The Stu's Top 100 Tribute Thread of Top 100s - The Bear and Badger

mistercrayon

I got two words for ya:

Aggressive bundling.

darkglobe

Ahhh, Desert Strike, now that was awesome. as we're Jungle and Urban. That's a series that could work well as little retro-style new titles.

[Deleted User]

Disappearing down more YouTube rabbit-holes this evening. The music for Xenon 2 Megablast might be the more famous, but it was the music for X-Out that brought a smile to my face.

(Two X-letter games doesn't mean that I'm getting near the end of my alphabetical list, it just means I'm on a carolling shooter phase.)

mistercrayon

Or only just got to the nineties.

[Deleted User]

It scares me how quickly downhill my memory is going, so this is what I'm reduced to:

mistercrayon

I used the most recent edge 100 and everyone's lists.

[Deleted User]

I could've sworn Xevious was another regular on my ST, but watching a video is bringing nothing back.

[Deleted User]

Jaco wrote:

Lotus Turbo Challenge

Isn't it either Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge or Lotus Turbo Challenge 2?

[Deleted User]

My list is 325 entries long, with a fair few series reduced to one entry, and some stuff definitely missing, but it's time to start whittling down. What is alarming is that this represents a small portion of the library I had for each console, but still amounts to an average of ten games per year for my videogaming life.

[Deleted User]

Fuck, that was tough.

The Top Ten
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance [PS2]
Bushido Blade [PS1]
Colony Wars [PS1]
Gears of War 2 [360]
Grand Theft Auto [PS1]
Ico [PS2]
The Last of Us [PS3]
Shadow of the Colossus [PS2]
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe [ST]
Uncharted series [PS3/4]

The Next Ninety:

A
Anna Kournikova’s Smash Court Tennis [PS1]

B
Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja [ST]
Barbarian [ZX]
Batman the Movie [ZX/ST]
Battle Engine Aquila [PS2]
Bishi Bashi Special [PS1]
Blast Chamber [PS1]
Bomb Jack [ZX/ST]
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons [PS3]
Buggy Boy [ST]
Burnout series (except Paradise) [Various]

C
Cannon Fodder [ST]
Chase HQ [ZX/ST]
Chequered Flag [ZX]
Crackdown [360]

D
Def Jam Fight for NY / Vendetta [PS2]
Destruction Derby 1&2 [PS1]
Die Hard Trilogy [PS1]
Double Dragon [NES]
Dropship: United Peace Force [PS2]

E
Exolon [ZX]

F
F16 Fighting Falcon [ST]
FIFA [Various]
Firewatch [PS4]
FlatOut [PS2/Xbox]
Forza Motorsport 2 [360]
Freedom Fighters [PS2/Xbox]
Full Spectrum Warrior [Xbox]
Future Cop LAPD [PS1]

G
Gauntlet II [ZX/ST]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City [PS2]
Green Beret [ZX]

H
Hard Drivin' [ZX/ST]
Hostages [ST]
Hotline Miami [PSV]

I
Ikari Warriors [ST]

J
Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy [PS2]
Jonah Lomu Rugby [PS1]
Just Cause 3 [PS4]

K
Kessen [PS2]
Kikstart 2 [ZX]
Killzone Liberation [PSP]

L
Left 4 Dead [360]
Lemmings [ST]
Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge [ST]

M
Mad Max [PS4]
Madden NFL [Various]
Mashed [PS2/Xbox]
Medal of Honor (1999) [PS1]
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor [PS4]
MotorStorm RC [PSV]

N
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit [360]
Nitro [ST]
No Man's Sky [PS4]

O
OlliOlli & OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood [PSV]

P
Patapon [PSP]
Portal [360]
Power Drift [ZX/ST]
Project Overkill [PS1]
Pursuit Force [PSP]

Q
Quake II [PS1]

R
Rally Cross [PS1]
Ratchet & Clank (2016) [PS4]
Red Dead Revolver [PS2]
Rez [PS2] / Rez HD [360]
Ring of Red [PS2]
Road Rash [PS1]
Run the Gauntlet [ZX]

S
Sky Odyssey [PS2]
Sleeping Dogs [360/PS4]
Smugglers' Run [PS2]
Spec Ops: The Line [PS3]
Spider-man [PS1]
Spider-man 2 [PS2/Xbox]
Spy Hunter [Arcade]
SSX (2000) [PS2]
Super Sprint [ZX]
Supercars II [ST]

T
Target Renegade [ZX]
Tearaway [PSV]
Tekken 3 [PS1]
Timesplitters [PS2]
Tomb Raider [Various]
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater [PS1]
Top Gun [ZX]
Turrican 2 [ST]

U
The Untouchables [ZX]

V
Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory [PS2]

W
Worms [PS1]

X
X-Out [ST]

On the off chance that anyone is remotely interested, or wants to question/criticise my decision-making, here's the list I produced. Halving it was painless, but reducing that to 100 felt like personal betrayal.

Spoiler:

Moot_Geeza

The almost complete lack of Sega actually hurts.

mistercrayon

Gears of war 2 is a fun game.

[Deleted User]

Moot_Geeza wrote:

The almost complete lack of Sega actually hurts.

It's not as painful as much of their output.

hylian_elf

Moot_Geeza wrote:

The almost complete lack of Sega actually hurts.

Wait til you see my list.

[Deleted User]

Nice one, @Andy.

regmcfly

Lord of the rings games represeeeennttt

hylian_elf

I'm down to 119. From here, its gonna be tough. Might have to start amalgamating more.

cockbeard

Amalgamate?

I like the way you're thinking, yuo could sack off all the marios, zeldas, donkey kongs, star fox, and pokemon, just put smash bros in

Diluted Dante

1. Games.

I might have condensed too much.

JonB

Yeah, you only need to include good games.

Yossarian

Diluted Dante wrote:

1. Games.
2. Journey.
3. No Man's Sky.

hylian_elf

Here goes. This took a while. In the end, after getting rid of some easily, I had to whittle down from around 120 by some 'boxing together' of games I feel same-ish about within a series (leaving the best/different ones separate) and then going by gut feeling on others.

No doubt this will keep changing over the coming months as I go through the (now much smaller than before) Pile O' Shame.

The Absolute Best
1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2. Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2
3. Super Metroid
4. ICO
5. Persona 4: The Golden
6. Sekiro

The Near Best (alphabetical order)
Bloodborne
Elden Ring
Final Fantasy XII
Halo: Combat Evolved
Humanity
Journey
Last Guardian, The
Last of Us, The (Parts 1 & 2)
NieR: Automata
Okami
Shadow of the Colossus
Slay the Spire

The Rest (alphabetical order)

A
A Short Hike
Actraiser
Advance Wars
Assassin's Creed II & Brotherhood
Astral Chain

B
Battle Garegga
Bayonetta 1 & 2
Bomberman
Braid
Burnout 3 Takedown

C
Capcom vs SNK 2
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Celeste
Chrono Trigger
Crysis

D
Dark Souls
Demon's Souls
Devil May Cry 3
Dishonored
DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu [Black Label]
Doom Eternal

F
F.E.A.R 1 & 2
Fez
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
flower
Forza Horizon 2-5

G
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
God of War (PS4)
Gradius V
Guilty Gear X2 & Xrd

H
Hades
Half Life 2
Halo 3, ODST, Reach
Hollow Knight

I
Ikaruga
Into the Breach

K
Kentucky Route Zero
Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi [+Deathtiny]
Killer 7

L
Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Legend of Zelda: LttP & LA
Legend of Zelda: OoT & MM
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Legend of Zelda: WW & TP
Life Is Strange & Before the Storm
Lumines

M
Manhunt
Mario Kart 7 & 8DX
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Solid 1-3
Metroid Prime 1 / Trilogy
Metroid: Zero Mission
Mushihimesama Futari v1.5 [Black Label]

N
Nex Machina
Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)

P
Persona 5: Royal
Pokemon Red / Blue
Portal
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

R
Rayman Legends
Resident Evil 1-3
Resident Evil 4
Resogun
Returnal
Rez
Rock Band 3

S
Secret of Mana
Silent Hill 1
Soul Calibur 2 (GameCube)
Spec Ops: The Line
Spider-Man 1 & 2 (PS4 and PS5)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Replublic
Street Fighter II [Super / Turbo]
Street Fighter IV [Super / Ultra]
Super Castlevania IV
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Monkey Ball

T
Terranigma
Tetris Effect [VR]
The Walking Dead: Season 1
Tomb Raider (original)

U
Uncharted 4: Thief's End

V
Vagrant Story
Vanquish
Viewtiful Joe

W
Wipeout Pure & HD
Witness, The

[Deleted User]

Awesome, thanks. I'll get this thread up to date this afternoon. Still space for more lists, obviously.

JonB

Couple of lists with Spec Ops: The Line there. Wonder if I should've included that myself.

dynamiteReady

Skerret wrote:

Four Swords is best same room mp bar none, otherwise FINE

It's an exquisite game. And it hasn't aged a bit.

hylian_elf

If only I got to play more. It was just one of my friends and me and we only played a couple of hours before not managing to hook up anymore. What I had played was simply sublime.

cockbeard

I didn't play four swords, which I regret, but I loved secret of mana

regmcfly

I love that Galaxy is so high. It's an absolute demonstration of the Nintendo magic in the age of open worlds, online shooters. They are magical games that remind us of what games should be.

[Deleted User]

Childintime wrote:

Awesome, thanks. I'll get this thread up to date this afternoon. Still space for more lists, obviously.

Lol, sorry about this. I wish I could say I was mega busy or something but, you know...The Last Guardian.

Class now but I'll try to get on this today.

mistercrayon

Inspired by Tempy's endeavour!

Bayonetta

A character action game that makes me feel cool and competent. Therefore an auto pick. I like the bayo character too. Heaps of fun and variety too

bayonetta 2

Not much more to say than for B1 but excellent enough to warrant two places here.

Beyond Good and Evil

somehow blending speedboat racing, combat, pokemon snap, stealth, journalism and air hockey did not leave a janky mess but a delight. The characters are fun too.

Bioshock+Bioshock 2+Minervas den

Bioshock is an above avarage game but smashes it when it comes to enveloping the player. The latter two are better games and continue the intriguing narrative tics.

braid

Tight as a drum in the ideas to game ratio, the magical press x to reverse time is the star here but special kudos for the twists on super mario too.

Breath of the Wild.

A complete crackerjack of a game. Zelda is an "adventure" game which is a definition so ambiguous so as to be meaningless. Is an adventure running into the unknown and the mysterious and hoping to come out of it with some element of victory? Or is It a series of predefined puzzle areas tied together with grass or snow coloured graphics? to my mind Zelda moves away from the latter for the first time in a very long time and absolutely nails it. The cleverest of camera works mean that the game teases you with something sexy to do every time you feel like you've just figured you've run out of things to do. Look at the sweep when you get the tower - you'll see exactly one orange shrine glinting in the view, there's your next task. The liberties and freedoms the game grants make this the first true RPG in the series (fuck all that Stats based definition). Here you can play link as parkour dazzler or solid snake or master swordsman or Tom from Tom and Jerry or Robin Hood. Phenomenal.

Broken Sword Series

The game series starts with the best story (templars!) and steadily descends before picking up again at five. George and Nico are beautifully written though and make you want to have more adventures with them

Castlevania aria of sorrow

Castlevania as RPG and metroid clone reaches its peak here. A system where you pinch powers from enemies is kirbyesqe but the pacing and the variety make it a lot more interesting

Castlevania Rondo of Blood

the normal kind of castlevania and the only one I could beat to boot (albeit with the basically cheating girl character).

Chrono Trigger

I really like the opening to this (stop thief!) but messing around with time back to the future style is also cool.

Chuckie Egg

THE GAME on primary school computers, managed to get this at home. Really good platforming when it was easy to be shite platforming. Also haunting in the ass Bird.

Contradiction

One of the new wave of FMV games, this one has a funny english detective asking weirdos ina village about a murder. The actual deduction aspect is a really meaty puzzle - a bit like phoenix wright's but less obnoxiously pedantic.

Dead Space

I beat this one with just a pistol. It kind of makes you wonder what the rest of the guns are for. I also like the twist where headshots are a waste of time. SCARY.

Deus Ex

The best game ever imo. Crappy AI is the key here, but also the absolute throw everything at the wall attitude to conspiracy theories (a grave fnord debt to Illuminatus ) but also the choices you think you can't make then do and it feels great.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Very recent and a great carrier of the DX name. The hubworld is so dense and interconnected you can spend days in there finding everything (and questioning what the fuck kind of police you are).

Digital: A love story

Interactive fiction game about Bulletin Boards in the olden days but with. Really nice aesthetic and feel. Free too.

Don Bradman Cricket 2014

I've played a hundred + hours of this. I play it on suuuuuuuuuuper easy mode and hit sixes for fun to compensate for being in a team of complete dunderheads. Like pringles for me

dragon quest heroes: rocket slime

A neat two part game. An adventure area where you collect ammo. A tank battle game where you use the ammo. Charm as all hell.

Drill Dozer

When people talk game feel they rarely mean the tactile delight of upshifting gears on a drill tank. This is a game which is as much about that feel in your hands as being a decent game.

Earthbound.

There's a lot of jank in this game. When people talk about this game they talk about the superstar moments, but the grind in between - like a dream - gets edited. Fortunately the superstar moments diverse, brilliant, clever and heartwrenching.

Fez

Phil Fish some how explodes a two d game into a 3d puzzle while making it look 2d. A gold mine of cleverness and beauty.

FIFA road to the World Cup 98 (PC)

Wednesday, before the bus to college a mate and I played this religiously along with another game. The first good 3d fifa, although everyone looks weird as hell.

Game and Wario

This is a classic minigame pack from nintendo. The thing is there are only two games that make this worthy - artist (a pictionary game suitable for two people) and fruit (a stealthy game of stealing, while hiding that you are stealing)

~~Ghost Squad~~

~~Shoot - get a fun weapon - shoot -get a fun weapon etc.~~

Ghost Trick

A lovely original puzzle game where you inhabit objects and dead things to try and change things.

~~Goof Troop~~

~~A puzzle action game in the zelda mode. You play as goofy or technically have the ability to play as his son. There's also same screen co-op where you can lob barrels at your partner.~~

Granny's garden

Forever seared in my mind because I was playing with Robin in school and the dolt picked the red broom and the witch was there and we got game over which meant some other idiot children had their chance to play. He toddled to the teacher with his glee I was seething.

GTA San Andreas

To me this is ultimate GTA. Everything from vice. Cranked up. Extra environs, more kinds of environs, you can make the guy eat pizza and get fat, the last of the celebrity voices. Everything after has sort of been aping this.

GTA Vice City

This is my favourite GTA game however. While SA is ultimate GTA this is probably the peak in terms of getting a setting absolutely bang on. Everything from the music, to the sean penn junkie lawyer to the way the lights on a ferarri testaro…cheetah burn into the light sensor on teh camera leaving an after image. Brilliant.

Half Life 2

This was the oppressive 1st dystopia before bioshock came in and made a contract for the crown. Ravenholm is a horror highlight as a combination of aesthetics and the play of flinging random items at zombz.

Half life+opposing force.

Half Life gets in just for the bit with the three beaked serpents you have to sneak around. Opp For gets in for the alien weapons and my first encounter with temporal pardoxes in games.

Her Story

It's weird how the rejected ideas of FMV have made a resurgence recently. This one uses the aesthetic of VHS and creates perhaps the best feeling of being a detective that's possible in a game. You choose your interrogations and you hopefully get the information that will send you to the correct ideas.

Ico

I think it's rare that a game evokes a connection. I'm in awe of whatever the devs did to get the handholding (literal - between the two protags) absolutely perfect.

In Memoriam

So this is just a series of crappy flash puzzles from the late 90s…but tied to your email you get all these cool clues, hints and emails from some serial killer. The kind of a weird blurring between real and fiction caused a fair few prickles in the old neck - no mean feat at all.

Indy fate of Atlantis

I think most adventure games are not actually that funny. This is an adventure game that rarely tries to be funny (but has funny parts) and is a million times better for it.

Jackbox - in particular fibbage, drawful and bomb game

Fibbage is a game which everyone should play. It's funny because people put funny things in. Drawful is also similarly great. There is something special about putting your ideas onto a big screen.

keep talking annd no one explodes

Tense as all hell. Use a printed manual (it's worth it over flicking a PDF) and the game feels almost like defusing a bomb. And when there's mistakes in whether you heard you, U, your, you're you are causing an explosion. Great fun.

Killer Instinct (snes)

I got this, black cart, and it was kind of okay as a game. I could only beat it by cheesing the final boss. But it still has a precious place. I think this was a better implementation of RAREs graphics tech than DKC.

kirby Mass Attack

A kirby game where you only indirectly control the kirby's. there is so much invention and cuteness in the game just in the first world it's just weird to fathom. And like all kirby games it comes with a whole bunch of delightful extra nonsense.

Kirby Power Paintbrush

This to me is the DS game that made pen games a thing that could be great. Control kirby's path using limited ink which is often a fraught and tension filled moment to moment puzzle.

Kotor 1+2

These RPGs are just some of the best plots in all games. Basically was the model for mass effect as well.

Left 4 dead

those multiplayer days on edge forum were a blast. Always was slightly disappointed when we played MP, always preferred a co-op. I think by the time 2 came out a bit of the magic had gone into the wind like Smoke®

Life Is Strange

One of two episodic story games I got into. Does everything so well, but the best is how it replicates the alienation between an old person (like me) and young people (like the characters) while completely mastering empathy creation in those characters.

Link to the past

My first zelda game. Theres as much outside the game as inside the game that makes it memorable. All the little gubbins - a map, tips, the story in the manual. The puzzles in the game were great and for the most part, solvable. Poor fluteboy. Still at least one can fly with a seagull now.

Links awakening

Eerie as all hell take on zelda. Try sprinkling an electro-slime with fairy dust.

majora's mask

Probably the only zelda game with actual tension in it, especialy earlier on. The focus on people also makes the interaction with them far more interesting than any zelda before or since.

Mario + Luigi Super Star Saga

An actual funny game. An RPG that laughs at itself and its history and full of dorky little minigames.

Mario 3D world + land

the best examples of 3d platforming ever. Super credit for world for some how combining it with a multiplayer mode too.

Mario Kart super circuit

Fun little mariokart sequel, of the SUPER type, with some fo the bells and whistles from 64 (without a horrible 3d/2d mash effect).

Mario Maker

The mario fanboy's toybox but the real interest for me was seeing how those toys could really be warped and twisted to form marios that had no business existing in reality.

Mass Effects (April Shepherd Trilogy)

Need to be all together. April Shepherd settles the galaxy down while making friends with a gilbert and sullivan fan.

Metal Gear Solid 1, 3, 4, V

Each of these is an awesome game but I think they all sort of miss something. Extra credit for 3's bosses and to 4's microwave and fans service.

Metal Gear Solid 2

My favourite metal gear. The one I think that takes every risk it wants and pulls every single one off.

Metroid Zero Mission

Nice retelling of metroid 1, but with the physics of the actually good game super metroid, with a reverse from the metroid norm epilogue section .

~~Need for speed 2~~

Game 2 played on weds before college. A weird feeling playing split screen racing on a PC monitor sharing a keyboard. And there was a definitive good car. Really good fun, but perhaps just because of the MP larks.

Nes Remix 1-2

There are probably only about four nes games that should be played in their entireity now. This is the best way to play NES games by virtue of giving the highlights you want without the awful slog in between

Nier

A simply wonderful game. The initial attractiveness is that it's got a bullet hell feel in a 3d action game. But then it goes mad with 2d side scrolling, top down zelda esque dungeons, a resident evil mansion. Not least the characters are all clever and interesting and the whole thing becomes truly elevated when played a second time. Metal Gear 2 esque.

Nier: automata

A relatively focussed game compared to its predecessor. The refinement has meant a greater focus on the individuals you play. The end result is a subtler knife which more calmly gets underneath the skin before it twists and breaks your heart. The improved gameplay adds depth for those who want it but for me, the key is the characters as it was in the first.

Nintendoland

Great multiplayer game that really points an arrow towards what the Wii U Pad could have done. Worth it for animal crossing sweets chasing game and the donkey kong cart game.

~~Nokia 3330 pinball~~

~~I know this isn't very good but this is basically the first phone game I ever played on my own phone. It's pretty decent and had a DLC aspect too.~~

Paper Mario Color splash

A very new game. The gameplay itself is good to average but the ideas (particularly in the first 80 percent of the game) are absolutely phenomenal. A surprise fight with a XXXXXXX half way through is brilliant in its oddness and surprise.

Papers Please

the actions in the majority of games are fantastical and over the top in depiction but in reality are very mundane in practice. Consider killing guy x millionth in Uncharted. Papers please takes the mundane tasks of a civil servant and makes them truly gripping actions. A triangle of tensions (your job, your bosses and your family) pull you into making slapdash choices and careful considerations - each with terrible consequences. When people talk about meaningful choices this is really the kind of thing they should be looking at.

PES Wii

Despite the name it isn't really a football game. It's a god simulator for people who want to control football matches and who get annoyed at idiots who stand around at five a side.

~~Picross E~~

~~Fun little eating popcorn puzzle~~.

Plok

A super colourful and tough platform game with some really nice variety - the costumes and vehicles from various films (and the respective music) is top work.

Pocket card jockey

This is basically speed solitaire with the dressing of a horse racing game chucked into the mix. The cuteness of the stubby legged horses cannot be overstated (particularly when they are surly robot horses) but the underlying game of risk-reward (balance a easier puzzle with knackering your horse if you fail) is the beast here.

Pokemon gold-sapphire-diamond-white-X and sun

All the pokes get in here.

Pokemon red

But only Red is the one that stands out. It's the first and the one that nailed everthing about what makes pokemon fun in turn 1.

portal 1+2

the portals are to me a single entity. Portal is a great tutorial for 7 hours and a neat finishing level, but gets high kudos for being new and so good. The latter is refinement and wit to the max.

Professor Layton 1

I love these kinds of puzzles and wrapped in a delicious adventure game suit is really good. Particularly nice as a counter to adventure games where the puzzles are wonkylogicnonsense.

Resident evil 4.

I don't know if the Wii Version should be here, it certainly makes you feel more like the hero the then new action take suggests but the gcn version is the unsullied master of control and design.

Retro Game Challenge

A cute little nostalgia bomb minigame compilations starting with the old nes era up to the last days of it. The games included are all riffs on existing games of the era (like Rally X and Final Fantasy). The joy is rounded out because of the details - blowing on carts, reading in game magazines for chips and teats.

Rhythm Heaven GBA/3DS

The original rhythm heaven. Top class weirdness paired with excellent music/Greatest hits of probably one of the best series ever.

Rhythm Heaven wii

The best in the series. The best music, themes and control all on big TV. LEGENDARY.

riviera: the promised land

Take RPGs and add the concept of jumpcuts in to cancel all that, when-you-think-about-it-pointless-walking. Cute little fighting mechanics and pokemon esque type charts.

Shadow of Mordor

Very few games will make me hate a character in an organic way is worthy of a nod. Yeah sure I can get annoyed at dying to a boss a hundred times, but that could be cheapness. This game actually grows your enemy with you and when you encounter him the last time, it's almost like meeting a friend (mortal enemy) for one last dance.

Skyward Sword

Swing that sword in certain patterns. The story (not a strong suit of zelda tbh) of defending a town with a nobhead is great. The final dungeons are some of the best.

Snipperclips

I have a firm bias towards any game I can play with my partner. this game is like fun puzzle game where reactions are the least important part but conversational puzzle solving is paramount. It's also ridiculously funny. When you rotatate your little paper dude and present your bottom towards your partners paper dude giggles are automatic. the catharsis of snipping the shit out of each other after a tough puzzle is also a sublime feeling.

Spelunky

Game of the 360 gen for me. A game who's premise is on the tin - explore caves - and executes that as fully as possible. The rogue elements - permadeath + randomisation mean all explorations are done with trepedation but also mean that surprises and secrets are always fresh.

Splatoon

Phenomenal. Take the shooter genre and make it accessible to rubbish and great players. Make it so everyone contributes even If you can't aim for toffee while making the game very much about skill. Add in the most satisfying shooter aiming and it's boggling of the mind that nintendo didn't do a 3rd Person shooter before.

Stanley Parable

You want meaningful end results to choices in games? - play this hilarious argument as to why you are being a dumbass. Literate and sharp.

Starwing

Who doesn't love a 3d shooter at resolution and frame rate you could probably draw faster. BUT what an eyemelting thing to have on a snes back in the day. Revolutionary

Street Fighter 2 turbo

My first console game. Loved it and was shite at it. Can't really do a dragon punch to this day and also a waste of time with a flight joystick.

Super Mario Bros 1

The Daddy. A game of flow and cleverness before such things were in any designer's handbook. The moment you play above the level you realise it’s a game of smartness. The minute you figure out you should play without letting go of B is its moment of genius.

Super Mario Bros 2

The funniest mario game and the odd one out (jumping on heads is useless).

Super Mario Bros 3

The most varietous 2d mario. Come for the frog suit, stay for the shoe level, and the spiral staircase and the level with about two hundred piranha plants and ice dancing.

Super Marios Galaxies

These feel like a game and its expansion. More variety and willing to be a dickhead to the player, but with enough help to be fun for all.

Super paper mario

There's just something really appealing about doing SMB 1-1 for the umpteenth time and then walking around the first goomba that plays with my feelings on GAMES.

System shock 2

Those spiders which scuttle will have you bristling your shoulder blades in crawl mode. The monsters that ask you to kill them are both sad and pitiful (still don't forget to clonk them). And gl1tching all the way throug--gh insseect is the viciously manipulative SHODAN. Foreshadows some of the themes in Bioshock and Metal Gear Solid 2 by YEARS.

The longest journey

I can't realy remember much but I think I loved the crow in this and the interplay between the twin worlds.

The witness

A game which is as much about exploring what you can do without words to teach as it is about puzzles. A NES era nintendo-esque tour de force in how to extract the very last drip of creativity from a single idea.

Tokyo mirage sessions #fe

A nother kooky teenagers game. This time with a fun battle mechanic and RPG system.

Uncharted 2

I think it's possible to just need to play one uncharted game. It's difficult not to praise the cinema in this one and is a grand world tour blast.

Unreal Tournament

1999 - more interesting - assault mode was great - than quake iii but always had fewer mods than it's rival in PC gamer.

Virtua Cop 2 on PC with a mouse

Okay a weird one. I just loved playing this on my PC, shooting crims in the leg for a Justice shot and what not. Good fun all round.

Virtua tennis 2

A university halls classic on one of my oldest friends dreamcast.

Virtual Pool

Another one of the Wednesday before school games. Super credit should be given to the amount of customisation available in this game - any pool or snooker game on any size table, cloth speed or pocket size. Also when zoomed in - very smooth balls.

Walking dead s1

The other episodic game. Made me care for a girl and her surrogate father. Wonderful stuff.

Warioware DIY

I've made maybe twenty or so games on this. The tools are so simple and the drawing function so fun but its always surprising what you can make with this game. Needs a remake imo.

Warioware twisted

The best warioware game bar none.

Wii Sports

Look a game that can get my dad to play games has to be doing something off the charts amazing.

Xenoblade X

Imagine a world so vast it's impossible to explore. Then imagine that world still being mysterious when you can traverse it in a giant fucking robot. Then imagine that world still being fun to fool around in and explore when you can fly. The weird missions for random NPCs - a murder mystery and get some coffee beans - show the great character is not just in the world map.

Yakuza Zero.

the pacing of this game is completely busted up. There's a middle chunk of the game you can sink ages into and then the rest is breezy as fuck. The story is a bit weak (perhaps hampered by the prequelness). Where the game shines is that it makes you feel like a Yakuza with a heart of gold. It's utterly ridiculous: you buy a kid a porno because you don't want him to feel like another adult has let him down or when you infiltrate a sex cult to hijack a person out by beating the shit out of the leader. Really good heart to this game. Also comes with copies of outrun for free.

Yoshi's island

The best 2d mario game on the SNES. The origins of mario galaxy lie here but it’s the squashy aesthetic and variety that win here.

Zero Escape series

It's like if Saw was a game (except not saw the game) and weird bouncings between cod psyche, conspiracy and philosophy all with some nice little escape room type puzzles.

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