My 123 Favorite Video Games, Ranked
This is at an odd number because it's just every game I've ever played that I would consider 'a favorite' of mine with no upper limit ... and I guess that there are this many of them! I put a lot of thought into the rankings but this is going to be a living document - positions will shift as I replay them and (hopefully) many games will be added. All future updates will be noted in the comments as they happen.
I put a little bit about how I was introduced to each of these and my history with them in the notes. Please feel free to ignore all that if you don't feel like reading my LiveJournal - it's rambly and mostly unedited. Like everything else on this site, it's kind of more for me than anyone else.
The below is a list of games I consider "Unranked" - provisionally on the list but which need to be replayed to get a good idea of where I should put them. Hopefully I will get through these soon and resolve their placements!
UNRANKED:
- Chrono Cross (Square/PS1/1999)
- Crimson Shroud (Level-5/3DS/2012)
- Dark Souls III (FromSoftware/Multiplat/2016)
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Capcom/NDS/2010)
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (New World Computing/PC/1999)
- Pathologic (Ice-pick Lodge/PC/2005)
- Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (Level-5/NDS/2007)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope/PC/2018)
- Shadow of Destiny (Konami/PS2/2001)
- Shadow Warrior (3D Realms/PC/1997)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo/NSW/2017)
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo/GB/1993)
- Xenogears (Square/PS1/1998)
- Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (Chunsoft/3DS/2012)
I put a little bit about how I was introduced to each of these and my history with them in the notes. Please feel free to ignore all that if you don't feel like reading my LiveJournal - it's rambly and mostly unedited. Like everything else on this site, it's kind of more for me than anyone else.
The below is a list of games I consider "Unranked" - provisionally on the list but which need to be replayed to get a good idea of where I should put them. Hopefully I will get through these soon and resolve their placements!
UNRANKED:
- Chrono Cross (Square/PS1/1999)
- Crimson Shroud (Level-5/3DS/2012)
- Dark Souls III (FromSoftware/Multiplat/2016)
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Capcom/NDS/2010)
- Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (New World Computing/PC/1999)
- Pathologic (Ice-pick Lodge/PC/2005)
- Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (Level-5/NDS/2007)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope/PC/2018)
- Shadow of Destiny (Konami/PS2/2001)
- Shadow Warrior (3D Realms/PC/1997)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo/NSW/2017)
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo/GB/1993)
- Xenogears (Square/PS1/1998)
- Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (Chunsoft/3DS/2012)
123 Games
Had to get it when all the hubbub was going down. Wasn't disappointed - lots of awesome hangouts with the gang trading off. Maybe the last game we ever did anything like that with.
123
The only VR game I could really, really get into because all the big ones make me sick. :( Also, because I'm beyond-godlike at every rhythm game, I easily 100% and platted this.
122
Another friend's house Genesis classic. The wobbly leaning tower of Pisa stuck in my head for like 15 years until a revisit.
121
One of my biggest finds in my early emulation days in like 1999. Had no idea what I was doing because of the nihongo ... until it all clicked. Still playing every damn Picross game I can get my hands on to this day. And still humming the music from this.
120
Big closet TRIALS guy, played em all. I was super pumped for this when it came out. Shit, now I want to play some TRIALS.
119
Loved this when it came out but the new edition actually kind of knocked it down a few pegs for me. One of those games that only gets less and less impressive the more you play it, unfortunately. But it's always fun to see other try it for the first time.
118
The last of the SCI engine Sierra games for me. This one I played alone - not with grandpa, not with the aunts - all me baby. (Didn't get very far.)
116
Went on a huge PS3 used game buying spree at some point in like 2013 and got this for five bucks at a Pawn America. Made me fall in love with the old series all over again, having not played it since like grade school.
115
Knew this was right up my alley, slyly asked for it for Christmas from the GF and got it. Another one of those "I like watching you be smart games." Hey listen, baby, everybody wins.
114
One of the major gaps in my carefully curated GameCube library. Only played at friends, but rectified that in 2010.
113
The Game Boy game, but it can stand in for any/all versions. Came with the machine, of course. The only video game I ever saw my mom play.
112
My first and only GameCube title at launch. And what a launch title! Kept me going no problem until reinforcements arrived in the form of SMASH and LUIGI'S MANSION. The first in an amazing library, probably my best, pound-for-pound.
111
Played it at the one SNES friend's house and always loved it.
110
Played a little of this at a friend's house and it stuck with me until I cracked and bought the whole series (up to that point) in 2010.
109
Another rec from my extremely smart and cool DEADLY PREMONITION, GOD HAND bestowing bro in the college days. Man, he turned me on to some real winners.
108
After absolutely mastering the original (much to the chagrin of the haters and the trolls amongst my friends who I easily surpassed), this was like a religious experience. I think I managed to get it early - this was in my street-date-break scamming days. I had a whole system going. I got GUITAR HERO III a whole week early, I was top ten in the worldwide leaderboards! But that game's not on this list, lol.
107
My first non-PC gaming machine was a Game Boy, and for a couple years there, this was my killer app. It was the first Mario game I owned! Hard to say when exactly I got it, but early '90s, when it was new.
106
Actually no clue when I played this first. I remember only really digging in and going through it (and the sequel) in 2010, but I really think I had played it before that. But where?
105
Another good Genesis friend pick - immediately went and picked it up for myself after playing it with them.
104
My one PlayStation friend had this shit and the sequel in 1998 and I swear to God I was thinking about it until I finally bought my own copy in like 2010.
103
Played the shareware version of this at some point, but I'm not entirely sure when or where. Certainly stuck with me though.
102
Extremely hyped for this when it came out in 1999. My good friend who loved Star Wars and video games had to literally ask me stop talking about it to him at school.
101
My well-worn Star Wars trilogy VHS set (you know the one) ensured that this was an insta-purchase when I found out it existed, and given the date that was out and that I got the CD-ROM version (as well as CD-ROM X-WING, I think simultaneously), sometime in 1995/1996.
100
Even with some initial skepticism, I Day One'd the hell out of this, you better know it. It's ride or die for RGG from here on out, brother.
99
Only experienced the magic at friends' houses in Junior High, but man alive was I hooked for good. Later I'd get it for Dreamcast aka the cool version.
98
After playing and loving THPS2 at friends' houses exclusively, I knew I had to be on the right side of history and bought this for GameCube soon after release in probably early 2002.
97
Another slow-paced mystery game with the aunts around 1992 or so. But I recognized those sprite graphics and the parser from KQ1 and KQ4 and was instantly hooked. Having that template applied to a different genre was really exciting to me - eye opening.
96
Another Apogee shareware fav around 1994. Another one I only played the later chapters of much, much later in life.
95
Another gift from a Genesis friend with really good taste in the early '90s. Borrowed it over and over 'til I mastered it.
94
Had to have friends show me the light on this one - thought it was silly at first glance. But about ten seconds into my first match, it was love. I still think there's real value in this first one.
93
Didn't mind that the LucasArts guys shifted from pure adventures to platformers, I was into it no matter what and played this on PS2 on release.
92
Little known fact, but I am an absolute god at all these plastic instrument games. GUITAR HERO broke my brain and I immediately devoted my life to getting sick at them, like drilling songs over and over, irritating my friends. Never had that experience with any game before, really. ROCK BAND 1 was a revelation. Five stars on expert, every instrument, every game, all the way down. Eventually got me to into real instruments, bought a guitar, bought a bass, bought drums, took music classes at college. But kept playing the shit out of these things. By the time RB3 here rolled around, I was the ROCK BAND guy among my friends, bringing the party with me. Took a week off for this. It was glorious, but it was the end of the line. Bittersweet one for me, and also the peak.
91
Grandpa had this, like every other cool adventure game that came out between 1990 and 1996. My aunts were really into this - they were smart - liked puzzles and complex board games. They taught me to appreciate the more intellectual pace, taking notes, being observant. To this day, still love games that make me write shit down. And I had played MYST at some point before this, but come on. This is the real MYST. We all know it.
90
I remember seeing an advertisement for this in the back of one of those bigass PC game magazines where the last 40 pages is like a catalog or whatever, and I DEMANDED my dad buy it for me because I loved DARK FORCES so much. Dad explained that it wasn't out yet, it was just a placeholder, and I flipped out. One of the only dipshit-kid tantrums of mine that I remember. Totally irrational, haha.
89
Only ever played it in obscure places, never actually owned an NES or had any significant people in my life who had one either. Always just a quick game in some random circumstance. But that's all it took. Eventually I bought it with an NES and a ton of other games in 2012. My son will play this as one of his first games.
88
Never owned it for anything, but played it everwhere from '92 on. Friends had it on every system, in every arcade, you know the story.
87
Got this one on release, still have the big ornate box. I remember picking it off the shelf at Best Buy with great ceremony. You knew this one was gonna be good.
86
As I mentioned, I hated GTAIV (despite playing like 150 hours of it, or whatever), so I turned my nose up at this initially. At some point I got the hint that it was good, maybe a couple months after release, and gave it a shot. Glad I did.
85
I had played the DS game so, yeah, Day One. Day Zero. Ran, didn't walk.
84
Definitely my first FPS in 1992 - dad brought it home on floppy. Probably shouldn't have been playing it at six years old, but eh, that same year I saw Night of the Living Dead, so. Fun story - I got in trouble in school for doing a drawing of a scene from this on the back of a spelling test. What part of the game, you ask? Oh, just the fight with Hitler, complete with totally game-inaccurate health-bar labeled "HITLER'S LIFE SUPPORT" in the upper right corner. They talked to my parents about it, but nothing actually happened! My dad probably knew enough about the game to speak to it. Lol.
83
Not even sure why - not a huge RPG guy at the time, not a huge BioWare guy, but I was all in on the hype train for this leading up to release. A buddy and I did trade-off co-op all the way through ... and then that idiot deleted his save so we couldn't do it again for ME2/ME3. Will never forgive him. RIP Twak Shepard.
82
Skipped it in confusion at first but eventually circled back in the mid-2010s when I got over myself a little. It deserved better than it got, not just from me.
81
Had a crazy up-'til-4AM experience beating this with a good buddy when it was new, and had to buy it right afterwards to honor that, if nothing else. Been coming back to it every few years after that. Something about it man - a quiet power in this game.
80
Another of the PC first games circa 1992. This one was super old and basically impenetrable but that didn't stop five/six year old me from beating my head against it - and loving it! Much later in life, I would actually beat it (with a guide) and that was a fulfillment that's hard to describe.
79
Falcon was my guy from SMASH and I had to have every awesome GameCube game, so I got it at release.
78
Played it at some point at someone's place, don't remember, but ended up buying a former rental from a video store going out of business not long after.
77
A present for Christmas, 2001. I had beaten the snot out of ROGUE SQUADRON and was deep, deep into MELEE, but this was a welcome addition.
76
Got it on release - this was my entry point into the franchise after seeing my buddy play DW5 and 6. Not sure if it was a blessing or a curse that I got in right at the peak.
75
I actually don't know when I first encountered this - it may have been on emulator in the late '90s. It seems like it's always been with me, though ... maybe a friend did have it.
74
Another of my cool grandpa's games - he must have gotten it when it was brand new in 1995. I remember going up North to his place and just discovering it and being like, what ... there's ANOTHER 7TH GUEST? For some reason I was struck by the idea of a game like that having a sequel. Weird to think about.
73
I think I borrowed this from a friend and just kept it forever, sometime in the early 2000s. You don't give something this good back.
72
Had it in 1995/1996 when it came out. You had to.
71
Carried my extremely good taste forward into the N64 era and eschewed MARIO KART 64 for this.
70
Played on release with friends in 2002 but didn't buy it until 2010 when completing my GameCube library.
69
Another of the very first games I played in 1992-ish. After mostly card games and platformers, these things blew the doors off my imagination of what a computer game could be.
68
Despite being a mega-Batman fanboy for life, I was extremely skeptical of this during its promotion, mainly because of the questionable art style and character designs. Came around when the reviews hit and got in.
67
Came with my secondhand Dreamcast purchase in 2000. No gun, but this is the rare lightgun game that's still a blast even without one.
66
Got the Battle Chest in 1999. Everyone had the StarCrafts, man. It was like they came issued with your tower compters.
65
Another game I of course played immensely when it was released in 1997, but didn't own until much later in life. Managed to unlock everything at least once while I had it borrowed from someone, though.
64
Played this sometime around its release and was in love. I've never been too far one way or the other on loving or hating "walking simulators" because honestly, they contain multitudes, but this one was a minor revelation for me w/r/t what a game "needed" to be. Still like it a lot.
63
Release day of course. I'm much kinder to this one than most series fans who probably put it under (the abysmal) Arkham Origins, but that's because I know how to drive and didn't get filtered by the Batmobile like all those whiners.
62
Have to credit a friend with getting it first and showing it to me, but got it that same year in 2004. At that point we were plugged in enough to know what was what.
61
The first ... and now that I think about it, only mainline FF game I bought at release. I knew it was the Tactics guy, so had to respect. Wasn't disappointed - I probably like this a lot more than the average FF fan. Maybe that's because I'm not really an FF fan, lol.
60
Caught up with this in 2021. It scratched a bigtime itch for me, and I'm excited to revisit it to see if it holds up on the list.
59
Got this with my Dreamcast in 2000 from a foolish friend who was selling ... I think in preparation for PS2 maybe? Nah he wouldn't have been thinking like that a year out. I think he was just a dope!
58
I bought pretty much every good GameCube immediately when they came out, I was super plugged-in in this era, just crushing it. Subscriptions to both EGM and Game Informer. I knew what was what.
57
Another Apogee platformer that was in the handful of the very first games I ever played in like 1991-1992. I still have the floppy.
56
Extremely big AC Head and 3DS enthusiast, so this was a Day One situation. Close to the only thing I did for like the next month.
55
Got it at a closing down K-Mart for $15 bucks in 2010. I actually hadn't played any of the series before, but like I once did with Silent Hill, at some point I decided it was just time to get into the series and bought 1-4 blind. Once again, I was richly rewarded.
54
As a kid who went from PC to Game Boy to Genesis to N64, I had more or less completely missed out on JRPGs, and I remember seeing coverage for this in EGM and saying to myself, yes, this is it, this WILL BE my first foray into this mysterious, mystical genre from the east. (I didn't really understand that Pokemon, which I played tons of, was, in fact, a JRPG, but in my defense, I was dumb.) It was 2000, I had my Dreamcast, I was ready ... and then ... I never saw it at the store. Every time I went, I looked, but I was too young to go anywhere but where my parents took me to shop for games, and didn't really think to ask to go to a more specialty store ... so I never got it. I was genuinely crestfallen ... but then years later my beloved GameCube came through for me. It was worth the wait!
53
Had this around its release in 2005-2006, having loved the original, but then lent it to someone in college and never got it back. Downside was having to buy it again, but spreading the joy of Katamari was worth it, I guess.
52
Dutifully supported this and bought the digital release when it finally came out in 2015. By that time I was absolutely ride or die for this franchise.
51
Played this for the first time in 2010 when a friend and I decided to run the entire Castlevania series before the release of Lords of Shadow. We hated that stupid game, but loved a TON of the other one, which we had only played a couple of apiece. Worthwhile for sure, and especially for this one, obviously.
50
No physical for this either of course. Well, I do have The Orange Box. I remember getting it and not caring at all about this little whatever game tacked on ... and then I played it, and yeah, haha
49
Bought day one. First thing on this list that doesn't have a physical release. Surprising that Limited Run never got on that. Disappointing.
48
Another legendy N64 game I never actually owned, just borrowed from people throughout the years. Eventually bought it during a retro library building phase in 2012.
47
Hyped beyond words for this in 2002, got it day one. Unlike I guess everybody else, I really liked it!
46
This one I played at a my cousin's house. Yes, even family members were cool kids and liked Genesis!
45
Like I said, this one I did have, but I don't have any memory of getting it.
44
As a Genesis kid, I was well versed in all Sonics, but only actually owned SONIC 2. Friend had this one and I borrowed it a lot.
43
Was ready for this on day one in 2001, you better know it. Met the dude who would be my best friend for life on the school bus when I overheard him talking to someone else about how excited he was for it, and I chimed in.
42
Because I was a cool kid with excellent taste, I had a Dreamcast and was ready to get this on day one in 2000 when it came out. My mom took me to Target to get it and I remember riding home on the bus and describing to her all the cool stuff you could do, like walk around, and talk to people, and feed a cat, and play other video games. She must have been confused.
41
Got it at release in 1999. I had seen other people playing Red/Blue and then of course the show was on, so I was vibrating to get on the bandwagon by the time this came out.
40
Got it with the Dreamcast I bought off a friend in early 2000. Not sure what his problem was but he wanted to offload it, and I think I got the console, VMU, two controllers, this, NFL2K, CRAZY TAXI and THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 for like $80. What a dummy that guy was, huh
39
This may have been my first video game ever, in like 1991 or so. I was five and just learning to use my dad's DOS-based computer and he would bring home shareware games on floppies that he got from friends at work or conferences or whatever. I loved this shit, really captured my imagination. Adventure games would come to define my PC gaming life, and then FPS, but it started with Apogee platformers.
38
Because I was a cool kid, I had cool friends. And because my cool friends were cool (like me) they tended to have Genesis instead of SNES. One of my token Nintendo friends did have this, though, and it was probably the only time I was truly jealous of the other side of the console war. It stuck with me until I could fully explore it on emulator when I got into those in like 1999.
37
Played the shareware version sometime after its release, probably 1995 or so. This was one I never saw the non-free episodes of until like fifteen years later. That is such a weird feeling.
36
Played this after the fact in like 2001 or 2002 after seeing it at a friend's house. Weird that I was so late on it being a big FPS boy.
35
Played the shareware version in 1996 around its release. As one of the only people who was a big fan of the two previous Duke Nukem games, I was a little confused by the change in direction, but, uh, that didn't matter after like, fifteen seconds of level one.
34
Only one time to have gotten it and played it, really. God was that fun. Still working on my PS4 at this point.
33
Got it at release in 1998 due to the hubbub of it being a masterpiece of adventure gaming. But this may have actually been my first LucasArts adventure - I was a bigtime Sierra partisan. Shortly after this I went back and played SAM & MAX and FULL THROTTLE.
32
Got it sometime around release in 2004. I think that I had maybe not played the first PAPER MARIO before it? But this made me go back for sure.
31
Got it at release in 1997. I had the 64 at that point and couldn't wait for the Rumble Pak!
30
Another grandpa's house game, but it was the CD version so probably 1993/1994. This one I took home with me because it was just too big to finish in one visit to his homestead.
29
I saw this being advertised in a PC gaming mag in 1995 and bought it "for my grandpa" who had all those PC games. Lol isn't that great, I got it for him for Christmas and he unwrapped it and was like, "Oh, thanks ..." and then I just snatched it and went to play.
28
I somehow had a lot of friends with excellent taste in Genesis games, so I played this right around its release in 1993 with one and then bought it myself. I would take my Genesis around places to show people how good this game was.
27
As Day 1 as it gets. I've loved Batman since I was two years old and ARKHAM ASYLUM was dope, so
26
First played sometime between release in 2006 and 2009. The same genius who would later introduce me to DEADLY PREMONITION made me play it. I pretty much owe that guy everything.
25
Must have played it right around when it came out in 1996 or 1997 because I remember getting it new at Best Buy and I can't imagine it was on shelves for super long. I remember my dad being mildly concered that it was rated T (I was 10) which is hilarious because that rating must be for, what, farting?
24
10 Comments
LIST UPDATE 6/4/2023:
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Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (#106) replayed and rank confirmed
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Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (#106) replayed and rank confirmed
LIST UPDATE 6/10/2023:
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Katamari Damacy (#64) replayed and moved up to #61
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Katamari Damacy (#64) replayed and moved up to #61
LIST UPDATE 6/16/2023:
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We Love Katamari (#52) replayed and rank confirmed
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We Love Katamari (#52) replayed and rank confirmed
LIST UPDATE 8/11/2023:
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Pokemon Gold (unranked) replayed and removed
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Pokemon Gold (unranked) replayed and removed
LIST UPDATE 11/23/2023:
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The Case of the Golden Idol (#117) added
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The Case of the Golden Idol (#117) added
LIST UPDATE 12/10/2023:
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Super Mario Bros. (#88) and Super Mario World (#37) replayed and ranks confirmed
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Super Mario Bros. (#88) and Super Mario World (#37) replayed and ranks confirmed
I saw Deadly Premonition on this list and decided to give it a spin, despite its technical shortcomings, I found the game to be quite engaging, primarily due to the charming characters and the captivating dialogue between York and the town's population.
Quite the experience and glad I did
Quite the experience and glad I did
@Kawasaki0504 Awesome! Glad you liked it!
LIST UPDATE 03/25/2023:
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Heroes of Might & Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia added to unranked list
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Heroes of Might & Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia added to unranked list
DJSCheddar
11 months ago
And yeah I definitely dont want to discourage you because I would love to see yours, but for the record this has taken me actual years to finally do haha