We've almost arrived at the Top 10 of my 25 Favourite Games of All Time list, but before we go there, first we have to go through the numbers 15-11 of my list. I think you'll agree the greatness of the games you're about to see is nearly undeniable. Enjoy.

15. Half-Life 2 (PC, 2004)

Developed by: Valve

Even the most avid gamers occasionally miss out great titles. I bet all of you have heard such guilt-invoking remarks as "What?! Are you telling me you've never played this game?!" One of the must-play titles I initially missed out on was Half-Life 2 from 2004. Recently, however, my brother gave me this game through Steam, and I could finally see what I missed out on: one of the most imaginative, ambitious games of the past decade. While the simple gunplay makes the action feel outdated and tedious at times, Half-Life 2 offers so much content without making concessions in terms of depth: cool puzzles, awesome, revolutionary physics, a nearly unseen before variety in terms of locale and smart linear level design that doesn't feel restrictive for a change. In addition to all this, Half-Life 2 is still a great-looking game, and great-sounding as well for the most part (the music can be a bit cheesy at times). I feel guilty for not playing this earlier, but luckily Half-Life 2 has aged phenomenally well, because even 6 years after its release I was impressed by both its gameplay and presentation.

14. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010)

Developed by: Nintendo EAD Tokyo

I believe this title needs little introduction or justification. Being released only a few months ago, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the most recent title on my list, but that doesn't keep me from already considering it a ****c. Qualitatively, this might be the very best title on my list, as it does nearly everything right: it pushes the Wii to its maximum potential while offering some of the most innovative, polished and downright fantastic gameplay in any game to date. One could say it's nearly perfect, with the very occasional camera hiccup and the less interesting Green Stars being the only things that drag it down. It isn't higher up my list because I attach an unusual amount of value to atmosphere and character in games (see #16 on my list, for example), and in this aspect, I personally found Super Mario Galaxy 2 to be a little too abstract and gameplay-focussed at times. I wouldn't go as far as calling the game soulless like some people do, but I do see how one could identify such sentiments with this game. Still, this is one of the very best games of all time, and testifies of Nintendo's genius like no other.

13. Perfect Dark (N64, 1999)

Developed by: Rare

Some people say multiplayer FPS on consoles started with Halo. Those people are wrong. While it really got started with Goldeneye in 1997, its spiritual successor Perfect Dark came much closer to a multiplayer experience that closely resembles the online shooting that obsesses everyone and their dog these days. With bot support, tons of weapons, characters, options, levels, and overall great design, Perfect Dark might have been the single best multiplayer game available for the Nintendo 64. And with competitors such as Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Conker's Bad Fur Day and indeed Goldeneye, that says a lot. In addition to its broad multiplayer, Perfect Dark also pushed the Nintendo 64 to its limits with some amazing graphics and a lot of voice acting (which was relatively rare in those days due to technology restrictions caused by the cartridge). But apart from being a technical marvel, Perfect Dark is also a fountain of memories for me. I spent years playing this game with my cousin and basically anyone who wanted to join in. 'Perfect Darking' was our only activity for many a summer. While it suffered the same fate as many N64 games by not aging ideally, the many years of fun I derived from this title make it impossible to omit from a list such as this.

12. F-Zero GX (GC, 2003)

Developed by: Sega AM4

Before the Super Mario Galaxy games came out, I considered F-Zero GX to be the game to come closest to the seemingly unreachable state of perfection. I could literally not think of anything this game lacked apart from maybe a track editor. It offered brilliantly designed tracks, some of the fastest gameplay in a racing title ever, tons of challenge, a plethora of unlockables, great music and graphics, heaps of different modes and difficulty settings, and the same cheese-tastic yet loveable characters from F-Zero X (and even a few new faces). It was and still is terribly fun, although it can potentially be frustrating seeing as this game isn't for sissies. While stories about its difficulty are overblown (it's hard, but not unmanageably so), it was one of those games that wasn't afraid to kick our behinds from time to time. Luckily, all of its difficulty comes down to controlling your own vehicle, and did not try to make you bite the dust by annoying you with cheap AI or item overdose.

11. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Xbox, 2005)

Developed by: Rockstar North

It was very difficult for me to select only one Grand Theft Auto title for this list. I love every installment in its own way (even the old 2D games), but for this uncompromising list a choice had been made, and when I had to choose the GTA game I had the most fun with, the answer was inevitable: San Andreas. It may not be the best game in the series, as its quality is questionable in a lot of ways: many new gameplay implementations were poorly executed, it was behind the times technically (poor graphics and abysmal draw distance and AI) and it had some overall poor design choices (I'm looking at you, turf wars). But damn, was it fun. The map was huge, and even though a lot of it was essentially useless scenery, it never got boring to explore it, pulling off the most crazy stunts as you go. The missions were some of the most fun in the game as well, and even if the story got a bit random near the end, it was still an enjoyable ride. I think I put well over 300 hours of gameplay in the Xbox version alone, and I also got to play it sporadically on the PC and the PS2. Whenever I get another ****c Xbox (my current one is broken), this game will be played a lot again.

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That's it for today. I hope to post the next portion in a few days, and I aim to have my list concluded by the end of this week.