This Old Neon Forum

Round 2: Bracket 1/16 - ONE

You can vote for 1-2 games in this poll. Vote carefully—you can't change your votes after submitting them. The #1 and #2 ranked games at the end of the week will move on to Round 3.

1986 - The Legend of Zelda - NES
1986 - Toy Pop - Arcade
1991 - Metroid II: The Return of Samus - GB
2000 - Excitebike 64 - N64
2000 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - PC
2001 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy - PS2
2005 - Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves - PS2
2009 - Little King's Story - Wii
2009 - 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - DS
2013 - Rogue Legacy - PC

You are encouraged to discuss your choices and your reasons for selecting the games you did.

The Legend of Zelda, the original and arguably the best entry in the series, is an obvious and easy vote. It's one of the earliest games I can remember enjoying, playing it on a friend's NES before I had a video game console at all, and then enjoying it with my dad when we finally got one. It formed the basis of many of my outdoor adventures as a kid (playing video games and playing outdoors were inextricably linked in those days).

I also tossed a vote at Rogue Legacy, for doing what it does so well. Along with Demon's Souls, it is one of the games that has most successfully implemented a system of mitigated loss and opportunity after failure. When you die, you start over, but you're able to keep some of what you've lost and gradually build on your earlier run. It gives a nice sense of progression and depth.

I went with Metroid II here, as it's probably my favorite Metroid after Fusion. Zelda games I think are a little too tough for me or irritating for me to want to really vote for it. The bombing random rocks and graves and burning bushes thing is kind of arbitrary and dull. I guess finding something, when you do, is neat but I have trouble enjoying Zelda games as I the wandering isn't fun for me.

Metroid 2 and Rouge Legacy, I actually prefer Zelda 2 over the first game.

Jak and Daxter. Was one of my first ever 3D platformers and I loved it.

I haven't played the original Zelda so that's why I didn't vote for it.

Sorry Metroid II, my support ends here. Rogue Legacy and Baldur's II for me. Zelda is an icon and will almost certainly take this in a landslide, but I'm not the biggest fan of it. Link's Adventure was a much better game.

Rogue Legacy, as Kong mentioned, simply nails the death-as-mechanic approach. It blends its action-adventuring core with roguelike elements beautifully, making for one of the most addictive, challenging and satisfying games I've ever played.

Baldur's Gate II was a monumental game among my group of friends for several years. We used to talk at length about our exploits, comparing paths chosen and bouncing strategies off one another. For years and years. Great tactical battle system and unbelievable depth overall.

VictorViper wrote:Zelda is an icon and will almost certainly take this in a landslide, but I'm not the biggest fan of it.

The Legend of Zelda is a default vote for me. I imagine I'd have voted for BG2 if I'd played it.

Rob

Baldur's Gate 2 is the best RPG of all time.

I only wish that the original LIttle King's Story had gotten a proper sequel instead of what they ended up doing on Vita.

Legend of Zelda is great though. Back in those days I actually liked Zelda. Now I'm kind of ambivalent toward it.

Have to go with Legend of Zelda, it's one of the all-time classics even if it hasn't aged as well as other games.