@Thrillho Ah, so it's specifically the PS2 era? I don't know then, maybe those games weren't as memorable to you as the other ones. Even though there were a lot of great games on PS2, it doesn't mean that everyone felt the same way about them. Not to mention that a game can be very good but not leave a lasting impression on you. I've played multiple games this year that I thought were great but that I've honestly forgotten about, lol.
@LtSarge mmm I'm not sure if I can recommend if you've already played the original. I think I have a nostalgic bias because the DS version is the first time I ever played Mario 64
If I remember correctly, in 64 DS you play as Yoshi and get different hats that turn you into the other characters. I might be wrong but I think the other characters are equivalent to the various power ups you get in the original Mario 64, not sure.
The circle pad might make directional movement easier but it won't be analog. In the DS version, if you are using the D-Pad (which is what the circle pad would replicate) then your character will walk and then you can hold B to run, much like in the 2D Mario games.
The touchscreen movement is analog and a good compromise for a stickless system. Similar to how they do it on phones now. The only thing I would say is, that if you did find an original DS thumb strap then make sure you put a screen protector on the bottom screen because it will scratch it to hell!
@Thrillho I did a bit of a cheat when I made my list by looking at my game shelves. I think once I started writing it too, more games kept coming back to me! I think Splinter Cells, MGSs and Tony Hawk's games were probably the best games from the PS2 era
I have debated in my mind which games would make my list. I’ve created a few “greatest of all time..” and “favorite” gaming lists before, so I have gone back and found some of my rankings from yesteryear and updated with recent games played.
As I made this list, I realized there is a difference between “favorite games of all time” and “greatest games of all time”. Either list would end up subjective in the end, but I think a “favorites” list has more leeway for personal bias. But this is a “best of all time…” list, so I’ve had to be a little more objective in my critique.
Nevertheless, I have approached my list with a very simple standard —
“Which games do I have the fondest memories playing? Which games impacted me the most? And which games live on in my mind and (not intending to sound hyperbolic, but…) have affected my life or helped shape my character or identity?”
So, I’m not breaking down the technical achievement or artistic merit, necessarily. I’m just going with my gut. But in some cases if it’s a close call, I have given a bump to a game that innovated or set the standard for a genre.
And like I’ve done in some of my previous personal lists, I have not ranked them in order as I found it a little too hard to split those hairs, but I did at least try to put them into tiers. Broken down into quintiles, if you will. I also took the liberty of lumping a few of related games in a series together, if it makes sense (for example if they are all one continuous story broken into parts and ‘feel’ like just one game)
Like Lando once said, here goes nothing:
Platinum
Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy VII
Gold
The Last of Us
Skyrim
Silver
Red Dead Redemption
Tomb Raider II
Bronze
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Portal 2
Pewter
BioShock / BioShock Infinite
Uncharted 4 / Lost Legacy
It hurts me to leave off the following, but these don’t quite make the cut (roughly in order of closeness to making it onto the list):
Batman Arkham Asylum / City, FFX, NieR Automata, Uncharted 1-3, Death Stranding, FFXII, MGSV, Mass Effect 2-3, God of War (2018), Assassins Creed Ezio Collection, Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tony Hawk Pro skater 3, Bloodborne, Gran Turismo 3, Tomb Raider (2013), Persona 4 Golden, Ghost of Tsushima, Borderlands 2, Control, Danganronpa 2, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Detroit Become Human, Infamous…
and many others 😄.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@LtSarge Thank you for calling Mass Effect 3 the best of the original trilogy! Folks like us are a rare breed, so it's always nice to find another!
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@Th3solution That's one heck of a list, and I love your approach to the task! Interesting choices as well, particularly when held up against your shortlist of leftovers (like how you champion Tomb Raider II over one of Lara's more contemporary, ostensibly more accomplished adventures).
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@Th3solution nicely done sol, an interesting format (pewter was a nice find for below bronze) and very varied in terms of content… sign of a good list I’d imagine 😉
@colonelkilgore@RogerRoger
I’m sure my list might be different depending on my mood too, but these ten have consistently shined in my memories.
I chose to go mostly with impact at the time they were played, rather than judging based on a modern scale. To me it only seems fair that way, given technological limitations. So, the original Tomb Raider and it’s improved successor Tomb Raider II were simply transcendent for their time and a cultural phenomenon amongst gamers. The reboots are arguably better games and I’d rather play Shadow of the Tomb Raider any day, but it doesn’t quite pierce me like the originals did. Same would apply to FF7, where the remake I’m playing now is superior in most ways, but hasn’t created an obsession like the original FF7 did in my mind.
Perhaps it’s my stage in life now versus as a kid, but those older games consumed me at the time. Part of it may have been a lack of play options where you had to play the one game you had as a lad with no money. It’s an embarrassment of riches with my gaming library now and so nothing is given the proper spotlight for very long.
In a way, the modern classics do deserve more credit when they can cause me to be obsessed for a few weeks, since they are against such stiffer competition. Still — few games have changed the landscape of gaming like FF7 and Tomb Raider.
I could say a sermon about why I chose each of the ten, but I’ll try to restrain from getting too nostalgic. I thought briefly about lumping RDR and RDR2 together as one continuum since it is all one storyline, but each game is so large that I felt it unfair. The same for Metal Gear Solid, which is technically one overarching narrative across all the games. But each entry is a distinct experience in my mind, versus Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy which seem to be two sides of the same coin, and actually BioShock as well. I think if BioShock Infinite (my favorite of the two) isn’t nearly as impactful without having experienced the first BioShock.
Interestingly, when I made an earlier top 25 list a couple years ago I had Red Dead Redemption higher in my rankings. But the presence of RDR2 actually took some of the shine off of RDR. I think it has to do with learning Marston’s back story in more detail. I loved Marston as a character when I played the first game, but after seeing him in the second game I didn’t relate to him quite as well. Strange how that happened.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Thanks for explaining your decision-making process there. Honestly, there was a moment where I listed the original DOOM in place of Bond, for very similar reasons. And I agree that age and circumstance changes the way we perceive games. I think that's why remasters and remakes are big business, because we carry that nostalgia forward through life, and companies know it'll make us open our wallets (which yes, do tend to be a little more capable than a pocket money piggybank, good point).
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
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