Topic: Top 15 Games (all systems)

@Losermagnet it’s a good game, but compared to the other two it’s pretty mediocre.

@Losermagnet I played Donkey Kong Country first and I think that the graphics are awesome, the soundtrack is great and controls are tight unlike DKC Returns and Tropical Freeze. Donkey Kong Country 2 is a masterpiece with the same tight controls, a more ambitious level design and a bunch of awesome enemies. Dixie was an incredibly good addition. Donkey Kong Country 3 has the best overworld and I love the Europe-inspired environments. Probably, the rejection it caused was because the first level has a childish track composed by Evelin Fischer (SNES version) that can't hold a candle to David Wise's inspired soundtrack but in reality it adds another set of high-quality level design and environments, new great enemies and some wonderful tracks, too. I think that 2 and 3 are both awesome and the three of them are very replayable. Honestly, the original trilogy couldn't be any better, masterpieces of the 16-bit era that, like Super Mario World, haven't been surpassed yet.

Alphabetical order (if I list two systems I've played it on both).

• Astral Chain (Switch)
• Dragon Quest VIII (3DS)
• Final Fantasy X (PS2/Switch)
• God of War (PS4)
• Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
• Metroid: Fusion (GBA/3DS)
• Red Dead Redemption (X360)
• Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
• Tales of the Abyss (3DS)
• Tetris Effect (PSVR)
• Titanfall 2 (PS4)
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2/Torna (Switch)
• Ys VIII (Switch)
• Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)
• Zone of the Enders: the Second Runner (X360)

Insanely tough list. I avoided listing more than one entry in a series for diversity's sake (Tales of Vesperia, Super Metroid, Link's Awakening remake, Minish Cap, Breath of the Wild, A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Super Mario Odyssey, & Kirby Super Star Ultra could have easily taken their series' spot, given how I'm feeling that day, for example), and that's not to mention games like Okami or Halo Anniversary that barely didn't make the cut.

This is my list:
1. Super Mario Galaxy 1/2 (Wii)
2. Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Switch)
3. Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)
4. Kirby's Return To Dreamland (Wii)
5. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers Of Sky (DS)
6. Klonoa: Door To Phantomile (PS)
7. Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
8. Celeste (PC)
9. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
10. Undertale (PC)
11. Yoshi's Island (SNES)
12. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
13. Hollow Knight (PC)
14. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U)
15. Freedom Planet (PC)
16. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
17. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Wii)
18. Splatoon 2 (Switch)
19. Tetris Attack (SNES)
20. Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism (PC)

I didn't want to repeat series (at the expense of Super Mario Odyssey, Link's Awakening, Kirby Star Allies, and Wind Waker), but I allowed for spin-offs since Mario has so many of them.

@RR529 Nice list. I have to imagine Tetris Effect is otherworldly with VR gear. Even on a TV with headphones, it was an amazing experience.

Personal 15 favs, regardless of platform eh?

Well...in no particular order...

Super Metroid - took the original NES classic to the next level.
Radiant Silvergun - my favorite Treasure-developed game; love that soundtrack from Hitoshi Sakimoto.
Panzer Dragoon Saga - the Saturn's swan song.
Castlevania: SotN - it's Super Metroid but with CD-quality music.
Super Castlevania IV - my favorite in the franchise, great gameplay, great music.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - ten years ago was the last time Bethesda made a great game.
Shadowgate - it was my introduction to the point'n'click genre.
Suikoden - the first great jrpg I played on PS1, better than FF VII (don't @ me).
Warframe - from 2013 to 2017 I invested 3,500+ hours and roughly $850, no regrets.
Actraiser - a wonderful mashup of god sim and action platformer, also my favorite Yuzo Koshiro music.
Twisted Metal 2 - the car combat genre just isn't as popular as it used to be.
Def Jam: Fight for NY - developed by AKI Corp, if you like wrastlin' and hip-hop music you'd love it.
Phantasy Star Portable 2 - the offline, updated version of Phantasy Star Universe.
Bayonetta 2 - Hideki Kamiya is literally a madman, and I appreciate him for being him.
NBA Street Vol. 2 - my favorite arcade style basketball game.

In no order:

Witcher 3
WWF Wrestlemania 2000
Shenmue
NHL 99
ESPN NFL 2K5
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Super Mario 64
Unreal Tournament
My Time in Portia
Kirby's Adventure
Donkey Kong 64
Half Life 2
Goldeneye 007
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

@BlueOcean I always liked the different feel to DKC 3 as well. It makes it so 3 games from the same series, made in a relatively short amount of time no less, are distinctly different. You're right about that Lakeside Limbo track, it's a bit silly. Totally fine it's own right, but doesnt hold up to the music that starts off DKC 1 & 2. The soundtracks in general are such a big reason why I love those games.

The new DKC games are....okay. I played both to death, but they just don't stick with me. I'd rather play the old ones again.

@Apportal I always felt like the first one was, maybe not mediocre, but a little standard. Like, it's the closest the trilogy got to "grassland, iceland, etc.".

@Losermagnet You're right. The first DKC game is the most standard and Lakeside Limbo is not bad, just not what one expects after Donkey Kong Country 2. I play it now and the track isn't that bad anymore and everything gets better afterwards. Each game feels different indeed but all of them have great controls, level design, graphics and music and you can't ask for more when playing a platfomer.

Let's get the Zelda titles out of the way first:
Ocarina of Time
Link to the Past
Breath of the Wild
Wind Waker

That leaves:
Pokémon Yellow
Pokémon Gold/Silver
Harvest Moon 64
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Super Metroid
Super Mario 64
WWF WrestleMania 2000
Mega Man X
Witcher 3
DKC: Tropical Freeze
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball

Man, that was hard. A lot of other deserving games.

@Ralizah Nice list. Would you recommend Etrian Odyssey IV as a starting point for the series? I normally like to play game series in order, but if IV is the easiest then maybe I should start there. (And if I were to play them in order I'd probably struggle to find a copy of the third game by the look of it; shame that never got a 3DS port like the first two.)

@Dogorilla It's a great starting point accessibility-wise. I'd highly recommend it. Although, keep in mind, aside from some limited ship-related overworld puzzles in EO III, this is the only one with overworld navigation/exploration, so keep your expectations in check for other games in the series.

There's no real need to play the games in order, given they're all basically disconnected experiences.

@Ralizah Cool thanks, I'll pick it up at some point then. It's very cheap on the 3DS eShop now, which is nice since physical copies seem to be pretty rare.

@Dogorilla Atlus physical 3DS games are becoming rare at an alarming rate. Persona Q2 must not have had a huge initial print run, because the game is already almost impossible to find for a decent price.

Meanwhile, 15 year old PS2 games from Atlus are still readily available online.

Alphabetical Order (Platform(s) - Genre)
My personal criteria: nothing released in the past 5 years can qualify on my best of games list, as I can't look back on it and judge it after the game has had a chance to stand against follow-ups or passage of time. Odyssey or Breath of the Wild may have made this list otherwise. Games should still be able to hold up today rather than stand on nostalgia or impact factor alone. A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time were excellent back in the day....but don't feel as fun today to me personally (not enough direction IMO). The games below have held up during recent replays or been remastered or continuously updated in a way that kept them relevant (AOE2, WoW, Curse of Monkey Island).

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (PC - Real Time Strategy)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PC/Xbox 360/PS3/Wii-U - 3D Action Brawler)
Dance Dance Revolution (Arcade - Dance/Rhythm)
Dungeon Fighter Online (PC - 2D Brawler / MMORPG)
Knights of the Old Republic (PC / Xbox - Turn-Based RPG)
Left 4 Dead (PC / Xbox 360 - First Person Shooter)
Mariokart: Double Dash (Gamecube - Kart Racer)
Medieval 2: Total War (PC - 4X Strategy)
NFL Blitz 2001 (N64 / Arcade - Sports)
Pokemon Firered (GBA - 2D Turn Based RPG)
Pokemon TCG (GBC - Deck Building/RPG)
Portal 2 (PC / Xbox 360 / PS3 - First Person Puzzler)
Super Mario 64 (N64 - 3D Platformer)
Super Mario World (SNES / GBA - 2D Platformer)
Super Smash Bros Melee (Gamecube - Fighter)
Tetris DS (NDS - 2D Puzzler)
The Curse of Monkey Island (PC - Point and Click Adventure)
TIE Fighter (MSDOS - Space Simulator)
Towerfall: Ascension (Ouya / PC / Switch / PS4 / Xbox One - Single-Screen Platformer)
World of Warcraft (PC - MMORPG)

No particular order. I'll get the Nintendo games out of the way first and I'll have a minimum of 2 games per franchise (but only if one's 2D and the other's 3D). Spin-offs count, also.

Super Mario World
Super Mario Galaxy
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Yoshi's Island
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Super Metroid
Metroid Prime
F-Zero GX
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Star Fox 64
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Banjo-Kazooie
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Mega Man X
Chrono Trigger
Gunstar Heroes
Dynamite Headdy
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Crash Team Racing
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Cuphead
Streets of Rage 2
Blaster Master Zero
Shovel Knight

Wow I put in a little more than double the amount of games on my list. lol

I'll join in.

It's hard to condense a select number of personal favorites, especially if you're like me who plays a wide variety of game genres. I've tried to pick the best games that I either:

1. played many times out of enjoyment.
2. amazed by how well-crafted they are, in both gameplay and presentation.
3. hold fond memories.
4. any combination of the above.

I've also tried to keep my selection varied in terms of franchises. So, in alphabetical order:

• Bayonetta 2 (2)
• Borderlands 2 (2, 3)
• Crash Team Racing (1, 3)
• Danganronpa (2)
• Donkey Kong Country 2 (1, 2)
• Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (2, 3)
• Metal Gear Solid (2,3)
• Overwatch (1, 2)
• Persona 5 (2)
• Pikmin 2 (2, 3)
• Pokemon Platinum (1, 3)
• Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (1, 2)
• Splatoon 2 (1, 2)
• Super Metroid (2)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (1, 2)
• Wario Land 4 (1, 3)

Don't be afraid by my lack of Mario's and Zelda's. I enjoy those games too.

Edit: I guess I'll throw in runner-ups too, because screw it.

Runner-ups: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Luigi's Mansion, Cuphead, Mario Kart 8, Crash Bandicoot 2, Phoenix Wright series

@MarioLover92 I should have included Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. I played Sonic 3 & Knuckles on Windows because we didn't have a Mega Drive in the house and I really loved the graphics and the music. Tails is adorable. It's by far the best Sonic game, sorry Sonic Mania.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed was one of the first games I got for Wii U. I loved that game so much that I had dreams about not having the game and then when I woke up I was happy to have it 😂.

I think I should add another runner-up: Pikmin 1.

@BlueOcean Ah that's all right, I forgot to put Yoshi's Island on my list so I went ahead and fixed that. I first played it on Sonic Mega Collection on GameCube (well, technically Sonic 3 and S&K as separate games since S3&K was unlockable), but I did have it on Windows too. (That was part of a boxed set that also included Sonic CD and Sonic R.) We didn't have a Mega Drive (Genesis here in the US) here either, we only had Nintendo consoles until I got the PlayStation 2. And you're right, Tails is adorable I have S&ASRT on both Wii U and PC (Steam) as well. Been a long while since I played Pikmin 1, I should revisit it sometime.

@MarioLover92 Most of my friends had a Mega Drive (Genesis), it was quite popular around here but I only had Nintendo consoles, too.