Jeff took his crack at this so here is my take. Making a list like this is a lot harder then you might think, I had to make some really tough cuts here. Once again this is not a list of "Teh B3sT GAmeZ EvAR 1!!!11!11!!", more just ones that I fondly remember. The list really needs to be longer, and giving them a numerical order was rough. I cheated on a couple by including multiple games in a series, but dammit there was no other choice!
20) Escape Velocity (Mac)
As a Mac user there were few games that I could rub in the collective faces of my PC using friends knowing that they didnt have it, this was one of the best and most addictive. It, or one of its sequels, eventually mad it to the PC market, but that just makes this great game available to more people. This game let me attack a planet, face its defensive forces in space combat, and use a heat seeking forklift as a weapon of mass destruction to defeat them. The Star Wars conversion was also key.
19) Super Dodge Ball (NES)
When you really crush someone they die and their spirit floats away. The special power throws are pretty amusing, but most of all there is no way to not have fun with this game. The characters are pretty much ripped out of River City Ransom.
18) Desert, Urban, and Jungle Strike (SNES)
I couldn’t decide which was best, but few things are more entertaining then being a one helicopter destruction machine.
17) Flashback (Mac/SNES)
This game and Out of this World were similar, at least in my mind. I just remember thinking WOW the first time I saw each.
16) Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Back in the good ol' NES days there was a rule of thumb: ninjas are badass so games with ninjas are badass.
15) Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox)
I did not play any of the other games in this series, but as soon as I saw the previews for xbox I started to salivate. This was a lot of game. Finally a game that let me become the ultimate thief of spoons, no village would be left with the proper soup eating utensil. I didnt actually finish the story, but what I did was good enough. I liked that you could literally just get lost in the world.
14) Spider-Man (PS1)
Spider-Man is my preferred comic super hero and Ive played every game made in his likeness that I could get my grubby hands on. Most were terrible but I didnt care. This one actually captured the spirit of the comic. Neversoft did a great job, hopefully one of the new games will get the character right again.
13) F/A 18 Hornet Korea (Mac)
Flight sims = good, combat flight sims = amazatron. I was a bit obsessed with military aviation when I was younger and next to the Spitfire I would have to say the F/A 18 Hornet was one of my favourites.I played the hell out of the first game in the series and Korea just did everything better, looks, sound, multiplayer, control. Then there were the times Id ignore the mission objectives and wreak havoc on local airlines and cities...
Fun game.
12) WWF No Mercy (N64)
This could have been any AKI wrestling game. No developer since has been able to recapture or top the perfection of these games. You actually felt in control of what was going on, the matches were half hour epics, and its one of the best party games ever created.
11) TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)
This had to be done. Some of the best multiplayer available onthe SNES. Everyone Loved the Ninja Turtles back then. Throwing foot soldiers at the TV screen never got old.
10) Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Great graphics, fun gameplay, and funky music. Did I mention that you can make a gorilla ride an ostrich?
9) Super Mario RPG (SNES)
So this is what nerd dreams look like. RPG and Mario, count me in...and Bowser joins your party...bonus! New things with Mario but it worked perfectly.
8) Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 (PS1)
This game is digital crack. It reminds me of old school gaming because the only drive you really needed was to beat your highest score, pull off the biggest combo, etc. Bonus points for Spider-Man being an unlockable character.
7) Halo 1 and 2 (Xbox)
Good god I love these games, die hard fan of Bungie since their early Mac days. From the moment they showed the first fotage at MacWorld '99 I was hooked. A series of events after that led me to thinking the xbox could actually be good and buying it on day one. There are so many great things about Halo, personally I'm partial to the sticky granade. I remember many a LAN party with the origional, and then at University the ability to basically destroy any combination of challangers at my dorm. Good times. Really need to play online more this summer.
6) Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64)
This game stayed faithful to the spirit of the franchise in its move to 3D. So good it makes your brain explode!
5) Super Mario World (SNES)
I had to pick at least one of the Mario games and this happens to be the one I was best at. The cape was badass. Another classic Nintendo game.
4) Dragon's Lair (Sega CD/DVD)
This game was a pioneer in many respects as an interactive movie using high quality studio animation and the branching technology enabled by the Laserdisc format. The game looked amazing thanks to the animation of Don Bluth and company. It may be simple but its pretty damn addictive.
3) Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter (Mac)
Taking the RTS to great new places Bungie created two masterpieces. The strategy was emphasized instead of resource management and building as many troops as fast as possible. This felt like real battle, the 3D landscape and camera really added to the gameplay. The plugin support and online community was as good as it gets. Using dwarfs to blow up a swarm of the undead into a bloody mess of limbs is one of the most satisfying things in gaming.
2) Zelda: A Link to The Past (SNES)
A very close second place, before all the fancy 3D and cell shading this was Zelda in its purest form. The game is genius. TOoT may have been an exceptional game, but Link to the Past is still the definitive Zelda game.
1) Chrono Trigger (SNES)
This game is simply beautiful. The characters are great, the gameplay fantastic, the music can compete for best ever in a video game. If you have never played this game you are missing out on something truly special. Gaming bliss.
