to stay in hospital for a couple of weeks, even the bloke next to him in his 30s had the PS1 set up and was playing Tomb Raider The Last Revelation (mighty good he was at it too). My Dad then rang me up after a couple of days and asked if I could bring some games in for for this guy as he’d exhausted his current selection.

To the best of my recollection…

1. Destruction Derby. Been playing this on and off for nigh on 3 decades, so in terms of time it’s got to be this. Just so easy to still pick up and play for 5 or 10 minutes, and nail that 99 points score in the process (it’s all about staying just behind the leading car and spinning ‘em out for 360, in case you’re wondering).
2. Tekken 3. Never mind the full release, the demo alone was played for hours, days and weeks. Must have spent at least a full year playing this with my neighbour and her sister after school. I lent one of my PS1’s to my uncle in 2001 and then he got into it (along with Road Rash of all things), so I ended up getting back into it all over again. Irony being I was never particularly good at it!
3. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2. Surely as addictive as a concoction of cocaine, fags and booze this game. Unfortunately I lent it to somebody in 2001 I think it was and never got it back.
4. WWF SmackDown 2. This was another game that came out in the run up to Christmas that just completely and utterly overshadowed the launch of the PS2. The WWF had really exploded in popularity in 2000 (mostly in part to it being on Channel 4 so everyone could get involved in watching it during the weekend) and coupled with the original SmackDown which had only come out maybe 8 months earlier or something silly like that, this proved to be one of those games that you didn’t need to be a hardcore fan to be able to play, therefore the multiplayer ended up being really popular amongst everyone. It was also really fast paced.
5. Honestly, could be any number of things here. If I was guessing I’d say one of the International Superstar Soccer titles. On the basis the PS1 release schedule had lessoned since the insanity of 2000, I’m going with ISS Pro Evolution Soccer 2 in 2001, and where the real multiplayer obsession with it leading in to PES1 through to about 4 on PS2 began.
Honourable mentions: Tomb Raider 1 to 4; FIFA World Cup 98 and 99; GTA1 & 2; Colin McRae 2.0; Theme Park, World and Hospital; Gran Turismo 1 and 2; Destruction Derby 2; TOCA 1 to 3; WipEout 2097, Brian Lara Cricket; Speed Freaks; Worms; Time Crisis; Die Hard Trilogy; Ridge Racer Revolution and Type 4; LMA Manager; Music and Music 2000; WCW Nitro; Dead or Alive; Terra Incognita (this was FREE with PSM!); Kula World…could go on and on.

PlayStation 1 was definitely a huge moment in console gaming, the Mega Drive did some important ground work in broadening the appeal of gaming and shifting it more into a mainstream/ "cool" space certainly, but the PlayStation really pushed that further than ever.

We didn't pick ours up until Christmas 97 so it had already had a couple of years to gain momentum and by that point was already a juggernaut with some huge games. From memory I think these would be my most played games:

Final Fantasy VII
A stone cold classic, the first game I played on the system and it enthralled me instantly. Still a candidate for my favourite game of all time. Did at least 3 complete play throughs of this on the original PS1 to the point where the disc drive eventually gave up. Amazing memories :wub:

International Track & Field
An absolute gem of a multiplayer game, we played so much of this! Still remember the perfect technique for any of the sports that needed you to hit the Square and Circle buttons rapidly - I was unbeatable! :datass:

Vagrant Story
An amazing game that deserves to be way more popular than it is. Fantastic story, amazing soundtrack and really unique battle mechanics. Another one that I finished multiple times over the years.

Metal Gear Solid
The game that birthed a phenomenon (and arguably trapped Kojima in a cycle of making things he might have wanted to break away from...) This was so huge back in the day, everyone was obsessed with it, and with good reason as it was such a great experience. Across the main game and the VR missions I must have spent so much time pissing about as Snake

Final Fantasy VIII
Could never live up to the previous entry but a game that I've come to love more and more as time has gone on. The Junction system remains amazing and the way you can manipulate the mechanics to absolutely rip the game apart makes it really fun to replay!

Vermilion wrote:The first (Destruction Derby) had the best physics, the only drawback i found really was as you said, it was a little limited..

Yeah, the graphic sharpness and damage was a little more impressive in the original, although the narrow tracks could be a wee bit frustrating. I enjoyed the faster pace and potential for greater movement in the sequel. Having said that, the "all in a circle battle" option in the original was fun!

Ironhide wrote:I never owned the original RR, loved the other three games though, Type 4 was just a marvelous game (including the amazing soundtrack) and Rage Racer had a brilliant urban European dirtiness to it.

Very much so, Ironhide! Rage had a unique style that, whilst a step away from the vibrant colours of the first two titles, certainly had a lot going for it. What a tremendous quad set of Ridge games the PS1 enjoyed!

Outrunner wrote:...While PlayStation helped make gaming cool I do think the Mega Drive laid the groundwork for this. Sega's entire marketing in America and over here was that gaming was cool and not just for kids...

That's a god point, Outrunner; Sega *did* do a lot if good advertising to make the Master System and Mega Drive appear a bit 'edgier" than most systems up to that point. Sometimes they were a little crass - I recall the "32X humping the MD" ads in the US :lol:

- but they did get attention!

kerr9000 wrote:Castlevania Symphony of the night - I absolutely love this game and played it so much, getting it totally finished and yet even still coming back to it.... tottally changed what I thought a good Castlevania should be and got me permently hooked on this kind of game

This is one of the few releases that I just completely missed out on the time. Truth is, its significance probably didn’t even enter my subconscious. I believe it goes for a bomb on eBay these days such is its rareness.

In much as Official PlayStation Magazine helped make Final Fantasy VII a sales success (which anecdotally ended up being one of the most returned games of all time because a new generation of gamers didn’t know how to play it), their dismissive 7/10 for Castlevania from whoever reviewed it I’m sure helped tank this big time. PlayStation Pro slapped a 6 on it as well, and even went as far as to say in later issues that it should be ‘avoided like the plague’ such was its monumental outdated crapness. Konami cocked it up as well, as I don’t believe they even bothered to send the game out to a couple of publications (I’m not sure the more import focused PLAY even reviewed it at all as it isn’t referenced whatsoever in my copies in 1997, despite definitely previewing in issue 17 a “Castlevania X”).

Outrunner wrote:
jawa_ wrote:PlayStation. The format that made gaming (a little bit) cool!

Before 1995 it often felt like only geeks such as myself were into gaming.

While PlayStation helped make gaming cool I do think the Mega Drive laid the groundwork for this. Sega's entire marketing in America and over here was that gaming was cool and not just for kids. My own experience in the early 90's was that the "cool" kids who weren't bothered about gaming (or were too "cool" to admit it) were suddenly pretty open about owing a Mega Drive. Not to sell Sony short, I think they pushed gaming into the mainstream but Sega walked so that Sony could run.

Ironic that Sega then shot themselves in the foot! And despite being the best selling console of all time the marketing during the PS2 era for a lot of 3rd party titles was still aimed at teenagers.

Sony brought some cool to it but a perfect storm combination of the Wii, DS and iPhone are what really brought gaming into a mass market era.

Back on topic I tend to judge the best games on a system by how timeless them are and not how they were at the time.

To this end I have Tomb Raider 2, Castlevania, Final Fantasy Tactics, Ridge Racer and Final Fantasy IX sat on my iPhone because they have aged incredibly well.

I think my list would be something like this:

Tomb Raider
Ridge Racer
Destruction Derby
Hogs of War
Jumping Flash (I literally only had the demo but I played it so much)

International Superstar Soccer Pro 98

I could play this for hours on end. Absolutely loved it.

Smackdown 2

I loved the way the story just kept going on and on, and it was also a great multiplayer game. The timing of it was also excellent, as WWF/WWE was having a real resurgence at that time.

Gran Turismo

This, together with the release of the Dual Shock controller seemed absolutely next level at the time. And that soundtrack! It also seemed like an impossibly large game.

Command and Conquer

Such fond memories of this, from reading the instruction manual whilst staying at family friends over xmas, to the awesome soundtrack (again) and brilliantly cheesy FMV.

Final Fantasy VII

Perhaps this one is not truly in my "most played" list, but the shear amount of time I dedicated to it over a month or so will always make it stick out to me.

I never owned a PS1 so these games are all from playing on PSP/PS3/Vita.

Crash Team Racing

Still one of the best kart racers ever (certainly in my top 4) I've played a LOT of this game. In my third year at university it was a multiplayer hit - not bad for a game that was two generations old at the time!

Vib Ribbon

A Vita mainstay for me, I've also managed to play this on original hardware. The cd swapping is cool but I genuinely love it just with the built in tracks! Always one to drop back into, and I put on the OST sometimes when I'm working.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

I've completed this multiple times on PS1, along with both the remakes. One of the best 2.5D platformers you can play.

Rayman 2: The Great Escape

One of the best 3D platformers of all time, the PS1 version isn't the best or most complete version, but it's still mostly the same great game and its unique differences make it interesting. I also think the PS1 texture warping really suits it! I've played through the PS1 version at least 3 times.

I'm not sure what my fourth would be, but it'd be someway behind those four in playtime. Maybe Spyro 3 (is that the longest of the trilogy?) or Syphon Filter.

Rubix wrote:Final Fantasy VII
Tomb Raider
Metal Gear Solid
Gran Turismo
Final Fantasy IX

Adding some narrative

Final Fantasy VII
I remember watching the trailer that came with the OPM amazed by what I was seeing, this was something totally different than anything else I had played up until this point. I was 19 years old and I remember boring my work mates each day of tales of my progress in this game. I remember not knowing what the strawberry float I was doing early on as I had never played an RPG game before and the scorpion kept killing me because I still attacked it when it's tail was up. This is the first game I lost myself too and the only game where I shed a tear and got upset by the death of a character. This game gave me all the emotions and I still love it for that.

Tomb Raider
Hard to replay now as it's so blocky and difficult to control but back then it was ahead of its time! this game was like no other not only entering the openworld of 3 dimensions but you played as a woman and outside of metroid this not only was something we were not used to but actually, nobody really talked about it because it wasn't an issue. Lara was a role model without trying to be, she never hated on men she just wanted to explore for the sake of it. Sure she was sexualised back than and that was the only bad thing looking back but what a game! thinking about it, outside of the great puzzles and detail for the PS1 the game got a little weird at the end!

Metal Gear Solid
Another game that brought something new to gaming, the stealth element! not only had I not played a game where not being detected as a playable character but it brought with it a fantastic story line, movie like elements and outside of the box thinking. I mean having to use the game box to find the code and unplugging your controller to fight a boss was just wacky and crazy but we loved it.

Gran Turismo
Unlike ridge racer this brought an element of real life racing into gaming, the graphics at the time were stunning and even though there was not car damage we loved driving around and around the same courses so we knew them inch by inch. Upgrades to your car were essential especially in those later races. And who didn't get annoyed by those tests you had to do to enter harder races! Once you got the Castrol Supra though you never used anything else.

Final Fantasy IX
Late into the PS1 life this just pips 8 for me. Going back to the cartoon look FF game but it was fun and quirky! I loved the story and characters (well maybe not Quina Quen). The game provided a challenge and would have the hardest FF boss to date Ozma!

Tough question! Some similarities with KK's answer here, and I would guess:

Final Fantasy VII
It took me a while to get into this, but I certainly put 60-70 hours into it, and probably more. Never actually completed it though, so I plan to play it again someday and finish it this time. Absorbing world, wonderful music, enjoyable combat...just brilliant in all areas.

Gran Turismo
My friends and I were blown away by this (particularly the replays!). None of us had £40 or whatever to spend on the game at full price, but I remember stumbling across it in WH Smith one day after it had gone Platinum. We were so excited about being able to get it for £20. Spent hours on the licences, the multiplayer, tuning cars, the career...just great.

Smackdown 2
Great for a quick match or a long stint in the career mode. So much fun, and at a time when I was quite into wrestling. Lots of conversations at school about it, fun in the multiplayer, loads of match types. Brilliant.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Never got into the first game apart from playing the demo a bit, but I picked up THPS2 and feels like I didn't put it down for months. Again, loads to do, great soundtrack, and very replayable.

FIFA World Cup 98
Probably close with Tekken 3, but this was the first game I had on the console and I played it consistently. It was great.

KK wrote:
kerr9000 wrote:Castlevania Symphony of the night - I absolutely love this game and played it so much, getting it totally finished and yet even still coming back to it.... tottally changed what I thought a good Castlevania should be and got me permently hooked on this kind of game

This is one of the few releases that I just completely missed out on the time. Truth is, its significance probably didn’t even enter my subconscious. I believe it goes for a bomb on eBay these days such is its rareness.

In much as Official PlayStation Magazine helped make Final Fantasy VII a sales success (which anecdotally ended up being one of the most returned games of all time because a new generation of gamers didn’t know how to play it), their dismissive 7/10 for Castlevania from whoever reviewed it I’m sure helped tank this big time. PlayStation Pro slapped a 6 on it as well, and even went as far as to say in later issues that it should be ‘avoided like the plague’ such was its monumental outdated crapness. Konami cocked it up as well, as I don’t believe they even bothered to send the game out to a couple of publications (I’m not sure the more import focused PLAY even reviewed it at all as it isn’t referenced whatsoever in my copies in 1997, despite definitely previewing in issue 17 a “Castlevania X”).

Any game with 2D graphics was very unfairly classed as 'crap' and 'outdated' in the early 32-bit era, Castlevania SOTN was an unfortunate victim of this.

OK so on to Week 3 and the console I am picking this time is a hand held and it is The Mighty Nintendo DS

SO what are your top 5 Most played Nintendo DS games (and I mean original not 3DS)

Last edited by Ironhide on Tue Sep 05, 2023 10:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hmmmmm, DS you say. These are my most played games, not necessarily my favourites.

- Animal Crossing Wild World (by far my most played)
- Meteos
- Professor Layton & the Curious Village
- PicPic
- Advance Wars: Dual Strike

The DS... what a wonderful system and a fantastic gaming library.

Hardware wise I still think that the DS Lite is the greatest ever console redesign; the original was pretty clunky whilst the Lite was so svelte and sleek.

My most played games? I'm struggling to think but probably Animal Crossing Wild World and the complete Professor Layton series.

You've made me wonder and I need to go charge up my DS and check my games!

Still guessing but my DS library is very small so I can't be too far off.

Phantom Hourglass

I think the main game is underrated, but I also played a lot of the multiplayer both online and in local play which must have pushed my time up. It's genuinely great!

Ghost Trick and Flower, Sun and Rain

I think the only two DS games I've replayed multiple times, so I'm putting them up. Two all-timers too!

The World Ends With You

There was a (S)ONM meme about TWEWY skewing playtime tracking because someone put hundreds of hours into it. I wasn't that extreme, but it's a long game with a substantial post-game so I certainly played an awful lot of it.

Solatorobo

At a guess this would come in fifth. A game so long that I remember getting frustrated reading reviews that only covered half of the game as they'd assumed the first credits meant it was over. The second half had a whole new mechanic :lol:

-Metroid Prime Hunters (in GameStation for 10-15 minutes)

That's it.

OrangeRKN wrote:...
Solatorobo

At a guess this would come in fifth. A game so long that I remember getting frustrated reading reviews that only covered half of the game as they'd assumed the first credits meant it was over. The second half had a whole new mechanic

I'd not heard about that point before, Orange - interesting to think that perhaps a lot of folk had not realised there was much more to the adventure! I have the game in my collection and I need to check it out.

TOP 5 Played Games Per System Week 4 XBOX 360

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