I don't really look for "perfect" games. I'm happy with games that are sufficiently good that they can hold my attention and keep me coming back; it seems increasingly hard to do these days, even for a-list titles. But as I've complained elsewhere, I don't really have as much time to play games as I used to, so a game that can hook me in for a two-hour play session is pretty remarkable in and of itself.
Tetris was suggested on the first page, and it comes close. It's the unusual game that doesn't feel like it's had enormous innovations in the last ten years. Lots of gimmicks, but few real innovations. It plays essentially the same on an Apple II or a first-generation Gameboy as it does on the newest console or quad-core computer. Shiny graphics are nice, but they don't significantly alter it's essential nature. Virtually anyone with working eyes and hands could pick it up, grasp it, and play it. Easy to learn, hard to master; playable for five minutes, or hours at a time. It really is a work of genius.
...But even Tetris eventually gets old. More complex games- including Uncharted 2- fail the basic test of perfection simply in that most people could still imagine them being better with some refinement or in a future game or on the hardware that will come out five years down the line. And Uncharted 2, too, has its share of detractors.
It wouldn't even surprise me that if I found a game truly perfect, I would be the only one who thought so. I'll stick with the "good".
Tetris was suggested on the first page, and it comes close. It's the unusual game that doesn't feel like it's had enormous innovations in the last ten years. Lots of gimmicks, but few real innovations. It plays essentially the same on an Apple II or a first-generation Gameboy as it does on the newest console or quad-core computer. Shiny graphics are nice, but they don't significantly alter it's essential nature. Virtually anyone with working eyes and hands could pick it up, grasp it, and play it. Easy to learn, hard to master; playable for five minutes, or hours at a time. It really is a work of genius.
...But even Tetris eventually gets old. More complex games- including Uncharted 2- fail the basic test of perfection simply in that most people could still imagine them being better with some refinement or in a future game or on the hardware that will come out five years down the line. And Uncharted 2, too, has its share of detractors.
It wouldn't even surprise me that if I found a game truly perfect, I would be the only one who thought so. I'll stick with the "good".
