My top 20(ish) games of all time.
By MooseyMcMan 36 Comments
I recently put together a couple lists of games that I really like. I'll include a link for the top ten here, and other ones that didn't quite make the cut here. But, if you're lazy, you can read them all here. And, here, I'll put it in reverse order, so you won't instantly know what number 1 is.
So, here are my "11" games that did not make the top ten. There are actually 12 of them. And when I say 12, I mean 13, because I thought of another one.
23. Saints Row The Third.
STRAP IT ON. In all seriousness, part of me really wanted to put this game on the top ten, but I also feel like not enough time has passed for me to properly judge this game. So I put it here, until enough time has passed that I can fully judge it, at which point it will probably move up this list. Or I forget and it stays here.
22. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega MicroGame$!
Much like many games I love, this one is crazy. The whole concept is that Wario decides to make tons of shovel-ware games to make some cash, and it's a crazy selection of five-ish second games that are pretty fun. And, on top of that, there are some deeper, more complicated games that can be unlocked. Like Dr. Wario. It's like Dr. Mario, except Wario is in it. I literally still bust this game out just to play Dr. Wario. I did it a couple weeks ago. It holds up.
21. Shenmue.
This game was Deadly Premonition before Deadly Premonition was Deadly Premonition. The voice acting is bad, the writing is bad, and it's pretty bad in a lot of ways. At yet, there's something weird and charming about this game in a super compelling way. It's the kind of game that crazy people like, and I'm a crazy person. Plus, not only did I play this game on my own, one time I forced my friend to play through it with me riding shotgun, and he ended up liking it too, despite him not generally liking this kind of game. He's kinda weird like me too though. Anyway, it's a divisive game, and I'm definitely on the "WHERE IS SHENMUE III?!?!" side.
20. Super Mario Sunshine.
Yes, I make two lists of my favorite games, and the only Mario platformer on either is Sunshine. There are a lot of people who like to "hate" on this game (by which I mean they say it's good, but not as good as the others), but I, on the other hand, love this game. I thought it was bigger and better than Mario 64. I loved the new water-pack stuff, I thought the game looked great (though it did have some framerate issues now and then), and you could unlock sunglasses for Mario. Forget space, Mario wore sunglasses. SUNGLASSES.
19. Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader.
I love Star Wars. I love video games. This is my favorite Star Wars video game. No, it's not that Tie Fighter game that everyone rants and raves about, but you know what? I like fast and loose arcade-y action. And it was still pretty challenging. And production value wise, it was incredible. The game looked amazing (and still looks better than most Wii games), it featured footage from the movies (the first time footage from the classic Star Wars films was officially printed onto a disc), and they got the actor who played Wedge Antilles to record a lot of new dialog for the game.
18. Metroid Prime.
The Citizen Kane of video games. Someone said that once. I dunno, I've never seen Citizen Kane, but Metroid Prime is pretty rad. This is one of those games where I feel like it achieves all of the goals it sets out to accomplish almost perfectly. No, it's not a flawless game (as the Wii one showed, the controls can be better), but it's an all around awesome game.
17. Paper Mario.
This game isn't as crazy or funny as Thousand-Year Door, but it's still a solid RPG in its own right. Also, you can tell I just copied and pasted this from the list because I make reference to a game you don't know is on this list when it's read in this order. Spoilers! I also like that other Paper Mario game.
16. Resident Evil 4.
This game kinda changed the course of video games. Or third person shooters at least. Before this, there weren't really games with the over the shoulder camera angle. But now they pretty much all are. But how this game affected the industry is irrelevant. The pacing is spot on, it's technically amazing, and most importantly, it's fun. It has both the feeling of, "Oh man, these dudes are going to smoke me" and, "Yeah, who's smoking who now?!" If you've played it, you know what I mean.
15. Fallout 3.
This was the first Bethesda Softworks game I ever played, so I was completely blown away by the size and scale of this game. There's just so much content. Yeah, it's buggy, and there are a lot of things that, even if there weren't bugs, wouldn't be that great (like the core combat), but there aren't really many other games like it. And the ones that are like it are made by the same people.
14. Mass Effect 2.
More Mass Effect. Need I say more?
13. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
This game is so weird. It features everything from mobsters to aliens to professional wrestling to a computer that falls in love in Princess Peach. And, unlike the first Paper Mario (which is also on this list), this game makes use of Mario being made out of Paper by letting him transform into things like paper airplanes. The combat is simple, but fun, the story is great (and hilarious), and I love it.
12. Star Fox Adventures.
The last of Rare's new Nintendo products (I guess they ported DKR to DS, but that doesn't count) is also one of my favorite Rare games. Yes, the Star Fox license was slapped onto it, and yes, it's just a Zelda clone, but it's a really good Zelda clone. Probably not "better" than something like Wind Waker (which came out within a year of this), but this isn't a list of "best" games, it's my favorites.
11. Soul Calibur II.
Much like the Smash Bros. games, this was something that my friends and I played ALL THE TIME when we were at each other's houses. It looked amazing (and still holds up, kinda), plays great, and had a ton of single player content. Plus, it had Link, and he was really fun to play as. And those other guys in the other versions, but come on.
So, there are the 11(ish) games that I wanted in my top ten, but they couldn't quite make it. But now, here's the top ten games, which are my favorite games, of all time. Inappropriate comma use? Maybe. But why is that Nolan North picture there? YOU'LL NEVER KNOW! Because it doesn't want to let me caption it. So I wrote this instead.
10. Diddy Kong Racing.
This was the first video game I owned. Not the first I played (not by a long stretch), but the first one I owned. When I got my N64 for Christmas as a young lad, this was the game that I got with it. So many hours spent playing this silly little racing game. A racing game with a story mode! Or an adventure mode, because it was pretty light on plot. Well, assuming you consider an evil space wizard invading light on plot!
9. Metal Gear Solid 4: Gun of the Patriots.
I played this game 12 times. Yes, a bunch of those were speed runs, but still. I have large sections of that game memorized. Photo-memorized. Literally. Even besides my obsession with the game, the climactic finale to the Solid Snake story arc was a game like no other. It had a near perfect blend of action to stealth, fantastic graphics, an insane amount of story, great writing and voice acting, and everything else that one expects out of a Metal Gear Solid game. I hear it had multiplayer too, but I never played that. Too busy trying to figure out the fastest ways through those environments, and then going out of my way to unlock dumb stuff like the Altair costume. Really weird game, but one I could jump right back into and keep on playing.
8. No More Heroes.
This game is so weird. It's about a nerd who buys an off brand lightsaber on the internet (or beam-katana as the game calls them), but because of that he doesn't have enough money to buy video games. So what does he do? He blows his remaining money at a bar, and whilst drunk accepts a job as a hitman. Then he kills the 11th ranked assassin in the world, so of course he decides to be #1. What follows is insanity. It's hilarious, pretty dumb in some amazing ways, and really a pretty unique experience. Or it was until the sequel, which is also pretty good, but didn't make as much of an impact on me.
7. Donkey Kong 64.
This game kinda falls under the same territory as Banjo Tooie, only not quite as much. I still love this game to pieces though. Huge levels, tons of collectibles, and that same classy writing from classic Rare. And, of course, that DK Rap. Lest we forget.
6. Deadly Premonition.
What a strange game. But, how could a game that I not only played three times (one of which with a friend of mine along for the ride), but I also watched the Giant Bomb Crew play through (not once but twice) not make this list? Yes, this game is really bad in a lot of ways. But the amazing story, voice acting that ranges from legitimately good to so bad it's good, and overall insanity add to up a game that is easily one of my favorite games of all time. Now if only SWERY could get the funding for something else in this universe.
5. Super Smash Bros. Melee.
I can't say for sure, but this may be the game that I have played the most. So many countless hours of playing single player content, or playing with friends. This was the game that literally all of my friends and I played when we were at each other's houses. Much like Mass Effect, this is really a case of my thinking the sequel is better in every way (to the point where Brawl is the game I would play today if I wanted some Smash Bros.), but I didn't really have people to play with when Brawl came out, so it didn't consume my life.
4. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
If you want to know how I feel about this game, read this. It's a phenomenal game, and one that has a great story involving many years of my life (even if most of those years involved not actually playing it).
3. Mass Effect.
Much like #1 and #2 on this list, Mass Effect blew me away. It combined all the non-copyrighted things I loved about Star Wars and Star Trek, but it was a video game! I was in control of my own spaceship, I could fly all over the galaxy solving crimes and shooting people. Sure, the game has a ton of technical issues, and I think Mass Effect 2 is a better game is just about every way. But this game had such a large impact on me that it had to be on this list instead of Mass Effect 2.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Yes. The black sheep of the 3D Zeldas is not only my favorite Zelda game, it's #2 on this list. But not that #2. Get your mind out of the gutter. To be clear, this is the first Zelda game I played more than two hours of. Regardless, the scope of this game is, to be frank, epic. I know that word gets thrown around a lot these days, but it fits. The world is huge. The dungeons are huge! Everything in this game is huge! And really well designed too. Some fantastic dungeon design, really good writing (especially for Midna), and a story that was pretty good. No, that isn't a proper English sentence. DEAL WITH IT.
1. Banjo-Tooie.
Everyone has that game that has left a mark so big on him/her that you start to form these almost irrational thoughts about it because of the nostalgia. This is my game that does that. It's been so long since I've played it, and my glasses so rose tinted that I probably can't form a coherent sentence about what is actually so good about this game. The levels were huge, the writing was witty, and the puzzles were great. I love this game more than any other game ever made. And I don't think another game will ever be made that can topple this from my #1 spot.
So, after writing this as a blog, I realized some of the stuff doesn't make as much sense in this order. Oh well! And there are plenty of other games that I feel like should be on these lists, but if I keep going from here, I'll just end up ranking every game I own. And I own a LOT of games.
Also, I'm sorry I've been unable to provide any sort of significant content about current gaming events, or games, because now that I'm back at college, I'm dealing with stuff like school work, and having to have a roommate (which I absolutely hate, just the idea of it, but that's not something I want to go into). So I don't have tons of time for games. I will try to keep some sort of stuff going out though.
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