The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker — Dragon Roost Cavern
Generally speaking, I have as much disdain for the 3D Zelda games as I have love for their 2D predecessors. With some exceptions, they're tedious slogs of fetch questing, hand holding, and unskippable, unbearably patronizing prattle. ("You got a key! You can use it to open a door!") This subject tends to be a bone of contention between me and my esteemed colleague here at 61FPS, but one thing I have to concede to him is that the dungeon design in these games is usually pretty swell. For all of Wind Waker's faults, it has the virtue of being visually gorgeous, which is why its fire dungeon, Dragon Roost Cavern, beats out the dreary Fire Temple from Ocarina of Time. (Don't even get me started on Twilight Princess.) The dungeon's architecture and mood are admirably cohesive, too — you can almost feel the breezy air outside the volcano give way to a brutal dry heat within. And the boss is — no argument here — spectacular. You win this round, 3D Zelda. . . grumble, grumble. . . — PS
Silent Hill 2 — The Lakeview Hotel
Note: Spoilers. Not kidding.
The fire that destroys James and Mary Sunderland's "special place", the Lakeview Hotel, in Silent Hill 2 is seen for only the brief minutes in this clip. But that fire, burning between journeys through the hotel, pristine but abandoned, and later, charred and desiccated, is the conceptual core of Silent Hill 2's psychological quest for reconciliation. The game's world is not so much a tangible place but a physical manifestation of James Sunderland's trauma and guilt over euthanizing his cancer-stricken wife. This fire level, as it were, provides not only the compelling dual-environment the series is known for, but a startling visual metaphor to simultaneously represent the protagonist's inability to forgive himself and a purifying destruction on his road to peace. "It's hot," says James to Angela — who is, possibly, another facet of James' psyche — on the staircase. Her haunting reply: "You see it too. For me, it's always like this." James Sunderland burns, and you, his guide, burn with him in the Lakeview Hotel. — JC
Final Fantasy VI — The Burning House
Fire is omnipresent in role-playing games. Maybe it's the fantasist's fetish for elemental powers, but you can't spit without hitting something that casts fire spells, wields a flaming sword, is a fire demon, or by way of some curse or malady, happens to be on fire. For years, RPG fire environments tended towards volcanoes, towns burnt to the ground by angry villains, or caves of salamanders. Final Fantasy VI was one of the first RPGs to feature more expansive, scripted narrative scenarios — one of which used fire to create drama and urgency. In the middle of the night, your characters are woken to save a young girl from a burning house. The fire itself is alive, eating the house and taking the form of maniacally grinning jack-o-lantern bombs. The spectacle doesn't look like much fifteen years after it was made; the fire creatures are little more than orange blobs, the house is plain, and the flames licking the sides of the wall don't seem particularly threatening. But the scene itself subverts expectation and demands strategic gameplay. It's a perfect storm of aesthetics and mechanics, story and setting. — JC
Thunderforce III — Gorgon
For a shmup fire level, we could've gone with the opening area of Gradius II, or the impressive Stage 5 of Axelay. But true diehards know there's only one contender: the explosive Gorgon stage of cult Genesis shooter Thunderforce III. With an energizing soundtrack of catchy J-rock, and a dazzling wall of animated flame in the background, Gorgon throws the works at you as soon as you come in the door. Meteors, fireballs and plumes of lava — the stage is a pyrotechnic extravaganza and a showoffy highlight of this unsung classic. If you really want to admire Thunderforce III's design, revel in Gorgon's over-the-top spectacle, then proceed to the water stage, Seiren, and note how, without stepping down the difficulty, it suggests a vast, oceanic calm. But that's a subject for another list. — PS
Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.
What'd we miss? Tell us in the comments section.