Castle Doctrine
Member
Et tu, Tom Bissell? I remember reading that article and rolling my eyes at the Citizen Kane and Orson Welles hyperbole. He's my favorite video game writer though so I forgave him.
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CoffeeJanitor
Member
Super Mario Bros. = citizen kane of games
Muchi Muchi Pink
Member
God Hand!
Neff
Member
I agree, apart from the age part. But no one game quite managed so many revolutionary, forever-defining ideas and techniques like Kane did, all in one package, as SM64.
SMB is, I dunno, The Jazz Singer or something.
Alcoholikaust
Member
for all intents, Dr. Strangelove is far superior to Citizen Kane. Even so the movie is not perfect, but it does a lot of things incredible well.
Metroid Prime
Ocarina of Time
The Last of Us
They do so many things incredibly well the moments that aren't as strong are negligible.
Metroid Prime
Ocarina of Time
The Last of Us
They do so many things incredibly well the moments that aren't as strong are negligible.
Exactly. It has nothing to do with age. I have been gaming since NES.
Mario 64 redefined what games are in almost every way. It doesn't matter what newer games come after. None will likely have comparable impact like Mario 64 did.
To say something is it's medium's Citizen Kane, I'd expect it to make groundbreaking advances on many creative and technical fronts, as well as being a fondly remembered classic.
Otherwise it's just a hyperbolic way of saying a game is really good and well liked.
Prime and especially Last of Us are a few whole grades below OoT in every single aspect.
More Fun To Compute
Member
It introduced a lot of new film making techniques so every film student has to learn about it I guess. As a film there are a ton from the era that are more enjoyable and more interesting.
Seriously. I wonder how many of these reviewers have actually watched Citizen Kane or understand why Citizen Kane is important. It's a great film to be sure, but part of the reason the movie is a big deal is because of how influential and innovative it was. It shouldn't just be used when you're trying to say you've got the "best game ever". If you take the film in a vacuum and show it to modern audiences they're likely to enjoy the film but hesitate to call it the "best ever". That was certainly my takeaway.
If you have to make the comparison, something like Ocarina of Time probably best fits the bill, but it's still pretty dumb to make direct film-to-game comparisons like this.
As it's been used, it's almost as bad is "je ne sais quoi".
Which is literally French for admitting you have no idea what you're talking about.
dark_prinny
Banned
Kane is a citizen of Mushroom Kindom. Actually is Bowser.
Arc Christelle
Member
Not to contradict my earlier statements, but what about games like Nights into Dreams and Burning Rangers? lol
(One of the reasons I mentioned Nights was that using the children reminded me of Super Mario 64, they had the double>triple jump too, and even Miyamoto admits he wished he created it.)
As I said, some of these games are not even being praised in the same fashion. It isn't just about telling a good story, or being an enduring masterpiece. There are plenty of other films from that era that are considered masterpieces still, yet aren't mentioned in the same context as Kane. Kane was full of innovations for film and had a lasting technical impact on many filmmakers who followed in its wake.
It certainly helped that it was well acted and had a compelling story, but there's much more to its lasting acclaim than that.
The Jazz Singer is only notable for introducing a new technology. If anything SMB is more like The Birth of a Nation. Quake is The Jazz Singer.
What is the Transformers of Gaming?
The Transformers games. Duh.
Sega is hugely innovative as well and deserves credit. But I think compared to Mario 64, their sections with the kids running around were clumsy first attempts at 3D play, where Mario 64 was just the masterclass on every front, comparatively.
They even had characters in the game flying on clouds holding cameras so players understood they had buttons to control the camera. It was just on a different level. And the 3D spaces were used in so many different and interesting ways, where they are mostly just running in a random open area in Nights.
Ironically, I would say the Transformers games are a lot more grounded than the actual movies.
CambriaRising
Member
Callo Doggy
Call of Duty series :X
Arc Christelle
Member
Calla Doody
Not enough shoot bang
PoweredBySoy
Banned
Deadspace 2
drtomoe123
Member
Nier was probably the best game I played this gen. I'd say it fits.
Skiptastic
Member
Well, it did a few things new, but what it really did best was take techniques that had existed and utilize them to their artistic peak. The right angles and shots to convey the mood and tone of a scene.
It also has one of the more fascinating behind the scenes stories in film history. The legend of Orson Welles, Hearst and his fight against the film, how it was almost disregarded until the 50s and 60s, how it inspired a new generation of film makers. It's almost less about the film itself (which truly is great) and more about the confluence of events surrounding the film and its legacy.
I was going to say that, but I remember Call of Duty being fairly well liked by both critics and its audience when it was just Infinity Ward as the developer. And the first Modern Warfare made quite an impact on shooters this gen, so I almost feel like the comparison is an insult to Call of Duty
Arc Christelle
Member
Great points, my counter argument would be to compare it to Burning Rangers, they had the tutorial to tell you how to move around, use the camera, and even had a good slew of decent platforming mechanics.
Would that make it a decent challenger against SM64 on that level?
I think it's fair to say that SMB is the citizen Kane of 2D gaming while SM64 is the Kane of modern gaming.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
At this point it's more than just that. It's still a great movie and not just because of technicalities.
Muchi Muchi Pink
Member
While we're at it, what is the metropolis and the blade runner of video games? Oh and Godfather.
I'd have to play it more to comment meaningfully on Burning Rangers. I had a Saturn, but I never got a hold of that one. I had Panzer Dragoon Saga though
Doom, Killer7 and Mr. Mosquitoman. Because reasons, that's why.
Hot Coldman
Banned
Blade Runner actually is the Blade Runner of video games. It's fucking great.
I wonder which game is the "Birth of a Nation" of gaming. Something that's horribly offensive, yet completely groundbreaking for the medium.
Prime is a whole grade above Ocarina in every single respect. Because reasons.
D
Deleted member 47027
Unconfirmed Member
Final Fantasy VII due to its depiction of Barret.