Topic: What's your favorite game of all time?

Oh, tough question... Of all time? I will go with New Super Mario Bros Wii.
I have tons of games that I played as a kid: MKWii, Galaxy, OoT3D, ACNL, and Wii Sports are some highlights.
And there are games I love now: Splatoon 3, Palia, and TotK are up there.
But as much as I love all of those, I think NSMBW takes the top spot. I never got around to any other "New" games, so this is the only one I know, but boy what a game! My family has varying tastes: Dad only plays MKWii every now and then due to his issues with looking at screens, siblings are currently in a "F2P mobile games are the bomb" phase (pray for them lol), Mom just doesn't game in general. But the moment anyone hears that title theme playing? We are all (and I mean ALL 9 OF US, so this is no small feat!) immediately piled onto the couch ready to go at it!
We still have yet to beat World 9, but that's OK, because 2-2 is a great place to spam 1UPs; 6-4 is always there for an impromptu blindfolded speedrun challenge; and let's not forget any of the Penguin Suit levels! There are no bad eggs in this basket as far as we are concerned, and I don't think this one will ever stop being a staple of spur-of-the-moment game nights.

Tough one. Ocarina of Time or Streets of Rage 2? Streets of Rage 4 or Muramasa: The Demon Blade? Super Mario Bros 3 or Viewtiful Joe? NFL Blitz or Super Tecmo Bowl? Sunset Riders or Double Dragon 2? Mike Tyson’s Punch Out or Smash TV? BoTW? I guess I’ll go with Polybius.

The Last of Us is my favorite video game of all time, and it’s not even close. I don’t think there will be another game that can come close to topping it. It was one of those experiences that hit at the right moment, but unexpectedly as well. I felt so attached to the characters, and the writing was superb. I remember trading in my Xbox 360 and games for a PS3 and TLoU.

As for my favorite Nintendo game, I’d have to say Super Mario World, Xenoblade Chronicles, Metroid Prime or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. My answer will change depending on the day - all four are excellent games.

Breath of the Wild. I initially put it down, luckily I picked it up again a couple years later and persevered. Honourable mentions are Fire Emblem Three Houses, Yo-Kai Watch 3, Age Of Empires 3 and Red Dead Redemption.

I'm not good at picking my favorite of anything, be it food, movies, etc. That being said, I have a handful of games that I can definitely say are indeed my favorites. Here are three in no particular order.

Ōkami
This game is a masterpiece not only in its style but in its substance as well. Part of my love for this game comes from my personal interest in East Asian mythology and culture, but even putting that aside, it is a beautifully made game.

Persona 4
Being a teenager when I first played this probably helped me enjoy it more than I would've if I'd played it as an adult instead. I was able to empathize with some of the characters whose personal struggles at times felt similar to my own, making it leave a real impression on me. Since playing P4, I've been a diehard Persona, SMT, and pretty much anything Atlus fan. 4 is still my favorite Persona game, even topping 5 and 3 for me personally.

Infinite Space
This game did not receive near the amount of attention it deserves when it was released and is still a game that many people don't seem to know about. It is perhaps one of the most interesting games I've ever played, and it is a shame that it is so niche. It is essentially a JRPG space opera where you control a fleet of ships (battleships, cruisers, carriers, corvettes) and manage a colorful cast of characters by placing them in roles like comms, fighter pilot, security officer, etc. It seems to be heavily inspired by media such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I love it personally, and I think had it gotten the attention it deserved, it could've become a series of games.

I know there was another top 5 games of all time thread I did respond to last year, but I think my number one favorite game has since then changed. For me it’s probably Banjo-Kazooie.

I had an interest in that game for a while, also because the main characters were my mains in Smash and I really thought they were oozing with personality and charm. Around the time I played as them in Smash (which was in 2022) I really wanted to play the games they were from, but they were Xbox exclusive…until they announced the N64 Expansion Pack and included it in there. I got to play Banjo-Kazooie for the first time in March 2023, and I remember staying up until 2 am in the morning after getting it and finishing the game at 9 pm and feeling so empty once I finished it. It was the most fun I had, and I spent around a week playing it. The worlds were so creative and fun to explore, the collecting with the gameplay was enjoyable, the comedic tone was perfect, i absolutely enjoyed the European fairy-tale-esque theming with the game’s setting and some of the characters, and I especially LOVED the characters, as despite them not being deeply written, they had plenty of charm and personality to make up for it. There was something with Rare’s old games, where they gave all of their characters their own personalities and made them extremely memorable, even if the game wasn’t that awesome.

That game kickstarted my love for Rare and platformers, and even made me really want an Xbox, which I did get though solely for Rare’s games. I got to try the following sequels, that being Banjo-Tooie and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. I thought Tooie was a good sequel (albeit I thought it was too big and difficult to play) and I did think Nuts and Bolts was okay in spite of the gigantic genre change, but I absolutely think the first entry is my favorite out of them all. It’s, in my opinion, one of Rare’s best games of all time, and it will remain my number one game of all time!

I would have said Conker’s Bad Fur Day as my most favorite game of all time, which it was at one point, but after replaying it last year I kind of realized I only liked the game a lot for its characters and story while not realizing how badly designed the levels, objectives, and gameplay are in comparison to Banjo. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would have been my most favorite game of all time as well IF it didn’t have surprisingly awful online play and a better story mode.

Pikmin 1! It’s the first videogame I remember playing, and it’s stuck with me for life. I love Pikmin, and while I probably like Pikmin 2 more when it comes to gameplay and replayability, Pikmin 1 for the nostalgia.

Up there would of couse be Pikmin 3 and 4, but as for non-Pikmin related games, Hollow Knight, Pizza Tower, and Wind Waker are all up there as well.

Secret of Mana. I am so glad that I got it when I did, when I was 8 years old, and knew nothing about it. It was just a game that happened to come with the Snes I bought from a Loot Newspaper advert. That somehow makes it better, that I had no idea what to expect. The game is everything to me. The music, the co op game play, story with emotional twists and turns, the world.....everything about it was inspiring.

I would take a stick (sword) into the forest and just pretend to be Randi.

Love it forever and not just nostalgia. For me, it holds up wonderfully.

The top two slots on my list of favorite games always remains the same for me, though I do tend to cheat and lump together games from the same series into one entry, rather than stacking my top five with nothing but my favorite game and a string of Mega Men. Counting down, here's my top five currently, with some highlighted examples of excellence for collected series:

5. Zelda Series (Majora's Mask, Wind Waker): For some reason my brain always rebels against admitting how much I love Zelda, but I always find my way back to Clock Town eventually.

4. Banjo-Kazooie: It is the best 3D platforms. Full stop. And Tooie is nowhere near as good. Duh-huh!

3. Ouendan (Elite Beat Agents, 2): Thanks to their reliance on the touch screen we'll likely never see the hands down best rhythm series return to Switch 2, but I can dream! Agents are go!

2. Mega Man (2, 3, X, X2): Pure fun. If I need to kill a couple hours, there's no better way to do it than seeing how far I can make it through one of these. Usually the answer is "all the way to the credits".

1. EarthBound: Always and forever my favorite game. I was 7 when it came out, and the concept of being able regular kid with an ATM card and a baseball bat going on a globe trotting adventure was intoxicating. As I've grown up, at each stage of my life, I've found new levels of complexity, symbolism, and depth to it that have challenged me, inspired me, and comforted me along my journey. I realize the gameplay is creaky, and the objectives are obtuse at best, and it can sometimes be largely incoherent...but I myself am starting to get creaky, obtuse, and incoherent. Besides, it's never been about the gameplay; there's an incomparable magic in Itoi's Americanized odyssey, and for me nothing will ever top it. It's always been EarthBound for me, and it always will be.

I realized that despite the fact I started this thread, I never actually posted about my favorite game. So, my favorite game of all time is Hi-Fi Rush. It's a game that just has everything I look for in a video game. The art style is incredible, and I'm genuinely shocked it doesn't get more attention for how good it looks. The soundtrack is am obvious high note (pun intended), and the licensed song choices are especially great. The story, sure it isn't anything mind-blowing, but it's a solid little found family story, which is a particular favorite trope of mine. But the real star is the gameplay. There is genuinely no other game that feels like it to play. Attacking with crazy combos to the beat of the music just makes my brain so happy. So yeah, Hi-Fi Rush is peak, and if it comes to Switch 2 at some point, everybody should give it a shot, cause it's insanely fun and unique.

For me it'd either be BOTW or Xenoblade 3, because I'm a sucker for open worlds. MKWorld might be able to take that spot once it's out.

It‘s all so mixed up with the time during which I played them, so to pick one is pretty much impossible … Turrican 2 on Amiga 500 based on the impact it had (I still listen to it’s soundtrack today if I need a little pickmeup). Close contenders: Mario 64/OoT on N64, Metroid Prime 2/Windwaker on Gamecube, Metroid Dread/TOTK on Switch.

Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past is just the right kind of "game" to me. Fun but simple gameplay due to the dungeons and all the items to use, exploring is fun, story is simple but doesn't feel like an afterthought either. I always come back to it even after I played it back when I was 5. Only game that's ever come close to dethrone it was MGS3, which I adore and every time I go back to it, it move closer and closer to that spot

If I had to put a top 5
1) A Link to the Past
2) MGS3
3) Final Fantasy Tactics
4) Mega Man X
5)Resident Evil 4

No great surprise from me but.. Ocarina Of Time, the world, the story, Links actions and there was always something new to discover throughout the whole adventure, a special mention must also go to the music.. iconic.
I have revisited many times, even though I know what's coming and can scratch every secret of my list, there's always something that just pulls me back.
God only knows how many times I'll have replayed it if Nintendo ever get round to releasing a remake.