In the My Favorite Game series, get to know us better as staff writers share the game they love most and why.
At my absolute core, I’m an arcade gamer. I guess I’ve been lucky enough over the years to have one or two decent ones near me. Ever since 2000, it’s become an integrated part of my gaming life, and it probably explains why I almost never get any console gaming done. Regardless, it was because of a gameplay preview on TechTV (remember that channel?) and a fateful trip to the Philippines soon after that I would introduce me to a game that would eventually mean more than just that to me.
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Dread.
That’s the main theme of Sinistar. Facing what is best described as a mechanized space horror, the player fights a battle he has no real chance to win from the beginning. Moving from asteroid to asteroid as fast as the ship engines can handle to collect the bombs needed to destroy Sinistar, it’s impossible to avoid the feeling that time is running out. That it’s an uphill battle. READ MORE
Symphony is a Galaga-style shooter in which you’re stuck in a certain range of movement and enemies are flying in from the side of the screen, occasionally shooting at you. Throughout the course of a song, you collect “Inspiration,” which are the little music notes dropped by enemy ships. They serve as currency for in-game items, as well as repairing your ship during a song after it gets damaged. Each song, depending on its length, has a certain score range. The higher the difficulty, the higher the score quota but the bigger the reward. Initially, you’ll only have two difficulty levels available for play, but you’ll earn more completing tasks in-game. READ MORE
The games I cover in this column are for social gaming, generally for groups from three to six, and even sometimes up to twelve. Occasionally some of these accommodate two players, and a few are for one-on-one play exclusively, but what do you do while you’re waiting for your friends to show up? Some variant of solitaire is always an option, I guess, but designer Shadi Torbey has another option: Onirim (published by Z-Man Games). READ MORE
I’m a busy guy. Holding down a full-time job and helping to raise four kids doesn’t leave me with as much time for gaming as I used to have. I manage to squeeze it in, often at the expense of sleep, but working off-shifts and weekends means that multiplayer is often difficult for me to schedule, and that makes me sad because multiplayer is where games live forever, and I really feel like I’m getting a good return on my investment. READ MORE
