Your five favorite games of all time?

[Ted4242]

1) Tecmo Super Bowl (NES)
When it came out it was a game way ahead of it's time. TSB still holds up pretty well, and still has a cult following, because of the individual qualities of the players and some of the quirky bugs in the game.

2) Tecmo Bowl (NES)
There's a play with the Giants, I think it's the second pass play where Mark Bavaro runs a square out pattern. If you throw just when he makes his break, there is no defense for it. Combined with LT's ability to block every kick attempt = pwning. I think I lost twice in probably a hundred HU matches in college, cuz' I'd lose focus and clown my opponent too much.

I'm really dating myself here, but if I spent half as much time studying in high school/college/grad school as I did playing Tecmo Bowl/Tecmo Super Bowl, I'd be...not as dumb.

3) Mortal Kombat (Arcade)
Strangely I was never that good at this one, even though I played it all the time when I was in grad school in Berekeley. I guess I didn't read the cheat book.

4) GTA Vice City (PS2)

5) Pac-Man
Ahhh...how could I forget the game that started me on the path to a totally wasted youth?

Honorable Mention: NFL Blitz 1999 (PS1), NBA Jams (SEGA), NCAA Football 98'(SEGA), Super Mario Bros (NES)

After writing this, I realize how obsessive-compulsive I really can be. Back in the day, I'd play a game for freaking months at a time until I was just crushing the sh*t out of it. For no specific reason, I'd destroy the game over and over and over again, until I found something else, then move on.

The games were fun and all but, what a freaking waste! If I had played poker then or done *anything* else even remotely constructive I'd be much better off today. Meh.

[FCBLComish]

Starbird, Are you Andrew or Robert? I went to college with the brother of one or the other of you, a long time ago (University of Chicago). I was given a copy of the original game for the Apple qand it was one of my favorites. I think I still have the graph paper maps that I made when I played it. The room on level 4 before the elevator was one of the toughest battles I could remember. I lost many good characters in that room.

[Taborcarn]

When listing a particular game in a series that iteration is my favorite, but the whole series could probably go in that slot.

5) Shining Force II
4) Final Fantasy 6
3) Marvel vs Capcom 2 (Dreamcast)
2) Unreal Tournament
1) Super Smash Bros. Melee

I also have to give special consideration to the Lunar series on Sega CD (the PS versions didn't feel as good to me) and Day of the Tentacle/Sam & Max Hit the Road/Monkey Island/pretty much any LucasArts adventure game.

Splinter Cell(Xbox)
NBA 2K2(Dreamcast)
GTA Vice City(Xbox)
Sega MLB 2K2(Xbox)
Reality Porn(Xbox)

[NotFadeAway]

My all time favorite video game is probably Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. After that it's Madden (doesn't really matter what year.)
For the old time games I'd say The Legend of Zelda (does that make me old?) and the old Super Nintendo game Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball (or whatever it was officially called; we always just called it Griffey.)

[catalyst]

Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Halo
Halo II
Goldeneye
Rogue Spear

[Dudd]

I'm sad at only one mention of Deus Ex in this thread.

[JuntMonkey]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sad at only one mention of Deus Ex in this thread.

[/ QUOTE ]

I win!

[Dazarath]

This is a hard one. I would probably have to include one of the SSB's (probably SSBM), a Mario game (probably Super Mario World), maybe Diablo II (since I spent so much damn time playing that game), and a couple RPGs (maybe FF7 and Lufia II). Oh yeah, can't forget Zelda. I think I'd put down OOT.

[ianlippert]

Its hard to narrow to just 5, but heres the list I came up:

5) Call of Duty 2

No FPS has been able to touch the frenetic chaotic action that the Call of Duty series consistently delivers. When people rave about Halo, Halflife, or FEAR, I always wonder 'have you never played Call of Duty 2?'. There are so many times in that game when the germans are coming at you from every direction, you have no idea whats going on, half your squad is getting chewed up, and you are always an inch away from stepping into a potatoe masher. I know its only a video game, but Call of Duty 2 really gave me an appreciation for what the veterans of WW2 went though.

4) Fallout 2

Not only does this game have a great character creation system, deep open ended quests, a fun and strategic combat system, but the developers did a fantastic job of recreating a believable post apocalyptic landscape. Whether its rival gangs trying to kill each other, drug addicts roaming the street, or feral children trying to claw your face off, Fallout 2 really painted a picture of devastation and hopelessness that would exists after a nuclear war. Luckily the game also had a great sense of humor so it wasnt completely depressing.

3) Oblivion

I made a post in the current Oblivion thread, but basically oblivion is the most open ended RPG I've ever played. It steps up a couple of notches over Morrowind by actually putting the fun back into the game. Where Morrwind world was filled with lifeless pushbot NPCs, Oblivions world is filled with actual characters that have their own lives. They wont stand around waiting for you to come activate their quest scripts, if they need you they will come find you.

2) Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The zelda series is such a great mix of exploration, puzzle solving, fast paced combat, and story telling and ocarina of time is a perfect translation of Link to the Past into 3d. Gamespot gave this game a 10 and its one of the few games that deserves it. This game is worth playing for the mind numbing water temple alone.

1) Mario 64

Although this game has started to show it age, Mario 64 was a huge leap in 3d platforming back in its day. It basically did for 3d platforming what Super Mario Bros did for 2d platforming, and like its predecessor every platformer since has followed its format in someway or another. Although there had been a few platformers before this, it was the analog stick that allowed the genre to get away from the clunky and unresposive Doom styled control and open up the genre to the fast paced and fluid analog control. It wasnt long before console manufacturers and game developers were copying everything that Nintendo and Miyamoto accomplished with this game.