25) Call of Duty 2 It feels weird to use the terms “indy cred” and “Call of Duty” in the same sentence, but for here that’s totally true as CoD 2 remains one of the most underated games of this past generation. We return to World War 2 for one last campaign after the PS2 era totally ruined it. This game took the FPS to the next level, including many of the features that CoD4 is unfairly credited for inventing. Somewhat helpful AI, In-scene story and drama, and a real sense of scope are all featured prominently here, leaving this one of the best shooters I’ve ever played. Also, wheras the new games seemingly place you on a dotted line, many sections of CoD2 could be taken on in weird unexpected ways. God knows how many sections I beat via throwing a smoke grenade and running like hell. If you like shooters but hate Call of Duty, try this one out. It’s like three bucks for a used copy and you may surprise yourself.
24) Galaga My mom used to drop me off at the movie theatre when I was a kid. I was mostly there to play a specific game. But with five hours and 80 quarters to blow three times a week, I got pretty damn good at all the games there. One such game was Galaga. People talk about the “Tetris effect” where one sees falling blocks when they close their eyes. To this day, I still see little flying ships coming towards me when I close my eyes.
One day, I decided to play through the entire game. It took about 25 dollars, but I made it to the 256th level and froze the game. That was a really cool day.
23) Time Crisis 3 And right next to Galaga was TC3. TC is a funny series because the 1,2, and 4 are all pretty much terrible games…and so is 3…but it is still saved by a weapon swap system that I’m amazed more Ps2 era games didn’t take advantage of. Basically, you would have a pistol with unlimited ammo, then you would have power up weapons like the “HEAVY MACHINE GUN” that could be swapped to on the fly. This system was kind of silly, because you would just switch your “GRENADE” for bosses and stuff and mess everyone up.
Not a great game by any stretch, but a part of my childhood and I may have completed the first level of this game more than any other game ever made so there’s that.
22) Tetris DS Tetris DS is not of the best games of all time, however, it is one of the most polished. Since the original Gameboy classic, no Tetris game has made a stronger claim to be considered the definitive version than this one. Along with the basic game, which plays awesomely and is all you really need, there is so much more to make this purchase worth it. The online is solid and probably the most fun you can have using the DS online, short of the Pokemon games. Then there is puzzle mode, and touch mode, and scenario mode and all sorts of other ways to get your Tetris on. Some of the modes are kind of lame, given, but they’re all well done and showcase a true love for the greatest puzzle game of all time.
21) Oblivion We forget so quickly, but the Xbox 360 had one of the weakest launches ever. I never played it, but apparently a goofy snowboard game called Amped 3 (as well as a downloadable gem we will cover later) were all the system has until a couple years later.
I went and bought a 360 in late 2006 on a whim. My ps2 had died and I needed to buy something to hold me over until the Wii came out and CHANGED THE WORLD!!! (lol) I got a copy of Halo 2, Hitman: Blood Money, Dead Rising, and Elder’s Scrolls.
Never really played Halo, Hitman fun but awkward, Dead Rising I couldn’t read on my TV and Oblivion was freaking awesome. I know I don’t really need to explain why this game is great, I’ll just mention that from August 2006 to November 2006 this is pretty much all I ever did.
I put in over 200 hours of gametime and did pretty much every single bit of contents. The Dark Brotherhood, in particular, is one of the best quest lines in any games ever. Can not wait for some Skyrim love.
20) Super Mario World >SMB 3, deal with it. For some reason I own a Super Nintendo and a bunch of games despite being like 4 when it came out. My first real game memory is getting an N64 (more on that later). In fact, I just texted my mom asking her…there is a 0% chance she’ll know.
Anywho, ya, this game is really good. I still go back and play and amazed at just how tight the controls are. So many games even today suffer from weak wobbly control of the main character, so to see it done perfectly here is incredible.
19) Super Smash Bros: Melee The second best Smash. Not because Brawl is a better game (I’ll be the first to admit it’s not) but because I just didn’t play this one as much. Kind of a silly thing to say considering I play the ever living **** out of this game. I remember I got this and Luigi’s Mansion with my Gamecube in 2001 (Best Christmas ever, BTW). I played Melee for about six hours strait, then LM for about ten minutes, then another 6 hours of Melee. I remember playing 700 1-stock games against Jigglypuff with 300 damage so as to get Mewtwo, then nearly having a panic attack after unlocking so much stuff at once.
I guess the only real downside is that I never got to play the muli-player much as none of my friends then liked to game too much. It’s a shame.
Jiggly>Roy>Luigi
18) In The Groove One day, when I’m like 48, I hope I’m walking through a boardwalk with my kids so that we can check out the arcade (There aren’t going to be too many places with arcades then.) There I’ll play a little Galaga. Maybe try new gun-con games, and oh ya, BUST OUT DEM DDR SKEEEEELZ!
I used to be really really good at DDR (ITG is basically just an upgraded, nerdier version). As I mentioned, my mom would drop me off and this is the major thing I would do. I was real young at the time, 12 or 13, and could beat 10-footers which would really impress people. I played a lot at home on my 200 dollar mat which still didn’t have a bar, so I played without it. I could have very well kept going into my teens but I took up running (and girls) instead.
I used to get bitter seeing DDR guys about my age impressing drunk people at arcades I would check out. All until a month ago where I went to play with some guy for a game. He told me he wanted to play by himself – to gain all the glory or something – I called him a ****ing nerd and left the arcade.
DDR kids, underrated terrible fan-base.
17) Oregon Trail 2
16) Donkey Kong Country 3
My older sister and I have never had a good relationship. She used to pick on me a lot and I grew deeply resentful and even here in out early 20’s we hardly ever talk. However during the seven-years war we spent together, there was one game which caused a true cease-fire. Somehow DKC2 gets all the love from fan but I never liked it as much as the third.
My sister and I both knew the entire game by heart and would often play entire games in one sitting. Around 2001, I discovered a guide showcasing all the portal barrels in the game and we quickly found those too. Even today, I bet I could finish the game in just under two hours with all the tricks and tips I know. My favorite level will always be the one in the second world where you have to beat the time limit to make the previous holder mega-rage and open up a bird cavern. So fun.
15) Heavy Rain I have a subscription to Gamefly, it’s OK. It’s near impossible to get a popular game within the first two months of it coming out, and the game return to new game time is about six days. What I do like about it is that it allows you to play super awesome, yet also super short games for like five bucks. Such a game is Heavy Rain. An incredible experience, yet short and with very little replay value.
I played HR with my two friends and GF at the time over the course of eight hours. I started, but by the fourth hour I had to give up control, I was too raddled. The reason for this is with multiple people the non-player can’t help but yell out every control to the actual player – “SQUARE!!!! TRIANGLE!!!! L1!!!! OH GOD PUNCH HIM!!!! It takes its toll At game’s end I saved Shawn which I think really affected my feelings about the game. Me thinks that if he hadn’t make, I would still be bitter. But he lived! Check this game out, it’s incredible.
14) Minecraft I much prefer the “mine” portion of this game much more than the “Craft” version. Growing up a writer and not much else, I never found much enjoyment with legos. Whereas my friends would build bridges and castles and stuff, I would make ugly blue and red jail cells.
The same things happened with MC, whereas all the autistics online make beautiful chappels and entire towns and stuff, I was proud of myself for forming a functional house. Much more fun for me was getting deep into the earth’s crust and setting up a functional underground batcave in which I operate out of. I’ve spent so many hours digging 4X grids that sometimes I joke that I’m in Vietnam.
Also I follow Notch on Twitter and he’s pretty funny (although not nearly as funny as he thinks he is).
13) Mario 64 My first real memory of gaming was way back in 1997 when I got my first N64. I was a wee lad then, only 6, and my dad wanted to get the family something fun for the Holidays. We got an N64 and three games. I still remember them: Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Shadows of the Empire, and Mario 64. All of those games bring back a lot of memories, but obviously the best was Mario 64 (although MK might make the list just for the fact that I would let very hard CPU’s beat me up so I could see Fatalities and to a little kid the RULED).
It’s funny, I remember it took me months to get to 70 stars and I was so proud when I finally beat Bower. Now-A-Days I can get all 120 if I play all day and the only real challenge is Rainbow Road, which can f***ing **** me. It amazes me that the game that started the 3D Platformers is still one of the very best. Nintendo and square man…what happened?
12Pokemon Red I bought both Pokemon games when they went on sale in 1998. I was obviously pumped as I had the card game and, well, it was Pokemon. I even bought a link cable even though I didn’t have anyone to play with! Basically I was all set. I got home and went to get my Gameboy
I couldn’t find it.
I was calm at first, but soon to panic as I realized that I had no idea where it had went. As a little kid this was SO unfair. I started flipping a **** and totally lost it. I wanted to play so bad! Just when I was about to give up my dad came up to me with a package. Apparently my parents had planned to give me a new GB Color for Christmas and seeing my duress, pulled it out wherever they kept the presents and just handed it to me. It was one of the nicest things they ever did for me <3.
11Geometry Wars 2 Back to the 360 launch, nothing to play, right? Well I found myself watching G4 back when it was still kind of tolerable and one of the hosts was interviewing the guys at Bizarre about their new game, Geometry Wars. It looked pretty sweet so I went and got it for 5 dollars (this was back before XBLA lost its ****ing mind. I thought it was real fun, but nothing mind-blowing.
Fast forward a few years and Geometry Wars 2 arrived. I bought it again and somehow everything clicked. One mode in particular, Pacifism overtook my life. Basically in that mode your ship doesn’t shoot, and the only way to blow up the blue diamonds that chase you is to fly through gates and make them explode. It’s that classic easy to learn, impossible to master learning curve that drove me nuts. To date I’ve no doubt played that mode 10,000 times with a top score of 38 million…man, now I wanna go play again.