My Top 5 Favourite Games of All Time

From different platforms, eras and genres; I've picked 5 absolutely stand-out games that I have had the pleasure of experiencing throughout my life.

Other favourites with notable mentions that didn't quite make the top 5 include:

- Total Annihilation

- Black & White

- Battlefield: Bad Company 2

- Deathrow

- Super Mario 64

- Super Smash Bros

Rank Game Release Date GameSpot Score Greasemonkey42's Score
1

Ninja Gaiden (2004)

Xbox This is the game that got me into 3rd person hack 'n slash in the first place. The technically unmatched animations and melee combat for a game of this type, with some spectacular weapons, great enemies, all wrapped in a dark yet inviting world, make this game a blast to play and a joy to master. Beating Master Ninja Mode was one of the most rewarding things I have done in gaming. I still remember the fight I had with Ryu's clone in the library room - it was so fluid and frenetic I couldn't believe I was playing a game and not watching some choreographed fight scene. The sequel, although had the craziest and most awesome weapons every created in a video game, unfortunately didn't have enemies that worked to the strengths of the game's combat, along with difficulty that was less fair and more annoying. I didn't even bother picking up NG3 because all talent that was at Team Ninja disappeared with Itagaki. Nonetheless, Ninja Gaiden Black was right at the peak of experiences you could get on the original Xbox, and a game that made a definitive on my gaming history and what I would go on to play for years to come.
9.4
10
2

Rome: Total War

PC This is the game that brought me to GameSpot in the first place. I spent about a full year eagerly anticipating this game and it really marked my transition into a higher level of gaming, so-to-speak. With deep and awe-inspiring battles and campaigns, I had endless hours of fun with this game. Although it wasn't precisely what I had imagined, when I got into this game there was literally no where else I wanted to spend my time but conquering the ancient world.
9.1
9.5
3

God of War III

PS3 The only game of this past generation to make this list, God of War III consistently stunned me from start to finish. Having never encountered the series in the past, when I finally got my PS3 a couple years back I played through this trilogy start-to-finish in the space of about a month. When I got to the third, I found the quality nothing short of world-class. From the graphics, to the story, to the gameplay mechanics - this game was top-notch top-to-bottom and I found myself struggling to find flaws. A truly exceptional and thrillingly apocalyptic blast that any gamer should treat themselves to.
9
10
4

Perfect Dark (2000)

N64 (not Game Boy colour - silly GS!) How the team at Rare managed to squeeze a game of the quality of Perfect Dark out of the N64 will forever be a mystery. The amount of detail and polish in this title was staggering, and the core mechanics of shooting on the N64 were perfected by this game. With imaginative and fantastically fun guns that you had the joy of using not only in a thrilling campaign but also a crazily deep multiplayer (up to 4 players plus 8 bots!!! How crazy is that for the N64??), Perfect Dark was probably the most fully-featured and mechanically deep games ever to grace the N64.
9.9
--
5

Sim Theme Park

(Actually "Theme Park World" - I couldn't find it on GS) PC Theme Park World was an artistic and technical triumph. A highly visually appealing creative space to make theme parks however you wished - with rides that you could actually freaking RIDE! And this isn't just on preset tracks or something (although the smaller rides were like that); you could actually design the most ludicrous of roller coasters and tracks and actually have the joy of flying around on your creations. Underneath it all was a deep but not necessarily complicated business sim which made the whole thing absolutely so rewarding. I haven't seen a theme park sim since with such a strong balance between depth, usability and plain old-fashioned fun.
8
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