I am a strange person. I’ve heard it all throughout my life. There was nothing more fun to me as a child than getting up on a Saturday morning, watching cartoons with a big-ass bowl of cereal and then spending the rest of the day gaming on any and all systems that I had access to. Growing up a gamer in the early eighties has enabled me to see the rise of every game console except for the original Pong. I’ve been gaming since I learned to read at the age of three, when I learned how to run my old man’s Commodore 64 all because I wanted to play Time Pilot.

Many of you have been fervently reading and commenting on my other posts that I’ve done since my inception to MEGATONik, and I can’t thank you enough for your support. In thanks to you, the community, I’ve decided to put in a ton of work and bring you a special post that near and dear to my heart, my Top 50 Console Games of All Time.

I will try my damnedest to explain the reasons why I think why a certain game is deserved of it’s spot. Certainly many of you will disagree with the order I have put the games in but I always welcome your comments and suggestions. It is thanks to all of you in the community that I have been able to hone my craft by subjecting you to my subjective opinions about video games. Without any further ado… let’s get this thing started! Hit the jump to be defeated by a wall of text designed to titillate and please you.

Number 50 - Metal Combat: Falcon’s Revenge

I picked this game up in the summer of 1993 when I was a strapping young lad of 13 years. I had just finished taking care of the neighbor’s two Dalmatians for three weeks to earn the money to buy this game. It’s true what they say, the harder you have to work for something, the better the reward is. I wish that the Super Scope would have gotten a little more love than it did, because this game was awesome.

I’m guessing that many of the MEGATONik audience never got a chance to play the original game that this was the sequel to. That’s too bad really, because Battleclash was a great game for its time. The idea of being a gunner on a “Standing Tank” (read that as giant robot) and having to battle other pilots in their STs was a hell of a concept. This game was quite an anomaly seeing how it was developed in Japan but never released there (due to the lack of success the Super Scope experienced).

The game had beautiful graphics, awesome sound effects, and great gameplay (for a light-gun game), a two player mode, and tons of fights that put an emphasis on strategy rather than just shooting. The main downfall for a game such as this is that you HAVE to have the peripheral in order to play. For those of you not in the know, the Super Scope required 6 AA batteries to play. It might have received a higher ranking, but there’s plenty more to see.

Number 49 - NBA Jam

Another great title that came out in the silver-age of gaming back in 1993. NBA Jam was a much anticipated title to arrive on consoles around the nation. Midway’s genius game was a direct descendant of Arch Rivals which enjoyed marginal success on older consoles such as the NES.

Perhaps the pinnacle of arcade sports games - NBA Jamdidn’t take much strategy to play, but had an evil addicting streak about it. When the game came home to the consoles, I was one of the lucky kids to have a Super Multitap and three extra controllers to lug over to my various friends’ houses. I would take my backpack full of gear to my middle school in anticipation of the game to follow after school. I can recall this being one of the first games to attract the “jock” community to gaming. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing really; the more gamers there are, the more games get made right?!

The graphics weren’t especially pretty, but the gameplay was damn solid. It was nice to have a return to classic gaming control scheme with only three buttons being needed to play. The highlight of any game was the ability to have your player “catch on fire” after sinking three baskets in a row. Not to mention how great it felt to shatter the backboard when you got a monster dunk. Don’t even get me started with the announcer and his “Whooooooooaaaaaa, KaBOOM!” or the timeless classic “Boom-Shakalaka!”

Number 48 - Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

My first experience with the GTAseries was on the original PlayStation that had an overhead view of the action on-screen. Thankfully, that style of gameplay gave way to the awesomeness of GTA III on the PS2 when we finally got a game that was rendered in full 3D. The Grand Theft Auto games have always been a great source of controversy to outsiders, but a great satirical look at real life to those in the know.

There was always something missing from the other games in the series though, a voice for the main character. Luckily in GTA: Vice City, a Mr. Tommy Vercetti changed all that. Voiced by Ray Liotta, the game finally gave you a character that you could relate to instead of a thug who only did the bidding of the various crime bosses. Speaking of voice acting, take a look at this list of top notch voices that were in the game: Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzman, Phillip Michael Thomas (from Miami Vice), Danny Trejo, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, Debbie Harry (aka Blondie), and freakin’ Jenna Jameson. Not only was the voice cast top notch, but the licensed soundtrack featured more 80s group than you could shake a stick at. I mean come on people, it had Mr. Mister AND a Flock of Seagulls in the same game!

There aren’t many games that have licensed soundtracks that curry such favor with my tastes in music. This game was a delicious treat for my ears all throughout the game. Sure, there are other GTA games out there, and arguably better ones. But to me, Vice City was something I coveted. I would stay up for hours on end with the game playing through my headphones and would find myself parking the car sometimes just to listen to the music on the radio. Not many other games have done that for me before.

Number 47 - Super Smash Bros. Melee

Wow, I feel bad for not giving this game much of a chance when I saw it in the stores back in ‘01. You see, I never had a chance to play the original N64 version of the game. This is one of those games that could be considered a faux pas to say you’ve never had the opportunity to play. Trust me, I’ve seen many slack-jawed expressions for saying I never played it.

Well, here’s the good news, I have finally played it. And I have to tell you, I loved every minute of it. What seems like an extremely easy fighting game at first has a hidden dark side of being perhaps one of the most in-depth fighting games ever created. You’ve got a total of 25 characters, 29 different stages, and there can be four characters on the screen at the same time? Isn’t that a total of eight million different matches you could possibly have? If you factor in all of the different power ups and various items that drop onto the match, that makes the number even more staggering.

What’s not to like about this game? It had somewhat simple controls, an enormous amount of characters to choose from, and a ridiculously varied amount of stages for you to have the battles on. This is just an enormous game full of Nintendo fan service wherein you can have Mario beat up on Kirby or if you felt like it, Link beating up on Young Link.

Number 46 - Viva Piñata

I saw the initial screenshots and even watched some of the cartoons in 2006 and thought, “Oh great Rare, way to actually make a new game…” It turns out that I shouldn’t have been so closed minded about this game. My initial thoughts on Viva Piñata were ranged from, jeez that looks cute and it must be for kids. Oh how wrong I was and I didn’t even know it.

This was definitely not a game made for the younger audience. This is perhaps one of the most addicting games I have ever had the pleasure of owning and playing. I kid you not people; the weekend I picked this game up I did NOTHING else for four days. It had such a grip on me that I took a personal day from work to play. I’ve only done that in the past for games like Final Fantasy and shooters like Halo. While true that the graphics depict a child friendly universe, the gameplay is absolutely not for kids. I hadn’t been so obsessed with small mythical creatures in a videogame since my tour-of-duty in Pokemon Blueon my GameBoy.

The game was stunning in its implied simplicity, yet the execution of getting some of the higher leveled piñatas took the patience of a saint when trying to have them move into your garden. It’s very easy to get worked up over this game but at the same time, incredibly relaxing to just grow flowers and make your existing piñatas happy. Not many games are capable of doing both well.

Number 45 - Silent Hill

Being the fan of survival horror games that I was, I picked up Silent Hill the day it was released in 1999. My life was never quite the same from then on. Holy shit was this not the scariest game you’ve ever played for it’s time? Sure, Resident Evil had some scary moments, but Silent Hill would molest you and sing to you at the same time.

I recall vividly calling my friend over to play this game with me one night because it scared the shit out of me when you were going through the school. That’s not something easy for me to admit to, seeing how I’m a big guy who shouldn’t scare so easily. Though when my friend came over, it got to him worse than it did me which was always good for a laugh.

This game provided what many games lack so much of these days… mood. Yes, this was a foggy static-y mess that had some difficult ass controls, but good god it immersed you almost instantly. The camera work for the beginning section of the game was brilliant; it made you truly feel like you were being hunted by something. I to this day can’t hear a siren going off in the distance without it almost making me panic like it did with this game.

Number 44 - Dead Rising

Barely a year old, Dead Rising is still fresh in my mind as one of the greatest console games I’ve ever played. I wasn’t even aware of this game until I downloaded the demo and wound up playing it for over three hours. Needless to say, I went out the next day and put a preorder on it. I got a free T-shirt too, that’s always a plus for me.

There’s not much else to say about this game than it’s a ridiculous amount of fun to play. If I ever feel stressed out about anything, it’s a great escape to go to the Willamette Mall to kill me some zombies. The amount of replay value this game has is staggering. If you don’t feel like killing anything, have a blast shooting nerf balls from the Mega Man blaster in the theatre, put Servebot helmets on them, go bowling for zombies, or my personal favorite, throw some cooking oil at one and watch them slip and bust their ass every time. Though if you were looking for creative ways to dispatch the undead, there was always the lawnmower, the gas powered auger, or if you’re an Evil Dead fan like me, the good ol’ chainsaw.

The story wasn’t the best ever, it was never meant to be the best part of the game. Let’s face it, this game was Zombie-Porn and I’m ok with that really. Fighting against the psychopaths was probably one of the most creative ideas implemented in a game in recent history. Not to mention the awesome soundtrack that played during some of the fights. It’s a great looking game and it never ceases to amaze me how many zombies they fit on the screen at one time. Though I wish I could throw Otis to the masses for his calling all the time.

Number 43 - Halo: Combat Evolved

When the Xbox was first coming out, I was a diehard Sony fanboy. I thought to myself, there’s not one game that I want on that humongous black piece of poo that I’ll ever want to play. Boy was I wrong. My friend from the Silent Hillstory above was the first guy that I knew to have an Xbox. Ergo, he was also the first person that I knew to have Halo. The first night I played Halo, it was a wintry night where I played with him through most of the campaign in co-op (which was relatively new to the FPS genre) until seven in the morning. I was a fan from that moment on…

There are many out there who think that this game is overrated and I won’t wholly disagree with you. I think that there are certain aspects of this game which lend itself out to being overrated. At the same time, there are elements that aren’t praised quite enough. The story for one thing is extremely well thought out, has important characters, and the right elements of mystery, intrigue, and horror all going for it.

It can be said that the console FPS world was turned on its ear thanks to the innovations that Halobrought to the scene. You didn’t see very many console FPSs that had controls near a tight as the ones we had/have in the Halo series. The regenerating health bar introduced in this game was completely new to me, and was a much welcomed replacement for the old health/armor system used on many of Halo’s predecessors. The weapon system required you to decide what you really wanted to bring with you, finally ending the old carry-every-weapon-you-come-across system. Who else here thought that grenade sticking someone with the plasma grenades was the coolest thing ever?

Number 42 - Tetris

My first game of Tetriswas played on my dad’s GameBoy. From that point, I spent year after year honing my Tetriscraft into what it is today. I can’t play like some of the Japanese folk you see on YouTube, but it’s not about competition, it’s just a hell of a game to play when you have nothing going on.

I think there has been no other game played on more computers, watches, PDAs, consoles, calculators, cell phone, or portable handhelds, than Tetris. It’s quite possibly the most recognized game worldwide. Sure a good 90% of the gaming republic can spot Mario, but I can bet you that more than that knows Tetris when they see it.

Why wouldn’t this game make the list? It’s quite possibly one of the most addicting games ever put out. It takes seconds to learn how to play, but a lifetime of practice is needed to truly excel at this game. Just try playing Type-B at Level 9 Height 5 if you don’t believe me. That was probably one of my greatest gaming accomplishments growing up. How about you?!?

Number 41 - GoldenEye 007

I got my first taste of this console FPS back in 1997 when I was hanging out at a friend’s house. He was smoking a bowl, I was abstaining and in the mood to play some videogames. I put the game in absolutely expecting it to be yet another disappointing licensed game, but was pleasantly surprised with the amount of depth the game had. Turns out PC gamers had been hording this type of games for years, but it was finally the console’s turn.

From the first mission where you’re sniping guards from their guard towers to the later missions where you utilize a tank to roll through St. Petersburg, this game was an adventure from beginning to the end. The new gameplay elements introduced to the N64 crowd made this game an instant success. Who else here was addicted to the multiplayer? The addiction was so great for fragging that I managed to spend a few of my study hall periods playing the game in my senior year of school.

If you’ve never had a multiplayer match in GoldenEye playing proximity mines on the Temple stage, you’ve never truly lived. That was perhaps one of the most fun nights in gaming I’ve had. Luckily the GoldenEye community is still going strong with people applying mods to the source engine, and even some diehards are modding the original ROM and playing them. Though we did get a spiritual successor in Perfect Dark, it didn’t quite capture the gaming republic’s imagination the way that GoldenEye did.

Number 40 - Jet Grind Radio

Ah, another X-mas game. I recall being on the lookout for this awesome title all the way from Japan. I was salivating to pick this game up after seeing the previews/reviews from the various Dreamcast publications at the time. The Dremcast (RIP) remains one of my favorite game systems, and one that I still mourn for. Sure I still have it hooked up, though I wished it could have stayed with us just a bit longer.

The game was a cel-shaded platformer/racing game/tagging simulator. The music provided on the soundtrack had a few licensed and remixed tracks from American artists like Rob Zombie, Jurassic 5, Mix Master Mike, Cold, Professional Murder Music, and Shuvel, just to name a few. The visuals for the game were amazingly unique and fresh, the gameplay was addicting to the point where you would say “just one more round”.

Jet Grind Radiointroduced many of us here in videogame land cel-shading, which was cutting edge for the time. The controls were quite tight, and the original idea of being able to approach a rival gang’s turf and tag their wall with your own group’s mark was brilliant. I thought it was especially cool that you’d have to follow the on-screen controls for tagging and hope that the cops didn’t get to you before you’d finish.

Number 39 - Ratchet & Clank

Ratchet & Clank came out in 2002 and initially was a game that I didn’t pay much attention to. Another game like Super Smash Bros. Melee that I neglected to play until it was almost too late. I finally got a chance to play this game a few weeks ago and can finally see some reasons that it deserves a spot here on my list.

The story is pretty damn endearing. It starts with a small robot that we come to all know and love as Clank. Clank finds an infobot that has a video recording that horrifies him and causes him to escape via spaceship. He gets shot down over planet Veldin where he crash lands near the house of the main protagonist Ratchet and the adventure begins.

Besides being an awesome platformer, Ratchet & Clankhas a massive amount of gameplay tied into gadgets and weaponry. The game had beautiful visuals and a fun story that kept you going until the final battle with Drek himself. There are plot twists and some amazing character development throughout the game, makes me sad that I’ve only had the chance to play the first game.

Number 38 - Animal Crossing: Wild World

When I picked up my DS, this was the first game I got. It was originally a game that I picked up to help assuage some guilt that I had for spending so much money, by getting a game that my wife would play, I hoped that it would do the trick. Turns out it didn’t, for the first couple of months at least. It has now gotten to the point where I can’t pry the DS out of her hands. I just think how it used to have me under that spell too.

Tom Nook is an asshole. I have never enjoyed being his little bitch. From the moment I moved into my new house in Animal Crossing: Wild World, I’ve been working my ass off trying to pay off my mortgage. For such a simple game, it’s evil that a cute little tanuki has made me pay over 1,000,000 bells so far, and I know that it won’t end there.

Playing a somewhat reality based game, where you have a mortgage, neighbors, and a town that you end up caring about greatly was an amazing move by Nintendo when they made the original Animal Crossingfor the GameCube. Putting the game onto a handheld system was even more ingenious, now if I’m on the go I can check out my town, go fishing, buy some furniture, or do whatever I can to keep busy during a normally boring situation. Great idea and a hella addicting game.

Number 37 - Brave Fencer Musashi

I won’t lie to you all out here; I picked this game up only because it had a playable demo for Final Fantasy VIII included with it. While that was the original reason I got this game, I came to really love the characters and the gameplay this title had. The press at the time touted it as a “Zelda killer”, though I would never go as far to say that. It’s never fair to judge a game against another game, it should be judged on its own merits.

Produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi, with illustrations by Tetsuya Nomura, this was a welcome departure from the atypical action RPG, where the action part was focused on much more than the RPG element. There was tons of in game dialogue, the platforming was fun, and the story was great. I just loved playing this game because it was fun, not too many games can boast that these days it seems, and I got a FFVIII demo, BONUS!

The best part of Brave Fencer Musashi that appealed to my inner nerd was the store in town that sold action figures based on the characters and enemies you’d fight in the game. I thought it was absolutely brilliant how you’d get done fighting a boss only to be able to go to the store, pick up his action figure, take it out of its packaging and play with it. I’d love to see more fan service like this in games, but it seems that Square doesn’t care about its customers much anymore.

Number 36 - Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete

I can remember how much I wanted to get a Sega Genesis and it’s Sega CD peripheral just to play this classic JRPG. I never had the money as a kid and never got around to picking up this amazing game. So I just had to forget about it for the next couple of years. Luckily the game got remade for the PlayStation, and Working Designs brought it to us in all of its splendiferous glory.

The remake of the game was in a word breathtaking. The cut scenes in the game were redone in an Anime style and the graphics were updated to current day standards. The music was remade to be less gamey and more orchestral. There were even some new songs placed into the game such as the one that Luna sings on the boat trip (you know which one I’m talking about).

This game was the perfect example of what a JRPG should be. It had a great storyline, predictable characters, suspense, and a fun to play battle system. You really never had to do any level grinding, which always gives me endgame syndrome, so I had no qualms about running through the whole game. If you were one of the lucky ones to order the special edition you got hooked up proper with a leatherette bound manual, a soundtrack CD, a documentary disc with a built-in minigame, and a cloth map. A damn good deal for its day.

Number 35 - God of War

Holy shit, when I played the demo for GoW, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The demo took part on the Leviathan level, and remains to this day, a game that I will never forget about. The gameplay hit the nail right on the head. It was, for a lack of better words, a perfect game demo.

My roommate at the time was the person who ultimately purchased the game, though I played it more than he will ever admit to. I reveled in every gory second of gameplay and giggled like a little girl when I got to see animated boobies in a game. Kratos proved himself to be a man that you should not fuck with in a big way. Taking out a cyclops proved that point. Such a badass.

Besides how much fun I had with this game, it did have its faults. Some of the puzzles seemed a little tacked on, and it got a bit old killing the same grunts over and over again. It was fun to always rip the guys in half though. The graphics were spectacular, the music was epic, and the controls were tighter than many other games of its genre. It was one of those games that became a touchstone of a gaming generation.

Number 34 - Super Mario Kart

The original, the best, the most retro Kart racing game there ever was. Super Mario Kart came out in 1992 and was in instant success for Nintendo, proving that if you put Mario in it, people will buy it. I kid, this game was one that I rented time and time again back in my teenage broke days.

Thanks to SNES programmers’ skill, the Mode 7 texture mapping made this one of the most graphically advanced games to appear on the system. The gameplay was just so damn addicting, I literally couldn’t stop playing until I had all of the gold cups in all of the engine classes. The game offered many modes such as Grand Prix, Time Trial, Multiplayer Grand Prix, Match Race, and my personal favorite, Battle Mode.

The countless hours spent playing battle mode with one of my friends, and the subsequent countless amount of losses I had against the same person cemented this game as one of my favorites ever. I loved how they took F-Zerotype racing and added coins and powerups that you could use to fuck with the other racers. There were other versions of this game that were great too; however, this one is first and foremost in the series.

Number 33 - Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!

The first time I made it to Mike Tyson, I was thrilled. Then I tried to fight him, the game wasn’t having any of that. Mike Tyson proceeded to pound me worse than he did Robin Givens and Miss Black Rhode Island, Desiree Washington. Regardless, I really enjoyed the trek to the final bout more than the fight with Tyson anyways.

The gameplay was pretty simple one button punches left, the other punches right, everything else is dependent on the control cross. The cameo Mario made in the game as the referee was a welcome addition. But more, than anything I’m sure the game is remembered fondly for its music. Who doesn’t laugh when they see Little Mac training as he jogs behind Doc?

The graphics boasted amazingly large sprites for all of the boxers in the game, especially for those contenders like Bald Bull or Soda Popinski. The fun was to be had in figuring out the creative way to beat your opponent instead of wailing on them like a retard who just got his ears touched. In fact, you wouldn’t make it too far in the game unless you knew the way of beating them. Yeah, there was a sequel on the SNES, but I honestly don’t think it was as good as this game was.

Number 32 - Super Bomberman

Mmmmmm, sexy bombergirl. Oh boy was I happy to get this game; it meant that I finally had that Super Multitap that I had been hoping for. Once I had the elusive peripheral in my grasp, I was an immediate friend of so many people who were stuck playing 2 player games. All of the multiplayer games (3+ people) for the SNES were finally under my complete control thanks to that adapter. Oh yeah, the game…

Super Bomberman was the first 4 player game available on the SNES, and was a party game favorite. I loved the simplicity of the game, lay a bomb, run away, bomb goes boom, rinse, repeat. This game had great graphics and awesome sound effects that played along the all-too-chipper music, but I loved it when it all mixed together.

Every Bomberman game that has come out are generally the same idea just wrapped in a different shell, this one being no different. There is nothing special about this game except for the amount of gameplay to be had with some buddies when having a blast (pardon the pun) in battle mode. It is simply put, a universally approachable game that is fun to play, and at the same time, incredibly deep.

Number 31 - Radiant Silvergun

Since I was a lucky kid and found myself a Sega Saturn plus five games for $20 a few years back, I did whatever I could to see how and why this system didn’t stand a chance against the PlayStation. It turns out, Japan was holding on to all of the good games. I borrowed this from a fellow importer and spent a few hours drooling over the scenery and graphics.

Had the Saturn been given more support through third party developers here in America, I think we would have seen a stateside appearance of this game. Although the game is not a prequel to Ikaruga, it is considered by many to be its spiritual precursor. There’s a good reason behind that, Treasure made both games.

You don’t understand how good of a game this shooter is, unless you’ve had some time to play it. It is seriously the best damn shooter that I have ever played. Not only were there no power-ups for you to collect, but you also start with a full arsenal of weapons. Every situation you find yourself in had a “right weapon” for you to use, it was how you utilize the weapons that determined your success with this game.

Number 30 - Einhander

There was a time when Square Soft was known only for their Role-Playing Games here in America. Its true, their name was generally synonymous with quality RPG. That is until the mid 90’s on the PS1, when they decided to branch out to other genres. There was nothing wrong at all with them attempting to go this route. In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than a company that has pigeon-holed themselves into a specific genre or game. Thankfully, not all of the games that Square branched out to create were bad (see Tobal No. 1, Bushido Blade, etc.). That is where Einhander comes in to play.

The game itself is a shooter, no more, no less. The real innovation comes from the weapon system. Sure most ships come with fixed cannons, but it’s the weapons you pick up from the enemies that you’ll want to use. You had a choice of picking up: Vulcan, Cannon, Spreader, Grenade, Wasp, Riot, Hedgehog, and Blade. Each has its merits and weaknesses and most of them have either alt-fire or a different firing position.

Moving onto gameplay, the controls are tight, really tight. The collision detection is spot on. The story is great; I love this damn game. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no pushover. It gets hard, and by hard I mean Contrahard, the good kind of hard. Progression through the game (there are multiple paths) is fairly standard fare for a shooter with an increasing learning curve. The music was made by Kenichiro Fukui, who also worked on a few of the Final Fantasy games, and had great sound effects for all of the weapons, ships, explosions. Truly a hallmark of the PlayStation generation.

Number 29 - Contra

Oh man, I just looked at the release date for the NES version of Contra and I immediately feel old. The game was brought out in 1988… shit, I was eight-years-old. I first got a taste of the Contrauniverse when it was originally an arcade cabinet. I spent quite a lot of my allowance playing this game in the arcade. I was thrilled to learn that the game was also on the NES and was one of the first games I recall playing multiplayer with a friend.

This game is the holy grail of run and gun games. No other shooter game of its ilk can even come close to the audience that Contrahas. Speaking of audience, the Konami code that is synonymous with the Contra series has even shared its own bit of success in recent history. The game on the NES wasn’t identical to the Arcade version (thankfully) but had a few differences that made it an all around better game.

For one of the earlier NES games, Contrawas a graphically pleasing game. It had great music to go along with the action on the screen (the Minibosses do a particularly good job of remaking the music), and the gameplay was just a joy. The enemies on the screen could be deemed as cheap, but it was games like this that we have some of the other shooters that we’ve all grown to love.

Number 28 - Gears of War

Probably one of my more anticipated games for my Xbox 360, Gears of Warwas released on November 7th, 2006 to the throngs of 360 owners dying for a new killer app for their system. The game sold over three million copies within ten weeks of its release and has enjoyed the top spot as the most played Xbox Live game until the recent release of Halo 3.

The game focused on your character Marcus Fenix (or Bender if you prefer) and your teammates attempting to put an end to the Locust Horde once and for all. This third person tactical shooter borrowed heavily from various other games and improved on them to make an unforgettable gaming experience. With the introduction of a cover system that was wholly functional, the multiplayer shooter series was re-invented overnight.

The whole game is a perfect example on how a game on a next gen console should look. There wasn’t a section of the game that had boring or uninspired graphics. All that you had to say to me was Chainsaw gun and I was sold. The game borrowed the Haloinfluenced minimum weaponry system, but made it better thanks to the addition of a permanent sidearm. It didn’t have the best story (cuz there wasn’t really one at all), but we’ve been told that the game is merely the tip of the iceberg in the Gears of War universe seeing how the game is supposedly part one of a trilogy. I don’t know about you, but I’ll love playing the subsequent sequels.

Number 27 - Earthworm Jim

The release of Earthworm Jimon the Genesis back in 1994 was an unexpected surprise for console gamers and was a refreshing blend of a platformer, run and gun, and racing game. Thank goodness for game companies taking a risk and attempting to create unique IPs, otherwise, we might not have had a great game such as this one.

Jim was just an ordinary earthworm, who did ordinary earthworm-like things until one day, in space above Earth, the evil Psy-Crow was fighting with a space pilot who had stolen an “Ultra-high-tech-indestructable-super-space-cyber-suit”made by Professor Monkey-For-A-Head. Get this, the suit was commissioned by “The evil, Queen Pulsating-Bloated-Festering-Sweaty-Pus-Filled-Malformed-Slug-For-A-Butt” so that she could further conquer the galaxy… Ah, such ridiculousness.

I miss Shiny games, a lot. There weren’t too many game developers out there that would spend as much time as they did on making sure a game’s animation was fluid, the gameplay polished, and finally absurdly funny. I wish that they would get to work bringing us more games such as the Earthworm Jim series. MDK was close, but not quite there.

Number 26 - Conker Live & Reloaded

I heard that Rare was remaking Conker’s Bad Fur Day (that was originally released on the N64) and was immediately primed for purchase. Conker’s Bad Fur Day was a game that I covet for its adult situations and potty mouthed language over any other of my “mature” rated games. It was probably the first game that I had ever seen where you could get pissed and then use that to battle others.

The remake for the Xbox was a visual success, though they changed very little in terms of story and gameplay. The horrible jet board section is still a pain in the ass to play, all of the other little irritating control issues from the N64 version made it over to the port as well. It was nice that they added a ton of better looking textures and much more detail in the character models; though I wish they would have added a little more to the single player game instead of focusing on the multiplayer aspect.

The multiplayer for the game was essentially a rehashed version of Team Fortress where you have different player classes fighting against each other in team on team battles. It was pretty good from what I’ve played, but I bought the game mainly for the single player mode anyways.

Number 25 - Wild Arms

Me and my newly bought PlayStation were dying for a new game to play one fine weekend in Utah. I went to the store to see what I could find and low and behold a game jumped to my attention. Wild Arms is one of those rare finds that never get much press because it’s not the latest iteration of Final Fantasy. In fact I was specifically looking for something that WASN’T Final Fantasy (’cause it had five months until its release) when I picked this game up.

The story is a western influenced RPG that took place on the fantasy world of Filgaia. The three main characters in the party were known as “Dream Chasers” who searched the world over for fortune and excitement. Rudy, the main character, has the innate ability to control powerful weapons know as ARMs (Ancient Relic Machines), which were forbidden remnants of a lost age. Strangely enough the ARMs look amazingly like firearms. The other two ancillary characters Jack and Cecilia were there to help you navigate and solve the puzzles in the vast wastelands and dungeons of the world.

Aside from this game being one of the first RPGs to be released in North America on the PlayStation, the game was one of the best 2D sprite based RPGs in the system’s history. The game was only in 2D when exploring, when you got in to a battle, the game would switch to a 3D battle system. The music in the game wasn’t only superb; the game featured an anime opening with a great song in the background.

Number 24 - Guilty Gear

When I couldn’t get my copy of a certain Zelda game back in ‘98, I picked up what seemed to be just another ordinary fighting game that had cool looking combatants. This game unbeknownst to me would provide a rebirth for my love for fighting games that hadn’t been there since the release of the Street Fighter II series in the early 90’s.

The story is of your typical fighting game fare, “The Second Sacred Order Tournament” is being held and you have to take command of one of the ten combatants as they fight for their own reasons. The setting for the game was in a bleak distant sci-fi future where humanity has just recovered from a 100-year-war against man-made bio-organic weapons known as “Gears”.

Not much was known about Arc System Works until this game came to America. However upon the release of Guilty Gear, this game series was planted permanently in my mind as one of the best fighting game series ever to grace the home console. Looking only at the sprites used for the characters, you can see how much work they put into every facet of the game. The combo system isn’t one that the Mortal Kombat/Tekkenbutton mashers could easily pick up, but was a perfect extension of the already known Capcom combo system. Crap I love fighting games, and this one easily ranks up there with anything released from SNK.

Number 23 - Jak & Daxter

 Jak & Daxter was Naughty Dog’s newest release on the PlayStation 2 console since they released the fourth Crash Bandicoot game for the PlayStation. The game was released on December of 2001 to a rabid audience of platform game lovers. I managed to snag a copy before X-mas had arrived and spent a good amount of time enjoying the game as a whole instead of blasting my way through the game like I was wont to do so many times.

Like many of the platform games that predatedJak & Daxter, the object of the game was to collect items in order to progress through each level. Jak, being the consummate athlete character was able to double jump, spin rapidly like Crash, and fall down from just about any height without any damage. The main objective of the game revolves around collecting Power Cells left behind by the Precursors (an ancient race of beings who left their powerful technology all around the world).

This was another great platformer brought to us by the guys at Naughty Dog, who are known for quality games, and was a welcome game on the PlayStation 2 console. The gameplay was fun, the excellent voice acting never got old, and the fluid animation was top notch. There were two sequels and two spin off games based on this original game and it’’s characters. Throughout the game Jak never speaks a word. Anytime he is about to, Daxter interrupts him. So in the later games, when Jak gets an attitude upgrade and a voice, part of the allure was lost for me.

Number 22 - Suikoden

Suikoden was an early launch title for the PlayStation back in 1996 that I missed the first time through. I received my own copy of the game from a friend who owed me some money for some GWAR concert ticket I had purchased for him months before. He found two copies of the game brand new and unopened sometime in 1999 and paid $20 for both copies. That’s a hell of a deal.

Based loosely on the Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan, the story is about the son of a general in the Scarlet Moon Empire who is destined to seek out 108 warriors (aka the 108 Stars of Destiny) in an effort to revolt against the sovereign of the state and an attempt to bring peace to his war-torn land.

The game played just like any other traditional RPG for its time, though the game differed on many levels. There were a total of 108 playable characters that you could recruit to your cause that were willing to fight along side you. You could have a maximum of six people in your party, each one controllable; it was your standard random encounter battle system and was completely turn based. There were two other completely different battle systems included in the game as well. You were required at times to fight in duels and war battles, both of these played out a lot like a massive versions of paper, rock, scissors. Suikoden was a massive RPG that was released at a time where there wasn’t much of an audience for the game, but did well enough on its own to warrant four sequels.

Number 21 - Ico

I bought this game along with Silent Hill 2; I played the demo for a good 20 minutes before I decided that the story of the game seemed interesting enough for me to give it a try. I have no qualms saying that Silent Hill 2 collected dust because how enthralled I was with playing Ico.

You are Ico, a boy who was born with horns and apparently are left for dead as a sacrifice because boys born with horns are viewed as a bad omen. Luckily for you, the sepulcher you are placed in, teeters over and releases you. Upon a little exploring, you come across a girl named Yorda who you want to help escape the castle and her evil mother the Dark Queen. Now the bad part, you have to drag her ass across the whole world while fighting off shadow monsters who attempt to kidnap her.

As most of you who are reading this know, Ico is one of the “games as art” games whose name is constantly thrown about. I’m not going to do that here. I just enjoyed the level of depth that the castle was constructed with, the minimal amount of music really added to the mood, and the lack of a game HUD did wonders for dragging you into the game. I’m really glad that they’ve said that there is a sequel in the works.

Number 20 - The Guardian Legend

I remember picking this game up about eight years ago and spending a WHOLE day going through the entire game beginning to end. I recall walking away from it satisfied in a good purchase, unlike many of my other NES games. The picture above is actually from the Japanese cover for the game.

Who wouldn’t love a girl that could transform into a spaceship? The story for The Guardian Legendis fairly straightforward: you’re the guardian of Earth and the only person who can defeat the evil planet-sized spaceship called Naju hurtling towards Earth. You objective is to activate the ten self-destruct switches within the world and escape before it reaches Earth.

The gameplay during the shooter sections was really solid and fun and the whole adventuring aspect (ala The Legend of Zelda) was good fun too. It’s not surprising that this game didn’t do that great in sales seeing how the box art from the US release was confusing and the lack of promotion for the game. It’s too bad really, I love this game.

Number 19 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

I wasn’t one of the fortunate people to pick up this game on its release thanks to the retarded policies of GameStop (Babbage’s back then). So, I have only the retarded grey colored cartridge. Lame … though it did allow me time play Guilty Gear. I was finally lucky enough to get my copy a few weeks after its release and locked myself in my room playing, soaking it all in.

Ocarina of Time is heralded by many to be one of the best N64 games ever made. It’s true, the game was stunning in its design and the feel of freedom you experienced when exploring Hyrule. If you weren’t ever a fan of the 3D adventures that Link engaged in, then this game wasn’t for you I suppose. The N64 controller was perfect for the game and the fact that the rumble pak was used made the game that much more immersive.

I loved this game, probably more than I like most of the other games on the N64. The amount of fun that could be had from riding Epona across the plains of Hyrule was unparalleled to any game of its time. The amount of puzzles that each temple had (some much harder than others) was perfect, and the fact that the game was in lush 3D made it a much different game than the 2D games of past.

Number 18 - Super Dodge Ball

Aw man, the amount of time playing Super Dodge Ball can not be subtracted from that person’s life. I was lucky enough to find a copy of this game at a yard sale complete with box and manual for only five bucks when I was 12-years-old. I have gone back and played this game more times than any other NES game over the last 15 years.

I’ll never forget the first time I managed to pull off a special move and socked the opposing team right in the head and sent the guy soaring around the world and back to his side of the court. From that moment, I was hooked. The characters in the game have two special moves each that are executed by dashing, then throwing the ball either from ground level or from the air. It was always entertaining to play with friends and hear all of the obscenities being tossed around.

The characters from the game look as if they’re pulled straight from River City Ransom (for good reason since it was part of the Kunio-kun series). The opposing teams all have fairly idiosyncratic traits about them such as the British being pasty white guys with a high amount of hit points but weak, or the Japanese always tossing it to their captain, and don’t neglect the sprite changes from European characters to Asian characters (they make us whiteys round eyed, while their sprites look stereotypically Asian).

Number 17 - Gran Turismo

My brother and his drunken buddy stumbled into my bedroom at two in the morning and begged for access to my PlayStation to play the game they rented. One of my conditions at that age was to know what the hell they were going to be playing on MY gear. Turns out they wanted to play some dumb racing game. I said yeah, but count me out, I hate racing games. The Gran Turismo series is the only series to ever turn my attention from games to cars. I was hooked after racing on the Autumn Ring in a Supra.

Polyphony Digital’s foray into racing games ended up being the best selling game for the PlayStation at 10.5 million copies (one of them being mine), and was a breathtakingly good looking game for its time. The replays of previous races were probably the most impressive looking item the game did perfectly. The audio was as realistic as could be done, the tracks, all 14 of them were extremely detailed, the cars all looked great, and lets not forget that there were 178 of ‘em to get. It’s like the Pokemon of car racing games.

Apart from the numerous publications that gave this game so many positive and glowing reviews the year it came out, there are numerous other video game sites and blogs that have deemed the game as one of the Greatest Games of All Time (I’m saying the same). The game is just a shining jewel in the crown that was the PlayStation in 1998. Gran Turismo remains the best racing game I’ve had the most fun playing.

Number 16 - Cybernator

Cybernator was another one of my most unsuspected X-mas gifts I received as a kid. I guess the parents saw the fact that I’ve always had a strange affinity for the giant robot genre of videogames. I said unsuspected, I never said that it wasn’t good; in fact it’s pretty damn great.

The graphics were well done, the animations were superb for an SNES game and the story was great. Each stage presented a different set of challenges, had destructible environments, provided powerups for your various weapons used, and allowed you to roam free. The game’s story is structured almost identically from something in the Gundam universe, but you know, good. In fact, when playing the game, tell me that you couldn’t conceive of an Anime being made for it.

Keeping in mind that this wasn’t a groundbreaking game at the time for Konami in America, it was however, a hit in Japan and was even remade on the PS2. It has to be a title that very few of us loved, but what wasn’t to love about it I’ll never know. If you never had a round with this game, give it a shot, you’ll be how surprised how good of a game it really is.

Number 15 - Final Fantasy Tactics

Ah, Final Fantasy Tactics, a game responsible for me missing more days of my senior year of High School than any other game I played at the time. Good ol’ 1998 was the year that I donated a good chunk of my living hours in the land of Ivalice level grinding my characters to perfection.

Probably one of the best if not the best strategy based RPG I have ever played, ever. The graphics weren’t amazing, though the return to a sprite based RPG over a 3D version made me extremely happy as a gamer. The world was rich with history and the characters were well thought out. Especially the rivalry that Ramza and Delita shared throughout the story.

With the inclusion of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, this game cemented itself in my mind as one of the most fun tactical based RPG even more so than Ogre Battle if you can believe it. I can recall spending hours leveling up my two mage characters as calculators, getting into battles, and figuring out the best way to rape the enemy on the field. I especially loved the story of a commoner becoming King and the overthrowing of the national religion of the land.

Number 14 - Super Street Fighter II

I used to be an extremely religious EGM reader back in the day. I would read every and anything that had to deal with Street Fighter. When I saw that Capcom was working on a new version of my beloved Street Fighter IIwith new characters and stages, I was happier than a pig wallowing in its own filth.

Besides the hundreds of dollars I spent playing this game in the arcade, I wanted to spend another $80 to actually own my own copy. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed … so I rented it time after time again. Quite possibly the best version of SFII, even more than Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Don’t get me wrong, Turbo is a great game, but I miss the days when you didn’t have an uber-fuck-you-move that you build up to. I want the old days where it was all about skill and timing. Can we go back to that in fighting games?

This remains the only game where I had a guy pull a gun on me and threaten me to leave his house. Not just any gun, but a damn 12-gauge shotgun. It was because I beat him using nothing but jabs. Maybe I had it coming, but you know it’s a serious subject to me when I threaten personal injury over a video game. I miss the old tournaments with me and my friends…

Number 13 - Shadow of the Colossus

I played Shadow of the Colossus earlier this year when I picked it up for cheap at my local gaming store. I heard all of the hype about the damn game, and decided it was time for me to play it myself and develop my own opinion. After spending a few weeks making my way through the game, I came to the same conclusion that everyone else did. It was an amazing experience.

You play the role of a man named Wander who is traveling on horseback across the land to defeat the sixteen colossi in order to restore the life of a girl. You make a deal with Dormin, who warns you that your request may cost you dearly, that if you take the ancient sword with you and defeat all of the sixteen idols, Mono’s (the girl) soul can be returned to her body. On the way to fight the sixteenth and final colossus, something happens that makes this game completely worth it. I won’t spoil it, go buy this game!

The game was made by the same team who created Ico a few years previous, so you know that there was more love and care put into this game than many other games released at the same time. It’s sad that the PS2 was a limited system to develop this game on. It really makes you think how things would look if they re-made the game without changing the story at all and put it on the current gen hardware. I wish all games that come out had as much polish as this game did.

Number 12 - BioShock

When BioShock crashed onto the scene earlier this year, I originally had NO intention of buying this game thinking it was just another damn FPS for the already crowded Xbox 360 lineup. This was another of those games where I am glad that Microsoft’s Xbox Live service gives you the chance to play games before you buy them. I simply HAD to have this game after playing the demo.

One of the most immersive and compelling environments I have ever seen in a video game, Rapture is quite possibly the coolest, most thought out, impressive settings in a game ever. The big twists that happen in the game, the creativity you can demonstrate through the various use of your plasmids, and the moral questions that this game makes you ask yourself combine to make this one of the most compelling stories I’ve ever had the opportunity of playing.

From the moment your plane crash lands into the ocean conveniently outside the entrance to Rapture (did you ever wonder why he was in the water before the plane hit the water?), to the horrors you witness throughout the varied landscape of Andrew Ryan’s utopian view of an objectivist-dystopian society where man is free from the constraints of religion, government, and morality to be their own person, you are always forced to make decisions that you’ll never know the consequences of. I’m sure all I have to do is remind you of your first Harvest/Rescue to remind you how moving this game truly is.

Number 11 - SSX 3

I got my copy of SSX 3 for X-mas in 2003. I didn’t even know that there was a sequel to SSX Tricky until I opened the wrapping paper and saw the case sitting there. I was surprised, it was an amazingly thoughtful gift to give to me. Let me preface the next sentence by saying this, I have never been snowboarding nor do I ever intend to do so. With that said, I love snowboarding games more than any other type of sports genre out there. I’ve owned two of the Cool Boarders series and all of the editions of SSX. The original was the only reason that I wanted a launch PS2.

The graphics for SSX 3 were overhauled from the past two editions of the game and the whole game took place on a single mountain instead of broken up venues in different countries. The mountain itself sported multiple tracks and freestyle courses, though the best new mode in the game was the “freeride that let you start at the peak of the mountain and ride it all the way through all of the main tracks until you reached the bottom, a full 30 minutes later.

I played this game until it my PS2 begged me to stop. I would still be playing it almost every night if my PS2 wasn’t all jacked up. I love the arcade feeling of the races; I love the audacity of the tricks you could pull off in the game. There was nothing better than getting the ??? when you pulled off a move too ridiculous for Rahzel to say what it was. The licensed music was really well chosen, and the amount of customization was damn near perfect. One of my all time favorite games for sure. It makes me sad that EA hasn’t made a new version of this game for so many years.

Number 10 - Bionic Commando

Thank you Capcom for making this game and actually deciding to localize it here in the US back in 1988. Yes kids, this game came out 19 fucking years ago, which makes the same game in my collection older than most of you here at MEGATONik. At the same time, a bunch of you old fuckers like me are saying “I LOVED THAT GAME!”

You are a Bionic Commando and you are on a mission to save your buddy Super Joe from the clutches of the Badds (Nazis) led by Master-D (Hitler). You must traverse through a multitude of levels (many of them are non-linear). Though the kind of non-linear is on the same page as Metroid, meaning that you can’t go some places without special equipment.

I have much love for this game. Thanks to game companies like Capcom who were willing to take a risk to localize and censor their work (thanks Nintendo of America!!!), people like me were able to have games of this caliber to play (then) and reminisce about (now). I highly suggest that you find a way of playing this game. Legally or not, it’s worth the risk to see a game that shaped a whole generation of gamers like me. Luckily we’re getting a newer, updated version later this year.

Number 9 - Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 crashed onto the scene in September of 1996 and was probably the only reason that I picked up a Nintendo 64. No, that’s a lie, I originally picked up a N64 because they were the system that was supposed to get the Final Fantasy series, you all know the history — they didn’t. This is the seventh best-selling game in the US with a total of over 17 million purchases, and is well worth that title.

The game marked a new archetype for platform games since its release, since it was a 3D game and not the traditional 2D platformer. It is probably one of the most revolutionary games of all time thanks to the brilliant camera (that plagues so many other platformers) and the inclusion of analog control. The game design was brilliant as is the norm for most Shigeru Miyamoto games, the graphics were beautiful and the textures looked nice. It still remains one of the few games to actually give me vertigo at times while playing it.

This game to me is more than the sum of its parts; it isn’t simply just another Mario platforming game. But a little bit of my childhood brought to live in amazing 3D. The Mushroom Kingdom was a much more interesting place than we got a snapshot of in all of the other games. Don’t even get me started on having to jump into the pictures to go to the differently themed worlds, that was an awesome way of having a stage select. To sum it all up, it is quite possibly the best platforming game ever made.

Number 8 - Final Fantasy VIII

Oh, man. The amount of sleep that I have deprived myself by being a fan of the Final Fantasy series is tantamount to the time it took for Fyodor Dostoyevsky to write Crime and Punishment. This was Square Soft’s sophomoric Final Fantasy released on the original PlayStation, and in my opinion the best one of the series.

The gameplay was typical of your turn-based-faux-real-time battle JRPG. This game shined for three reasons. First, the visual aesthetic was simply gorgeous. Your characters in game were five times as detailed as the characters in FFVII, and not to mention the FMV cutscenes are some of the best ever seen in a video game series. Second, the music is probably my favorite work by Uematsu-san. He released a full orchestration version of a few select songs and released it on the Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec soundtrack album which is slap-your-mammy great. Finally, the story made me cry like a little baby at the end of the game when the entire story got tied together and you were treated to a 30+ minute ending that just warmed the cockles of my blackened gamer heart.

The game may not very well be your favorite one of the series, though the reasons I love it and put it on such a high pedestal is that it made a marked departure from the games of it’s past. It was the first Final Fantasy to use normal looking characters instead of the SD ones we played as for so many generations. Who can’t recall the memory of how on edge you were when you thought Rinoa was going to die just like Aeris did so many years previous in Final Fantasy VII.

Number 7 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

I picked up this game one night by mistake actually. I wasn’t even looking forward to this game coming out; I never had any indication that this was a game that I really wanted. Though, the copy of Psychic Force that I had picked up was scratched all to hell so when I returned it that same night, they had no more copies. I wanted a game, so I thought, eh why not, I’ll give this game a try. Holy crap am I glad that I did.

On the beginning of the game it catches you right up to the (then) current storyline of Castlevania: Dracula X, where you take the reigns of Richter Belmont and finish Dracula off. The story then switches to Alucard (Dracula backward hehe) where the game becomes an action RPG complete with experience points, gold, equipable weapons and armor, items, and magic spells.

This game to me was the swan song of 2D sprite based console gaming. I still believe that, and it was a rather good note to go out on. The gameplay was similar to the Metroid series as in it’s you versus the entire world and that exploration gained you bonuses in better weapons or armor. The sprite graphics are top notch and very detailed (almost SNK detailed) there’s some faux-3D thrown in thanks to the mode7, and very few 3D graphics used at all. The music was just freaking spectacular and was a great mix of rock guitar, ambient, trip hop, and Gothic orchestral pieces. The voice acting though, left something to be desired, but hey what game didn’t back then?

Number 6 - Metal Gear Solid

Back in 1998, early on in the year, I was beginning to obsess over a game that had MONTHS until its release: Metal Gear Solid was the return of a beloved series from my childhood days and quite a return at that. The last game I played that even had Solid Snake was Snake’s Revenge (which isn’t even part of the Metal Gear canon) back in 1990. I was completely hyped to see the game coming out on my beloved PlayStation, so hyped that I went to Babbage’s and put a pre-order on it (which was the first time I ever did that). Luckily I got a free T-shirt and a notebook for pre-ordering which is always a plus.

MGS took the gameplay elements from the previous Metal Gear games and translated it all to 3D graphics. It was the first game I played where you could avoid your enemy instead of fighting them. The stealth system created by the developers has been copied and rehashed for numerous other types of games such as Splinter Cell and Tenchu, just to name a few. The AI for all of the enemies was shockingly smart, the boss battles were great, the soundtrack was good, the cut-scenes were well done and the voice acting was just superb.

There are many other MGS games that have come out over the past nine years since the series was reborn and none of them have been bad really. The original MGS single-handedly brought forward a new style of gameplay that was smart, fun, and at the same time realistic. Kojima definitely knows how to tell a story and tell it well. In fact, this was probably the most cinematic game of its time that was made even better when the game was remade on the GameCube as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

Number 5 - Xenogears

Xenogears“…what the hell kind of game is that?” I remember saying to myself as I booted up the demo that was included with Parasite Eve. To put it simply, I was amazed. Giant robots and martial arts in an RPG? Nice! It’s not often that games make you seriously think, much less doubt your own religion. But this one had story points that made me think philosophically for the next two or three months about my own role as a human cog in the big machine of society.

The game delves into Freudian psychology (the ego, the superego, and the id), Jungian psychology (dealing with the shadow), and some of the theories of Friedrich Nietzsche (God is dead and the concept of the eternal return). Deep deep deep story which is only matched by the music. Graphically, the game is breathtaking for it’s time. 3D environments with 2D sprites (win), awesome PS1 lighting effects, and a few anime cut scenes. The effects in the battles are damn cool especially in the later levels when your character has all sorts of bad-ass bottled up.

One major reason that I think this game didn’t make it as big as the other Sqeenix games that came out for the original PlayStation was that this one had the misfortune of coming out the same time as Metal Gear Solid. Nothing could stand up to the might that was Kojima in 1998. This great example of gaming is one of the few titles that have lasted me to the well over 100 hour mark, the others being FFVII and Grandia. C’mon, the last boss is God — how could you lose? I still listen to the soundtrack nearly every night, even right now its playing on the iPod. That’s how timeless this game is to me.

Number 4 - Mega Man 2

The sequel to the original Mega Man series was a much welcomed game back in ‘89. The timeline for Mega Man 2 takes place a year after the original game and follows the continuing war between Dr. Wily’s Robot Masters and Dr. Light’s creation, Mega Man. Like all other Mega Man games, the object of the game was to travel to the domain of the Robot Masters, defeat them, take their signature weapon, and repeat until all were defeated. After which you had to go to Dr. Wily’s stage and face a seemingly never ending onslaught of boss battles including all of the previously defeated Robot Masters.

Not only was the game a vast improvement over the first game, but it looked and played much better than any game of its type at the time of release. The gameplay was insanely solid for a classic game. The music was top notch for it just being bleeps and bloops (listen to the Minibosses’ version of Mega Man 2 to hear how great the music is), and the graphics were well done considering it was just a NES game. But then again, classic gaming has shit to do with graphics right? This game was also known for its implementation of a password system and was also the first Mega Man game to have “E-Tanks”, which were a welcome addition.

I can recall how many times I played this game and the sheer amount of frustration I would feel when I would get to the boss of a stage only to find out the weapon I thought would work against it doesn’t do anything. Man, who else could recall the joy you would feel when you finally beat Dr. Wily’s stage? Not to mention the awesome ending (a rare treat in the late 80’s NES games). This game belongs so high because it is the main reason that the Mega Man series has endured over the last two decades.

Number 3 - Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger was the only game I was willing to forsake my entire collection in order to get my hands on back in ‘95. Luckily through the kindness of my parents and the forfeit of a few months’ allowances, I was able to pick this game up before it became a Christmas present. Chrono Triggeris the first console RPG that I can recall having multiple endings based on your experiences throughout the game. Not to mention that it is one of the pinnacles of SNES RPGs. If there were a religion based on video games, Chrono Trigger would be a pillar of faith.

The story was masterfully done in each of the respective time periods you would travel to throughout the game. Instead of a world map that you would have to traverse to find the next town, you would have to visit the same location throughout the history of the planet. You had the choice of traveling from prehistoric history all the way through the present day and into the far future. This was a great gameplay dynamic that made you think of the consequences you would face from changing something in the past.

Many of the games endings were based on how or when you decided to face the parasite that crash landed onto the planet in prehistory. I personally never got all of the endings, but the inclusion of the “NEW GAME +” feature made playing the game over again from the start a real treat. It really makes me wonder why more games haven’t implemented a similar feature. The music in the game is done by my favorite game music composer Yasunori Mitsuda, the same composer for the game’s sequel Chrono Cross and Xenogears on the PlayStation console. This game is so greatly done that it deserves to be on everyone’s top five games of all time.

Number 2 - Super Metroid

Taking the reigns from Metroid II: The Return of Samus on the Game Boy, the story starts off where the other ended on SR-388. Samus takes the last surviving Metroid larva to the Ceres Space Colony, where the scientists begin to study to see the benefits it could have to mankind. That’s where the game picks up and doesn’t let you stop until you are escaping from a nigh exploding Zebes within a panic inducing time limit.

My copy of Super Metroid was one that I had to work the whole summer to obtain. After which I spent every obsessed moment I could muster glued to my TV trying to beat the game. At first it was me trying for the 100% completion rate, then came the speed runs where I tried to get the game beat in less than 3 hours, which was a hell of a feat for me when I was only 14 and had a tiny ass TV to play on. I feel bad for those who never got the chance to play this game on the SNES; it was that good of a game. Fortunately, Nintendo saw fit to release this game on the Virtual Console this year.

The gameplay in Super Metroid is nearly perfect. The sound effects are crisp and distinct and the background music is just spot on everywhere you go. After the first few minutes of exposition which is done by Samus herself (this is the first game I saw Japanese subtitles in), you are left on your own on the whole of Zebes. Metroid games are known to me by how utterly alone you usually feel and the lack of dialogue in the games. It’s pretty much one person versus the entire planet. This game does that and more and the end sequence itself is recognized by many in the videogame industry as being perfect.

Number 1 - Secret of Mana

The is the best goddamned game I have ever or will ever play. I’ve written about it elsewhere throughout my life many times, and have highlighted the music and the gameplay. I honestly feel that this game was Square Soft’s best work on the Super Nintendo. It was the one game that I can remember that allowed you to bring two friends with you throughout the entire game which at its time was unheard of in ANY Role Playing Game.

I can recall the emotion that came from playing this game for hours upon hours almost every weekend with my best friend. I remember vividly buying my own copy of the game and the subsequent firing I received for not showing up for work for two days so I could savor every last second of the sweet nectar that was Secret of Mana. Personally, I don’t think you could ask for a better game to take with you to a deserted island (if you could play it that is). The music was magnificent, the gameplay was addicting and awesome at the same time, and the graphics were soft, pleasing, bright, and vivid.

From the moment you turn the game on and you hear the whale sing its song from the first strokes of the piano’s keys during the intro music, the game had a stranglehold on me and has refused to let go. I don’t want to hear one ounce of venom from any of you about this game being my number one pick. To me, Secret of Mana is as much of a facet of my childhood as believing in Santa was. Its a game that I will continue to rate all other games by, not as much of a flash in the pan as many other games we see these days, but a true classic of retro gaming that nobody should do without a few hours playing. Man, I want to go home and play it right now, does anyone want to come over to play as the Sprite or the Girl?

Are any of you out there still reading this? I know that’s a bunch of text up there. Well if you are, I’d like to take the time to thank you for reading this blog post. Its because of readers like you that I continue to make these lists. I only hope that many of you agree with a good portion of my list. I know that there is no way that my list could encompass the whole gamut of console gaming. Thanks for reading!

Categories: DS, Epic, Gamecube, MTk Presents, Nintendo, OMG1!!1!, Original Xbox, PSP, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Puzzle, Retro, Sega, Shooter, Sony, Xbox 360