The Official N-Europe top #10 games of all time

[Fierce_LiNk]

Nice list, @Jonnas. It is difficult trying to narrow it down to 10 and there are tons of classics that I had to bypass to narrow it down to 10. Pokémon Red was my first Pokémon game and I was tempted to put that in there somewhere, but it just missed out. Absolutely played the shit out of that and had such a fun time. I still remember the day that I managed to complete my Pokedex with the help of a good friend. #neverforget
Eternal Darkness missed out, too. As did Streets of Rage, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, Alien Isolation, Mario Kart DS, Rogue Leader, WWF No Mercy and a bunch of others. It's also difficult for the more recent games due to the nostalgia factor. E.g. I loved Goldeneye back in the day, but I've put hundreds of hours into Overwatch and love everything about it. Yet, Goldeneye is considered a classic and makes many top 10 lists. So, there's that.

[Grazza]

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - GameCube

Genius from start to finish.

 

2. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King - PS2

Hands-down the best RPG I've played.  I had wanted to get into the Dragon Quest series from seeing them in Super Play, and oh man, my hunches were right.  The colourful and cartoony blend of exploration, romance and adventure was right up my alley.

 

3. Metroid Fusion - GBA

The most finely-crafted Metroidvania I have ever experienced.  It's hard to separate from...

 

4. Metroid: Zero Mission - GBA

For me, these GBA twins are the two best games of their genre.  They are hugely fun - not too long, not too short; not too difficult(-ish), not too easy - with no other Metroidvania beating the way they gradually supply you with enjoyable upgrades as you experience the ride.

 

5. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - DS

Not as good as VIII, but builds upon the gameplay.  Why do I rate this higher than earlier Dragon Quests?  It's because this game was my companion at the best time in my adult life, quite frankly.  It's an enormous, super-long experience, and nothing since has felt as epic as pitting my created team against every challenge the game had to offer.

 

6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - N64

Not an original choice, but it belongs there.  This felt like a new era in gaming, and changed my perceptions of how involving and atmospheric games could be.

 

7. Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 3DS

I had dabbled with the GC Animal Crossing and overlooked the DS entry, but for some reason this 3DS iteration felt like the right time to step in.  It was magic.  The series hallmark of it being real-time genuinely adds an extra dimension, as you strive to gather all the fish and bugs of any particular month.

 

8. Final Fight - Arcade

Probably the gold standard of beat-'em-ups.  It's tough, but you can actually master it.  Almost all good brawlers since owe it a huge debt, but I don't think any are quite as good.

 

9. Double Dragon - Arcade

Where it all began.  Nothing since has felt quite as fresh or exciting as Double Dragon, and unlike some coin-op classics, it does actually still hold up.  My young self desperately wanted to be as tough as the Lee brothers, and I've never quite been able to shake that!

 

10. Landstalker - Mega Drive

After A Link to the Past, I wanted more of the same.  Perhaps the isometric viewpoint hasn't held up too well, but it made the game extremely immersive at the time.  I'll never forget Nigel's trip to that mysterious island, and if I had to pick one title to encapsulate the magic of Sega's 16-bit console, I'd go with this one.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Grazza

[Ganepark32]

I've been mulling this over for a bit and trying to nail down the last of the top 10 has been a real pain as the list of great games has just exploded the more I've thought about it. Like others, on any other day the bottom half of the list could easily change. But think I've hit on my top 10, with a large number of honourable mentions. So here it is:

1. The Witcher 3 (PC, PS4, XBO) - To me, this game is as close to perfect as any game has come. It's not without faults and I can see where people have grievances with it, but the package as a whole, even without the expansions, is phenomenal. Superb world building, characters, writing, quests, everything. It's the gold standard that open world games should strive to achieve on so many aspects (some ironing of others wouldn' go amiss) and a perfect example of the reason why I play games. I find it hard to see how any other game will ever match it in quality.

2. Chrono Trigger (SNES, DS, PC, Mob) - One of my first JRPG experiences and one of my absolute favourites. It's not just made by a dream team of devs, it's virtually a dream game. Fantastic visuals and score, great battle system and a brilliant story with some moments that would rank up there as my favourites in gaming. I've played countless other JRPGs since and despite my love for the likes of Baten Kaitos and Tales of Symphonia, this wins out hands down.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, GameCube, 3DS) - What more is there to say other than that this is a truly fantastic and classic experience. It only just beats out Wind Waker and the Game boy colour games but it's still great to play even now.

4. Knights of the Old Republic (PC, Xbox, Mob) - I've never been a massive Star Wars fan but this totally hooked me from the first moment playing it and even now, it's something that I always itch to go back to. This was Bioware during it's golden era and it's a truly great game. Gutted we never got a proper resolution to the Revan storyline (What they did in The Old Republic didn't quite cut it for me) but that doesn't detract from what was an eye opening experience at the time and is still a joy to play.

5. Mass Effect 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - This is an unbelievably good game that more or less rounded off the golden era of Bioware (although I still think the third is a great game as well). It improved on the original in every single department and the story and characters are still some of my favourite in a game ever. Nostalgia may give KOTOR the nod above this but this is another game I could easily go back to over and over again.

6. Half Life 2 (PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3) - Again, another classic game where I have so many memories. The lack of a true ending to the episodes still stings though at this point, I'd rather they left it. The characters are again superb and the gamepay was so polished and still is now. Though we should never go there, a return trip to Ravenholme is a frequent one for me and reminds me just how fun the game is.

7. Metroid Prime (GameCube, Wii) - This is undoubtedly my favourite GameCube game. Fighting on that space station and then landing on Talos IV for the first time was insane. Seeing the water in your visor and just how immersive that world was lingers long in my memory. I haven't gone back to it as frequently as I should but jumping around that world, taking down enemies, scanning entries with the scan visor and learning about the deep history of the world was Retro Studios at its best I feel and certainly Nintendo at their best.

8. Portal (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) - The game that started off the first person puzzle genre, what started as a small project in the Half Life engine turned out to be a special experience. Fantastic puzzles centred around a great gameplay mechanic and a great narrative and adversary in Glados make this a memorable experience. Yes the sequel added far more to the game but the starting point for the series holds a special place in my heart.

9. Super Mario 64 (N64, DS) - Not much to say other than one of the greatest 3D platformers ever and still a joy to play now.

10. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast, PC, Xbox 360) - Not my first foray into fighting games but the one that stuck with me the most through the years. I have so many memories playing this against friends and against the CPU, beating Arcade mode in under a minute with Huang Sung (ring outs for the win) and trying everything to unlock Cervantes at a time when I didn't have the internet to help figure out how to do so. It's maybe been surpassed since it was released but this is a special game for me and I think it stands the test of time even now.

 

Honourable mentions: Bioshock, Halo Combat Evolved, Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, Okami, Beyond Good and Evil (if I went with my heart, this would be up there in the top 10 as I love this game), Super Mario Galaxy and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

[dan-likes-trees]

On 7/3/2018 at 12:16 PM, Ganepark32 said:

I've been mulling this over for a bit and trying to nail down the last of the top 10 has been a real pain as the list of great games has just exploded the more I've thought about it. Like others, on any other day the bottom half of the list could easily change. But think I've hit on my top 10, with a large number of honourable mentions. So here it is:

1. The Witcher 3 (PC, PS4, XBO) - To me, this game is as close to perfect as any game has come. It's not without faults and I can see where people have grievances with it, but the package as a whole, even without the expansions, is phenomenal. Superb world building, characters, writing, quests, everything. It's the gold standard that open world games should strive to achieve on so many aspects (some ironing of others wouldn' go amiss) and a perfect example of the reason why I play games. I find it hard to see how any other game will ever match it in quality.

2. Chrono Trigger (SNES, DS, PC, Mob) - One of my first JRPG experiences and one of my absolute favourites. It's not just made by a dream team of devs, it's virtually a dream game. Fantastic visuals and score, great battle system and a brilliant story with some moments that would rank up there as my favourites in gaming. I've played countless other JRPGs since and despite my love for the likes of Baten Kaitos and Tales of Symphonia, this wins out hands down.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, GameCube, 3DS) - What more is there to say other than that this is a truly fantastic and classic experience. It only just beats out Wind Waker and the Game boy colour games but it's still great to play even now.

4. Knights of the Old Republic (PC, Xbox, Mob) - I've never been a massive Star Wars fan but this totally hooked me from the first moment playing it and even now, it's something that I always itch to go back to. This was Bioware during it's golden era and it's a truly great game. Gutted we never got a proper resolution to the Revan storyline (What they did in The Old Republic didn't quite cut it for me) but that doesn't detract from what was an eye opening experience at the time and is still a joy to play.

5. Mass Effect 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - This is an unbelievably good game that more or less rounded off the golden era of Bioware (although I still think the third is a great game as well). It improved on the original in every single department and the story and characters are still some of my favourite in a game ever. Nostalgia may give KOTOR the nod above this but this is another game I could easily go back to over and over again.

6. Half Life 2 (PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3) - Again, another classic game where I have so many memories. The lack of a true ending to the episodes still stings though at this point, I'd rather they left it. The characters are again superb and the gamepay was so polished and still is now. Though we should never go there, a return trip to Ravenholme is a frequent one for me and reminds me just how fun the game is.

7. Metroid Prime (GameCube, Wii) - This is undoubtedly my favourite GameCube game. Fighting on that space station and then landing on Talos IV for the first time was insane. Seeing the water in your visor and just how immersive that world was lingers long in my memory. I haven't gone back to it as frequently as I should but jumping around that world, taking down enemies, scanning entries with the scan visor and learning about the deep history of the world was Retro Studios at its best I feel and certainly Nintendo at their best.

8. Portal (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) - The game that started off the first person puzzle genre, what started as a small project in the Half Life engine turned out to be a special experience. Fantastic puzzles centred around a great gameplay mechanic and a great narrative and adversary in Glados make this a memorable experience. Yes the sequel added far more to the game but the starting point for the series holds a special place in my heart.

9. Super Mario 64 (N64, DS) - Not much to say other than one of the greatest 3D platformers ever and still a joy to play now.

10. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast, PC, Xbox 360) - Not my first foray into fighting games but the one that stuck with me the most through the years. I have so many memories playing this against friends and against the CPU, beating Arcade mode in under a minute with Huang Sung (ring outs for the win) and trying everything to unlock Cervantes at a time when I didn't have the internet to help figure out how to do so. It's maybe been surpassed since it was released but this is a special game for me and I think it stands the test of time even now.

 

Honourable mentions: Bioshock, Halo Combat Evolved, Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, Okami, Beyond Good and Evil (if I went with my heart, this would be up there in the top 10 as I love this game), Super Mario Galaxy and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

I really need to get to Chrono Trigger and Half Life 2 considering how much of the rest of that list I luv. Wish I'd played KotOR at the time - playing it now the writing and worldbuilding is so so good but I succumbed to the janky gameplay about halfway through. Keep getting the urge to go back to it. And I feel the exact same as you about Beyond Good and Evil!

 

Going to extend this by a couple of weeks as lists are still trickling in (and I'm still to write mine up!). I'll maybe get it posted in the Nintendo board quite a few of those folk haven't posted, and set a deadline of say the 22nd July?

[Mr-Paul]

On 01/07/2018 at 1:32 PM, Jonnas said:

5. Little Big Adventure 2: A robust adventure game that predates Ocarina of Time, and one that's more dear to my heart. I love this world, I love the music, the silly bits, the weird bits... And I absolutely love it when we do something that we weren't supposed to do, but the game just continues anyway. It feels so much like a world, rather than just a simulation of one.

Just quoting to say absolute YES to this. Underrated classic. Love the first too. My best friend introduced it to me when I first got a PC, which was a year or two before I played a Zelda. Definitely will make my top 10, which I need to have a hard think about!

[bob]

I just went and checked my Nintendo only list in the other thread, and there are loads of inconsistencies. Should have checked it first, but never mind. Seeing as@Nicktendo is never going to finish the other countdown, the whole thread is trash anyway, and we can throw the whole thing away.

[dan-likes-trees]

Just realised I never posted mine! In time for the 'big deadline..'

1 - Witcher 3 - An astonishing, preposterous, unbelieveable videogame.  Such a well crafted world, such well written characters, ridiculous in it’s scale and in the quality of it’s DLC expansions. Beautiful art direction and weird moments, truely fleshed out locations, choices that play out tens of hours later. Gwent. Most importantly it has such a consistently vibrant sense of personality, humor and macabre that not been touched since. A true adventure.

2 - Journey - From a 100 hour game to a 2 hour game - exceptional art design, truely a unique experience and one unique to the medium. The experience of moving through the final moments with a stranger stayed with me like few other in games

3 - Last of Us - What I love about this game is how well the gameplay matches up with tone of the story - combat always felt convincingly scrappy, ad-hoc, desperate. The acting is top notch and that soundtrack..

4 - Ocarina of Time - First console game I played and for a long time, the best. Classic structure but an epic tale, packed with weird, creepy characters and series-best dungeons. Maybe the best soundtrack ever?

5 - Inside - Triumph of art direction, super memorable and super spooky. Some of the moments are the most mad and memorable I’ve seen in a game - the creepy underwater monsters, the amazing bits with the walls of sound. Marvellously inventive.

6 - Pokemon Red & Blue - I remember as an 8 year old huddling round a massive poster of all 150 pokes on the school field before the game was out, and planning our future teams. I’ve played it through a bunch of times over the years - it hasn’t aged, it’s the perfect length, a great roster of characters, and doesn’t have the same childishness or gross graphics of the later games. Arcanine, Alakazam and Raichu 

7 - Street Fighter 2 - The perfect fighting game; chess-like in it’s pace, great cast, great sfx, timeless. Memorably played the 2 player first to 100 wins with a friend in one sitting - the timer counts out at 99. Who knew?

8 - Fortnite - The nostalgia factor hasn’t kicked in but I’ve pilled up about 200 hours into this game and still every time I play something mad or unusual seems to happen, and teaming up online is a blast so it’s earned it’s place! The live evolving map is unlike anything I’ve played before, and it’s still tense AF in the last 5. Having jumped in day 1, chuffed to see what a success it’s become

9 - Age of Empires 2 - Warm memories of slamming this on the old windows 98 box for multi hour sessions. Ageless, still a great game, especially LAN

10 - What remains of Edith Finch - Completely bursting with ideas and emotion, gameplay and narrative ideas. Rams more into 4 hours than most 80 hour games manage. 

Notable exclusions - Walking Dead Season 1, Shadow of the Colossus, Diddy Kong Racing, N++, Beyond Good and Evil, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Timesplitter’s 2, countless others......

 

 

[killthenet]

 

1. The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64, 2000)

I was initially drawn in by Majora's Mask from tiny mysterious screenshots in Nintendo Official Magazine when it was known only as Zelda Gaiden, after having watched my brother play through Ocarina Of Time I could solidly call myself a fan of the series but it wasn't until Majora's Mask came out that I truly fell in love with The Legend Of Zelda. I appreciated the creepy atmosphere and music at the time but I was more impressed by the Groundhog Day style game mechanic of following the daily lives of the people of Termina - coupled with the time limit it made for an experience that was entirely unique to the artform. Playing it again as an adult I appreciate the sheer variety of gameplay offered by the various masks and my appreciation for the creepy atmosphere has only been enhanced in the intervening years. It is completely unlike any other entry in the series which only makes it more precious to me as the years go by, a real gem of a game that in my view pushes the medium forward in such interesting and fascinating ways that 18 years later still haven't been bettered.

2. Shenmue (Dreamcast, 2000)

Growing up I was staunchly a Nintendo gamer, stupidly anti-Playstation in my final years at primary school and through the first few years of secondary school but thankfully that bias didn't extend as strictly to Sega so when my cousin leant me his Dreamcast in about 2001 I was delighted to be able to try out this mysterious game called Shenmue. Being used to playing exclusively Nintendo 64 games I was absolutely floored by the the opening cinematic and just how real everything looked, unfortunately my cousin didn't lend me his Dreamcast for too long so I couldn't get too far but the little I had played had got me hooked. A few years later a friend of mine was getting rid of his Dreamcast and so I jumped at the chance to own one and finally get to play that incredible Japanese game I'd had a little taste of. The cutscenes weren't as impressive as they had been previously but the atmosphere and the narrative proved to be more substantial that I could have hoped for, the couple of weeks I spent playing through it late at night are among my most treasured gaming memories and the HD remaster releasing next month is one of my most anticipated games of the year. I can't wait to fall in love with Nozomi all over again.

3. Shadow Of The Colossus (Playstation 2, 2006)

Another game I admired from afar when it first came out but didn't get around to playing until fairly recently. I had always wanted to play it but my brother cruelly snatched away our jointly owned PS2 when he moved in with his girlfriend so I was left without the opportunity to play the follow up to Ico until I bought a PS3 a couple of years ago and picked up the HD remaster. It’s probably a good thing that I was forced to wait, by all accounts the PS2 original has a few performance issues because it pushed the console to its limits so I probably had a better experience playing it on PS3 than I would have done playing it in 2006 but I kind of regret not being able to experience the majestic battles when they were brand new. The colossi are still as awe inspiring to me as they were when I first saw screenshots of the game and the soundtrack is right up there as one of my favourites in any medium, I have yet to play the 2018 remake, I was apprehensive that it wouldn’t capture the magic of the original, but after it’s positive reception I really look forward to experiencing it again when I get around to buying it.

4. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo DS, 2006)

I remember being really excited to play a life simulator called Animal Forest on the N64 after reading about it in NOM but it was towards the end of the consoles life so it never got a release outside of Japan so I was really keen to import the Gamecube port renamed Animal Crossing. My Mum’s friend went to America to visit family a couple of times a year and in pre-online ordering times it seemed to be the only way to be able to import games from the USA. We got it in early 2003 and I played it a lot but being confined to just playing it on TV definitely got in the way of my enjoyment so when it a  full on sequel was announced for the Nintendo DS I knew right away that I was going to love it. In Europe we faced another long wait for it to come out so as soon as it released in the USA I imported a copy and the cartridge hardly left my DS over the next couple of years. I must have played it for a significant amount of time every single day for two years, if only the DS had an activity log I’m sure it would say I’d played Wild World for hundreds if not thousands of hours and kickstarted my obsession with the world and characters of Animal Crossing.

5. The Last Guardian (Playstation 4, 2016)

Games that spend 7 years in development hell don’t generally turn out well if they even get released but under the stewardship of Fumito Ueda and the rest of Team ICO the development problems aren’t noticeable in the final product. Unfolding like a combination of Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus, The Last Guardian features one of the most convincing relationships in the medium and coupled with the wonderful score and art direction made for one of the most enthralling (and heartbreaking) gaming experiences I’ve ever had.

6. Kuru Kuru Kururin (Gameboy Advance, 2001)

I think you’d struggle to come up with many better launch titles than Kuru Kuru Kururin. I don’t know why me and my brother were so excited for it that we insisted on getting it when the GBA launched but our faith was very quickly repaid. We spent hours on holiday in Spain that summer bettering each others time trial records, so much so that we started to get the Tetris effect - seeing little helicopters flying about over window sills, squeezing through any little gaps in our peripheral vision. Unfortunately the cartridge got lost along with a tonne of our other GBA games and so for years I checked the attic and the depths of our bedroom cupboards for it but had no luck, the games have still never been found. As soon as I saw it had come out on the Wii U virtual console I bought it immediately and was transported back to the summer of 2001, replete with the dangerous addiction to bettering every time trial record.

7. Pokémon Silver (Gameboy Colour, 2001)

I didn’t really engage with the gaming side of the Pokemon brand until the release of Pokemon Gold and Silver. I had of course been obsessed with the anime and the trading card game and at the behest of my friends I downloaded a very buggy ROM of the Japanese release of Silver onto my parents PC and played the opening moments but because of the language barrier I didn’t get very far. I watched over my brothers shoulder as he devoured Pokemon Yellow the year before but I didn’t catch the bug until I started my own Pokemon adventure when Silver came out. It was the first RPG I’d ever played, probably the first game that I ever actually completed and my mind was well and truly blown when Johto gave way to Kanto at the end of what turned out to be just the first half of the game. It turned out that I needn’t have worried about not playing Pokemon Red, Blue or Yellow as I got to experience the adventure in this wonderful videogame.

8. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS, 2006)

If there were an activity log on the Nintendo DS this would have been the only game to outdo the time I spent with Animal Crossing. I was at college when Mario Kart DS came out and my best friends both had DS’s so our lunch breaks were often spent cutting each other up with shells, ink and bananas. Outside of the hours and hours of multiplayer I played with my friends there were almost as many hours spent trying to attain perfect runs on every grand prix, working my way through the meaty and difficult challenges and battling the staff ghosts and my friends trying to beat the fastest times on every track. It will take something special to replace this as my favourite Mario Kart.

9. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Playstation 2, 2005)

For years I wrote off the Metal Gear Solid series. The first entry on Playstation looked like it it was far too concerned with telling a cinema like story to be an engaging video game. We had a PS2 when MGS2 came out and my brother brought into the hype and picked it up on launch, only to return it the following day because he was nonplussed by the opening tanker sequence. I barely gave the series a second glance over the next decade or so, it wasn’t until I fell in love with The Final Bosman that I started to reassess my preconceived notions about this poorly titled Japanese curio. When I got my PS3 I decided to play through MGS1, just to see what it was like and despite irritations with the controls and gameplay I really enjoyed it, perversely pulled through by the story and the characters, so I played MGS2 and I enjoyed that too, perhaps more because of the better controls and incredible boss fights but when I played MGS3 I began to really appreciate the series and its creator Hideo Kojima. The zenith of the franchise, where the balance between wonderful storytelling and inventive gameplay was almost perfect, building masterfully to an emotional climax that I will remember for the rest of my life.

10. Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64, 2000)

It’s difficult to pinpoint the moment I learned about hype. I think I had a taste of it with the release of Star Wing on the Super Nintendo, but it was more second hand excitement feeding off my brothers ravenous desire for this crazy 3D shooting game. I probably had bouts of hype in the years between Star Wing and Perfect Dark but Perfect Dark was the first game that I was properly anticipating. I read every snippet of news, every preview in NOM - I was obsessed with Rare and NOM seemed to be too. The game came out at the end of June, it was my 13th birthday a couple of weeks later in the middle of July but I couldn’t wait. I knew my Mum was buying me it for my birthday so I snuck into her room when she was out and found it, opening it and playing it without her knowing, sneaking it back into her cupboard after every enthralling session playing it. Somehow she never found out and was quite shocked recently when I told her that I continued this sneaky practice with other highly anticipated games before Christmas and Birthdays. When I finally got the game legitimately I devoted what seems like every waking hour to it, the single player was engrossing but the multiplayer, with the advent of AI controlled ‘simulants’ was a revelation. I must have spent hundreds of hours experimenting with the wide variety of weapons the best way to kill them. I haven’t revisited Perfect Dark much since but the game left an indelible mark on my childhood and even if I were to come to the conclusion that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be back then, it still deserves a place in a list of my favourite games because of just how obsessed with Rareware’s original spy creation I was.

Honourable Mentions: F-Zero X; 1080 Snowboarding; WWF No Mercy; Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3; The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker;  Resident Evil 4; Super Mario Galaxy; Football Manager 2012; Dark Souls; The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword; Life Is Strange; The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild & Super Mario Odyssey because it’s a bit too soon for either of them.

Kind of surprising to me that there is no Mario game in there, Odyssey will probably get in if I did the list again in a few years but right now it seems too recent - if I did a top 20 though I'm sure there'd be a few mainline Mario games in there. 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by killthenet

[Fierce_LiNk]

10 minutes ago, killthenet said:

 

1. The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64, 2000)

2. Shenmue (Dreamcast, 2000)

3. Shadow Of The Colossus (Playstation 2, 2006) 

4. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo DS, 2006)

5. The Last Guardian (Playstation 4, 2016)

6. Kuru Kuru Kururin (Gameboy Advance, 2001)

7. Pokémon Silver (Gameboy Colour, 2001)

8. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo DS, 2006)

9. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Playstation 2, 2005)

10. Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64, 2000)

Kind of surprising to me that there is no Mario game in there, Odyssey will probably get in if I did the list again in a few years but right now it seems too recent - if I did a top 20 though I'm sure there'd be a few mainline Mario games in there. 

 

Great list. Mario Kart DS is obviously the best Mario Kart game and it completely shits all over the Wii game. The Last Guardian is a great pick, too. I adore that game and also love Ico. We name our cat Ico.  

As for the lack of Mario games, I almost put Super Mario Bros. 3 in my list and was close to also including Super Mario Sunshine, which I preferred to SM64.  

Perfect Dark almost snuck into my list too, but Overwatch pushed it out. 

[Shorty]

1. Majora's Mask
2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
3. Super Mario Bros. 3
4. Final Fantasy VII
5. Metroid Prime
6. Persona 4 Golden
7. Pokemon Red/Blue
8. Mass Effect
9. Resident Evil 4
10. Banjo Kazooie

Honourable mentions to Destiny, City of Heroes, Minecraft, Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Portal, Overwatch, Sonic 2, Mario 64 and Galaxy, Command and Conquer Red Alert, Perfect Dark, The Last of Us, Uncharted 2, Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, Breath of the Wild, THPS2, Metal Gear Solid, Halo 3, Gears of War, Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, SSX 3, Arkham Asylum... could you make this a top 50?

[dan-likes-trees]

22 hours ago, Shorty said:

Honourable mentions to Destiny, City of Heroes, Minecraft, Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Portal, Overwatch, Sonic 2, Mario 64 and Galaxy, Command and Conquer Red Alert, Perfect Dark, The Last of Us, Uncharted 2, Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, Breath of the Wild, THPS2, Metal Gear Solid, Halo 3, Gears of War, Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, SSX 3, Arkham Asylum... could you make this a top 50?

 

Hah, yeah it's pretty hard whittling it down eh! Nice list - Banjo and Resi 4 were on the brink of sneaking into mine..

Just a shoutout to some forum names off the top of my head who've not posted a list that might want to have their say before the deadline at the end of the weekend..

@Hero-of-Time@Dcubed@drahkon @Eenuh @MoogleViper @Glen-i @RedShell @Mr-Paul @Kav @Jonnas @Mandalore @dazzybee @Ashley @Julius Caesar @Rummy @DuD @Rummy @Choze

Apologies to the many i've missed off! And to anyone in there who's already posted!

Edited July 21, 2018 by dan-likes-trees
formating

[Glen-i]

First page, dude.

Thanks for thinking of me though.

[bob]

Don't forget to tag@Rummy!

[Happenstance]

I hate it when people forget to tag @Rummy

[Glen-i]

It's weird, isn't it? How could you forget when tagging @Rummy is so much fun!

[Jonnas]

Yeah, how could you forget @Rummy? He's a top 3 speedrunner of Metallic Madness Act 1 using Ray the Squirrel while sleeping.

[MoogleViper]

1. Shenmue

2. Final fantasy VIII

3. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

4. Kingdom Hearts

5. Yakuzi

6. Okami

7. The Secret of Monkey Island

8. Super Mario 64

9. Fable 2

10. Oblivion (I actually think Skyrim and Fallout 3 onwards are better, but this game started it all)

 

 

[Eenuh]

As many have said, it is quite difficult to narrow it down to 10 games, because there have been so many great games over the last few decades! I think a lot of my picks will be due to good memories/nostalgia, but that's usually how these lists go I guess.

1. The Witcher 3 (PS4)
   This game just blew me away in terms of scale, graphics, storytelling, characters... It is an amazing game that just keeps offering something new with every road you follow, every corner you turn. The views in this were breathtaking as well. I spent so many hours on this game, finishing very sidequest, finding all the Gwent cards, going to every question mark for the treasure there... Loved it.
    
2. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
   Now for the longest time this was my top game ever (often switching places with OoT, as I rate them similarly). MM was a great sequel to OoT, using the same characters but putting them in this dark and twisted alternate dimension. It had such a great atmosphere, and that looming moon overhead really did freak me out. I think they really nailed it in this game in terms of character development and storylines. The Anju & Kafei quest was just great, getting to swim through the water as a Zora, or roll around the field as a Goron... Or defeating enemies as Fierce Deity Link, it all felt fun and new and exciting.
    
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
   This is the game that got me into the Zelda series and properly into videogames altogether I think. I had been playing games before that of course, but this one felt like something completely different to the other games that were out there. I had also played some of Link's Awakening before this but didn't realise it was part of a game series (no internet and no video game magazines yet at that point). I spent ages at the start just going through the Kokiri village and the Lost Woods, thinking that this game felt huge... and then I ended up in Hyrule field and was blown away by the size of it all haha. It's nothing compared to games of today, but at the time it felt huge. As with many, this game defined gaming for me, it had everything: good graphics, great storyline, memorable characters, fun gameplay, an amazing soundtrack.
    
4. Bloodborne (PS4)
   So this game was my first experience with the Souls type of games... and it was a very frustrating experience at the start! I had seen @Fierce_LiNk play through this and struggle at the start so thought I knew what I was getting into, but I still wasn't prepared for it! I almost gave up at the start, but persevered and in the end this game is one of the few games I've got a Platinum trophy for. The monsters and bosses in this are scary and deadly, the whole Victorian gothic style looks amazing too. It's a creepy game, but I loved all of it.
    
5. Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (PC)
   This game might be a weird one to put on a top 10 list, but I absolutely love(d) Rollercoaster Tycoon. I spent so many hours building my theme parks and designing rides, and this second game in the series just perfected what was already there in the first one. I recently installed it again on my laptop and I had just as much fun going through it now as I had back then.
    
6. Overwatch (PS4)
   Overwatch has been one of my first online shooter experiences (apart from Star Wars Battlefront). I've sunk in over 400 hours on the game (I have no life) and am still not tired of it. They keep adding maps and heroes to the game which keeps it interesting. It's just a very fun game and I love playing it. I imagine I'll still be playing it for a while to come too.
    
7. Age of Empires 3 (PC)
   God I spent so many hours on this game too! I played it loads as a student, often playing well into the night. The skirmish games were just fun, and I enjoyed creating a base and slowly building up my army. It just felt very satisfying to beat your enemy with your massive army haha. 
    
8. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA)
   This game and the previous GBA one got me into the series, which I absolutely love. I've not really ventured into the latest ones due to a lack of time (and fading interest in handheld gaming), but I loved all the other games I played. I seem to have a thing for tactical games, and this one was different in that your characters can actually die. It brings a new level of play to the game, making you more cautious about your next move.
    
9. Super Smash Bros. Melee
   I think that this one and Brawl are my favourites in the series. The pacing and characters in it are perfect, and I had a lot of fun playing it. I also got to play it with other people at the time (rare for me as my family is not into gaming), so it meant I got to enjoy it more than for example the N64 one. Still a fun fighting game and a must have for any Nintendo fan.
    
10. Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS)
    Again a tactical game, I really enjoy them. The Advance Wars series made war seem fun heh. It's sort of like an advanced chess game, where you have to plan out the next few moves in your head, and try to think what the enemy might do. I really loved it and wish they would make a new game in the series, but it seems they are only focusing on Fire Emblem these days.

Honourable mentions:

Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Galaxy, Golden Sun, Tetris, Horizon, The Last Guardian, Journey, Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, Kirby's Dreamland...

Edited July 21, 2018 by Eenuh

[bob]

 

Age of Empires 4 (PC)
God I spent so many hours on this game too! I played it loads as a student, often playing well into the night. The skirmish games were just fun, and I enjoyed creating a base and slowly building up my army. It just felt very satisfying to beat your enemy with your massive army haha. 

I know it's not explicitly stated in the rules, but I didn't think we were allowed games that haven't been released yet.

[Eenuh]

15 minutes ago, bob said:

 

 

I know it's not explicitly stated in the rules, but I didn't think we were allowed games that haven't been released yet.

Haha thanks, I fixed it now.

[Ike]

Not in any order:

• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst
• Fire Emblem: Blazing Blade
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
• Pokemon Red/Blue
• Animal Crossing: Wild World
• Wario Ware Twisted
• Metroid: Zero Mission
• Ys I & II Chronicles

[Ashley]

I'm terrible at deciding favourites, except for @Rummy who is of course my favourite person named after alcohol. 

[Glen-i]

14 minutes ago, Ashley said:

I'm terrible at deciding favourites, except for @Rummy who is of course my favourite person named after alcohol. 

Ahem!

But sure, you go ahead and kiss up to @Rummy

Edited July 21, 2018 by Glen-i

[Fierce_LiNk]

31 minutes ago, Ashley said:

I'm terrible at deciding favourites, except for @Rummy who is of course my favourite person named after alcohol. 

But...but...

[Ashley]

29 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Ahem!

But sure, you go ahead and kiss up to @Rummy

8 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

But...but...

We both know you weren't originally called Jim.