Super Mario 64 – amazing just how right they got this one given that it was such a pioneer in 3D gaming
Super Mario Galaxy 2 – both Galaxy games are fantastic fun and have totally unique elements
New Super Mario Bros Wii – old school meets new tech, with 4-person multiplier. A total blast.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time – still holds up, great immersion, great fun, great puzzles
Zelda: A Link to the Past – the best of the orginal style overhead Zeldas
Street Fighter 2 – the fighting game that created an entire genre
Mario Kart Wii – maybe 8 is better? But this is the best I’ve played
Skyrim – the game with a world so big you can play it for over a year and still find new quests
Rock Band 3 – a game that allows you to actually simulate being a rock star? Fantastic fun!
Destiny – an ever-evolving world that beautifully meshes FPS mechanics and a character-building MMO. Plus crazy hard end-game activities that require teamwork, skill, and perseverance.
Great choice.
I briefly considered nominating Shadow of the Beast, just for the soundtrack and the way my jaw dropped looking at the beautifully rendered backgrounds (by 1991 standards, anyway). Did Psygnosis ever make a bad game?
Never heard of this one, but I’ll have to give it a try.
How did I not think to include a Fallout game? I’ll add #2 to my list and dump Mount and Blade.
I’m also going to try for at least a little genre variety… but there are probably fifty or a hundred different RPGs of various sub-genres I would take before a single FPS, so there’s a definite slant to this.
Super Mario World - Platformer - It was tough to choose between this one and SM64, but ultimately I prefer 2D to 3D for this style of game, and that’s the difference between two excellent options
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past - Action/Adventure - another tough choice between this and Ocarina of Time, two games that are essentially perfect expressions of their genre. Also another case where I prefer the 2D execution to 3D. Big nod to Bastion here as well.
Final Fantasy VI - Japanese/Console style RPG - Kefka and possibly the best video game soundtrack ever separate this from a list of other worthy contenders that includes FF4, Lufia 2, both Chrono games, and Xenoblade Chronicles. This is the deepest category in the entire list for me, as heretical as that will sound to those who don’t like JRPGs. In fact…
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES - JRPG plus Relationship Simulator - there’s just no way I can leave P3 off the list. The improvements made in P4 probably make that one a better game mechanically, but I loved the characters and the story conceit in P3.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - SRPG - I played both Tactics Ogre and FFT on the PSX, and of those two, I preferred FFT. Once they both released updated versions for the PSP, I played them both again, and Tactics Ogre was my choice as best out of the entire bunch. You can’t go wrong with FFT here, either, or any of several Fire Emblem games.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - RTS - this choice was between War3 and SC: Brood War; I never really got into C&C, and I tried several times to get into Total Annihilation and could never figure out why people thought it was any good at all, never mind better than SC. Ultimately I like the smaller armies and heroes of Warcraft better than SC… and it didn’t hurt that Warcraft 3 was the only competitive game I’ve ever been legitimately really good at.
Everquest - MMORPG - if you’ve played it, you know why this has to be on the list. Still unmatched in creating a living world that felt like a world, and probably will remain unmatched because none of us would be willing to put up with most of that crap anymore.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - MetroidVania - yes, they get their own category. It had to either be this or Super Metroid, and this is one where I prefer the evolved version of the concept. I just played SOTN through again last year and it completely holds up.
Heroes of Might and Magic III - Turn-Based Strategy - FWIW, if I were ranking things, the fully expanded HOMM3 is my choice for number one. I don’t have room for a separate 4X category, but if I did, the answer would be Civ 4.
Mass Effect II - PC RPG - this one was a really difficult decision: do I go with Mass Effect, which is a terrible game in so many ways but had the best story? Do I go with MEII, which had much better gameplay (that I still don’t really care for, get your FPS out of my RPG), a significant improvement in tech/graphics, and still a really strong story? Or do I go with Dragon Age: Origins, which had the best gameplay by far but was a little weaker on the story side? Neverwinter Nights, with the original campaign kind of lacking but some good expansions and tons of user-made content? I went for ME2 largely because if I was going to re-play one of them right now, it would probably be that. (Also, if it wasn’t obvious, I prefer Bioware-style story driven RPGs to Bethesda-style open world walkabouts. Skyrim’s not bad, it’s just not at the level of this discussion.)
Bleh, that’s ten, isn’t it? I wanted to fit in a straight ARPG, but I couldn’t decide between the three Diablos. I was actually leaning towards the first one because of how insanely groundbreaking it was. Also would have loved to include a roguelike, but couldn’t decide between ToME, FTL, and Shiren the Wanderer (DS).
Another one that I would add for vanity’s sake, just out of pure fun and multiplayer ability: Worms Armageddon.
I had so much fun creating teams of my friends, and then creating teams from the countries I’ve visited and fill them with inside jokes. I used to play my friend in it and we had a ball
I’ll add one, the one that made me realize spreadsheet games could be fun.
Reach for the Stars
I wasted many, many hours interdicting planets.
Space Invaders
Asteroid
Half Life
Morrowind
Mass Effect 2
Microsoft Flight
X-wing vs. Tie Fighter
Baldur’s Gate
System Shock
Goldeneye