Lumines is my all time favorite puzzle game. I bought a PSP at launch, and with it bough three titles: Metal Gear Acid, Wipeout, and Lumines. Lumines was just something I bought with some excess cash, and I wasn't expecting it to get a ton of play time. I never played any PSP game more than I have Lumines, and I've played even more Lumines Live! on the Xbox 360. It's simple to play, yet you can play for hours on end. This is the only puzzle game to ever be as addictive as Tetris, and even moreso for me. Setting up huge combos and clearing the screen, all to some killer tunes. Man, I loved Lumines.

Many people say that Final Fantasy V is the series' weakest link, because the story isn't their favorite. Yeah, admittedly, the story isn't amazing, but it's full of awesome characters, making it an enjoyable tale. Exdeath, though he doesn't laugh as much as Kefka, has a much better sense of humor. Gilgamesh is one of my favorite characters in the entire series. I loved all of the characters in the game. But that's not really why I loved the game, it has more to do with the job system, which remains the pinnacle of all job systems. The depth of character customization and the variety it created in battles is amazing. FFV is one of the most underappreciated games in the series.

 

One of the few games I ever played through more than once, I just adore FFTA. It was the first game of its breed I ever played, and I've been hooked ever since. A great number of jobs, tons of cool quest, and great characters. Funny, I almost didn't buy the game. I played a demo and hated it. I went to the store, they didn't have the new Medal of Honor GBA game, so I just bought FFTA. I didn't sleep for a week because of the game. Addictive as heck, I tell you. 

[note: I have not played the original FFT extensively]

After thinking about it for hours, I finally concluded that Persona 3 is better than Persona 4. 3 has a much better battle system despite not controlling the whole party, and overall it had more depth in battles. I loved exploring Tartarus, I loved being a part of S.E.E.S., and I loved all the characters. Though it's a close call, P3 is just better than P4 for me in almost  every way. So, what makes the games so great? The battles are tons of fun, the characters are awesome, and the social link mechanic is very original for the genre. <3 Persona

The epitome of all Sonic games. Sonic CD took the Sonic formula, made it faster, and gave the levels something more. In the past, sonic was about going as fast as possible. That's still this case in CD, but now there is a reason to explore, a reason to tackle the platforming challenges, and a reason to seek out and kill enemies. The time travelling was a blast, it just improved the experience in so many ways. It really made it an experience. Couple that with the fact that every level in CD is masterfully designed, the best boss battles in the series (the Metal Sonic one is just awesome), and you've got a fantastic game.

So, I'll make part 2 of my list soon, probably tomorrow. I promise you, this is the most RPG heavy part, so don't label me as some JRPG fanboy.

Feel free to hate on my pics and tell me I'm wrong!