I’ve been playing video games since I can remember.
It was my dad who brought home a Colecovision console, and then after that it was Leisure Vision. While growing up in the suburbs, I progressed from the Sega Master System to the Sega Genesis to the Sony Playstation. I’m on the third generation of Sony, and with rumblings of a PS4, I’m sure I’ll gravitate to that console.
I don’t like playing video games on a computer. You have to plant yourself in front of a keyboard. Just a simple controller works for me. Nor do I like the cartoony world of Nintendo. One particular genre I do like though is sports games.
But enough yapping. Here’s my Top 25 video games. The list is based on how much I played the following. I have grouped together the repetitive series games like EA Sports’ NHL and Madden. Enjoy.
25. | Game: The Elder Scrolls’ V: Skyrim (2011) Console: Bethesda Game Studios for PS3 Reason: I’m not a big fan of role-playing games. Often times I find they take up too much time and are extraordinarily repetitive. Yes, I know that’s somewhat ironic, considering I prefer sports games – that take up countless hours and are repetitive. However, Skyrim added that free world roam action with character develop, and no two fights are ever the same. Plus, you customize your character the way you see fit. |
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24. | Game: Street Fighter (series, 1987-present) Console: Capcom for Sega Genesis, PSOne, PS2 & PS3 Reason: Gasp! It’s not my favourite fighting game, even though it’s considered the founding father of the modern day fighting game genre. Back in the arcades, I’d always pick Guile and enter fights. Back then special moves weren’t shared out loud, but now you’re taught everything. |
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23. | Game: Metal Gear Solid (1998) Console: Konami for PSOne Reason: I asked for this game for Christmas one year, and well, I got it. That was during my first year of university, and playing stealth mode with Solid Snake was a great thing. Oh, and of course the characters were great: Revolver Ocelot and Meryl Silverburgh. |
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22. | Game: X-Men Mutant Academy (2000) Console: Activision for PSOne Reason: Outside of sports games, fighting games are my niche. Take a comic book characters and throw them into a fighting game template, and you’ve got a winner, (for me anyway). There was a sequel released in 2001, and then a third version (which I did not have) in 2002 on the PS2. |
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21. | Game: Thunder Blade (1987) Console: Sega Master System Reason: So, back in the day I owned a Sega Master System when most kids were eating mushrooms to grow bigger, and jumping on the heads of Koopa Troopers. Thunder Blade was one of my favourite games. I spent hours playing it, as well as the football and hockey games I had for the system. |
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20. | Game: Rock Band (2007) Console: Harmonix for PS3 Reason: When video game systems finally started thinking outside the controller, things became interesting. Mix in legendary rock songs, like Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” and Squeeze’s “Cool For Cats” and we’ve got a great party. |
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19. | Game: NBA Live (series, 1995-2010) Console: EA Sports for Sega Genesis, PSOne, PS2 and PS3 Reason: I like basketball, and I’ve always been preferential to the sports games put out by EA. Plus, they took the game past the old Lakers vs. Celtics phase, where you play as teams that actually didn’t make the playoffs. |
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18. | Game: MVP Baseball (series, 2003-2007) Console: EA Sports for PSOne Reason: As I mentioned before, I preferred EA Sports’ design for sports games. I think I played MVP Baseball 2005 so many times that the disc started to skip. Cincinnati was my team of choice, and I’d often find myself trading away Hal Morris so I could fit myself in at first base. Unfortunately the MLB signed an exclusivity deal with Take-Two Interactive, so no more baseball from EA Games. |
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17. | Game: Taz-Mania (1992) Console: Sega for Sega Genesis Reason: Yeah, I know, I mentioned I don’t like Nintendo’s excessive cartoon characters. But, I was 13, and who can say no to Taz right? Even my dad played this game, and that’s saying something. Plus it played off of the old cartoon on TV at the time. |
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16. | Game: X-Men (1993) Console: Western Technologies Inc. Reason: This game played off of the cartoon that was also popular on television during my early teens. However, this one had a part in the game that required you to actually hit restart in order to get ahead. |
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15. | Game: Psycho Fox (1989) Console: Vic Tokai for Sega Master System Reason: Again, I mentioned no cartoons. Mind you, we were a long way from games like Red Dead Redemption, Wet and L.A. Noire. So, in the early days of my writing, this game let my creativity run wild. |
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14. | Game: Dead or Alive (series, 1996-2012) Console: Tecmo for PSOne, PS2 & PS3 Reason: Well, for a short time there, Dead or Alive was an XBox exclusive, so I didn’t actually own the game for the PS2 after DOA 2: Hardcore. When it returned to Sony, in September 2012, I picked it back up again. It’s a fighting game, albeit designed by a teenage boy (sarcasm), so I’m in my milieu while playing it. I tend to use Helena. |
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13. | Game: Soul Calibur (series, 1996-2012) Console: Namco Bandai for the PSOne, PS2 and PS3 Reason: Another fighting game, except this time the characters utilize weapons instead of just their fists, plus the side games have been pretty entertaining. I tend to stick with Maxi in this game, or I’ll create my own fighter. |
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12. | Game: Duke Nukem 3D (1997) Console: 3D Realms for PC and PSOne Reason: Say what you want about Duke Nukem, for a bunch of high school kids, it kept us out of people’s hair. Killing aliens while looking like an Arnold Schwarzenegger meets Bruce Campbell knock off is innocuous at best, but it was fun. |
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11. | Game: Uncharted (series, 2007-2012) Console: Naughty Dog for PS3 Reason: Lara Croft lost steam and while her games came out less frequently, that led to the rise of a thieving anti-hero named Nathan Drake. Full of snark, but a soft-spot for the lady (Elena), Drake fast became an endearing hero for the gamer crowd. |
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10. | Game: 007: Everything or Nothing Console: Electronic Arts for PS2 Reason: People forget that Shannon Elizabeth and Heidi Klum were Bond Girls. That and Willem Dafoe was a villain. It was also Pierce Brosnan’s final portrayal of Ian Fleming’s timeless espionage hero. Singer Mya (not to be confused with M.I.A.) performed the theme song. |
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9. | Game: Need For Speed Underground 2 (2004) Console: EA Games for PS2 Reason: If ever there was a racing game that had more variety, more cheap thrills and more chances to pimp out a Peugeot, this was it. I spent countless hours pumping fictitious money into my car that tore up the strip to Spiderbait’s cover of “Black Betty”. |
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8. | Game: Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) Console: Rock Steady for PS3 Reason: If you’ve been following my Top 25 lists, you’ll notice Batman makes my Top 25 Fiction Characters and my Top 25 Comic Book Characters. So, when Rock Steady/Eidos Interactive published this puppy, I was all over it. And any comic book nerd will pick up on some of the passing references to previous story arcs. |
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7. | Game: L.A. Noire (2011) Console: Rockstar Games for PS3 Reason: I dig film noir. Anything to do with the old films, literary ana as well as post-WWII Los Angeles is highly of interest to me. And when you read as many Jame Ellroy novels as me, you pick up on the his references in this game. |
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6. | Game: Dynasty Warriors (series, 1997-Present) Console: Koei for PS2 and PS3 Reason: So, the year is 2005, and I don’t know what it was, but I picked up a copy of Dynasty Warriors 5 and instantly got hooked on the hack-and-slash game. I’ve spent far too many hours slashing up 3rd century China that I can actually quote from the game. When websites use inside jokes about Liu Bei, Cao Cao or Sun Quan, I know what they’re getting at. “Dork”. Yeah. That’s accurate. |
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5. | Game: Tekken (series, 1994-present) Console: Namco Bandai for PSOne, PS2 and PS3 Reason: Tekken, in all its forms, has been one of my favourite fighting games. Actually, it is my favourite. Street Fighter hasn’t utilized the 3D fighting world, and to purists, that’s perfectly fine. But for me, a fight isn’t in 2D, and that’s why Tekken has been my game of choice. You’ll find me using Christie, Marshall Law, Julia or Lee in matches. |
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4. | Game: Batman: Arkham City (2011) Console: Rocksteady Studios Reason: I wondered, how Rocksteady would follow up their already stupendous Batman game, Arkham Asylum, and well, they answered: In complete awesome fashion. Playing as Batman, Robin and Catwoman is quite experience, and with a collection of character that reaches farther than Arkham Asylum, |
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3. | Game: Madden (series, 1990-present) Console: EA Sports for Sega Genesis, PSOne, PS2 and PS3 Reason: Much like basketball, baseball and the following hockey, I’ve been playing EA Sports games for over two decades. Madden NFL Football was the best game I ever played. Though I’m not as crazy to buy the franchise yearly, I still keep tabs on what’s changing in the gaming sports world. |
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2. | Game: NHL (series, 1991-present) Console: EA Sports for Sega Genesis, PSOne, PS2 and PS3 Reason: Hockey and Vince Vaughn seem to go together like macaroni and cheese. Just take his scene in Swingers where he’s dukes it out with Patrick Van Horn. If you’ve seen as many Vaughn films as I have, you begin to notice his characters play sports games take The Break-Up … but I digress. I love hockey and EA gets it done. Like their slogan from the late ’90s, “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” |
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1. | Game: Red Dead Redemption (2010) Console: Rockstar Games for PS3 Reason: I always associated Rockstar Games with Grand Theft Auto, and I’ve never been a big fan of anything that romanticizes thuggery, organized crime and the lot. So, when they started hitting period storylines, like the Wild West and post-WWII Los Angeles, they got my attention. RDR, with it’s anti-hero protagonist John Marston, managed to keep me playing countless hours, much to the chagrin of my wife. |