Right, so the list is finally here. I would like to state that this is my opinion and by no means possible have I tried to make this an objective list. Also, this is per august 2007, and the list would most probably change sooner than later, as I intend to play some great games in the not to distant future (like say Bioshock, Mario Galaxy and the like) and I might just change my mind as well. In other words, it is indeed subject to change.

20: Tekken 3 (PS)

One of the best fighting games ever created, that holds up great even to this day.

19: The Sims (PC)

This is a surprisingly addictive game for a game that aims to simulate everyday life. This game opened a new world to gaming and was revolutionary for it's time.

18: Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

This is a truly epic game, and leaves you for the most time in a feeling of awe.

17: Okami (PS2)

This long lasting action adventure game has some of the best visual art I have ever seen, as well as an unique gameplay element called the "celestial brush" which basically allows you to draw things into the environment.

16: Max Payne (PC)

The thing that stands out about this game is the ability to go in to slow motion while firing your guns in real time, a function that not only looks great, but that blends in well with the gameplay as well, and is pretty much a crucial part of the game. The game also has a great story, which is presented in a sort of graphic novel that fits well with the game.

15: Majora's Mask (N64)

As a sequel to Ocarina of Time it kinda falls a bit short, but it's still a brilliant Zelda game with great atmosphere and excellent gameplay.

14: Yoshi's Island (Snes)

A great platformer, that saw you controling different coloured Yoshis instead of mario, who was in fact an infant. This game has excellent gameplay and great visuals and will give you many great memories, although it featured a bit too much crying. :P

13: Super Mario World (Snes)

Mario at it's best. Nuff said.

12: Duke Nukem: Zero Hour (N64)

This game has sadly been greatly overlooked. It's lack of save points makes it a hazzle sometimes, but despite this it has some very rewarding gameplay and a badass atmosphere.

11: Banjo Kazooie (N64)

Genius platforming and brilliant humor makes this a great experience and a very good game.

10: Gears of War (Xbox 360)

This game is action packed to the brim and brings a very solid cover mechanism to the mix, which is often lacking in shooters. As well as the great gameplay, this game has the best graphics I have ever seen.

9: Perfect Dark (N64)

One of the best shooters to this day, with a ton of options and customization and just a lot to do.

8: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PC)

The one tony hawk game that clearly stands out from the rest.

7: Resident Evil 4 (GC)

Probably the best survival horror game ever made.

6: The Pokemon Series (GB, GBC, GBA, DS)

As all the pokemon games are pretty much the same, I list them here as one entry. Altough the story in these game are quite rudimentary for standard rpgs, the gameplay and sheer collector spirit, more than makes up for it.

5: Final Fantasy VII (PS)

Wow... just wow. If I had played this game when I was a kid, who knows what game would've been at the top.

4: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Being one of the most anticipated games of all time, it couldn't possibly live up to the immense hype it was getting pre release, but this game makes a good a try as one could ever hope for. This well designed and epic Zelda game will keep you entertained for 50+ hours.

3: Super Mario Bros. 3

Simply the best platforming game ever made. Period.

2: Goldeneye 007 (N64)

This game will never grow old. Best first person shooter ever made, and the multiplayer is still more fun than most games today.

1: Ocarina of Time (N64)

Simply a masterpiece! In his review, Jeff Gerstmann from gamespot said "In a word, perfect. To call it anything else would be a bald-faced lie." I tend to agree.

I would like to say that I have had some PC trouble lately and that is the main reason why the top 20 list has been greatly delayed and why I have been ignoring this blog somewhat. That and laziness on my part. It is now fixed however and the list is coming in a couple of days. So hopefully everyone's fears that the list was not coming at all have been assuaged.

You may have noticed that I have not made much progress on my gamerscore since last time. To be honest I have hardly even touched my 360. The reason for that is that I simply don't have any more games to play. I was planning on getting some more points from the games I had available, but I got too bored eventually. Perfect Dark Zero got especially tedious, and I didn't even finish it on the secret agent difficulty level, which is disappointing seeing as I beat the original Perfect Dark on the perfect agent difficulty level (which believe me, is not easy). I might play it some more later though, in a year or two. :P

Actually I haven't really been playing much at all in the last few weeks, uncertain as to why, but I do intend to start playing again presently. I did play trough Pokemon Diamond and Pearl though, and I have also played some GT 4 on and off. I am currently starting on Final Fantasy VII and plan to move on to God of War after that, or maybe playing them simultaneously. I also have GT 4, Tekken 5 and some pokedex building to ward of boredom if necessary. Alright, bye for now and take care...

During the making of my highly anticipated Top 20 list, I realized that there were a lot of games that I thoroughly enjoyed and have fond memories of playing, that are not necessarily the greatest games in the world. That's why I decided to make a list of these oddball games, if you like, that did not quite make the cut, but that I feel is worth mentioning all the same. This fits kind of well anyway though, as it is, as it acts as a kind of prelude and tension builder for my top 20 list, which is going to be epic by the way. Look for that soon. Back to this list however; there are most certainly games that I have missed or forgotten here, as I have enjoyed a whole lot of games during the years, and remembering all of them is a hard thing to do. It is probably for the best anyway, as I want to keep it short. I do however feel that I have included the most important ones. Note that they are presented here in no particular order.

Duke Nukem 64 (N64)

Don't really remember too much of this game to be honest, but I do remember that it was a whole lot of fun to play. In addition to the single player mode, you could also play multiplayer as well as co-op. The graphics in this game really isn't anything to talk about, but the atmosphere and the gameplay more then tenfold makes up for it. This game has attitude. There's just something about going to strip bars and adult bookstores, shooting up ugly, nasty, bad ass aliens while you, a handsome, muscular and totally laid back guy says grave as hell: "come get some!" or "your face, your ass? What's the difference?"

Review (Gaming Age)

Mario Bros. (NES)

Well, it's hard to talk about this game without explaining what the hell is going on. In this game Mario and Luigi battle it out in a simple but genius level consisting of four pipes and some platforms. The fact that one can exit on one side of the screen and come out on the other makes it a bit less stationary though. The object of the game is to clean the pipes, as are plumbers wont, and you do this by taking out the badies that come out of them. This can be done by first flipping them over by bumping on to them from underneath, then to kick them out of the level, by simply touching them. If you leave them flipped for too long however, they flip back, adding a fun element of: do I have the time to kick it, or should I prepare to flip it over again? Yet another fun gameplay element is added with the fact that if you flip them over a second time, they flip back again. So as you see your friend about to kick someone, you can try flipping the guy back just before he does so, leaving him to die, instead of gaining a point. You can also bump into each other and sort of push the other guy into the enemies. In this game you often find yourself more inclined to hurting you pal than you are to actually earning points yourself. There is also this thing called the POW that is sort of hovering in the middle of the level. By hitting this, you effectively flip over all the bad guys in the level at the time. The POW can only be used three times though and then it disappears. As if that isn't crazy enough, there are also these coins that suddenly appear, and those will just give you a point, easy as that. So to gain points in this game you will either have to take out a bad guy, or you have to grab a coin. There are of course different enemies, which have different speeds and there is an invincible fireball that comes out and sweeps the level from time to time as well.

Essentially this game is all about kicking your friend's ass. The first one to score five points wins the round, and it just goes on and on. Actually, there is this sort of fun mini round every five rounds or so, where there are coins shattered around, and the one to collect the most coins wins that round. All in all this makes for a very fun and long lasting two player game, which I have spent countless hours on.

Review (Gamespot, Wii version)

Mario Kart 64 (N64)

Doesn't need much description, it's Mario Kart. Countless hours have been spent playing this game, both in battle mode and in cup mode. It's quite boring to play this game alone though, but immensely fun with two or more players.

Review (Gamespot)

Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

Super Mario Bros 2 is that kind of weird Mario game that one doesn't really associate with a standard Mario game. It certainly has a different feel to it. Being able to play as four characters adds to the mix as well. This game is pretty much crazy, but a lot of fun for sure. You can play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad, and each character has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Most notable of these is perhaps Peach's ability to soar in the air for a short period of time. This game has levels that you must progress trough, very much like the other Mario games for the NES, but the gameplay is totally different. You can pick up enemies, you create doors by throwing potions, you collect berries, you throw bobms and you travel in space ships. ...As mentioned: this game is crazy.

Review (Gamespot, Wii version)

Solstice (NES)

This game is pure nostalgia for me, probably most because of the amazing theme song (that has to be one of the best opening/theme songs ever on the NES.) Another factor is perhaps the dark and mysterious atmosphere. Anyway, Solstice is a slightly obscure and to be honest, pretty poor game. It is a puzzle/adventure game that revolves around exploring hundreds of rooms, while searching for keys and staff pieces. The keys give you access to more areas, and the staff will be needed to defeat the boss at the end. There are four colour coded potions that do different things in the game, such as freezing all the enemies or revealing secrets. These potions only work in the room you are currently in though, but you can find more portions as you progress trough the game. You can also find extra lives, in the form of hats, but these are rather scarce and often very hard to get to. The difficulty level in this game is insane, and often for the wrong reasons. The 3D view can be difficult at times, especially since your character has no shadow and it may be hard to see exactly where you will land. There is also just a huge amount of rooms in the game, and you are given no clues as to where to go, so you basically end up wandering about aimlessly hoping to somehow draw closer to the ending. It isn't all bad though, the graphics are pretty good for a NES game, and the challenging puzzles and atmosphere makes this a decent game in the end.

Never mind the game's many flaws, I still managed to enjoy it and it remain in my memory as one of my best gaming experiences of all time.

Review (Flying Omelette)
Tittlesong (Vgmusic)
Speedrun video

Journey to Silius (NES)

This game is really all about the presentation. The graphics and not to mention the soundtrack in this game is amazing and set the base for a very nice experience. It is a side scrolling shooter with four stages, as well as boss battles in between. This game provides quite a bit of challenge, and I must admit that I did not beat it in my days of playing it, back in the day. Nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and still do.

Review (Flying Omelette)
Gameplay footage
Get soundtrack here

Mario Golf (N64)

I usually find the game of golf rather tedious to be honest, and I simply can not fathom why I would even think of the possibility to buy this game. I am glad I did though, as I soon found the game to be a pleasant experience and generally a lot of fun. In addition to the normal tournament golf, you could also indulge yourself in a number of various modes. The different modes weren't all that unique though, and most of your time would probably be spent in the normal mode. You could also play mini golf in this game, which added a fun little extra element to the game.

Review (Gamespot)

Links Awakening DX (GBC)

Beating this game really gives you a sense of satisfaction. This is by far the hardest Zelda game I have ever played, perhaps with the exception of the original one. The dungeon design is beautiful, and very challenging. I remember thinking after beating almost every dungeon that "the next one can't possibly be any harder than this one", and I was wrong every single time. It is mostly the challenge and difficulty I remember enjoying about this game, but there were also this interesting trade sequence in the game, and of course all those seashells that you could collect.

Review (Gamespot)

That is pretty much it, I might edit in some more games later if I feel like it. Until next time: have a good one!

As of now I have 3155 points on my gamer score. I'm quite content with that. At the moment anyway. The games I got the majority of the points from are Gears of War (640), Perfect Dark Zero (680) and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (1000). The points from Gears of War were pretty easy and straight forward. The Insane stuff was pretty tricky though. Most Wanted was pretty much a very easy 1000 points. You just had to follow the story. The points from PDZ was not easy though, on the contrary. They have you doing all this crazy multi-player stuff, like 1000 sniper kills and the like. And you hardly get any points by playing the single-player. Quite annoying actually. Well, the plan is to get 1000 points from that game all the same. We'll se how hard the game gets on the perfect and dark difficulty settings. Other than that, I don't really see me getting much more points in the near future. I might play Battlestations Midway sometime, but I have a few other games to play before that on the PS2 and original XBOX, which may take some time.

Perfect Dark Zero

In other news... E3 happened! No bigs news were announced really, but I did get excited about a couple of games. I will list them here in no particular order:

-Haze
-Fable 2
-Rock Band
-Super Mario Galaxy
-Guitar Hero III
-BioShock
-GTA IV
-Stranglehold
-MGS 4
-Crysis
-Mass Effect
-Zelda: PH
-Killzone 2

Anyway.. I can announce that I have an very important announcement (:o) to make. I will shortly be putting out a Top 20 list, of my favorite games of all time. That's right! A top 20 list. How exciting. Look for it very soon.

On a complete side note: I just learned that a new pink xbox 360 controller has been announced. Might have to get me one of those. :D

Today is a historical day, a day that will live on in memory till the end of days. Many years later I will look back upon this day and reminisce about the good old times. What's all this fuzz about you say? Well, today I became a man. Today I breached a thousand points on my xbox 360 gamertag. That's 1'000 points. I finally did it, while playing some Gears of War, and it is in a way properly suited that it was just that game that was to be the game that made the difference, seeing as it is my favourite game on the 360.

Anyway I'm sure there will be more points in the future, but you always remember when you first reached a thousand points, and I did just that today.

Bye for now... have a nice day.

So, this is my first blog entry. How very exiting. In this first entry I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself. Well, obviously I am a person who likes to play video games, but that aside I am a simple guy living in the very cold country of Norway, currently in my twentieth year. That means I am just as old as the Zelda franchise, and it is of course fitting that I am a proper Zelda fan. Besides playing video games I enjoy the occasional game of poker, as well as playing soccer now and then. Led Zeppelin is my favourite band, The Sixth Sense is my favourite movie and Ocarina of Time is my favorite game (with Goldeneye pretty close behind mind you). Don't really know if I'll be posting in this blog often, I reckon there's too slim an audience really, but you never know.

Until next time, farewell...