My Favorite Games of All Time (10-1)

10. Ratchet and Clank

Picking one game in the series was the biggest challenge for me, since I’ve played nearly every game in the series and loved each and every one. I beat the original game multiple times on PS2 when I was younger, but when the remaster came out for PS4 last year I played through it three and a half times to be able to get the platinum trophy. You would think after beating it over and over again I would be bored, but I was actually sad that I had nothing left to do. This game has fantastic gun play, platforming, puzzle challenges, and there is not a single thing that I can say I dislike about it. I’m really hoping that the developer Insomniac decides to not only remaster the rest of the games in the series, but to make new iterations as well.

9. Horizon Zero Dawn

Horizon made me remember why I love video games. Every single minute in this game for me was filled with fun, happiness and wonder. This was actually the very first game I ever reviewed, and man I probably shouldn’t have started with such a great game, because it really can’t get much better than that. Looking back on my time with the game I remember roaming the world and finding new a unique creatures, and spending time learning how they act, and what their weaknesses are. I remember going into my first cauldron and spinning in circles, looking at this new space and figuring out the puzzles I needed to complete to get to the end. Lastly I remember caring about what happens next. Gameplay is usually what matters more to me than story in a game, but Horizon had stunning examples of both. I wonder if years from now this will be even higher up my list, because I know nostalgia plays a huge role in my list, and this still cracked its way into my top 10.

8. The Last of Us

The emotions that I felt throughout this game made me realise how great The Last of US was. From the shock and sadness of losing your daughter in the first mission, to the fear of the infected enemies roaming the dark hallways that you are forced to traverse, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I played the game. All of this being as emotional as it was, I will always remember the sequence of events that led to the death of Sam, a child we cross paths with, followed by the suicide of his older brother, realizing he has nothing left to live for. Often times, you think of a game being good because it’s fun, but this game wasn’t fun in that sense. The Last of Us was moving, emotional, and told a story that made you debate your sense or what’s right and what’s wrong. One of the most surprising things to me after completing the game was the fact that many people claim that in the end you realise that Joel (the main character that you control) was a selfish and evil person. I, on the other hand, left the game thinking that if I was him I would have done the exact same thing. The characters you meet in the end didn’t show that they could be trusted, and they wanted to kill this girl you care for to perform research with no guarantee of success. Sounds to me like he would be a selfish psychopathic character if he let them do this, but hey, to each their own.

7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Picking up prostitutes and then killing them to get your money back… That’s what my mom thinks of when she hears Grand Theft Auto. To me though, the series represents a satirical representation of the American dream. Vice City remains my favorite of the series, and this is likely because it was my first. That being said though, there is a ton about this game that I like more than any of the others for valid reasons. The soundtrack is perfect. Getting into the car at the start of the game and hearing Billy Jean by Michael Jackson set the tone of the game, as you run people over and shoot out your window, but you can’t help but to bop your head to the beat of the song. I’m sure going back to play the game now would be difficult, but at the time the controls were amazing. I could hit my targets with relative ease, and driving around the city was fun on its own. The map of Vice City was also fantastic. It was large enough to feel like a true open world, but was small enough that I wasn’t mad about having to drive for an hour to get to the other end of the map for a mission. Finally the missions and story was mind-blowing to me. Having seen the movie Scarface since then, I realize that it wasn’t super original, but even aside from its eerie similarity to the movie, all of the other side quests and separate storylines were fun and interesting. The series still remains one of my favorites, playing every title in the series and loving every moment, but every time I play a GTA game, I will remember getting into that car and bopping along to Billy Jean.

6. Mario Kart 64

Welcome to Mario Kart! The game was released 22 years ago, and I can remember the starting screen like I watched the game boot up yesterday. Mario Kart 64 doesn’t have a ton of circuits or tracks, doesn’t have a ton of characters, and doesn’t have a ton of game modes. Did that matter to me as a kid? Not in the slightest. I must have spent hundreds of hours over my life playing Mario Kart 64, replaying the same maps over and over, perfecting them. No matter how good you think you are though, there is always that friend or family member who can beat you. Whether they sit in the back of the field to get better items, waiting to strike you with a lightning bolt so that you can’t make the jump in Wario Stadium, or pick up mushrooms so that they can boost into the shortcut at Koopa Troopa Beach, skill certainly isn’t the only factor at play. Strategy and mind games played a key role in the game, and that’s what made it so competitive. People who’ve played the game will tell you that friendships can be lost over Mario Kart, but on the other hand having these fun times with friends can give you something to bond over for the rest of your lives.

5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

There’s not many games I would spend $120 to purchase a remaster for, but the proof is in the pudding on this one. I purchased COD: Infinite warfare’s deluxe edition for this price and played it for approximately 15 minutes, and was happy with my purchase. The reason is because the game came with the remaster of COD4: Modern Warfare. This game is the epitome of online gaming to me. The single player was cool, sure, but the online aspect is what truly makes this game something special. From my humble beginnings of being sent out through the middle of the map as cannon fodder to lure out the enemies so that my more skilled teammates could find and kill them all, to being the last man standing in a game of Search and Destroy against 6 opponents only to come out victorious, the game was fun from start to finish. I’m not going to sugar coat it, I’ve gotten angry with the game, and thrown a controller or two when I was sure I had the drop on an opponent and somehow I was the one who died, but this just shows the level of care I have for the game.

4. Super Smash Bros (N64)

Much like Mario Kart, this is a game with few characters, few maps, and few game modes, but the gameplay was second to none. My brother and I grew up playing this, training together so that when our friends would come over, we would be the best of the bunch. Both of us played as Kirby (him always red, me always blue) and we would learn timing of attacks, combos and weaknesses to defend ourselves against. I’ve played Super Smash Bros Melee, Super Smash for Wii U, and on 3DS, but to me they all only hope to shine a candle to the greatness that is the original Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 64. While I do appreciate the amount of characters and levels of the new games, I think having those few characters allowed us to really get to know every single move of each character, and every platform of each map along with the safest and quickest ways around them. I still like to play this game with my brother when we both go to our parents’ house, and neither of us has lost a step. The matches are competitive and extremely fun, and it makes us feel like kids all over again.

3. Halo 3

When my brother and I finally saved up enough money to buy an XBOX 360, we had to choose one game to buy. We chose correctly. This game had it all. The story mode could be played alone or with friends, and is one of my favorite stories in video game history. Hours of brilliant gameplay and storytelling led to the most epic final mission I’ve played still to this day. Driving away from explosions on your warthog, crushing scattering enemies along your path as you listen to the perfect soundtrack is burned into my brain as though I played through it a million times. After all of this, the competitive multiplayer aspect both online and split screen were fantastic. My brother and I would sit on the couch and play together online, working together to defeat our enemies, and I think this bonding time really makes this game one of my favorite memories, not just in terms of video games.

2. Pokémon Blue

Pokémon was a true phenomenon that changed my life. I watched the cartoon, I collected the cards, and boy did I ever play that game a lot. At the time I probably could have named all 151 Pokémon off the top of my head, told you what character type they were, and what they were strong or weak against. I knew the rare candy glitch, I knew my way around the map, and I was certain I could hand anyone their ass in a duel. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one like this, and I had my ass handed to me a couple times when we had a gamelink duel at Kool Kards Heaven, but be that as it may, I had fun! In the game, traversing the vast world to find new Pokémon to complete my collection was an addiction. I had to catch them all, and be the very best like no one ever was.

1. Super Mario World

When trying to come up with a ranking for this list, this was a clear number one for me. The gameplay itself gives it a compelling enough reason to be my favorite, but when you add the nostalgia and memories I have of playing with my dad and brother, this one takes the cake. This was the first video game I ever laid my eyes on, and o boy was I lucky to start off here. The concept of the game is so simple: go from the left of the screen to the right, make it to the end and free the princess who was captured by the bad guy. You can run, and you can jump, and if you find a special block you can shoot fireballs or even fly, but that’s it. The simplicity of the game allowed me as just a young kid to understand what was going on, and to be able to keep up with my dad and older brother. Despite how simple the game was, each level was unique and forced you to think about new ways to reach the end, and some even had multiple paths to get there. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had the joy of playing Super Mario World, and just thinking about it is making me debate rushing over to my parents to find the old Super Nintendo system and plugging it in to play right this second.

I love video games. They let me escape, they let me be creative, and they tell amazing stories. These are just a few of the games that I really enjoyed, and the list could go on and on from here with fantastic games like Journey, Flower, Tetris, even Candy Crush and more. I hope this list changes years down the road, because that would mean that games are still to come that can make me feel the emotions that run through my brain when I think of the ones on this list. That being said, even if games don’t get any better than these, but are just as good, I will be a happy gamer for the rest of my days.