Your Top 10 Games.

[A Sprite]

Most influential, most fun, it's about whatever makes a game important to you, not necessarily anyone else.

 

Here's mine -

 

10. Street Fighter 2, and upgrades - combos, layers of special moves, and paper, rock, scissors turning video combat into the new chess. It's a rare game that end an era, but after it's release, arcades would never be the same.

 

9. Final Fantasy 7 - For the record, I hate this game. No idea whether it's the bad graphics, the bad translation, or the story having so many plot twists at the end that the promising story about a mad boy who failed to become a hero forced to face his hero gone mad turns into a Metal Gear style pretzel about genetic engineering instead. But here's what it did right - it took fantasy out of the gutter. No ye olde fake English. No making every character uglier than the rest. No smearing everything in dirt in order to claim depth that doesn't exist. Anyone who wants to know why FF7 still holds power, need only walk a city at night, watch traffic tear by, and imagine what it would be like if magic was real.

 

8. Space War - Pong wasn't the first arcade game. It wasn't even the first videogame about ping pong. Arguments about it's popularity are great, but since we're not rating that, Space War gets the nod.

 

7. Need for Speed: Underground - other games nailed the physics. This was the first to nail the feel. By asking what the effects of that speed were on a driver, instead of just the car, they shamed more serious sims.

 

6. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Link to the Past is often called the best pure game in the series. But it was missing it's soul. Link's Awakening took all that was good about it's Super Nintendo cousin, and then added a dark twist - instead of fighting to save the world, your quest would end it...

 

5. Ms. Pac-Man is the best hack ever.

 

4. Tetris has to be here, by law.

 

3. Elite was sandbox gaming before Rockstar ever got the idea.

 

2. This spot reserved for the Super Mario Bros.

 

1. Adventure - before the 2600 existed, before computers had monitors, virtual warriors lived and died by their words. A text based Dungeons and Dragons style adventure, it's popularity led to Zork, Ultima, Nethack, nearly every MMO ever made, and of course, Adventure, for the 2600. Evolutions of it's ideas can be found anywhere from Maniac Mansion to Zelda. No other game comes close to matching it's legacy.

[A Sprite]

Most influential, most fun, it's about whatever makes a game important to you, not necessarily anyone else.

 

Here's mine -

 

10. Street Fighter 2, and upgrades - combos, layers of special moves, and paper, rock, scissors turning video combat into the new chess. It's a rare game that end an era, but after it's release, arcades would never be the same.

 

9. Final Fantasy 7 - For the record, I hate this game. No idea whether it's the bad graphics, the bad translation, or the story having so many plot twists at the end that the promising story about a mad boy who failed to become a hero forced to face his hero gone mad turns into a Metal Gear style pretzel about genetic engineering instead. But here's what it did right - it took fantasy out of the gutter. No ye olde fake English. No making every character uglier than the rest. No smearing everything in dirt in order to claim depth that doesn't exist. Anyone who wants to know why FF7 still holds power, need only walk a city at night, watch traffic tear by, and imagine what it would be like if magic was real.

 

8. Space War - Pong wasn't the first arcade game. It wasn't even the first videogame about ping pong. Arguments about it's popularity are great, but since we're not rating that, Space War gets the nod.

 

7. Need for Speed: Underground - other games nailed the physics. This was the first to nail the feel. By asking what the effects of that speed were on a driver, instead of just the car, they shamed more serious sims.

 

6. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Link to the Past is often called the best pure game in the series. But it was missing it's soul. Link's Awakening took all that was good about it's Super Nintendo cousin, and then added a dark twist - instead of fighting to save the world, your quest would end it...

 

5. Ms. Pac-Man is the best hack ever.

 

4. Tetris has to be here, by law.

 

3. Elite was sandbox gaming before Rockstar ever got the idea.

 

2. This spot reserved for the Super Mario Bros.

 

1. Adventure - before the 2600 existed, before computers had monitors, virtual warriors lived and died by their words. A text based Dungeons and Dragons style adventure, it's popularity led to Zork, Ultima, Nethack, nearly every MMO ever made, and of course, Adventure, for the 2600. Evolutions of it's ideas can be found anywhere from Maniac Mansion to Zelda. No other game comes close to matching it's legacy.

 

Why my list sucks: No Space Invaders (why wouldn't we want to shoot things that can fire back for a change?), no Guitar Heroes, (another game I hate, but it did what it did better than anyone else.), and I haven't ever played a real time strategy game.

 

Who's next?

[DragonmasterDan]

Most influential, most fun, it's about whatever makes a game important to you, not necessarily anyone else.

 

Here's mine -

 

10. Street Fighter 2, and upgrades - combos, layers of special moves, and paper, rock, scissors turning video combat into the new chess. It's a rare game that end an era, but after it's release, arcades would never be the same.

 

9. Final Fantasy 7 - For the record, I hate this game. No idea whether it's the bad graphics, the bad translation, or the story having so many plot twists at the end that the promising story about a mad boy who failed to become a hero forced to face his hero gone mad turns into a Metal Gear style pretzel about genetic engineering instead. But here's what it did right - it took fantasy out of the gutter. No ye olde fake English. No making every character uglier than the rest. No smearing everything in dirt in order to claim depth that doesn't exist. Anyone who wants to know why FF7 still holds power, need only walk a city at night, watch traffic tear by, and imagine what it would be like if magic was real.

 

8. Space War - Pong wasn't the first arcade game. It wasn't even the first videogame about ping pong. Arguments about it's popularity are great, but since we're not rating that, Space War gets the nod.

 

7. Need for Speed: Underground - other games nailed the physics. This was the first to nail the feel. By asking what the effects of that speed were on a driver, instead of just the car, they shamed more serious sims.

 

6. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Link to the Past is often called the best pure game in the series. But it was missing it's soul. Link's Awakening took all that was good about it's Super Nintendo cousin, and then added a dark twist - instead of fighting to save the world, your quest would end it...

 

5. Ms. Pac-Man is the best hack ever.

 

4. Tetris has to be here, by law.

 

3. Elite was sandbox gaming before Rockstar ever got the idea.

 

2. This spot reserved for the Super Mario Bros.

 

1. Adventure - before the 2600 existed, before computers had monitors, virtual warriors lived and died by their words. A text based Dungeons and Dragons style adventure, it's popularity led to Zork, Ultima, Nethack, nearly every MMO ever made, and of course, Adventure, for the 2600. Evolutions of it's ideas can be found anywhere from Maniac Mansion to Zelda. No other game comes close to matching it's legacy.

 

Why my list sucks: No Space Invaders (why wouldn't we want to shoot things that can fire back for a change?), no Guitar Heroes, (another game I hate, but it did what it did better than anyone else.), and I haven't ever played a real time strategy game.

 

Who's next?

 

I have difficulty making lists like that because of the fact that I have a tendency to make one list of games that were most influential and another of games that are my personal favorites. Some important games that should be on any list of influential games that are left off are Dragon Quest/ Dragon Warrior which is for all intents and purposes the start of all Japanese style RPGs. Doom which popularized (but not invented) first person shooters. Pokemon which started a giant craze of immense proportions. If I had time to think about it I'm sure there's others.

[Gabriel]

Here's my list for this morning:

 

10. Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (various)

 

This is THE RPG. It featured a completely free roaming quest which you could pursue just about any way you wanted to. It featured a very novel and thought provoking questionaire character creation system which many JRPGs have tried to emulate and failed. It also allowed you to actually talk to NPCs through an extremely innovative keyword system.

 

Every version of this I have played has been wonderful. Even the NES version, which is severely cut down is still head and shoulders above everything else in the field of RPGs.

 

 

9. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)

 

Many scrolling brawlers (those with the Capcom name on them) are nothing more than flashy button mashers. There are no tactics, no strategy. Just get your turbo controller and hold it down the entire game. The Streets of Rage series isn't like that. It actually matters how you play. The game depends on skill, not how fast your turbo fire is or how many continues you're allotted.

 

Streets of Rage looks great, sounds great, controls perfectly. It has well designed characters and levels. In short, it's a joy to play.

 

 

8. Civilization II

 

Civilization II is a "one more turn" game. It sucks you in with it's ease of play and beautiful difficulty curve. It keeps you playing through it's wonderful and simple mechanics.

 

The only reason why Civ2 isn't ranked higher is because of the sheer length of a game, and near the end things do tend to get boring. But the replayability is still immense.

 

 

7. Soul Calibur (series)

 

This turned out to actually be a problem for me to put on my list. There's no doubt that the Soul Calibur games are the greatest of all time, so which one really deserves to be in the top 10?

 

While I was tempted to include Soul Calibur 3, because it is clearly the best installment at this point, I decided to hedge the bet and merely include the whole series. Historical perspective does matter a lot to the greatest games of all time, and it's possible not enough time has passed with the Soul Calibur series to truly gauge it's staying power. Until such a time, the entire series rests here.

 

 

6. Mortal Kombat II (various)

 

To this day, when I have guests. everyone still asks to play Mortal Kombat II. In my experience there's no such thing as a "quick couple of games of MK2." Playing it lasts for hours as everyone is enthralled. Fatalities, friendships, and trash talking abound as we play.

 

I ascribe Mortal Kombat II's success to it's simplicity of play. You don't have to study a gamefaq for hours just to play at a marginal level of ability. MK2 is easy to come back to after a long absense, and the fatalities are extremely cathartic when you perform them on your opponent and extremely motivating for "one more game" when performed on you.

 

In short, Mortal Kombat II is extremely rewarding to play and has a longevity the rest of the 2D fighters can't match.

 

 

5. Missile Command (Atari 2600)

 

One of the first games I received with my Atari 2600 was Missile Command. It was my favorite arcade game at the time, and I was overjoyed to be able to play it at home. Now, over 25 years later, I'm still playing this version of the game.

 

Missile Command, like another game higher up this list, is pure shooting zen. It's simple to learn, difficult to master, and completely hypnotic.

 

 

4. Adventure

 

Just like movie theaters of the era had a boy, a girl, and a galaxy, the Atari 2600 had a square, a chalice, and a kingdom. Much like the simple elements of that revered motion picture, Adventure's elements provided epic entertainment far outside the scope of their primitive and simple nature.

 

 

3. Robotron (arcade)

 

Missile Command is an expression of shooting zen. Robotron IS Shooting Zen. In Eugene Jarvis's own words, Robotron is designed to key into our subconscious reflexive survival urges, and it succeeds brilliantly. Robotron is a satisfying game on a primal level.

 

Robotron is video gaming stripped to it's barest elements. If it isn't on someone's list of the best games of all time, they shouldn't be involved with gaming at all.

 

 

2. Joust (arcade)

 

The best games always start with a simple concept which belies the depth of the experience. Joust starts with the simple premise of "be higher than everyone else."

 

In a way, Joust could be considered the forerunner to modern rhythm games. Much of the gameplay consists of managed tapping of the flap button to keep yourself high. And let's not forget the game's toughest immediate challenge is the slaying of the Pterodactyl, which requires a very precise hand with the tapping of that flap button.

 

Like Robotron, it keys into subliminal desires. Try to be "above" everyone else, for one. It also keys into the very simple enjoyment of tapping a button. The game feels involved, and it is involved.

 

Cooperative/Competitive play is just icing on the cake, and makes the whole deal even sweeter.

 

 

1. Ms. Pac-Man (various)

 

Just about everyone still plays this game, a quarter century after it was first released. No other game can claim the longevity and broad based popularity this one does. The sheer number of interpretations and adaptations of this game are becoming uncountable.

 

Arcades STILL pay money to put a Ms. Pac-Man machine inside their doors. And the game is still a steady earner.

 

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who didn't know of this game. It has never been absent from the world of consoles. There are home adaptations for every console which had a real mark on the marketplace.

 

The game itself once again keys in on a basic desire for accumulation. It features the eternal theme of persecution and turning the tables on the persecutors.

 

In the future, I'm convinced Ms. Pac-Man will be remembered when all other games of our era are forgotten.

 

 

0. Tetris

 

I don't like Tetris. I don't enjoy it. But that's not why I'm putting it at the confusing spot of number zero.

 

Something I've noticed about people playing Tetris is they don't consider it a game in the same way people consider Joust a game. It's more something like a Rubik's Cube. Not quite a puzzle, not quite a toy. Tetris is a pursuit. Tetris is a challenge. Tetris isn't something you play. It's something you just do.

 

It's hard to explain, but the point is that Tetris started as a game, but has managed to become transcendant. It is universally known and is a pursuit universally engaged in.

 

I hate Tetris. Even still, I'll play it when presented with it. It's just that addictive of mind candy. It's like crack for the entertainment centers of the brain.

 

Tetris has such longevity and has ingrained itself into us so throughly that a hypothetical future Captain Kirk would be playing it and sharing it with the Klingons and Romulans. After all, the original Enterprise had Tetris playing on every monitor.

 

 

And that's my list for this December 1st, 2007

[Gregory DG]

As far as I'm concerned, Tetris is the greatest game of all time.

 

1. Tetris

Doom

Adventure

Pong

Space Invaders

Asteroids

Super Mario Bros.

Everquest

Half-Life

The Sims

[Foxsolo2000]

9. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)

 

Many scrolling brawlers (those with the Capcom name on them) are nothing more than flashy button mashers. There are no tactics, no strategy. Just get your turbo controller and hold it down the entire game. The Streets of Rage series isn't like that. It actually matters how you play. The game depends on skill, not how fast your turbo fire is or how many continues you're allotted.

 

Streets of Rage looks great, sounds great, controls perfectly. It has well designed characters and levels. In short, it's a joy to play.

 

 

8. Civilization II

 

Civilization II is a "one more turn" game. It sucks you in with it's ease of play and beautiful difficulty curve. It keeps you playing through it's wonderful and simple mechanics.

 

The only reason why Civ2 isn't ranked higher is because of the sheer length of a game, and near the end things do tend to get boring. But the replayability is still immense.

 

Two of my fav games. I had yet to meet another gamer who enjoyed Civ II. I play it constantly on King level (anything above is just too frustrating) and despite the fact that games take so long to complete it is a very calming game and great fun to take on three rival civilisations who are either near or on your technolgy level

[Christophero Sly]

Mind you, I can't make a definitive list, but here are 10 of my all-time favorites, in no particular order.

 

Ultima V

Zork (series)

Asteroids

Out of this World

Street Fighter II (series)

Punch Out

Cliff Hanger

Lode Runner

Marathon (series)

Hyper Sports

Edited December 1, 2007 by Christophero Sly

[homerwannabee]

1. Megamania Atari 2600, 5200

2. Pitfall II Atari 2600, 5200

3. H.E.R.O Atari 2600

4. Donkey Kong Colecovision

5. Burgertime Intellivision

6. Galaxian Atari 2600

7. Super Mario World NES

8. Tetris NES

9. Gears of War XBOX 360

10. Atlantis Atari 2600

 

I decided to include a modern game in order to give it gamer cred.

Edited December 1, 2007 by homerwannabee

[Atarifever]

Here's my list for this morning:

 

10. Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (various)

 

9. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)

 

8. Civilization II

 

7. Soul Calibur (series)

 

6. Mortal Kombat II (various)

 

5. Missile Command (Atari 2600)

 

4. Adventure

 

3. Robotron (arcade)

 

2. Joust (arcade)

 

1. Ms. Pac-Man (various)

 

0. Tetris

Holy cow. I don't think I've ever agreed with one word you've said about modern gaming, and yet we almost have the same list of favorite games. Weird.

 

I don't feel strongly enough about anything to put it in different parts of the top 5-20 or so. However, my top five is something like:

5: Ms. Pacman

4: Adventure

3: Robotron

2: Joust

1: Galaga

 

And I'm with Gabriel at putting Tetris as number zero.

[kroogur]

10. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial Atari 2600 - I remember the Easter Sunday i found this game in my goodie basket I popped that sucker into my Atari and proceeded to play the heck out of it, i didn't know it was allegedly a bad game i just knew i liked the movie and i was a grateful to get the game and once i mastered the pits it was actually a pretty decent game for the Atari.

 

9. Yars Revenge - I played this till the tendons in my wrists snapped shut like a steel trap i had the rhythm of the little cursor down and the timing to avoid the missiles to rack up some pretty impressive scores!

 

8. Deadly Towers NES - We never had a ton of money when i was growing up and when mom said i could get a NES and one game for my birthday i about went nuts so off to Childrens Palace (like Toy's r us only much cooler) we went and i got my NES and chose Deadly Towers, i was always a D&D fan so it appealed to me and even though i never got very far with it i was blown away by the sheer size of the game, the graphics, the sounds, the music it was all so much more exciting than my trusty 2600 and it's games (it lasted about 4 months until i was frustated enough to go back to my 2600 )

 

7. Haunted House - This game is still one of my very favorites, the shock of seeing the ghost and having it come after me! and the lightning going off when i took a hit was just phenomenal! alot of atmosphere in this one.

 

6. Super Mario Brothers 2 - This one was something special (yeah i know about the Doki Doki Panic thing thanks to the Irate Gamer) I liked the fact that there were 4 selectable characters and each had a neat power years later i was pleasantly surprised to get this for my GBA in the form of Super Mario Advance.

 

5. Two Crude Dudes Sega Genesis- I loved this game in the arcades and when Sega brought it to the Genesis it made my day in a big way! The moves were cool, the voices were interesting and the bosses were great and the biggest bonus was being able to use the scenery to beat the crap out of the bad guys!

 

4. Everquest- Being a D&D fan this was a dream come true! online play against other folks, and the best part was none of the "balance" garbage that is so prevalent in Everquest II, my character was Troll and it only make sense that he be stronger than a gnome or dwarf.

 

3. Circus Atari 2600 - It goes with out saying any game where your "guy" hits the ground and turns into a twiching pile of goo complete with splat sound is just cool on so many different levels .....although i'm not sure why

 

2. Redneck Rampage PC- Whats not to like!! Ya got Mojo Nixon in the soundtrack plenty of beer, pork rinds and enough YEEEEEEEHAAAAWW!!!! to choke a horse!

 

1. Adventure Atari 2600 - What can i say? To this very day i play this game it never gets old thanks to level 3 and the goofy dragons just make it that much better!

[Scumdogg]

In no particular order:

 

Super Mario Bros. 3- The pinnacle of the series.

 

Street Fighter Alpha 3- Ditto.

 

Contra- It was such a great feeling going from "It's impossible to win without the code" to beating it twice in a row with no deaths.

 

Earthbound- Probably my favorite RPG of all time. The fact that we'll never get Mother 3 is criminal. Stupid Nintendo, i hate you so much.

 

Mega Man 2- I love Mega Man as a character, and this is one of the least frustrating games in the series for me. Some things i guess i'm just not great at.

 

Bioshock- Just one of the most polished single-player experiences i've seen in years. Captivating, front to back.

 

Zelda: A Link to the Past- Best Zelda Ever. Wind Waker is second. I hate "grim and gritty" Link with the fury of a thousand suns.

 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night- Need i say more?

 

Burgertime- Even though i'm not very good at it. Come on, it's just awesome.

 

Super Metroid- The only Metroid i've ever really cared to replay. I wish they'd go back to this.

[ckrtech]

Super Metroid- The only Metroid i've ever really cared to replay. I wish they'd go back to this.

 

Have you played the GBA ones? They have a similar feel.

 

 

A Sprite - Good idea for a thread. I can't help but feel it was inspired from the IGN top 100 thread.

 

It would honestly be really hard for me to come up with a top 10 and order them. It's fun seeing what everyone wrote for their top 10.

 

Individual top 10 lists are always better than one particular website's Top X list.

[dodge em]

Cool topic but extremely difficult to narrow a list down to 10.

I'll let the magazine editors sort out most influential, these are my favorites:

10. Star Control (Genesis) When I was starting to lose interest in games, this one brought me back BIG TIME!

9. Freedom Force (PC) If you're a fan of the Silver Age of comic books, you must play this game!

8. Star Wars (arcade) Combined my two favorite things in the world when it came out, Star Wars and video games.

7. Super Mario Bros. (NES) For me the first deep video game, my brothers and I would stay up all-hours trying to find hidden secrets.

6. Crossbow (arcade) I was obsessed with this game and I still love it.

5. Mike Tyson's Punchout (NES) WOW! Better than the arcade.

4. Rally X (arcade) After all these years it's still a blast!

3. Aliens vs. Predator Gold (PC) The reason I bought a PC and the only game that scared the crap outta me!

2. Castlevania III Dracula's Curse (NES) The best of the series IMO, I love this game!

1. tie Dodge Em/Warlords/Combat (2600) Playing against friends/family doesn't get much better than this, Invisible Tanks with Rubber Bullets!!!

 

Honorable Mention:

Wargames (Colecovision), Street Fighter II (SNES), Missile Command (2600), Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man (arcade), Kung-Fu (NES), Burgertime (arcade), Haunted House (2600), Super Star Wars (SNES), Crazy Climber (arcade), Defender (arcade), Asteroids (2600), Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (Genesis), Tron (arcade), Centipede (arcade), Joust (5200), Arkanoid (arcade), Jungle King (arcade), Moon Patrol (5200), Pengo (5200), Rygar (NES), Tailgunner (arcade), Swimmer (arcade), Vanguard (2600), Madden 95 (SNES), Mario Bros. (5200), Wrecking Crew (NES), Super Mario Kart (SNES), Tapper (arcade), Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES), I'm also a fan of the Zelda games but I never had the time to play them all the way through.

[Scumdogg]

Super Metroid- The only Metroid i've ever really cared to replay. I wish they'd go back to this.

 

Have you played the GBA ones? They have a similar feel.

 

 

Yeah, i own Zero Mission and i played through Fusion a while back. I love them both. I guess what i should say is that i wish this series hadn't been bumped down to "portable only" status. Like Castlevania, it deserves to be on consoles, and in proper 2D fashion.

[theking21083]

6. Galaxian Atari 2600

7. Super Mario World NES

8. Tetris NES

I know it was probably just a typo but me being the huge Mario fan that I am I have to say this. Super Mario World was on the SNES not the NES. Again I'm not trying to correct you but I started to twitch when I saw that.

[Asaki]

#1: Thief 2. Looking Glass are one of the best groups of videogame designers ever, and Thief 2, IMO, is their best game ever. The engine is just perfect...the particle system is fantastic, you can put any object in any character's hand, the graphics are just good enough to not look dated, with a great steampunk setting...the character height, head bobbing, and leaning give the game a sort of immersion I've not found in other games (not to mention the great storytelling that Looking Glass are known so well for)..turning out the lights and waiting for sundown, turning the monitor brightness down to get just the right brightness level. The first time I played it, I looked around, and for some reason, felt unnerved when I looked down and couldn't find my feet. It just...feels that right.

 

I've never really cared for third person sneakers like the Metal Gear series, but Thief 2 sucked me in immediately...hiding in a shadow, peeking around the corner, waiting for that guard to pass by so you can sneak behind him, bop him on the head, and find a clever place to hide the body before somebody finds it. Darting through a lighted corridor, crossing my fingers, hoping nobody will spot me, daring to grab a few pieces of loot on the way. Walking around, casing the non-linear level, trying to plan my best route. Searching every dark crevice and rooftop for that one extra secret, hoping I'll find an extra piece of loot or a button to unlock even more dark crevices. Listening at a doorway, eavesdropping on a casual conversation, waiting for the party to disperse before making my move.

 

And if I'm feeling frisky, I can always find hilarious ways to dispatch of people...whether it's hiding their unconcious bodies in precarious places, or finding ways to get them killed without it counting against my score (of course, unless they're undead or made of metal, this is cheating, and I'll reload my save after doing so). The only thing I really hate about the game is that Thief 3 is so lackluster (and Thief Gold is so annoying), and it's hard to get an additional fix after beating T2. At least there are enough secrets to keep it interesting...I've beaten the game three times so far (twice on expert) and it hasn't gotten boring yet.

 

Other games in no particular order...

 

Metroid series, Castlevania series, Ultimate DOOM and DOOM ][ (more non-linear games with lots of exploring and secret finding).

 

Legend of Zelda and Link's Adventure: same as above, but probably rated a bit higher. Unlike the later Zelda games, I could probably play these forever and never get bored, especially LoZ. Link to the Past comes pretty close, but not quite.

 

Rogue: The very definition of non-linear and secret finding (I'm noticing a pattern here)...not to mention, the mother of all roguelikes, including those Diablo games that everybody seems to love so much I prefer the original to any of the copycats, though (even NetHack). There's just something about the simplicity that gets to me...it's like D&D (minus the A), a text adventure, and an arcade game all rolled up into one. One day, I swear I'll beat it.

 

Dragon Quest/Warrior series (not so many secrets, but plenty non-linear)

 

Mother/EarthBound series: Saving up $80 in time for the release of the SNES game was quite a pivotal moment in my life, and now people will soon (eventually) be able to play it on Virtual Console for 1/10 of the price I guess times really do change. The rocky road of Mother 3 was (is) also very exciting, and I can't wait for the fan translation to finish so I can see what the (alleged) end of the series brings us. My only regret is that I followed the strategy guide to a T for my first run-through, and that really ruined a lot of the game. EarthBound 0 gave me a taste of what I missed out on, and I hope for Mother 3 to multiply that. DON'T FORGET TO BUY EARTHBOUND WHEN IT COMES OUT ON VIRTUAL CONSOLE. THE MORE COPIES THAT GET SOLD, THE STRONGER VOICE WE HAVE TO TELL NINTENDO THAT THE SERIES HAS A PLACE IN AMERICA. Ehem...</shameless pimp>

 

SMB3: 'nuff said.

 

Not sure what else to put...lots of arcade games that I like...Tempest, Bank Panic, Crazy Taxi, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig-Dug...I think of those more as pleasant diversions than games I can actually sit down with for a few days, though. I prefer the closure that comes with finishing a game and seeing the credits roll...though beating a high score is a pretty good feeling, too.

[8bitgamer]

Mr. Do!

Dig Dug

Tron

Maximo Ghosts to Glory

Maximo and the Army of Zin

Phoenix

Asteroids

Resident Evil 4

Lady Bug

Phoenix

[backinjag]

My criteria will be most time spent playing the games; it seems a good indicator of which games weere best:

 

Starcraft (PC)

Diablo (PC)

Goldeneye (N64)

Tetris (Gameboy)

Gate of Thunder (Turbo Duo)

Soul Calibur (Dreamcast)

Tempest 2K (Jaguar)

Bust-a-Move (N64)

Wave Race (N64)

Advance Wars (GBA)

 

Honorable mention: Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis), Klax (Lynx), Comix Zone (Genesis), Legendary Axe 2 (Turbografx), Street Fighter 2 (Genesis), Adventure (2600), Quake II (PC), Asteroids (Arcade)

[theking21083]

My top 10 in no particular order:

-Snatcher (Sega CD)

-Half Life 2 (PC)

-Resident Evil (PS1)

-Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)

-Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (Sega CD)

-Crusader of Centy (Genesis)

-Sonic 3 & Knuckles Genesis)

-Legend of Zelda (NES)

-Phantasy Star IV (Genesis)

-Shadowgate (NES)

[Texguy1968]

1. Pirates (PC)

2. Starflight (PC)

3. Railroad Tycoon (PC)

4. Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES)

5. Legend of Zelda: OOT (N64)

6. Goldeneye: 007 (N64)

7. Half-Life/Team Fortress Classic (PC)

8. Battlefield 1942 (PC)

9. Super Mario Kart (N64)

10. Ultima Online (PC)

[+atari2600land]

My top dozen:

 

1. Mario Kart DS (DS)

2. Mario Kart 64 (N64)

3. Tetris DX (GBC)

4. Strat-O-Gems (2600)

5. Pinball Jam (Lynx)

6. Tetris (NES)

7. Dr. Mario 64 (N64)

8. Super Mario World (SNES, GBA)

9. Ms. Pac-Man (2600)

10. Tetris (GB)

11. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

12. Qix (Lynx)

[Lord Helmet]

Man...this is off the top of my head...and in no particular order

 

1) Adventure

2) Mortal Kombat 2

3) The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past

4) Pac-Man

5) Final Fantasy 7 (I know its flawed...but I love it anyway)

6) Super Mario Brothers

7) Star Wars KOTOR

Star Wars TAG

9) Robotron: 2084

10) Mike Tyson's Punchout

 

I could probably name you a different 10 games tomorrow

[vdub_bobby]

My 10 favorites, not in order:

 

The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Defender (Atari 800)

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Crystalis (NES)

NBA Jam (Genesis)

Halo (Xbox)

Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)

Contra (NES)

Warcraft II (PC)

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (Dreamcast / N64)

 

My top-10 most important, not in order:

Pong

Space Invaders

Super Mario Bros.

Adventure

Tetris

SimCity

Doom

Command & Conquer

Street Fighter II

Final Fantasy VII

 

That's off the top of my head.

Edited December 3, 2007 by vdub_bobby

[jboypacman]

These are in no order........

 

Street Fighter Alpha 2-To me this is the best of the Street Fighter games with its ease of play and overall fun.

 

Pac-Man-Yup to me this is the best as its my all time favorite game with its ability to appeal to everyone and its fun and challenge.

 

Space Invaders-Am not the best player of SI but it has a very special place in my heart because it was the very first arcade/video game i ever played.

 

Super Mario Bros.-Oh the summer i wasted playing this game! SMBS is just a tight game and is what all 2-D platformers wish they were.

 

Tetris-The king of puzzle games! The one that started it all and one of the few puzzle games ever really got into.

 

Donkey Kong-One of the all-time greats in video games and another personal favorite of mine i always find myself playing some version of this game.

 

Donkey Kong Jr.-Same as the above.

 

In The Hunt-Its Metal Slug but underwater is how i describe this submarine based shooter and i was instantly hooked on this game.

 

Magic Sword-In a sea of side-scolling hack n' slash games this one has always be my favorite even over-shadowing all-time favorites like Golden Axe and Knights of the Round.

 

Luigi's Mansion-What a GameCube game in my Top 10? You bet as i find Luigi's Mansion to be a over-looked gem in the GC library of games.

 

Ones that almost made my list........

 

Dracula X-The best Castlevania game ever!

 

Star Castle-Every sense i played this game years and years ago in a arcade somewhere long forgotten i have been just in awe of this game.

 

Keystone Kapers-Could this be my all-time favorite Atari 2600 game? Its dang close as i have so many fond memories of this game.

 

My list tends to change over time but for the most part this list as stayed the same for me for the last few years.

Edited December 4, 2007 by jboypacman

[cvga]

Good topic. As I reflect upon the various systems I've owned, there's usually one or two games that really stand out. Suprisingly, the atari 2600 isn't represented in my list. Maybe because there were so many games I played, no one game dominated my time. I've definitely spent more time with that system than any other. These aren't necessarily my 10 favorite games but the 10 games that I've spent the most time with over the years.

 

10. Super Punchout (SNES) - I played the NES version quite a bit also but I really enjoyed the SNES version. I spent many nights boxing to get to the next fighter and/or beat my previous records. I hooked up the SNES for my 12 year old recently and plugged this game in. He really enjoyed it also.

 

9. Final Fantasy/Dragon Warrior (NES) - I spent way too much time playing these.

 

8. Galaga (Arcade) - A little dairy store near my house had a Galaga and another coin-op I can't remember. My best friend and I used to walk there just to play or watch other people play.

 

7. Baseball Stars (NES) - I loved the way this game played, the cartoon style players, your ability to customize teams, and the fact that it kept stats. I spent a whole summer playing a long long season with my team named after the characters from Scooby Doo. That Scooby sure could hit!

 

6. Super Mario Kart (N64 & DS) - I loved this on the N64 (both race and battle modes) and love it on the DS. Everyone in our family owns a DS to play this and Bomberman.

 

5. Guitar Hero (PS2) - Love the music, love the game. I'm still nowhere near as good as the people I see playing in Best Buy.

 

4. Scott Adams Adventure Series (VIC20) & Zork (C64) - The Count was the first text adventure I ever played and I was hooked. Later, I was blown away with the depth of Zork when it was released. It's been 20+ years since I've played any of these. I know there's walkthroughs but it would be fun to have a group of AAers decide to play again (or for the first time) and discuss the game. Hopefully it hasn't lost its appeal.

 

3. Tetris (Gameboy) - Tons of people on our dorm floor bought gameboys just to link up and play tetris. My personal favorite pack in game ever.

 

2. Major League Baseball (Intellivision) - My same friend from Galaga (above) and I played this nearly every day one summer. His favorite team was the Cubs and mine was the Reds. It seemed like this game was made specifically for us. This was pre Baseball Stars days so we kept our own stats.

 

1. Bomberman (TG16 & DS) - I rented this game (for the TG16) when I couldn't find anything else that looked interesting. The solo player version is ok at best but the multiplayer version is a blast (pun intended). We held bomberman parties with two 5 player TG16s hooked up at the same time. I still like that original version the best although linking up on the DS is a close second.