5: Super Mario Bros 1 (NES), it's the start of traditional platforming games and is still the foundation of modern platformers today.

4. FFI (NES), this game saved Square from not existing and is the beginning of one of the most popular series of games of all time.

3. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3), it combines turned based strategy games with real time strategy games in the form of the funnest and challenging military 3rd personish game ever. Also the art direction is like nothing you ever seen in game. Music is great with the option of having Japanese voicing and English sub-text. The story is on par with some of the greatest RPG game stories and will have you more emotionally invested than FFVII even.

2. Kingdom Hearts (PS2), it combines Disney cartoon and FF worlds together to make one of the most AMAZING cross-over games ever invented. AND it has an amazing story and fun to play. KHII is better but you won't get as much from it if you don't first play the original.

1.Sonic and Knuckles (Sega Genesis), I don't think it's possible to make a better platforming game than this. So many hidden places to fine. Multiple characters to play as with different playing styles and endings. AMAZING music, and the controls are spot on.

5: Super Meat Boy: A great example of brutal level design, near perfect controls and a fun main character. A great indie game that everyone should try. 4: Darksiders 2: A masterpiece in the action adventure genre with amazing visuals, combat and lore. Takes others ideas and makes it it's own.

3: Transformers Fall of Cybertron: Great example of a 3rd person shooter with variety and great pacing. Shows what devs can do with licenses well. 2: Super Mario Bros 3: The pinacle of level design in a platformer, legendary gameplay and shows why Mario is still a king. 1:Team Fortress 2. Teamwork is the key to win and with nine uniqe classes with so much care into them this free fps shows the wonderful world of imagination. Easy to learn but hard to master.

1.) Super Mario Bros. 1 (NES) Since this list is for games everyone should play I decided to go with a lot of retro titles, or titles that are examples of their genre. Super Mario Bros 1 is just that. It was the first game I ever played and the first one many other gamers played, but not only that, it’s a great example of game design. Sure the first level is easy to us, but for new gamers and gamers who never played it before. The game gets progressively harder with each level throwing more and tougher elements at you. Then when you beat the entire game and mastered the techniques, they give you a hard mode to play. What better game to start with than the grandfather of games?

2.) Street Fighter 2 (SNES) Is this the best Street Fighter game? In my mine, absolutely not… that honor would go to Street Fighter III: Third Strike, but that game’s not gonna be on this list. Why? Because if you’re gonna get into fighting games you gotta start with the best one of the time. Street Fighter II, and all of its spin-offs and pseudo-sequels defined the fighting genre in the 16-bit days and still many elements introduced in Street Fighter 2 are the basis for many other elements. The fighting game genre wouldn’t be what it is today. There’s a reason that there were so many imitators back in the day, and that’s because this was a revolutionary game. Not many games can say that.

3.) Final Fantasy I (NES) If you played this on any anthology collection or GBA or anything besides the original NES then I need you to go back and play it on the original grey box. The reason is that the original Final Fantasy on the NES is the definition of RPGs and the definition of RPG mistakes. What I mean by that is that the game has really fun gameplay and the story is top notch, especially for the time it was made. The game has issues, but the issues teach you. The games difficulty doesn’t scale appropriately. You can be cruising along at one point and then get your ass kicked by a swarm of enemies the next. This game teaches you how to tell a story, but not how to make a top notch RPG.

4.) Fez (XBLA) Yes… I actually put a modern game on this list. That’s because back in the day (which was a Wednesday), there wasn’t such a thing as downloadable games, indie games, or really art games. Sure there were some games that you could put in those categories, but it’s not the same as it is today. Fez is the epitome of the indie/art/puzzle game genre. First of all it looks gorgeous. The concept of a 2D character who doesn’t realize he’s in a 3D world is original (maybe not 100% original though). If you’ve seen Indie Game the Movie, you know this title was a love project made by a small amount of people. It may not be the first indie game but it’s one of the best, and the puzzles are tough. It’s good for y’all to think once in a while.

5.) TimeSplitter 2 (PS2) Okay, I had to include a FPS game on this list and in my opinion this is the very best FPS ever made. Yes… better than Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Halo, CoD, Doom, and anything else you can think of. The reason is that TimeSplitters 2 doesn’t take much skill to master, there’s no diving, nothing that requires vast amounts of gaming skill. Plus, the game is just pure fun. Fun Game modes where the worst player gets monkey assistants, where when you kill someone your health increases, and virus where you just avoid being contaminated. Fun level such as Circus, and Hospital. You can make your very own level and include story elements such as enemy spawns, and turrets. The campaign is interesting, and when you increase the difficulty the entire level can change not just your health or enemy AI. The characters include dinosaurs, gingerbread men, and jesters. This game is just fun, everyone needs to play it at least once.

8. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater As a long time fan of the series there was no game more perfect than MGS3. Most games in the series has a beautifully written storyline. Honestly I thought the story of Metal Gear Solid 3 was perfect. Sure some of it's features may never be use in another game. It was unique for it's time for bringing in more realistic survival. The sound track is good with amazing sound effects. The characters are all entertain to watch even those you don't like. You get to explore the jungle while fighting the Cobra unit. You can eat plants & animals to keep your stamina up. Remember what Rations do for you in other games. It heals you from injuries that could act as extra lives. In this game Rations with different kinds keeps your stamina up. You actually don't have to do anything to get healed. Well except if you got a leech or poison dart in your leg. You also get a few mini games which are fun to play. For example if you saved your game locked up then turn it off. After that turn it back on to see if you got it. If you done it correctly you get a cool mini game. In some versions you get one inspired by Ape Escape series. Yes I'm not kidding with the intro referencing some familiar characters. Finally in some versions you also get the first two Metal Gear games. How could you possibly top that? You can't because MGS3 in my opinion is the perfect package.

6. Super Mario 64 Out of all the Mario games I played over the years. This would be my favorite main series game ever. The first 3D platformer with a great camera. A lot of these levels were very fun to play. Almost every level has multiple missions you must complete. The bosses for the most part are easy to learn. I still say two of Bowser's boss battles will test your skills as a gamer. It has a very rememberable soundtrack with great sound effects. I like how you get in some of the secret levels. For example eventually stay in the middle of the floor of the castle. Then out of no where you're in a flying level. I highly recommend this game to those especially Mario fans.

7. Super Smash Bros. Melee This is a tough one because Nintendo does such a good job with all the games. Hell even the original is still fun to play. I feel like most of you trying to decide between two games. Super Smash Brothers Melee or Brawl which are one of the best on their consoles. After much needed thought I have decided to go with Brawl. Sure Sonic & Solid Snake appears in Brawl. I just felt overall Melee to me was a better made game. Obviously Brawl totally nails the story mode. I do feel in most modes do go to Melee. Classic Mode is beautiful done with a random selection. This means instead of getting a direct port of that mode from the original. They decided that most of them can be any character in the entire game. This brings freshness to it as well as a couple of difficulty levels. If you're good enough you will end up fighting Master Hand with Crazy Hand. You can collect trophies which I like how you can look at them. This game has an awesome soundtrack that most remember today. Most love using weapons especially Poke Balls. Personally I like Assist Trophies in Brawl more. Anyway all the games have a very fun multiplayer experience that's simply unrivaled. Not only that you also get Event Mode which can be challenge from time to time. I also like there was more thought put into getting the hidden characters & levels. Honestly it's that good but Brawl is a close second.

I always feel a bit insecure talking about the greatest games of all time or my favorite games, because I feel that I’ve largely missed what would generally be considered the best or most influential games due to a combination of lack of resources and ignorance. What’s the value in saying something is your favorite game, if all you’ve played is that and Superman 64? For better or worse, the road I’ve traveled down has been paved with Sword of Vermillion and Fur Fighters rather than Shadow of the Colossus and Half-Life. In an alternate universe, it’s entirely possible that my list would be Metal Gear Solid, Starcraft II, Final Fantasy IV, Portal, and Ocarina of Time but having not played any of those games, I can’t speak to their quality or recommend them with any level of sincerity. All of that having been said, here’s my list, warts and all, of the top five games you MUST play. You really should. They’re good games.

5)– Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1 and it’s also tucked away as a bonus in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for PSP and maybe something else as well) – It’s the year 2013, and the genre term “Metroidvania” has long been accepted into video game lexicon. The Metroid portion is obvious. It was the series that largely established, and then greatly improved upon the formula. While Symphony of the Night borrowed heavily from the Metroid formula, it earned it’s half of the portmanteau by adding numerous RPG elements, as well as a greater emphasis on Story and interconnected environments.

This pick definitely leans more towards objective respect and appreciation of influence more than personal appeal and yet, there’s something about it that nags at me. Something subdued and subtle that demands I pay attention to it. The game seems built to touch the pleasure centers of my brain. Exploring the castle feeds my hunger for discovery, filling in the map fuels my completionism, and the RPG aspects give me a good sense of character progression. Wandering around the castle, collecting weapons, armor, and items; casually bashing the enemies that stand in my way; there’s something oddly therapeutic about it all. To be sure, this game is on the opposite side of the coin that Super Metroid occupies. Metroid offers more fast paced action, and Castlevania offers slower paced depth by way of loot and abilities. Either approach is valid, and if you like one of these games I would definitely recommend the other, but for whatever reason Castlevania stands out more in my mind. All told, the fundamental aspects of Symphony of the Night as well as the depth it introduced to the genre create a great experience that you don’t have to complete 200.6% of to be able to enjoy.

4) Mega Man 2 (NES and lots of other places) – I didn’t catch any of the Mega Man games the first time around. As I’m sure many of you can relate, growing up, I lived my life in a bubble when it came to video games. I was born as the NES was winding down and didn’t have a subscription to Nintendo power or any other source of news that could tell me a multitude of games existed beyond my humble collection. It wasn’t until the summer of 2007 that I discovered the Mega Man franchise, fittingly enough, through Screwattack’s Video Game Vault series. I’ve since played all of the NES Mega Man games, and while they’re all certainly good games when compared to the entirety of the NES library, the peak for me definitely came at the series’ second installment.

Simply put, Mega Man 2 is a very well designed 2D action-platformer with a variety of stages, bosses and weapons. The controls are tight and responsive, and the default gun is effective enough to use reliably, but limited enough to make it feel like a significant step up when you gain new weapons. Everything about the game seems extremely well considered. Well, maybe not how overpowered the metal blade is, but I don’t necessarily think that giving me the option to play the game like Contra is a bad thing. The stages are great, each with their own twist, and the bosses match that variety in lockstep. Capcom’s prowess for making excellent and memorable chip tune music is put on full display here, evidenced by the soundtrack containing some of the most covered 8-bit music anywhere. Not to mention one particularly popular track. Top to bottom, it’s just a fantastic game. It was head and shoulders above much of its competition at the time and still holds up today. Mega Man 2 is a classic in every sense of the word and more than worth checking out.

3) Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (Arcade) – While I really enjoy fighting games, particularly of the Capcom Variety, I don’t really have a Street Fighter game to call home. What I mean by that is each Street Fighter game has some things about it that I like, and some things that I don’t. So I can’t definitively say that I like any one of the games over the others without reservation.

Street fighter 2 is very sound fundamentally, but the high execution barrier to do special moves makes it feel like a bit of a dinosaur to me. Street Fighter 3 evolved things like combos and supers, but loses me with the parry system, which undermines a lot of what I like about street Fighter. Street fighter 4 has a low execution barrier from a doing special move standpoint and a wide cast of characters, but introduces Focus Attacks, Focus Attack Dash Cancels, and Ultras, which I’m just not a fan of.

Those are the major upsides and nitpicks that come to mind with each game. No game is perfect after all, let alone perfect to what my perceptions of right and wrong are. So despite my misgivings with the way it controls, I still think Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is the best street fighter game. It is the embodiment of so many things that I enjoy fighting games for. I enjoy the tug of war of pushing your opponent into the corner. I enjoy the space control gained by throwing a fireball. I enjoy the ebb and flow of momentum changing sides with each decision made by both players. Street Fighter 2 is all of these things boiled down to its most basic and most effective. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is a simple game that’s entertaining to play at all skill levels and so long as you have someone of your skill level to play with (as is the best condition for playing all fighting games) I cannot recommend Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo enough. Or any version of street fighter 2, really. Just play it however you can get it. It’s good.

2) Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Sega Genesis and countless compilations but not that recent Genesis/Mega Drive collection…for whatever reason) – OK, so my username is johnsonic7 so you probably see this coming. It was either gonna be a Sonic game or John Madden Football, right? Though I enjoyed the stand alone Sonic 3 for years, I never played or even knew of its pseudo second half, Sonic and Knuckles until I got a compilation of Sonic games for the Playstation 2.

Since then I’ve played through Sonic 3 and Knuckles a multitude of times with every character and to me it has become the quintessential classic Sonic game. The lock-on entity now known as Sonic 3 and knuckles was originally supposed to be a single game, though it’s easy to see why it was split up between Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, as it was the most ambitious Sonic game yet made. It had a different boss for every act, different music for every act, Several different bonus stages and three distinct playable characters. Not to mention levels that were bigger and more expansive than any of its predecessors. Elemental shields each had specific benefits and gave Sonic a handful of new maneuvers. Players could for the first time fly using Tails as well as play as the gliding and wall climbing echidna, Knuckles. This meant that Tails had more of a role to play as the second player, and there was more gameplay variety to choose from when playing single player. Everything around the core game was ramped up to 11, and the core game itself was as good as ever.

Sonic the Hedgehog at its core, is a platformer that’s light on punishment, and heavy on momentum. Not momentum as a synonym for speed, but as in the capability of the main character and how that lets the player accomplish goals with a certain amount of flexibility or ease. The Sonic philosophy is “You don’t have to land directly on the top of the enemy in order to kill them. Just hit them from any angle and that’ll work” It’s a gameplay philosophy that has remained largely untouched in the realm of platformers, which is why Sonic remains very enjoyable to this day. For what Sonic 3 and Knuckles sets out to do, I don’t believe any other game has topped. Not even anything that followed it in its own franchise. It’s hard to imagine that at one point Sonic the Hedgehog stood shoulder to shoulder with Mario. Playing through Sonic 3 and Knuckles makes it pretty easy to see how.

1) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2 and PS Vita) – It shouldn’t have happened. I’m not really an RPG guy. I’m not really an anime guy. Yet here I am, telling you that the game I most strongly recommend is Persona 4. In a way, Persona 4 snuck into my psyche. You see, although I’m neither an RPG nor anime guy, as previously mentioned, I am very much a sit in front of a computer and watch videos on the internet guy; likely to a fault, but that’s not the point. In early to mid 2010 I had discovered a video game website called Giant Bomb and while going through their back catalog of videos, I saw that they had a Series called Endurance Run: Persona 4. 100+ hours of video later, I had finished watching their let’s play, with a certain level of appreciation for the game. Over the next two years, I would occasionally go back and watch a few specific parts of the Endurance Run, but I never really considered buying the game to play myself or looking into past games in the series or anything like that. That would all change in august of 2012. For that’s around the time Persona 4 Arena came out. I hadn’t paid much attention to the game up until the week before its release, but then I discovered it had a story mode. Upon learning of this I hastily preordered the game. After playing through the story mode, which is good in its own right, I was more interested in the Persona universe than ever before. The game combined the cast of Persona 3 and Persona 4, so what did I do? I bought Persona 3 and Persona 4, of course.

And that is how, ladies and gentlemen, I fell down the rabbit hole. And the golden nugget at the bottom of that rabbit hole is Persona 4. Persona 4 is an excellent game. It is very, very, very, good.

In Persona 4, you play the role of a student who for one year moves from the big city to the rural town of Inaba, Japan. Soon after you move in with your uncle and cousin, a chain of murders begin taking place in the town. The rumor of a “midnight channel”, a program that comes on TV at midnight during rainy nights begins swirling around, and soon enough, it goes full supernatural with you and your new friends jumping inside of TVs to save people. You play through the game trying to find out who the killer is, as well as why the Midnight channel and world inside the TV exists. All of that stuff is well and good, but it’s not why Persona 4 is a great game. Its true strength lies in its characters and what the story does both with and to them.

At one point or another, each member of your growing investigation team encounters their “shadow”, a manifestation of an aspect of that character that they don’t want others to see and don’t want to acknowledge themselves. The shadow confronts them with the thoughts and feelings that the characters don’t want to face and it ultimately results in the character denying that the shadows are a part of them, which results in a boss fight; this is an RPG after all. These ‘face yourself’ moments are some of the most compelling in the game, as it beats the characters down, shows you their perceived flaws and fears, and then rubs it in their face. Even the coolest headed characters eventually succumb to the shadow’s taunting, completely lose it, and I loved watching every minute of it. In my experience, there hasn’t been another video game that has provoked nearly as much personal introspection or outright thought about life as Persona 4 has. These face yourself moments and the meaning behind them are a huge part of that.

The other way the game specifically excels at characterization is with the social link system. It’s pretty simple; you have ten or so conversations or share in situations with a given character. Over the span of time that you spend with them, you get to learn about the character, know the struggles they’re going through, the questions they have about themselves and so on. It’s hard to really sell these moments without telling you exactly what happens, and even that would be selling it short without the context that the game provides, but they are very well done, and many touch on some heavy topics. There around 20 or so different social links, and while you won’t get through them all the first time around, the ones you do get through are good and satisfying by their own merit.

I’ve pretty much skipped over the RPG combat aspect of Persona 4 up until now, and that’s not because it’s poor in any way, but because it’s not what I consider to be the game’s main draw. The combat mostly consists of using magic attacks, which consist of elements like fire, ice, wind, electricity, light, and dark, and physical attacks. There are also buff and debuff spells as well as status ailments like poison, rage, and so on. I could try to make some sort of value judgment on the game’s combat but that would most likely result in me saying that it’s garbage because you can’t use Hydro Pump or something dumb like that. Speaking of Pokémon, in battles you use Personas to fight, which are like Pokémon, except based on mythological creatures, ancient folk characters, and various deities. So really nothing like Pokémon in that respect. They do have different weaknesses and resistances and so on, but it’s dependant on the individual persona, not any sort of type. Come to think of it, maybe I should write some sort of book about this. It’ll be called “So, You Want to Play Persona 4 but Have Only Played Pokémon”

Page 1: Do you want to be very best? Like no one ever was? Too bad! Because you’re a worthless shell of a person, who relies on those around you for everything! >For “You’re not me!” turn to page 2 >For “What are you saying?” turn to page 1

Well, it’s obvious I’m getting too tired for coherent thought (*look at clock, it’s 3:20am*) so let’s just move on. But one quick thing about the battles. The characters are very emotive during battles, cheering each other on, congratulating each other on critical hits and so forth. Really well done and makes the combat more enjoyable by a large degree. The game’s tarot card motif and mythological Persona concept is well realized and the character portraits are very emotive; so much so that it’s easy to forget that your party consists of jagged PS2 polygons. This is also helped by an excellent voice cast. The music consists of fantastic and catchy J-pop style (I think. again, not an anime guy. I assume anime has stuff like that in it) music that is full of energy and fits perfectly with the game’s largely yellow or otherwise bright UI elements, which are stylish in their own right. It’s a very pleasant game to be in the presence of.

After beating Persona 4 arena, I spent the next month or two beating Persona 3, and now I’m currently playing persona 4 for myself. Even though it has significantly less Californian quips than the Endurance Run, it’s still an incredible game. Playing through these three games over the past few months honestly has me believing that the Persona series is the best thing going in video games right now.

This has turned into way more of a review than I intended, but if there is any one thing I want you to come away with after reading this whole list (which if you have, congrats to you), it’s that you should play Persona 4. I don’t care what genres you do or don’t like. I don’t care about what consoles you do or don’t own. I don’t care about much of anything anymore, other than Persona. …In all seriousness, if you are looking for a good story, or just something a bit different, give persona 4 a shot. I can’t promise you’ll enjoy it, but I know I sure as hell did. Thanks for reading.

5. Mortal Kombat (2011) One of my personal favorite video game series is Mortal Kombat. It had some ups as well as downs over the years. The latest game in the series is simply amazing. The graphics are some of the best I ever seen. The soundtrack is very good with the sound effects. You get a ton of levels with a lot of characters. You can download classic costumes which brings nostalgia. You get some more characters including a guest character I never expected. One of my favorite horror movie killers Freddy Krueger was done right. The story relating to the characters was the best yet. Obviously Arcade Mode is fun to play with similar easter eggs. You also get a story mode that's very well made. In fact I personally consider it to being an interactive movie. Why it's that damn good that you actually feel you're there. You also get a very creative but challenging mode called Challenge Tower. The fatalities are very entertaining to watch especially Freddy's. All of his are actually reference to a kill in his movies. How could you possibly ask for more in an Mortal Kombat game? You can't because this game truly nails what the fans want in an game.

1) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

When picking a favorite game, a lot of elements have to be kept in mind- design, controls, gameplay, plot, immersion, and the list goes on! Although Oblivion (or any Bethesda game for that matter) may not be everyones cup of tea, those who do appreciate it for what it is know that problems with this game are few and far between. Well rounded, highly intoxicating and just plain beautiful; Oblivion is a must play!

2) Super Mario Cart 64.

Nuff said

3) Metriod

Nothin beats the classics! I was temped to say Limbo for number 3 because of the surreal and at times jarring effect it had on its audience... but it felt somehow familiar. That feeling of isolation coupled with the sheer pleasure one gets from actually having to tap the recesses of your brain to come up with the solution to a problem on your own.Then it hit me....da- DA- da http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Inwd_VkOZw

....so good O_O.

4) Super Smash Bros

Another winner from the N64 Era. Nothin quite like beating the hell out of your childhood heros! I especially like the feeling I get when I clear the board of all opponents with my split kick, then get to do my shitty little taunt! My character is Fox. For my unlucky friends, It's the biggest dick-head move in all video game history!!!! "Henh"

5) Grand Theft Auto San Andeas

Sometimes you hear about sequels to games coming out, and all you think is "please don't f**k it up" This is because the original was sooooo good, it would seem there IS no room for improvement. San Andreas took that idea, threw it out the window, Stole it's identity, maxed out all it's credit cards and had sex with it's mother... which is subsequently one of the missions in San Andreas as well! You all know how grerat this game was, so before this post gets to long-winded (as though it wasn't already)... Fuck yea San Andreas. Fuck yea!

1) Bioshock- 5 points

This list calls for games that need to be experienced. Bioshock is exactly that. It is an experience. While one can talk a great deal about the thrilling FPS gameplay complimented by RPG mechanics, the large variety of unique and fun powers, the hacking aspect, and some of the most intimidating enemies in video games, this game really excels at story. Featuring legendary moments and amazing characters, Bioshock's story also leaves nearly no topic untouched, from Ayn Rand inspired philosophy, to morality, to religion, to politics, and even to (subtly) the state of video games as a whole, while all contained in one of the most awe inspiring and detailed settings in video games. Bioshock is a masterpiece and is one of the best arguments for video games being considered art

2) Final Fantasy VI- 4 points

While Final Fantasy VII is more widely known, the RPG genre was perfected by Final Fantasy VI, the previous game in the series. The game featured some of the best graphics on its console and perhaps the greatest cast of characters in the series, from the innocent Terra and tortured Celes, to the chivalrous thief Locke and noble samurai Cyan. And, of course, this game features Kefka, who is one of the best villains in all of video games. Also, SABIN SUPLEXED A FREAKING TRAIN! The story is one of the best ever told in a game and is filled with many fantastic moments, the soundtrack is one of the best ever made, and the gameplay influenced nearly every RPG that followed it. This game is very likely the best RPG ever made

3) Super Mario Bros. 3- 3 points

2 words: platforming perfection. Super Mario Bros. 3 is considered one of the top ten video games ever made, and deservingly so. No other game innovated the Mario series like this game, with graphics that push its system to the limits, a huge variety of powerups, amazing control, some of the best level designs in video games, a great level of difficulty, many secrets to discover, and widely known music. There is a reason why this game is still the best selling game ever and that is because it is a game that every gamer needs to play at some point

4) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island- 2 points

This game is such a treat. Every part of Yoshi's Island feels right, from the length and height of the flutter jump, to Yoshi's tongue and egg throwing mechanic, to the excellent level design, to the well made boss battles, and to the difficulty, which is ridiculously increased in the extra levels that are unlocked after getting 100% in the regular game. The game also includes unique and colorful graphics and a fantastic soundtrack. All these features make this platformer one of the best in the genre

5) God of War- 1 point

Even though it is a pretty new series, very few series have received as much consistent praise as the God of War series. The original game in the series started it all with fun and addicting combat, brutal violence, one of the best soundtracks of any video game series, unmatchable sense of scale, epic boss fights, and graphics that make other games seem like playing on an Atari 2600 too. While the story is not really Shakespearean and the gameplay can be mindless, God of War is still considered as one of the best action games ever made

Actually, can I change my #5? I want it to be Shantae: Risky's Revenge. A strong central character and a story with several twists and turns along the way, it manages to be entertaining throughout.