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[Doczu]

1. Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube version); the best of the best. Even though it was no classical RE that i loved and adored it made a great transition from a classic survival horror game to a action pumped horror title.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3; a perfect blend of stealth, action and storytelling. While the second one is a typical sequel, the third one is much more fresh and better with all the changes it brought to the series.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker; oh boy, that was a controversial game when it came out. But as time passed by, everyone started to love it. Portraying Zelda as more than just a simple princess, Ganondorf was shown to be more than a generic bad dude.
4. Silent Hill 3; the story sequel to the original Silent Hill is a true masterpiece; great scares, graphics and a story that makes you feel bad untill the very end. The last great Silent Hill game
5. Metroid Prime; oh boy, Nintendo did it again! They brought a classic IP and threw it right in a 3D world and it worked!
6. Halo: Combat Evolved; Although Goldeneye was the first FPS game that has shown it is possible to play these games on a gamepad and have a blast in multiplayer, Halo did everything better. A grand campaign, co-op, multiplayer.
7. Resident Evil: Remake; the perfect remake, which after 13 years looks as good as when it released. A perfect blend of classic horror, with a few twists to the gameplay and mechanics make this the best Resident Evil game ever!
8. Advance Wars 2; the perfect sequel to the best turn-based strategy on the go! Now with more maps, units, CO's and better music! Yellow Comet ftw!
9. Shenmue 1; Although i list the first one, you really should play the sequel also. You can't play the first one and then drop out on the second. Mentioned because of the one-of-a-kind gameplay and story.
10. Burnout 3: Takedown; the best arcade racer of that generation. The sense of speed, great car destruction and music pumping you with adrenaline makes you want to play it from the beginning till the end in one time

honorable mentions:
x.Half Life 2; a great sequel to one of the best PC fps games ever; the Source engine showed things that were deemed impossible back then with great facial expresions and physics no other game had; thank you Gaben

 

[MrChom]

1. Halo; A great FPS, it felt very fresh. Colourful, challenging, and satisfyingly pleasant to control with a pad. It redefined the console FPS as Goldeneye did before it.
2. Knights of the Old Republic; A stunning RPG and one I've played so many times and still not seen everything.
3. Smash Brothers Melee; The best multiplayer fighter of the generation. The Kirby Fountain of Dreams music stands apart from most other video game tunes even today.
4. Tales of Symphonia; Another brilliant RPG. Funny, engaging, and above all fun to play. Maybe not technically advanced but well worth the time you put in.
5. Fable; I paid no attention to this before release so what I got was a charming and quirky action RPG. A little short maybe but possibly the best iteration of the series.
6. Medieval: Total War; War on a scale nothing else replicates, and yet with a simplicity it seems to be attempting to escape these days. Kingdoms rose and fell at my command. Thousands died holding barren strips of land so that my kingdom could prosper.
7. Warcraft 3; Hands down one of the best small scale RTSs I've ever played. Great story, simple to learn, and with Frozen Throne a great multiplayer game.
8. GTA San Andreas; Despite the hip hop theme my favourite GTA of all.
9. F-Zero GX; Eye blistering pace, music that should be turned up full, and glorious looks. If only Nintendo would put it on the eShop for WiiU
10. Super Monkey Ball: Fun alone, better in multiplayer. I've lost count of the amount of time we spent on the Hard targets, and also on trying to complete Expert mode.

Honourablte Mentions:

x. Mario Kart Double Dash!!
x. Dawn of War
x. Max Payne
x. Fire Pro Wrestling D
x. Rogue Leader
x. NHL Hitz Pro
x. Serious Sam
x. Civ 4
x. Timesplitters 2
x. Soul Calibur 3
x. Beyond Good & Evil
x. Neverwinter Nights
x. World of Warcraft
x. Fahrenheit

 

[AniHawk]

4. Shenmue 1&2 i count this as a single game. You can't play the first one and then drop out on the second. Mentioned because of the one-of-a-kind gameplay and story.

i didn't mention this in the rules, because i hadn't considered this, but if someone does this, then i will list out the games in the series in the order they were released, and bump the other games down on their list.

basically: please don't do this.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Need some more votes for ROLLERCOASTER TYCOON 2

 

[EdLin]

It also had the Gamecube, which actually had a stronger software library than the Playstation 2.

Spoiler

Oh it's true, it's damn true.

And Xbox had Halo! And... Halo!

This top 10 is going to be impossible to create.

It looks like we started a console war thread, I didn't mean to do that. I love GameCube games, but it'd be comparatively easy to make a top ten for those, though all ten of them would be top notch no doubt. The PS2 has a very large library of good games, and that's what I was talking about, you'll be leaving tons of GOTYs off of any list.

 

[Game4life]

Everytime I see a post from someone I feel like changing my list. Just goes to show what a generation it was. Too many great games.

 

[Anth0ny]

It looks like we started a console war thread, I didn't mean to do that. I love GameCube games, but it'd be comparatively easy to make a top ten for those, though all ten of them would be top notch no doubt. The PS2 has a very large library of good games, and that's what I was talking about, you'll be leaving tons of GOTYs off of any list.

No wars here! It's all love. A fun discussion as long as we aren't talking shit about any consoles.

<3 PS2 and GC


Even the Xbox library is solid if you bring in multiplatform games!

 

[BrokenIcarus]

Okay here we go!

1. Final Fantasy X ; Best RPG of all time. Ending still has me in tears.
2. Metal Gear Solid 2 ; Post-modern masterpiece in glorious Kojima fashion.
3. Kingdom Hearts 2 ; Amazing follow-up to a great original Disney-Square mashup.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3; Some really amazing moments in this game, and to many the best MGS in the series.
5. Shadow Of The Colossus; Team ICOs Masterpiece! A huge fascinating world inhabited only by colossi.
6. Persona 4; Only played this recently, but definitely still holds up as one the best. Combines really fun social interactions with an amazing combat system.
7. Soul Calibur 2; Best fighting game of all time. Talim is GOAT.
8. Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker; One of the most beautiful games of all time, made a thread about it just a few weeks ago.
9. Ratchet & Clank 3; Best Action Platformer of the era, this one did everything right for the first time and was the base for the next few titles.
10. Sly 2; Contrasts the R&C games perfectly imo. Some pretty cool stealth elements and some fun plot twists in the Story as well as the addition of more playable characters make this game my favourite of the series.

Honorable mentions:
11. SSX 3; Amazing sports game by EA. Those were the times!
12. Dynasty Warriors 3; Spent tons of hours in this one just leveling up and unlocking new characters, was amazing at the time with so many enemies on screen and the ability to partner up with split screen co-op (I miss this the most!)

 

[timetokill]

I have my list down to 15, but it is going to be hell to cut it to 10.
I'm definitely happy that we have to cut to 10, though.

 

[AngryMoth]

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andres ; Simply the most fun I had with a game this generation. So much crazy stuff packed into this game, great characters, great soundtrack, endless ways to entertain yourself. The gameplay...well I remember it being good. It may have recently come to my attention that it holds up terribly but going to conveniently ignore that, this is a nostalgia pick! At the time there was nothing better.
2. Shadow of the Colossus : Some of the best boss fights ever, wonderful atmosphere and minimalist storytelling, and an incredible score to boot.
3. God of War 2 : Best game in the series. Probably the most technically impressive game on ps2, solid core combat, really good puzzle design which is rare in a game of this ilk, and of course spectacular set piece moments.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; Only played this for the first time a few years ago and it holds up really well. While I may appreciate 2 more as a piece of art, 3 is the game I actually want to play. That song. Those boss fights. That ending...
5. Ratchet and Clank 3 ; Probably the pinnacle of one of my favourite series. Brilliant action platforming experience, levelling up weapons were was great, fantastic new game plus mode, best villain in the series.
6. Sly 3 ; Tough to pick which game to include since I love all of them but I've gone 3 since I liked the move to a series of small open worlds as opposed to the linear levels of the previous games. Love the look and character of the series and lots of lovely platforming goodness.
7. Grand Turismo 4 ; First sim racer I got into and boy was I hooked on this for a long time. The career mode was very designed, unlike some of the other entries in the series, and the sheer variety of racing offered was amazing.
8. Pokemon Emerald ; Gen 3 is not my favourite but at the end of the day it was still Pokemon, I must have put 150 hours plus into emerald.
9. Rayman 2: The Great Escape ; Haven't played this in like a decade but saw it mentioned and have to put it down because I remember having such a great time with it.
10. James Bond 007: Nightfire ; Kind of a weird pick maybe, but I had spectacular fun playing the multiplayer of this game with my friends.. Playing the same map over and over, trying to hit eachother with guided rockets....those were the days! .And from what I recall the campaign wasn't half bad either.

x. Medievil: total war
x. Super Smash Bros. Mele,
x. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

 

[Doczu]

i didn't mention this in the rules, because i hadn't considered this, but if someone does this, then i will list out the games in the series in the order they were released, and bump the other games down on their list.

basically: please don't do this.

Ok, changed it to the first one of the series.

edit: last adjusment made. As Shenmue 1 alone isn't worthy of being so high, i threw it lower and added a other game.

 

[Dahbomb]

Everytime I see a post from someone I feel like changing my list. Just goes to show what a generation it was. Too many great games.

Same here but I am sticking to my list.

Sad to see no DMC votes thus far though...

 

[Game4life]

Same here but I am sticking to my list.

Sad to see no DMC votes thus far though...

I will def be putting DMC3 in my list. Just dont know the number.

 

[Jotamide]

Top 10:

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee: Growing up without much money, I played this game for 3 years almost exclusively every weekend with a neighbor. Probably among my best gaming memories from my childhood. The fact that I still play this with friends from time to time is a testament to how brilliant Melee is.
2. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: My third CV and by far the most memorable. Everything about this game is rock solid. I remember the exact moment that I found out about the plot twist, my little head was blown. With Aria I think I became a CV (and Michiru Yamane) fan for life.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: I got a GC and this game for my 14th bday, played it taking turns with some friends taking turns all night. Beat it in a month and enjoyed every second of it. The art style was and still is gorgeous today. The boldest Zelda since MM.
4. Mega Man Zero 2: The natural progression of the X formula. Fast paced, lots of powerups, cool boss battles. This game is what all other platformers should aspire to be. It has aged like fine wine.
5. Metroid Zero Mission: One of the best remakes of all time. Takes everything what made Metroid stood out from its contemporaries and improved upon it. The last leg of the game was spectacular, fuck the haters.
6. Metroid Fusion: While more linear and not as ground-breaking as Super Metroid, it is still a great fucking game. The color palette is lush and levels truly stand out from each other. I love how pretty this game is.
7. Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle: My first and last MMO. I played in a server full of corrupt GMs but that didn't hamper my enjoyment of it. In a time games were limited by their hardware, the scale of L2 was something I'd never experience before then.
8. Viewtiful Joe: One of my first experiences with action games, a genre I would grow to love in the upcoming years. While short, I replayed it multiple times and learned how to master it. Ultra V-rated is one of the most ridiculous difficulty levels in gaming.
9. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon: My first CV and the game that I first played on the GBA, which would become one of my favorite systems of all time. While overlooked by fans, I've always have had a soft spot for CotM. The soundtrack is ace.
10. Tactical Ops: Assault on Terror: My first online FPS experience. In a time where everyone was nuts abut Counter Strike, me and some buddies played this. I would sneak to the computer to play when my parents were asleep, the community for T.O. in my country of origin was just the best. Great memories with this game.

 

[Booshka]

16 players on Crimson Skies on Xbox Live, god damn the memories, pre Halo 2 XBL was just something special. Pandora Tomorrow, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Crimson Skies, etc, man, I miss it.

Seems like a lot of ppl in this thread so far literally missed it as well. OG Xbox Live was the shit, definitely getting some representation on my list.

 

[EdLin]

Lineage II

Why Lineage II?

 

[Yoshi]

[*]Remakes of games from this generation cannot be the basis for a vote either (so no voting for The Wind Waker if your only experience with it is The Wind Waker HD).

How about ports? I've played God of War 1 & 2 through the Vita-collection and GoW 2 is a candidate in my list. I've never played the PS2 original though. Does it count or not?

 

[Shengar]

Holy shit, this is fucking huge
I ain't gonna participate though, to big of a burden for me and I forget a lot of game from that era except for some since I was just teenagers. Best of luck to Anihawk and other members that participate in this.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

1. Halo Combat Evolved; This game changed everything. It truly brought FPSes to consoles and has pretty much influenced every major shooter franchise in one way or another since.

2. God of War; What can you say? Redefined the action genre and incorporated a cool revenge story. Amazing visuals and epic boss fights created a colossus of a PS2 exclusive

3. SoulCalibur; It was 6th gens "this is next gen" moment. Visuals that not only obliterated the arcade version, but weren't matched for at least the first couple of years of its generation.

4. The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess; Like all Zelda titles, this was an instant classic. Epic, harrowing, dark, beautiful. I know there's more, but you struggle to find the words despite there being so many options.

5. Resident Evil 4; Dramatic change for the franchise. But oh so god damned good.

6. Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes; I don't know about you, but Metal Gear Solid 1 with Metal Gear Solid 2's gameplay and visuals is an instant win for me.

7. Halo 2; While the campaign left a sour taste for many, its undeniable the impact the decisions made in the multiplayer component have reverberated through the industry to this day.

8. Metroid Prime; "You cant make Metroid in 3D!" Retro just made you eat your own fucking words.

9. Maximo; Much like Metroid Prime above, it took everything great about Ghouls 'n' Ghosts and converted it to 3D amazingly. So much fun.

10. NBA Street Volume 2; One of the best sports titles ever created. So fucking amazing when played with friends. Sick soundtrack too.

Too many honourable mentions to mention. FUCK this was hard. It could change by the deadline.

 

[AniHawk]

How about ports? I've played God of War 1 & 2 through the Vita-collection and GoW 2 is a candidate in my list. I've never played the PS2 original though. Does it count or not?

i would say no. however if i ran it for the current generation's vote (in 2022 or something), then i would say go for it.

i believe that video games are products of design. the platform you play the game on, and any sort of updates influences your feeling towards a game. does playing it on a handheld make the experience a little more intimate? is it more helpful to be able to pick it up and play thanks to sleep mode - and does the portability of it factor in? so is part of the enjoyment being able to play it when you want to play it? all of these are elements that influence the experience.

 

[SmashN'Grab]

1. Resident Evil 4 - perhaps my favourite game of all time, certainly the best action game
2. Halo: Combat Evolved - a classic campaign, and the split-screen elevated it
3. Half-Life 2 - another action classic, really well crafted
4. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - brilliant stealth game with incredible graphics
5. Metroid Prime - a great update of Super Metroid into a 3D game
6. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - I'm not usually a big RPG guy, but this was great
7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - that soundtrack, the Scarface setting, this game was huge
8. Pro Evolution Soccer 3 - I can't remember if it's the best in the series, but it's the one I spent the most time on
9. Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings - one of the all-time great RTS games, especially if you like single-player
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - another great soundtrack and setting, great stuff

Edit: I've just noticed that Age of Empires 2 actually came out in 1999 (I'd thought it was 2000). So, I'd swap that out for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in that case.

 

[Robin64]

1. Metroid Prime ; Metroid is my favourite series and Metroid Prime is the pinnacle of Metroid. Perfectly translating the 2D gameplay of Super Metroid into 3D, Prime is nothing short of a masterpiece. The world oozes atmosphere from every pore, a key aspect of Metroid.

2. F-Zero GX ; The fastest game ever made while still giving absolutely tight controls to the player. Hard as nails, but never unfair. Also pretty as hell.

3. Animal Crossing ; It may not be as shiny as New Leaf, but it's hard to forget the times I had with the original Animal Crossing. Booting the game up every single day to see what was going on the village is an experience nothing else has given. That feeling when you heard a rumour that your favourite villager was moving out, though.. sad times.

4. World of Warcraft ; Ten years later and I'm still playing it. Is there a better metric for a game's greatness than that? Before WoW, the MMO genre was stuffy, slow and boring, and only the hardcore played. It all changed when Blizzard came on the scene and MMOs have aped WoW ever since.

5. Diablo 2 ; Best loot RPG clickathon there is. Diablo 3 comes close now, but Diablo 2 is still the king. Of course, it helped that most people I knew were playing it too. Such an amazing sense of community. One more Pindleskin run won't hurt, right? Who needs sleep..

6. God of War ; I could hear my PS2 groaning under the strain of running God of War. But it wasn't just a technical marvel, it was also an amazing game. Moving from epic setpiece to epic setpiece, everything was just so fun.

7. Paper Mario - The Thousand-Year Door ; Utterly charming and genuinely funny to boot. You play this game with a smile on your face from beginning to end, and sometimes that's all you need.

8. Phantasy Star Online ; Proper online gaming, on my console? It really helped that PSO was great fun, too. Also, this is the game that convinced my parents to install a second phoneline in our house. Good times.

9. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance ; The best GBA game there is, FFTA is such a wonderful SRPG. I know some FFT fans disliked it for the change in tone, but I never played FFT so I had no such loyalty. Perfect handheld gameplay, the mission structure was ideal. Plus it had excellent music and graphics, and a fairly adult story if you scratch beyond the childish exterior too.

10. Shenmue II ; I got absolutely lost in this world. Shenmue was cool, but the sequel took it to a whole other level. The world was huge, the cast was great and I was just in love from start to finish. What a shame about that finish, though. Cliffhangers, who needs 'em?

x. Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes ;
x. Half-Life 2 ;
x. Super Smash Bros Melee ;
x. The Legend of Zelda - Wind Waker ;
x. Metal Gear Solid 2 ;
x. Shadow of the Colossus ;
x. Final Fantasy XII ;
x. Resident Evil 4 ;
x. Metroid Zero Mission ;
x. The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess ;

 

[Nestunt]

1. Onimusha Warlords ; Its Resident Evil design, but with better combat, controls and gameplay because you are a Samurai with supernatural powers. Oh, and with better architecture, because you are in Japan!

2. Final Fantasy X ; Did not like the world or Tidus, but the rest of the game is soooo good that it compensates those two monumental flaws in a game.

3. Metal Gear Solid 3 ; Big Boss is the most interesting character in Kojima's universe and his story-line makes much more sense in terms of motives than Snake's.

4. GTA Vice City ; The people who played this will understand. Driving a bike listening to music alongside the beach

5. Devil May Cry ; Its like Resident evil, but cool and fast.

6. SOCOM II ; Despite almost turning crazy because of my ISP and lag in this game, I bet I will never have more fun playing online.

7. NBA Street ; I played basketball professionally for 10 years, and yet I loved the way the controllers captured so well wishful thinking.

8. Jak and Daxter the precursor legacy ; First platformer where I found myself in a meaningful adventure.

9. Medal or Honor Frontline ; So much detail and makes you feel like you were there.

10. Ace Combat 4 ; Piloting for dummies, which is great, because thats the only way to make a game out of it

x. Gran Turismo 3 ; I hate driving games. But damn, this was addicting.

 

[DownGrader]

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ; The best Zelda game ever, and maybe the best exploration-focused 3D action/adventure title.
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; Well-made core of the game cranked its replayability extremely high.
3. Sid Meier's Civilization III ; The game that made Civ so deep and beloved.
4. Halo: Combat Evolved ; The game that showed us the future of FPS genre while we still had Doom and Quake conventions in our minds.
5. Rise of Nations ; It's, basically, Age of Empires with best parts of Civilisation thrown in. This combination can't be bad.
6. The Sims ; Think what you want but this game is fantastic. Great for developing creativity combined with curiosity.
7. Worms 3D ; Again - think what you want, but this was a pretty darn nice 3D transition of Worms series. Plays better than Hogs of War, looks better that Hogs of War and has a lot more variety and unlocking potential.
8. Comand & Conquer: Generals; An interesting take on C&C series and maybe the best beginner's RTS.
9. Syberia ; The swan's song of the golden age of point'n'click adventures.
10. Return to Castle Wolfenstein ; The second reboot of Castle Wolfenstein series and one of the nicest reboots ever.

 

[Papercuts]

Already know my number 1 without any thought but I'll have to mull over what I want the rest to be. Way too many candidates.

 

[JerkShep]

Disclaimer: I tried to list just one game for franchise, as a mean to keep the list more varied and reduce the headache of finding only 10 titles. This self-imposed rule brought fourth a series of painful exclusions, but one in particular saddens me and I want to acknowledge here: sorry REmake

It's hard for me to put into words what these games mean to me, when the quality is so high I feel I'm doing a disservice just listing a couple of pros and cons. So I might just put a quote from the game, a moment that stuck with me, I apologize if they're just ramblings and not short "reviews", but I feel I'm not able to some up why some of these games are so good.

1. Silent Hill 2 ; "James...you made me happy"
2. Shadow of the Colossus ; "One day perhaps you will make atonement for what you've done"
3. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ; "I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hara-Kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!"
4. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes ; Sanctuary Fortress.
5. Resident Evil 4 ; "Whaddaya buyin'?"
6. Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines ; "You have made a powerful enemy today, Sign"
7. Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarahustra ; "Is that your answer? That does sound like you...Yeshua."
8. Deus Ex ; "Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth..."
9. Shadow Hearts Covenant ; "If there really is a God, and he could grant me just one wish, I'd go back to the day we met..."
10. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ;" My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose"

Honorable Mentions
x. GTA: Vice City ; my favorite GTA, atmosphere and music are top notch
x. Valkyrie Profile Silmeria ; one of the most mechanically complex jrpg I've ever played and a beauty to look at
x. Kingdom Hearts ; KH will always hold a special place in my heart, in large aprt thanks to the amazing OST
x. TimeSplitters 2 ; greatest multiplayer experience of the generation for me, countless hours of dumb fun
x. Suikoden III ; it might not have reached the peaks of Suikoden II, but I've fond memories of the game and the "POV mechanic" was something I'd like to see in more games
x. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic; the experience of playing the two KotORs back to back was amazing. They're not on the list because I can't honestly decide which is the better one, both have their flaws but I'd consider them the best things created in the Star Wars universe. The mention is for the first one, but please please play both of them
x. Zone of the Enders: Anubis ; the game is not by any means perfect but it's one of a kind, and Beyond the Bounds could actually be my favorite song of the 6th generation
x. Dragon Quest VIII; the gameplay might lack the complexities of other DQs, but the sense of journey, the wondeful world map and the sublime OST makes it one of my favorite jrpg on PS2

 

[Nzyme32]

Askin this to a primarily console oriented crowd will probably lead to a pretty odd result. Tons of good games from every platform

1. Half Life 2; It was mind blowing when it released and remains so now. It was so different to so many games of the time, while bring a physically believable world and characters to create a ridiculously compelling atmosphere.
2. Deus Ex; As janky as the AI was, the game was a brilliant look at branching gameplay and story lines that were not made obvious, with an incredible narrative and levels. It mixed fps and RPG in a way no game ever had, and gave freedom to the player in exploring the twisting plot and how they achieve their goals and advance their character
3. Metroid Prime
4. Halo
5. Civilisation IV
6. Psychonauts
7. Zelda: Windwaker

 

[Erebus]

That was my favorite generation by far, so this is gonna be hard.

1. Resident Evil 4; Although initially estranged by the transformation of the classic RE formula I was used to during the PS1 days, all my inhibitions were gone within the first 5 minutes of playing it. RE4 was simply the stepping stone for future 3rd person shooters.

2. MGS3 Snake Eater; While MGS2 had biggest impact, in my opinion MGS3 was leagues and miles better than its predecessor and I still regard it as the best MGS game released so far.

3. Silent Hill 2; This was among my very first PS2 games I owned. As a big fan of the first SH (played it countless times on PS1) I remember being so eager to try the sequel on my new console especially after all the hype created by the brilliant trailers that had been released. And the wait was more than worth it, SH2 was (and still is) one of the most atmospheric and deep story-driven games I've ever played. Everything in this game has a purpose and a deeper meaning. Not to mention that it features an amazing and memorable soundtrack.

4. God of War 2; Better and bigger than the original game in every way, graphics that you couldn't believe were possible on the PS2 with an impressive sense of scale. My personal favorite hack'n'slash game.

5. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas; My favorite GTA game to date. So much content it kept coming back for months.

6. ICO; Unique, different, memorable. It may have lacked the elaborate dialogues and cutscenes of games like MGS for example but ICO could still evoke so many feelings while playing.

7. Devil May Cry; Perhaps the first game that I played on PS2 and thought it was a genuine next-gen experience that wasn't possible on past systems.

8. Gran Turismo 3; Photorealistic graphics that wowed me at the time.

9. Tekken 5; Definitely among my most played games of the generation.

10. Need for Speed Underground; The game that reinvigorated my interest in racing games.

x. Burnout 3 Takedown

 

[Caronte]

1. Final Fantasy XI. My first and last MMORPG. It's my favorite game of all time but I will never again touch another one because I was quite addicted to it. And I was just a fucking healer, that's how good it was (Scholar and Summoner were my jobs).
2. Baldur's Gate 2. Even though I haven't really finished it (don't ask me why) it's one of those games I play at least once a year, and I always find something new. BioWare at its greatest.
3. Final Fantasy X. My second favorite single player FF after FFVIII.
4. Shadow of the Colossus. A masterpiece. I wish it would have been released on a better hardware. Still, amazing. That final boss makes the entire game a 10 by itself.
5. ICO. Same as the above, even if the gameplay was not as satisfying.
6. Persona 3 (FES). After Squeenix and FFX-2 happened I thought I would never again love a JRPG as much as I loved the old FF games. I was wrong.
7. Digital Devil Saga. Even though 1&2 should be considered just two parts of the same game I guess I can only vote for one. Everything about it is perfect: story, characters, music (amazing)...
8. Ratchet and Clank 3. Even though I prefer Jak as a series this game is absolutely PERFECTION. They took out all the unnecessary stuff from R&C 2, added a few things and BAM.
9. Jak 2. Even though I HATE the fucking city it's a great platformer with awesome levels.
10. Jak 3. If it weren't because of the awful car/dessert sections I would rank this way higher. I enjoyed it more than Jak 2 in some ways but that dessert... dear God, why Naughty Dog, why.

Edit: Fuck. The Sims and The Sims 2 were released in 2000-2005 too. I might edit this list.

 

[chronic_archaic]

1. Jet Set Radio Future - A bit of an unorthodox choice, but it's my favorite game on the original Xbox and was one of the last really great games Sega gave us in the incredible string of games that started with the Dreamcast and up until 2003.

2. The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess - Nintendo delivered a spectacular game in time for the Wii's launch. Despite being pushed for the new console, it's a sixth generation game at heart and a fitting swansong for the GameCube.

3. Unreal Tournament 2004 - Where is everyone? Even Facing Worlds is barren at times these days *pouts*

I tried doing 10, but I can't decide. These ones stand out for me. Tons of good games, but ordering them is really tough.

 

[Cheesewheel]

Reserved for future thoughts

 

[Imp the Dimp]

1. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn; Single best (single player) game I have ever played. To this date, its scale is unmatched. Also, it has the best side quests I've ever seen.
2. TES3: Morrowind
3. GTA Vice City
4. Persona 3: FES
5. Vampire: Masquerade - Bloodlines
6. Half-Life 2
7. Pro Evolution Soccer 6
8. Gothic
9. Persona 4
10. Diablo 2

 

[Cartman86]

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater ; This and Metal Gear Solid are the games i've played through the most. MGS3 in particular is the perfect mix of stupid camp and serious emotion, and unlike MGS2 it actually works. Whereas MGS2 is purely academic MGS3 is perfect entertainment.
2. Resident Evil 4
3. Shadow of the Colossus
4. Half-Life 2
5. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs
6. Super Smash Bros. Melee
7. Phantasy Star Online
8. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
9. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
10. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
x. Guitar Hero II
x. Deus Ex
x. Chu Chu Rocket
x. Grim Fandango
x. WarioWare Inc.: Mega MicroGame$
x. Battlefield 1942
x. Metroid Prime

There are about 10 other games that are equal to my honorable mentions, but that list would just be too long.

 

[Clairvoyance]

1. Resident Evil Remake; Superb graphics, top-notch sound design, and beautifully designed environments. The pinnacle of classic Resident Evil (and in my opinion, survival horror games as a whole). This is how you remake an already amazing game.
2. Resident Evil 4; And this is how you reboot an already amazing series. Between the gameplay, the graphics, the sound design, and the amount of content; It is as close to a complete package as we'll probably ever get. (You came close Last of Us, but no cigar.)
3. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence; The best Metal Gear. The best PS2 game. The best online game. The End.
4. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; This game just makes me happy. If there was ever a game that could be prescribed as an anti-depressant, I'd be this.
5. Silent Hill 2; In terms of pure horror and story telling, I don't think there's a game out there that is on the same level. Definitely not as happy as The Wind Waker...
6. Pokemon Sapphire/Ruby; Trumpets and water, motherfuckers.
7. Resident Evil: Code Veronica; Nosferatu is my favorite fight in the series, and I'm not as bothered by backtracking as most others. I dunno man, I just really like Resident Evil.
8. Metroid Prime; Best Metroid.
9. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; Best GTA.
10. Super Smash Bros. Melee;

Spoiler

Not

Best Smash Bros.
x. Time Splitter 2
x. Silent Hill 3
x. Devil May Cry 3
x. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
x. Super Mario Sunshine
x. Soul Calibur ll
x. Xenosaga l
x. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
x. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
x. Animal Crossing

 

[KooopaKid]

23 games on the top of my head. It's going to be hard!

Advance Wars
Shadow Of The Colossus
Halo: Combat Evolved
Guitar Hero II
Resident Evil 4
Viewtiful Joe
Metroid Fusion
Half-Life 2
Metroid Prime
Super Mario Sunshine
Resident Evil
Beyond Good & Evil
Pikmin
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Burnout 3: Takedown
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Grand Theft Auto III
ICO
We Love Katamari
Outrun 2
Twilight Princess
Max Payne
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

 

[JediLink]

1. Super Smash Bros Melee ; Greatest fighting game of all time, 'nuff said.
2. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door ; The best Mario RPG, 'nuff said.
3. Metroid Prime ; Tied for best Metroid, 'nuff said.
4. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga ; The second best Mario RPG, 'nuff said.
5. Cave Story ; The greatest indie game of all time, 'nuff said.
6. Devil May Cry 3 ; The greatest character action game of all time, 'nuff said.

I think that pretty much covers it. Sorry for the short comments, lol.

EDIT: Oh shit, forgot about Metroid Prime. Fixed now.

 

[Nestunt]

3. Final Fantasy X. My second favorite single player FF after FFVIII.

.

 

[Funyarinpa]

1. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA) ; This game is pretty much my childhood in a GBA cartridge. My oldest memory of gaming is with this game: After buying the GBA, we stopped at my grandmother's house. I didn't go to the toilet because I wanted to play more with my new red GBA SP. I wet myself on the way home, and my GBA was taken away for a week. I was five (or six). I finished it for the first time in eighth grade, nine years after I first got the game.

2. Insaniquarium Deluxe (PC) ; This game is the best PC game I've ever played in my early childhood. I've probably played it for hundreds of hours on end. There's just something that really gripped me in feeding fish and then defending them from aliens.

3. Sonic Advance (GBA) ; The whole class played this in my preschool. I remember one of my friends got as far as the zone before the final one and I remember everybody watching him intensely. I still remember some of the bosses. I gave my own cart away for some stupid reason several years ago (when I was seven or something).

4. Slyder Adventures (PC) ; I'll be surprised if this game has been played by 5000 people in its lifetime. It's wonderfully fun, and I only just realized it's possible to buy this game from Amazon. It's weird, trippy, has an alright iOS port, and I love it.

5. Ever17 (PC) ; One of the first visual novels I played. Sora route won me over. Must play for a fan of good stories in games.

6.Remember11 (PC) ; The ending is painstakingly bad (or nearly all 33 of them to be exact), but the plot twists and the setting(s) were pretty amazing. Definitely commendable.

7. Half-Life 2 (PC) ; Bleak landscape and a light story. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I would before I played it and man, isn't it endlessly fun!

8. Bookworm Adventures Deluxe (PC) ; I used to play this with my family. Good times.

Notes: I was one to five years old during this time period (2000-2005) and all I had was my mother's laptop and my GBA for some years (for which I didn't get many games).

Region: Turkey, Europe if it matters.

 

[HolyCheck]

1. Diablo 2 ; Looking back at all the games available here to vote for.. I initially thought console.. but really, thinking about it.. every 8-12 months, when I needed a break from consoles I'd head to my computer, and there would be pretty much 2 games i'd constantly play. Poorly, I'd play them poorly, i'd lose, i'd use hacks (and play solo!) but i'd have fun. Diablo 2 was one of those, the other was Starcraft BW.
2. Tales of Symphonia ; Before the gamecube I'd never really gotten into JRPGs. Final Fantasy 8 is one of my favourite games of all time, but I played that on a friends psx. This was my first solo experience, I would have clocked over 200 hours in it, and for me.. I now have a soft spot for JRPG's because of this game.
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ;
4. Mario Kart: Double Dash ; as with Super Monkey Ball, I just got obsessed with this game.
5. Super Monkey Ball ; as above. One of the first games I was driven to try and complete, down to the fucking hard stupid master master cups.
6. Phantasy Star Online ;
7. Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots ; I remember little about this game. I just remember mum bringing it home for me, she'd seen it on sale and thought this'll be nice. I spent a good few months playing this! I remember posting on the forums and all.. one day I should go back.
8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 ; My step dad bought this.. and by god we played hte hell out of it. I remember we probably clocked around 60 or so hours each.. he'd scored 1 hole in one! ONE! I SCORE ZERO. I had a friend over once.. first game.. he get's a hole in one. I was devastated.
9. Soul Calibur 2
10. Metroid Prime ;

In reflecting.. I hold hte Gamecube generation very fondly. A time when I could sink hours into a game. These days it doesn't seem to happen too often.. Animal Crossing New Leaf I did around 200, pokemon x/y around 150... outside of that mos tthings wouldn't break the 20 hour mark (mario kart 8 probably around 50...) But the gamecube.. I think i had more games crack the 50 hour mark on that console than all the rest of hte games i've played...

 

[impact]

Should have included 99 for PC. Now I can't vote for Counter-Strike, the greatest game ever made.

Maybe I'll make one anyways...

 

[benny_a]

Should have included 99 for PC. Now I can't vote for Counter-Strike, the greatest game ever made.

Maybe I'll make one anyways...

Quake 3 Arena, the actually greatest game ever made, misses the vote by less than a month.

 

[libregkd]

This is so damn difficult. I did an initial games I may consider for my top 10 and my list ended up at around 30 titles so narrowing it down from that was a hell of a feat. I'm sort of glad I only really owned a PS2 during this era because I don't think I could have handled having any more games trying to contend for my top 10. I may edit my list in the future but I'm feeling comfortable with what I have.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence ; This is it. While everything on this list are games that I would consider some of the pinnacle examples of what games are, Metal Gear Solid 3 just takes the top spot for me. The game is just amazing to go through and was actually the first game I've played and beaten in one sitting, something I've never really done before nor have repeated. There is just so much about this game that was not only amazing for it's time, but still holds up well today. It's MGS fun in the simplest terms. But it's some of the best MGS fun you can have in the series.

2. Final Fantasy XII ; FFXII is up there with FFVI as my favorite Final Fantasy in the series. Ivalice is such a fascinating world to explore and take apart in and while the story certainly isn't for everyone, I really enjoyed the political undertones of what was going on, with the interactions between Vayne and the Judges in Archades being some of the game's highlight moments for me. The cast is great and the voice direction for all the characters is phenomenal. The elimination of random battles, in addition to Gambit system was a refreshing breath of fresh air for the series' combat and I fully utilized everything with planning out some of the more elusive boss battles. Amazing RPG

3. Shadow of the Colossus ; There is nothing quite like Shadow of the Colossus. To be honest, nothing has really even tried to be like Shadow of the Colossus. It really hard to explain why I love this game so much, the atmosphere plays a huge role with that; being beautiful and establishing how alone you are in this world. Every encounter in the game is something special and is able to give some memorable moments; The first Colossi with just it's sheer size, the seventh taking underwater, riding Agro across the desert to combat the 13th. There is just so much about this game that is so memorable.

4. Persona 4 ; Really not sure what to say about this game besides how amazing it is. Great story and characters, gameplay is really satisfying, especially persona fusion mechanics. Social Links were a great way to not only influence the gameplay with them tying into the previously mentioned fusion mechanics, but provide the player with character arcs for the various characters you encounter in the game (both those in your party and not). And the music. My god the music is great too. It's one of the JRPGs that I'd recommend to people who aren't normally into the genre. Despite it's rather lengthy intro, it's a rather easy game to just get into. It's kind of amazing how late into the PS2's life this game came out, but that certainly doesn't detract from it's achievements.

5. Persona 3: FES ; Okay, I feel really weird including Persona 3 when I've already included Persona 4 because basically everything I've said about Persona 4 applies to this game as well. But I think that is just a testament to how great the Persona games are. Persona 3 has a great, darker story and atmosphere. Characters were great, music was amazing, the previously mentioned gameplay and social links were great as well. It was honestly hard for me to choose between Persona 3 and Persona 4 to include in my top 10, so much so I feel both games deserve a spot on the list.

6. Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix ; Specifically listing the Final Mix version for the buttload of content that that release received. It also massively improved the game with the additional minigames, quests, bosses, dungeon, difficulty, and just...everything. It's a better version of KH2 in ever way and is probably the reason why it's the 2nd game I've ever imported (first being Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix actually). I hold Kingdom Hearts 2 in a special place in my heart, it was the first game I consider myself to "follow" from announcement to release as well as the first game I actually purchased on launch day. The gameplay, when played on the highest difficulty is just a blast to play and the boss battles really have a lot of style to them that make the fun to play through over and over again.

7. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy ; One of the first games I owned on the PS2. It is pure platforming bliss, combined with the collectathon aspects that was rather common of 3D platformers of the era. But it was fun collecting all the power cells and precursor orbs and just doing everything the game had to offer. The game was mindblowing to me at the time because how everything was just 'one world' there were no (obvious) loading screens. There were no segmented segments away from everything else. It was all connected and realizing that you can just go from Sandover Village all the way to the end of the game and actually draw a path you can follow to do so, it just amazed me.

8. Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition ; Arguably one of the best action games of all time. The game was just straight up ridiculous and it embraced how ridiculous it was. It was just fast paced, non-stop action and just oodles of fun. There really isn't much to say besides that. It's one of the most just plain fun games to run through and trying out all the different weapon combinations you can. The addition of Vergil in the Special Edition was also really awesome to include.

9. God of War II ; God of War II just took everything great about the first game and amped it up to the next level. The combat was more refined, with the additional elements such as the new weapons and stuff like the Golden Fleece. The overall spectacle of the game was also a step up from the original, from the opening with the Colossus of Rhodes to the Steeds of Time, there were just so many moments in that game that were just amazing to see. The game is just a huge improvement over the original, which makes it one of the best action games of the era.

10. Tekken 5 ; I've played so much of this damn game. It's just so fun to play and one of my favorite fighting games ever. While I spent a lot of the time playing against friends, I could spend just a lot of time by myself just perfecting my technique against AI/practice modes.

Honorable mentions
x. Dragon Quest VIII
x. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
x. God of War
x. Final Fantasy X
x. Resident Evil 4
x. Okami
x. Burnout 3: Takedown
x. Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
x. Guitar Hero II
x. The Sims 2

Will cut it off to 10 honorable mentions because there are just so many games that would fall underneath it that it'd be distracting.

 

[dancrane212]

I'll have to dig out my memory cards for this, going to be hard to remember everything I played!

 

[GamerJM]

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; Simply the best. A game that blew my mind as a kid and continues to blow my mind as an adult. There's so much content packed in here it's unbelievable. A really varied roster of characters. Just a huge step up from 64 in general. Great stage and item variety. A lot has been said about this game's engine and I probably wouldn't really do it justice, but suffice to say that Super Smash Bros. Melee has the most fluid feeling movement in any video game I've ever played. In fact, more than any other game, Melee just feels "right". Hundreds of hours of memories and no regrets.

2. Soul Calibur II ; Yeah I'm putting another fighting game on here. Anyways this is one that I never spent anywhere near as much time with as I did Melee but I always had a ton of fun with. I can't really pin down what I like about this game so much but I guess it's similar to Melee; varied character roster, fluid combos, lots of content. Like Melee this game just feels "right". Loved playing randoms in arcades. HD Rerelease is fantastic as well.

3. Fire Emblem (Rekka No Ken) ; This was my first SRPG and it's yet to have been topped for me. It's just perfection distilled into one package. This game does so much right. The map design is simple yet intricate. The game progresses at a pace that eases the player in. The difficulty is just right, managing to be difficult for newer players but never frustrating. The story itself is pretty solid. I love all of the characters. There are so many team combinations and ways to play this game. I love all of the Fire Emblem games but this is the one that has me coming back years later.

4. Pokemon Emerald ; Even after the gen 3 remakes, this is the definite version. Yeah, water, trumpets, and HMs aside, Emerald has a ton of post-game content, with Battle Frontier just being fantastic and still one of the best pieces of post-game content in a Pokemon title to this day. More interesting story-wise than its predecessors as well. Emerald is by no means the best Pokemon game ever released, but it makes this list by virtue of being the best one released during sixth gen. Pokemon is, for my money, the definite turn-based RPG, as the games allow so many different viable strategies and team combinations that the depth is near endless. It's exactly what I want from RPGs.

5. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance ; I generally didn't want to put two games of the same series on this list, but I felt that PoR is a unique enough beast to put it on here alongside FE7. While PoR isn't as snappy or polished as FE7 (and the class system feels like a step back honestly), it also manages to feel as though it tells an epic story, with some fantastic character development and underlying themes. PoR also just has a really, really great cast of characters. It also has all of the trappings that make Fire Emblem great, like permadeath and great map design.

6. Super Monkey Ball 2 ; More than anything, this game encapsulates what I love about gen 6. Super Monkey Ball 2, if it were released today, would be a digital game offering less content than this game does. Monkey Ball 2 isn't particularly deep, the main game is essentially the video game version of those marble mazes. But every stage in this game just feels so perfectly and well thought out. It actually reminds me of Super Mario Galaxy in a sense; it feels like the developers just jam-packed the game full of great ideas, and then perfected every single one to a T. This game also might be the most underrated multiplayer game ever, with some amazing minigames. Monkey Target alone is more enjoyable to me than Pilotwings.

7. In the Groove 2 ; A DDR clone made by DDR fans for DDR fans, this game may just be the pinnacle of the rhythm game genre, or at least up there. Offering some incredible challenges with Vertex^2 and Energizer, ITG2 may be one of the most difficult games released from this era of gaming (though it doesn't reach the difficult of IIDX). ITG2 is also highly moddable, with the last released versions of the game allowing ways for you to play custom songs, giving life to the game for years to come.

8. Sonic Adventure 2 ; A lot of people seem to think that this game is poorly aged and I'd be inclined to agree. In fact, this is the only game I love in which I'm not entirely sure why I love it. I mean, I have a few ideas; the Chao Garden is just brilliant, the early Sonic stages are really well designed and have a great sense of speed, and the soundtrack is just so perfectly corny and catchy. But I mean, this is a game where you'll spend a third of your time hunting for random treasures and a third of your time in mediocre third-person shooting sections. This is a game with a bad camera. This is a game starring a cartoon hedgehog that still manages to have a stupidly complex plot with plotholes. This game also doesn't have a ton of stages or content and you'll probably replay the stages that there are many times over. So why do I like this game? I dunno, probably nostalgia. But that doesn't change the fact that I can still turn it on today, and have a blast with it despite all of its flaws. I dunno, something here just works. And City Escape is the GOAT beginning stage in any video game.

9. Ever17: Out of Infinity ; I don't really want to say much about this game, but suffice to say that it's just a huge mindfuck. If you're a fan of 999/VLR then you need to check this title out, as it's by the same writer. Just insanely well written with great characters and mind bending plot twists.

10. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance ; While this game isn't as balanced, or as well told as the Fire Emblem games on here, what it is is an SRPG with tons of content and ways to play it. FFTA has possibly over 100 hours of sidequests and one of the most fleshed out class systems I've seen period. The game never really feel dull or repetitive either. It's somewhat easy compared to FE but it manages to be fun in its own right.

x. Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door ; I really wish I could have found some way to put this game on here because it definitely deserves a spot. It takes PM64's great gameplay and polishes it to a sheen. Every chapter has its own identity. tTYD is just insanely memorable in general. Also really damn funny.

x. Final Fantasy X ; The most recent addition to my favorites of gen 6, FF10 is my new favorite mainline FF after having played the remake. The battle system just feels nice and snappy and the Sphere Grid is a ton of fun to play around with. The setting is phenomenal and it feels like you're on a real tour of Spira.

x. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap ; Secretly the best Zelda game of gen 6 and the best 2D Zelda, Minish Cap feels like a very unique title, with some really well designed dungeons and probably my favorite overworld in the series. A decent amount of sidequests here and they're actually really fun for once. Also one of the best art styles in the series. MInish Cap just feels really smooth to play in general as well. There's honestly not a whole lot I could say in the way of negativity towards this game.

x. Tetris: the Grand Master 3: Terror Instinct ; The best version of Tetris ever released, Terror Instinct is just an insanely competitive and polished version of Tetris. Shame we never got this in any form outside of Japan.

x. Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat ; From the creators of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 comes the most underrated platformer of gen 6. Jungle Beat somehow manages to be a platformer that controls with fluidity with a damn bongo controller. Like the Galaxy games, every level in this game is just perfectly designed and a blast to play. The bongos really do add to the game and make you feel like Donkey Kong. There's not a whole lot of content here, but had there been it likely would have made my list.

x. Persona 4 ; I'm not as head-over-heals in love with this game as everyone else seems to be some of the time, I wish the dungeon design could have been more interesting (but also not as ruthlessly difficult as mainline SMT pls), and I wish the core SMT gameplay was less designed to be exploited, but everything else about this game really is fantastic. Boasting a great cast of characters that you'll really grow attached to by the end of the game, addicting demon fusing, a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, really varied gameplay, an awesome soundtrack and just a really stylish art direction in general, Persona 4 does admittedly deserve a lot of the praise it gets and ends up being one of the best titles of gen 6.

x. Kirby Air Ride ; This game might be more Sakurai than any other game Sakurai has made. Just filled to the brim with content, three modes and two of them could very well be their standalone game. No acceleration feels weird at first but you get used to it. Lots of vehicle variety. City Trial is genius, and I've spent many lazy afternoons messing around in Free Trial with friends. Lots of references to other Kirby titles as well. We need a sequel!

x. Mario Party 5 ; The best Mario Party and the pinnacle of the series, this game has easily the best minigames and the best maps. However, the one thing that's great about this game that no one seems to bring up is that they included an entire damn vehicle combat minigame, complete with customizable vehicles, that has enough content to qualify as a 10$ downloadable title by modern game standards.

 

[Tenebrous]

Good lord, just ten? Can I really not vote for FF9? Released in the timeframe, but not on the PS2... Boo!

1. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ; Never before had RTS and RPG elements being mixed so well, but Warcraft III did so with ease. Still a pleasurable game to revisit to this day, the storytelling, cinematics, campaign, and AI were all standouts for the single player experience. Multiplayer is where the game truly shines, with one of the most competitive metagames to date. And although Dota really began as a Starcraft mod with Aeon of Strife, it didn't really develop into something meaningful until Warcraft III's modding community got to work. An all time great strategy game.

2. Unreal Tournament 2004 ; To be honest, if it were an option, I'd vote for UT99, but 2K4 is still one hell of a game. Great level design, an awesome online community, a plethora of interesting tricks and weapons, and mods - Lots of mods! Oh, and don't forget instagib!!!

3. World of Warcraft ; When people discuss the greatest games of all time, I often feel that World of Warcraft gets unfairly overlooked. While it wasn't as innovative as something like Everquest, it perfected the hotkey MMO formula & worldbuilding so far better than any other game before it. Seamless zone transitions, a metric ton of content, and the deepest lore in possible any game ever made - Love it or loathe it, World of Warcraft really is one of the greatest games of all time.

Games that just missed the cut: Homeworld, Unreal Tournament, Alpha Centauri - All released in 1999, and would all feature if it weren't for that.

I'll come back to this later.

 

[Star Falcon]

Got the list sorted, man that was tough. The top 5 would probably make my Top 10 of all time alone. There are several PC games like Age of Empires 2 and Unreal Tournament that would also have made the list if they were released a few months later. Will write up rest of the comments and maybe add some image later.

1. World of Warcraft ; Feels a bit unfair having this on the list, it's a league ahead of anything else. The fact that it is still going as strong as ever 10 years later is testament to how Blizzard nailed this game. Many tried and failed to take its crown, but it defined its generation and outlived the following too. Enormous world, near unlimited hours of gameplay that touched tens of millions of players around the globe. Whilst some of the best highlights came in later expansion packs, anyone who played this game will always remember that very first time they stepped into Azeroth all those years ago.

2. Super Smash Bros. Melee ; Took everything about the N64 original and improved it ten fold. The amount of content for the time was extraordinary, and coming out near start of the GCN launch gave people a reason to get the console. What perhaps was best though was the quick paced, non-repetitive mechanics that put all other fighting games of the time and most following to shame. The definitive local 4 player experience of the generation for me.

3. Diablo II ; As well as expanding the hellish lore of the Diablo series and pushing battle net online gaming into the 21st century, Diablo 2 further polished the action-RPG - giving players meaty, varied classes and addictive, loot collecting ludus with great replay value. Must have run through Act 1 hundreds of times, would still do it again today.

4. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ; This game man. Took RTS into a new direction altogether with the hero focused play that, with the help of custom maps for the game, later spawned an entirely new genre called MOBA. Custom Maps were a massive part of this games greatness, from Tower Defence through to Footman Wars. Slap on a solid competitive multiplayer experience to rival Brood War, immersive campaign that set up World of Warcrafts narrative and an amazing expansion pack to boot &#8211; this is one of the best RTS games ever.

5. F-Zero GX ; How fast can video games go? Hard as nails, with hell-bending tracks pumping catchy electronic arrangements of classic F-Zero music as you race against up to 29 other racers where anything goes! It&#8217;s a pure experience, rewarding skill and persistence as opposed to luck and randomness. The story mode was a bit goofy, sure. But with loads of characters and stages to unlock, each equipped with a unique theme song and story, there is so much to do in this game that keeps you coming back for more. They don&#8217;t make them like they used to.

6. Jet Set Radio ; My favourite Dreamcast game. I was going to put JSRF on the list, with it being a bigger and better game for the most part, but the original crew of characters and zones are what I fell in love with. Banging millennium-era soundtrack with timeless art style and easy to pick up skating fun that takes the best of Tony Hawk&#8217;s and puts it onto a set of arcade rollerblades. Super fun game.

7. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater ; Metal Gear Solid series hit its peak here. The setting is one of the reasons I love this game so much &#8211; I found the other games great but at times they lost me with the futuristic nonsense (particularly part 4 with the nanomachines marlarky). Stealth is at its best in MGS3, with fights such as The End being particularly memorable. Full of 60s pop culture references and a brilliant James Bond style title sequence &#8211; this is the MGS experience.

8. Halo: Combat Evolved ; Still my favourite in the series. Took console FPS into a new era with sprawling open world maps, vehicular carnage and changed up ruleset from what already existed before. CE also, to this day, had my favourite campaign in the series. The co-op mode in particular was memorable, with fond memories of weekends spent in running through legendary with a friend sticking out. The legacy of this series speaks for itself, but honestly i think it started out with just a big a bang as Master Chief wished it to end years later.

9. Ikaruga ; It's either this or Radiant Silvergun for the best Shoot 'em up ever. Treasure delivered once again on this one - beautifully simple and compelling mechanics made for an experience worth repeating through all the inevitable deaths this games unrelenting difficulty throws at players. Topped with gorgeous graphics and soundtrack to enhance the experience, this is a must play for any video game enthusiast.

10. Metroid Prime ; Where Halo took leaps forwards in multiplayer, Prime did the same for single player FPS. Transforming the 2D space of Metroid-Vania into a stunning 3D world, filled with tough puzzles and terrifying alien monstrosities, powering up Samus as you traverse back and forth through Tallon IV was an extremely memorable experience, and IMO was the most refined of the three games in the trilogy.


x. Resident Evil 4 ; I played this game a few years after it was first released, but it caught me immediately. The expanse of this game really impressed me, and it only got better and better. An amazing game that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the series.
x. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind ; Before WoW, this was the biggest virtual world i had stepped into. Lots of memorable adventures and towns throughout this enormous land, with highlights including Vivec and Bloodmoon Island.

 

[Kritz]

1. Halo: Combat Evolved ; The game that made me fall in love with the medium. The Xbox was a christmas present, and I was in another state at some family's house. I'd always enjoyed games, but I'd never let them define me as a person before. I guess I was about 12 at the time, and we'd flown to the mainland to eat some BBQ and walk around the city. But, man, the moment I got back to my uncle's place, and hooked this thing into the TV, I entered a coma for the next two days as I just consumed everything about the console, the games, ending with me intoxicated by the whole experience. You know what's crazy? I still remember the smell of the house, the smell of a 24 degree day with a short rainshower, sitting on the floor looking up at the 30" tube television. I remember sneaking through dark corridors, stealth killing sleeping grunts, and blasting my way through on Easy. I'd played shooters before, sparingly, but Halo was the first time I understood what a shooter was, and how immersive the first person perspective can be. Halo is the game that changed me forever, for better or worse.

2. Half-Life 2 ; Halo may have gotten me into games, but Half-Life 2 showed me just what I was missing by living through an Xbox. It defined my entire taste for games, and to an extent it defines the kinds of games I want to make.

3. Max Payne ; You can jump sideways, with two pistols, in slow motion, and shoot dudes right in their face. Nothing is cooler, nothing is closer to The Matrix: The Game: But Not The Matrix Games.

4. Halo 2 ; So many memories, so many hours spent sword glitching on top of maps.

5. Battlefield 2 ; It wasn't until ARMA III that a game surpassed Battlefield 2 in the "real big map goof off simulator" genre. Next to a Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield 2 is one of the best emergent gameplay moment generators, to the point where for a while people dubbed emergent gameplay as "Battlefield Moments".

6. Fable ; Y'know, I really like it. I really like Fable. I don't know why, but it's fun. It's easy, and I like easy games. It's a disgustingly unapologetic power fantasy murder quest, and I love everything from the completely busted bow and arrow skill path, to the fun but often entirely useless magic branches, to whackin' off skeletons with big firey swords.

7. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ; Much like the first Max Payne game, you can jump sideways with guns and shoot people. But now you can also reload your gun while the camera spins around you, and that's awesome.

8. Jet Set Radio Future ; I'm a child, and I like easy games. In this easy game, you press buttons on your controller and colours come out of the screen. I really like colours.

9. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 ; It's like RollerCoaster Tycoon, except it has a 2 at the end, and there's more things in it.

10. The Sims ; Maybe an odd choice, but I really get off on stress free building sims. And it was just great fun exploring the possibility space of the game.

But pretty much I spent the entire generation just playing Halo coop and Halo 2 online. There are a bunch of games I didn't really play until well into the next generation (Deus Ex, GTA:SA), so they didn't really have the same impact on me as they would others.

 

[xyzls]

Edit: my bad on missing generation. For some reason my drunken self read this as all-time. Invalid stuff deleted. I'll leave my vote at these.

I'm posting my list based on feedback from friends after introducing them to these games. Friends meaning guys and girls, gamers and non-gamers.

Guitar Hero - made lounging around the couch with a console a mainstream hangout thing.

Ninja Gaiden Black - This thing is gold. Polished fighting engine pumps adrenaline, incredible graphics, action has a sense of cinematic integrity (no double jump, no supermode, no special block), variety of enemies, metrovania style stage layout. And most importantly, the difficulty vs sense of achievement in this game seriously makes you feel "I have leveled up as a gamer".

Halo - Mainstreaming online and campaign coop shooters for consoles. Made people console LAN (link 2-4 consoles with router and 2-4 TV's for 8-16 mayhem).

Burnout 3 - Best arcade racer. I know people out there who think racers are boring. I've made them play this and they love it. High sense of speed and visual spectacle.

Shadows of the Colossus - cause GAF. You already know why this is here.

 

[Acquiescence]

1. Shenmue ; A game that immersed me like no other. It's the ambition that sets it apart, merging an excellent brawling system, adventure-esque investigation work and something approaching a life simulator into a unique experience that's up wrapped in a living, breathing world full of minute detail, tangible atmosphere and trivial things to discover on a whim.

2. Shenmue II ; Bigger, more action-packed, but more subject to lulls in the narrative than the first game. Still a masterpiece.

3. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne ; Mechanically it's tight, but what sets MP2 apart from the slew of other shooters out there is its approach to narrative and presentation. It's all uniformly excellent, from the noir aesthetic to the pulpy story to the hard boiled dialogue. Remedy will never top this.

4. ICO ; This began my Team ICO love affair. No other game quite captured the overwhelming feeling of isolation, loneliness and fighting against the odds like ICO. It's beautiful in every way, it's perfectly paced and it manages to tell an emotionally gripping tale in very few words.

5. Power Stone ; The amount of hours I put into this, oh lawwwd. The beauty of Power Stone was that it struck an incredible balance, working as both a party game and a legitimate fighter. The visuals represented the Dreamcast at its technicolour best, the cast were an eclectic, endearing bunch, and IT WAS JUST SO MUCH FUN!

6. Silent Hill 2 ; The best survival-horror of all time. I still find it so scary that I struggle playing it at night. Hell, I struggle playing it during the day.

7. The Longest Journey ; One of my favourite point & click adventure games. Few games make you feel like you've embarked on such an epic adventure.

8. Rayman 2: The Great Escape ; A magical platformer. Looked gorgeous on the Dreamcast, had a bewitching ambiance about it and gameplay wise, the transition from 2D to 3D was seamless.

9. Burnout 3: Takedown ; Not just the high-water mark for the series, but a slice of arcade racing perfection. Fast, fun, endlessly playable.

10. Final Fantasy X ; The last great Final Fantasy. Turn-based combat at its best, the wondrous vistas and locales, the sphere grid, the godly music - why can't the series be this good again?!

x. Klonoa 2: lunatea's Veil
x. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
x. Yakuza 2
x. Jet Set Radio
x. SoulCalibur
x. Shadow of the Colossus
x. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
x. Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Xbox version)
x. Jak II
x. SSX Tricky

 

[JehutyRunner]

*snip*

You need to read the OP properly.