My Favourite Video Game Developers
I have previously written about My Favourite Directors (shameless plug). Along the same
lines, I discuss my favourite video game developers here. I am interested in
the creative minds that are behind a work of art, whose vision it is. I chose
to focus more on the developer rather than specific people involved in the
development of a video game, as I view video games as a group effort rather
than the work on a specific designer.
I really enjoy video games but I’m
also pretty bad at them. In the MMA community they talk about casuals and
hardcore fans. I am a casual in the sense of lacking the interest to get good
at difficult or complex video games. I got into video games at a young age and
try to recapture the experiences of my childhood. I love the resurgence of
retro style video games on Steam and The Switch. In a lot of cases modern high budget games seem
like getting a new job. I’m employed already and play to relax with a little
challenge. If this was an academic paper, this would be my bias statement.
There may be a little dispute over
who developed which games, and some were co-developed. Generally, I’m giving
credit to who was involved in the majority of development.
Atlus:
Not
as flashy a name as Square or Enix, they made some excellently creative RPG
series. If I saw the name “Atlus” I knew this game was going to be strange in a
great way, and take up a lot of my (life) time.
Top
works:
Etrian
Odyssey (series): For old fogies like me, this brings back some of the fun
(yes) of mapping dungeons. In this Wizardry inspired dungeon crawler part of
the goal is to map out the actual levels in detail. Otherwise pretty standard
quest-based fair but very challenging. Save often, and don’t be afraid to run
from boss monsters!
Persona
(series): Though much of the hysteria over devil-worship in video games is
overblown this one makes a case that it is not. You play a Japanese high school
student trying to navigate academics, socializing and physical skills in the
day, and traversing through dungeons with bizarre forms of monsters at night.
One affects the other.
Radiant
Historia (series): The alternate timelines and back and forth can be quite
confusing but rewarding when you figure out how things link up. A video game
inspired by the timeline shifts of Citizen Kane.
Bandai
Namco:
Bandai
and Namco merged in 2006. Both influential video game creators. Bandai created
popularized the “virtual pet” with their Tamagotchis, which I had in elementary
school. They were known for porting arcade hits over to consoles.
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Galaxian:
An evolution of the popular Space Invader’s game (everyone was trying to piggy
back on it’s popularity). The stages are much snappier as you fire upwards at
bugs and aliens that come at you quickly improving on Space Invader’s pace.
Klonoa:
A bit of a mix of Sonic and Mario, Klonoa is a bright and challenging
platformer. You play some kind of cat creature with wing ears that help you
glide a bit. Not unlike Mario or Sonic’s respective coin and ring collecting
gameplay.
Mr.
Driller: Dig on down! A little bit Tetris but more claustrophobic. This is a
block puzzler where you try to avoid being crushed by the colorful pastel
blocks. Keep breathing!
Pac-Man:
A scrolling maze game where you collect fruits and dots. Whilst trying to avoid
colorful ghosts. Simple, yet challenging and addictive.
Blizzard:
I
was mostly a console gamer growing up. Blizzard’s games were a serious
exception. They were great at real time strategy and making games that had lots
of replay value. My friend and I were playing the original Starcraft and
carrier swarming more than a decade after it’s launch.
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Diablo
(series): Point and click, rather than the turn-based stuff I was used to on
console, this made the game considerably more challenging for someone like me
who sucks at games. You have the option of playing as many different Dungeon’s
and Dragons classes and the randomization enhance the replay value as well.
Starcraft
(series): Not enough vespine gas. You built up armies by playing one of three
races: the humans, known as “Terrans”, the bug / repitilian creatures known as
“Zerg” and the futuristic crystal powered “Protoss.” Trying to figure out what
your opponent(s) were doing and react accordingly within your resources was a
thrilling affair. It had a great action movie humour and vibe akin to a
futuristic Die Hard.
Warcraft
(series): In earlier life I was rarely allowed to have video games at home. So,
I made up my own version of what I thought Warcraft II was like from a video
game magazine strategy guide. I would get other kids to take turns “playing” it
with me, which required a lot of imagination, which I had to develop based on
this deprivation! For me it was just the real time strategy games that I got
into. I lost interest at the MMORPG style stuff of World of Warcraft, though
the South Park parody was hilarious. Ben gay! Ben gay!
Capcom:
Most
video game companies were better in the arcade or on the console. Capcom was a
giant that consistently made great games on both and started many classic
franchises.
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The
Mega Man (original not X) series: Most games require you to go from level one
to two to three. Not so in this series! These series of action platformers
require you to defeat bosses and get their powers, which both help you more
effectively damage other bosses, but also give you abilities that help you get
through the platforming part of stages as well. The question you ask at the
start of the game is: which Robot master (the bosses) stage shall I try to beat
first?
Phoenix
Wright Ace Attorney series: A challenging introduction to the visual novel
genre. You play a lawyer (with exceptional locks) solving cases. You track down
evidence and interrogate witnesses on the stand to try to defend your clients
or prosecute your foes. Anime humour by the bucket-ful!
Resident
Evil series: The pioneering survival horror game series. Thankfully, the
creators got over the idea that it made things scarier to use awkward tank
controls rather than analog (where the direction of movement is relative to the
camera). Solve puzzles, rescue people, kill zombies, get sweet guns: it’s a
hoot!
Street
Fighter II: Don’t even ask about one, it’s irrelevant. Street Fighter II
featured characters representing martial arts styles from around the world with
distinct locales and cultural elements. It wasn’t overly complicated yet had
enough strategy to allow for higher level play.
Various
crossover fighting games: For example: Marvel vs Capcom, where Marvel superheroes
such as Spiderman and Wolverine fought against Capcom characters such as Mega
Man, and Blanka. This lead the way for games such as Smash Brothers which
featuring characters from different series and universes in the same game.
Destroying the lore, but c’mon it’s fun!
HAL
Laboratory:
HAL
was responsible for some really cute series that got children into games. The
developer also provided me with some of the very first games I was able to
beat. Kirby’s Dreamland was probably the second game I was actually able to
beat, which got me over the idea that these “video game” things are impossibly
cheap.
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Adventures
of Lolo (series): Great puzzle games, mostly based on logic but that do require
a bit of timing and physical skill. You prevent different types of movement
pattern-based enemies from attacking you using blocks and beams that
temporarily turn the enemies into eggs to overcome them. I usually get to the
point that things stop being fun and send them down. The dreaded half-space
moves…
Kirby
(series): Ah, the cheery sounds of Kirby games, I can hear them in my brain
right now. You play as a puffball that sucks up enemies and gains their powers.
Usually on the easy side, the series has always found creative new ways to play
with the basic concept of this hungry puffball.
Konami:
Both
pioneer and genre refiner. The best of this developer’s games were well thought
out, and engrossing. They rewarded the effort you put into them with challenging
but fair gameplay. They required a combination of puzzle-solving thought and
reflexes.
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Castlevania
series: This series is split into two forks. In the earlier Castlevania series
you play as Simon Belmont, whose goal is to defeat Dracula. These games have a
basically linear progress from goal to goal. From Symphony of the Night
and beyond you actually play Dracula (Alucard, clever wink wink). These games
put you into a world that you can traverse in whatever order you like, certain power-ups
allowing you access to new areas in a similar way to the Metroid series (hence
the term to describe the genre, Metrovania).
Contra
series: A Rambo-inspired shooter. Pretty basic gameplay yet done well. You face
bio-mechanical aliens and soldiers as you power up your gun. More fun for me to
watch than play, as this requires a too precise timing and coordination for this
offbeat man.
Metal
Gear (original and Solid) series: The pioneer of the stealth genre. The goal is
generally to avoid conflict, rather than create it, solve puzzles and get from
point A to B while dodging surveillance. Also, features Hideo Kojima’s takes on
geopolitical issues.
Natsume:
Cartoonish
anime characters are a hallmark of this developer. Generally bright and fun,
rather than some of the more serious and intense video game makers.
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Harvest
Moon series: The original game developed by Amccus. If you’ve ever worked on a
farm, a farming simulator doesn’t sound like fun does it? Oddly addictive, as
you build up your farm with different crops, cows and eventually a wife.
Nihon
Falcom:
They
are responsible for many games in the action RPG genre. They made a lot of
them, some of the early ones being quite rough and unforgiving. If you can
tolerate the old school somewhat unfair difficulty, try the early series. If
not, try stuff that is early 2000’s onwards…
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Ys
series: Strangely addictive, if you can get past the odd way that combat works
in the early games. You run into enemies and bounce off them rather than pressing
an attack button, and you must do it at the correct angle too, or else you will
quickly lose all your health. This series is best played using regular save
states, as the bosses will often make you want to stomp your controller into
the ground in frustration. A great dungeon crawler series.
Nintendo:
A
great advantage that Nintendo has over other developers is that they also
produce the hardware that their games appear on, and as such have greater
knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of their systems. The process is
iterative as well, when designing the Nintendo 64, they made choices so Super
Mario 64 would play better on the system!
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Legend
of Zelda series: A note for those (like my ex-girlfriend) who may be confused:
The protagonist of the series is Link, Zelda is the princess that the
protagonist saves.
Anyhoodles,
the series are pioneering / refined adventure games that involve solving
puzzles and beating creatively conceptualized monsters using a variety of
different tools and abilities that you pick up along the way. There are, of
course, many more titles in the genre but Nintendo as a developer really takes
the time to refine their games, making them feel intuitive to play.
Pokemon:
Ah, Pokemans! In many ways a very repetitive series, I think I like the series
more on nostalgic grounds than critical ones. You capture monsters which have
different elemental attributes that are stronger or weaker vs other types. A
complex rock paper scissors style RPG.
Super
Mario series: If there’s one series that everyone who doesn’t play video games
knows it’s this one, and it is justified. Though not the creators of the
platformer genre, Nintendo was the first to make these types of games with such
polish that just felt right. The creator, Shigeru Miyamoto spent a lot
of trial and error getting the details right. The friendly aesthetic welcomes
in casual gamers, while usually having secret or later levels for the more
skilled players casting a wide net.
Metroid
series: The sci fi based series of open world platformers. Much like the
Symphony of the Night series, you can go in whatever direction you choose and different
power-ups open up both new attack options as well as abilities to get past
different obstacles. It was quite a revelation to the male-dominated video game
audience of the 80s and 90s that the protagonist actually happened to be woman.
This was disguised by her seemingly masculine (or at least asexual) power suit.
Rockstar:
There
is a long-standing debate (mostly focused on studying school shooters) whether
video games with dark themes allow a healthy release of negative feelings, or
make people more likely to commit these acts in real life. Rockstar is a focal
point in this debate. Hardcore drug usage, cruel violence and homophobia (or
pro-homosexuality depending on how you interpret it) are common themes
throughout the developer’s games. And Rockstar tries to push the envelope of
controversy with its stuff. I take Rockstar games as comedic rather than
serious in the same way that I interpret Eminem’s The Slim Shady LP. I
empathize that not everyone is in on the joke.
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Bully:
You play a bad kid who has been sent away to private reform school. Sometimes
you’re the bullied sometimes the bully. Most of the time you’re an adolescent
trying to do the right thing in a flawed world. Dark laughter flashbacks to the
cruel school days.
Grand
Theft Auto series: Great controversy was stoked over the ability to have sex
with and kill a hooker in Grand Theft Auto III. However, if you can get past
the horrific ultra-violence, in the way you would an 80s comedy such as The
Toxic Avenger there is a lot of depth to the series. It kickstarted the mission-based
open-ended gameplay for the generation with less attention span. Overwhelm them
with options!
Lemmings:
I thought I should include this in case my aunt reads this. Originally developed
by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis. Manage a group of dumbasses that do
their jobs. Exactly. No more, no less. You try to get as many as you can from
point A to B using different abilities you assign them.
Sega:
The
badass counterpart to Nintendo’s safe-space for your children. In the 90s there
was a campaign of attack ads comparing the speed and awesomeness of (mostly
Sonic) Sega games to Nintendo’s boring, slow-paced fare. In my view it wasn’t
really justified, but despite of that Sega created some awesome games which
featured a lot of great self-referential humour.
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Phantasy
Star: While most RPGs of the time drew from Dungeons and Dragons, this series
took a sci fi approach to game design. Instead of casting spells on dragons and
swinging swords, you shot lasers from droids at Dune-esc monstrosities. This series
really opened up a host of creative possibilities for the genre beyond Gary
Gygax.
Sonic
series: Part of me feels like I have to include this. I do like the original
three Sonic games for the Genesis / Game Gear, so it’s not completely
inappropriate…
SNK:
The
arcade powerhouse. You knew an SNK game was near when you walked in the store
with it’s crisp, metallic sound effects and bright flashing visuals. They
always had a great sense of humour about themselves as well.
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King
of Fighters (series): Though I suck at games, and the depth of suck is even
more deep with fighting games… I always enjoyed the style of flashy visuals of
the KoF series. It felt more intense than the somewhat subdued Street Fighter
series.
Metal
Slug (series): Rocket launcheer! A cartoonish comedic Contra. This game just
felt good to play, as you shot your way through various technological and alien
enemies, getting different guns and vehicles such as tanks, and even a camel.
Spike
Chunsoft:
This
developer’s refinement of the roguelike genre into something that wasn’t
punishingly difficult is reason enough to include them here. They also made a lot
of great visual novels, that I haven’t played because they are only available
in Japanese. More to say about them I’m sure, but I can’t say it.
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The
Mysterious Dungeon (series):
A
massive evolutionary step in the Rogue style of games, known as
“roguelikes.” The series had the random challenge and fun of other roguelikes
but little niceties that generally let you keep at least a little progress
even if you messed up and died. You would unlock nonplayer characters that
would help you along the way, and if you were lucky keep that sword you were
powering up over time…
Square-Enix:
Initially
two separate RPG giants Square and Enix merged in 2003 to become a greater
powerhouse in the genre. They try to stay on the cutting edge of graphics, and
they have penetrated into film as well. This intention was clear even before
they broke into film, as their games have sprawling cinematic qualities. These games
are not just fun things that you play for a couple of minutes but intense works
of narrative fiction as well.
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Actraiser
(original): Co-developed by Quintet, genre-wise the original game doesn’t have
any peers. This is a strange combination of Sim City and platforming. On the
Sim City side, you play a God, through the use of various miracles saving helpless
village people. On the platforming side you take up a sword, hacking and slashing
Ghosts and Goblins style. One side of the gameplay unlocks options in
the other and vice versa.
Chrono
Trigger: Many consider this Akira Toriyama art-styled video game the greatest
of all time. It centers around time travel in a world with likeably humour
characters. It features many innovations that made RPGs more playable, such as
the ability to avoid random battles. It also features many different endings
depending on how you play the game.
Dragon
Quest series: The Akira Toriyama style character art (that will remind anime
fans a lot of Dragon Ball) charms you in. Though, the series is a very
conventional RPG, they are usually well-polished. Nothing super innovative
though, kind of what you expect, but done well.
Final
Fantasy series: You can hear that title screen theme and it’s many riffs on the
bright arpeggios if you’ve played any of this series. Heavily influenced by Dungeons
and Dragons, each game is not like the last. Some focus more on complex gameplay.
Some on story. Usually they allow a lot of customizability. You won’t play
through it like your friends will.
Parasite
Eve: Though there are several games in the series, the first one is the one
that does it right. You play the sexy Aya Braya, who is the badass New York City
cop who is tasked with tracking down a demonic opera star. She searches through
sewers, libraries, museums and research labs powering up her gun and armour
over time, in a slight twist on the RPG genre. Something about the music and look
of the game gives me a strong X-Files vibe.
Sunsoft:
They
created a lot of high-quality video games in an era where many electronic
companies were diversifying into the game industry but had no idea how to make
a fun video game. They had great skill with action games and platformers. They
were a major exception to my rule that games licensed from other media
properties (such as movies or comic books) are usually generic garbage at best.
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Albert
Odyssey: Though Sunsoft is known for many great games over the years oddly this
obscure one warranted it’s inclusion on my list. A cute tactic RPG series with
tons of personality.
Taito:
A
pioneer in video games that has survived many an era, they are great at
adapting. They stuck with a charming style even through the late 90s / early
2000s push away from “baby” games. They stuck to their water guns. In 2005
Taito was acquired by Square-Enix.
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Bubble
Bobble / Puzzle Bobble: You play cute dinosaurs, Bub and Bob, they shoot bubbles.
You capture enemies in bubbles and kick them around the screen betwixt eating
fruits and desserts. In the Puzzle series you match the colored bubbles
to blow them up before you are crushed by the impending ceiling.
Lufia
series: Though this series was not super popular, there was something about it
that really captured my imagination. Perhaps, this is the video game equivalent
of the “underground” band. It was a standard RPG with a lot of innovative
elements added. It featured a bit of a Pokemon monster companion, a one hundred
floor randomized dungeon, and numerous tricky puzzles.
Space
Invaders series: The pioneering blips and bloops. The game that many developers
tried to iterate on but this was the original. A foundational work that laid
the foundation for many genres such as shooters and block puzzle games.
