My favorite games of all time - some are selected because of overall quality, others for the sheer amount of my life they have consumed over the years. These are the games that either got me into gaming or have defined my experience since.
This game is my favorite game of all time. Period. After a thousand or so hours (at least), I still keep coming back for more.
Second place is the whole Mass Effect series. These games represent the absolute epitome of what I think games can and should be.
After 300 hours, about 12 individual playthroughs, and every bit of DLC (yes, I bought the damned horse armor), I STILL love this game. Does it have its flaws? Absolutely, but the quality of the overall experience is such that they can be overlooked in favor of the incredible scope and triumphs of the rest of the game.
This game is a work of genius - not only is the strategy element refined to near perfection, but each faction and leader are given distinct, fascinating personalities and philosophies that elevate the experience dramatically.
This game has the greatest atmosphere of any game I've ever experienced - its sheer scope and beauty are staggering. It really feels like you're an inhabitant of this strange, wondrous world. It also doesn't hurt that the quality of the content matches that of the world. What an incredible game!
Again, a combination of all 3 games. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I pop in a Rock Band game and jam out for a while. Nothing makes me feel better.
The story and atmosphere of this game are masterful - Fort Frolic alone merits inclusion on this list.
Vampiric priests battling ninja-monkeys; 'nuff said.
To me, this game's overall multiplayer experience has yet to be topped by anyone, including DICE.
The game that got me into gaming. This thing dominated the latter part of my childhood.
This game is made great by its mechanics and its style. It's a great fusion of strategy and history, and boasts fantastic cooperative and competitive multiplayer experiences. Memories of staying up for all-night LANs of AOE2 remain some of my fondest in gaming.
Easily my favorite Mario game of all time - revolutionary for the time and still loads of fun today.
This franchise has about as much time-sucking potential as Civ. It almost never gets old.
The first day I brought this game home, I played it for 16 hours straight. Not only could I design theme parks, but I could build my own coasters and have virtual people actually ride them. Crazy cool!
This game is waaaay more fun than it has any right to be...
This is the first console game I ever owned and thus occupies a special place in both my heart and my list.
I'm prepared to take some slack for this one, but I sank so much time into this game that I can still walk through a bunch of the levels in my head years and years later. The GameShark no-gravity cheat in multiplayer doesn't hurt either :)
