October 16, 2006
Update 2008: The Wii; Apollo Justice - Kristoph being the murderer; Soul Calibur IV feat. Star Wars!

Have you ever been surprised by something a video game has to offer? This interactive form of media has played host to a whole lot of generic, even-paced fun. But now and again, it is nice (and sometimes not so nice) to experience something totally unexpected, out of the blue, that it will send you an instant adrenaline rush while sitting on your couch. These are my top picks for surprises, shocks and spills in Video Gaming history - excluding game-breaking glitches of course!

10:Insane jump in difficulty level - Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS)
It was neat to finally have an interactive surgery simulation game. Trauma Center made excellent use of the DS' touchscreen and while there was a steep learning curve, it was easy going once you developed a habit. However nothing could have prepared anyone for the last few Sin (and X) operations. I thought I was a pro, but I was wrong. These missions will stretch your patience, reactions and nerves to the limit. The huge leap in difficulty was definitely a big shock to my gaming technique self-esteem. This edges out at number 10, just cos I'm biased towards clinical work!

9:Thinking way outside the square - Trace Memory (DS)
Trace Memory (AKA Another Code) was an interesting early DS game featuring good old point-and-click adventure gameplay. But with the new technology, came new ways of presenting and solving puzzles. 2 such puzzles spring to mind as "o.O": shutting and reopening the console to stamp from one screen to the other; and examining the reflection of one of the screens in order to piece together the riddle of the book. This was the first game I had ever played that required such a crazy 'think outside the square (or DS)' school of thought. Truly an innovation in the way we play our games.

8:1337 sp34k - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
Yet another DS title! (It must be my recent surge of interest in this explosively blooming portable.) Not only did this game receive a top-notch translation that was as witty as it was deep, but it actually featured some modern lingo ie. leet-speak! After reading a couple well thought-out phrases - "rolling on floor starving" - lol!, I was truly ROFL.

7:Soma-cula rises - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
I always knew there was something odd going on with Soma. The game was so fast-paced and hard to put down that I didn't really have much time to put much thought into it, but then it hit me. You are not playing as a merely blessed/cursed human, but you are playing as the reincarnation of Dracula's soul! Wow! That sounds so cool, and once you uncovered this twist, you were off to fight the 'true hero' of the series - a Belmont, and as it turns out, this one Julius Belmont was the guy who finally put a definitive end to Dracula in the first place! Epic battle? Heck yeah!

6:Attack of the Hydra - God of War (PS2)
A had read a good deal of glowing reports about this game, but I did steer clear of any spoiler-type material; thus my experience with God of War was quite fresh. Nearly every single game starts out rather modestly, but the ambush at sea right from the get-go was the most intense experience I had ever witnessed, and that's including a truck-load of blockbuster movies too! Torrential rain, ravaging waters, enemy invasion, a wrecked ship, and then the encounters with the Hydra - all of this made my rumbling hands tremble with excitement as my facials struggled to keep up with the hyper-activity. From the moment I booted this disc, my heart rate must have doubled within a few seconds!

5:The Inverted Castle - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS)
I fininished this game once and I thought, "Hmm, not bad". But then my friend persuaded me into collecting the Holy Glasses before facing Richter, leaving no explanation other than a glint in his eye. Since I had nothing better to do at the time, I took his advice. Then I found out that I had not 'finished' the game, in fact I had barely begun! Satifying the condition of releasing Richter from the influence of Shaft and his magic orb, Alucard teleports to a different area with a weird sense of Deja Vu.. and then "whoa!" You are still in the same castle, but it is now upside down! Not only is traversing much different now, but there are a whole load of new enemies, new bosses and new powerups to collect! Well at least I'm halfway there; now to carefully find out what the heck is going on!

4:Auto-scrolling levels - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 was the first game I loved so much, that I went over to my friend's place way too many times just to have another go. The gameplay was simply pristine and coupled with the great competitive 2 player mode, this was one title destined to be a classic (and sure enough, it did!) The biggest surprise in my mind was the introduction of levels which automatically side-scrolled, and in doing so meant that you had to be on your toes the whole way through, dodging copious numbers of enemies, their attacks, and of course avoiding death by being squashed against mere obstructions. I still recall me and my mate's first reaction: holy moly, the screen is moving by itself!? Quick run Mario! "Dit" - queue death music after running straight off the platform :)

3:Enter: Devil Jin - Tekken 5 (ARC)
I really got into the Tekken scene with PS1 Tekken 3 and Arcade Tekken Tag. I subsequently played the stuffing out of PS2's TTT and T4, and became quite a competitive player on the scene. After T4's disappointing arcade turnout, things were starting to look up from impressions gained from playtests of Tekken 5. I recall avidly eating up all the news I could get my hands on, and watching all the recorded playtests from around the world. And then the video of Koreans playing the single player mode came around. As the guy who was playing reached the 7th round, the match-up was announced: Hwoarang vs. Devil Jin!! The crowd in the video were elated as I was too; Namco finally put our dream character in! But how did he play like? That's the best part; Devil Jin played nearly identically to the good old Jin from TTT! The 2 single best moments were witnessing the CPU perform Jin's trademark EWGF and Laser Cannon canned combo; the crowd was then going mental and I was jumping around like a maniac in my tiny little dorm room!

2:The Death of Aeris - Final Fantasy VII (PS)
It has been said much too many times, but how could I not include this jaw-dropper? RPG's are known for their in-depth character building, both gameplay- and storyline-wise. FF7's first disc was truly remarkable in both ways and we really got to form a unique bond to Aeris, as did Cloud. She became one of my primary characters for the 20-odd hours of play, until Sephiroth performed the ultimate evil. Watching him descend with a piercing strike struck my own heart. Then after the boss battle, seeing Cloud lay her body to rest within the azure lake brought about some tears. Then as "insert disc 2" was prompted and we continued the journey, I came to the realisation that she truly had left us. Not only was I surprised at how such a deep character was removed so prematurely, but I was surprised at how much emotion the entire scene evoked from me.

1:Metal Gear Raiden?! - Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)
The enormous success of Metal Gear Solid resulted in incredible hype developing for its sequel. When I first flicked through a magazine previewing a near-complete build of the game, I quickly closed it again to view the publication month on the cover. Nope, it was no where near April. But this has to be a joke right? Solid Snake is dead!?!? And the protagonist of this revolutionary game is some new guy with long, blonde hair going by the name of Mortal Kombat's Raiden!? Hideo Kojima sure did a good job to cleverly hide that fact with all previous previews AND the in the playable demo I got with Z.O.E. Biggest. Shock. Ever.

There are of course many other fine examples I'm sure to have excluded; either they just missed the cut, I played an early game at a later stage which lessened its impact (Resident Evil's zombie dogs), or I just have not played one such title. Some noteworthy mentions include: Castlevania SotN's grotesque Beezelbub, AoS' Bat-squashing Balore, DoS' 'falling-through-the-tower' Gergoth; SotC's King Kong colossus no.16; Brain Age's tease of 79; Dead or Alive's bouncing breasts; Super Metroid's souped-up baby metroid; Warcraft 3's Prince Arthas' downfall etc. etc. etc. There are plenty of classic surprises scattered throughout so many games, I could go on forever,, but I won't. This is why I love gaming. Surprise me.

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