Lessee... begin the countdown! *drum roll*
10) Medieval: Total War (PC) - We begin the list with... a strange combination of Civilization and RTS games. The empire-building isn't as fun as Civ 3, and the battles aren't as fun as, say, Starcraft, but combined, they make one hell of a great game. The Total War series is all about taking control of a nation and changing history, and Medieval is my personal favorite - if I had my way, the entirety of Europe and a fair amount of Africa would have been under the control of the all-powerful French Empire for the majority of the 11th - 15th centuries. Rawr. I've never played Medieval 2, but I bet it kicks major ass too.
09) Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - Next up is one of my favorite platformers of the 16-bit era. DKC was a smash hit where I lived back in '94 due to the awe-inspiring graphics (at the time) and explorative gameplay. DKC isn't just a quest - it's an experience. That being said, it was also fairly funny. The plot: a gorilla's gigantic stash of bananas is stolen by a bunch of two-legged crocodiles, led by the criminally overweight King K. Rool. DK and his monkey buddy, Diddy, have to traverse the entirety of Donkey Kong Island to get them back, stomping and rolling over rats, snapping crocs, barrel-tossing orangutans, and more with the help of their animal buddies (a rhinoceros, an ostrich, a swordfish, etc). Great times.
08) Pokemon Crystal (GBC) - To me, this game is the height of the Pokemon series. Gold and Silver were definite improvements over the original, adding 150 new Pokemon, the ability to hold items in battle, a clock system that kept track of the days of the week, a morning-day-night cycle that affected which Pokemon could be encounted, day-specific events, and shitloads more. Crystal version added to that with the choice between a male and a female character, fleshing out the storyline a bit more, and better and brighter colors. Hence, it's the definitive version. Ruby/Sapphire didn't really do it for me, however, and kinda I lost interest in the series after that. Emerald went a long way towards correcting the mistake of Euby and Sapphire, but not far enough. Here's hoping that Diamond/Pearl will bring Pokemon back with a vengeance.
07) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES) - My absolute favorite platformer, ever, because it took huge risks, messed around with the traditional platformer formula... and it worked. This is the story of how the baby Yoshis risked life and limb defying everything that Kamek the Magician and Baby Bowser could throw at them to bring a whining and crying Baby Mario back to his parents. The enemies are childish, the backgrounds are even more childish, and Baby Mario is quite possibly the most annoying video game character ever, but I couldn't care less. The system of throwing eggs, the double-jump, the music, the gameplay in general, all of it is otherwise stellar. This game, like Donkey Kong Country, was an exhilarating adventure that I still play to this day. Every gamer should be required, by law, to play this game through at least once. Just turn down the volume when Baby Mario starts bawling.
06) Seiken Densetsu 3 (SNES) - The bigger, better brother of Secret of Mana (a game that would probably come in at #11 if I had to choose), SD3 is one of those pure classic RPGs. Six playable characters, three (kinda) distinct storylines, and hundreds of kickass background songs adds up to lots and lots of hours of awesomeness. The biggest crime in the video game industry is that this game was never released outside of Japan in order to make way for the below-average Secret of Evermore. It's not too late, Squeenix - with all those 16-bit Final Fantasy remakes you seem to love nowadays, can't you put out at least one port of this game? Please?
05) The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES) - I've loved this game since the first day I played it, but I didn't truly appreciate the leap the series had taken until I got the chance to play through the first two Zeldas (yes, I know, I never played them in my childhood, shame on me). The fact that they went from those games straight to this one is absolutely mind-blowing, as LttP has so much more to offer, is a hell of a lot longer, and has a much better developed story. This is one of those games that shouldn't be replayable due to its linearity, but just is anyway, because it's that awesome. This, to me, is the definitive Zelda experience.
04) Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX) - I mostly like this one for its twisted, convoluted, atypical storyline, insofar that it doesn't make you feel as though you're the center of the universe, and everything was created exclusively for you. That's the main allure here. That, and the job system, which is probably the greatest way to customize your characters in any RPG, ever. While it doesn't feature the greatest tactical RPG battle system (an honor that belongs to Ogre Battle or Bahamut Lagoon, I can't decide which), it still has a good one. I'm psyched for the PSP remake, as it just adds more great stuff to an already great game.
03) Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal (PC) - Going along with the "you are not the center of the universe" theme is BG2. You're not doing BioWare a favor by buying this game. They're doing you a favor by allowing you to own it. This is the epitome of the nonlinear RPG genre here, folks, and it's probably the most replayable RPG i've ever seen. Create your own character and immerse yourself in the world, gaining allies and traveling companions (ranging from the goody-goody paladin Keldorn to the ranger Minsc and his miniature giant space hamster to the scheming mage Edwin) while progressing through the excellent story while being as good, neutral or evil as you please. Having one of the most badass antagonists ever (Irenicus) doesn't hurt, either.
02) Starcraft: Brood War (PC) - You may have noticed that I rank replayability in a game fairly high. That's one of the many reasons why this one's in the second spot - I started playing this a good six or seven years ago, and I still find this game to be fresh and interesting to this very day. In fact, i'm probably gonna go play a match on Battle.net after i'm done with this. This, boys and girls, is the perfectly-balanced pinnacle of RTS and multiplayer perfection. There's a reason why this game is practically a national sport in South Korea. I can honestly almost see why Blizzard hasn't released a Starcraft II after all these years - I mean, where do you go from here?
But we still deserve an SC2, if only to further and resolve the awesome single-player story. All sorts of colorful characters, like Jim Raynor, Zeratul, and the self-described "Queen Bitch of the Universe" Kerrigan, make the single-player mode at least worthwhile, and quite frankly, SC fans the world over deserve to find out what happens to them all.
01) Final Fantasy VI (SNES) - Dum, dum, da dum! Number one is revealed! This one has been my favorite game ever since my first run-through. As my first traditional RPG (Secret of Mana isn't really "traditional", or wasn't back then), it may just be nostalgia in the works, but no other game has made me feel as enthralled as FF6 has. Everything just works - characters, music, story, gameplay, graphics, everything. I still get a blast every time I take the Blackjack into the air and the first few notes of the airship music kick in. And, of course, there's Kefka, which I won't go into because everybody knows how much ass he kicks. Suffice to say that he makes Sephiroth look like a pansy little momma's boy. So, yeah, in my oh-so-humble opinion, FF6 is what all other console RPGs wish they could be. The end.
Might as well just put out some honorable mentions...
- Star Fox (SNES)
- Star Fox 64 (N64)
- Mario Kart 64 (N64)
- Chrono Cross (PSX)
- Secret of Mana (SNES)
- Counter Strike (PC)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
- Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting (Arcade)
- Metal Slug X/Metal Slug 3 (Arcade)
- Ogre Battle (SNES)
- Pokemon Red/Blue (GB)
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