Favorite gaming intros

[Bluecast]

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Damn I want that game.

Oh and check the NES topic

[OL]

[color=]Weird I hadn't posted any Tales series intros in this topic. They really do have some of the best anime intros in videogame history. Since I just got this one recently (and actually still feel excited over the fact that I managed to get it), here's the intro to Tales of Destiny for PS1 (and the title screen), uploaded by me since I was unhappy with either the quality of others I could find on youtube, or the version. I've found I'm actually not usually big on the music for the Tales series' intros in Japan, where they use generally ill-fitting jpop for them. Weird, since I usually like things to be more authentic to the original Japanese experience of playing a game, but I tend to like the english-version instrumental versions instead. They just seem to fit better.
Oh and this ended up oddly quieter than I thought it'd be, so you might have to turn it up a bit. Sorry 'bout that.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFyPNscwgXY[/youtube]

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

They're 2nd to Falcom and only a bit higher then Sega's 3rd.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oWksXwqnts[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyUdBMTsyIQ[/youtube]

[wude]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVxBm3dy0XY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24xoBBj5H6U[/youtube]

[Peter]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWblrR9JZ5E[/youtube]

This was one which i can remember the time when i sat with the controller in my hands. I love Hans Zimmers orchestrations, both in movies and games. I do like orchestra in general, and i thought the MW2 theme was a notch up. It accompanied the video well, heightening the tension as the video depicts the key events from the inital Modern Warfare. I also love the glowing green and black look (like the dojo!) so i also loved the black satellite view of the globe and the green lines of communication connecting everywhere.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyPbaxxJ5LA[/youtube]


Again, sticking with a grand/dramatic buildup of orchestration which i love so much, Shenmue II's intro i will always adore. Since Official Dreamcast Magazine ceased printing in July of 2001 and Shenmue II not being released until 4 months later, news and "spoilers" about the game were scarce. I knew of the extra games and the 4 regions which Ryo would play and visit in the game, but the opening shots of Aberdeen were just a treat to the eyes after the grey landscapes of Yamanose, Dobuita and the Harbor. The beautiful colorful areas packed with people bustling about, shots of the lucky hit stands and forklists rushing around Fortunes Pier were a tingle of excitement i had lost with the lack of Shenmue II news in gaming publications (the lack of stable/cheap internet at the time didnt help!). As the orchestration built up, the fog horn of the boat introduces the Shenmue II logo and as the music builds and sets, the boat docks and ryos "clunk clunk" footsteps down the metal stairs signals that its time to start a great (yet unfinished) adventure all over again.

[Bluecast]

After recently finally finishing it.
DAMN!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVRSim-fQI[/youtube]

[OL]

^^Great one. It was in the original demo I played of the game, and it blew me away at the time. Extremely high quality stuff, and it still impresses me to this day. One of the best meldings of cg and traditional animation ever.

They're 2nd to Falcom and only a bit higher then Sega's 3rd.

Much as I like Falcom's intros (already posted Ys I&II in the topic) I can't really consider them to be "anime" intros. They're almost all cg, with any character shots being still pictures, almost no animation to them whatsoever. Still really well-made, and usually pretty artful, but I wouldn't quite consider them in the same category as Tales or Star Ocean.
And were you trying to say Star Ocean is Sega? They're made by Enix/Tri-Ace... or was the Sega mention for something else?

Speaking of anime intros though, here's a damn nice one. Samurai Legend Musashi:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiM_95fl2TA[/youtube]

Too bad the game doesn't have action quite that hectic, stylized, and crazy. Not a bad game though, far as I've played. Need to beat it eventually. I really liked it up to the point I got (just a few hours in).

And continuing the same trend of anime intros, here's Namco X Capcom:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omDxTskFRds[/youtube]

I don't know about anyone else, but I get a kick out of seeing some of these characters all fully-animated like this. Where else are you ever going to see Captain Commando, Megaman and Roll from MMLegends, the Soul Calibur characters, Klonoa, Hiromi Tengenji from Burning Force, Strider and so many others animated like this?
It's hitting me more and more every day how much of a damn travesty it is that this never came out in the west. Might have to grab the copy at my local game store and try finding a translation patch. Or just get it anyway for collection sake.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

lol no i just really like the Star Ocean one and couldn't find a good Sakura Taisen 4 one lol.

But thats their newer ones like Ys 7, Napishtim has a fir amount of actual animation as do all of the Legend of Heroes games (since they all got remade for PC/Saturn) Zwei and Xanadu also got some bitchin anime intros. Its really just Ys that gets stuck with the "moving pictures" and the reason I put Sega so high up is because they actually own a ton of IPs we don't realize. Also Shining Tears and Shining Wind had some pretty awesome Intros.

What pisses me off is we got all the shitty clones like Chaos Wars, Trinity Universe and Cross Edge.

but keeping the anime op train going:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFfYL6t9Vl4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrbwUKXfYtA[/youtube]

[OL]

This one impressed me when I first played the game on an emulator. A fully-voiced theme song in a Super Famicom game? That was pretty impressive for its time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP1hpwQ7beE[/youtube]

And of course the PS1 version's intro is great too. Same song, same overall game, but the first in a long line of great animated Tales intros.
I like to watch this every now and then while I play through Phantasia, because it adds a lot of dimension and life to the game world that you might not otherwise get with little SNES/PS1/GBA sprites.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nKKRb15Ix4[/youtube]

[Heart Of Swords]

The one that started it all. I loved the cheese factor of this video. It's still one of the most memorable video game intros to me.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UodibnkU28E[/youtube]

I originally had Resident Evil for the computer, so it came with this uncut opening. When I finally saw the version on Playstation with the clip covering Chris smoking(I think there was less violence, as well), I was really surprised that they released a different version.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

Not as well put together as the Tales Intros I really liked the Clips they used for Valkyria Chronicles 2 and 3 despite liking the main themes more then the intro songs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9m4rYdiRSk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtIkqOPZ-Ik[/youtube]

[Panda_rapist]

persona 2: innocent sin, damn at least 20 hours put into that game lost with my hard drive
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4NvMeHbmc[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifPZsRgJIXE[/youtube]

[Bluecast]

Gee like no one could guess this.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncuR0qZpglc[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50cbbev8gyE[/youtube]

[OL]

Speaking of Wii games:
Fragile Dreams.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQQzUlsaCE[/youtube]

This one is just so serene, but... lonely. Fantastic atmosphere in the intro (as in the game itself). I just kind of wish the game was a bit more exploratory, as the intro suggests. I ended up loving it anyway, but it would have been great if it were just a little less linear, with more room to explore this desolate, ruined world.
Either way, great intro.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

For that matter the ending was awesome too, took me a little bit to actually "Get" it but it was actually a pretty happy ending

Ok on to Sakura Taisen 5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWj1WRyRh64[/youtube]

The mac daddy of Anime openings lol

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPC8W672mXc[/youtube]