Hi all... I'm new to the forums, so apologies I've I've missed a similar thread on the board...
As an **older** gamer, who has owned a fair few consoles over the years, I thought I'd try to pull together a top 15 list of games from (for me) the last 35 (!!) years or so...
I'd love to see your lists. For me this is very much a list based on personal experiences, and not necessarily the "best" 15 games I've ever played. More the games I have an emotional attachment to, or fond memories of, for whatever reason. So I've added a thought or two for each game, often why it means something to me, as opposed to why it's great game in itself!
OK, here we go!!
Super Mario galaxy (Wii)
As a 'Sega boy' from SMS through to Dreamcast, I'd not played Mario 64 or Sunshine, so this was my first 3D Mario, and boy was it special. I probably dig this out and play through it every few years...
Sega rally (Saturn)
Who needs 200 tracks and 100 different driving cars?. Give me 3-4 tracks to learn inside out and chase a 0.01 second improvement on my best times over that, any day of the week! So much fun, responsible for my failing a geology module at Uni. It still staggers me this hasn't had a SEGA AGES release.
Chase HQ (arcade)
This machine was in the bar at my college at Uni in '94. I spent a lot of time playing this, and special memories for the first arcade machine i completed. Let's go, Mr. Driver...
Mario golf (N64)
Forget the novelty courses, underneath it all this was a spectacular golf game, and the only game I've played where you could tap buttons to vocally taunt your mates when they were taking a shot. Mixing up the 'nice shot' and 'mama mia' buttons to repeatedly shout 'nice mama' when your mate is trying to sink a 4 footer is a priceless memory.
Super pang (arcade)
The other cabinet in my hall of residence bar... Still a blast to play on MAME today. I just love this game. Tour mode fantastic, and panic mode utterly terrifying after a few snakebites... I spoke to a mate from Uni recently during lockdown who now lives in Australia, and we both still remember drunken sessions on this machine 25 years ago!
R-Type I & II (PC Engine)
The first game i got for my japanese PC Engine, and the first shooter I managed to finish on a single life. Just for that, it makes the list... and for having the most memorable design and bosses of any shooter...
Wonderboy (arcade / master system)
If this list only had one game on it, it would be this. Mid 1980's we'd holiday in Cornwall and the pub my folks took us to (the Rising Sun) had 5 or 6 arcade machines upstairs. Armed with 10p's, I'd spend all night playing this game. I never finished it but 50p kept me quiet for quite a while... It came out for the Master System soon after, and I was lucky enough to get one. It's simple, but so many happy memories!
Daytona USA (arcade)
I don't think I have, or could, ever walk past a Daytona machine without playing, especially if with a few mates. I don't like how your drunken friend who sucks at games always catches you up as the car in last goes faster, but it gives you more to shout about! You can't play a linked up set of Daytona machines quietly!
Snowboard kids (N64)
It's no Mario Kart, or even Diddy Kong, but I played it to death with mates. Forget the Blue shell... in Snowboard kids you could squash your opponents with a frying pan. Cue countless late night gaming sessions screaming "pan him!!!" at your mates...
Banjo kazooie (N64)
I'd never played a 3D platformer before this. Amazing. Just amazing. I replayed it on Xbox One recently and it's still amazing. Fantastic music. Rare for a non Nintendo made game to almost out-Nintendo Nintendo.
Wii sports (wii wii U)
So, sooo many drunken nights bowling.....
Space harrier (arcade / switch)
It's hard to describe now how exciting arcades were in the late 80's... playing Space Harrier or Afterburner in a hydraulic cabinet was unbeatable. This game, thanks to the amazing Sega AGES version on switch, is still utterly thrilling to play!
Rory McIlroy golf (Xbox one)
Utterly flawed yet also the best playing golf game ever. I've sunk hundreds of hours into this playing against mates...
Puzzle bobble (everything)
The music to this drove my mum nuts! And it's basically the video game equivalent of heroin.
Gears of war 2 (Xbox 360)
My first online multiplayer experience. Horde, bottle of wine, mates. Done!
Super Mario Galaxy - My favourite platformer, it's just pure joy to play through. I particularly liked jumping up the waterfalls with the ice power up. The way the story was told was quite charming.
Final Fantasy VII original and remake. The original was my first JRPG and definitely one of the most memorable. The Remake is my favourite game of this year so far.
Metroid Prime - I just love the structure of it, it really feels like you're exploring an Alien Planet.
Yakuza 0 - I don't think any game mixes comedy and drama so well. The action is brutal and the mini games are better than most full games.
Sin and Punishment 2 - The best SHMUP ever made, combo system is great.
Bayonetta 2 - Best beatem up I've played. The witch time mechanic is great, and the action is so over the top.
Legend of Zelda a link to the past - The first game I played with a proper story. I remember being blown away by the rain effects at the start.
King of Fighters XIV - great game so many unique characters to choose from, the combos feel satisfying to pull off. The execution is in a good middle ground where there's some timing to it, but it's not overly strict.
Life is Strange Before the Storm - Its teen melodrama, but really well written. Made a character I found really annoying in the first game likeable.
Detroit - The civil rights movement with robots, and it's great. You get to go Martin Luthor or Malcolm X, or somewhere in between.
1. Dragon Quest Builders 2 (PS4)
2. The Sims 4 (PS4)
3. Portal Knights (PS4)
4. Animal Crossing New Horizons (Switch)
5. Final Fantasy VIII (PS1/Switch)
6. Animal Crossing New Leaf (3DS)
7. Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME Japan (PS2)
8. LEGO CITY Undercover (Wii U/Switch)
9. Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age (Switch/PS4)
10. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Switch)
11. Cooking Mama 2 (NDS)
12. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
13. K-1 Pocket Grand Prix 2 (GBA)
14. Ratchet & Clank A Crack in Time (PS3)
15. ARMS (Switch)
Fifteen games? Phew... Here goes. In chronological order...
Double Dragon (1987, arcade) - until a certain Capcom game arrived in the Nineties, this was always the arcade game I would pump all my spare change into - and then loiter around like a jealous lover just to watch other people play it. Beat’em ups - nothing quite like them
Phantasy Star (1987, Master System CIA Game Gear) - this wasn’t my first RPG - see below - and I actually didn’t play this till the Nineties, on my Game Gear, but this was my first JRPG. Even today, it’s hard to believe this is an 8-bit RPG. The first-person dungeon crawling animation is astonishingly smooth.
The Bard’s Tale (1988, Amstrad) - my first RPG, before I even knew what one was. Brutally unforgiving, as only a 1980s game can be, but an engrossing dungeon crawler with huge, multiple dungeons, hidden secrets, traps, a great character builder and memorably obtuse magic system.
Secret of Monkey Island (1990, Amiga) - brilliant writing, great characters, maddening puzzles. An adventure game so good that I completed it in a single sitting. More than once.
Street Fighter II (1991, arcade) - looked better than anything else in the arcades at the time, but astonishingly enough played even better than it looked. There’s a reason Capcom is still reissuing it for modern systems
Sensible Soccer/Sensible World of Soccer (1992/1994, Amiga) - still the best game of arcade football, and an absolute blast playing against a mate. So many hours, so many worn-out Zipsticks...
Championship Manager (1992 edition and onwards, Amiga) - this game is evil. It ruins marriages, jobs, lives... I swore off it over a decade ago, but I still can’t deny this is one of the most compelling video games ever created. Even played multiple seasons in multiplayer. Let me tell you - that takes ages...
Syndicate (1993, Amiga) - cyberpunk action strategy that oozed style, and packed in more gameplay ideas than a home computer could really handle back in the day. Brainwashing an entire neighbourhood would bring the action down to about one frame per second. Would do it again, no hesitation
GoldenEye (1997, N64) - the best multiplayer game of all time? Possibly not, but if you try to argue with me, I will hunt you down and camp on your spawn points...
Final Fantasy VII (1997, PS) - strange, stirring, funny and dramatic, this was the first time In an RPG that I really felt like the story was pulling me in as much as the gameplay. It’s not the best FF - that’s Final Fantasy Tactics - but I played it at a time in my life when I really got sucked in by the story - and I didn’t know any spoilers!
TLoZ: Ocarina of Time (1998, N64) - magical. Deserves every plaudit it has ever had
Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009, PS3) - the superhero game I always wanted. Spectacular, crunchy combat, memorable villains, exploration and, above all, that first encounter with Scarecrow
Persona 3 Portable (2011 EU, PSP) - probably the best JRPG I’ve played. Loved it to bits. Admittedly, I’ve not tried the sequels. Someone really ought to say something to Atlus about putting them on Switch, right?
The World Ends with You (2012, iOS) - sorry to all the DS owners, but the touchscreen version is spectacular. A unique action battle system, fabulous art style, bonkers story and brilliant music
Breath of the Wild (2017, Switch) - probably the best game I’ve played in more than 30 years of gaming. Outstanding.
Feel like I could have picked a few more. Oh well, got that out of my system!
It's difficult to rank the 15 most important games of my whole gaming life but...
1. Donkey Kong Country 2 (the other two are awesome, too)
2. Super Mario World
3. Banjo-Kazooie
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
6. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
7. Super Mario 64
8. Super Mario Kart (then Mario Kart Double Dash)
9. Project Zero 2 Wii Edition
10. Resident Evil 2002
11. Super Mario Sunshine
12. Goldeneye 007
13. Super Street Fighter II
14. Killer Instinct Gold
15. Resident Evil 4
16. Super Mario All-Stars
17. Final Fantasy XV (but I also loved VII and X)
18. Xenoblade Chronicles X
19. Viva Piñata
20. Fable Anniversary Edition
1. Tale of Wuxia (PC/Steam) - Chinese RPG with lots of sim elements, romance options and hidden scenes. This game requires a really specific set of actions to unlock the real ending and it is absolutely amazing story-wise and gameplay-wise.
2. Tale of Wuxia The Prequel (PC/Steam) - Same as the above, less obscure, doesn't need that many obscure actions to unlock the true ending.
3. Persona 5 Royal (PS4) - As people can probably guess from the pic in my profile, I love Persona 5 Royal. It's a great game that has pretty much everything I love in a video game. Akechi best boi.
4. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - It's a tough choice between this and The Blazing Blade, but the story itself and the characters for this game were so compelling I had to pick this one in the end. If that is the only game I would have ever played on Switch, I'd still be happy.
5. Dragon Age: Origins (PC) - The last great Bioware RPG that contains all the staples on western RPGs: Lots of customization, lots of choices, great and epic story and characters, great game all around.
6. Final Fantasy X/X - II (Pretty Much Anything) - I mean, it's the CLASSIEST JRPG, it has to be in this list, if only for 12-year old me being enchanted by Yuna.
7. Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines (PC) - Amazing interpretation of Old World of Darkness that works ridiculously well. Too bad the game came out really broken and needs patches to be completely fixed, but once it does, oh boy, what a ride! Though, must warn you, the combat in this game is pretty much silly and filler.
8. Jade Empire - One of the most unique RPGs, a Western RPG about Ancient China. I love the source material, I love the setting, the story and the gameplay. It even has same-sex romances even though it is such an old game! Absolutely a gem.
9. Neverwinter Nights (PC) - First RPG I've ever played, classic D&D 3.5 rules. That game was the first game to make me weep, even as a kid as I was so invested in some of the characters. The main storyline is pretty meh, but some characters stand out and the replayability and modability are amazing.
10. Tales of Zestiria (PC) - I loved that JRPG though I know it is one of the least popular games in the Tales series. As a gay man, I found the relationship between the two protagonists completely endearing and hypnotizing, the voice acting is incredible and the I listen to the soundtrack to this day.
11. Knights of the Old Republic 2 (PC) - I've never been a Star Wars guy, but this game was incredible. The main storyline, the gameplay and character customization were awesome, and it features my favorite companion in a video game of ALL time - Kreia.
12. Divinity Original Sin 2 (Nintendo Switch) - Great RPG though the story is a bit bland and the gameplay is a bit more linear than it seems. You must appreciate the sheer variety and the thought put behind crafting the adventure - like a well crafted D&D adventure, and that's why it's an amazing game.
13. Fairy Fencer F (PC) - I bought this game completely out on a whim and the voice acting pulled me in. Then, the story - full of twists, turns and emotional turmoil won me over. It's a great game if you're looking for cheap and simple JRPG with great basic gameplay. This one was basically the game that got me back into JRPGs.
14. Heroes of Might and Magic II (PC) - The funnest Turn-Based Strategy game in my opinion, and the second game in the series is the best one (SORCERESS CASTLE FTW).
15. South Park - The Fractured But Whole (Nintendo Switch) - I laughed my ass off. Gameplay is great, and I just absolutely love South Park.
In a semi- particular order:
1. Earthbound
2. DKC 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
3. DKC 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble
4. Donkey Kong Country
5. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
6. LoZ: Breath of the Wild
7. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
8. Virtue's Last Reward
9. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
10. Super Mario Odyssey
11.Blood Bowl 2
12. Devil Survivor: Overclocked
13. Persona 5 Royal
14. Catherine: Full Body
15. Overcooked 2
I made this up on the spot. Ask me tomorrow and i'd probably give a mostly different list.
Switch friend code: SW-2223-7827-8798
Give me a heads-up if you're going to send a request please.
Legend of Zelda (NES)
Super Mario World
Link to the Past
God of War (2018)
Need for Speed Underground 1/2
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (2010)
Borderlands 2
Gran Turismo
Breath of the wild
NBA 2K (Dreamcast)
Soul Caliber 2
Nba Street Vol 2
Sega Rally
Towerfall
Mass effect 2
I think the last time we did one of these was about 2 or 3 years ago, so most have probably forgot, and plenty of people are new since then. I wonder if my current list is the same as my old list? Anyway.....
1. Final Fantasy 9
2. Final Fantasy 7 (loved Remake too but need to see the whole series before really rating it)
3. Ocarina of Time
4. Witcher 3
5. Xenoblade Chronicles
6. Mario Galaxy 2
7. Dark Souls
8. Half-life 2
9. Mass Effect 2
10. Final Fantasy 6
11. The Last of Us
12. Bloodborne
13. Xenoblade Chronicles 2
14. Breath of the Wild
15. Uncharted 4
This will be hard! Sorry for including multiple titles in one spot!
1. Castlevania Symphony of the Night (I can put all Castlevania games here as well!!!)
What to say my favorite game series of all time. Each one has it own setting and I love them all (with minor exceptions). But the metroidvania Castlevania games made me start making my own game!
2. Faxanadu - One of the first "open world" games on the NES. It brings back memories of how damn different and good it was!
3. God of War (2018) - Best GoW game for me. The story, the battels and the details are all EPIC!
4. Spider-Man (2018) - I had so much fun with this game that I regularly play it. The setting and the life of Peter were made so good!
5. Half-Life 2 - One hell of a journey! I love every second of it!
6. WarCraft 3 The Frozen Throne - I have spent so much time on making maps and liking the story which set me on the path of World of Warcraft!
7. Diablo 1, Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 - All 3 games deserve praise! The first one I played on the PS1. It was dark and gritty and awesome! The second one is eternal classic. The third one is addictive. I still play it to this day on my Switch!
8. Singularity - One of the best stories in gaming AND it is so underrated!
9. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - Many people do not know that game! It is amazing fantasy journey in the HoMM Ashan universe.
10. Monkey Island Series - You can't just PUT one Monkey island game here! But if I really had to I would always pick Curse of Monkey Island!
11. Bram Stoker's Dracula (Sega Mega Drive) - This game was defining in my childhood! It was creepy and the soundtrack was amazing! The Sega one. The SNES version soundtrack was awful!
12. Fallout series - 3, New Vegas and Fallout 4 made me love exploration of post-apocalyptic worlds with very tragic stories.
13. Resident Evil 2 Remake - This game is so atmospheric that I still remember Mr. X footsteps while staying in some dark corner of the Police station!
14. Alien vs Predator 2 - Each of the characters had its own unique gameplay. Ofc the Marine one was the most impactful as you play as the prey for the other 2
15. Heroes of Might and Magic 3 - While I love the others as well. Most of my memories are connected to this particular entry!
@Dimey I enjoyed reading your entry, thanks. I've never played Mario Golf but the 'Nice Mama' trick does indeed sound priceless. And I too loved shaving milliseconds off my time and that of my brother's on Sega Rally (PC) - that was my first experience of ghost cars, which were invaluable. I'm curious what it is about Rory McIlroy Golf that makes it utterly flawed yet the best playing...
I'll try and get round to posting my own list at some point.
Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (3DS) - I went back and forth between this and Spirit of Justice multiple times before settling on this one. SoJ has a more consistently excellent set of trials, but you can't beat T&T otherwise. It introduced: the best big bad in the series; the best new prosecutor in the series; and featured an awesome storyline and did an amazing job of elegantly tying the entire trilogy together.
Contra 4 (NDS) - Amusingly enough, the best game in the Contra series wasn't even developed by Konami, but rather farmed out to veteran indie developer WayForward. That's usually a recipe for disappointment, but WF did an amazing job with this game, combining the best elements of the first three Contra titles with tight level design and some fantastic post-game features that dramatically lengthen the playtime of this title.
Corpse Party (PSP) - The original indie game, the history of this creepy classic extends back to the 90s. It's amazing how far evocative writing and effective binaural sound design can take a game. The plot doesn't stray too far from classic J-horror tropes, but it's how effectively it utilizes those tropes to create a memorable nightmare that makes me love the game so much. It's worth mentioning that the 3DS port is the definitive version of the game, though, even if I'll always mentally associate it with the PSP version, which, to my knowledge, was the first one to actually make it overseas.
Cuphead (PC) - My all-time favorite boss rush game. Even putting aside the game's jaw-dropping presentation, it controls perfectly and has some insanely creative boss encounters.
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Vita) - I initially had a bit of a tough time getting into this climactic entry in the series, but, for my money, it's the best game in the series overall, with some of the best trial writing, the second best cast of characters, a rather brave and thought-provoking ending, and an astonishing amount of original post-game content.
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (3DS) - The easiest game in the series, but also arguably the most ambitious entry as well. It has an awesome OST, a really friendly difficulty curve, my favorite set of classes in the series, and fun overworld exploration.
Final Fantasy VII (PS1) - Not quite my first JRPG (that'd be Phantasy Star II), but it was the game that made me fall in love with the genre, and that introduced me, more broadly, to the wide world of PS1 JRPGs. It's also the first game that really engaged me with its story. It has aged quite a bit, and I admit a lot of its appeal to me is nostalgia, but I still think it's one of the best games ever released, a true blockbuster that helped to define a console generation.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) - My first Switch game, and still my favorite title on the system. BotW takes the idea of an open-world adventure game and approaches it from a completely fresh direction. The world itself is completely open to the player, who can explore it in any way they choose. The world itself is designed to constantly draw the player's attention to landmarks or curiosities that make it consistently engaging. BotW ditches the icon and side-activity mania of almost every other open world title in favor of making the world itself something constantly surprising and interactive. It's a world you have to SURVIVE. BotW also ingeniously ties narrative progression into exploration, tasking the player with finding particular locations illustrated in pictures that allow Link to remember what happened in the distant past, before Hyrule was destroyed. This is a game that impressed and delighted me in every way.
Monster Rancher 2 (PS1) - This game was the sweet spot of the series for me, design-wise. A good deal more complex and engaging than the too-simple original, but also more charming and more simple than its PS2 successors, Monsters Rancher 2 tasks the player with raising monsters to battle in tournaments. And these aren't Pokemon: when I say raise, I mean you RAISE them, like a parent. You choose what they eat (and, given that each monster has its own preferences, you gain reward or punish them by giving them different types of food), you train them (the game gives you the option of scolding them when they fail at a task and praising them when they do an above-average job, although I personally always had a hard time of scolding my monsters too harshly), you play with them, tend to them when they're sick, etc. The monster gradually grows attached to you as time goes on (or doesn't, if you're cruel; monsters can and will run away from cruel or excessively strict trainers). and you, almost inexorably, will also grow attached to them. Which makes it hurt all the more when your monster is hurt or killed in the midst of battle (I learned the hard way that, if your monster is facing something that's WAY more powerful than it, it's best to pull the monster out of the tournament and swallow you losses). Your monsters will die either way, though: even if you baby it and never enter it into tournaments, they'll eventually die of old age. It's a powerful, creative, bittersweet simulation game. Oh, and I almost completely forgot the ingenious way you generate monsters in the first place. You insert PS1 discs or CDS (PS2 disc and DVD support were added in sequels) while the console is still turned on in order to read their data and generate new monsters. Each disc has a unique monster locked behind it, and sometimes discs will feature ultra-rare monsters that you'll need to become stroner in order to unlock. I remember keeping giant lists of what monsters were contained on each disc. It's the coolest hardware gimmick I've ever come across, honestly.
Resident Evil ("REmake") (GC) - My favorite GameCube game, and probably the most visually attractive game of that generation. This game took the hokey, cheesy original and COMPLETELY transformed it into something elegant and terrifying. What I really liked about this remake, as opposed to something like more recent RE remakes, is how, despite the almost complete transformation of the game on a visual and tonal level, it still maintains the same basic gameplay as the original. This is a perfect fusion of classic game design with newer hardware grunt to revitalize a classic.
Shantae (GBC) - I go back and forth between this and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse when it comes to which game in the series is my favorite. Technically, I do think Pirate's Curse is probably the better game, but, for whatever reason, I've really taken to this gorgeous GBC classic. The detailed pixel art and large open world in a GBC make it feel like a game that pushes the boundaries of what's possible on the GBC in every way. And, for my money, it still has some of the best dungeons in the series. I also really dig the rhythm game you can play to generate money.
Silent Hill (PS1) - IMO, this is still one of the scariest games ever made. The bleak, fog-ridden environment is one of the great marriages of artistic vision with technical limitation (the fog was primarily designed to hide the draw distance of the town you can run around and explore), Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack is otherworldly and spooky as hell, and I think anyone can relate to the desperation of a father trying to find his daughter in what amounts to Hell on Earth. The sequel has a better plot and characters, but I prefer the purer, more oppressive horror atmosphere of the original.
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - My favorite Nintendo game of all time to date: a near-perfect fusion of creative platforming, balanced level design, gorgeous music, and a surprisingly melancholy mood that helps to balance the joyful wonder of it all. This is also the game that made me a Nintendo fan when I played it.
Toejam and Earl (Genesis) - I've probably played this hundreds of times over the years with my family, who enjoy it as much as I do. While not a game I'd ever bother playing in single-player, this game is almost the perfect co-op rougelike. The enemies, items, and general flow of the gameplay have burned themselves into my brain in such a way that I nearly always beat a run when I play. It's also a delightfully weird game: 90's hiphop beats pop off in the background as you walk around shattered, flattened levels that are supposed to be Earth as you dodge angry mothers with shopping carts, insane dentists, phantom ice cream trucks, and moles with a penchant for stealing your presents. Your best friend in all this is a curious NPC in a carrot suit who will identify what's contained in each of your presents, for a price.
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (3DS) - A story that could arguably only ever be fully realized in a video game, VLR is a masterful combination of postmodernist narrative techniques, engaging psycho-drama (your character and a group of other, ostensibly unrelated people are trapped together in a literal Prisoner's Dillemma game, where the ultimate end result of repeated betrayals is death), fantastic escape room puzzle gameplay, and an engaging structure that encourages the player to keep playing in order to uncover better endings.
Currently Playing: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (PC)
@BlueOcean They're without question some of my favorite games. Glad to know you like 'em too! What're your thoughts on DKC 3? I hear often that it's the black sheep or worst one of the trio but, when I was a kid, I probably played that one the most.
Switch friend code: SW-2223-7827-8798
Give me a heads-up if you're going to send a request please.
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Topic: Top 15 Games (all systems)
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