The Hell?

Okay...I remember complaining about a youtube video on the internet, where a guy claims that Castlevania Symphony of the Night wasn't as good as Crash Bandicoot 2.

I also remember saying to Amber that, "Symphony of the Night is my second favorite game of all time, seconded only by Chrono Trigger."

I remember Amber then asking, "So what's your 7th favorite?"

That forced me to make a top ten list...which spilled over into a top 20 list...then I realized that I'd forgotten 'Torment'...and things got a little hazy after that...

The next thing I knew, I had a list of my hundred favorite games of all time, in no particular order (besides Symphony of the Night as 2nd best, and Chrono Trigger as best of all time).

So here it is! I'll probably put them in order at some point. Please feel free to complain about glaring omissions and insane additions. Hey, I never said they had broad appeal. They're just MY favorite. Oh, and don't bother mentioning any Zelda game that wasn't on the NES, SNES, or game boy. With the exception of Wind Waker (which would have made the top 200, but not top 100) they all suck.

I've added a few explanations, to the less obvious choices. You may also notice some games have their sequels listed in the same spot. There's really no point listing every game in the series if the games are nearly identical. I only broke them down if there was significant differences between them.

Here we go:


Silent Hill 4 (very underrated game, with an admittedly crumby battle system, but a nerve shatteringly scary and disturbing plot)

Final Fantasy 1 (the hardest Final Fantasy game ever, and a lot of old school fun)

Ogre Battle (the depth in this game is nothing short of ridiculous)

Dr. Mario

Tetris

Katamari Damancy 1&2 (literally the most unique game ever made)

Sam & Max Season 1&2 (it just came out on Wii. Pick it up, it's a great bargain)

Shadowrun for SNES (the Genesis version was deeper, but this one was a lot more fun)

Wonder Boy 3: Dragon's Curse (I literally played this every weekend for two years)

Dragon's Lair (it's an arcade game that's a cartoon! The deaths are still hilarious)

Star Wars Arcade game (old) (a lot of old school shoot em up fun)

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade game (new) (a lot better than any of the new movies

Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Sonic and Knuckles (it's rare when every game in the series is great)

Myst

Psychonauts (the greatest game you've never played)

Final Fight for the Arcade (the quintessential 'beat em up' game)

Street Fighter 2

Monkey Island 1&2 (the second is better, but they're both solid gold)

Fallout 1 & 2

Sanitarium (scientifically proven to give cousins nightmares)

Super Metroid (before 'Metroid Prime' ruined the franchise)

Wii Sports (the best selling video game of all time)

Super Mario Kart (Toad all the way!)

Super Mario Brothers 2 (DITTO!)

Quest for Glory 1 & 2 (the first still makes me laugh. Did you hit on the centaur girl? I did. ^_^)

Faxanadu (another highly underrated game. It's only flaw was a pathetic final boss)

Punch-out (KING HIPPO MUST DIE!)

Robot Arena 2 (greatest 'homemade fighting robots' game ever. The design feature is second to none)

Curse of Monkey Island (different enough from the other Monkey Island games to get its own line. It also featured actual speaking parts, and all the old characters)

Silent Hill 1 (this game won't just scare you, it will fuck you up for life)

TMNT Arcade game (you have to play it in the arcade with 3 friends to really appreciate this gem. Dibs on Donatello!)

Chrono Trigger

Castlevania Symphony of the Night

Silent Hill 2 (screw the mediocre combat, this game has voice acting and writing worthy of an Oscar. Pyramid Head also gains instant immortality by...well...okay, let's just not go into what he did in this game)

Legend of Zelda 2 (better than Zelda 1. There, I said it. I wouldn't take it back either)

Legend of Zelda 1 (still a fantastic game)

WWF Wrestlefest for the Arcade (the greatest Wrestling game of all time, mostly because it perfectly captures the hokey, silly fun of the psuedo-sport)

Mega man 1 & 2 (2 was better than 1, but both were great)

Fallout 3

Persona 3 (I've clocked at least 80 hours in this game, and I'm still not finished yet. I love this AMAZINGLY 'Japanese' RPG.

Disgea 1 & 2 (We made the list, DOOD!)

Final Fantasy 6 (the second best RPG of all time, thanks to immensely likable characters and a great story...you hear that FF7-12? STORY!)

Link to the Past (better than Zelda 1. There I said it, and I wouldn't take it back.)

Bully (many games are more in depth and refined, but very few are as fun. Don't get the Wii version though, the controls suck)

Parappa the Rappa and Um Jamer Lami (Remember: Kick, punch...it's all in the mind.)

X-men arcade game (Not quite as fun as the ninja turtles, but still a blast. Dibs on Nightcrawler!)

Castlevania 2 (disturbing enough to rival any Silent Hill game)

Guitar Hero 1 & 2

The Guardian Legend for the NES (find the rom and PLAY THIS GAME! Try not to think about her 'transformations' too much. It'll hurt your head)

Super Punch Out (where's King Hippo?!!! More balanced and fun than the first, but I'm honestly missing the King)

Elebits (because we WANT to be able to slam dressers against the wall)

Koudelka (the easily overlooked survival horror/RPG that nobody besides me played. The sequel, 'Shadow Hearts' was a lot more popular, but I prefer the original)

Mass Effect (loses steam about halfway through, but a great game regardless)

Bioshock

Starship Titanic (a bit tedious, but that's part of the fun in this epic, beautiful point and click game)

Super Mario World (how fast can you beat it from start to finish? My best time is somewhere around 10-12 minutes)

Deus ex

Half life 2

Resident Evil 4

Altered Beast (short, and nearly impossible on the home systems, but very enjoyable)

Earthbound

Blaster Master (no game has ever needed a save/password feature more than this one, but thanks to Roms and save state, that problem is over)

Mega Man Legends 1, 2, and the Misadventures of Tronne Bonne (love these games!)

Link's Awakening for gameboy (better than...ah, you know the drill. Loved the story)

Nightshade (An adventure/action/comedy/point and click superhero Sim on the NES. Instead of lives, every time you get knocked out, you get placed in slow moving trap by the villain, who then leaves the room. If you figure it out, you get to go on.)

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (fun...but not as good as I remember, especially the 2nd one, but better than Neverwinter Nights)

Lego Star Wars series (it's about time Star Wars got its sense of humor back)

Max Payne 1 & 2 (action noir at its finest)

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Earthworm Jim 1 & 2 (Jim's epic battle with Bob the Goldfish still cracks me up)

Breath of Fire (the first was the best)

Donkey Kong Country (ditto)

Harvest Moon (dibs on the bar wench!)

Contra (^ ^ V V < > < > B A START)

Super Mario Brothers 1

Gauntlet 1 & 2 (the Wizard indeed needs food badly)

Bad Mojo (as disturbing as it is unique. Kafka would be proud)

Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey (the first was actually quite good, and strangely touching)

Grand Theft Auto 3 (none of the sequels are as fun as this one)

Twisted Metal 2 (have I been saying 'ditto' a lot?)

Resident Evil: The Director's Cut and Resident Evil 2 (it's a wooden door and you have a shotgun. Screw the helmet key!)

X-men Legends (possibly the best superhero game of all time)

Simpsons: Hit and Run (even more fun than GTA3)

Tecmo bowl (you don't have to be into fantasy sports to love this game)

Torment (to change the nature of a man...)

Soul Calibur 2 (arcade)

Mortal Kombat 2 (everything went downhill after the 'run' button got included in MK3)

Actraiser (I dare you to find a more entertaining 'god' Sim)

Adventures of Lolo 1&2 (Two great, if somewhat forgotten, puzzle games. Lolo 1 also has the best final battle in gaming history)

Rampage World Tour (the re-make was better than the original)

Knights of the Old Republic (a little slow to start, but worth it)

Lufia 2 (DEKAR IS THE MAN!)

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (another great 'old school' wrestling game)

Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 (the gameplay wasn't quite as good as the cut scenes, but when you're fighting Cerberus alongside Donald and Goofy, who cares?

Parasite Eve (a fantastic game, but a pitiful sequel cut this series short...you can't even see anything in that dang shower scene...)

Dega Vu (Assault, kidnapping and murder? Not if you're a detective it isn't!)

Silent Hill 3 (the improved gameplay made up for the weaker story)

Final Fantasy 4 (If I could only have one super power, it'd be to be able to jump that high)

Phoenix Wright 1 & 2 (OBJECTION! Your honor, that VGcats cartoon was horribly...on second thought, it was more or less accurate)

River City Ransom (the re-make irons out the bugs, but even with bugs, you'll have nearly endless fun beating the living crap out of the gangs while downing 10 burgers in a row, buying new shoes, and reading books called 'Acro Circus'. For more details, look up the independent comedy 'River City Rumble' ^_^)


Whew! That's a lot! Which is best???

Oh yeah, I already said it was Chrono Trigger.

Well I wonder which is second...

Damn it, I already revealed it was Symphony of the Night.

Way to kill the suspense, Max.

Oh well, tune in soon for the anti-climax!