ZippyGamer’s top picks of the year 2001.

Kelsey – Silent Hill 2

In 2001, Silent Hill’s sequel came out. Silent Hill 2 got a lot of praise, and deserved it all. The game is still creepy, the story is still compelling, the visuals are still effective, and the puzzles are still fun. To me, this is the archetypal survival horror game. It’s dark and creepy; it’s essentially an old-school point-and-click adventure game. While the point-and-click gameplay isn’t there, the puzzles and the exploration would feel at home with this almost-forgotten genre.

Grand Theft Auto III also came out this year. I remember the wonder of playing it for the first time on my computer, and it’s hard to not have it at the top. However, to me, the game lacks something to set it above SH2.

Liam – Animal Crossing

2001 was also a great year of games. I spent it learning how to wave dash in Smash bros, regretting buying The Simpson’s: Road Rage and Hit N Run, face palming upon seeing Shadow the Hedgehog in Sonic Adventure 2 and being all nostalgic over Golden Sun because of how much it reminded me of my old SNES RPG playing days. I wish I could say I had a blast playing Ico, but sadly this was one of the games I missed this year, and still need to play it. Shocking I know. But what did I spend most of my time on, in 2001? The one and only, Animal Crossing.

When I first heard of this game, something about it hooked me. I got sucked into the hype of Animal Crossing, and ended up importing it. I was just totally fascinated with a game being able to take place in real time and reflecting the current time of day and season. Fellow neighbors coming round to your virtual house, which you could expand upon, catching bugs, fishing for those rare fish doesn’t sound like a fun game on paper. I mean after all, you are basically just playing a fake life in a fake village with a bunch of animals…

However this game was addicting..perhaps too addicting. I remember skipping school to play Animal Crossing all day, trying to raise enough bells to buy that rare piece of gardening equipment, from that crook, Tom Nook. The game had a very charming atmosphere and some catchy upbeat music to go with it. In some cases I even cared about some of the village citizens, where as the rest I would hate. I’d pay weekly visits to hear K K, Slider play one of his crazy songs. Overall Animal Crossing is a game that never stops playing, even if you do. I’m sure by now my village is most likely a jungle of weeds and some angry animals.

Honorable Mentions: Evil Twin (Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Pc), Golden Sun (GBA), Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (Playstation 2), Shenmue II (Dreamcast, XBox), Super Smash Bros: Melee (Gamecube)

Lewis – Pikmin

Genocide is a generally frowned upon topic for video games, which is why in 2001 I found myself nearly in tears after I accidentally wiped out my entire platoon of Pikmin. Despite having some rather annoying time mechanics, Pikmin was adorable, lovable, challenging and heart breaking all at the same time, trying to direct your squadron of Pikmin around a dangerous world to collect parts of your ship has never been more fun! Although, it’s also probably the only game to do it. Pikmin is a stellar title and is well worth checking out, especially with the Wii remake.

Honorable Mentions: Super Smash Bros Melee (GCN), Spider-Man 2 (PS1)

Jonathan – Grand Theft Auto III

2001 was awesome. The Xbox had the release of Halo: Combat Evolved, which some argued (at that time) was the only game worth playing on the Xbox. Many people may dislike Halo, but it’s hard to deny the importance it had for the Xbox’s success. Halo was also used to push machinima into the mainstream with the popularity of the Red vs. Blue series.

Another hit was Max Payne, released for the PC. This game’s story and mood immersed me in a way that no other game had done before. My most memorable moment was hearing the sounds of a train and not knowing where it was coming from. I turned Max around just in time to see a train come flying at me and I literally jumped hard back in my seat. No game had ever caused such a reaction in me. And let’s not forget the Bullet Time element of the game, which is just hilarious and awesome at the same time.

Runescape, the world’s most popular free MMORPG, also got its start in 2001. Since then the game has consistently grown and now has over 10 million active users. Although it doesn’t have the story or production values of a game like World of Warcraft, it definitely holds its own and the price couldn’t be better.

And finally, my pick for the best game of 2001 is Grand Theft Auto III, the king of sandbox games. Borrowing design elements from the the Nintendo 64 classic Body Harvest, Grand Theft Auto III created a new sense of freedom never before seen. It also brought along a lot of controversy for its display of violence and sexuality. But along with that, the story and gameplay made it a fun world to spend countless hours in. Grand Theft Auto III not only created a new type of game, but it has influenced many others and the way video games are made in general.

Joe – Super Smash Bros. Melee

I thought it was hard thinking of the best game of 2000. But 2001 is even worse. It was the first year of a new generation of consoles. With the releases of the Playstation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox, 2001 saw a lot of great new games.

Super Smash Bros. Melee was great for many reasons. When you had friends over, it was a great party game. And if you grew up in the early days of Nintendo games, it was chock-full of nostalgia. One of the main reasons I loved this game was the fact that it featured characters from so many of my favorite games. Melee had something for everyone.  It had all of the greatness of the N64 game and added so much more! The fighting was more advanced and the roster was twice as big. (Many were clones of others.) Super Smash Bros. Melee was the best-selling game for the Nintendo Gamecube, and that really says something about its greatness.

Honorable Mentions: Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast), Ico (PS2)