My Perfect Console: The games that didn't make the list
Why Mario Kart 64 and a stolen Sonic 2 prototype almost made it
I've been a fan of the My Perfect Console podcast since its 2023 debut, so it was great to be a guest this week (October 20). I came across the host, Simon Parkin, through his guest appearance on the great Back Page podcast, and I knew about his stories about Hideo Kojima's departure from Konami, but I didn't know Parkin was the one who broke the news.
So when we started talking about appearing on the podcast to mark the launch of 'The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997-2000', I spent months picking the five games every guest has to pick, alongside the name of their console. It was great to talk about my early career, how the books came to be, mental health struggles, and more.
I also thought it was interesting that Parkin noted that my five chosen games span 1994-2004. Perhaps there's something to talk about the five games for 2004-2014 sometime. Nevertheless, I thought it'd be fun to highlight a few games that 'nearly' made the cut.
To note, I talk in depth on the podcast about mental health and alcohol during a bad time. If you need help, there are people you can talk to.
Burnout 3: Takedown
I discovered the Burnout series via an Xbox Magazine demo of Burnout 2 back in 2002. It was a lot of fun, but I remember thinking something was missing; it ultimately felt like a standard racing game with a boost function. So when Burnout 3: Takedown launched in 2004, I wanted to see what was new, since I had missed the previews.
That September, after finishing the first Road Rage race, I couldn't stop playing Burnout 3 until I went back to school. You'd unlock so many cars through the World Tour, while the Burning Laps let you zoom through different locations to set the best time. It had that 'one more go' factor that other racing games hadn't given me until then.
I'd love to see Burnout 3 return someday, but for now, I'm content playing it on my Retroid Pocket 6 with a widescreen hack.
Mario Kart 64
I first came across Mario Kart 64 by playing it at a kiosk at an Electronics Boutique in Lincoln around the Nintendo 64's launch. I clearly remember playing as Wario on the Toad's Turnpike track and enjoying it. Then I didn't play it for 15 years. It wasn't until I was at Nottingham Trent University that I bought an N64 with Mario Kart and GoldenEye, back when these cost £30 in total instead of £130, that I played through every track.
The game really shone for me once a few friends visited, and since then, it's become the go-to multiplayer game for many of us. To me, the game's handling and speed feel perfect, something other Mario Kart games haven't matched. Every track is a home run, with different obstacles and shortcuts that let you reach first place. But for me, Rainbow Road will always be the best track in Mario Kart.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II
I learned about Rogue Squadron when the first game suddenly arrived after school, along with a Microsoft Sidewinder Joystick peripheral for the family PC. These arcade-flight games were incredibly rare on PlayStation for me back then, so playing Rogue Squadron was a new experience, and I loved it. However, as I mentioned in the podcast, thanks to my GamesMaster subscription, I knew what was coming, including Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader.
At first glance, the game looked photo-realistic. Playing it at a kiosk at a GAME store was an experience. I managed to finish the first level that others couldn't, and once Han Solo said his quote, I had gathered a small crowd. On the first try, I fired the missile into the Death Star's small hole and did it.
It was this and other moments of the game, like facing the huge Star Destroyers, that made me think that movie-to-game adaptations didn't have to strictly follow the movies - they could stand on their own. Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader features in my '50 Years of Boss Fights', detailing its final level, 'Battle of Endor', along with Producer Julian Eggebrecht speaking to me for it.
Sonic 1 (Master System)
I mentioned Sonic 3 as my first pick, but I thought having two Sonic games on my list would be overkill. Sonic 1 on the Master System is a unique game, and, controversially, I prefer it to the original Mega Drive game.
Developed by another team at Sega, what I love about this version is that it keeps the speed and music, but the stages have been changed to offer more challenge and much more variety. It even adds new stages with great music, like Jungle Zone and Sky Base Zone. Instead of collecting the Chaos Emeralds in the Special Stages, they're hidden across the levels, which I found far more fun than navigating the dream-like mazes of the special stages.
I even prefer the game's final levels, where you find yourself in a maze in Scrap Brain Act 2, and Sky Base is one of the hardest levels you'll play - but it's still fun. I'd love to see the game return in some way, instead of Sega trawling out the Game Gear versions time and again for some reason.
Sonic 2 Beta (Simon Wai)
I spoke about this and the stolen build of Half-Life 2 in the episode, but I held back because this build was also stolen from a Toy Fair in 1992. Called the Simon Wai beta because of who found it on a random site in 1999, this version has so many differences from the final release. It starts with the title screen, which you may have seen in the Sonic 2 instruction manual, followed by a level select screen lifted from Sonic 1.
But that was only the start. You'd see level titles such as 'Dust Hill Zone', 'Hidden Palace Zone', 'Wood Zone', and the terribly translated 'Genocide City Zone', which was later supposed to be called 'Cyber City Zone'. A couple of these were playable, but the furthest I got was 'Hidden Palace'.
Back when I was obsessed with Sonic as a kid, I'd trawl through the sound test in level select, and I was always curious about a music track labelled '10' that never made it into the final game. I later discovered it was meant for 'Hidden Palace', but the level was cut for time. But this build made me realise games can have hidden stories about what developers intended but couldn't because of circumstances, which is a big part of 'The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997-2000'.
Tekken 3
If the list was six games, Tekken 3 would have been included. I've spoken before about how much I love fighting games, but Tekken 3 is, and still is, in a league of its own for me. I was introduced to the Tekken series via the Promotional Demo Disc with Tekken 2; I learned about the third title again through GamesMaster magazine. Not only were the graphics a massive step up, but it also had a Streets of Rage-style mode called 'Tekken Force' and the iconic 'Tekken Ball Mode'.
The gameplay felt faster, too, which only made the new music work even better, resulting in a Tekken game that hasn't been surpassed since, 30 years on. It's the one title from the series that I'd love to see remade or remastered. I've recently seen some terrible AI decompilations appear that disrupt the game's flow, adding things that don't need to be added.
GamesRadar – Rosalie Newcombe
