CCIV: Game of the Year 2001 - Round Three

[Neon Ignition]

Ding Ding, Round Three. The next batch lines up to take a critical beating and to determine the champion heading into the final.


Which of the above games are amongst the best 2001 and why?

[phillv85]

DoDonPachi 2 as in Bee Storm the IGS PGM release is that?

[wakka]

Devil May Cry was such a big game for me in 2001. I received it for Christmas that year. It felt like a massive leap forward over what had been possible on the PS1. I loved it and played it through many times. I remember thinking the fire, in particular, was so realistic - like they'd nailed the fire, fire in videogames was now photo realistic :loL:

[teddymeow]

Ah, this list takes me back.

This was during my Electronics Boutique phase.

[dataDave]

My JP GBA was an F-Zero player until Advance Wars or something. My second favourite of the franchise, and probably my most played.

[Asura]

Oooh, some goodies here.

Devil May Cry is a contender for this year. I would argue that it was the first absolute must-not-miss title for PS2, and therefore the first of that entire console generation. It also ushered in a style of third-person action gameplay which was much-imitated in the years that followed, both by its own developers, for also for things like God of War. I know that in some respects its combat design was a refinement of Onimusha's but I think it was still a real watershed moment in the genre.

And to pick out one that won't get much attention, Ecks Vs Sever. Just because sometimes I like to highlight titles which are technical feats, and this was one of them. A first-person shooter for the Game Boy, this felt like a revelation at the time. I think its engine went on to power other games too.

[QualityChimp]

Some big hitters on that list, but most I missed.
Devil May Cry, however, I did not and thought it was brilliant.
Felt like a new genre of game.
The exploration and encouragement to work on combos to keep attacks up was great, plus some tough boss fights where you really had to git gud meant it was no pushover, but felt like an achievement when you won.

Erotica Island is the next chapter of "I ain't Googlin' that!"

[Neon Ignition]

Nothing for me, there's a couple on there I enjoyed but don't consider to be particularly amazing

[Hirst]

Am I right in remembering that Devil May Cry had an absolutely dreadful PAL PS2 port with massive borders?

[Atticus]

I liked DMC a lot but I lacked the requisite skills to properly get along with it.