My Top 10 Video Games of All Time

I felt compelled today to write my list of best games ever.. perhaps out of a desire for personal clarity in the matter. This is not meant to be for everyone--just me. So bite me. :P

10. Legend Of Zelda: Link To The Past (SNES)

I liken this game to an addicting flash game, because no matter how many times I beat the same dungeons, it's still run to return to. The puzzles demand to be solved each time instead of ignored or sped through.

9. Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA (N64 version)

I've probably spent more hours playing this game than any other game *ever*. My friend Brian and I would stay up to 1-2 (that was extra late back in elementary school) unlocking everything and flying off of ramps with hypo-lunar gravity. Good times.

8. The Halo Series (the ones on the original XBOX)

Before I continue, I must note I'm not a fanboy. I don't care about the lore of the game and neither am I super competitive when it comes to multiplayer matches. The real fun I found in the games were in multiplayer co-op sessions. Riding in the back of a warthog or dogfighting alongside a buddy in ghosts against the Legendary campaign was epic in that Halo way.

*here comes the Blizzard block*

7. Starcraft (PC)
It wasn't until I was older and more of a refined gamer that I possessed the "micro" necessary to begin to grasp the strategic concepts, and even still at any multi-player gathering I will get my rear end handed to me, bubbling in a hearty stew of zerglings. (Terrans are easy.) But when you do garner the skill and patience necessary to breed/warp/build an army, the satisfaction of a zerg-rush/carrier slam/battleship nuke-fest is unmatched (for now, until starcraft 2 comes out.)

6. Maplestory (PC)

I took the most flak for enjoying the heck out of this game (though my level 40 wizard paled in comparison to a pixel of the shadows of some of the 100+'s in the game) but I will always stand behind it. Maplestory is the only game I know to have successfully pulled off creating a massive, expansive (albeit literally linear) RPG world in only two dimensions. Literally--the thing is a side-scrolling MMORPG. I didn't necessarily like the grinding or the quests (WOW does it better, naturally) but the art style combined with the satisfying hack 'n slash of 2d shooters/fighters incorporating the massive community really made it fun.

5. Counterstrike 1.6 (PC)

When Half-Life 2 released for the PC, I had recently began to play the first one, and all its mods. The culture behind this game is the direct descendant of the el33t shooter gods and the perpetual n00bs of the Quake & Unreal day and age, so needless to say my vocabulary expanded a fair bit while playing. The execution of some of the first modern FPS gameplay and team dynamics always brought me back, from pub servers to clan play.

4. Final Fantasy VII (PSX)

For those of you that know me you might be wondering: "Ryan, you talk about this game ALL THE TIME! Why isn't it at the top of your list?" While the story of this game, to me, is top notch and engaging (WHY, AERIS?!) I like games that are fun to play all the way through, and FFVII had it's lulls and grindfests. There was one game that did it better...

3. Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Compared to the newer graphics and cinematic elements of FFVII, this game doesn't come close. But the story is competitive, longer, equally engaging and more expansive. The gameplay was more fun to me in general and since the storyline became less and less linear as it progressed, you had options. Combat was simple, but not to the point where it's numbing.

2. Tribes 2 (PC)

This largely unheard of FPS was the pinnacle of my gaming skill, and the first PC fps I ever played. I downloaded the demo when I was 12 years old, played a few matches with bots and other demo-users and realized "This game might actually be worth three week's allowances!" I quickly fell in love with the environments (all 6 landscape types--woo) and custom game modes/level designs found online. I could go on for pages about this game, but I'll give you one point for which I will never forget this game. 64 player CTF on a map spanning literal miles of terrain, which can only be traversed by transports operated by sentient, human players evading bombers and shrike fighter ships, ejecting from the ship (which has about 3 missles locked on at this point) dodging tron-style exploding blue frisbees on your approach to the other teams flag, only to get zapped up the butt by a shocklance (an electric knife, effectively.)

1. ...Kirby Super Star! (SNES)

I'm just a sucker for the pink one. This game was fun, is fun, and will always be just as fun if not more so no matter how much I play it. Perhaps the taste was acquired but no platformer measures up.

1a. Super Smash Brothers Brawl

Just goes without saying.