Lurker > Bartzyx

Don't Die, Mr. Robot! (PS4)

This was a free game at some point, and I downloaded it just to see what it is. I ended up playing it all the way through. It's a silly little bullet hell like game, where you control a little avatar and try to dodge enemies as long as possible. The stages have items you can pick up to create small explosions that clear enemies away. There's really not much to it, except that there are 50 challenges that can be played for trophies. Each one has a unique constraint or goal. It did not take very long to do them all, and most of them were enjoyable. There is a significant amount of luck for some of them, and one in particular required incredible precision while also being very luck-based and that one took my maybe as long as most of the others combined.

It was fun for being free, a very simple game. I think it was a VITA game which makes sense.

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

oh it's Wigs favorite game

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

Hunter's Arena: Legends (PS4)

You can't really beat this game as it's an online battle royale, but I got the platinum trophy which is the closest thing to it, I guess.

It's a battle royale game that has elements from fighters and mobas. There are over a dozen characters that are basically a bunch of Asian tropes (monkey, ninja, assassin, etc.) and each have unique attacks and abilities. Each one has 4 abilities that can be used off cooldown, and an ultimate power that is unlocked during the match. Starting at level 1, you fight mobs or other players to gain levels and collect stronger equipment. You use a mix of normal and heavy attacks, blocks, and dodges, which is a pretty simple system but hard to master. Each match is over when only one player or team is left alive.

There is a single map that seems very large at first, but after playing enough it starts to feel pretty small. I put in probably 30 hours or so for the platinum, and I was basically done with it at that point. I had a good time but did not feel like there was any reason to still play it at that point. There are some balance issues and probably the biggest problem is that fighting other players near the beginning is downright detrimental to your chances of winning. The game should have better rewards for taking on human players instead of just looting chests or fighting mobs. But maybe they will iron out these issues down the line. It's a game that has some promise, but I'm not sure if it will get the player base necessary to succeed.

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Round 2 vs Nichols
Go Dennison!

Apotheon (PS4)

This game would be good if it was not so damn glitchy. It has a unique ascetic which is neat and the 2D action gameplay is pretty fun, but I was unable to 100% it because of its problems. Sidequest items randomly fail to appear in the world, and inexplicably, treasure chests can be inadvertently disturbed by enemies or the player, which can cause them to move outside of the field of play permanently. One chest was knocked off a cliff and I could not access it after that.

The game was still beatable, but the problems left a sour taste in my mouth that never really left. I am pretty sure I got it for free at some point so at least I didn't waste money on it. It was not too long either. It had enough good moments that I do not feel like I wasted my time, either. Just disappointed.

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At least your mother tipped well

Darksiders 3 (PS4)

It's not a great game, but it's pretty good. The PS4 version has sundry technical issues that prevent me from recommending that version, though. By the end of the game, the crashes, stuttering, long load times, and glitches were all enough to make me glad that I was done with it.

I had the end of the game twist spoiled for me, but that's OK because the story is very much an afterthought in this game. The gameplay is what makes this one worth playing. I have a hard time with the slow and deliberate way the Dark Souls games play, so Darksiders 3 is a nice marriage of the action combat of the earlier games and the design of Dark Souls. It's definitely not as hard, and I am OK with that. The combat is just mashy enough to be what I'm looking for, and still rewards you for memorizing the enemy paterns and doing perfect dodges.

The game starts off pretty difficult but gets easier and easier as the game goes on. I used my crystals very sparingly and was underleveled as a result, but still had little trouble. By the time I got to the final bosses, I popped all my crystals and gained 30 levels, which was enough to just steamroll everything.

Also did 100% of the collectables without a guide, which was refreshing. Nothing felt like it was unfairly hidden away, as long as you explore each room thoroughly. I thought the area design in this game was exceptional, but you can tell that it's a limited-budget game. Lots of reused assets everywhere.

There's a NG+ mode that seems to have some depth, but I am pretty sure that I am done, at least for a while.

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At least your mother tipped well

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At least your mother tipped well

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At least your mother tipped well

Still have 48 more games to go until everyone gets to the top 10! We can do it.

#1 Super Mario Odyssey: 1582 (=)
#2 Super Smash Bros. Melee: 1168 (+2)
#3 Borderlands 2: 1043 (+13)
#4 Mario Kart 8: 913 (-2)
#5 Pokemon RBY: 903 (-2)
#5 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: 903 (+23)
#7 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: 877 (+19)
#8 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 845 (-3)
#9 Super Mario 3D World: 839 (-3)
#10 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 834 (-3)
#11 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 811 (-3)
#12 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: 793 (+19)
#13 Final Fantasy X: 786 (+40)
#14 Final Fantasy Tactics: 772 (+43)
#15 Chrono Trigger: 769 (-6)
#16 The Last of Us: 760 (+446)
#17 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: 741 (+56)
#18 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: 735 (+49)
#19 Kirby Super Star Ultra: 724 (-9)
#20 Final Fantasy VI: 713 (-9)
#21 Virtue's Last Reward: 698 (-9)
#22 Yoshi's Island: 690 (+29)
#23 Super Mario 64: 688 (+40)
#24 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice: 674 (-11)
#25 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations: 649 (-11)
#26 Rock Band 2: 647 (-11)
#27 Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal: 600 (+131)
#28 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: 594 (-11)
#29 Jackbox Party Pack: 580 (-11)
#30 Elite Beat Agents: 577 (-11)
#31 Bioshock: 575 (-11)
#32 Valkyria Chronicles: 567 (-11)
#33 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: 550 (-11)
#34 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: 547 (-11)
#35 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: 546 (+211)
#36 Chrono Cross: 541 (-12)
#37 Dance Dance Revolution: 540 (-12)
#38 Metroid: Zero Mission: 530 (+186)
#39 Mario Party 2: 527 (-12)
#40 Mega Man X: 519 (-12)
#41 Metroid Prime: 512 (+250)
#42 Portal 2: 510 (+37)
#43 Earthbound: 497 (-13)
#44 RollerCoaster Tycoon: 497 (+135)
#45 Sonic Adventure 2: 483 (+244)
#46 Mega Man 9: 480 (+247)
#47 Banjo-Kazooie: 479 (-15)
#48 Super Mario RPG: 467 (+383)
#49 Final Fantasy IV: 466 (-16)
#49 Metroid Fusion: 466 (-16)
#51 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 462 (-16)
#52 Horizon Zero Dawn: 458 (-16)
#53 Super Monkey Ball 2: 457 (-16)
#54 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception: 456 (-16)
#54 Diddy Kong Racing: 456 (-16)
#56 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: 455 (-16)
#57 SSX 3: 454 (+351)
#58 Super Mario World: 444 (-17)
#59 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: 443 (-17)
#59 Pokemon GSC: 443 (-17)
#61 Final Fantasy VII Remake: 442 (-17)
#62 Mario Tennis: 441 (-17)
#63 Advance Wars: Dual Strike: 435 (-17)
#63 Castlevania III: 435 (-17)
#65 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 431 (-17)
#66 Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland: 426 (-17)
#67 Pop'n Music: 425 (+368)
#68 Super Mario Bros.: 419 (-18)
#69 Star Fox 64: 409 (+509)
#70 Fallout 3: 408 (-18)
#70 Radiant Historia: 408 (+514)
#72 Mario Golf (N64): 403 (-18)
#73 Mega Man 3: 398 (-18)
#74 Super Castlevania IV: 395 (+421)
#75 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: 392 (-19)
#76 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: 390 (-18)
#76 Mass Effect 2: 390 (NEW)
#76 Muv-Luv Alternative: 390 (NEW)
#79 Portal: 385 (+105)
#80 Dissidia: Final Fantasy: 380 (-21)
#80 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: 380 (NEW)
#80 Gemfire: 380 (NEW)
#83 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time: 372 (-23)
#84 Super Mario Kart: 370 (-23)
#84 Sengoku Basara 3: 370 (NEW)
#84 SimCity 2000: 370 (NEW)
#84 La-Mulana 2: 370 (NEW)

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At least your mother tipped well

#11 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Microsoft Windows, 2000)

If this was a ranking of best soundtrack, I think #11 would be too low for this game. And, considering the game as a whole, it's hard to believe that this did not make my top ten. But at least I got it right to the precipice.



It is really a bit of a wonder that I got into this series. As a kid, I had little interest in skateboarding or other extreme sports. My parents bought me a skateboard for Christmas when I was few years younger, and almost immediately my sister "borrowed" it and left it out to be stolen, so I never really had the chance to decide if it was for me. But one day, I went to my friend's house, and he was playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the N64. And I watched him play. And it looked fun. Then I played it. And it was fun!

We played a lot of the first game, but then the second game came out and was included on a PC Gamer demo disk. I played the shit out of that demo, and we quickly picked up the full game. Oh man, what a game. I spoke briefly to the soundtrack already. The first game was good, THPS2 is perfect in that respect. An incredible and iconic mix of music that defines skateboarding to me, it introduced me to many artists that became mainstays of my music collection for life. The levels are bigger and better than before, each with their own secrets that felt magical to unlock and use.

The scoring system got a bit more complicated with the addition of the manual, and this opened up the game a lot. It's fun to rack up points. THPS is more about the points than the skateboarding, really. The constant grind to get new high scores is incredibly addicting. I put in dozens and dozens of hours for this game, and I think I did and unlocked everything. And then I moved on to something else. But this game is still one of my favorites and the time I spent on it will always be something I cherish.

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At least your mother tipped well

#12 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Playstation 2, 2002)

Why is Vice City my favorite Grand Theft Auto game? The setting has a lot to do with it. 1980s "Miami" is one of the most 80s things out there, and I have a ton of nostalgia for the 80s. Vice City improves on Grand Theft Auto 3 in practically every way, and delivers a relatively focused and fun experience.



After the success of GTA3, Rockstar kind of went all-out for the follow-up. The basic engine is the same, but a higher level of care is immediately evident. They set up an actual story with distinct characters, brought in professional voice actors, and extended the length significantly. There are a greater variety of missions, the map is bigger, more vehicles, weapons, and so on. It's all very similar to my praise for San Andreas, but like I said, I can appreciate the setting a lot more.

Even in all its blocky Playstation 2 glory, I can appreciate how Vice City looks. The color palette, the buildings, it's all so very evocative. Rockstar splurged with a fantastic licensed soundtrack that defined how this type of game would do music going forward.

Now, here's a game that if they remade it, or made a new GTA game with its setting, well... I would go for that so hard. But until they do, Vice City is still a great experience that never gets old for me. I played it to 100% and then some and, if I had the time, would do it all over again.

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At least your mother tipped well

#13 Final Fantasy Tactics (Playstation, 1998)

I enjoy tactics and strategy games, and I also enjoy job systems. So Final Fantasy Tactics is a match made in heaven for me. And unlike Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, there are only a few l i t t l e. f l a w s. that counter the shining aspects of this game.



The game starts off in medias res, with an exciting and easy battle, that shows you some of the character abilities and gives you a feel for everything. After teasing you, it takes you back in time to the first chapter, which serves as an extended tutorial. This first chapter is pretty unforgiving, though. You have to quickly get the hang of the job system or you won't have much of a chance. The beginning jobs are very weak and the only way to make it through the early going is to aggressively move your characters into stronger jobs. Hard to do if you don't like making decisions, and I think this initial difficulty has thrown a ton of people off of the game.



The battles are on a 3D isometric grid and involve small skirmishes between a small subset of your party and a handful of enemies. Some are dictated by the story, but there are also random battles against monsters that you can use to grind if the next story mission is too hard. There are a wide variety of abilities to use, and throughout the game you will recruit story characters with their own unique skills. Some are a little too skilled, Orlandu.

The story is deep and engrossing, although the translation for the Playstation version is very very rough and inconsistent. The PSP version is told much better, if you don't mind the flowery Elizabethan English dialogue. Final Fantasy Tactics is presented as a historian telling of a war, although in typical Final Fantasy style, it verges to supernatural apocalyptic silliness by the end. But the characters are great, and Ramza and Delita's rivalry is one of the better Final Fantasy narratives.



What makes this game stand out for me, other than its very concept, is the endless replayability of it. There are so many ways to play, whether you want to just use the story characters, random recruits, captured monsters, and then all of the class combinations and possibilities. I don't know if I would ever get tired of this game if it was the only one left for the rest of my life. It's truly a special one.

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At least your mother tipped well

#14 SimCity 2000 (Microsoft Windows, 1995)

I'm kind of a creative person, but I also don't really have much artistic talent. I did like to play with LEGOs as a kid though. I liked to build things. SimCity lets you build things.



SimCity 2000 was a wonderful improvement over the first game and I think really delivered on the vision of making a city. All the changes to city-building provide flexibility and opportunities for creativity that were just not possible before. But it's also a game; it would not be nearly the same without the game elements, just like Minecraft is rather boring in the free-form creative mode (not sure if that made it to the finished game?). You have to play by the rules and make your city right or you'll run out of money. Unfortunately, the easiest way to do that is to make your city super homogeneous and boring, which sucks. It's important to find the right balance between playing the game and also being creative about it.



I was thinking about SimCity 2000 during the weekend when looking at the games I had left on my list, and on a whim decided to install it again to see if it still was magical for me in 2021. I think I ended up putting in around 10 hours between then and now, and it is still as addicting now as it was back then. Maybe even more so with what I know about real urban planning concepts as an adult. In those hours I was able to grow a somewhat realistic-looking city, as opposed to just mindlessly plopping down a grid trying to "win" the game. It's really neat that there are both sides to the game, depending on what interests you more.



Of course, it is very old now and I'm told that more recent games like Cities: Skylines have really changed things. I haven't given any a try, because no real reason. I guess maybe I'm intimidated? I don't know. SimCity 2000 is rather simple and it suits me.

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At least your mother tipped well

#15 Star Fox 64 (Nintendo 64, 1997)



Since the first time that I played it, I think Star Fox 64 has been one of the most constant games on my list of favorites. It was incredible when I experienced it first not long after its release, and time has only made me grow fonder of it.

It's one of those games that is so easy to pick up and play, and doesn't take too long to finish. Like Wing Commander, the branching mission path can make each playthrough a little different and helps a ton with making the game replayable. The characters are charming and endlessly quotable, and it looks and sounds great still despite the N64's limitations. The really smooth arcade gameplay still holds up well.



I do not know why this game is so timeless to me, as I never was able to get into any later games in the series. Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it was just a random gold strike for Nintendo. I don't need another Star Fox game, because I'm always happy to come back to this one.

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At least your mother tipped well

#16 The Last of Us (Playstation 3, 2013)

The Last of Us was the first game to ditch the "one series per console" rhythm that Naughty Dog had going, and they ended the PS3 era with a pretty big bang. This one was probably the studio's most ambitious title ever; it remained a third person action adventure like all its prior games, but is completely different in terms of style and subject matter. While everything up to that point maintained a light-hearted and upbeat tone, The Last of Us is the oppositeone of the grittiest and most mature games of the PS3.



I am not saying that is what makes it great or deserving of a spot on the list, but the fact that they pulled off such a complete change of style successfully is remarkable. The Last of Us is a very serious game with a serious story, and it turned out to be one of the best and most engaging stories ever to be found in a video game. Joel and Ellie are a great duo, and they form a legitimately touching relationship that felt real. I guess I really have a thing for those father-daughter relationships, based on how much the Bioshock games also touched me.

It's a gorgeous game. Even in the twisted and disgusting enemy creatures that inhabit the land, there is an amazing amount of detail. The varied landscapes and seasons that are presented all feel lifelike and immersive. The acting is all spot-on, and every major character you meet has the same amount of thought put into them as the main duo.



Of course, it would not make so high on my list if it also was not a blast to play. Instead of the high-octane, guns blazing style that Uncharted embraced, The Last of Us gives you something a lot more thoughtful and carefully-paced. There are often long sections of quiet between deadly encounters, and each area gives plenty of options for how to address the conflict. Sometimes, conflict can be avoided altogether. There are many survival horror elements to the gameplaynot surprising, given its settingsuch as ammo conservation and crafting. You will very gradually upgrade Joel's abilities during the game, although nothing that will really be game-changing.

As Wigs said, the ending of the game is divisive. Which I think is another major credit to the game. You end up caring about the characters so much that what they end up doing at the climax is capable of disturbing your sensibilities. Personally I liked the way that it ended; not that I think what happened was good or right necessarily, but it's a fucked-up game set in a fucked-up world, and I think the ending is true to the characters and to the story, whether you like it or not. And that kind of embodies what I love about The Last of Us after all; the creators took some chances to make a new kind of game that plays its own way and tells its own story. It turned out to be very fresh and innovative and one of the best games ever made.

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At least your mother tipped well

#17 Wing Commander (MS-DOS, 1990)

Wing Commander is the game that kickstarted the space simulation craze of the early to mid-ninties. Yes, it was not the first in the genre, but it had a depth and level of production that blew away anything else that had come before it.



Wing Commander is fairly direct and simple in its format. As a space fighter pilot stationed on a strike carrier deep in outer space, you play through a series of missions, with opportunities between each mission to chat with the other multicultural pilots and crew. Each mission starts with a briefing that advances the plot and outlines the objectives, and ends with a debriefing outlining your accomplishments, or lack thereof. What was unique for its time is the branching storyas long as you come back from each mission alive, the story will continue whether you accomplish your objectives or not. Throughout the game, occasional cutscenes show the consequences of your successes or failures. Continued failure will make the plight of the carrier more desperate, but until the end of the game, it's never too late to turn things around and find a path to victory. Ultimately, the campaign will end victorious if you play well, or in forced retreat if you do not.



Another dynamic element in the game is the wingmate system. Throughout the game you will be paired with a specific wingmate, who you can communicate with during missions and issue orders to. It's your responsibility to keep them out of trouble; if you leave them hanging, they are likely to die. Like anything else short of your own death, that doesn't stop the game, but it does make the carrier a little emptier and gives you fewer opportunities to get flavor from them between missions. And of course, any mission without a wingmate will be tougher.

My first memories of this game were watching my dad play it when I was very little. He was just awful at the game, and consistently would get the bad ending. I think he gave up after a few playthroughs, but I picked the game up afterward and managed to beat it successfully. I later moved on to other space sims like the X-Wing series, which focused more on space combat than the cinematic and storytelling aspects that the Wing Commander series became known for. Have to give credit to this game though, because it is the reason that all the later games exist, and it still holds up well considering when it came out and how rudimentary it is now. No doubt though that it was completely revolutionary when it was released, and playing through it is one of my favorite video game memories.



The game had two expansions that came out shortly afterward. They both ditch the open-ended structure for more focused, story-driven campaigns, but your save file carries over, including any accomplishments or character deaths. Both were very challenging and added a lot of extra value to the game.

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At least your mother tipped well

#18 Bioshock Infinite (Playstation 3, 2013)

I really love all three Bioshock games, and while I felt good about the order that I ended up ranking them in, I think that all of them stood a good chance to be my favorite. But there is an evolution of the series through each entry, and the Bioshock formula is markedly improved each time.



The major improvements with Bioshock Infinite are in terms of the characters and setting. Booker Dewitt is the first player character in the series to speak or have any sort of personality, which makes the story more flavorful, if slightly less personal. Elizabeth coming into the picture somewhat early on gives Booker someone to bounce off of throughout the game, which is welcome. Like Bioshock 2, their relationship is really the core of the game, and as much as I give Bioshock 2 credit in that area, Infinite pulls it off even better. Even though Booker has a personality, I felt a lot like I was Booker while playing the game, and felt a responsibility and fondness for Elizabeth.

Like Rapture before it, Columbia is once again a wonderful and mysterious place that is a job to explore. The "city in the clouds" is impossible, and staggering in its size, but feels pretty real and true to its turn-of-the-century period. Throughout the game you go to a lot of different neighborhoods with distinct feelings, and you can see that there is so much more to Columbia than what you can access. Infinite once again takes on more philosophical narratives, this time the ideas of American Exceptionalism and religious revivalism. The designers put a ton of work into the art and throughout the city are tons of unique murals and posters that demonstrate the beliefs and culture of the people of the city.



The way the game plays is once again improved from previous entries, although not as starkly as 2 did from the first game. The skyhooks and rails of Columbia provide a lot of nice mobility options in the battle arenas and amp up the pace of fights.

I do have to mention the DLC. I'm not really taking away points for it, but after the nice bonus the Bioshock 2 DLC provided, it's a shame that the story DLC for Infinite turned out to be downright awful. Acting as sort of an epilogue, it feels completely reactionary to criticisms of the game's story, and yet manages to only make any problems the story had worse. Something that retroactively makes Infinite's story worse, which left a bad taste in my mouth afterward. Luckily, it's not hard to tell myself that the DLC is just bad fanfiction and leave it out of my regard for the rest of the game, which I still love very dearly.

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At least your mother tipped well

#19 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Playstation 3, 2010)

There are like a million games in the Assassin's Creed series. For like a decade, they made at least one every year. And I've only played five of them, so I cannot say for sure that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, is the best one of them. But it is my favorite.



This is the second game in the Ezio Auditore "trilogy," following Assassin's Creed II, and while II got a lot of things right and was a very good game, Brotherhood is an improvement in pretty much every single way. It was not surprising to me, because II had a similar relationship with the original Assassin's Creed. Unfortunately, that trend did not continue with future AC games. In my experience, Brotherhood is where the series peaked.

But what a peak it was! The end of ACII saw Ezio travel to Rome, and that's where Brotherhood takes place over a large portion of his adult life. The single city setting allows a level of focus that sets the game apart from its predecessors, and the gameplay and story benefits greatly as a result. And when the city is not enough, there are individual missions set out in the countryside that provide some variety. Also returning are the wonderful underground/tomb sections that focus on exploration. Of course, there are tons of little missions and things to do scattered throughout the city, and climbing up Rome's historic buildings is still satisfying at this point.



The game also featured a then-unique multiplayer mode that I thought was perfect for the series. It gives you an opportunity to use the stealth and assassination skills that you take for granted in single player against other humans, which is deeply satisfying when it works. It wasn't the main thing about the game, but it was a nice addition that added value.

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At least your mother tipped well

#20 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (Playstation 4, 2016)

So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I initially had this game ranked much higher. And I still have it ranked highly. But the more that I think about it, the more I wonder how much I really liked Uncharted 4.



It's a really good game, but to me, it has been the least-memorable game in the series. Maybe it's because I played it right after replaying the other three games and I was tired, or maybe the way that I enjoy games has just changed since I first played Uncharted. But I thought it took a long time and although it had a lot of neat moments, I wasn't amazed by any of the set-piece moments or spectacles that the Uncharted series is known for.

I am still a little puzzled at how they approached the story, which largely feels like a retread of the previous game. Once again going back to Drake's childhood, and once again putting his relationship with Elena in question. Yes, the dressing around these themes has changed, but it still feels "been there, done that" in a disappointing way. To its credit though, it does wrap everything up very neatly and comes to a satisfying conclusion in the end.



I will posit that Uncharted 4 plays better than any game in the series before it. The levels are well-designed and have an open feel to them that allows for more strategy in how you approach the combat situations. The vehicle sequences feel good and are fun to control, and the amount of freedom is a nice change. Like, it all technically sounds great. But I also hardly remember any of it. Really weird.

I do remember the multiplayer very clearly though, and this is the best Uncharted multiplayer they have done yet. Although I still am a huge fan of the more "old-school" style that Uncharted 2 embraced, I had a really good time with Uncharted 4 multiplayer with friends who played it. It had enough new pieces to entertain and excite me for dozens of hours.

I know this reads like I am going very hard on it, and I am, but that's just because it is the fourth game in the series. It's not really a spoiler for me to say that there will be another Uncharted game coming up on my list, and it's because of my reverence of and love for that other game that I am a bit more critical of this one. I wish Uncharted 4 had been good enough to become my favorite game in the series, but it fails to clear that bar. Still, it's a very good game and worth playing as part of one of my favorite series of all time.

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At least your mother tipped well

#21 Fantasy General (MS-DOS, 1996)

Strategic Simulations was well-known in the mid-nineties for its strategy wargame series, starting with WW2-set Panzer General. Fantasy General is very much the same sort of game, but set in a high-fantasy world.



The game is a series of battles that are played on a hex-based map with Fog of War. You control a general commanding an army split into squads and heroes. The individual battles are turn-based and task you to eliminate all enemies or capture an objective. The overall campaign takes place over several continents and you can use your spoils to recruit new units and upgrade your technology. Depending on the character you choose to play, your army might consist of humans, beasts, magical entities, or machines, or some combination of these. The different generals also have their own abilities that can be used during battle, such as casting offensive spells or a one-time global heal.

Over the course of the campaign, units will gain experience and become more powerful, and I tend to get very attached to my team. This makes it tough when they inevitably die, but I try to be fair and not restart battles too much except for outright disasters. It is a game that can be abused pretty easily through save scumming, but if you choose to play hardcore, it can be very challenging and eventually unwinnable. At different points you have the chance to recruit powerful yet relatively fragile heroes who, like all your other units, are gone forever if they die.

This is yet another classic PC game that recently got renewed attention and a very late sequel, but I haven't had the time to look into it. I heard at the very least it is a serviceable tribute to the original. Based on my love for Fantasy General, I know I'll look into the next game someday.

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At least your mother tipped well

80% of the way through! Come on, KCF!

#1 Super Mario Odyssey: 1582 (+8)
#2 Mario Kart 8: 913 (+8)
#3 Pokemon RBY: 903 (-2)
#4 Super Smash Bros. Melee: 863 (-2)
#5 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 845 (+16)
#6 Super Mario 3D World: 839 (+26)
#7 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 834 (-4)
#8 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 811 (+30)
#9 Chrono Trigger: 769 (-5)
#10 Kirby Super Star Ultra: 724 (-5)
#11 Final Fantasy VI: 713 (-5)
#12 Virtue's Last Reward: 698 (-5)
#13 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice: 674 (-5)
#14 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations: 649 (+62)
#15 Rock Band 2: 647 (+34)
#16 Borderlands 2: 643 (-5)
#17 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: 594 (-5)
#18 Jackbox Party Pack: 580 (-5)
#19 Elite Beat Agents: 577 (-5)
#20 Bioshock: 575 (-5)
#21 Valkyria Chronicles: 567 (+88)
#22 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: 550 (-6)
#23 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: 547 (-6)
#24 Chrono Cross: 541 (-6)
#25 Dance Dance Revolution: 540 (+52)
#26 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: 536 (+89)
#27 Mario Party 2: 527 (-8)
#28 Mega Man X: 519 (-8)
#29 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: 503 (+121)
#30 Earthbound: 497 (+198)
#31 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: 479 (-9)
#31 Banjo-Kazooie: 479 (-9)
#33 Final Fantasy IV: 466 (-9)
#33 Metroid Fusion: 466 (-9)
#35 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 462 (-9)
#36 Horizon Zero Dawn: 458 (-9)
#37 Super Monkey Ball 2: 457 (-9)
#38 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception: 456 (-9)
#38 Diddy Kong Racing: 456 (-9)
#40 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: 455 (-9)
#41 Super Mario World: 444 (-8)
#42 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: 443 (-7)
#42 Pokemon GSC: 443 (-9)
#44 Final Fantasy VII Remake: 442 (-8)
#45 Mario Tennis: 441 (-8)
#46 Advance Wars: Dual Strike: 435 (-7)
#46 Castlevania III: 435 (+274)
#48 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 431 (-8)
#49 Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland: 426 (+271)
#50 Super Mario Bros.: 419 (+46)
#51 Yoshi's Island: 409 (-10)
#52 Fallout 3: 408 (-10)
#53 Final Fantasy X: 406 (-10)
#54 Mario Golf (N64): 403 (-10)
#55 Mega Man 3: 398 (-10)
#56 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: 392 (-10)
#56 Final Fantasy Tactics: 392 (-10)
#58 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: 390 (-10)
#59 Dissidia: Final Fantasy: 380 (NEW)
#60 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time: 372 (+427)
#61 Super Mario Kart: 370 (NEW)
#62 Pikmin 2: 366 (-12)
#63 Super Mario 64: 365 (-12)
#64 The Walking Dead: Season 1: 364 (-12)
#65 Guitar Hero II: 363 (-12)
#66 Super Mario Bros. 3: 360 (NEW)
#67 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: 355 (-13)
#67 Final Fantasy XIII: 355 (-13)
#69 Final Fantasy IX: 350 (-13)
#69 Guild Wars: 350 (NEW)
#71 Tecmo Super Bowl: 347 (-14)
#72 Snowboard Kids 2: 343 (-14)
#73 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: 341 (-14)
#73 Shadowrun: 341 (NEW)
#73 Yakuza 0: 341 (NEW)
#76 WarioWare Gold: 340 (-16)
#77 Fate/stay night: 332 (NEW)
#77 Inazuma Eleven: 332 (NEW)
#79 Portal 2: 330 (+413)
#80 REmake: 329 (+375)

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At least your mother tipped well

#22 Bioshock 2 (Playstation 3, 2010)

I know I am certainly in the minority with this opinion, but I think Bioshock 2 is a significantly better game than the first one. Not better in every way, but improved enough in most areas that I don't second-guess myself on this.



Yes, the first game really nails the atmosphere, and the first visit to Rapture was incredible. And of course it's no secret that I think Bioshock is incredible. But Bioshock 2 is so much more fun to play. One of the most substantial improvements is the ability to wield guns and plasmids simultaneously. In Bioshock, it always felt like you had to make the choice whether to deal with enemies using one or the other, or deal with an awkward juggling back and forth. No longer the case this time, and it makes you so much more deadly. And once you get fully upgraded, you can dish out damage in incredible ways. It's a really neat power trip that was not possible before, and Bioshock 2 gives you the hordes of enemies needed to show off what can be done. In all, the game moves at a much faster pace, largely to its benefit.

The story this time revolves around a prototype Big Daddy, Subject Delta, and his need to be reunited with his Little Sister, Eleanor. He was put into a coma before the events of the first game, and revives ten years later in a Rapture that has since gone completely defunct. Unfortunately, the Little Sister he had is the captive daughter of Rapture's new ruler, who is the polar opposite of Andrew Ryan from the first game. Instead of taking secularism/individualism to the extreme, Sofia Lamb is a radical zealot/collectivist who has established her own dictatorship and religion with Eleanor as a sort of Messiah figure. The philosophical stuff is not as interesting or well-written as before, but it's also not as essential to the story. At its core, Bioshock 2 is about the father-daughter relationship between Delta and Eleanor, and it comes off pretty nicely in that respect.

Bioshock 2 is also notable for having a pretty hefty story DLC, which some people would say is the best thing about the game. Minerva's Den is a stand-alone campaign with new weapons, plasmids, and a pretty neat story, which is on par with the main campaign in quality. It's short but incredibly well-paced and a lot of fun for the 5-6 hours that it takes.



If there is anything negative I could say about Bioshock 2, it's that it just was not as revelatory as the first game, and Rapture starts to feel a little old after a while. The game starts off very slowly and takes time to dabble in the familiar before really ramping up and showing us anything new. The second half of the game has a bit of a different feel to it and really helps a lot to make Bioshock 2 feel like something new and exciting again. If it didn't take so long to get there, this would probably have been a top ten game for me. But as it stands, it's still an incredible experience and well worth playing if you liked the first game.

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Is that you, Rebecca?

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At least your mother tipped well

I don't toss or turn at all when I sleep, so for me, making the bed is as simple as pulling the sheet and comforter up over where I was sleeping and straightening it out a little

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At least your mother tipped well

Good job. Now keep doing it forever.

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At least your mother tipped well

#23 Command & Conquer: Red Alert (Microsoft Windows, 1996)

The first C&C game set the stage for what real-time strategy could be, and managed to be a successful game in its own right. Red Alert really polished up the concept and transformed it into the premier strategy series for the next decade.



I spoke to the strengths of C&C when I talked about that game, and Red Alert is better in pretty much every way. That's not to say that it replaces its predecessor, because there are enough unique things about to first game to make it worthwhile. But if you could only play one or the other, I would recommend Red Alert without a second thought. Despite being marginally more complicated, it matches the accessibility of the first game.

I really enjoy historical fiction, and the alternate history story of Red Alert is a favorite of mine. The live-action cutscenes shown around the missions are as hammy as ever, and I could not get enough of them.

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At least your mother tipped well

#24 Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (SNES, 1993)

I'm kind of a glutton for punishment when it comes to 2D platformers. Well, as long as the punishment is reasonable. The Lost Levels kind of pushes that limit, but not enough for me to go from loving it to hating it.



More of an expansion pack to Super Mario Bros. than a sequel, the game looks and handles almost identically. The difficulty ramps up pretty close to where the first game leaves off, which makes it fitting to be played only after having mastered Super Mario Bros. Outside of the increased difficulty, the main difference is the option to choose Luigi for single-player, instead of the two-player mode. Luigi gets his first distinction from Mario here, with his more slippery movement and improved jumping. This is classic Luigi before he was ruined years later.

Not much more to say about it, really. This was a very hard game and certainly one of the hardest games I played as a kid. That made it all the more satisfying when I was finally able to beat it.

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At least your mother tipped well

an actual suit

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At least your mother tipped well

#25 The Legend of Kyrandia: Book Two - The Hand of Fate (MS-DOS, 1993)

By far my favorite point-and-click adventure game from my childhood, The Hand of Fate is the second game in a trilogy developed by Westwood Studios, who most people know as the Command and Conquer folks. The games are set in a fantasy world, Kyrandia, and each tells a self-contained story that can be enjoyed independently of the others.



The Hand of Fate is a light-hearted and silly adventure (in contrast to the other Kyrandia games, which were slightly more serious) starring a "mystic" (read: witch) named Zanthia who is tasked with saving Kyrandia from a mysterious condition that is causing it to gradually vanish. Like other adventure games, the player clicks on the screen to make Zanthia walk somewhere or interact with something. Progress in the game is mostly focused on collecting items to combine in her magic cauldron in order to produce potions that provide some magical effect needed to continue to the next area. There is a lot of puzzle-solving either through manipulating objects in the world or trying to figure out the right combination of ingredients for potions. And like many adventure games there are a plethora of ways in which Zanthia can be killed if you make poor decisions.



The world is colorful and beautifully rendered. Zanthia visits a wide range of environments that are all drawn with care. The game does not take itself seriously at all, and is full of strange characters all waiting to tell a joke or make some pun. The voice acting and dialogue is what you would expect from an early 90s gamevery hit-or-miss and cheesy, so it helps that the game is goofy; it would be impossible to take any of these characters seriously. The music and sound design are impressive and a lot of the catchy tunescomposed by Frank Klepacki of C&C famestill get stuck in my head every now and then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BipVfUAPEJ4

A lot of my enjoyment of The Hand of Fate came from the time-honored adventure game tradition of taking every item and clicking it on every character to get their reactions to it. As a kid, and in one of the first games I ever played that was fully voiced, it was a unique experience.

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At least your mother tipped well

So, my top 25 are coming up. Here's some hints!

Platform:

PC: 8
PS3: 6
SNES: 5
PS2: 2
PS4: 1
PS1: 1
DS: 1
N64: 1

And the years:

1990: 2
1992: 1
1993: 2
1994: 1
1995: 2
1996: 2
1997: 1
1998: 1
2000: 3
2002: 1
2005: 1
2006: 1
2009: 1
2010: 2
2012: 1
2013: 2
2016: 1

It probably is not too hard to match these up, really. We'll see!


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At least your mother tipped well

oh gross what an awful game

not really, but it's so flawed

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At least your mother tipped well

isn't that where people were trying to send you

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At least your mother tipped well

#26 Commander Keen in "Goodbye, Galaxy!" (MS-DOS, 1991)

In the early 90s, I played mostly PC games. Commander Keen was the premier side-scrolling platformer series for computer, and Goodbye Galaxy is by far the best game in the series. It consists of two "episodes" that involve boy genius Keen trying to save the galaxy from aliens intent on destroying it.



Keen can run, jump, and shoot, which all control like you would expect, but the unique thing about Commander Keen is his pogo stick which can be used to boost him up to heights he could not normally reach. The pogo stick can be pulled out at any moment and changes the way that the character moves and handles. Levels might be laid out horizontally and vertically, with secondary objectives such as finding keys or manipulating switches. There are secrets galore within the levels, and even a secret level that can be accessed through finding a hidden objective. A wide variety of enemies demand different tactics. Some move in predictable patterns and some are invincible, and so on. Keen goes down in one hit so dodging is essential.

Taking a cue from Nintendo, levels in each episode are spread out over an overworld and while some levels are locked behind others, much of the world is open and levels can be tackled in whatever order you choose. The levels take a lot of different themes, and they are mostly unique from each other. Commander Keen also took some cues from Sega, as the game as a decent amount of attitude. Keen is constantly smirking and quipping throughout the game, and there is an Easter Egg in which he moons the player.



The series abruptly ended when its creators got involved with Wolfenstein 3D and subsequently Doom. Can't really blame them for chasing the money, but it would have been neat to see where else 2D platformers could have gone on the PC. Only a few other well-made games came out after Commander Keen was done, and nothing else really lived up to its legacy.

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3/4 of the way through everyone's lists. dum pink ball making a run for the top

#1 Pokemon RBY: 903 (+1)
#2 Super Smash Bros. Melee: 863 (+7)
#3 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 834 (+2)
#4 Chrono Trigger: 769 (+10)
#5 Kirby Super Star Ultra: 724 (NEW)
#6 Final Fantasy VI: 713 (-5)
#7 Virtue's Last Reward: 698 (+20)
#8 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice: 674 (+22)
#9 Super Mario Odyssey: 663 (-6)
#10 Mario Kart 8: 655 (-6)
#11 Borderlands 2: 643 (+17)
#12 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: 594 (+38)
#13 Jackbox Party Pack: 580 (-7)
#14 Elite Beat Agents: 577 (-7)
#15 Bioshock: 575 (-7)
#16 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: 550 (-6)
#17 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: 547 (-6)
#18 Chrono Cross: 541 (+85)
#19 Mario Party 2: 527 (+59)
#20 Mega Man X: 519 (+33)
#21 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 495 (-9)
#22 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: 479 (-9)
#23 Banjo-Kazooie: 479 (+164)
#24 Final Fantasy IV: 466 (-9)
#24 Metroid Fusion: 466 (-9)
#26 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 462 (+115)
#27 Horizon Zero Dawn: 458 (-10)
#28 Super Monkey Ball 2: 457 (+107)
#29 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception: 456 (-11)
#29 Diddy Kong Racing: 456 (-11)
#31 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: 455 (NEW)
#32 Super Mario 3D World: 449 (-12)
#33 Super Mario World: 444 (+110)
#34 Pokemon GSC: 443 (-13)
#34 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: 443 (+82)
#36 Final Fantasy VII Remake: 442 (+244)
#37 Mario Tennis: 441 (-15)
#37 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 441 (-15)
#39 Advance Wars: Dual Strike: 435 (-15)
#40 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 431 (+207)
#41 Yoshi's Island: 409 (-16)
#42 Fallout 3: 408 (+278)
#43 Final Fantasy X: 406 (+161)
#44 Mario Golf (N64): 403 (-18)
#45 Mega Man 3: 398 (-16)
#46 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: 392 (-15)
#46 Final Fantasy Tactics: 392 (-15)
#48 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: 390 (-15)
#49 Rock Band 2: 366 (-15)
#49 Pikmin 2: 366 (+130)
#51 Super Mario 64: 365 (+38)
#52 The Walking Dead: Season 1: 364 (-17)
#53 Guitar Hero II: 363 (-17)
#54 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: 355 (-17)
#54 Final Fantasy XIII: 355 (-17)
#56 Final Fantasy IX: 350 (NEW)
#57 Tecmo Super Bowl: 347 (-18)
#58 Snowboard Kids 2: 343 (-18)
#59 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: 341 (-18)
#60 WarioWare Gold: 340 (+68)
#61 SSX: 331 (+410)
#62 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors: 322 (-20)
#63 Dragon Quest V: 319 (+275)
#64 Hotline Miami: 318 (-21)
#65 Pokemon Puzzle League: 317 (-21)
#66 Pokemon BW: 314 (-21)
#67 Kirby Canvas Curse: 311 (+274)
#68 Final Fantasy: Record Keeper: 305 (-22)
#68 F-Zero GX: 305 (+225)
#68 Reflec Beat: 305 (NEW)
#71 Super Mario Galaxy: 304 (-24)
#72 Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB: 297 (-24)
#72 Crypt of the Necrodancer: 297 (+425)
#74 Pokemon DPP: 292 (-25)
#75 Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational: 289 (-24)

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At least your mother tipped well

#27 Final Fantasy X (Playstation 2, 2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OjEiO8vwOU

Remember when Square would release one of these games every one to two years? Final Fantasy X was the last mainline game in that streak, and for how soon it came out after IX, it's pretty incredible how much of a jump this game was. Of course, a lot of it had to do with the increased capabilities of the Playstation 2 system, but still, it was something else, ya?

I know that it doesn't mean a lot for everybody, but the addition of voice acting to the series really helped me get into the tale. There's something about hearing Tidus tell his story instead of just reading everything, and for the most part, I think the acting holds up well, all things considered. The laughing scene aside, James Arnold Taylor does a really good job and makes his character emotionally resonant. And that's impressive considering how much the actors were constrained by Japanese lip flaps.



The decision to abandon the long-running and popular active time battle system was bold and works out well. Final Fantasy X's battles still have a good flow where character speed and turn order matters, but time is still there to make decisions about what to do. The sphere grid is a unique way to progress the characters and in the end-game provides an enticing carrot. The expert grid in later versions of the game provides a ton of replayability and lets you set up some unique parties.

The game looks really good, even today. While the Playstation 1 games all look bad in their unique ways, the Playstation 2 finally was able to render the characters and the environment in realistic-enough detail that it all holds up. Spira is a beautiful and colorful world and most of the areas have enough visual interest to hide the fact that you are mostly walking on a track. Not that I mind that as much as other people do. The Calm Lands area is wide-open and also one of the worst places in the game, in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69qqk_23xJs

Although like pretty much every Final Fantasy game, the fate of the world is at stake, the personal touches of the story are much more interesting. As someone who has had a poor relationship with my old man at times in my life, I could relate. But then again, I am not a dream who ceases to exist and leaves my significant other devastated so it's not one hundred percent relatable.



Oh, and Blitzball sucks.

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At least your mother tipped well

#28 Journey (Playstation 3, 2012)

There is one main point of Journey and that is to be as beautiful as possible. And I think the game succeeds?



If you have not played it before, I really recommend you do if you can. It takes only a few hours. It's one of those "games-as-art" projects and it is not like, technically complex or challenging or anything. Journey is remarkable as an interactive experience that takes you through a series of well-crafted and visually delightful scenes. And if you have an internet connection, there is the added dimension of sharing the experience with a stranger online, which I found really cool.

I go back to it every few years or so. It came out again for the PS4 and is a neat showcase for people who haven't seen it. I wish that Thatgamecompany would put out another game sometime (not counting that mobile game they did).

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#29 Battlefield 2 (Microsoft Windows, 2005)

Battlefield 2 was my first experience with the series, and I instantly fell in love with the team-oriented tactics on such a large scale. I don't know if there was any game before it with such sprawling battlefields, and each match felt like an adventure.



It was a great experience to get with a small screw, load up in a vehicle, and trek across the war zone together to capture some objectives. Or, you could hunker down somewhere and play a coordinated defense to see how long you could hold a position.

I actually do not have much else to say about it. This game's position on my list is defined by all the great experiences that I remember having while playing it, even though I know that it technically has been surpassed several times since then. It's too bad that I can't go back to it anymore.

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Pokemon is the first game to make 5 lists but still not the top game (yet).

#1 Final Fantasy VI: 713 (+3)
#2 Pokemon RBY: 673 (+12)
#3 Super Mario Odyssey: 663 (+6)
#4 Mario Kart 8: 655 (+15)
#5 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 616 (+13)
#6 Jackbox Party Pack: 580 (-5)
#7 Elite Beat Agents: 577 (+26)
#8 Bioshock: 575 (+17)
#9 Super Smash Bros. Melee: 566 (-7)
#10 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: 550 (+21)
#11 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: 547 (+376)
#12 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 495 (NEW)
#13 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: 479 (+30)
#14 Chrono Trigger: 472 (+25)
#15 Final Fantasy IV: 466 (-12)
#15 Metroid Fusion: 466 (+44)
#17 Horizon Zero Dawn: 458 (+82)
#18 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception: 456 (-13)
#18 Diddy Kong Racing: 456 (-13)
#20 Super Mario 3D World: 449 (+188)
#21 Pokemon GSC: 443 (+122)
#22 Mario Tennis: 441 (-15)
#22 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 441 (-15)
#24 Advance Wars: Dual Strike: 435 (+73)
#25 Yoshi's Island: 409 (-15)
#26 Mario Golf (N64): 403 (+11)
#27 Virtue's Last Reward: 401 (+180)
#28 Borderlands 2: 399 (-17)
#29 Mega Man 3: 398 (-17)
#30 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice: 393 (-17)
#31 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: 392 (-16)
#31 Final Fantasy Tactics: 392 (-16)
#33 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: 390 (-16)
#34 Rock Band 2: 366 (-14)
#34 The Walking Dead: Season 1: 364 (-14)
#36 Guitar Hero II: 363 (+163)
#37 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: 355 (-15)
#37 Final Fantasy XIII: 355 (-15)
#39 Tecmo Super Bowl: 347 (-15)
#40 Snowboard Kids 2: 343 (-14)
#41 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: 341 (-14)
#42 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors: 322 (-14)
#43 Hotline Miami: 318 (-14)
#44 Pokemon Puzzle League: 317 (NEW)
#45 Pokemon BW: 314 (-15)
#46 Final Fantasy: Record Keeper: 305 (NEW)
#47 Super Mario Galaxy: 304 (-15)
#48 Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB: 297 (NEW)
#49 Pokemon DPP: 292 (-15)
#50 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: 289 (NEW)
#50 Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational: 289 (NEW)
#52 Super Mario Galaxy 2: 285 (-17)
#53 Mega Man X: 282 (-17)
#54 Batman: Arkham Asylum: 280 (-16)
#55 Picross 3D: Round 2: 276 (-15)
#56 Disgaea D2: 273 (NEW)
#57 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: 269 (-16)
#58 The World Ends With You: 267 (-16)
#59 Everybody's Golf: 266 (-15)
#60 Thimbleweed Park: 265 (NEW)
#60 Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony: 265 (NEW)
#62 Cannon Fodder: 264 (-17)
#62 Total Annihilation: 264 (-17)
#64 Metal Gear Solid 2: 263 (+129)
#65 Paper Mario: 262 (-18)
#66 Threads of Fate: 258 (NEW)
#66 AI: The Somnium Files: 258 (NEW)
#68 The Witness: 256 (-20)
#69 Super Mario Bros.: 254 (-20)
#70 Broken Sword: 251 (NEW)

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At least your mother tipped well

#30 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Playstation 2, 2004)

"Ah shhiit, here we go again."

One of the most well-known quotes from a very quotable game, but it actually doesn't do a great job at describing San Andreas. Because no matter what you are doing in this game, it's often going to be something that you haven't already done.



After 3 and Vice City, Rockstar was ready to push the GTA formula to the limit. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas keeps everything that is great about previous entries and then also introduces like a million more things. The scope is expanded to multiple cities and a vast countryside. New RPG-like systems include fitness, costumes, weapon and combat skills, car upgrades, driving proficiency, and more. There are more activities and vehicles and minigames. The graphics are better and the story is more intricate. From a feature perspective, it blew every other open world action game away and nothing could come close for years. And the world was so big at the time! No loading screens or anything while you drive from one city to another... it was just incredible.

San Andreas continued Rockstar's storytelling evolution from simple parody to more serious and well-written narratives. Although GTA will probably always be satirical to a point, and this game can be as silly at points as any other game in the series, CJ's story feels a lot more real than that of previous GTA protagonists. The voice performances from a lot of big Hollywood names are mostly solid as well.

Of course, it would not be a GTA game without bullshit missions that made me want to tear my hair out. The stupid RC plane missions with David Cross, the Catalina stuff, and some of the stuff with the real planes. A lot of stuff in Las Venturas, although I might have just been getting a little tired of the game by that point. It comes with the territory in GTA, it seems. They throw a ton of stuff at the wall and not all of it sticks. But it's easily forgiven because the wealth of quality content that fills the rest of the game more than makes up for it. And at least we who made it through can commiserate about it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uasWwgoUlTo

And of course the classic open world jank, can't get enough of that.

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At least your mother tipped well

Emeraldegg posted...

To derail the topic just a bit, is there something I missed with his son's drunk driving that paints Reid in this kind of light that he was neglectful (in terms of actual confirmed news) or is that just an assumption? Cause if it's just assumption, I would posit that it's not always a parent's fault if their kid turns out crappy. Eventually those kids become adults and have the freedom to make their own choices.

This son and another have spent time in prison. That other son later died of drug overdose. Sure it could be just unlucky, but it's unusual for multiple kids from a stable family to have these kinds of problems in adulthood.

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At least your mother tipped well

Here's my recap. Just 30 more to go!

HM. Half-Life
HM. The Operative: No One Lives Forever
HM. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
HM. Frog Fractions
HM. Betrayal at Krondor
HM. Challenge of the Ancient Empires
HM. Streets of SimCity
100. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
99. Flower
98. Plants vs. Zombies
97. Duke Nukem II
96. Heavy Rain
95. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
94. Shadow of the Colossus
93. Pokemon RBY
92. The Wolf Among Us
91. God of War: Ghost of Sparta
90. Darksiders
89. Resident Evil 1
88. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
87. Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol
86. Awesomenauts
85. Wolfenstein: The New Order
84. Binary Domain
83. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
82. Capture the Flag
81. Loom
80. Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bse
79. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
78. Gladiator
77. Dead by Daylight
76. SkyRoads
75. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
74. Total Annihilation
73. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
72. Bully
71. The Walking Dead: Season 1
70. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
69. The Aethra Chronicles - Volume One: Celystra's Bane
68. The Lost Vikings
67. Chrono Trigger
66. Resident Evil 4
65. Halo: Combat Evolved
64. Super Mario 64
63. Secret of Evermore
62. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
61. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
60. Pinball Dreams
59. Fez
58. Dead Space
57. Rock Band 2
56. God of War III
55. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
54. Operation Neptune
53. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
52. Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia
51. Final Fantasy VI
50. Command & Conquer
49. Batman: Arkham Asylum
48. Jak II
47. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
46. God of War II
45. Dead Space 2
44. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
43. Wing Commander: Privateer
42. Metroid: Zero Mission
41. Super Meat Boy
40. Super Mario Bros.
39. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
38. Jazz Jackrabbit
37. Super Mario Galaxy 2
36. Final Fantasy IV
35. Cannon Fodder
34. Borderlands 2
33. Hotline Miami
32. Metroid Fusion
31. Bioshock


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At least your mother tipped well

#31 Bioshock (Playstation 3, 2007)

Bioshock is one of the most iconic games of its generation. And I feel like for a couple years, it's all anyone could talk about. Deservedly so, because it was such a special game that had a tremendous influence and impact for years. The notable things about Bioshock: The style and setting of Rapture, the now infamous plot twist, and the open-ended combat situations. A lot of this stuff was very cool when it was new, but it's not new anymore. But it's still all cool.



Rapture was a great idea. The steampunk world at the bottom of the ocean feels like an alien planet sometimes, yet familiar with its art deco aesthetic. Rapture feels like a real city that you only get the smallest glimpses of, even when the course of the game takes you to all kinds of different neighborhoods. And Bioshock also does a great job of making you feel like you are actually there. I really love the little touches with the plasmid intros, the vending machines, and all the other aspects of the sound design.

The audio logs, which are very much of the time the game was made, do a great job at filling in the story of the world and characters that you will never meet come alive and make you care a little about what they had to deal with. Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine are both memorable characters that successfully make you hate them. And the plot twist caught me by surprise and did not feel cheap or undeserved. Bioshock also incorporates elements of survival horror that can really make you jump if you aren't prepared.



The game still plays well, at least when I went through it again a couple years ago. They definitely fixed a lot of the shortcomings in the other games, but guns and plasmids are mostly still fun to use and not too difficult to integrate together. The Big Daddy fights feel tough enough that you always have to mentally prepare, and its nice that you can pretty much take them on whenever you are ready. Gives you a chance to collect enough ammo and strategically place yourself before angering the beast. It would have been nice though if the choice of what to do with the Little Sisters was a little more conflicting. Doing the right thing should have involved a bit more of a sacrifice.

What Bioshock really did better than the other games in the series was to impress me with the world and the story and make it all feel so fresh and new. You only really get to go to Rapture for the first time once, and that first experience for me was one of the top stand-out moments in video games.

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At least your mother tipped well

oh, Twilight Zone

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At least your mother tipped well

There are tons of anthologies on TV

Black Mirror
American Horror Story
American Crime Story
Fargo

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At least your mother tipped well

I thought the first Batman series was totally OK. I never played the other one

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At least your mother tipped well

#32 Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance, 2002)

There were eight long years between Super Metroid and its follow-up, Metroid Fusion. For those of us who loved Super Metroid and wanted another game just like it, well, we would have to wait a little longer. But Metroid Fusion, although a very different kind of game, is still spectacular in its own way.



The deserted space station is a pretty big change of setting from the hostile alien planets of earlier games, which is appropriate because it helps establish that this a new kind of Metroid game. Almost completely linear in layout, Fusion eschews the traditional maze-like and interconnected caverns for a set of distinct sectors and navigation rooms where a bossy computer constantly tells Samus where to go and what to do. These navigation rooms give opportunities for the game to tell a story about Samus and her past. It's a trade-off from the freedom that Metroid games are used to giving, but Fusion makes the most of it by delivering a rather compelling experience with a couple entertaining and surprising twists.

The main antagonist of Metroid Fusion is a parasite, SA-X, which infected Samus and basically stole all her power, replicating itself as a terrifying copy of her and stalking her throughout the game. Every interaction with SA-X is remarkably tense and the horror is palpable. These encounters alone are some of my favorite video game moments of all time. Samus, like in all her games, starts off very weak, and the power of SA-X is enough to end your session instantly if you aren't careful.

Of course, this is a Metroid game, so there are a ton of powerups to collect, both mandatory and optional. And despite the linear format, there is still some sense of exploration, especially in those moments when you, for one reason or another, end up making your way off the map to some of the more remote areas of the station. Metroid Fusion opens up a little more near the end, and the finale of the game is probably the strongest that I have played in the series. All in all, it's an incredibly good game that brings a lot of new things to the series while also preserving some of its best elements. For me, it's one of those rare games that I can play through again and again without tiring of it, which is really saying something.

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At least your mother tipped well

What a regrettable addition to the top five.

#1 Jackbox Party Pack: 580 (+4)
#2 Super Smash Bros. Melee: 566 (-1)
#3 Final Fantasy IV: 466 (-1)
#4 Final Fantasy VI: 462 (-1)
#5 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception: 456 (+47)
#5 Diddy Kong Racing: 456 (+16)
#7 Mario Tennis: 441 (-3)
#7 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 441 (+28)
#9 Super Mario Odyssey: 419 (NEW)
#10 Yoshi's Island: 409 (NEW)
#11 Borderlands 2: 399 (NEW)
#12 Mega Man 3: 398 (-6)
#13 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice: 393 (+40)
#14 Pokemon RBY: 392 (+33)
#14 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow: 392 (-8)
#14 Final Fantasy Tactics: 392 (NEW)
#17 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: 390 (NEW)
#18 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 379 (NEW)
#19 Mario Kart 8: 366 (-11)
#19 Rock Band 2: 366 (-11)
#21 The Walking Dead: Season 1: 364 (-11)
#22 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: 355 (-11)
#22 Final Fantasy XIII: 355 (-11)
#24 Tecmo Super Bowl: 347 (-11)
#25 Bioshock: 345 (NEW)
#26 Snowboard Kids 2: 343 (-12)
#27 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: 341 (-12)
#28 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors: 322 (-12)
#29 Hotline Miami: 318 (NEW)
#30 Pokemon BW: 314 (-13)
#31 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: 313 (-13)
#32 Super Mario Galaxy: 304 (NEW)
#33 Elite Beat Agents: 296 (-14)
#34 Pokemon DPP: 292 (NEW)
#35 Super Mario Galaxy 2: 285 (-15)
#36 Mega Man X: 282 (-15)
#37 Mario Golf (N64): 281 (NEW)
#38 Batman: Arkham Asylum: 280 (-15)
#39 Chrono Trigger: 277 (-15)
#40 Picross 3D: Round 2: 276 (-15)
#41 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: 269 (NEW)
#42 The World Ends With You: 267 (-16)
#42 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End: 267 (-16)
#44 Everybody's Golf: 266 (-16)
#45 Cannon Fodder: 264 (NEW)
#45 Total Annihilation: 264 (NEW)
#47 Paper Mario: 262 (NEW)
#48 The Witness: 256 (-19)
#49 Super Mario Bros.: 254 (-19)
#50 Kirby's Pinball Land: 251 (-19)
#51 Secret of Evermore: 250 (-19)
#52 Mega Man 2: 249 (NEW)
#53 Donkey Kong (1994): 248 (-20)
#54 Final Fantasy VII: 247 (-20)
#54 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth: 247 (NEW)
#56 Mario Party 2: 246 (-21)
#57 Xenoblade Chronicles: 244 (-20)
#57 Mario Tennis (GBC): 244 (NEW)
#59 Mario Kart 64: 242 (-21)
#59 Metroid Fusion: 242 (-20)
#59 Kirby Air Ride: 242 (-22)
#62 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: 239 (-21)
#63 Borderlands: 237 (-21)
#64 Super Mario 64: 233 (-21)
#65 Tetris Effect: 232 (-21)

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At least your mother tipped well

Save a lot of money by just getting takeout

or go to the supermarket

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At least your mother tipped well

#33 Hotline Miami (Microsoft Windows, 2012)

This feels like a game made just for me. The pulsing electronic soundtrack, 80s motif, intense action, and surreal ultraviolence all come together for an end-product that delights my senses. The fast-paced absurd difficulty is a wonderful combo that, much like Super Meat Boy, compel me to keep trying despite dozens of failures.



You play each level with the goal to eliminate every enemy, but how exactly you do that is left for you to figure out. Everyone, including the player character, is basically dead in one hit, which means you need to outsmart your numerous enemies just as much as you need to out-twitch them. Like other all-time great games, the difficulty ramps up just enough to keep you trying on each level. And it's very much the player who levels-up throughout this one; going back to the first few levels after beating the game feels a lot like "God Mode."

You can take your time and size everything up, but once you get good enough it's possible to speed through every level like a deadly demon, effortlessly taking out every enemy as they come. And it's not really memorizationthe AI usually acts slightly different every try so you constantly have to be thinking as you go. Hotline Miami is incredibly violent, even in its blurry pixel guise, so I really would not recommend it to the squeamish.

Going back to the other elements of the game, it's got an amazing soundtrack that is best blared loudly, and it's coupled with a bright and wild aesthetic that evokes the neon best of the 1980s. The story is trippy and probably a little deeper than you might think at first, and is surprisingly lengthy for an indie game like this. There are secret collectables throughout the game that unlock the true ending, but that actually was one of the least good parts of this game, so it's a good thing that's optional.

I played through on PC when it was new and again on PS4 for free. I still play a few levels from time to time and Hotline Miami is one of those games that I can just pick up for 5, 10, 15 minutes and enjoy whenever I feel like it or want to blow off some steam.

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At least your mother tipped well

#34 Borderlands 2 (Playstation 4, 2015)

This game would probably not be nearly so high on my list if it were not for the multiplayer aspect. But it's still even a blast to play alone! Borderlands is a series that is very compelling to me. I kind of get hooked on the loot grind and the numbers and all that stuff. The first game was initially known as "Diablo with guns" and yeah, Borderlands 2 is still that.



But it's so much better than the first game. It's more polished in every single way, more levels, more and bigger environments, greatly improved story and characters, smarter design, more interesting bosses, and I could go on and on! One of the biggest improvements is that the item storage isn't locked behind a crappy DLC. In fact, almost all the DLC is better than the best DLC from the first game.

Borderlands 2 is a really fun game to play. The shooting feels great, the visual style is unique, and the constant progression is enchanting. Because of the open-ended nature of the game, it's not going to match some of the best shooters in terms of well-crafted sequences, but it is certainly good enough for what it is. And of course, the ability to play with three friends is a huge draw. My first time, Wigs, MSG, Nick and I played this game all the way through together. And even though Wigs stopped to do nothing at every checkpoint and fast travel station, we still had an amazing time. If only the other Borderlands game we played together was that good...

I have incredibly fond memories of this game, and maybe someday we will play it again. We came back together to play the free Borderlands 3 preview DLC thing, and it was still fun, even if that DLC wasn't great. I don't know if Gearbox will ever strike gold again like they did with this one.

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At least your mother tipped well

My friends would just overlevel the starter pokemon, but i liked to have a balanced party. I think I also did the Nee thing of leveling up all the pokemon, except I think just one of each type, but stopped very early on when I realized I only needed 6.

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At least your mother tipped well