I complied my list based off of memorable experiences, entertaining stories friends and I have shared, and overall personal enjoyment. I listed my reasons why I put a game, where I put it. Yes, they are in order, so blow me. Enjoy.
1: Halo 2: Xbox
I could not bear the straining task of counting all the amazing times I've experienced while playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live. Halo 1 is the better game of the franchise, but its fault was that it lacked the Xbox Live community Halo 2 had during its reign. Quite possibly as seen as a cop out, Halo 2 is my number one choice because combining every single player and multi-player experience among every other game on this list doesn't amount to the plethora of enjoyment I've experienced with this game. That is all. You all already know why Halo 2 rules on a game's technical scale, I feel no need to stress its greatness to you. Have my children, Bungie.
2: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Xbox
As a loyal Star Wars fan, I could not help but to allow myself to be enveloped in the combination BioWare's ingenious dialog system, and George Lucas's fantasy universe. Regardless of my affiliation to Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic is my favorite role playing game of all time. A videogame developer's goal is to draw the player to believe him/herself to believe that he/she is apart of their simulating experience. With the combination of the superb storyline, fantastic character development, and sci-fi atmosphere, BioWare conquers that very goal. For delivering this gem of a video game, I can forgive BioWare for being Canadian. After all, it's not their fault.
3: Shadow of the Colossus: Playstation 2
Something about this authentic David vs. Goliath tale continuously drove me toward this game. Crawling feebly among flying Colossi, running and dodging the trampling trail of monstrous creatures, all the while, making an attempt scale its gigantic being, and purge its skull with your blade. Apart from a obvious lack in storyline, Shadow of the Colossus reminds me of the sound reasons I began to play video games: imagination, innovation...awesome?
4: Bioshock: Xbox 360
On the brink of it's experience, Bioshock is an immersive first person shooter. Easy choice, right? What sets Bioshock apart from the other lackluster titles in its genre is its ability to allow the player to play the game on different levels. You already have your survival shooter. Bioshock turns into a struggle against your own morality, enabling the player with the choice to 'save' or 'destroy' little girls in order to take full advantage of the powers they hide amongst themselves. The surrounding environment takes advantage of the curiosity of the player as he/she finds himself/herself in a new atmosphere, bringing any adventure junkie's jaw to the floor. All of this combined with the addition of Andrew Ryan's impressive dialog and storytelling helps this game easily trot its way onto my list.
5: Super Mario World: SNES
I'm not going to bore anyone with my apparent like/love for Mario. This Super Mario game is the first I played to my recollection, and I enjoyed it the most because I was an young and impressionable child who was convinced that turtles were evil and drains let to an overabundance of shiny coins. Oh...and how shiny those coins were. Everyone likes Mario, if you don't, then you're probably along the lines of supporting 'unawesomeness', communism, and strangling kittens. I like Mario...alot. Sue me.
6: Ninja Gaiden: Xbox
Apart from being one of the best games to ever grace the disc tray of an original Xbox, Ninja Gaiden's difficulty continuously drove me back towards its beauty, long after I conquered the story mode. Drenched in replay value, I have never spent so much energy yelling at a game when I and the fictional computer characters are the only ones involved. A frustrating experience gone...right? Like a dysfunctional marriage, Ninja Gaiden will always be in my heart, although divorce is never too far a thought away.
7: Guitar Hero 3: Playstation 2
Slipknot + Videogames = God. Done. Not to mention, Slash as a playable avatar. Dislike this game, and you dislike America. Disliking hamburgers and freedom just doesn't digest easily. Even typing that statement sort of makes me somewhat queasy.
8: Super Smash Bros. Melee: Nintendo Gamecube
A party game, maybe. One of the best, accidental competitive games on this earth? Exactly. With the inclusion of some of my my beloved characters of old, i.e. Captain Falcon (or Mr. America), Mario, and Gannondorf, the game's unintentionally technological depth is just astounding. Wavedashing, L-canceling, Wall-Tech, excuse the jargon, but it just makes you, and the involving community, pending a big enough scope, make you feel as if you're all in a completely different world. I am certain other gamers involved in games competitively feel the same way. This just so happened to be my game.
9: Bully: Playstation 2
This game capitalizes of clenching the very thing that the majority of the population of this continent have in common: High School. We've all been there, and in Bully, we're back again. This time, for fun. This time to do as we please. This time, we're not forced by our parents who send us because we've got to "make something of ourselves, and get an education." I just wanted to blow things up in the chemistry lab. Whatever. Back to Bully. This won't take long. Wedgies, stink bombs, locker stuffing, inappropriate gestures (to teachers and students), fighting (alot), make-out sessions (guy/girl, different strokes for different folks....formerly known as the 'gays'/'French'), potato lauchers, naughty pictures, bullying nerds, bottle rockets, firecrackers, itching powder. If there is nothing in this description that whets your appetite for pubescent destruction, please stop reading my post, and go outside.
10: Breakdown: Xbox
Yes, I said it. Breakdown lacks any complete 'technical' harmony that the rest of my top 10 games contain. The controls are faulty, to say the least. Even for its time, I can recall the graphics resembling Microsoft ClipArt. I could go on, it's not in the very most a sound game at all. But I don't think I will ever forget that Breakdown gave me my first scare at a first person viewing point. Breakdown is compiled of a storyline that progressed appropriately, and continued at a steady, but aggressive pace. If you could disperse of the obvious technical missteps, abnormally distressing combat system, and bland atmosphere, you can feel the innovation lurk from the depths of Breakdown's core. It begins to show brilliance with the rare occurrences of the main character's dreams, and his delving adventures into the unfamiliar and unknown, but in the end it all seems to drown out with the overwhelming issues. Unfortunately, the following quote sums up the overall experience of Breakdown, [Breakdown] ultimately leaving the player, who cared to finish the game, as if it could have been so, so much better. (Gamespot-"Breakdown is unable to bear the weight of its own innovation.") I felt that this gave me a mere peek at what first-person action games could become in the future, just without the crappy missteps attached, (granted, I am not that old [19]). Remake this Namco, just do it right.
Honerable Mention- Honorable Mentions to deserve descriptions ;)
Contra: NE
Diablo: PC
Unreal Tournament: PC
Jet Set Radio Future: Xbox
Side note: It seems pretty distasteful to tell someone that their list of their favorite games is wrong. You don't know what that person could have experienced while playing that certain game. It could have drove them to tears, played them will a deceased relative, friend, etc. This is my list. Read, enjoy, or skip, but don't tell me my list is wrong because you personally don't like it. Please excersise this curtosey to other users' posts as well.
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