Not too long ago, I brought you my “Top Ten Video Games of 1987“. Now it’s time for me to unleash my “Top Ten Video Games of 1988″ on you. 1988 was an interesting year in games and in the world. We saw Dan Rather clash with George H.W. Bush on television concerning Bush’s known role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Who would have known that we’d still have a Bush in the White House twenty years later? Hustler won their case against Jerry Falwell in the Supreme Court. Although it was a satirical story made up by Hustler, one still has to wonder if Falwell had sex with his mother in an outhouse. The world may never know!
Oliver North along with John Poindexter were indicted on conspiracy charges against the United States (North went on to found organizations such as the Freedom Alliance, where they used the skills of Jack Thomspson, the lawyer all gamers love, to go after Ice T and the song “Cop Killer”). Kirk Gibson hit perhaps the most memorable home run in World Series history. 1988 was certainly a very interesting year, but let’s talk about the games…
Here are my picks for top ten video games of 1988:
- Dragon Warrior 3 (NES)
- Mega Man 2 (NES)
- Bionic Commando (NES)
- Ninja Gaiden (NES)
- Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (NES)
- Contra (NES)
- Shinobi (Arcade)
- Phantasy Star (Sega Master System)
- John Madden Football (Apple II)
- Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
You are probably wondering why I didn’t find room for Zelda II on the list. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of the game. I felt it was stretched out too long, the game wasn’t put together well and was nowhere close to the great game we saw with the original Zelda. Despite my feelings for Zelda II, the NES certainly dominated my year in gaming. I was still more of a Sega guy at the time, but they really had nothing to compare to NES games of that year.
Dragon Quest III was certainly the greatest video game on 1988. According to Wikipedia, the game is the single reason why the Japanese government outlawed releases of Dragon Quest games on school days. Of the ten games I listed, Dragon Quest III is perhaps the most timeless. It’s as fun today as it was 20 years ago.
Whale image via Shirt.Woot
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:53 am
Ninja Gaiden was too hard for it’s time. Even with my two brothers I don’t remember beating it. Then came Game Genie!
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
Ninja Gaiden has always been hard. What’s a Game Genie? I guess I am a game purist.. I don’t believe in those things. Peaking at a hint here and there is cool, but I think Game Genies, Walkthroughs and major cheats just take the challenge out of a game.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 am
tell that to my father in law. He’s using a walk through as we speak for Oblivion!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
what? what do you need a walkthrough for when playing Oblivion? You just check the map and it will point you to where you need to go for whatever you active mission is.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
He’s looking for the skeleton key. I told him to just pickpocket everyone.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:24 pm
just kill them. that’s the easiest way to get a key