This wasn't exactly an easy list to come up with. The more I thought about the idea, the more I found myself wanting to go down two seperate paths. One path being 20 games that show the history and development of games -- games that defined a generation or showcase what sort of improvements the medium had made. But many games that may have showcased certain generations of consoles just aren't worth playing now -- Pong for example -- you don't need to play it to know exactly what it is. 
 
The other path being 20 games I personally love and think are awesome, but that would be a simple "20 of my most favoritist games". I love Tales of Vesperia and Eternal Sonata, for example, but I don't think either game is of such artistic or gameplay merit that they are "must plays". Another example which is held near and dear to many people here at Giant Bomb would be Persona 4. A fantastic game, but it's not a game I feel -needs- to be played.
 
So what sort of games go on such a list? I'm not really sure how to define that in a sentence. These are just games that deserved to be played for one reason or another -- either because they defined a generation, are just plain awesome, or showcase what makes video games so great and explains just why many of us play video games.
 
Such a list is sooo easy to contend. People will all have their own opinions about which games should be on it. This is also not a complete list. There are well over 20 games people should play before they die, but this is as good a starting point as any. I certainly plan on coming up with another list, hell, my two all-time favorite games are not even on this one!
 

Tetris

It's hard to imagine anyone with even a remote interest in games who hasn't played Tetris. Harder still to image anyone who has never played any game that was influenced by Tetris. While not the first puzzle game, it is still considered the grandfather of the genre and also the grandfather of the "simple yet addictive"  type of game that so many flash and handheld games try to emulate. From Super Puzzle Fighter to Puzzle Bobble; Puzzlequest to Peggle, they all owe a debt to Tetris -- a game that still holds it own 20 years later.
  

Final Fantasy VII

 
While not my favorite in the series, VII does a very good job defining many elements of what makes an RPG so great. Sure the rabid fan culture it spawned left a sour taste in my mouth, but that was only further testament to the power and influence the game had. A lesser game could not have garnered such a following or such obsession. While the graphics haven't stood the tests of time so well, the story and gameplay remain well intact, and many of the characters remain as endearing today as they were back then. I would consider VII's soundtrack to be, overall, Nobuo Uematsu's greatest work to date and the music had the same impact at pivotal moments that a movie score does, if not more so.
 

Portal

What really needs to be said about portal that can't be summed up with five words -- "The cake is a lie"? Admittedly, that will only mean something to anyone who has already played Portal, so I guess I should embellish on what makes Portal great. The challenge, the sense of humor, the "story without a story", the antagonist, the controls... everything about Portal is great, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. On top of that, Portal is a rare breed -- a first-person puzzle game. It provides just the right amount of challenge that it never starts to feel monotonous or repetitive. Oh and the ending song is terrific (and a free download for Rockband).
 

Civilization II

 
I'll be honest -- I could never get into the Civilization, wait sorry, "Sid Meier's Civilization" franchise. I've played.. wow, I've actually played all of them from 1-4 now that I think about it, but unfortunately I always run into the same problem. When I wanted a simulation I always turned to Simcity (yes, I know they're entirely different games) and didn't have the interest to go beyond building the holy trinity of zoning -- Residential, Industrial, and Commercial. That said, I realize the influence the civilization franchise has had and just how amazing the games are. It's long been debated which is the best in the series and many agree that Civilization IV stands out, but I'm going with II as that harkens back to an earlier era and many still contend it was the best. As I'm no expert in the Civilization debate, I've arbitrarily decided to go with the old school side.
 

Half-life 2

Oddly enough, I played HL2 after playing Portal, as I wasn't dying for a sequel after the first like many were. Actually , the first Half-Life didn't do much for me. It had been hailed as a fantastic game with a great atmosphere and sense of tension along with something very, very few first person shooters had at the time -- a story. But... I dunno, Half-life and me didn't click. But then a few years later (or rather quite a few years later) came along it's sibling -- Half-life 2. Number 2 managed to outshine its predecessor in every way and defines the single player FPS experience to many gamers. Great characters, crazy story, awesome weapons. Half-life 2 has everything a single-player FPS needs and has influenced the genre ever since.
 

World of Warcraft

Ahh, here's an easy-to-debate entry. Why would I put an MMO on such a list? Well, chances are pretty good that if you're a typical gamer, or even if you're not, you've tried WoW out at some point. 11 million or more accounts is a big number and there's plenty of reasons why people still pay monthly fees to play this game years after its initial release. It really is a cultural phenomenon that needs to be experienced to be understood. Chances are pretty good it's not your cup of tea (heck, I don't play anymore), but for anyone curious to know what draws so many people into the world of MMOs, Warcraft is the best one to find out with.
 

Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix Plus

 
Ahh rhythm games. They've been around for what seems to be a looong time, but many of us seem to have forgotten (or don't even know) where they started. While PaRappa the Rapper is often credited with kicking off the rhythm game genre, it was more of a "Simon says" game where you listened to a part of a song and then repeated it back with the proper sequence of buttons and timing. Then along came two big names that became first a phenomenon in Japan and then the world. Beatmania and Dance Dance Revolution. Beatmania never really caught on in the west as it had a fairly steep learning curve and a controller that intimidates many newcomers. DDR, on the other hand, had a very user friendly interface and you pretty much knew what to do as soon as you stepped on it (provided you had the courage to make a fool of yourself in an arcade, but considering there were usually long line-ups to get a chance, you got to see others make fools of themselves first).
 
DDR was possibly one of the last big arcade crazes. Having traveled around much of North America when it was at the peak of its popularity, there wasn't an arcade I visited without at least two machines and people forming lines to play it. Even Disneyland had a DDR machine. While the music has gone downhill since 4th mix (4th Mix Plus included some extra songs as well as all the songs up to and including 3rd Mix Plus .. and some machines, like the one in Victoria, even had the Korean mix songs as well), in my opinion, the game is still a lot of fun at its core and provides something most subsequent rhythm games don't -- a great workout. Just make sure to play the arcade version and not the console version on a plastic home pad.... those things are TERRIBLE (and 4th mix for the PSX only had like 40 songs.. and was only released in Japan).
 

Street Fighter II Rainbow Edition

Ahh this was a tough one. There are so many great fighting games out there, which one should I choose for this list (not that I HAVE to pick only one, mind you)? Do I go with one that handles really well and feels "right", like Street Fighter III: Third Strike? Do I go for the one that started it all - Street Fighter II (or heck, even the original Street Fighter)? Do I go for the one that was controversial and made you feel like a bad-ass, such as Mortal Kombat? Do I go for one that's just so over the top crazy and has so many characters it's practically overwhelming, like Marvel vs Capcom 2? There's just so many choices!
 
So I'm going with the fighting game that wasn't even a legitimate release -- Street Fighter II Rainbow Edition! Why? I dunno.. cause it was freakin' awesome? You were able to do any move in the air and fireballs would sway up and down as they went across the screen suuuuper slowly or suuuuper fast (and you could throw more than one at a time).. you could keep jumping until you came back up through the ground; you could switch characters by hitting the player 1 or player 2 buttons... it was just insane. It was also pretty crazy just how many arcade units had the hacked version of SFII in them. Hell, I played it in arcades, movie theatres, on ferries, at an ice cream parlor, in a 7-eleven.. actually it was harder to find an unhacked version of Street Fighter II Champion Edition than a Rainbow Edition.
 
I have to wonder if fighters like Marvel vs Capcom, that let you do all of the specials in the air, were influenced by Rainbow edition allowing the same thing years earlier... or perhaps it was just an interesting preview of things to come.
 

Grim Fandango

It was a toss up between Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. There had to be a Tim Schaffer adventure game on here somewhere, and I decided to go with the Grim. With an excellent sense of humor, a compelling story, great characters and some really challenging and interesting puzzles, Grim Fandango was exactly what an adventure game should be.  Sure, the Dia de la Muerte design may be a bit off putting at first but it's easy to get used to it and really works well for the game. It really is a shame more people didn't play this amazing game. If you're one of those people, do yourself a favor and give it a shot.
 

 

Scorched Earth

Remember Worms? Remember how addictive blowing other people up can be? Before worms there was Scorched Earth -- "The Mother of All Games". Okay so it wasn't really the mother of all games, heck not even missile command games as there was a game called.. well.. Missile Command. But it is ridiculously fun. It is a game where you control a stationary tank, launching different forms of attacks at your opponent, adjusting your shots angle and strength. Simplistic yet insanely addictive, this was an awesome game to play with college friends even if multiplayer required everyone to pass the keyboard around.
 

The Legend of Zelda

Why the original? Why not? It seems everyone has a different opinion when it comes to which is the best in the series, but one thing everyone can agree on is that the original was (and still is) a hell of a game. It had swords, magic, monsters, and even gambling! All in an "open world" that gave you the freedom to explore and discover secrets and dungeons. There was very, very little narrative or sense of direction and yet the game didn't feel frustratingly hard. Okay, granted if you were really young playing this, you probably used Nintendo Power or asked a friend how to get through the forest maze or get to some of the dungeons as the clues in the game were rather vague and unhelpful for the average 6 year old. But we're all grown up now, so that's irrelevant.
 
If you've never played the original that started the franchise, you really owe it to yourself to give it a try.
 
 

Katamari Damacy

I'm fairly certain this game is to blame for me needing glasses. All the crazy colors and weird effects took a toll on my eye-sight. I suppose that's not a good thing to say when I'm trying to say "You should play this game", but whatever. When it was released, Katamari was such a wild, unique experience unlike anything before it. The King of All Cosmos is insane and the soundtrack is as catchy as it is crazy. The premise is simple -- roll things up. Sounds easy, but could provide quite a challenge if you wanted to do more than the bare minimum that was required -- and the King made sure to let you know he wasn't impressed if you settled on underachieving. A wonderful game that's unfortunately been milked to death, but still definitely worth playing if you've never given it a shot. Oh, and this -- Na naaaaa nanananananaa naa nanaa naa nana naaaa.
 

Duke Nukem Forever

 

Ahahaha... haha... yeeeah...
  

Metal Gear Solid

When MGS first came out, it was hard to describe what it was -- an interactive movie? A stealth shooter? A moving story about war, loyalty, friendship, and love? Whatever you wanted to call it, MGS was amazing. While many will debate that later episodes in the franchise are better, the first one still holds up to being a fantastic game. It isn't nearly as divisive as its sequel was and introduced us to some amazing characters that we followed throughout the franchise -- Psycho Mantis, Revolver Ocelot, and of course, Solid Snake. The voice acting was like nothing ever seen in a console game before and, quite frankly, still some of the best voice acting work to date. David Hayter IS Solid Snake in my mind.
 

Metroid Prime

There are people who will debate that Super Metroid was the greatest game on the SNES and the best in the franchise. Those people are wrong, but they are certainly entitled to their opinion. Metroid Prime was a huge shift for the franchise, moving from platformer to first-person shooter. People were skeptical of the change at first, but when the game was release most skeptics changed their tune.  Prime was a terrific game with excellent controls and controlling Samus felt "right" even if you couldn't tell where her feet were when you made jumps. Everything you could have wanted from the older members of the franchise was there and more. The boss fights felt epic and there was just the right amount of puzzles to change things up from being a standard FPS. I had way too much fun using the hookshot as a swing, or the U-ramps as a halfpipe to see how high I could go in morphball form.
 

"Stwarcraft"

 
Trying to pick between Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Starcraft is like trying to pick between strawberry ice cream and chocolate ice cream. Both are delicious and combined they're even better... Mmm chocolate covered strawberry ice cream.... Okay so you can't really combine them like you can ice cream (and Stwarcraft is a terrible name), but I can for this list. Take your pick -- the game that kept many gamers up all night at lan parties and helped start the revolution that would lead to Internet online play, Warcraft II. Or the game that embodies Internet play and still has tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) playing to this day, Starcraft. 
 
If I really had to choose, I would say play a match of Starcraft online before you die so you know what the true meaning of "getting zerged" is. Besides, Warcraft already has an entry on this list.
 

Super Mario 64

So which is better? Super Mario 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, or Super Mario Galaxy? All could be classified as classics (though Galaxy is a still kind of new...). They're loads of fun and have just the right amount of challenge. I feel 64 did the most for the franchise making the leap from 2D to 3D and doing an amazing job. Tons of levels, secrets, monsters, and hours spent just hoping around for the hell of it listening to Mario go "Woah! Wah! Wahah!". Or how about messing with his face on the title screen? That was more fun that it really should have been.
 
With crazy ice slide or race levels that just begged to be played again and again along with a fantastic soundtrack (the water level music was by far my fave), Super Mario 64 was a masterpiece and was the perfect argument to justify owning a Nintendo 64 (didn't hurt the console had other great games like Golden Eye, Mario Kart 64, etc)
 
Oh and you might notice I didn't mention Mario Sunshine in that earlier list... Yeeeeah.... Moving on!
 

Shadow of the Colossus

I'll admit I only just finished this game myself. Don't kill me, please. But if the sheer number of people who told me I HAD to play it and the number of people who messaged me saying "You haven't played SotC yet? WTH is wrong with you?!" are any indication, this game is well deserving a spot on the list. An amazing story that says very little but manages to tell volumes, Shadow of the Colossus is a brilliant game in many respects. It's hard to surpass the feeling of accomplishment (in video games, at least) you get after figuring out how to exploit a Colossus's weakness and defeat it... or perhaps the sadness that sets in for killing such majestic beasts, you cruel, heartless bastard. Is killing 16 unique creatures worth the life of one girl? You should be ashamed of yourself!
 

X-Com

A game that I'm going to have to play more of myself as I've only had a brief encounter with it, but it's got to go on the list because of... peer pressure, I suppose. Nearly any "best video games evar" list will have this on there somewhere and quite often it will be #1. I wish I had some personal anecdotes to add about X-Com but the only memories I have of it is some of my more nerdy friends going off on wild tangents (this was when we were about 13) about how amazing it was and what they were doing in it. My eyes would usually glaze-over half-way through their rants, but they must have been onto something as the game still has quite the devout following.
 

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

 
I wonder if RPG fans were getting worried there was only one RPG on this list... well, now there's two. Sorta. Disgaea is a Strategy RPG, and I'm sure many would reserve this spot for Final Fantasy Tactics, instead. While Final Fantasy Tactics was a great game and possibly the front-runner of the SRPG genre, Disgaea is just.. it's Disgaea! If you play this, know that you may lose countless hours tossing enemies onto other enemies and watching strings of colorful chains explode on screen like dominoes. You may also find yourself killing Senators, recruiting demons, fighting overlords of alternate hells, being attacked by over a million space ships, defeating the power rangers, listening to a crazy angel talk about love and peace endlessly, make oversized penguins explode by throwing them, and get to level 9999. *Takes a breath* Disgaea is intense.
 

Poker

No, not video poker, nor any sort of online version of poker. Real poker, with a real deck of cards. Betting real money is optional, but at least have some chips or something to use so you can play with antes and raises. There's plenty of variations, with Texas Hold'em being the most common. Give a few different types a shot -- 7-card stud, Razz, or if you're feeling silly, Blind Man's Bluff. Get some friends over, buy some drinks, and have a good time.
 
 

That's it for this list. There are a million and one other games I could have added, I'm sure, and I will be making another list full of more great games at some point. I didn't want this to be just a "These are my favorite games, you should play them list"... that's what "Favorite Games" lists are for... As I mentioned, I don't even care for a few of the games on this list, but that doesn't mean they are not great games that many other people appreciate.
 
Anyhow, see ya next time!