Board 8 > The Board 8 Discord Sports Chat Rank Their Top 100 Respective Video Games part 3

(+) Yeah! (+)

It was so fun the first two times, let's try a third! If you missed the first two topics, they're still there, so go give em a looksee! Me, Nick, Bartz, Wigs, Naye, Nee, Arti, Cokes, Eddv, and now KCF are all sharing our favorite video games of all-time!

We're in deep now! A few of us are into our top 30, and everyone else is getting close. This may well be our last topic. Maybe one more, we'll see.

Anyway, here's my personal list so far:
HM. Nintendo World Cup
HM. Tecmo Super Bowl
HM. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
HM. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
HM. Burnout 3: Takedown
HM. The Urbz: Sims in the City
HM. Winning Eleven 9
HM. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
HM. Hitman: Blood Money
HM. Deadly Premonition
HM. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
HM. Hades
HM. NHL Hitz 20-02
100. Earthbound
99. Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA
98. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
97. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
96. FTL: Faster Than Light
95. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
94. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
93. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
92. Beat Saber
91. Pocket Card Jockey
90. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006
89. Persona 5
88. Trauma Team
87. HITMAN
86. The World Ends With You
85. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
84. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
83. Pokemon Stadium 2
82. Mass Effect 3
81. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
80. NES Open Tournament Golf
79. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
78. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
77. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
76. Mario Party 2
75. The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain
74. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
73. Saints Row: The Third
72. SSX3
71. Doki Doki Literature Club
70. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
69. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
68. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
67. WarioWare: Twisted!
66. TimeSplitters 2
65. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
64. Chrono Trigger
63. Tetris Effect
62. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow Version
61. Dark Souls
60. Hot Shots Golf Fore!
59. Mario Kart 8
58. Return of the Obra Dinn
57. Mario Golf (N64)
56. Hotel Dusk: Room 215
55. Dark Souls III
54. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
53. Last Window: Secret of Cape West
52. Borderlands 2
51. the jackbox PARTY PACKs
50. Batman: Arkham Asylum
49. Pokemon Black/White Version
48. Fire Emblem
47. Paper Mario
46. Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Path
45. SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs
44. Shadow of the Colossus
43. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
42. Rock Band 2
41. Mario Golf
40. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
39. Skate 3
38. Snowboard Kids 2
37. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
36. Mario Tennis
35. Diddy Kong Racing
34. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
33. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
32. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
31. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
30. Mario Tennis
29. SNATCHER
28. Pokemon Puzzle League
27. Horizon: Zero Dawn

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List

HM1Vectorman
HM2 Crash Commando
HM3 Dungeons and Dragons: Shadows over Mystara
HM4 WWF Smackdown Just Bring It
HM5 Fat Princess
HM6 Simpsons Arcade
HM7 Gauntlet Legends
HM8 Mario Party
HM9 Octopath Traveler
HM10 Radiant Historia
HM11 Castle Crashers
100 Riviera: The Promised Land
99 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
98 Metroid Fusion
97 I Am Setsuna
96 DBZ: Kakarot
95 Metal Gear Solid 4
94 Metal Gear Solid 2
93 Portal 2
92 SSX
91 Golden Sun
90 God of War (2018)
89 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
88 Sonic the Hedgehog 2
87 Sonic Generations
86 Mega Man 9
85 Super Monkey Ball 2
84 Tomb Raider (2013)
83 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
82 The Last of Us
81 Guitar Hero/RB Series
80 NFL Blitz
79 Super Mario World
78 Tales of Symphonia
77 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
76 Super Blood Hockey
75 Darksiders
74 Mario Kart Wii
73 Punch-Out!!
72 Perfect Dark
71 Yoshi's Island
70 Dark Cloud
69 Kirby Canvas Curse
68 Jackbox Party Packs
67 World of Final Fantasy
66 Fall Guys
65 Tales from the Borderlands
64 The Walking Dead Season 1
63 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
62 Ogre Battle 64
61 NHL '94
60 Grandia 2
59 Pokemon HG/SS
58 Super Mario Galaxy/2
57 WWF: No Mercy
56 The Legend of Zelda II: Link's Adventure
55 Kingdom Hearts
54 Kingdom Hearts 2
53 Blitz the League 2
52 Dynasty Warriors 7
51 Tetris Effect
50 Disgaea 4
49 Final Fantasy 4
48 Mega Man 3
47 Final Fantasy X
46 NHL 07
45 Grandia
44 Mega Man X
43 Disgaea 5
42 Cosmic Star Heroine
41 Final Fantasy 13-2
40 Final Fantasy 13
39 Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
38 Tecmo Super Bowl
37 Kirby Air Ride
36 Horizon Zero Dawn
35 Uncharted 2
34 Uncharted 4
33 Super Smash Bros Melee
32 Super Mario 3D Land
31 Final Fantasy 6
30 Borderlands
29 Xenoblade
28 Kirby's Pinball Land
27 Final Fantasy Tactics
26 Super Mario Odyssey
25 Disgaea D2
24 Pokemon RBY (Blue)
23 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
22 Ken Griffey Jr presents MLB

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Recap:
HM01: Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS, 2017)
HM02: Alpine Racer (Arcade, 1995)
HM03: WarioWare: Twisted (GBA, 2004)
HM04: Halo: Combat Evolved (XBox, 2001)
HM05: SimTower (PC, 1994)
HM06: Kirby Air Ride (GameCube, 2003)
HM07: jubeat [series] (Arcade, 2008-present)
HM08: Meteos (DS, 2005)

100. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii, 2007)
99. Unreal Tournament (PC, 1999)
98. Pikmin 2 (GameCube, 2004)
97. Crypt of the Necrodancer (PC, 2015)
96. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror (GBA, 2004)
95. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1, 1998)
94. Time Crisis II (Arcade, 1998)
93. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA, 2003)
92. DJ Max Portable (PSP, 2006)
91. Zany Golf (PC, 1988)

90. Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch, 2019)
89. Contra 4 (DS, 2007)
88. Mega Man 5 (NES, 1992)
87. Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 1991)
86. The Oregon Trail (PC, 1993)
85. TimeSplitters 2 (Multiplatform, 2002)
84. Fat Princess (PS3, 2009)
83. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS, 2007)
82. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Multiplatform, 2000)
81. Pokmon Go (Mobile, 2016)

80. Final Fantasy IV (SNES, 1991)
79. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GameCube, 2004)
78. Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1985)
77. Mario Tennis (N64, 2000)
76. Chip's Challenge (PC, 1990)
75. Elite Beat Agents (DS, 2006)
74. Bust-A-Move (Arcade, 1994)
73. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS, 2006)
72. Crystalis (NES, 1990)
71. StepMania (PC, 2001)

70. Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES, 1994)
69. Minesweeper (PC, 1992)
68. Mario Kart 64 (N64, 1997)
67. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010)
66. Pokmon Picross (3DS, 2015)
65. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA, 2001)
64. Metroid Fusion (GBA, 2002)
63. Pikmin 3 Deluxe (Switch, 2020)
62. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS, 2013)
61. FIFA 98: Road to World Cup (PC, 1997)

60. Resident Evil 4 (GameCube, 2005)
59. Celeste (Multiplatform, 2018)
58. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube, 2003)
57. Pikmin (GameCube, 2001)
56. The Sims (PC, 2000)
55. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch, 2020)
54. Sound Voltex [series] (Arcade, 2012-present)
53. Tecmo Bowl (NES, 1989)
52. Q*Bert (Arcade, 1982)
51. Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (PC, 2020)

50. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS, 2005)
49. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U, 2014)
48. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube, 2001)
47. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018)
46. RollerCoaster Tycoon (PC, 1999)
45. Everybody's Golf (PS4, 2017)
44. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)
43. Okami (PS2, 2006)
42. Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (Genesis, 1993)
41. The Jackbox Party Pack [series] (Multiplatform, 2014-present)

40. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube, 2004)
39. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii, 2007)
38. Mega Man 2 (NES, 1989)
37. Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Genesis, 1994)
36. WarioWare Gold (3DS, 2018)
35. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES, 1995)
34. Pokmon Platinum (DS, 2009)
33. Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (PS1, 1999)
32. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GameCube, 2003)
31. Pokmon Trading Card Game (GBC, 2000)
& Pokmon Card GB2 [JP] (GBC, 2001)

30. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
29. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, 2017)

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I have 65 games posted, 35 more to go! Here's my list so far:

HM Castlevania 64
HM Minesweeper
HM Super Mario 64
HM Mega Man X6
100. Ninja Gaiden
99. Dragon Ball FighterZ
98. Outland
97. Out of the Park Baseball 21
96. The Binding of Isaac
95. Kirby's Dream Land 3
94. RollerCoaster Tycoon
93. Shadows of the Damned
92. The King of Fighters XIII
91. Strider (2014)
90. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
89. Kamui
88. Gain Ground
87. Resident Evil (2002 REmake)
86. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
85. Solstice
84. Raiden (series)
83. Ori and the Blind Forest
82. Ogre Battle 64
81. Mega Man Legends
80. Rez
79. Punch-Out!!
78. G-Darius
77. Pop'n Music (series)
76. Shovel Knight
75. Thunder Force V
74. Final Fantasy Tactics
73. Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late
72. VA-11 Hall-A
71. Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
70. Spelunky 2
69. The Legend of Zelda
68. Brave Fencer Musashi
67. Lumines
66. Final Fantasy VII
65. Metroid Fusion
64. The Witness
63. Street Fighter V
62. Hotline Miami
61. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
60. F-Zero GX
59. Undertale
58. Everybody's Golf
57. Tecmo Super Bowl
56. Donkey Kong (1994)
55. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
54. Mega Man X
53. Super Smash Bros. Melee
52. The World Ends With You
51. Metroid Prime
50. Windjammers
49. VVVVVV
48. Samurai Shodown (2019)
47. Groove Coaster
46. Space Invaders Extreme
45. Shinobi 3
44. Mega Man 3
43. Mega Man X4
42. Street Fighter 2
41. Deadly Premonition
40. Cave Story
39. Bioshock
38. We Love Katamari
37. Chrono Trigger
36. Street Fighter 3: Third Strike

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And me
HM. Coffee Talk
HM. VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
HM. Max Payne + Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
HM. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
HM. Kirby's Epic Yarn
HM. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
100. Unholy Heights
99. Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
98. Backyard Baseball 2001
97. Boxing (Atari)
96. Mu Cartographer
95. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
94. Lego Island
93. Mercury Hg
92. Persona 4 Golden
91. The Gardens Between
90. Pure
89. Batman: Arkham Knight
88. Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)
87. Aliens Go Home Run
86. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+
85. Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors
84. Monster Rancher Advance 2
83. SimTown
82. Diddy Kong Racing
81. Super Mario Odyssey
80. Red Dead Redemption
79. Mario Party
78. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
77. Super Mario 3D World
76. God of War II
75. Outland
74. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
73. 007 Nightfire
72. Super Solvers Mission T.H.I.N.K.
71. Grand Theft Auto III
70. WarioWare Touched
69. Monster Rancher Battle Card GB
68. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
67. Shining Force
66. Plok
65. Monument Valley
64. The Darkness
63. The Darkness II
62. Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2
61. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!
60. NFL Street 2
59. Pikmin 2
58. Paper Mario
57. Oregon Trail II

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#56 Stardew Valley (PC, 2016)


My experience in these outdoor life sims is a bit limited. I actually played Harvest Moon 64 for 18 in-game years, but I couldn't get into any of the other games in the series that I tried. It might be a stretch to call the Animal Crossing games similar due to farming being replaced by light gardening, but I have played and enjoyed several games from the series. I also own games like Slime Rancher and My Life at Portia but have yet to play them. I don't know what I was expecting when I got into Stardew Valley several years ago, but I definitely wasn't expecting it to grab me like it and make me addicted to it.

You play as a character who was working a mundane 9-5 job who then inheirited a farm from their late grandfather. You choose your gender, appearance, and pet and basically do whatever you want from there. There's plenty of activities and logs/stats to fill up. In my first year, I basically focused on fishing and exploring the mines while also making healthy progress rebuilding the town's community center (which is sort of the main objective of the game and you do it through donating various items you get through normal activities). In my second year, I focused on wrapping up the community center, building up my relationships with people, while finally committing to some minor farming.

I am on my third year and with over 90 hours put into the game, and if my character's grandfather could see what I've done with the farm, he'd roll over in his grave. I have a pair of like 5x5 plots with a scarecrow in the middle and a couple of barns/coops clustered in a corner with weeds growing all around the buildings so I don't have to worry about feeding my livestock outside of winter. There's no fences or cool designs or anything. I have such a sad looking farm, which just goes to show you how much content there is and how much I love what I've done if the core principle of the game is something that I've barely touched with nearly triple digit hours played.

That also means that this has a chance to climb up the rankings by a fair bit through more play. With more time and effort into farming, possibly consider starting a family (my first choice is married and off-limits), and trying out all the new features that have been added to the game since a few years back, who knows where this game could land.

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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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#55 Crash Team Racing (PS1, 1999)


Now you could also consider this a placement for the Nitro-Fueled remake as from a gameplay standpoint, it is the definitive version, but I wanted to highlight the original version because the remake has a poor unlock system and relative to the time the game came out, the original is the more impressive game to me.

After seeing a bit of a kart racer craze in the first few years of the N64/PS1 era, Naughty Dog looked at the best of what they offered and combined them to make not only their best game in their 35+ year history but also the best kart racer to this day.

CTR took the adventure mode from Diddy Kong Racing, and while the world isn't as cool or detailed and lacks the secrets, it is paced better, and the boss races are far more fun and balanced. They also took a vast item system full of offensive, defensive, and support effects like DKR, Mario Kart 64 and many others and produced what is probably the most fair item system in a kart racer in terms of item probability based on positioning and opportunity rate to defend yourself against attacks.

Racing felt phenomenal then, and it still does now. It truly is remarkable how well ahead of its time the game felt as it basically took the looseness of Super Mario Kart and refined it to a degree that the level of control the player has is simply incredibly. I never was attached to the Crash series, but I was appreciative of the wide variety of characters and the level selection is superb. I of course prefer some more than others, but they are almost all of high quality, and with racing being my favorite genre, I can be a stickler with it comes to course design.

The kart racer may be my least favorite among the main racing sub-genres, but I'm up for any and all racing games, and I find it sad the genre is mostly dead outside of Mario Kart, a licensed game or two every now and then, and a few indie games. With the success of the remake, maybe we can get another revival or two of some of those that I enjoyed over the years.

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Recap list

100 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Vita)
99 Style Savvy: Trendsetters (3DS)
98 Diablo II (PC)
97 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies (3DS)
96 Cosmic Star Heroine (Vita)
95 Fate/Extella Link (PS4)
94 Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
93 South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3)
92 Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey (PC)
91 Dynasty Warriors 8 (PS3)
90 Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS)
89 Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX (3DS)
88 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)
87 Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (3DS)
86 Pokemon Heart Gold / Soul Silver (DS)
85 Taiko no Tatsujin: V Version (Vita)
84 Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland (PS3)
83 The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC (PSP)
82 Kirby Super Star (SNES/DS)
81 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
80 The World Ends With You (DS)
79 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory (Vita)
78 The Walking Dead Season 1 (Vita)
77 Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (PC)
76 Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
75 Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
74 Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (DS)
73 Pokemon Diamond / Pearl / Platinum (DS)
72 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Vita)
71 Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
70 DJMAX Respect (PS4)
69 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PC/GBA)
68 Chrono Trigger (SNES)
67 Tales of Xillia (PS3)
66 Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
65 Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
64 EarthBound (SNES)
63 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)
62 Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
61 Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3)
60 Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS)
59 Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F (PS3)
58 Lost Dimension (Vita)
57 Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
56 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS)
55 Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman (PSP)
54 Until Dawn (PS4)
53 Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii)
52 Tales of Graces f (PS3)
51 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
50 Picross 3D: Round 2 (3DS)
49 Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd (Vita)
48 Elite Beat Agents (DS)
47 Pocket Card Jockey (3DS)
46 Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita)
45 Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone (PS4)
44 Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition (Vita)
43 Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk (PS3)
42 Pokemon Black / White (DS)
41 Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 (DS)
40 Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES)
39 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (Vita)
38 Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky (PS3)
37 Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4)
36 Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4)
35 Steins;Gate 0 (Vita)
34 Animal Crossing (GC)
33 Fate grand/order (Android)
32 Love Live! School idol festival (Android)
31 Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS)
30 Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (GBA)

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HMs:
Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
Bugsnax
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Gunstar Heroes
Kirby 64
Mario Tennis
Untitled Goose Game
Warioware: Touched
We <3 Katamari

100. The Stanley Parable
99. Death Stranding
98. Kirby's Block Ball
97. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?
96. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
95. Borderlands 2
94. Twisted Metal 2
93. Cuphead
92. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
91. Mega Man 2
90. Ghosts 'n Goblins
89. Super Mario Maker 2
88. Final Fantasy VII
87. Donkey Kong Country
86. Mega Man 9
85. Pokemon Puzzle League
84. Marvel's Spider-Man
83. Adventures of Lolo
82. Braid
81. Donkey Kong Country 2
80. Into the Breach
79. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
78. Elite Beat Agents
77. Shovel Knight
76. Back to the Future (Telltale)
75. Mega Man 5
74. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
73. Mario Kart 64
72. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
71. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
70. Metal Gear Solid 2
69. Skies of Arcadia Legends
68. Super Mario 64
67. Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land
66. Hexcells
65. Mega Man 3
64. Heroes of Might and Magic III
63. Mario Party 2
62. Punch-Out!! (Wii)
61. Dark Souls: Remastered
60. Out of the Park Baseball 17
59. Papers, Please
58. Final Fantasy VII Remake
57. Slay the Spire
56. Mario Kart 8
55. Wario Land 3
54. Portal
53. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
52. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
51. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
50. The Simpsons: Hit & Run
49. Picross 3D: Round 2
48. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
47. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
46. Apex Legends
45. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
44. The Witness
43. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow
42. Pokemon Gold/Silver
41. Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
40. Jackbox Party Packs
39. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
38. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
37. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
36. Bloodborne
35. Hitman 2
34. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
33. Chrono Cross


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just moving my last 2 writeups to here

Some UC4 through the entire review, Id skip it if you intend to play the game.

#34. Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End (PS4, 2016)
After 3 games of the same basic idea of a plot, Drake wants treasure, then wants to stop evil badperson from exploiting said treasure for evil. Finally we get a story that explores a (somewhat) more real side of things. While its still ludicrous treasure at the end of the day, for one, theres no ridiculous mythical powers at bay (though they tease it a bit), andwhile I dont need that one way or the other, I appreciate the more mature approach the story has gradually taken over the games, from full on phantom ancient powers in 1 and 2, to just a hallucination of such in 3, to nothing whatsoever in 4. That it was nice to see they can tell a story without relying on that. The real enemy was the greed of the pirates who had this treasure. Drakes progression here is that after having given up the life, he gets drawn back in to save his brother (well-told in the past cutscenes with them as kidsthis game has a lot more slow/story points which is a little meh-paced, but they are still enjoyable), because hes finally learned the personal risks that come with it and like killing a million people but they dont touch on this one. It winds up being kind of frustrating that Drake keeps all this a secret from Elena, you think hed know this shit by now, but at least we can see he regrets this, learns, grows over the story. Its not especially deep but its certainly deeper than weve ever seen Drake, knowing that from the opening of the game, how he tries to balance missing that stuff with trying to be settled. I liked that segment, finding old relics from past games as he reminisces and Crash Bandicoot! But come on man, Elena supported you just tell her youre gonna go offto save your brother younever told her or us about. Sam essentially taking the place of Drake in the boisterous, treasure-before-all guy works as Drakes adventures are largely tied to his desires and his faked story that he needs the treasure for his life. Sam is not really a great character though.

As for the game, its more fleshed out gameplay wise. The stealth actually works well for once as theres a dedicated system to it now as opposed to just eh maybe you can sneak up on someone. Its not perfect, but its finally at least a polished something. Its fun and works well and you canreally make greater use of stealth than in the past games. The set pieces on the whole arent as fantastical as the other 3 games, but it really hits high notes in scenery and graphics, and still has a bunch of great segments. The truck chase sequence that begins with the drive down through the town on the hill in the ATV and finishes up with being dragged along by a rope in a high-speed chase is the best action segment of the game. The views from the top of towers you get to are the best in the series. The open area in the ATV is pretty neat and different for Uncharted, and served as the basis for Lost Legacy, which was a fun game. The island area with the boat is somewhat open too, and makes for good optional exploration for more story and treasures. The auction house is a fun area too for story/environment.

The final fight, I guess the best in a series not known for its final bosses is good,but mostly because it just looks so good. Being on the burning pirate ship, surrounded by gold, and a simple sword fight with a crazed man with nothing to lose works great thematically. The fight itself is pretty annoying on tougher difficulties. But its very well-presented.

In all, this game has the best all-around story of the 4, if not the most action-oriented, has the best combat, and hey its about the graphics too and this game just looks and sounds great. The ending is very satisfying and is a great conclusion to the series. Now bring me the Sully and Sam side game

Oh also the multiplayer is really fucking good but we know this already and I may have to say more about it later



Next Up: The best overall soundtrack on my list.

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#33 Chrono Cross (PS1, 1999)
Im not gonna lie. The music is largely why this is here. The music in this game enthralled me as a kid and to this day, this is easily a game soundtrack I will put on where and listen start to end while Im working or something. The violin is incredible, and I really adore that bit of scratchy quality the music has like you can hear the occasional squeaking of the bow on the violin and it adds this very raw effect to many of the songs. The intro of this game is absolutely stunning too, extremely impressive for its time, and still looks great!

Ok, now into the game. I played this game before Chrono Trigger. So, I really had no idea what the hell was going on near the end of this game, and to be honest I still kind of dont because I dont really try to follow this games story too much, but it sure as hell at least feels emotional. Its really been a really long time since I played this so I cant remember that too much. What else does stick out as memorable are the battle system and the characters. I Know a lot of people dont like the oversaturation of characters, but to me, I liked that you could experience a lot of these nice little stories each character has, and then just use the ones you like most in your main party. Theres a lot of characters that had cool designs. And hell, one of my first main things I did here at GameFAQs was run several iterations of Save My Chrono Cross character!

The battle system, is the big appeal to me. You can equip spells of different elements on different levels of your magic bracket which I call it that because it looks like a March Madness quadrant. Spells have a certain base level to them that if equipped at a lower or higher level they will increase in power and effectiveness. In order to use these spells, you have to build up to that level with physical attacks- you can do Level 1, 2, or 3 attacks- each of which has a tradeoff in power for accuracy and stamina (3 attacks hit the hardest, have lower accuracy and deplete more Stamina aka # of attacks you can use per turn). As you hit more per turn, the %s all go up. And as you hit with more of these numbers, you can use higher level magic on that turn. All in all it makes for an interesting balance of physical and magic attacks, with strategy in what to use when. Each character has 2 unique attacks also, plus a 3rtd ultimate you can unlock by progressing through each characters story. There is also a magic Field universal to each battle, which changes as any character uses magic. If its ever a solid color, that color is beefed up and you can do some additional specials. Its a great system.



But like I said man, I just fucking love this music. Impossible for me to rank them but heres a few I enjoy a lot

Scars of Time, Dreams of the Shore Bordering Another World, Magical Dreamers, Life: A Distant Promise, Termina Another World, Voyage Home World I could go on.

Next up: A game with Strong Bad in it.

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Eddv list

100SimTown
99Bang Dream! Girls Band Party
98Phantasy Star III
97North vs South
96Scooby Doo Genesis game
95MechWarrior: Living Legends
94You Don't Know Jack
93General Chaos
92Cannon Fodder
91Kirby's Dream Course
90Hexzyz Force
89NHL Hockey 94
88Long Live the Queen
87Dungeons and Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
86NCAA Football 2014
85Pokemon Red
84Ms Pac Man
83Donkey Kong Country 2
82Knights and Merchants
81King's Quest V
80"No More HeroesWii"
79Dishonored 2
78Dark Souls 2
77Simpsons Arcade Game Arcade
76Sonic 2
75Rock Band
74Dynamite Headdy
73Hitman (2018)
72Double Dragon Neon
71Mega Man Maverick Hunter X
70Bloodstained Curse of the Moon 2
69Thousand Arms
68Deja Vu
67Snowboard Kids 2
66Pokemon Stadium 2
65Fallout 3
64Warcraft 2
63Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
62Yakuza 4
61Mutant League Football
60Red Dead Redemption
59Shadowrun Dragonfall
58Shining in the Darkness
57LA Noire
56Beyond Oasis
55Victoria 2
54Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
53Arcade America
52Disgaea
51Mischief Makers
50Virtue's Last Rewards
49Live a Live
48Ar Tonelico 1+2
47Civilization 2
46Secret of Evermore
45Dragon Warrior III
44Breath of Fire III
43Seiken Densetsu 3
42Grim Fandango
41Final Fantasy XIII
40"Outpost 2PC"
39inFamous Second Son
38Bucky O'Hare
37Robotrek
36Dragon Age Origins
35Pokemon X
34Mother 3
33Links Awakening
32Persona 3 FES
31Kirbys Adventure
30Harvest Moon 64
29Valkyria Chronciles
28Broken Sword
27Threads of Fate
26Thimbleweed Park

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#26 - Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS, my GotY for 2012)


999 was pretty good, but it had some gameplay-related issues. The sequel, VLR, takes those issues and makes them strengths. How it does this is a spoiler, and honestly I cant really go over anything about this game without diving neck-deep into spoiler territory, so Im just going to say the one thing that best sums up why I love this game and leave it at that. I have never played a game that makes better use of a flowchart than VLR.

Zero Time Dilemma is awful, but still charming. It was not close to making my list; I'd give it a 7/10.

Phi > Luna > Sigma > K > Tenmyouji > Dio > Clover > Quark > Alice

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#35. Silent Hill 2 (PS2, 2001)



This was my introduction to the Silent Hill series, and really horror games as well. I think Zombies Ate My Neighbors was the closest to a horror game before this, and that's more parody. Or maybe Metroid Fusion? Whatever, moving on.

Silent Hill games tap into the style of horror I like best. There is a lot of unknown tension. The scenes and sounds are a little unsettling, a little different from the expected norm, a little weird, and a little unclear. Sometimes something jumps out, but it really doesn't lean into jump scares. Sometimes nothing at all happens, and that lack of payoff just makes me doubt myself and helps build the next actual scary event. Pyramid Head is also one of the best villains of all time and really a terror to run into. And Akira Yamaoka's music is perfect for setting all the scenes.

SH2 also has a really great story to it, and the game has a lot of symbolism to go with it. I've definitely realized new things every time I replay it. Compared to other Silent Hill games, the story in this game gets a little less into what is the town of Silent Hill? and more into how it affects people in it. The characters are all very interesting and have flaws and help bring so much to the plot, more than it may seem at first glance. Angela's final line of dialogue in the game has always stuck with me in particular, that's such a strong scene.



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#21. Final Fantasy: Record Keeper (Android, 2014)

I have played this game every day for 7 years. It is probably my second most played game of all time at this point in terms of actual time played. The main part I love about this game is unlike other phone games or gacha games, its not pay to win. You could play this never spending a dime and be perfectly fine to beat all the content. May take awhile, but you will get there. They give lots of free Mythril to buy draws. The gameplay is old school FF on steroids. You get all sorts of crazy abilities and can use basically every character in FF history short of a few (Where is Caius?). My team of choice is Bartz, Sephiroth, Aeris, Onion Knight and Orlandu. There was a multiplayer mode that didn't really work well and they just killed it.



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#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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#25 - Pokemon Gold/Silver Version (GBC, my GotY for 1999)


Whoa, Pokemon did well enough to get a sequel? Thats crazy.

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Tagging

Having some computer issues. Hopefully get back rolling tomorrow

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#24 - Elite Beat Agents (DS, my GotY for 2006)


Elite Beat Agents is an absurd game. If you ever run into some situation you cant quite handle on your own, you can just scream for help, and a secret organization who runs surveillance on everyone (including animals, historical figures, and.. blood cells) will notice and send out three of his trusted minions to help you dance your problems away. These arent just any problems, though. Maybe theres a group of thieves that are ransacking the casino you work at. Maybe you get stuck on a deserted island and have to survive off the local fauna. Maybe A FIRE BREATHING GOLEM is attacking the amusement park.

And EBA plays it off with an incredible sense of humor. I love every single stage. They all instill a sense of pure joy that very few games could ever hope of giving you. The soundtrack is surprisingly amazing, too, including the likes of The Rolling Stones, Queen, David Bowie, Chicago, Cher, *cough*Ashlee Simpson*cough*, The Jackson Five, Deep Purple, and Madonna, and theyre (almost) all used to perfection. The beginning of the final level, when everyones chanting and the guitar syncs up with the cracks and the glowing.... God, its so fucking hype. Its like the ultimate objective of the developers was to give the player the biggest smile they could, and they succeeded.

Except for one stage. You know which one. It gets a pass.

Top 5:
Jumpin Jack Flash > Youre the Inspiration > The Anthem > September > Highway Star

Bottom 5:
Walkie-Talkie Man < Without a Fight < just kidding there are only two bad stages

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#29 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (PSP, 2015)

The first game in The Trails in the Sky sub-series was very good, but it ended in a cliffhanger and XSEED at the time was not interested in continuing it since the first game did not meet their sales expectations for the amount of work they put in. So I was left at that cliffhanger for a good four years, until the next game was finally released after the PC ports did much better than expected. It was definitely worth the wait.

SC starts off a few minutes right at the ending of the first game, so there's not much I can say here without going into spoiler territory. Estelle notes that she needs to get stronger after what has just happened, so she heads off to train and comes back to Liberl later on. Like most of the Trails games the first game builds the world and then the second game expands on it and explores the world much more. It's a fantastic game and definitely worth the time and effore. Just remember that



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28. Final Fantasy VI (SNES, 1994)

While I'm not a big Final Fantasy fan (or RPG fan in general), this is my favorite of the series. The battle system is still pretty standard, but moves along at a nice pace, and each of the game's many playable characters feels distinct and interesting. The story is great, too - it's compelling and not overwrought with needlessly convoluted crap like basically every JRPG post-FF7. And on that note the game's length is really good, too - once again, not unnecessarily padded like most modern JRPGs.
The big draw for me here is the awesome cast, a true ensemble where you could reasonably argue for like several "main characters" in a game where at least 5/6 of the characters have significant story arcs, and a few others have pretty solidly developed stories, too. I'm a sucker for the ensemble cast (It's why I loved Lost so much - well, before they blew the ending) and it's a big draw for me here. In a game where you can and will choose different selections of characters throughout, it's nice to see so many of them get big parts, rather than just being accessories to the main's plot. The game's branching-story arcs, when your party splits off into groups and you take control each of them for a section of the story, are the highlight of the narrative. It's really neat to see different groups interact and to have the space to give these individual plots airtime rather than reducing them to an afterthought. And FF6's big villain is maybe not incredibly deep, but he's very good and memorable nonetheless.
Honestly, after 2/3 of the game, I'd probably say this is my favorite JRPG game ever. Sadly, the final third is...a very weird and structurally jarring turn - the World of Ruin segment. Conceptually, it's very neat - you jump ahead in time and have to reunite your party starting with a single character. You're catching up plotwise to what everyone's been up to and dealing with the ramifications of the, uh, "significant event" that led to there being a place called the World of Ruin. In practice, the game just loses a ton of its cohesion and kind of feels like a mess. There's still neat stuff here, no doubt - the storylines are well told - but unfortunately it also comes at a point when you gain access to giving espers (magic spells, basically) to every character, and it makes the whole endgame rush unfocused and homogenous.
You may discount my take here, because I lost interest and never made it to the top of Kefka's tower. But by that point, I felt like I had already gotten through the meat of the plot and there was nothing left other than to just check off the box of "beat the game", after grinding some levels to get the right espers for all of my party. It's disappointing, because all the rest of the awesome stuff is still great, but losing steam (and focus) by the end means I'm putting it below the other SNES Squaresoft RPG that I think is pretty rad. Sorry, FF6!
Top 5 Characters: Cyan - Celes - Sabin - Shadow - Mog

27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, 2004)

Back on entry 51 (Fall Guys) I did a nice little ramble about violence in video games, and my general distaste for it. I figure there's no other way to properly dunk on myself than to include (and rate higher) a Grand Theft Auto game on the list. Of course, the violent stuff is never particularly compelling here - the novelty of stealing cars and running over people and battling cops and whatnot is as good as it is in any of the other GTA3-era games, but it's not what sets this one apart. The story and setting is really great; 2004 was just the right amount of time to look back at early-90s west coast rap nostalgically and translate that into a video game, and the game really hits all the right notes. After the relatively simple beginnings of dodging crooked cops and fighting rival gangs in Grove Street (not-Compton!) of Los Santos (not-L.A.!), you're given access to a huge swath of map space that is nothing but coastal roads, small rundown towns, and empty hills and forest. From there the story introduces a bunch of ridiculous characters and missions, many great, some awful (the flight school and RC plane missions are so brutal), but just full of variety and color.
I love all the different stuff that you can do in this game; it's chock-full of different mini-games and tons of customization options, from RPG-esque stat leveling to character customization via haircuts, clothes, and tattoos. But man, it's the huge map that wins me over here. Having a world map that includes not one, but three major cities to f*** around in, each with their own style and stories and mini-games and such, is bonkers for a PS2 game from 2004. It's still pretty great for a game now. And all the little spaces in-between - the podunk towns, the oceanside roads, the varied geographical features and hidden enclaves, it's all just so satisfying to wander around in. If the Wind Waker writeup taught you (or me, I suppose) anything, it's that I'll absolutely eat up anything that does the feeling of traveling justice, and this game nails it too, in a much more grounded way. (Turns out driving a vehicle around for 30 minutes in a robust video game engine is pretty great.)
And hey, somehow I wrote a couple of paragraphs about a GTA game without even talking about shooting someone. I deserve a medal.

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#34.Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS, 2005)



I had never played anything resembling a visual novel game prior to Phoenix Wright, but I was convinced they would not be my thing. Well, B8 went nutso over this game. I didn't jump on immediately, but for weeks and months I kept hearing the praises. The case solving and evidence gathering looked like enough diversion on top of the story to convince me to finally give this a shot. And uh, the fact that the game is here should tell you how that went.

All of the original trilogy is great, but this first game is my favorite. I'm sure some of it is because of how fresh it all hit and the nostalgia is going to last more. But also, there are so many great moments in this game. From late in 1-3 through the end of 1-4 was just a mad rush of excitement the entire way. Every new thing that happened in that stretch was amazing or wild or hilarious. 1-4 is also my favorite case in the series, and by a large amount. One specific witness examination in that case is just a perfect piece of video gaming. PW:AA of course has so many fantastic characters. I think this game had the strongest prosecution of any in the trilogy. So many of the side characters here are even very memorable, enough that many become recurring characters. And why does the bellboy look so much like Alec Baldwin?

I only ended up playing the original trilogy of Ace Attorney, never moved on to the Apollo Justice or Investigations. I did open up to more story-driven games and visual novels after this though, and am pretty thankful for that! As evidenced by 999 and Va-11 Hall-A being on my list earlier, when the story and characters and writing are good enough, I can really have a good time.

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#33. Steins;Gate (PS3, 2015)



Following up the game that was a gateway for me to play visual novels is 100% definitely a visual novel.

Steins;Gate is a story about a group of students whose hobby is taking electronics, computers, etc. and creating new inventions, generally of the useless variety. Somehow in this, they accidentally invent a machine that has properties of a time travel machine.

There is a lot of care in the writing to make everything seem as legit and real as possible. It's not like time travel is discovered and everything kicks into high gear, but rather there is gradual experimenting and discovery to learn what the hell is even going on? There is a lot of discussion on science and physics and scientific history to make the science in this game all seem as plausible as possible. It seems like it can be rather complex, but it serves to really narrow down what the rules are with the invention, and make clearer what can happen and what's at stake. Eventually, things do kick in to high gear, and it's a real roller coaster of events. There are some strong emotions and sharp turns in the plot to be found.

A good story is of course amplified by good characters, and Steins;Gate has a very memorable cast. They each get their time to shine as the story unfolds, and are important in some manner. Several of them also lean down some branch of nerd/otaku/internet culture, and I think it helped that I was familiar with all of those to some degree. Cell phones also play a crucial role in this game, and communication is run through text messages at times. I think that helps all the characters become very real, seeing them typing conversations versus their spoken conversations, and talking with them about their very specific hobbies.

I know there is more to the series, but so far I've only played this game. I really want to see what more of these games have to offer. I also very recently bought the Steins;Gate anime series (like, a week ago) and want to watch that soon.

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#32. Guitar Hero 2 (2006, PS2)
The year is 2005. Im a freshman in college. After a couple months of making similarly-minded friends who also like video games because were all nerds, this new rhythm game comes out with a plastic guitar peripheral where you can play classic and more-current rock songs with a 5-button fret system, to the beat of strumming. It was fun, people liked it. Friends would come to hang out at my room and wed play a whole bunch. Its a little hard to say what was missing though. It was fun for sure, but it felt like it needed more. A little more style, a little more action, maybe some more songs or a better track list.

Enter the following year, and enter Guitar Hero 2, where Im now in a larger dorm (one with an actual common room), and a sequel comes out. And it was all those things I said. More style. More and better songs. The addition of Hop-Ons and Pull-Offs were CRUCIAL, and its impact long-lasting on this genre. And the difficulty felt perfect (I basically was able to start on hard and graduate to expert in short time). And being able to just set this up in the common area and friends and wanderers alike could just come by and play; it was a smash hit. I without a doubt played this game more than any others during college well maybe at least that year, and actually made some friends just through this.

The style was better. I felt in general like the presentation was better, the character rockers given to you to play as felt like they had more personality. The loading screens were funny. Clive Winston is the best.

The action was better. I already mentioned the HOPOs, but they really made the game feel like it worked. I also realized I thought GH1 was very slow. You could turn on light speed mode or whatever it was called then, and that separated out the notes enough to make them more readable as far as what notes to hit when. It blended in nicely with the difficulty curve.

The playlist was better. Almost all of the songs were covers done by Red Octane, but you could barely tell. I think some were done to make them even better for a guitar-based game also. Theres very few misses as far as the song selection. To this day, Guitar Hero 2 remains unrivaled on its in-box song selection. From Motley Crue to The Police to Kansas to Foo Fighters to Black Sabbath to the Rolling Stones to GNR to Primus to Heart to the Allman Bros to Rush to Skynyrd. And they were legitimately fun to play with great charts. Or so I recall. Maybe if I went back to this game now, I wouldnt think so but I certainly loved it at the time.

And then you even have the bonus songs, so thanks for introducing me to Freezepop. FTK is a fun song also. And they even had some extra fun stuff between the bonus and regular stuff, like a song from Deathklok, that damn Buckethead song, Misirlou, Spinal Tap, and uh am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah.



Most fun songs to play/Best songs (because how much you like the song affects how fun it is to some degree):
YYZ > Jessica > Sweet Child O Mine > Beast and the Harlot > Carry On Wayward Son > Hangar 18 > Crazy On You > Get Ready 2 Rokk > John The Fisherman > Freebird

(Freebird is too long or would be higher, but the way its like WAIT ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO PLAY FREEBIRD is hilarious)

Bad songs in no order: Tattooed Love Boys, Cherry Pie, Girlfriend, Stop, Carry Me Home

What the fuck????: Psychobilly Freakout, Institutionalized

So anyway yeah, this is here for its fantastic timing in being THE college game, for a while anyway, right in my dorms common room, improvements over the first game, and fantastic song list.

Next Up: A pixelated dungeon crawler with lots of items featuring a guy with a sword whose sword gets special powers at full health.

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#54 Mario Golf (N64, 1999)


I've never been a big fan of golf. I would play some rounds with my grandfather, I would hit the driving ranges with my dad, and I would pay attention to major tournaments as a discussion topic with them, but I was much more interested in other sports. However, I enjoy golf video games more than any other sport (I consider racing to be its own genre in gaming).

It is a zen-like experience. You get some nice natural environments to look at, listen to some breezy tunes, and not have to worry about a clock or an opponent to face off against in real time. It's because of that that I am pretty content with most golfing games. I've played dozens in my life, and I liked just about all of them. With respect to the mid-00s PGA Tour games, the Mario Golf series has been the premier golfing series, and I think the N64 game is the best one.

It's one of the more accessible yet wholesome golfing experiences in a video game. That screenshot helps to show why. It gives you clear information on one screen how far the hole is, how far you can expect the club you are on will go if hit well, what mode you are using your club, the power level of your swing using marks, and the range of your accuracy meter, where the wind is blowing, and much more. It's not overwhelming at all but gives you all the necessary information that you need. Also seen on that screen shot is a grid on the course showing you where you can expect your ball to land. It may sound dumb, but that grid is the best in a golf game that I've encountered. Because of the N64 graphics lacking any realism, the clarity of it really helps when you are looking to see where you want to align your shot.

A lot of golfing games force you to play all holes in one go, but Mario Golf allows you to suspend play on any hole, maybe even during any shot (my memory is a little fuzzy on that), which makes it excellent for multiplayer, and you can even have three different games going due to save states. In addition to its standard stroke play, there's several other modes/ways to play, and I cannot stress enough that mini-golf is awesome. Why was this the only one to feature mini-golf? That's probably the biggest reason why this one is my favorite, but the game would still be excellent without it.

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26. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (DS, 2005-2007)

Like most of Board 8, I got sucked into these games in the mid/late-aughts, taking in all the memes and reacting in real-time. I think my Trilogy character ranking is still preserved with everyone else's who made a list on the B8 Wiki, so you can laugh at my terrible takes for all eternity. Because of the nature of the "PW fandom" and all three games themselves encompassing a complete story, it didn't really feel right to separate any of the three games from each other and try to figure out where on the list was right for JFA or T&T, or whatever. Despite any individual preferences between the three, they just belong together here. Plus, the game's sold as the whole trilogy now for Switch and 3DS, so I'm not even cheating. Hooray!
The premise of Ace Attorney is simple and novel - you take on the role of a rookie defense lawyer, helping clients by gathering evidence during investigations and calling out lies and inconsistencies during trial. Each game has 4 or 5 cases, with their own unique defendants, witnesses, and prosecutors that mix things up over the course of the series. Gameplay-wise, it's pretty straightforward; investigations play out like classic point-and-click adventure games - you navigate dialogue trees with other characters, look for things in the background of scenes, and try to give the right items to the right people (or give the wrong ones repeatedly looking for funny dialogue lines). The courtroom stuff is a little more creative; you're generally cross-examining a witness, trying to prod them for holes in their testimony, and (usually) showing some piece of evidence that contradicts a specific line of dialogue. It's neat, it's punctuated wonderfully by the games' beautiful soundtracks, and it clearly worked well enough to get the series 6 games and inspire several spin-offs.
What makes Ace Attorney more than just a charming novelty is its story. I'll admit, I was not sold on the game at first - I liked the premise, and the first few cases were definitely fun and (mostly) silly, but I still thought the game was kind of popcorn-y nonsense more than anything. Then, case 4 happens. The stakes get raised dramatically, the drama is ramped up significantly, and maybe most importantly, the game takes itself far more seriously and proves it can match that with its writing and gameplay.
While there's certainly room for the memey characters and goofy dialogue in the series, it's the ability to craft a compelling and continuing narrative throughout the trilogy that makes the series unforgettable. Your core characters - Phoenix, the sometimes-fumbling rookie lawyer; Edgeworth, the smug prosecutor; Gumshoe, the bumbling detective; and Maya, your childish kid-sister-like partner - all have layers of character developed over the course of there series to become something far greater than those basic summaries. Many of the series' characters confined to one game, or even one case, really stand out too. It's a testament to the writers of these games that so many of these characters are both fairly straightforward in terms of knowing "who they are" within a few lines of dialogue, yet they're full of complexity and depth.
And I even love how each game has its own narrative feel. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (1) introduces both the main characters and confronts you with their pasts and backstories, culminating in the case that brings the history of Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Maya to a head. Justice For All (2) agonizes over the meaning of justice and being a lawyer, reckoning with the weight of "bad guys" whose motivations are much more muddled and absolutely wrecking you with the best case of the series. The unforgettable finale puts Phoenix into an impossible situation at the start, squeezes you in the middle with an impossible moral dilemma, and tops it off with a climax that is full of twists and characters pulling out their best moments. Trials & Tribulations (3) digs into the past with two of its trials, while finishing off the series with a gargantuan finale that brings back most of the core cast and satisfyingly wraps a bow on the series.
It's impossible for me to go back and listen to the game's soundtrack, or watch a video of a huge PW moment, without getting choked up and emotional. It's a game that feels very important to a certain point of my life, and is just full of lovely characters and stories that I'll always remember. It's a difficult challenge to rank something like this on the list (yeah, okay, this is sort of a redundant comment by this point) where the gameplay is significantly secondary to the story itself (though the two work in tandem here to manage the game's pace) and so I'm just ducking it out of the Top 25 as a good finale to this portion of the list. If for some reason you haven't played any of these games, you genuinely owe it to yourself to at least play through the first one, up to case 4, because it's just so beautiful and great and special.
Top 5 Cases: 2-4 - 1-4 - 3-5 - 1-5 - 3-4
Top 5 Characters: Edgeworth - Phoenix - Maya - Gumshoe - Von Karma

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#20. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013)

Oh hey and this comes out this week too on Switch. With online. And a new mode. So in a week this will be Mario 3D World Deluxe in this position. What an absolute joy to play. It builds so much on the excellence of 3D Land and captures that Mario 2D feel in 3D even better. This game also made Captain Toad playable for the first time and god did I fall in love with that little guy. Being able to play as a bunch of characters like in Mario 2 is also an excellent idea. There is more than enough challenge in this game and tons to collect too. The Mario Kart stage is so damn good. I really hope lots of you pick this up so I can play this 4 player online with competent players. The Bell Hill theme is excellent and continues Nintendo's tradition of locking the bass player in a separate room with no sheet music or any idea what they are even doing then just adding it to the song.



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#23 - Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational - (VITA, my GotY for 2011)


World Invitational is my favorite entry of my favorite golf series ever, so it makes sense that it would be my top golf game on my list. Also my first VITA game to pop up. For those that remember at the beginning, I shared that my list had 4 of those, so they are definitely overperforming.

World Invitational is Hot Shots Golf at its very best. The single-player is the most extensive the series has ever had, up until Everybodys Golf for PS4. There were tons of challenges to take on, and each had a bonus incentive to do something else inside them to earn you crowns that will unlock new characters and courses. It had 9 diverse courses to play on, that all looked absolutely gorgeous on VITA, and it was the most recent entry to still have unique characters instead of create-a-guys, and Ive always loved the cartoony style of HSG.

But the meat really came with its online functionality for me, and it was a very simple and obvious addition that changed it all. They introduced daily tournaments. You could turn the game on any time of the day, head to the online section, and there would be a round available with various different conditions that you could compete with everyone else around the world in.

You got one shot, and if you blew it, then well, better luck next time. It doesnt run into the same problem Mario Golf World Tour did 4 years later, where players would play the same round over and over for days in a row, hoping to play the round of their life so they could get a high score. In World Invitational, it was a pure competition of skill, and it was really fun (and a lot of the time, humbling) to see where you stacked up against the best players out there, and it kept me coming back day after day for years to keep trying.

Oh, and Gloria is best girl forever.

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Whiskey_Nick posted...

#20. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013)

Oh hey and this comes out this week too on Switch. With online. And a new mode. So in a week this will be Mario 3D World Deluxe in this position. What an absolute joy to play. It builds so much on the excellence of 3D Land and captures that Mario 2D feel in 3D even better. This game also made Captain Toad playable for the first time and god did I fall in love with that little guy. Being able to play as a bunch of characters like in Mario 2 is also an excellent idea. There is more than enough challenge in this game and tons to collect too. The Mario Kart stage is so damn good. I really hope lots of you pick this up so I can play this 4 player online with competent players. The Bell Hill theme is excellent and continues Nintendo's tradition of locking the bass player in a separate room with no sheet music or any idea what they are even doing then just adding it to the song.

I anticipate getting it fyi

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Yes Cokes good

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#31. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3, 2010)
What an absolute treat this game was. I always found the original Legend of Zelda to be too chaotic as far as knowing what the hell to do or where the hell to go. That being, the first time I ever tried that game was on the Gamecube Zelda collectors edition disc that I think came free with Nintendo Power? I guess people back in the day either had more patience to figure out what to do, where to drop the bombs with no visual clue, or what the stuff even did. That or they used well, Nintendo Power. But I wasnt about to go step by step with a walkthrough. But I still loved the idea of that game, as I do with all Zelda games.

3D Dot Game Heroes gives you all the feel of that original Zelda, but its the form of that game I actually wanted to play. Maybe that should be Link to the Past as the one thats closer comparison, but it at least makes me think of OG Zelda more and I think thats all in the art style and finding caves with people who will tell you random probably helpful stuff. The game looks FANTASTIC. Everything is made of pixels, and by that, I mean little Lego-like blocks that physics around as you attack and destroy enemies or objects. The game feel here is absolutely top notch. It has all the standard weapons and such youd want out of your standard Zelda game, but this time, the sword special full healthpower is having a really big-ass sword. If you have ever played the Flash game (RIP) Ginormo Sword, the sword mechanics are similar to that. You can buy one of several base swords with different shapes, and you can pay to grow the swords length or width. Only at full health, your sword will keep these properties, and by the end of the game you can have a big-ass sword that takes up the whole screen. I love that stuff.

One thing that stands out in this game too is in trying to 100% it, you need to collect all enemies in the Bestiary. The way you capture an enemy in the Bestiary is you have to literally beat the enemy WITH the physical Bestiary, a book-like weapon. Including the bosses! And its not a particularly strong weapon, so you really have to use a lot of cunning in staying alive, and getting in closer to the boss than you may be comfortable with. I enjoyed the game enough to also get the trophy for Spelunker mode, which is one-hit KO mode. That was a fun experience. Theres also a great number of quests and mini-games.

But again, the main thing here for me is it has all the great design of Link to the Past, in an original LOZ
style game feel, and looks absolutely phenomenal with its 3d-boxy-pixel graphics. Its been a long time since I played this game so I do not recall many of the game specifics, but I remember loving every second of it and it truly being the classic-style Zelda game I had been waiting for. I wish to play it again sometime soon in a remaster!! Oh! And theres character customization if youre into that so you can play as Mega Man or Cloud or whatever strikes your fancy if you can design it. Also also, I thought it was really neat this game was made by FROM, creators of Dark Souls/Bloodborne!



Next up: This game is not actually misnumbered.


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#28 - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Vita, 2014)

Been 72 titles since I ranked Danganronpa 1 at #100. This game pretty much takes the original game and improves every aspect of it, from the investigation, the trials, the characters, and the overall story. The game is great to play all the way through, and even though I had already the answers to the first three cases from orenronen's LP topic in the Something Awful forums I breezed through those to get to the latter half of the cases, which are some of the best in the series. 2-5 is probably the best case in the series period, the whole set-up and conclusion is great. The ending in 2-6 is merely ok, and I wasn't too impressed with it overall especially given the past cases being too good.

There's a lot of dumb stuff embedded in the platinum trophy though, but I won't hold that against how excellent this game is.

Cases: 2-5 > 2-4 > 2-2 > 2-6 > 2-3 > 2-1

#27 - AI: The Somnium Files (PS4, 2019)

A-set, you bet!

The most recent game on the list, as I excluded all 2020 games from this. AI's true strength lies in its story and characters and not really much in its trial and error puzzle gameplay, but even that has its moments with all the funny dialogue you can get with Aiba doing stupid stuff in Somniums. For once in a Kotaro Uchikoshi title I didn't go straight for the true route and hit a lock in the flowchart again preventing me from going forward (though I did hit a lock somewhere else), which was great for a first run through.

I'd link the Invincible Rainbow Arrow dance but it's full of spoilers and this game is best left unspoiled with all the plot twists fitting a script by Kotaro Uchikoshi. If you've liked any of his other games, this is definitely a game you shouldn't miss.

#26 - Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Vita, 2017)

Three puzzle visual novels in a row? Sure, why not. V3 is the first Danganronpa visual novel I got to play completely unspoiled and I think that's a big factor on how it managed to be ahead of the other games in the series. This game is very divisive in the fanbase mainly because of how the game ends - I think the ending works fine, though I'm not sure where they can go from here if they continue the series.

This game though has a lot of extra content after beating the game, culminating into a board-game dungeon crawler hybrid where you level up characters from all games in the series using a board game, then have them fight through a 100-floor dungeon crawler. Like many dungeon crawler games I really enjoyed this extra bit, despite how repetitive the board game got.

Cases: 3-4 > 3-1 > 3-6 > 3-5 > 3-2 > 3-3

Not much in these three writeups as they are all visual novels that are best left unspoiled to be enjoyed to the fullest. Maybe next batch!

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3D Dot Game Heroes is a game I bought at some point because the art style looked cool, but I've never actually seen it in motion or looked to see how it played. As a result, it's kind of sat on my shelf. I am suddenly a lot more interested to try it after reading that writeup, Wigs.

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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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#30. Mega Man X (SNES, 1993)
Oh boy, its a Mega Man!
Its everything you could want in an improved Mega Man game. Better action, more mobility, like wall climbing and the special upgrades, the fact each level is now a fully fleshed out real level,instead of a series of single-screen obstacle courses, a game actually built around these differences, and better music to top it off. You have the charge shot and dash(/slide) too, but now the game feels ready to actually make these differences meaningful, where they always felt a bit more thrown-in in the later Mega Man NES games. Its got all the other stuff that makes Mega Man great, the 8 different levels that you can do in any order, but has a good recommended order with boss weaknesses. The weapons feel useful. All the bonus parts you get add a lot of depth to the game, like charging up your maverick weapons so they do something else. The Hadoken is in the game! Its got the great intro stage. The individual stages all feel unique and memorable. The robot masters are well-designed and fun to fight. The game is a really solid difficulty level. Finding the hidden areas with the special weapons is fun. Being able to go in any order gives it some good replay value. The fact stages can completely change in design/style based on the order you do them in. You already know all about this game, you dont need me to tell you why its great. Its one of the most well-designed platformers there is. Thats all I got!



Next up: An indie game that inspired a Nintendo-branded spinoff.

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#32. Wild Arms 3 (PS2, 2002)



I feel like everyone who has played Wild Arms games has a different favorite. It's weird that there's so little concensus, but each one has different strengths and styles to appeal to different people. Wild Arms 3 is the one from the series that really clicked with me.

WA3 still leans heavily into the wild west setting, before the series toned it down a lot. That setting is one of the big appeals of Wild Arms to me. Michiko Naruke's soundtrack was at its strongest here and matched the setting so well. The western setting gets a little jRPG-ish later on, but not any crazier than any other jRPG from the time. Wild Arms 3 also went with a cel-shaded look, which was kind of a trendy thing at the time, but they added a sketched look over it, and I think it turned out well here.

The story starts off with four separate prologues, following each of the four main characters when they were solo. They all meet up on a train, during a train robbery and join together. All four are solidly good characters, there's not really a weak link here. Along the way, there are multiple groups of recurring rivals to bump into and sometimes fight, and those recurring characters are all lots of fun.

There are a lot of mechanics in this game that are unique or ambitious or weird or even antiquated, and I feel like they're all in my wheelhouse, even when they might not be for most people. Dungeons often have puzzles, and characters have tools specific to each for solving said puzzles. One real nice touch when inside dungeons, you get a limited number of cancels to random battles. Say you're running around, a little exclamation point pops up to say a battle's gonna start, but you think, nah, I don't want to do this fight so you hit a button, and the battle is canceled, and you keep moving around. It's great when you're trying to hit the next save point or when you've healed before a boss and don't want another fight. Battles rely strongly on buffs and weaknesses, which made for a lot of interesting boss battles. I felt like I could've just gone through dungeon after dungeon, battle after battle, and never get tired of it thanks to the amount of variety in what are normally repetitive activities.

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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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25. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GameCube, 2004)

The first Paper Mario sequel, before Nintendo decided to tank the series by going out of their way to systematically remove everything that everyone liked about the games. This game, though, takes everything that people liked about the original and brings it back, and ups it to 11. The game length is more than doubled, there's a whole host of extra collectibles, a ton of extra sidequests and NPCs, and a beefy 100-floor dungeon challenge that you can totally ignore, but why would you?
This game has what I think is the absolute best RPG combat system I've ever played. It takes the core of Paper Mario 1's mechanics: turn-based battles where your attacks (and defending opponents' attacks) have a timing element to them, allowing you to do (or prevent) more damage via a good button press, or a spin of the control stick, or whatever little challenge the game has presented to you. In addition, TTYD adds an extra set of hidden timing inputs, called Stylish commands, that you can use to add some flair to your attacks (it earns extra star power for your special meter) and feels so good to pull off. There's also a "live audience" that throws items (yay!) or hammers (boo!) at you, and you have to react to avoid damage; and a roulette mechanic that can earn you big bonuses if you match 3 symbols in row. (Just don't get the Poison Mushrooms.)
Layered atop all of that is the game's badge system, which returns from Paper Mario 1 and is beefier as well. Badges offer unique attacks, or special powers, or simple power bonuses, that can be equipped for a fixed number of points. Like health and flower points (akin to magic power), you can get more badge points upon leveling up, and unlike Paper Mario 1, there's no maximum and it's almost always worth it to go crazy to do insane shenanigans with badges. You can get infinite amounts of many of the basic badge types, so with the right amount of BP and the proper setup, you can apply some insane strategies. (and they're very worth it for the aforementioned 100-floor dungeon slog.) It feels so customizable, so replayable, and yet like the first game, so simple to play and satisfying to move along. Battles flow really smoothly, and there's no lengthy tutorial sequence here - you're given action commands and can start doing crazy stuff pretty much right out of the gate.
Where I rate TTYD much less than its predecessor is the story and pace of the game. TTYD is far more ambitious, and in some cases, it pays off in spades. Chapter 3 is centered entirely around becoming a fighter in a colosseum-style series of battles, ranking up on a ladder to reach the top and attain the Championship belt; it's one of the standout portions of the game. Chapter 5, meanwhile, is a meandering wild narrative trainwreck (in a good way), starring a tragic widowed Bob-omb, two eloping Piantas from the game's Pianta Mafia, an obnoxious smug sea captain, and a talking pirate skull. There are also portions of the game where the length feels stretched - Chapter 2, 4, 6, and 7 all have notable parts (MSG mentioned some of these) where the game feels padded with unnecessary backtracking. There's also plenty of sections where puzzle solutions feel like a repeat from the first Paper Mario game. That's not specifically counting things that feel like direct references, just several areas where ideas seemed to run out and they just pulled something back from the first game again.
TTYD is such a strong package that despite its flaws I still tossed it into the Top 25 without much thought. It's a game I could pick up and run through for 20-30 hours easily at any time; its battle system is so addicting and satisfying, and also so variable, that it's just a blast to go through. I think there's not really any mystery with the way I've worded any of this that Paper Mario 1 is also gonna show up on the countdown later, and I can dig into more of why these two games are such a blast there, and what unique charms really bump that one ahead of this. But TTYD is still great and more than holds its own. And sadly, as I mentioned at the start, the series really never would come close to these heights again, despite the obvious strengths of these two beloved games.

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#53 Counter-Strike: Source (PC, 2004)


This is really a placement for the entire series, but if I'm going to point out one, it is Source due to using the much better Source engine than those of its predecessors and the great custom maps that the community put out all the time.

Counter-Strike is the sole reason why I created a Steam account back in 2005, and I only played games from the series on it until around 2010 or 2011. It is a perfect pick-up-and-play and also a "one more round" kind of game. My hours got reset at one point, but virtually every CS game would be in my Top 5 most played on Steam.

The flavor of each round is about rescuing hostages or planting bombs, and you play as counter-terrorists or terrorists. As I pointed out earlier with Nightfire, I am big fan of higher-stakes multiplayer in having a life system, and in Counter-Strike, you get one life per round. Because most of what came before were arena shooters, it was one of the earlier online shooters to truly emphasize teamwork and strategy, and the loadouts (you accrued money in each round you could use on armor or weapons in the subsequent rounds) you chose before the action started could be the difference between success and failure. The brevity and fulfillment of each round was unparalled, and hours could go by in a flash.

I want to bring up Condition Zero's Xbox port because it had a console-exclusive map that is my favorite in the series, Miami, which was inside of a bank. The area had lots of rooms and vents, so there were more hiding places for the terrorists (it was a hostage map). My friend and I would cheat on this map lol. It wasn't in every CS game, but in the Xbox one, you could see where every ally or enemy was when you died and follow their movement. My friend and I would call each other on cordless phones, and when we were on the counter-terrorist team and either of us died, we would shift the camera around and tell each other where the enemies were holed up. Did we win a bunch of games that we shouldn't have? Yes. Do I regret what I did? Absolutely not.

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#52 Mass Effect 1 + Mass Effect 2 + Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, 2007, 2010, and 2012)


This is my mega cheat entry, but really, they all go hand-in-hand to where separating them seems wrong. They live and die together.

I've never been too interested in sci-fi stuff despite my interest in astronomy. I wouldn't even say that I gave it much of a shot, so let's assume that I haven't read or watched most of the famous stuff. Knowing that, the Mass Effect series is probably my favorite in the genre. The first game was great at introducing and getting me sucked into the lore. It helps having fully realized characters with great voice actors delivering well-written lines. I tend to speed up or outright skip some dialogue in other games, but I wanted to hear every last syllable with these games.

In what is probably a controversial opinion (shocker coming from me I know), the first game is my favorite in the trilogy. It set the tone, built the world, and gave you so many great characters to begin with the likes of Wrex, Liara, Tali, and Garrus. A strong first impression can be pretty huge for me, and it's something that future installments in a shared storyline don't have the luxury of benefitting from. It is also tells a complete, mostly self-contained story while hinting at a bigger picture, something that I don't think it gets enough credit for as the following games followed a different approach. I know gameplay was refined in future installments, but it was more than servicable to begin. Exploring planets in the Mako was easily the weakest thing about the game, but it was hardly something you had to do, so I just skipped it after awhile.

2 started things off in a rather unique way so to give the game a fresher feeling from the start. It introduced three of my favorite characters in Thane, Samara, and Mordin, and brought back many others in new roles. I respect them for not keeping things the same and have different squad members for practical and creative writing purposes, but I wanted my Wrex back dammit! They completely overhauled how to acquire planetary resources for the better, and while I realize that is an optional thing, that was a big deal to me. In general, this game was more character centric, and for that, it has my vote for best dialog writing among the three, but it came at a cost. In spite of having a perilous final act that did feel tense the whole way through, the game basically felt like one giant interlude with the game basically boiling down to recruiting new squadmates, gaining the loyalty of said squadmates through sometimes oddly-forced character arcs, and oh yeah the unverise is in danger, so let's get to saving it. Plot-wise, this was disappointing, and the main reason why I have as my "least" favorite in the trilogy.

After two strong entries, there were high expectations for the third game, and for me, it delivered. The gameplay and planetary resouce gathering were at their finest, the wide cast of characters were given proper closure, it had the awesome fanservice Citadel DLC, and I felt like my 100+ hours spent on it ended with a sense of accomplishment. I played the final game after the ending was re-worked, so I never felt embittered by what they originally had, but I was content with how my story ended.

I actually went through the series twice. I don't stick to binary decisions in the dialogue tree, but in my first playthrough, I was a mostly paragon male vanguard Shepard and a renegade-leaning female adept Shepard the second time. BioWare did a great job at making your classes feel distinct. They felt like completely different experiences in combat, and when you through hundreds of encounters in over a hundred hours of content, that replayable factor goes a long way.

It's hard to pull off a series like Mass Effect with its interconnected games where decisions in one game have a profound effect in a future one, and it's even harder to do it as well as they did. That and financial reasons are probably why they are so rare, but if if someone can pull it off even half as well as BioWare did with Mass Effect, I would buy it regardless of the subject matter.

I am prepared to eat those words.

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#51 Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996)


With the leap to 3D, there were some growing pains for Nintendo series. Some fared very well in their foray into 3D (Star Fox, Pilotwings) while others struggled (Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda) to various degrees. Super Mario was the rare case of a series coming off a string of high-quality titles and then began the 3D era with another high-quality title worthy of the name.

Making Super Mario 64 an open-ended experience was an astounding choice. From the moment you gain control of Mario, the choice is (for the most part) yours. I mean, there are progress requirements to open doors throughout the fantastic Peach's Castle, but you do have substantially more freedom to craft your own path than games before it.

I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but it feels great controlling Mario. I also hate to use the same buzzwords, but fluidity and responsiveness has always been a staple of the series, and they didn't lose that going to the N64. With additional threats that can come from all sides, added moves like the punch, jump kick, and ground pound were just as fun and easy to get used to.

Something that I feel is overlooked is how great and varied the methods for getting stars are. Until Odyssey came along, 64 might have received my vote for being the best in that department. It was almost as if they wanted to test out all they could do in a 3D space as the hardware and their minds allowed.

Not everything is a home run, and there were some frustrating hiccups (some related to the jump to 3D, some not), but relative to the time/era it came out, this is one of the most impressive games of all-time.

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#19. Chrono Cross (PS1, 2000)

The most hyped I have ever been for a game. A buddy and I watched the intro like 500 times at least on a PS Demo Disc. I beat this game the first weekend basically not sleeping. Beat it 3 more times in the coming 2 weeks to get all the characters and everything in the game and the real ending. The game has some real problems, like the combat is a really bizarre choice that takes some getting used to, and there are some characters that just don't need to exist and have garbage designs. Besides that though, we have one of the best OSTs of all time. A game that is completely gorgeous and a great story. A lot of people write this off too quick as not being a proper CT sequel. There is so much to enjoy here.



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An updated list of my games:

100, Battle of Polytopia
99, Jet Force Gemini
98, Mount Your Friends 3D
97, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
96, Final Fantasy IV
95, Rock Band Blitz
94, Top Skater
93, Castle Crashers
92, Simpsons Arcade
91, Snowboard Kids 2
90, Super Mario 3D World
89, Raiden II
88, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
87, Blast Corps
86, Civilization IV
85, StarCraft II
84, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
83, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
82, Guitar Hero II
81, Mario Party 2
80, Perfect Dark
79, Mario Kart 64
78, Meteos
77, Thomas Was Alone
76, The Legend of Zelda
75, Portal
74, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
73, Trauma Center: Under the Knife / Second Opinion
72, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
71, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
70, Donkey Kong 64
69, Wario Land 4
68, Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
67, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
66, Claw
65, Audiosurf
64, Pikmin
63, WarioWare: Smooth Moves!
62, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
61, NBA Street Vol. 2
60, Mario Kart Double Dash!
59, Fallout: New Vegas
58, The Walking Dead: Season 1
57, Super Mario World
56, The Stanley Parable
55, Mario Tennis
54, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
53, Super Monkey Ball 2
52, NBA Jam
51, Donkey Kong 94
50, Goldeneye
49, Need for Speed: Underground
48, Ken Griffey Jr's Slugfest
47, Bastion
46, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
45, Banjo-Kazooie
44, Bioshock
43, Mario Golf
42, Left 4 Dead 2
41, Diddy Kong Racing
40, Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
39, Total Annihilation
38, Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX 2
37, Phantasy Star Online: Episodes I & II / Blue Burst

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no idea why the thing i used to append numbers separated with a comma but here we are

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24. Mario Party 2 (N64, 2000)

Immediately upon its release in 1999, I was in love with the Mario Party series. The combination of board and video game, and its delicate balance of luck and skill, combined with the varied mini-game challenges, was an immediate winner (and a huge success). I've played every mainline game (1-10, Super) and the DS release, and I've enjoyed all of them in some capacity, but Mario Party 2 is still easily my all-time favorite. I figured it would be too difficult to try to figure out exactly how many of these games I really wanted to place in the Top 100, so instead I set aside a spot as ostensibly a series entry, and I'm putting MP2 in because it's undoubtedly the best.
Mario Party 2 sets right nearly every complaint about the original, and adds several new features that would become series staples. Obviously, control stick-rotating games got nixed entirely. Punishing mini-games like Bash N Cash and Crane Game are either removed or revised to have a fixed payout. The boards rely far less on big swings of punishment and even when they have potentially damaging mechanics (like Space Land's mega laser or Bowser Land's parade) there are many opportunities to swing the event in your favor and lots of time to plan ahead. Items and Item Mini-games make an appearance, and while they're important and relevant, there's a good balance - they're not as overwhelmingly baked into everything like the capsules/orbs from 5-7. Duel and battle mini-games also are added, giving opportunities for big swings directly from mini-games, rather than through Chance Time or the boards themselves. And the themed boards with character costumes and story sequences are lovely, charming, and add a bit of color to the board play itself.
The mini-games in 2 are great, too; it's the only MP game (not counting the trainwreck that is Top 100) that extensively brought back games from prior entries, and although its a bit of a mixed bag, they generally improved upon most of the original designs. And basically all the iconic games are here - Bumper Balls, Bombs Away, Hexagon Heat, Shy Guy Says, Face Lift, Slot Car Derby, and many others. There's something to be said about the charm of jumping into a Game of MP2, where everything is familiar - basically everyone I play with knows the games and the boards really well, so it gets super-sweaty and competitive fast.
There's not a lot to complain about with 2 - I think you could reasonably argue that sequels had better mini-games, more content, better balance, or more variety - but it does everything so effortlessly well, that even its hang-ups seem like such minor annoyances. Undoubtedly, there's a little nostalgia here; MP2 was the first MP game I bought, and I have only played 4 anywhere near the amount I did this one. But as I said, every part of the package is just very good - it's absolutely a significant amount greater than the sum of its parts because it does every little bit well. And I think there's no coincidence that fans of the series keep wanting the games to return to the roots of this game: its board designs, structure, and mini-game style; it's such a memorable classic that still holds up excellently.
Top 5 MP2 Mini-games: Hexagon Heat - Bumper Balloon Cars - Face Lift - Shell Shocked - Speed Hockey
Top 5 Mario Party (series) games: MP2 - MP6 - MP3 - MP9 - MP4

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36. F-Zero GX (Gamecube, 2003)

The blackbird sings to him: "Brother, brother,
If this be the last song you shall sing,
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing."

In dreary doubtful waiting hours,
Before the brazen frenzy starts,
The horses show him nobler powers;
O patient eyes, courageous hearts!

And when the burning moment breaks,
And all things else are out of mind,
And only joy of battle takes
Him by the throat and makes him blind,
Through joy and blindness he shall know,
Not caring much to know, that still
Nor lead nor steel shall reach him, so
That it be not the Destined Will.

The thundering line of battle stands,
And in the air Death moans and sings;
But Day shall clasp him with strong hands,
And Night shall fold him in soft wings.

from "Into Battle" by Julian Grenfell

35. Pikmin 2 (Gamecube, 2004)

Pikmin 2 is one of those rare sequels that takes the general premise of the original game, remixes it heavily, and hits every mark. The President of Hocotate Freight sends Olimar and his hapless co-captain Louie back to the Distant Planet to retrieve as many treasures as they can to clear up the company's debt (which was incurred by Louie bungling a shipment of carrots by letting a "space rabbit" eat them)

Olimar and Louie get separated on the planet, but with the Pikmin's help, are reunited. What springs forth is a more robust, complex game than the original Pikmin, where you must use both Captains in tandem to solve puzzles and retrieve treasures that one Captain could never retrieve alone. You confront two new kinds of Pikmin - purple and white - who are super strong and poisonous, respectively. And you descend into dark and foreboding caves, where for Complicated Science Reasons, time does not pass as it does on the surface.

Initially, my concern was that these untimed areas would lessen the tension of the game, as danger of impending night was the prime motivator up to that point in the series. But the Caves replace the time constraint with a different one - the Pikmin you bring in are all you get for the whole cave. You occasionally get candypop bulbs to change Pikmin from one color to another, but you really have to strategize to clear each cave effectively and efficiently while minimizing your losses. Add to that the fact that some of the cave denizens you have to fight (or avoid) are horrific threats unlike anything on the surface, and you've got an incredible game that leans harder into survival horror than any of us would have thought the series possible.

34. Command & Conquer: Red Alert II/Yuri's Revenge (PC, 2000-2001)

I played the first Red Alert some, and liked it well enough. It's a good game. But Red Alert 2 was better in every way, and came after I'd been transfixed by the RTS genre; RA1 had come before. The setting, the story, and the insane live action cutscenes, helped hook me. An alt-history where the Cold War went hot was a compelling way to frame a strategy game. But it was the gameplay - both the strong single player campaigns and the fun but somewhat outlandish (and in retrospect, probably a little racist?) multiplayer - that kept me coming back for years (until I moved on to Warhammer: Dawn of War in college; a game I've only just remembered and should have been an Honorable Mention). The creativity of unit and structure design was top notch, and in many ways remains unparalleled. Here's hoping it gets a remaster soon, like C&C and RA1 did last year. I'd love to replay it with a full visual upgrade.

33. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Gamecube, 2003)

Speaking of games that got a fancy remaster: It's The Wind Waker, the most charming of 3D Zelda games. Despite its flaws, which are well-documented, it remains among the most enjoyable and satisfying Zelda games in the series. A lot of that is attributable to its inimitable style, which was as dramatic a shift from OoT/MM as OoT/MM were from LttP/LA. It's a style that endures, though, thanks in part to Toon Link's inclusion in the Smash series and its use in the handheld Zeldas that followed it.

Another reason it Wind Waker endures is how it subtly but fundamentally shifted (and re-shifted) the way the series is played. It introduced a new camera system that gave the player much needed control over their field of vision, something that its 3D predecessors sorely lacked. It brought Zelda back to its roots as a game where exploration of the world is as central to progressing through the game as the plot is. It brought back greater elements of non-linearity that had largely left the series over the preceding ten years or so. These fingerprints are still on the series, as anyone who's played Breath of the Wild can attest.

Also Wind Waker has the best endgame in a Zelda game. It ends with the Master Sword plunged into Ganondorf's skull. Unbeatable.

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Wind Waker never woke the wind tbqh

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did you even get the song of cyclones smdh

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#22 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN, 2001)


The game that started it all. Smash 64 was truly novel, but it just wasnt a great game. The characters were real floaty and it was hard to get any kind of combo going. There werent many modes to play if you didnt have friends to play with. You just did runs of classic mode or regular battles against CPUs.

But Melee went above and beyond. Its like Smash 64 in fast-forward. It feels amazing, especially for its time. There are several more ways to play, with events, a big extensive adventure mode, home run contest, all-star mode, tournaments, and coin and stamina battles.

And yet I would say a good 60% of my time spent with the game was just with good ol regular 4-player stock matches. I cant really explain why its so much more fun than the other games in the series, other than because it feels good. But Im pretty sure most everyone else is in the same boat, so I wont bother trying. Its just a super polished game that my friends and I all loved dearly.

Falco > Captain Falcon > the rest

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