Every game on this list I have replayed more times than I can remember and could easily go back to and enjoy right now. They aren't the best games ever made, some by today's standards could even be regarded as quite terrible but for me personally they were the best experiences with gaming I've ever had.
Update:
Reorganized them in to oldest (top) to newest (bottom)
The first real game I played, largely responsible for starting my interest in the hobby.
"It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, but I'm alllllll outa gum"
Duke will be the badest of bad asses... forever...
Starcraft, nuff said.
Oddworlds best game ever, hell one of THE best games ever and one the best sequels ever. I feel sorry for anyone who never plays it. Its on steam now and dirt cheap.
One of the most unique rpgs ever made, it was diablo meets final fantasy meets fallout. I dare say it was a damn unappreciated masterpiece. Sure it was full of grinding and the combat got super repetitive but damn.. that story and those characters were so fucking amazing. Maya is by far the best female protagonist of any game ever.
My first experience at being almost scared in a game, or at least very tense. Nothing has ever made me feel the way I did when Nemesis randomly showed up.
The only Japanese RPG I can say I actually have fond memories of. I wish they'd make another and actually release it here. :(
The best highly customizable rts mech game ever made. While its graphics weren't amazing and its gameplay was rather simple its just resonated with me due to my heavy interest in mechs.
A dead genre I wish would return, Carmageddon TDR 2000 was the last truly good sand box vehicle combat / racing title.
The best game Bungie Studios ever made. God I hope their new title is a spiritual successor in some way, another awesome 3rd person action brawler with fun gunplay, omg yes please.
The best rts mech game ever made.
The best Mech game ever made and sadly the last in the series.
One of the greatest game stories I've ever experienced, I loved the writing, the characters and the weapons were some of the best I've ever used in an fps. I still remember its witty dialogue; "Did you remember to pack my green identification badge?" "Yep, should be right next to your pink library card"
The first game where I became truly obsessed with the characters, story and the universe they existed in to the point it influenced my own personal work in many ways. I want a ps3 sequel to this trilogy SO BAD.
UT2004, still the best multiplayer shooter ever.
Still one of the funnest FPS's I've ever played with a great messed up story and unmatched atmosphere. I don't know how but the sequel in so many ways failed to be as good as the original.
Still my number one favorite multiplayer experience with an rts, even its brilliant sequel couldn't match its near perfect fun factor. Plus necrons = win.
Ah Bioshock, no amount of words can summerize how truly amazing and unique this game was.
I went through 3 generations of graphics card before I could play this game "how it was meant to be played" and yet STILL it lags in some parts of the game. I look forward to my next upgrade to see if it'll finally run smoothly 100% of the time.
Still, omfg was Crysis awesome, must have replayed it at least 10 times. God I hope the sequel isn't consolified too much.
My now all time favorite fighting game, mostly because its character creator resulted in infinite replay value for me.
The best 'big license' game I've ever played, the best comic based game I've ever played and most likely the best Batman game I'll ever play, until perhaps the inevitable sequel.
Amazing zelda-esc homage game with numerous borrowed mechanics but brilliant execution. One of the most kick ass art styles to ever feature in a game.
The most satisfying sequel, rpg and sci-fi game ever made. Soooooooooooo good.
Even with the shitty ending I still loved GoW3. The combat is unrivaled as some of the most satisfying and fun of any game ever.
The best co-op console experience I've ever had. Skrew the haters LP2 is fucking awesome. I even bought the pc version too and damn... its still so good. I cant explain why but the combination of crazy guns, cool mechs and giant bugs to crack open for sweet sweet T-eng is just.... so 'me' it blinds me to all the games obvious flaws. I've gotten so good at it I can solo the game even when the difficulty is supposed to be suited for co-op play. A shooter with a learning curve, holy crap no wonder all the reviewers hated it.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the original Dead Space the sequel was something else entirely. I've easily replayed it at least 5 times by now and can not wait for another incredibly messed up journey in the shoes of Isakk Clarke.
The modern shooter that showed how much more fun other shooters could be without selling enough copies to demonstrate that anyone but a select few gave a shit. sigh
Kick ass crazy anime style insanity - the game.
Fuck... just... fuck.
