All time favourite Games

[Scream Man]

edit: Typo in the title dammit. Cant fix it either....

I actually made a list of my favourite games over the course of some months a couple of months ago. I dont think any game that's been out less than a year should count, because you cant tell if it will be an all time great or just something u enjoy now, but thats just me.

So, in order:

01) Mass Effect (360) - Brilliant combo of action and story, Ive beaten it 3 times. ME2 so far is awesome.

02) Crimson Skies (PC) - My favourite flying game ever. The 360 sequal was a HUGE letdown to me, feeling much more dumbed down than the first one. Until ME, this was number 1.

03) Spiderman 2 (GC) - I could spend hours swinging round that city, and I even 100%ed the game finding everything with absolutely no walkthroughs or guides.

04) Half Life 2 (360/PC) - The greatest FPS ever, this is still one of the most beautiful games ever made.

05) F.E.A.R. (PC) - Scared the ^$@* outta me when i first played it! Fun combat, good use of Slow mo and scary as hell.

06) GTA: San Andreas (PC) - AGain, I could spend hours just driving. 100%ed this too, though i needed a gameguide to help me do it. The sheer VOLUME of things to do is almost unequalled even today, and the 4th game was nowhere near as good.

07) Resident Evil 4 (GC) - Just kick ass fun from start to finish. Its reason i still have a gamecube in good condition.

08) Max Payne 2: The fall of Max Payne (PC) - Man this game was fun. The noir, the gunfights, the voices, the humour...I really want a max Payne 3. Come on Rockstar!

09) Tetris (GB) - C'mon who didnt spend HOURS playing Tetris. Even aftyer i gott my GBA, I just plaed a lot of tetris on it.

10) SW: X-Wing Alliance (PC) - WHile not technically the best, this was my favourite in the series. I lost count of how many times i played through this, and keep meaning to buy a joystick and load it onto my PC again. Still my fav SW game ever.

11) Half Life (PC) - Plus all the add ons. Changed the FPS world as far as Im concerned

12) Star Wars: TIE Fighter (PC) - The best of the bunch and still unequaled in terms of quality

13) Aliens vs. Predator (PC) - SO much fun to play, though i never liekd the alien levels

14) AVP2 (PC) - Took the first and made it better without breaking anything. Nuff said!

15) Star Wars Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight (PC) - Just good old fashion fun. Made me love Kyle as a character, and the acted cutscenes were just awesome.

16) Fallout 3 (PC) - Such a complete world, it just sucked u into the wasteland so well.

17) Star Wars: Republic Commando (PC) - Probably the best Technical SW FPS ever, and still fun as hell.

18) SW: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter (PC) - A lot of people hated it, but this was the first game I ever played over the net, and the origin of my "Scream Man" handle.

19) SW: X-Wing (PC) - The original that set a very high bar (That TF managed to get over, stunningly).

20) Silent Hill (PSX) - Scariest game ever. I never could play it more than once, and still get shivers thinking about it.

Edited January 29, 2010 by David Hingtgen

[jenius]

HA, I stopped playing 90% of games a long time ago so my choices are OLD school (with a couple exceptions). This is really just a list of games I've played too much more than a list of "best"

1) Civilization IV... the one modern game I still play occasionally

2) Phantasy Star II... Rolf, Nei, and a fist full of ZAN!

3) Streets of Rage III... I could never make out what the bad guys were saying

4) Zelda, the original

5) Super Mario III

6) Sonic the Hedgehog, the original

7) Gran Turismo, the original

9) EA's NHL Hockey (any Genesis version)... "wanna see me make Gretzky's head bleed?"

10) Shining in the Darkness

11) Battlefield 1942

Edited January 29, 2010 by jenius

[Vic Mancini]

06) GTA: San Andreas (PC) - AGain, I could spend hours just driving. 100%ed this too, though i needed a gameguide to help me do it. The sheer VOLUME of things to do is almost unequalled even today, and the 4th game was nowhere near as good.

Really? I'm playing GTA4 right now and I'm absolutely loving it. I never got the chance to play GTA3. Why was it so much better than GTA4?

I'm not sure I could put together a top 10 list very easily, but I know Mike Tyson's Punch-Out would make the list for sure.

[Major Focker]

not in any particular order:

- Homeworld series (PC) - epic story, amazing presentation. HW2 graphics still hold up well 7yrs after release

- Freespace 2 (PC) - the last of the great space sims in the 90's. game of the year, and still unequalled today.

- Zone of the Enders 2 (PS2) - mecha action at its finest. this screams for a sequel

- Starcraft series (PC) - 'nuff said

- Minesweeper (PC) - who hasn't wasted hours on the job with this game?

[areaseven]

My all-time favorite game is Geometry Wars, as it never fails to give anyone a challenge and it puts the Xbox 360's graphics capabilities to its full potential.

[Scream Man]

Really? I'm playing GTA4 right now and I'm absolutely loving it. I never got the chance to play GTA3. Why was it so much better than GTA4?

I'm not sure I could put together a top 10 list very easily, but I know Mike Tyson's Punch-Out would make the list for sure.

first it took me over a month of reading game titles to remind myself of a few so I didnt forget any, so it takes time

As for GTA:Sa over GTA4 - GTA 4 felt smaller to me. I mean it was still big, and the characters were great and it was very pretty n all.....but your choices felt smaller. No houses to buy; u were just given them periodically. You didnt get better at driving or running or swimming the longer you did it. Food meant nothing more than health. Clothes were very limited and had next to no variety. Driving wasnt as much fun(At least for me). Nico wasnt as fun as CJ. The NPC's were more annoying. The missions were all a bit more limited.

Just...smaller. Like they took out all the variety that made SA great.

[sketchley]

All time favourite game... and there's a list?

Anyhow, my all-time favourite game is: Sim City 4

Why? The freedom of it. No time limits. Goals and objectives to your own making. You can blow up your city real good if you don't like it. And the ability to import new terrain for new city regions. I think my only complaints are the lack of curved bridges and the ability to build under the parts of the bridges that cross land. Which is relatively minor.

[dreamweaver13]

NBA Live! ALL of them. Yup, even that '96 release where I can score 60 points a game with Steve Kerr.

[mikeszekely]

In no particular order:

Mega Man series

Mega Man X series

Mega Man Zero/ZX series.

Gundam Battle series

Macross Ace series

Ace Combat series

Anything by BioWare.

Edited January 29, 2010 by mikeszekely

[Ghost Train]

X-Com: Enemy Unknown (The very first!)

Galactic Civilization 2

Rise of Nations

Far Cry 1

Half Life 2 + Episodic Contents

CounterStrike

[taksraven]

In no particular order.....

Tetris (I like my DS version)

Dungeon Master (Amiga)

Starglider II (Amiga)

Carrier Command (Amiga)

Commando (C64)

Pipeline (C64)

Boulderdash (C64)

Oblivion (PC)

F.E.A.R (PC)

F-18 Interceptor (Amiga)

Galaga (Arcade)

Puzzle Bobble (Arcade)

Point Blank (Arcade)

Total Annihilation (PC)

Elevator Action (PC)

Carmageddon (PC)

Turrican (Amiga)

Die Hard (Arcade)

Defender of the Crown (Amiga)

Black Magic (C64)

Goldeneye (Nintendo 64)

Stunt Car Racer (Amiga)

Indy 500 (Amiga)

Phoenix Wright (DS)

Astro Wars (Dedicated game unit)

Donkey Kong (original Nintendo handheld)

Warhawk (C64)

Baldurs Gate (All extensions and sequels for the PC)

Neverwinter Nights (see above)

A.C.E - Air Combat Emulator (C64)

Rescue on Fractalus (C64)

Speedball I and II (Amiga)

Probably a stack more that I can't think of right now.....

Taksraven

[Vostok 7]

Not in any particular order but (any expansions not mentioned are included):

Descent 2

Descent 1

TIE Fighter

Half-Life 2

Half-Life (I played mostly after midnight when my parents went to bed and in the dark with headphones, not a good plan )

Battlezone (1998)

Sim City 2000

SubSpace

Fallout 3

TES IV: Oblivion

Gran Tourismo 2, 3 and 4 (PS2)

Tourist Trophy (PS2)

Halo 1, 2, 3 and ODST

Mechwarrior 2

IL-2 Shturmovik

Probably more I'm forgetting, but those are the immediate standouts.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Vostok 7

[thegunny]

Half Life (+ Blue Shift & Op Force)

Half Life 2 (to a lesser extent)

Mechwarrior 2 (+ Ghost Bears Legacy & Mercenaries)

Mechwarrior 3

Mechwarrior 4 (+ Black Knight & Mercenaries)

Mechcommander

Mechcommander 2

Unreal (+ Return to Na Pali)

Steel Panthers (all)

Delta Force

Black Hawk Down and expansions

[the white drew carey]

Galaga - simply a classic

Romance of the Three Kingdoms II - The perfect blend of the management and combat strategy.

System Shock - I am replaying this game now (or, when I actually have a free moment), and while the graphics and plot don't hold up so well 16 years later, I am reminded of the amount of detail and sheer enjoyability of the game that made me love it so much when it came out.

Front Mission III - just pure awesome. Considering I have not been able to play FMV this is, to me, the best entry in the series.

[Tober]

1. Street Fighter 2 series - the beginning of multi-player intensity

2. Unreal 2003/4 - nothing has compared to the intensity and complexity that lies beneath the hood of these games. The only exception would be the Virtua Fighter series - games so complex they defeat themselves.

3. Silent Hill 1 and 2. They had their faults but the innovations more than made up for it.

4. Half Life series - action plus decent story that actually adds to the gameplay.

5. Resident Evil series - from 1 to 5 this has been gold for me. Where Silent Hill is profound RE is superficial and revels in it.

6. Goldeneye

7. Final Fantasy VII

8. Virtual On

9. Fallout 3

10. Marathon - Early FPS for Macintosh. Like Doom meets System Shock

11. Alien Vs Predator 2 - Love those Aliens, I had so much fun scaring the crap out of the marines and Preds in multiplayer.

12. Tomb Raider

13. Another World - vector based PC game

14. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

15: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

16. Left 4 Dead 2

17. Max Payne 1 and 2

18. Might and Magic III

19. Star Wars: Dark Forces series

20. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series

I'm sure I've overlooked plenty tho...

edit: ... like the Metal Gear Solid series.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Tober

[anime52k8]

My all time favorite....Starfox 64. it was the first video game I ever beat.

[Vostok 7]

My all time favorite....Starfox 64. it was the first video game I ever beat.

Do a barrel roll!

I forgot Tomb Raider. Tober reminded me. I don't know what my pubescent fantasies would have been like without Lara Croft.

[CoryHolmes]

How can you people even call yourself a product of the 80s without Super Mario Bros.? It has no plot to speak of, very basic controls, idiocty and plot contrivances are rampant... and it's still the single greatest videogame of all time. And (making a broad guess as to the average MWers age) who can't define his/her childhood by that very simple tune: Dooh dooh duh dooh dooh DUMH!

Edited January 29, 2010 by CoryHolmes

[Keith]

Hmm, no particular order as well:

-Snatcher

-Macross Ultimate Frontier

-Metal Gear 1 & 2, Soild 1-4, Portable Ops & Plus

-Lunar 1 & 2 both Sega CD & Remakes

-Popful Mail

-Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Genesis & Arcade

-Street Fighter Alpha 3 & III 3rd Strike

-Vampire Savoir

-Ratchet & Clank series

-Jak Series

-Kingdom Hearts series

-Chrono Trigger

-FF VI

-SRW series

-old TMNT arcade games

-Tron

-Rampage

-Jungle Hunt

-Bust-A-Move

-Dr. Mairo

-SMB 1-World

-Grandia

-Xenogears

-Guilty Gear

-Mario Kart

-Zelda 1-3

-Phantasy Star 1-4

Meh, I like a lot of clasics mostly!

[Vostok 7]

How can you people even call yourself a product of the 80s without Super Mario Bros.? It has no plot to speak of, very basic controls, idiocty and plot contrivances are rampant... and it's still the single greatest videogame of all time. And (making a broad guess as to the average MWers age) who can't define his/her childhood by that very simple tune: Dooh dooh duh dooh dooh DUMH!

I think a game like that is pretty much a given.

[anime52k8]

How can you people even call yourself a product of the 80s without Super Mario Bros.? It has no plot to speak of, very basic controls, idiocty and plot contrivances are rampant... and it's still the single greatest videogame of all time. And (making a broad guess as to the average MWers age) who can't define his/her childhood by that very simple tune: Dooh dooh duh dooh dooh DUMH!

I'm a product of the 90's, and the only Mario games I ever played were Mario Kart and Mario tennis

[Warmaker]

My Favorite Games! In no particular order:

* Phantasy Star 1, 2, and 4 (SMS + Genesis) - Absolutely loved PS1 on my Sega Master System. Wasn't too fond of PS3 since it felt like it had very little to do with previous PS titles. But it had awesome character portraits though

* Street Fighter Series (Multi platform) - Should really be the entire series, but SF2 is what got me started. Arcade standups, SNES, PS1, etc. Lots of platforms I've played SF games on. Even on PC thanks to SF4. I cranked in serious time on the SF Alpha series.

* TIE Fighter (PC) - My favorite Star Wars game, period. Great, original story from a fresh perspective.

* European Air War (PC) - IMO, the best WWII prop sim, especially modified. Choose different air forces to play. Gain rank, even become the Commanding Officer of a squadron. You could manage squadron aircrew, loadouts, crew rest, etc.

* Falcon 4.0 (PC) - Best jet sim I've ever played. Still loved by the sim community, and this game came out in 1998 I believe. Dynamic Campaign System also. A true challenge was playing as a Luftwaffe pilot late in the war.

* Herzog Zwei (Genesis) - One of my early Genesis titles, but the most played of all my titles on that platform. I played it alot. My friends loved it. Best match I had was against a buddy for a 3 hour long match which I barely lost. To make it even better, my Dad religiously played this game also.

* Final Fantasy Tactics (PS) - A golden Tactical RPG title. Still the standard that the genre is measured to, IIRC.

* Shogun Total War (PC) - Creative Assembly's first big hit. RTS battlefield + Turn based campaign view. "Dismounting" Takeda cavalry with deadly musket volley fire never got old.

* Rome Total War (PC) - Best Total War game CA has done (still). Huge advance from Shogun's game engine.

* Fallout Series (PC) - Not to include FO Tactics. Post Apocalyptic setting? Check. Dark humor? Check. Style? Check. Gore and Violence? By the dumptruck loads. Distribute Wasteland Justice in a leather jacket, shotgun, and having a trusty dog, ala Road Warrior? CHECK! Just too bad FO3 didn't have bullet riddled, death dances.

* X-Com (PC) - The epitome of squad based tactical games, which still sets the standard. Not bad for a 15+ year old game.

* Shining Force (Genesis) - Great RPG that I first tried as a borrowed title from a buddy of mine.

* Romance of the Three Kingdoms series(Multi platform) - Started with RotTK2 on my friend's SNES. I've been a longtime fan of the series. Conquering ancient china has never gotten old. I just wish Koei gave Nobunaga's Ambition the same treatment here on this side of the Pacific.

* Combat Mission Series (PC) - "WEGO" style of turn based play. Sophisticated ballistics + armor modelling. Most importantly, your digital soldiers have morale. Orders may not be followed since your troops may not like having bullets, artillery, and / or tank rounds coming their way. Always had fun playing as Late War German forces: Badly outnumbered, poorly supplied, having command of depleted formations (company really being in platoon strength), yet still trying to make things successful. Seeing my veteran Tiger tank crew blow the turret off of a Soviet T-34 at 1km never gets old.

* Rainbow 6: Rogue Spear (PC) - Great, unforgiving FPS. Before the company raped the franchise with "Lockdown."

* Baldur's Gate series (PC) - This is the game series that made Bioware what it is today. Their first big "hits."... "Go for the eyes, Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!!!"

* Civilization 4 (PC) - Just 1 more turn...

Edited January 29, 2010 by Warmaker

[the white drew carey]

How can you people even call yourself a product of the 80s without Super Mario Bros.? It has no plot to speak of, very basic controls, idiocty and plot contrivances are rampant... and it's still the single greatest videogame of all time. And (making a broad guess as to the average MWers age) who can't define his/her childhood by that very simple tune: Dooh dooh duh dooh dooh DUMH!

I don't know... I mean, the game rocks and I spent many, many hours blowing on the cartridge so I could get it to play... But the memory of the game itself doesn't drive me to play it over and over again like the others on my list.

I'll one-up you and throw Donkey King down over Super Mario Bros.

Tober- I forgot about Marathon... good choice.

[bluemax151]

This is a list I compiled for somewhere else so copypaste etc..

10 Diablo 1&2

I spent many sleepless nights (weeks?) playing Blizzards depressing hack and slash rpgs. Sure online was usually full of hackers and Koreans constantly going "kekekekekekekeke" or "show show trade trade" but LAN parties or passworded games with your closest buddies that were beholden to you in real life were the best. Sure the story is a bit shallow being the usual one man army against the forces of darkness but you can’t argue that the twitch action rpg gameplay didn’t keep you immersed constantly spamming skills and potions.

9 Neverwinter Nights 1&2

Nothing is as detailed or as in depth in the roleplaying universe as DnD and while pen and paper may not be everyone’s forte especially those with an imagination that was killed by tv like myself, the swordcoast is brought to life by these PC titles. Not only are there numerous official expansions for these two titles but the fan community is huge with tons of crazy add ons and additional campaigns. There’s even a tongue in cheek all nude sex adventure that was done by the fan community.

8 Record of Lodoss War

Kind of a single player only Diablo clone for Dreamcast that’s not as simple as D1 or as Complex as D2. Where it fails to innovate in gameplay (hack and slash) it makes up for with story/cut scenes. If you’re already not familiar with the Anime it’s sort of based on that’s okay as this is more or less a self contained story but do yourself a favor and watch it anyway. The animated series is something akin to LotR and unlike Slayers is more serious in tone. Tons of play in this game as you grind out levels and acquire various enchantments.

7 Resident Evil aka Biohazard (JPN)

Although Alone in the Dark is arguably the first title of the "Survivor Horror" genre RE is what put the category on the map. Terribly frustrating camera angles, bad dialogue/acting, cheesy storylines, a masochistic save system and ZOMBIES are staples of the series and what puts it in that wonderfully so bad yet good zombie movie as a game place. I still remember the first time I played as Jill and the Hunters got loose in the Mansion. Like an idiot I tried to save ammo and a one of the Hunters did that wonderful leaping attack and decapitated me in one hit after I hadn’t saved in forever...

6 Parasite Eve

Square’s take on survival horror as an action rpg title. Excellent music, an awesome opera scene much like a certain FF title, highly customizable weapons and armor, an EX tower to climb like rpgs for extra play hours and some seriously crazy poo about mitochondria. Remember at the end when the thing is chasing you don’t try the phone IT’S A TRAP!!!!!!!1!!!!one!!!1!!!1!!!!

5 Final Fantasy 3/6

As a kid I was more of platformer than an rpger but even then this FF6 was the first FF I really enjoyed and wanted to work my way through. A lot of concepts and pros have already been mentioned for this game but to me besides the characters/story the really interesting part of the game is each characters play mechanics/special abilities that really sets this game apart from other FF titles.

4 Final Fantasy 9

The first playstation based FF I really enjoyed and my favourite of the series in general. FF9 is sort of a middle ground between classic FF style and the new age stuff. We have the reintroduction of the class system (YAY), a male protagonist that’s not a fighter for once and a general cast of characters that aren’t trying really hard to look cool and/or sexy. The gameplay is back to the fun basics with a little twist in the whole AP deal for extra customization. Also my favourite summon "Ark" appears.

3 Persona 2 Eternal Punishment

A beautifully Gothic stylized rpg with a pretty traditional combat system minus the whole crazy summoning "personas" and making deals with daemons bit. Persona 2 EP has one of the creepiest villains ever in an RPG (JOKER) who for some strange reason bears a passing resemblance to a character in a Balzac video... I can’t really say too much about Persona good points without giving away a lot of the plot but I will say it has some of my favourite character and monster designs.

2 Front Mission 3

A turn based mecha rpg with a crazy MGS type of political thing going on. One of the strong points about FM3 is that it’s relatively fast paced even though it’s turn based unlike FF tactics, vandal hearts, vanguard bandits, disgaea etc. Like armored core you can mix and match weapons and wanzer parts to make your own custom combinations although it is much more limited. Where FM3 really shines though is the skills like salvo, body smash, double shot, shield smash and what have you that once you’ve trained up and put a high activation rate computer on really let you steam roll your opponent with a bit of luck and a lot of strategy.

1 Star Ocean Second Star Story

This is the best RPG on playstation minus graphics hands down. You’ve got tons of playable characters with unique fighting styles, a crafting system as in depth as an mmo, more endings than chrono trigger, an ex dungeon, multiple difficulties, a boss unlimiter mode, two protagonists you can play as, non combat skills to develop, voice clips to unlock.. well you get the idea. Just remember beware the Funny Thief lvl99s they can totally rape you even when you’re lvl 255!

Honourable mentions to Megman X 5, Castlevania SotN, Vanguard Bandits, Lunar Silver Star Story, Armored Core, Grandia, Tales of Destiny 1&2 (the real 2 for PS2), KoToR, Thousand Arms, Pokemon Red, Suikoden, X-Men Legends, Air Force Delta Strike, Shining Soul 1&2, Zoids Legacy/Saga, Legend of Mana, Battle Tanx, FF2/4, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, DnD Gold box games, Zelda II/Link, Master Blaster and some poo I’m sure I forgot

[Black Valkyrie]

Here goes :

1- Salamander (Arc, NES) [Always No. 1]

2- Gradius II.

3- Super Mario Bros. II.

4- Castlevania III.

5- Castlevania IV.

6- Final Fantasy IV.

6- Street Fighter II Turbo.

7- Street Fighter Alpha 2.

8- Legend of Zelda : Link to the Past.

9- Legend of Zelda : The Minish Cap.

10- X-Men vs. Street Fighter.

11- Samurai Showdon.

12- Pop'n Twin Bee.

13- Contra III.

14- Axelay.

15- Dino Crisis II.

16- Final Fantasy VII.

17- Final Fantasy VI.

18- Final Fanatsy IX.

19- Final Fight.

20- Out Run.

21- After Burner.

22- Sonic II.

[David Hingtgen]

I'll keep it short.

1. Xenogears. Best story, best music.

2. Valkyrie Profile. 2nd best story, tied for best music.

Maybe 3 could be Mass Effect (as a whole) for story/gameplay.

[Noriko Takaya]

I like a lot of video games, but one I have played time and again to this day comes to mind and I'm surprised no one has mentioned it. This game is the reason why I still own my Nintendo 64.

Turok: Seeds of Evil

I just wish there really were a weapon called the Cerebral Bore. There are a few people I'd like to try it on.

[bluemax151]

1. Xenogears. Best story, best music.

The only problem with Xenogears was that it had massive walls of text even for a JRPG.

The real/super robot action was fairly refreshing at the time.

[Agent ONE]

In no particular order:

Quake 3 Arena - insane fast action

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - just fun action and a great story

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - First true 3D that didn't suck hard... was actually totally fun, and had a good story

Diablo 2 - Click and kill... So fun so relaxing.

Super Metroid - There were a few other Metroid games I liked but they were all the same, and all fun

Honorable mention but not on the official list:

Grand Theft Auto series - Fun but on the whole not any one of them was complete and all had ANNOYING missions that took FOREVER to pass. So long actually that by the time I finished the games I was ready to kill a hobo for real.

[Mog]

Great topic, Scream Man.

In no order whatsoever:

* Final Fantasy VI - With a screen-name like "Mog," would you expect anything else?! Simply put, this is the best game of the ENTIRE Final Fantasy franchise. At least three characters can lay claim to being the game's main character. Almost every playable character in the game has an in-depth, memorable backstory which is woven into the gameplay. The introduction of limit breaks; side-quests galore; the beautiful in-game opera aria; the ninja with the spaghetti western theme; a couple potential attempted suicides; some of the most memorable leitmotifs anywhere (right up there with John Williams' best stuff); and the baddest, most charismatic villain of all the FF games. None of the other FF main baddies can hold a candle to Kefka's success or his masterful style!

* Gran Turismo - GT2 may have featured more cars and tracks, but this was the game that finally made me cave in and buy a PS1. Realistic handling and features for cars I could actually purchase in real life (and not just a collection of suped-up race cars)? Hell yeah! A mostly balls-out, rocking soundtrack with songs from Ash and Garbage? Yes, please. I mean how many other games are there where the techniques you learn from the gameplay can actually be applied in your real life? GT1 taught me that true speed is found not on the straightaway but rather mastered in the corners.

* Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic - There's a reason this game won so many awards. It's like the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books but on steroids. . . and brandishing a couple of lightsabers! Great story, cool characters (except Carth's a bitch!), and a loveable protocol assassin droid who will always put a smile on your meatbag face.

* Super Mario Bros. 3 - The original SMB may be a classic. But I feel this game pushed the original NES to its limit. Look at most of the subsequent Mario games that have been released; you wanna know where those map set-ups, the various power-ups/suits, and the Koopa Kids all first originated from? That's right, SMB3.

* Tecmo Super NBA Basketball - Similar to Tecmo Bowl but made for the Super Nintendo (and of course, for basketball ). I cannot tell you how many hours my brother and I played this game. He would choose the Bulls (in their heyday), and I would choose the Clippers (during the one year they were actually good). Hey! That Clip' team had Loy Freakin' Vaught (who the game listed as a 90 percent 3-point shooter)! Oh the strange quirks of sports video games!

[Wanzerfan]

Really? I'm playing GTA4 right now and I'm absolutely loving it. I never got the chance to play GTA3. Why was it so much better than GTA4?

I'm not sure I could put together a top 10 list very easily, but I know Mike Tyson's Punch-Out would make the list for sure.

San Andreas was a full game that used an improved version of the GTAIII engine.

There are so many good games out there, but I have one to add; series, that is.

The Chrono series.

Chrono Trigger introduced the idea of multiple character attacks, otherwise known as double and triple techs, and had a

villian who becomes a player character.

It was also the first game to introduce the concept of a New Game +.

Chrono Cross takes the same formula and ups it a notch,

like haveing the main character become the main villian.

It was also one of the first games that had you gather at least 40 player characters ala Gensou Suikoden (those guys at X=Play still can't pronouce the freaking name right). The only thing that bothered me about the game is that

they gave Chrono and Marle's child (Kid) an Aussie accent.

I just wish the team would get off their collective asses and finally finish the storyline with Chrono Break.

[Ghost Train]

Also would have liked to append Xenogears - this was a truly ambitious game, epic storyline, characters, and you get to fight in mechs, but Disk 2 was wtf, I think they ran out of budget or something. On that same note, I really enjoyed the Xenosaga Episode 1, I have yet to play the remaining 2.

[pondo]

some perfect games I've loved:

Beyong good and evil (gamecube)

toejam and earl (genesis)

toobin (arcade)

eternal darkness (gamecube)

ducktales (nes)

bubble bobble (C64)

lego star wars 2 (gamecube)

strider (nes)

wonderboy 2 and 3 (sms)

zelda:the twilight princess (gamecube)

grim fandango (pc)

worms armageddon (pc)

monkey island (pc)

star control 2 (pc

broken sword (gba)

double dragon (arcade)

resident evil 1 (reissue)

super mario 3 (yes I saw the wizard in the theatres)

[David Hingtgen]

Also would have liked to append Xenogears - this was a truly ambitious game, epic storyline, characters, and you get to fight in mechs, but Disk 2 was wtf, I think they ran out of budget or something. On that same note, I really enjoyed the Xenosaga Episode 1, I have yet to play the remaining 2.

Disc 2 of Xenogears was more "ran out of time", than budget, IIRC. Which is part of my point--for only being 2/3 done, it's still better than anything else. Imagine if they'd completed it!

As for Xenosaga---Episode 2 sucks, but 3 is the best of the series. If you must play 2, do it as quickly as possible---cheat, skip sidequests etc. Episode 2 is pretty much entirely about Jr/Albedo, with a cameo appearance by Kos-Mos.

[jenius]

OOh, i forgot one in my previous post:

Gaiares. Loved that shooter.