The 10th Hour 12.16.11: Top 10 Favorite Snow Levels

Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 12.16.2011

From Uncharted 2's Heart of Ice and Sonic 3's Ice Cap Zone to Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire's trip to Hoth and more, 411's Armando Rodriguez takes a look at the top 10 snow levels! Check out the full article to see what made the list!

Welcome to another edition of The 10th Hour. I am Armando Rodriguez ready to bring you another Top 10 list. This week we will celebrate the spirit of Christmas by doing a list of my 10 favorite Snow Levels. You know, because Christmas and snow go hand in hand and stuff. In the next few weeks I will also begin a series of articles dealing with the top games of 2012. I have enough ideas and categories to keep it going at least until Valentine's Day 2012!




The 10th Hour: Favorite Snow Levels




10.Hoth- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire: Hoth is one of the most memorable locations in the Star Wars cannon, but the most memorable to me has to be on Shadows of the Empire for the Nintendo 64. It was the first time I had seen it in 3D and it felt awesome! Nothing beats tripping up an AT-AT with a tow cable while dodging laser fire from AT-ST's and other assorted bad guys. Sure, I think the game went downhill from there (I really hated the on-foot portions) but I can replay that level over and over with a smile on my face.

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9. Cool Cool Mountain- Super Mario 64: I loved Mario 64. To me it is one of the three greatest games ever made. That's why two levels made it to the list. But let's start with this one shall we? CC Mountain features the adorable storyline of reuniting a baby penguin with his mother. Isn't this the perfect Christmas story? A little creature getting reunited with his family. True holiday cheer! But man, I also hated this level. Simply because dropping the penguin caused him to chirp annoyingly (at almost Baby Mario levels) and also because I fell of the edge. A lot. A freaking lot! Also some of the bad guys were snowmen. Why? Because I despise snowmen. Don't ask me why because I have never managed to understand it either. But let's say that I hate snowmen a lot, sort of like people who hate clowns or mimes. Any game with snowmen on it that allows me to dispose of them gets a bonus from me. Although to be honest I mostly went UNDER the snowmen when they jumped and never really bothered trying to butt-stomp them. Anyway, back on topic….wait….what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Belly slide racing that bit fat penguin was epic.

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8. Ice Cap Zone- Sonic 3: The first thing that gets you about this level is that you start on a snowboard! How cool was that? That simple bit became one of the things I talked about the most at school at the time. Of course, back then I talked about how awesome an entire snowboard Sonic game would be. Oh my stupidity! But back on topic, I also loved the music in this level. Seriously, Sonic 3 has one of the best scores in the 16-bit era and the catchy tunes of this level are no exception. As a matter of fact, I am listening to it as I write this and it makes me want to go back and play that game again. In the end, who cares if the rest of the level is typical Sonic, with the same traps and sprigs covered in snow? It does have snow on it so it counts! Plus, Sonic 3 is the greatest Sonic game ever made and at least one level needs to make ever "best (X type) level" lists.

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7. Shadow Moses- Metal Gear Solid: Sure, this is less of a level and more of a setting, but hey, it's my column so I get to make (and break) the rules. Sure, I still need a guide or a wiki to follow the whole convoluted plot that is the MGS series, but the "stealth action" gameplay felt fresh at the time of the original (and MGS still does it better than anyone, even when suddenly every action game had a stealth level or two) and it was a real treat to revisit it in MGS 4. The creepy island was filled to the brim with robots, cloned super soldiers (SPOILER ALERT) and "regular" soldiers that were completely incapable of beating the mighty prowess of the cardboard box. Also every soldier smoked and read dirty magazines and they could project giant "!" signs when they heard something strange. Still, for being such a key setting in one of gaming's biggest franchises, it deserves a nod to be here.

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6. The Surface I & II- Golden Eye 007: Technically they are the same level visited at two different times (pre and post Golden Eye attack) but the first one was my favorite. It allowed me to have some fun with the sniper rifle (and grenade launcher at higher difficulties) and I always felt the whole "Open the duct and sneak in" ending to be more satisfying than the "Oh crap you got captured!" ending of the second level. The second one also relied more on brute force and I preferred the easy going "take your time" pace of the first level. I never understood why the second level looked like it took place after a nuclear strike….isn't the Golden Eye like a mass EMP thing?

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5. Cliffhanger- Modern Warfare 2: I have a love/hate relationship with this level mainly because I died a lot, but in the end I THINK I like it a lot. It is hard to argue with the high-stakes feel of the mission. You go in under a blizzard and attempt to plant some C4 and retrieve….something. I forget what it is, but I think it is some sort of PC gadget thingy. *EDIT* Aha! Internet says it is a satellite module. Anyway, the level features an awesome snow-machine chase scene, a couple of breathtaking moments and a ton of action. In other words, it is your typical CoD level, but with snow in it. IT COUNTS!

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4. Ice Palace- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past:: One thing about this list? It seems every ice level worth talking about pissed me off at some point. It is clear we have two varieties: levels that play just like every other level but with ice on it and levels that are shit-kicking hard. Case in point: The Ice Palace. This is my second most hated Zelda dungeon ever (behind the dreaded Water Temple in Ocarina of Time). Slippery floors that make you fall to your doom, melting ice, cracked floors and those damn penguins! Yes, penguins are evil here as they mindlessly belly flop in your direction. Why are they greenish? Hell if I know, but they were blue in Mario and no one complained. Still, I have a special place for this dungeon since I taught my dad how to beat it. He got into Zelda games late in life (as far as I know it surpassed Tomb Raider as his favorite series) and it was nice to share that experience with him. After all, he taught me how to beat Phantasy Star when I was six.

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3.Snowman's Land- Super Mario 64: Although CC Mountain is cooler, I think Snowman's Island is better, even if I do hate snowmen! Simply this level was more challenging and required a higher degree of skill to beat. Climbing the giant snowman for the star there is still a thrill since you feel like you can fall at any moment. Plus I got to mess up the snowman's plan by taking his star! Yes, I really do hate snowmen! Also this level featured those flower-looking thingies that you could bounce off really high from and I loved doing that. In a way, this level and CC Mountain are two different beasts. While CC Mountain is cooler and had more memorable moments, Snowman's Land required more skill and mastery of the game and really made you feel awesome when you were finally done with it.

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2.A Heart of Ice- Uncharted 2: Can you say surprising? I mean….Yetis. Freaking Yetis. This one caught me more by surprise than the zombies in the first game. Then we have all the little things that made the level (and Uncharted 2) awesome, such as death-defying platforming and the masterpiece that is the temple. Seriously, when you first see it, it will make your jaw drop. It's just stunning and showcases Naughty Dog's incredible craftsmanship. Uncharted is without a doubt my favorite new franchise this generation and I hope we get more awesome levels like these.

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1. Skyrim- The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Yes, I cheated. This is not a level, but a full-blown world. Yet, it has snow, so it counts! Really, there is snow other (*ahem*) place I would rather be. Even with dragons and such. Or the chance that you walked into a super powered snow troll (seriously, they are harder than dragons!). Skyrim is such a large, open-ended snowtopia that it is hard to remove yourself from it. It's the ultimate snowy playground. Be good or bad or both. Face off with giants and dragons and mammoths and trolls and…..well, almost anything you can imagine. Except snowmen. It seems there is something awesome around every corner, even under the snowy rivers. Found a sunken ship yet? Those are the benefits of being an Argonian! Really, Skyrim is a bunch of snow levels tossed together and they are all awesome.

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That's it for this week folks! Next week I will be back with another article, hopefully beginning the Best of 2011 series. Until next week!

Screenshots
All 9 The 10th Hour Screenshots