Star Fox

Star Fox was probably one of the first, if not THE first, video game to inject the shooter genre, normally one of the shallowest of all video game genres, with a healthy shot of Hollywood. Revolutionary for its time, Star Fox gave players many firsts. It was the first game, or at least one of the earliest games, to use 3D vector graphics. And for the first time, here was a shooter that was more than just "blow stuff up". It was very widescreen in scope, vision, and art direction. It gave the players a sense of story and world that was very alive and "there". The three branching paths offered a wealth of different and beautiful sights to see and dangers to conquer. It was also the first game to feature quality voice acting. Okay, the characters spoke in gibberish, but it was believable gibberish, and at the end, you get a crystal clear piece of dialogue spoken in English. It also didn't hurt that this game still features one of the strongest and coolest endings ever crafted in a game. Star Fox 64 may have ramped up the action side, and thus may be a better game, but for my money, the original boasts a better soundtrack and ending, and the retro appeal holds some weight. Back then, you really did feel like a sort of furry Luke Skywalker playing this game. If there's one thing bringing this game down, it's that the lower standards of speed and frame rate back then really don't look all that hot in today's era. But all in all, still a rocking game.