NOTE: Taking a cue from my friend Joel, I'm only going to include one title from any given franchise on the list to avoid this becoming the Top 10 Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil Games.
(Playstation 2)
This is a very personal pick. I don't even care for the single player game all that much, and honestly I prefer the story of the original to this sequel, but I think I may have spent more hours playing Red Faction 2's deathmatch than I ever have any other game, on or offline. I have a lot of memories attached to this game which I can't really explain to the common person, but I think that, even if you don't care for Red Faction 2, every gamer has a game or two like this one that they've played so many times with their friends that it became infamous among them. I'm betting that Halo, Call Of Duty, and World Of Warcraft would fill that hole for many gamers, but Red Faction 2 does it for me.
(Playstation 3)
This one is all about wish fulfillment. Ghostbusters was my all-time favorite movie...scratch that...all time favorite THING until I saw Aliens for the first time when I was 7 years old. While I liked the Sega Genesis game, the cartoons, and the 80's/90's toy line, ever since I was a little kid I wanted film-accurate action figures and a film-accurate video game based on Ghostbusters. Mattel's new "Adult Collector" line of Ghostbuster toys fulfilled the former wish, and this game finally fulfilled the latter.
If I weren't a fan of the franchise, I'm sure this game would hold no interest for me, but it's the familiar sounds, visuals, and concepts that make it so worthwhile. I seriously couldn't wipe the stupid grin off of my face the first time I fired up my proton pack and let loose with the neutrana wand in this game. The sounds ripped straight from the movies and the feeling that I was controlling the genuine article gave me a feeling of satisfaction that I'd waited a long time to experience. I still get a kick out of it every time I actually control the action of struggling to trap a ghost in Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
(Playstation 3)
If you have a good friend who is as into 3rd person shooters as you are, as far as I'm concerned, there is no better gaming experience on Earth than sitting down with this game and beating the shit out of it as a two man team.
The level of cooperation it requires to play through this game makes it the closest experience most people will ever have to living a buddy action film. Sure there are more popular franchises like Call Of Duty which allow you to play team deathmatch, but actually sitting next to your friend in the same room and calling out for help or more ammo while under enemy fire is a hair-raisingly intense and satisfying experience. It's not uncommon, however, to be wounded and require assistance from a fellow player in any number of games these days. But how many of those games allow you to continue blasting away at your enemies while your partner drags you to safety behind cover where he/she can administer a shot of health? I dare say none but Army Of Two.
That's just one example of the way that this game makes you rely upon, trust, and respect your partner's abilities, though. Firing back to back while surrounded by hostiles, swapping weapons and ammo on the fly, spotting enemies for your sniper rifle-equipped partner when you're pinned down in a dangerous spot, and working together to rescue hostages from multiple baddies by coordinating your stealth attacks are just a few more. I'll cap off my explanation of The 40th Day's excellence by saying that the online multiplayer for this game is greatly improved from that of it's predecessor, and the ability to design custom face masks online for use in-game is just plain cool.
(Playstation)
This is my Super Mario Brothers or Sonic The Hedgehog. This is the platformer which I hold dear to my heart. It's a PS1 game with shitty voice acting in which you play an effeminate dude with purple hair who does dashes and flips, and blows up robots with remote-detonated bombs. It's super fast paced and has a percussion-heavy electronic score. As you progress through the game you earn items which allow you to upgrade the number of bombs that you can plant at once, as well as increase the distance you can be from your targets while still locking onto them. There are also multiple types of bombs you can add to your arsenal which have varying effects on your opponents.
In essence, Silent Bomber is a more involved, more extreme, and more awesome version of Bomber Man...if Bomber Man were a platformer...and if Bomber Man were a petite, girly man named Jutah (yoo-tah). My great shame is that I've never been able to beat the final boss. I've fought that bastard until my fingers were numb and never managed to overcome his array of murderous chess pieces (yeah, that's right...sentient chess pieces), but that doesn't stop me from popping in the disc and facing him again once every year or so. I would kill for a new version of this game with better graphics and new levels.
(Playstation 2)
I'm not into cars. I'm not into racing. The closest I get to being interested in either of those things are The Fast And The Furious and Burnout 3: Takedown. When some friends and I were hanging out one night several years ago and one of them popped this game into his XBox, I remember thinking that I was going to be bored out of my mind for the next few hours. What I was expecting was the realistic racing "action" of Gran Turismo. What I saw before me were explosions and motorized mayhem. Boy, do I love this game. On the surface it's a fast-paced racing game, but once you play it you'll realize that doing high-speed battle with your opponents is half of what Burnout is all about.
Scraping paint with the other drivers, rear-ending them, or taking one out of the race completely by running them off of the track and into an obstacle are encouraged by rewarding you with extra "boost" with which to outrun, or catch up to, your fellow racers. There's even a mode called "Road Rage" in which taking out other cars is your main goal. And then there's "Crash Mode", which sets you a few hundred yards away from a busy intersection and allows you to ram your way through civilian vehicles to cause as much monetary damage as possible. This mode is incredibly fun, especially when playing against a friend to see who can do more damage.
As fun as those modes are, I've found that I can get pretty tied up in the standard races, too. The single player game features a series of races (as well as Crash and Road Rage modes) which take you to multiple worldwide locales, each with a variety of courses, making for some of the most stunning scenery I can recall from a PS2 title. It's so great to race along the Autobahn and see the setting sun reflect off of the blacktop with a gorgeous purple and yellow sky in the background. In addition to the visuals and attitude of the game, the incorporation of a Pop/Rock soundtrack featuring 44 tracks by such artists as My Chemical Romance, Yellowcard, Franz Ferdinand, Amber Pacific, Fall Out Boy, and Reggie And The Full Effect adds a mood to the gameplay that really appealed to a 20 year old me. Real life DJ Stryker even cuts into the music from time to time to tell you about the track and competition, adding to the experience. Not before, nor since, have I played a racing game that has been able to hold my attention like Burnout 3: Takedown. Just typing up this review makes me want to play it!
(Dreamcast)
My all-time favorite fighting game. I'm not really a fan of the genre, but this is the one major exception. Some people are into Tekken, Street Fighter, or Mortal Kombat, but I live for Power Stone.
My favorite thing about the game is that it's not all about simply punching and kicking your enemy for the sake of beating him/her up. You knock each other around with your hands, feet, and weapons, but also have the ability to use the awesomely interactive environments against your opponent. You can whip yourself off of lamp posts into high-powered kicks if you're a small character, or rip that same lamp post out of the ground and swing it around if you're a big guy. You can pick up tables, chairs, and boxes to throw at your enemy, or if you're being pursued, you can leap over an object and slide it between your legs in one fluid motion to take out whoever is on your tail. But if the attackee is fast enough, they can catch the item you just launched at them and throw it right back at you.
With all of the juggling, dodging, and incorporation of objects into your fight, every battle in Power Stone feels like an action scene from a Jackie Chan movie (which probably goes a long way in explaining why I like the game's style so much). That's not even the best part, though. Rather than simply trying to knock out your opponent, half of the goal of each fight is to obtain all three of the Power Stones located in each level, because once you do, you essentially go "Super Saiyan" and transform into an even more devastatingly powerful version of your character for a limited time. Between the bright, colorful design of the game, the varied, wacky characters, the wholly original gameplay style, and the fully 3D environments, I can't see how any fan of fighting games could dislike Power Stone.
(Playstation)
The first Resident Evil game I played, and still the best. I have a closer connection to Leon and Claire than I do to Chris and Jill, because I played this game repeatedly before I ever even experienced the first game in the series. This may be the first truly cinematic, long-form, story-heavy game that I ever played. The closest thing to this type of game that I can think of picking up beforehand was probably Tomb Raider 2, which had a crap story and little-to-no atmosphere. This was also the first "scary" game I played, which was a completely original experience for me, and one that I'll never forget. You know, come to think of it, this may also be the first game I ever played that had FMV cut scenes, which would have also blown my mind at the time.
Nostalgia aside though, this game may have crummy voice acting, but the music, level design, atmosphere, puzzles, and boss fights are all top-notch. Not to mention, I love William Birkin as the main villain, constantly transforming into more hideous enemies to keep you on your toes. Then there's the fact that depending on which character you play as first, you can experience the entire game all over again from another point of view and visit new areas. How awesome is that?! I'm a pretty big fan of this franchise as a whole, but I still feel that Resident Evil 2 was the most well-rounded, inventive installment in the series.
(Playstation 2)
I've been with this series since the first game on PS1. Back then I had no idea who Tony Hawk was and didn't realize that there was more to skateboarding than Bart Simpson jetting around Springfield after school. It got me skating in real life and introduced me to an entire subculture that basically influenced just about every path my life took in high school, from the friends I made to the people I looked up to.
This series, for me, also became like riding a bicycle. To this day I can pick up any of the games in the Tony Hawk series at any time, so long as it's on a Playstation, and regardless of how long it's been since I've played one, and kick anyone's ass who I've ever played against. The control scheme and physics are second nature to me now, and I can have a blast at any time just racking up big points with combos and exploring every corner of a level. Even before playing THPS on a PS3 with trophies, I always made the effort to earn every medal, award, and/or achievement in these games, working tirelessly for days at a time to do so. In fact, I have a perfect, 100% unlocked save file for each of the PS1 and PS2 Tony Hawk games saved on memory cards in my possession.
As for why Underground is my favorite of the series, I'll chalk that up, for the most, to the story. This was the first THPS game to feature an actual story mode wherein you start as a regular skater kid in New Jersey and work your way through the ranks of Pro Skater-dom until, within the world created by the game, you really are the best there is. You get a shoe deal at one point in the game and get to create your own custom skate shoes, as well as decks and other apparel. How badass is that? There's also a subplot about a hometown friend of yours who becomes your rival and tries to screw you out of the fame and fortune you've earned. All this while still being the same great, easy to pick up and play skateboarding game. From concept to execution, there's nothing that I dislike about Tony Hawk's Underground.
(Playstation 3)
Think about the adrenaline rush that you feel while watching the jeep chase sequence in Raiders Of The Lost Ark or the tank chase sequence in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. Now imagine not necessarily living those moments, but controlling them. That is what the Uncharted series (especially Uncharted 2) offers gamers. The "WOW moments" are largely what this game is about. Jumping from one moving train car to another while dodging machine gun fire and almost toppling over the edge of a cliff. Hanging from icy ledges while being pursued by pirates and yetis. Other games may offer third person shooter action, but no other offers the environment-based thrills of Uncharted 2.
I like to think of this game as the modern day platformer. It used to be that little sprites hopping from one ledge to another comprised much of what the video game industry was all about, but then shooting games began to take over, and now the name most commonly associated with gaming seems to be Call Of Duty rather than Mario. What Uncharted does is marry the two genres into a perfect gaming experience. Add to the gameplay the likable, nay, loveable characters, excellent writing, and some of the best voice acting ever heard outside of a Disney film, and you've really got an unbelievable gameplay experience on your hands. As an added bonus, Uncharted 2 is the most fun, addicting online multiplayer game this side of the first person shooter.
(Playstation)
Yeah, I'm THAT guy. Metal Gear Solid is my favorite gaming franchise, and while each game has better graphics and more involved gameplay, I still stand by this relic. A lot of the reason for this can probably be chalked up to nostalgia, but there really is no denying this game's ingenuity, mechanics, characters, and story. Resident Evil 2 may have been the first cinematic game that I ever played, but this game took the term "cinematic gameplay" to a whole new level. In other words, it feels like you're playing through the plot of an action movie, which goes a long way in explaining how fantastic the story and writing are.
Much like the way I described the Tony Hawk series above, I can pick this game up at any time and play through it as though I've memorized every page of the strategy guide. I know the story and the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid inside and out, and have beaten the game more times than I can count, my fastest time clocking in at 1 hour and 58 minutes. Solid Snake is my hero, Otacon is my dear friend, Meryl is the object of my desire, and Liquid is my bitter rival. Metal Gear Solid. Nothing beats it.
RUNNERS UP (in alphabetical order):
Army Of Two (Playstation 3)
Cold Winter (Playstation 2)
Dead Space (Playstation 3)
Final Fantasy X (Playstation 2)
Guitar Hero 2 (Playstation 2)
Resident Evil 5 (Playstation 3)
Ring Of Red (Playstation 2)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (Playstation 3)
Wild 9 (Playstation)
Wild Arms (Playstation)
