The Top 100 Reviews

Top 100 SNES Review: #1 – The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)

The Experience of a Game.

This game is one of the best, but it had me thinking — how different it was to play games back then.

Screen Shot 2018-12-27 at 3.05.41 PM Sydlexia’s Ranking: #1/100
My Rating:

This is the Iliad for the SNES; there is much wisdom to be learned from one of the best video games of all time that it has been rightfully picked apart from any angle. Want to learn about its map design? Someone’s done it here. Or their systematic approach to making enemies? Here’s an in-depth analysis.

It has been over ten years since I marched through these Hyrule fields. It was remarkable how much I maintained in some hidden consciousness. I knew intuitively how to solve many of the problems that gave me fits long ago. This made me wonder: there are immense differences in expectations and experiences for video games that are never coming back.

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Top 100 Movie Review: #90 – The Jazz Singer (1927)

The Death Knell For Silent Films.

Al Jolson’s first lines “Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothing yet!” presciently described the future of cinema.

American Film Institutes Ranking: #90
Academy Awards: Was ruled ineligible for top awards at the 1st Academy Awards (1929) because so many silent films would be displaced.
My Rating:

Jazz Singer has two reasons for its present day notoriety: it was the first ever feature-length talking film; it uses a lot of black face by Al Jolson.

What gets lost between these two things is that the film content itself is surprisingly good. The story is a basic father vs. son/conservative vs. liberal retelling that’s told from a Jewish heritage perspective. The twist makes it different and meaningful. Interspersed are song numbers by Al Jolson that still resonate.

A review of this movie requires a lot of history and cultural perspective. Here we go.

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Top 100 SNES Review: #22 – Illusion of Gaia (1994)

Are You Awake?

This game’s puzzles are so easy you can use them for consciousness screening.

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Sydlexia’s Ranking: #22/100
My Rating:

Playing Illusion of Gaia is like having an intense dream. The game is easy to play subconsciously, and the story doesn’t have any concrete sense of cause and effect; you will be whisked away randomly from desert to sea to land simply because a NPC says “off to ‘so and so’ next!” Anyone who is more sentient than a ham sandwich will be able to thrive.

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Top 100 Movie Review: #26 – Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Not necessarily LOL Funny.

But still very entertaining and edifying.

Peter Sellers character number one: Dr. Strangelove.

American Film Institute Ranking: #26/100
Academy Awards: Four nominations winning none.
My Rating:

During a time consumed with Cold War concerns, Stanley Kubrick decided to nail it by showing the ridiculousness of missile gaps, mutually assured destruction, and doomsday devices. I’m not quite sure how he got away with it. He makes fun of the two major world powers and everyone in both governments. It strikes the necessary balance needed for a dark comedy — it makes you chuckle, but it also makes you think.

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Top 100 Novel Review: To Kill A Mockingbird (1960)

So. Much. To. Like.

An endless recess of things to discuss, turtles all the way down.

My Rating:

There is something just perfect about “To Kill a Mockingbird.” No matter the specific element, it dually can augment the whole or brightly stand alone. This gives meaning to every point in the novel, leaving no page to waste.

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Top 100 Album Review: #99 – There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971)

Funk Muzak.

Perfect background music for shopping at the Dollar General, awful for everything else.

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Rolling Stone’s Ranking: #99/100
My Rating:

The joy of the “Top 100 Albums” of all time is that you are going to find hidden gems. If you like music, you already know some Sly and the Family Stone, but you probably don’t know the whole catalogue. This gives you an opportunity to find good music from their best work. Think about all the hits they had; they probably had some killer tracks that didn’t receive airtime!

“There’s a Riot Goin’ On” doesn’t have a single hit. Worse, the album is an overdose of NyQuil: you get 47 minutes of repetitive base lines and nondescript music that never arrises to any occasion.

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Top 100 SNES Review: #43- Super Star Wars (1992)

Geeking Out

Everyone wants the same things: to use a lightsaber.

Screen Shot 2018-12-02 at 8.45.17 PM — Luke Skywalker with Bell’s Palsy.

Sydlexia’s Ranking: #43/100
My Rating:

The bar is set very low for Star War games. All any fanboy wants is a chance to play out their galactic fantasies. Even the most fumbling games are greeted with praise and play due to it satisfying the deep-seated need of adventure and acting out heroics.

I remember these games being a big deal to my childhood-self as the idea of a multi-medial approach was something to get excited about. The thought that you could watch the Star Wars movies PASSIVELY and then play them out ACTIVELY so unique.

This game has a hard time making the same claim in 2018 — it’s grown quite rough around the edges.

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