A game which gives me an intense feeling of disgust and hatred. Not because of its content, but because of its mere existence, the measures which the developers took to ensure its continued existence, and what all of it represents for me.
The official shutdown of Garry’s Mod Tower, and then the constant DMCA takedowns against anyone attempting to host it again, was a huge factor in the slow and horrible decay that GMod continues to suffer from. I cannot ever forgive that.

This was, and still is, an excellent horror game in its own right. No amount of bad sequels, adaptations into other mediums and degenerate fan content will ever convince me otherwise.

Possibly the best execution of "I want people to draw porn of my own characters" in the entire medium.

If you’ve ever been asked "What game did you and your friends play during computer class?" and your answer was this, then you understand why I gave it this high of a score.

I’ve heard people say that this game just feels different, having a specific "Gamecube aesthetic" to it which newer Mario games don’t replicate. I can’t say that I disagree.

Given all of the conspiracies surrounding a mandate over the Mario series (which I very much believe in myself), it feels miraculous that this turned out so fucking good.
What holds it back from 5 stars is the lack of a boss rush mode. I’ve made entire accounts on my Switch just to serve as extra save files to fight the bosses whenever I wanted to…

Rather primitive in hindsight, but I still marveled at what people were able to do with the limitations back then.

I haven’t touched this game in several years, and may never will because I abandoned the Playstation consoles and apparently the servers are down.
But just reminiscing about the dozens of hours I’ve spent on both the official campaign and the insane shit people did with the level editor, I'd be shocked if I gave it less than 5 stars on a replay.

Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart, but before Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart. And also LittleBigPlanet Karting, but before LittleBigPlanet Karting, and done much better than LittleBigPlanet Karting.
Suffice to say, I really enjoyed this one while it lasted.

Given the context of this IP and ModNation Racers, I should have been over the moon for this game… but that didn’t happen.

I understand why this was so popular when it came out, but if you call it the best maze-based game in the series, I will laugh in your fucking face.

Wow, who knew that introducing multiple mazes and slightly randomizing the A.I. of the ghosts would make for a better game than the original Pac-Man?

Sure, the starting levels may be agonizingly slow, and the ability to jump makes this game painfully easy, but perhaps the most damning thing about it is how you can’t see the entire maze on the screen. I sure love wandering around for those last pellets to eat.

Only the most basic of changes to the established maze formula, and yet this game fucks much harder than its sequels.

This absolutely deserves the love it gets for its stellar presentation and addictive City Trial mode.
It also absolutely deserves the hate it gets for its lackluster Air Ride mode and oversimplified controls.
And it absolutely deserves... whatever it gets for Top Ride mode.