Talha's Top 50 Video Games

Science & Technology Information Technology, Gaming, Machines, Gadgets
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23. Perfect Dark (N64 - FPS)

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It's a crying shame this game gets a tenth of the love that Goldeneye does -- i may very well be the only human being in the world that doesn't like Goldeneye all that much, but obviously loves this game -- i mean, there was nothing wrong with it -- it just never captured me like everyone else -- i had fun playing some deathmatch with friends, but i never scheduled sessions like some of them did. It was enough for me to play a few rounds when a group of guys was bored, and that was that.

Not the case with Perfect Dark. Just the opposite went down; i got people over to my house all the time to play this one. First thing, i loved the bots -- One of the dozens of things PC shooters have over consoles in the ability to have a lot of people playing at once. The bots gave me this option on a console for the first time -- i usually played with 10 total players, with the prefernce obviously being 4 humans in the game -- second, i really loved the weapons. My favorite was the laptop gun, specifically its alternate turret mode. Of course, that wasn't everyone's favorite. Most people i played with enjoyed the Farsight the best. Its bullets were one hit kills -- and it let you both see and shoot targets through walls. How cool is that?

This is a special game, as it is one of only a few console shooters I've ever been able to play for more than a few minutes without heaving my controller to the ground -- Sorry guys, PC is just worlds better at this genre -- i don't know what exactly made this game so much more playable than say a Metroid Prime or Red Faction or whatever -- It just had some indescribable quality about it.

i don't ask people to necessarily like this game more than Goldeneye, although it is very obviously better in my eyes -- All i want is for it go get some more credit from those reminiscing back to their N64 days -- Come on, you know it's awesome.

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*22. Final Fantasy (NES - RPG) *

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When i think about it nowadays -- i m absolutely amazed that i played through this game at just seven years old - i don't mean just played the game -- i crushed it, time and time again. Typical Fighter/Thief/White Mage/Black Mage party? Of course. Default Fighter/Thief/Black Belt/Red Mage party? Done. Uber-challenging White Mage/White Mage/White Mage/White Mage party? Well, no -- i did have my limits as a child.

i think it's a testament to how much more difficult games were some fifteen years ago. Make no mistake about it, Final Fantasy is the most difficult game in the series. Yet somehow, as just a tiny kid who'd never scratched the surface of the RPG genre, i got through the game -- i think if you were to stick a random elementary schooler with this game nowadays, they'd heave the controller through the television screen long before they gave the rat's tail to Bahamut to change classes.

this is a very shallow game compared to even the thinnest RPGs you'd see come out on a more modern system. Just about no story, an incredibly simplified magic system, no more than maybe two sidequests ... this isn't a game to play now if you don't have some connection to it in the past.

if you are one of the lucky ducks who played this game when it was new, it's amazing how fun it still is today. I recently played through it via the Final Fantasy Origins release for the PSOne, and it was a blast. Every single step of the way is oh so memorable. Using the Floater to raise your very first airship? The bizarre robot in the waterfall? The dwarven blacksmith yelling at you not to touch the swords laying around because they're just samples? Ah, I love it all man!!!!!!

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*21. Final Fantasy: Endless Nova (PC - RPG) *

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Unlike with the other RPG Maker game on the countdown -- i have no potentially nostalgiac feelings getting in the way here. This was like the fifteenth RM2K game i played, well after i had gotten into the amateur gaming thing -- it was downloaded with no expectations; after all, it was a fangame. Fangames suck, simple as that. I didn't believe the good reviews it was getting at all, as i assumed they were from Final Fantasy fanboys who think Mystic Quest is a true classic. But hey, I'm always open to giving freebie games a chance, even if i don't expect anything at all.

In case it weren't obvious from its ranking, I loved this game -- it was no ordinary fangame, nothing like the others I had played. It lifted elements from the FF series -- chocobos, summons, sound effects, etc -- but it put them into a completely original setting. It's like a FF game set in the future, with spaceships and robots instead of airships and moogles. I'm one who normally infinitely prefers the fantasy setting to the space one, but this was such a refreshing change of pace that I was more than pleased.

This beats out every home game i've ever played -- most have little nitpicky things that remind you you aren't playing a professional work -- spelling mistakes, uneven graphics, poor dialogue, what have you -- This does not. I haven't played it in awhile, so i may be forgetting something small here or there, but there's no big glaring hole in the game at all. Learning curve is perfect, story moves along briskly, graphics are simple but effective, characters have depth, dialogue is interesting -- the fact that it was made by some random kid who from what i can tell has little to no experience in making games makes it all the cooler to me.

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*21. Final Fantasy: Endless Nova (PC - RPG) *

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Unlike with the other RPG Maker game on the countdown -- i have no potentially nostalgiac feelings getting in the way here. This was like the fifteenth RM2K game i played, well after i had gotten into the amateur gaming thing -- it was downloaded with no expectations; after all, it was a fangame. Fangames suck, simple as that. I didn't believe the good reviews it was getting at all, as i assumed they were from Final Fantasy fanboys who think Mystic Quest is a true classic. But hey, I'm always open to giving freebie games a chance, even if i don't expect anything at all.

In case it weren't obvious from its ranking, I loved this game -- it was no ordinary fangame, nothing like the others I had played. It lifted elements from the FF series -- chocobos, summons, sound effects, etc -- but it put them into a completely original setting. It's like a FF game set in the future, with spaceships and robots instead of airships and moogles. I'm one who normally infinitely prefers the fantasy setting to the space one, but this was such a refreshing change of pace that I was more than pleased.

This beats out every home game i've ever played -- most have little nitpicky things that remind you you aren't playing a professional work -- spelling mistakes, uneven graphics, poor dialogue, what have you -- This does not. I haven't played it in a while, so i may be forgetting something small here or there, but there's no big glaring hole in the game at all. Learning curve is perfect, story moves along briskly, graphics are simple but effective, characters have depth, dialogue is interesting -- the fact that it was made by some random kid who from what i can tell has little to no experience in making games makes it all the cooler to me.

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*20. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC - Fighting) *

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i am of course referring to Jigglypuff above, quite possibly my favorite character in a fighter ever. She (or he, or it; the humiliation is best if i use she though, so i do) is the most pathetic looking thing in any game ever at first glance. Pink? Check. A pokemon? Check. Useless special moves? Check ... or so the unsuspecting gamer thinks. My favorite fighter also possesses my favorite move in Rest - in the hands of an amateur, all it does is make Jigglypuff fall alseep for a few seconds while she takes a beating - in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing though, it's almost an instant kill - i could rack up twice the number of kills in a two minute free for all with Jigglypuff as i could with any other charcter.

But there's more to enjoying this game than a puffy pink pokemon, although that's definitely my favorite part - this game has some good memories for me despite its relative new-ness - Smash Bros. was the last real sit down with three friends and play away for hours game that i have had - actually, sad as it may be, it may very well be the last ever - too much emphasis on online play has killed the in-person multiplayer - this a sad day for someone who finds playing a friend to be far more fun when they're actually in the room with you.

I'm a Nintendo guy through and through - as such, i don't need to explain why a game that brings all the major characters together is such a winner - it's just cool as heck to see Link swinging the master sword a a screw-attacking Samus on a Yoshi's Island backdrop - i just wish that Nintendo would do a better job with their pacing on sequels -- it's saddening to know I'm only getting one of these per generation. Get on the ball!

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*19. Chrono Trigger (SNES - RPG) *

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it's a bit odd when i think about it - this is one of the closest games to perfection on my list, but I can't rank it any higher than here. Why? Well, it suffers a semi-similar problem to a prior game on the countdown, Link to the Past. That problem? Very little in terms of memories to help bolster my positive feelings on the game.

Unlike with Zelda though - i definitely know what screwed this one up for me. See, i didn't have the money to buy CT when it first came out - however, my best bud did. He bought it - and i was stuck being forced to wait for him to finish and then borrowing it from him - i couldn't wait though - and i wound up at his place watching him play for some 75% of the game - when he finally got done and let me borrow it, I kind of wondered if there was that much of a point - i did play though the game and loved it, but never got that special feeling.

i have since played through it probably a half dozen times on the emulator - and my appreciation for it has grown - as a kid i didn't know necessarily what makes a game great, but I feel I have a better grasp on it now - this game has everything in spades. Beautiful graphics, even looking at them nowadays - A quality and generally innovative storyline - Battling that is actually pretty fun most of the time. Secrets, but not so many that they become the focus of the game. Flawless difficulty curve. Just ... everything.

How i wish i had fifty bucks laying around way back when i could probably be talking about this one in the top five; alas, it will have to settle for 19th.

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*18. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (GC - Sports) *

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Let's do a list of things i like about the fouth installment in the series that are specific to this game:

  • Minigames: These are all of such low quality and way too easy, but man are they a fun way to spend 30 seconds after you've just failed a goal for the tenth straight time.

  • Skater-specific supergoals: These were severely missed by me in the transition to the Underground series - there was a good amount of creativity in these, and many had something that few other Hawk goals did for me -- a genuine level of difficulty to pull off.

  • Memorable levels: i don't necessarily like all the levels as much as in some of the others, but they are only behind the second installment in terms of being something i really remember playing. The zoo, the college, the shipyard ... man, i hated the shipyard. But I do remember it, very clearly.

A final thing that isn't specific to this particular game in the series -- quality through and through. Sharp graphics, great tunes in the background, air tight controls, and just everything you could want in a game - everyone who hasn't played a Hawk game, first, shame on you - second, i say you must go out and get one - and this is a pretty good starting point - i think the THUG games are better for people who have a bit of practice with the series already, and this game is the perfect finale to the regular Pro Skater series - i can't imagine this costing more than twenty bucks currently and possibly even less if you buy it used, so unless you're some kind of anti-quality gamer, you have no excuse to not give it a try.

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17. Deus Ex (PC - FPS)

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First things first, this game is not an RPG - i don’t care what all of those review sites say :rolleyes: just because you are able to play without once being forced to shoot people and there’s an amazing story, that doesn’t make a game an RPG. There may be an interesting stats system and a big pile of sidequests you can partake in, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a FPS - An encyclopedia’s worth of immersing conversations and interesting characters doesn’t mean a thing.

Fact is, most RPGs wish they had the kind of depth that Deus Ex does - it most closely relates to a FPS, so that’s what I labeled it as, but this game does an excellent job of combining genres - as a documented fantasy over sci-fi guy, this game does a heck of a job drawing me into its not-too-distant futuristic story. I really hate the tired “fifty years from now, the world is a dark and dreary place on the brink of collapse” story base, but this is engaging to the point where I don’t even think about my bias.

Deus Ex is the first game i ever played that gave you what seemed like unlimted options in how to go about your missions - i always had the impression that if you knew what you were doing and just wanted to get straight to the point, you could probably beat any given map in maybe ten minutes - if you take the time to do your side goals and explore the levels for secret areas and alternate paths and tough to find dialogues and all that, that same map may take well over an hour.

Once you finally decide to get down to business, there’s also a good four or five ways to get to the goal you’re trying to accomplish - let’s say your job is to knock out power to a building you need to sneak into. You could use a LAM to blow up the generator the next building over - You could instead hack into a the controls in that same building and shut if off that way. You could bribe the janitor for a key to the basement, and switch off the breaker - You could also just pick the lock to the basement if you’d prefer – You could also ignore any of this sneaking stuff and just burst in the front doors – either with your shotgun ready to fire or with stealth camo on so no one even realizes you’re there – The entire game is packed with this kind of stuff.

Funny thing is i almost never allowed myself to get far enough into this game to realize just what was going on - i bought this game, installed it, started it up, and immeditely went in like a typical FPS - Needless to say, i died about a half dozen times before I got tired of it and turned it off - i sold it to a friend and forgot about it. Then, about a year later, it was on sale with another game I wanted for $25 for the pair - i got it, tried it again, died again, but this time didn’t panic - i read some FAQs, looked over some reviews, and got a pretty good idea that i was going about it all wrong - Tried again, got sucked in - and had no choice but to rank it pretty high on my countdown.

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16. Return of the Incredible Machine: Contraptions (PC - Strategy)

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This is far, far and away my favorite puzzle game ever - Nothing is even in the same realm of competing for the honor. Well, besides the sequels and prequels. But those don't count.

Does everyone know who Rube Goldberg is? If not, look him up -- you won't be disappointed -- this game is just like putting together 100+ of his machines. Each level has a goal as simple as "Put the bowling ball in the wicker basket" or "Pop the purple balloon, but not the silver one," but you have to go about accomplishing these tasks in the most complex and bizarre ways possible. You can't just pick up that ball and put it in the basket -- You've got to send it flying up with an anti-gravity pad into a network of pipes that use turbo boosters to keep the ball moving, which dumps the ball out onto a conveyer belt (powered by a mouse running on a wheel, by the way), which launches the ball across the screen and into the basket. Thing is, if that were a real puzzle, it would probably be the simplest one in the game.

The one (and it is the only one) problem with this game is that it's tough on the replay value. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to play through every 6-12 months again, but you never reclaim that feeling of accomplishment after beating a puzzle for the first time. Even if you don't really remember how to exactly beat a puzzle one year later, you'll still remember the general idea, where a couple of the pieces belong, etc. Takes a bit out of the game really.

That's very minor though -- Do yourself a favor, if you haven't played this game, or you remember playing an old version of it in middle school, go and pick it up and give it a run through -- it's not expensive or anything; I saw it like a week ago on half.com for less than ten bucks. Unless you puzzle games are tools of the devil or something, you won't find a much better bang for your buck.

Note: i combined the under-represented strategy and puzzle genres into one, which is why this is marked as strategy. Both require more brains than brawn so to speak, so I don't think it's that big a deal.

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*15. Metal Gear Solid (PS - Adventure) *

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Was there hype for this game? i honestly don't remember - i certainly wasn't hyped for it in the least -- the game was gathering dust on the store shelves before i even really realized it was there. What made me play it? The brother had rented it -- and i turned it on just to see what the game was all about. I didn't jump into the main missions though -- I had little intent to really play this thing. Instead, i started on the VR training missions.

Believe it or not, those are my favorite part of the MGS series up to this point. The main game is beyond excellent, but i always viewed it as the side game and the VR missions as the main attraction -- there's just something really old school about them; memorizing your method of attack, you against a timer, the goal to get a high score rather than uncover plot and read dialogue -- i probably logged more hours on these little side missions than everyone i know combined.

The main games rocks plenty too though, no doubt about that -- It wasn't really challenging, but I did die my fair share of deaths. It sure as heck wasn't long, but I kind of liked that -- It made it something you could pick up and beat on any random rainy weekend -- that's actually something that wins games bonus points in my book -- they either need to be amazingly in-depth and lengthy, or they need to be able to be beaten in a weekend. I don't like the games that take 4-5 days to beat. Too much in the middle ground.

This is one of those games i don't need to really explain too much about. Everyone's played it, everyone's loved it. You know it is awesome, as do I. End of story.

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*14. Super Mario RPG (SNES - RPG) *

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That whole "rainy weekend" thing i talked about with the last game? this might be the only (quality) RPG that really fits into that mold -- Mario RPG isn't complex, nor is it the least bit difficult, nor will it take all that long to beat -- What the game has is the same thing that every Mario game seems to have -- a sort of simple charm, something that makes you like a game far more than other similar games that at face value offer you more.

The one thing i often bring up with games is how many memories they've left me, and there are a ton in this one -- the doll battle with Mario and the kid where Geno is introduced? Finding Link sleeping in the bed next to you after waking up at the inn? Meeting the "flying" Frogfucious? It sounds whacky if you haven't played the game, but if you have, i don't doubt that you remember each of these and many more.

Although this wasn't a crossover per se, it was still very cool to see both the Squaresoft and Nintendo logos gracing this bad boy. It really got my hopes up for seeing some real crossovers in the future, but sadly, there was the split between the two that left Sony the benefactor of the Square monster -- how cool would it have been to see Sabin or Zidane in Smash Bros?

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Re: Talha’s Top 50 Video Games

Sorry to break the continuation here but this game is just amazing. I remember i use to play the original incredible machine some 7-8 years ago and i was hooked on it like crazy. It was my favourite computer game at that time, after the day of tentacles and monkey island 2.

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*13. Final Fantasy IV (SNES - RPG) *

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YEP, this is it.... The game that I most anticipated prior to its released of all time -- i reserved it at the first available opportunity and didn't even bat an eye at the fact that it cost $70 instead of the usual $50 -- it was Final Fantasy II for crying out loud, what nut was going to quabble over the price?

This was the thinking of my friends and i at the time -- Honestly, i don't particularly remember just why we were so hyped up on it -- i mean we all loved Final Fantasy for the NES, but we didn't have any shrines devoted to it or anything. What I do remember is that issue of Nintendo Power, with the picture of Cecil riding a black Chocobo on the cover... We carried that thing around like it was a bible for the first week or two after getting it. Maybe it was that magazine that began our hype for the game?

As for the game itself, it was many kinds of cool -- Interesting story, not at all like anything else I'd ever heard of. Very memorable characters; no doubt if I made a top characters list, you'd be seeing the likes of Rydia and Kain and Cecil and even Rubicant on there. Combat was pretty fun, especially since they made the heroes all unique in battle (something too many games of today fail at doing). It would've been cool to be able to switch around your party some, but you wind up with the best group of five at the end anyways.

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*12. Breath of Fire III (PS - RPG) *

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No question about it, RPGs were my favorite genre during the 16 bit era of gaming -- i would play an average RPG before I'd play an excellent anything else. However, the ushering in of 3D in gaming meant a change for my favorite type of games. In were pretty graphics broody storylines, out were entertaining battle engines and characters who can speak without sounding like a religious poet. Not my cup of tea to say the least. I was okay for a couple of years, but eventually i started to really want to play a new RPG of old.

Thank goodness for one of the most steady franchises out there, Breath of Fire. The Breath games have never risen above the "good, not great" tag, but it's not a real problem if you know that going in -- this game just came at the perfect time for me. Quite frankly, i was already forgetting why I ever liked RPGs all that much to begin with -- i mean, there was nothing wrong with the Final Fantasy VII's and Saga Frontier's, but they just weren't the same as what I grew up loving.

Breath of Fire III took me back. It was like an SNES RPG, slightly upgraded with the new hardware. Characters lost a bit of complexity, but gained understandability -- Storyline lost a bit of edge, but gained the ability to still be fully understood without getting every last detail. Battles lost fancy spell animations, but gained ... well, not having time to whip up a five course meal between the start and end of a magic spell is a gain within itself.

i bought a used copy of this one last summer -- and it still played just as well as when i first tried it -- i don't know how much someone would like it if there just grabbed it randomly from a garage sale, but for those like me who'll always be pro-2D with their RPGs, it is a pretty nice throwback.

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*11. Robotrek (SNES - RPG) *

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How many are familiar with this one? I'm actually curious. Enix is and was a pretty big company in the gaming industry -- and they had put many major hits for various consoles (Dragon Warrior, Actraiser, Illusion of Gaia, etc) before this one. Yet, from my experiences, people generally don't know a whole lot about Robotrek.

In typical Enix fashion, the goal here was to create something that valued fun factor and playability over an engrossing storyline and stunning graphics -- i have never seen a game with such a simple yet befuddling story, ever. Time travel, vampires, secret volano lairs, talking traitorous crabs ... you get the idea. But, as i mentioned, that's not the way the older Enix games worked -- you were in it to have fun, not be engrossed.

It's the actual gameplay that got me here -- there was a good deal of innovation in the party and battling systems -- Instead of having a group of fighters, you played as an inventor who eventually builds three robots to do your fighting for you. You can only control one at a time, but you are free to swap them at any time during battle at the expense of a turn -- Battles take place on an invisible grid, and positioning actually matters -- You can't hit the guy with a powerful close range attack unless you're right next to him, but if you use long range weapons you can stay away from a lot of their attacks -- there's a nice variety of weapons, everything from swords to lasers to boxing gloves to rocket launchers. In short, the battling engine is very creative and rarely is as uninvoled as a lot of other RPGs.

the best thing about this game though is that it is so easy to pick up and play any time you feel like it -- In a lot of the games in the genre, you really have to prep yourself before starting -- when you start up a Final Fantasy, you know you've got a minimum of thirty hours of gaming in front of you. Not only that, but you really can't stop playing for more than a few days at a time or else you risk losing interest because the story and your goals are no longer fresh in your mind. Not the case with Robotrek -- it isn't short, but it feels like such light playing that you could stop ten hours in, not play for a month, and come right back in feeling like you didn't miss much at all -- i don't have any official records to back it up or anything, but I believe this is the game that I have played through from beginning to end the most times ever (excluding games that can be beaten in a couple of hours). Robotrek may not be as perfect as many other games up in this area, but that kind of repeat-play quality counts for a lot with me.

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10. Starcraft (PC - Strategy)

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Seriously, does anyone not like this game? Certainly isn't the case with any PC gamer i have ever talked to - i flat out loved this game when i first got my hands on it. Funny thing is i don't especially like the RTS genre -- i thought Warcraft was fun but nothing all that special, Age of Empires was okay but not worth paying good money for - and Command and Conquer was just not all that fun to play. I don't mind micromanaging - i don't mind having to act and react very quickly, I don't mind have limited control over a large number of troops. What I do mind is having to do all of those things at the same time. Micromanaging is fine, but not when I don't have time to carefully think about what I'm doing. Acting quickly is fine, but not when there's sixty characters who i have to worry about acting for. Controlling sixty characters if fine, but not when each has their own spell list or inventory or whatever that I have to worry about.

This game did a very good job keeping a decent balance for people like me. The types of units that needed to be monitored more closely weren't the ones that you had very many of -- there was no one strategy that felt like it needed to be done to win; i could try something new every week. The very best thing in the game though was the fact that all three races felt completely equal to me -- i played each pretty much just as often as the others -- and had just as much fun no matter which way i went.

This was also the game that introduced me to the whole idea of gaming that wasn't entirely in the hands of the developer -- i m talking about StarEdit, the amazing editor that came with the game. Sure, Warcraft had a similar editor, but it wasn't close to the level of this one -- i made a fair number of maps with this thing, everything from single player RPGs to eight man deathmatch arenas. Granted, it was nothing huge, but my friends and i got a kick out of them. It's what really got me into the whole idea of looking for gaming beyond what was sitting on my store shelf.

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*9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64 - Adventure) *

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i have mentioned the idea of my personal list being drastically different from a general list from time to time - and the fact that this masterpiece is here instead of up around the top three is defended by that -- it just gets really tough to put this game this low -- releatively speaking -- talking about strictly gameplay aspects, so i will stick to the personal stuff.

iIf anyone wants to know what i consider the finest "thing" in all of gaming to be, it is the dungeons of the 3D Zelda games -- The fighting is perfect, the layouts are perfect, the themes are perfect, and the puzzles are beyond perfect. It's tough to really explain the puzzles with words -- they require you to constantly be thinking of what goes where, which room you should backtrack to, what order you should do what in. However, they never tax your brain. You are continually thinking, but never once do you wind up overthinking -- it's different from so many games that have their little puzzles, where you often find one or two that have you running to a walkthrough. It's also extremely cool how in most cases, it is the entire dungeon that is one big puzzle. Nothing like how most games work, with their having one particular room contain a puzzle that must be solved in order to advance to the next room.

Graphics still look pretty darn decent nowadays -- People that count polygons aren't going to be impressed, but they were amazing at the time and still do the job quite well. Sound is typical Zelda work -- does the job wonderfully, although you won't be humming most of the tunes the next day. The ocarina pieces sure do get stuck in your head though. Control is not improvable, simple as that.

The closest thing i can find to a problem is with me, not the game: i just haven't played it all that much compared to most of the other great games i own. I have played it through twice -- once when it first came out - and a second time right after Wind Waker came out (note: this was the Master Quest version, which i consider no better or worse for those interested). That's twice in some six years or so. I don't know how much that seems like to the average gamer, but it is low for me. I played through Banjo-Kazooie as many times, and i only owned that one for a year and a half. Why the low play throughs? Not too sure honestly. Maybe i should give it another go .....

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*8. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS - Adventure) *

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i was caught off guard when I picked this one up. I'd owned all of the NES Castlevania games as well as the first SNES one, and I'd played one or two others at friends' places. i liked them, no doubt about it. Good games, worth the money. However, that's all they were. Nothing special, nothing all that memorable, nothing I would even consider as one of my favorite games ever. This one i had even lower expectations for. Sure, the reviews were good, but the last thing i was interested in playing was a horror-themed Metroid-style game (note: for those who haven't read it elsewhere, I'm a fan of neither horror nor Metroid).

This game is everything i could possibly want. It's an old school feeling 2D platformer, something that was getting more rare a half decade ago and is all but gone today on the home consoles. The world is extensive, but you never feel like you don't know where to go or that there's too much distance between destinations. Difficult is pretty high, but not at the point where anything ever gets frustrating -- lots of secrets, but nothing that will force to to go out and buy a strategy guide.

The very best trait that Castlevania brought from its old school roots was replayability -- there is a storyline, but it adds up to like ten minutes of the total play time. There is a bit of surprise here or there when playing through for the first time, but nothing that will be lessened if you know about it ahead of time. The game was strictly about the action. Doesn't matter if you're playing through for the second time or the fifth, it's just as quality of an experience. I put replayability second to only the general fun factor when it comes to giving my opinion on games -- and this has both in spades.

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**7. No One Lives Forever 2 (PC - FPS) **

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i like shooters. Not my favorite genre, but it’s probably the one that I am most forgiving with. After all, there’s tons of ways to make a shooter that are all fun in different ways – You might have to do nothing more than blast your way to the end of the level trying to survive, like in Doom. You might have to shoot someone only as a last resort as you attempt to use stealth to accomplish your goals, like in Thief. You might not be in a real level at all but instead in an arena doing nothing more than killing everyone in sight, like in Unreal Tournament. You might not be able to just charge in blasting but instead must cooperate and plan with your pals, like in Counter Strike. You might spend more time chatting it up with people than actually shooting, like in Deus Ex.

Point is – there’s a lot of different sub-categories in the FPS genre. Second point is, you can find pretty much anything you could want in a FPS in game of the year winning No One Lives Forever 2 – the game is best played playing through levels methodically, generally trying to nail the baddies without being seen – If you do get seen and need to engage in a firefight though, your character is built tough enough to not die in two shots – Nothing wrong with some realism in games, but i think it can get really old playing the games where you make one mistake and it’s time to press quick load button. There’s also a fantastic storyline to follow and boatloads of ridiculously witty dialogue to keep you entertained. It’s good enough I’d consider the game one of the very few worth watching over someone’s shoulder.

For those who know nothing about the game, imagine playing a typical secret agent quest seen through the eyes of an Austin Powers movie – You play as the only female agent in a top secret government agency in the swinging sixties, fighting against an evil worldwide terror organization known only as HARM. Your missions take you everywhere from an ancient Japanese village to a hidden underwater laboratory to a trailer park in Ohio – and the quality graphics really make everything come alive.

This game is still readily available – and couldn’t possibly cost more than twenty bucks – Unless you flat out hate FPS games or you are the type who ignores a single player campaign and jumps right into multiplayer (this game has it, but it’s an add on and not the focus), you are doing yourself a disservice by not playing No One Lives Forever 2…

…and no, I was not exaggerating on those game of the year awards.

Game 20, Group B - India vs Sri Lanka - Friday March 23rd
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*6. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC - RPG) *

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Let me tell you -- if you told me last year that i would ever have anything Star Wars related anywhere near a top list of any kind of mine, I'd laugh it off -- i don't necessarily hate the series, but i sure as heck don't like it -- i saw this game getting great reviews when it was released, but i never batted an eye. After all, this was a Star Wars title -- i saw Rogue Squadron get some wonderful ratings back on the N64, and let me tell you, I'll never get back the fifteen minutes i bored myself to death playing it after my brother brought it home.

How did i manage to come into Knights of the Old Repubic then? Well, it has been established before that i can only ignore glowing reviews left and right for so long. We were rolling into mid-summer, and I'd only picked up I believe one new game in 2004, and that was before we'd even officially hit spring. I wanted to play something new, simple as that -- i also thought it'd be a good time to take advantage of my own little rule when looking for no game in particular: check last year's releases -- they're probably just as good now as then, and they're half the price. Checking out reviews -- i couldn't find anything close to this game that i hadn't played already in some shape or form. Dare i actually shell out money for a Star Wars game? That's a risk. However, by some divine intervention, the game was on sale at Best Buy for ten bucks off the usually thirty dollar price tag -- i had to take a chance.

Obviously i was well rewarded for my risk. While i get the impression there's more details that you'll really get and love if you understand the Star Wars universe, you in no way have to like the source material in the least to be floored with one of the best RPGs ever. Some things did take a bit of getting used to for me though. Combat left me clueless for a bit; it took a bit before I got used to having to control three characters in real time, but eventually I grew to appreciate the quasi-auto-battling the game did for you -- As much as i like RPG battles of the SNES days over the PS2 days, this one has them all beat once you get the hang of things.

I have also never played a game where little decisions you make effect things in the big picture like in this -- Some games have claimed to have that built in, but none really felt like they accomplished the goal like Knights of the Old Republic. Granted, it had a feature i really hate that nullifies the whole process (your ultimate fate being left up to a single decision as opposed to what you've been doing all along), but it is forgivable since you can just play along with your character to have things make more sense.

Storyline is perfect, possibly the best I've ever sat through. Did anyone else get the twist before it happened? i didn't get it much before, but man, was i gleeful when everything clicked in my head and I realized what was really going on. That takes some good storytelling work right there -- Controls, graphics, sound were all as good as it gets. Although i do admit there were less memorable tunes that I was humming after i was done than in most RPGs.

Is there anything wrong with the game? Perhaps. It's a little annoying raving over something Star Wars after spending my life telling people how little like the series -- i also don't like how a segment of the gaming market I had deemed unenjoyable suddenly needs to be watched over -- I have enough genres and series to look over already darn it!