Favorite Game
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There is one thing about this game (or really, one group of characters) that has aged particularly poorly, so if that's a hang-up for you I totally get it. But despite that, everything about this game is perfect. From the interesting rhythm combat to the wacky cast of characters and story that will make you sob, I can't recommend this game enough. All Nintendo's gotta do is localize it! Any day now.
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Honorable Mentions:
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Bioshock, Civilization V, Super Mario World

Favorite Series (Super Mario)
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I think I'm finally grown up enough to admit this. The Mario games offer everything I want. Some people would say that I'm cheating since I'm including the spinoffs like Kart and the RPGs, but to that I respond; dude shut up it's my list ok???? At least I'm not including Donkey Kong Country and WarioWare right???
Not a single Mario game I've played has completely missed, or at the very least not a single Mario game that really matters did. Sure, not every game is as grand as Galaxy or as tight as World OR even as genuinely fun as Double Dash or Party 6 but they don't need to be. I love the bing bing wahoo man and his silly mushroom and turtle friends and that's that.
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Honorable Mentions: Pokemon, Pikmin, Rhythm Heaven, Pac Man, The Legend of Zelda,

Favorite Soundtrack
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I sat here for like 10 minutes trying to justify why I love a soundtrack so much and not to get all pretentious on backloggd dot com but for me, music is so subjective it's hard to rationally justify why I like Rhythm Heaven Fever's soundtrack more than any other. I just like the music. Even the little background ones you never think about like the practice songs or the tracks plays when you're in menus. It all just feels so cozy. I hope one day I can write a soundtrack as varied and fun as Rhythm Heaven Fever's. Also, the other Rhythm Heaven games are almost just as solid, they just have a few songs that kinda suck is all...
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Honorable Mentions (not including other Rhythm Heaven Games): Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Phoenix Wright Trilogy, Splatoon 3, Undertale, The Sims 2, Rhythm Doctor, Melatonin, Katamari Damacy

Favorite Protagonist (The Bard)
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I had a hard time coming up with an answer for this one too because most of the characters in video games I like aren't the protagonist. Most video game protags fall into the trap of being a boring blank slate, like Link from Zelda for instance. So when you get someone who's allowed to have a fun personality like the Bard from Wandersong, it really is a treat (he's also sometimes called Kiwi so if I subconsciously call him that, whoops my b). The Bard's always cheerful, has a positive can-do attitude, and always sees the best in people, which (without trying to sound corny as fuck) is the person I strive to be every day.
And like, I get that a constant barrage of positivity isn't really everyone's thing, but I feel like Kiwi's is done just right. He isn't overwhelmingly positive to the point of annoyance, he just always brings the mood up whenever he needs to. If I talk anymore, I'm gonna accidentally spoil something, I just know it. Please play this game, it's criminally underrated.
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Honorable Mentions: Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney, Lucas from Mother 3, Razputin from Psychonauts, Hat Kid from a Hat in Time

Favorite Villain (Andrew Ryan)
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Gonna be straight up here and warn you that I have to spoil the fuck out of Bioshock to even talk about this, so this was your warning.
Unfortunately for me, everything worthwhile has been said about the impact of the ending of Bioshock 1. You're unknowingly a puppet to this dude who always asks you "Would you kindly do this menial task for me?" literally ALL BECAUSE he just asks politely. It's not until the end that you realize that Andrew Ryan, the philanthropist you constantly hear about that put together this crazy underwater society, hasn't been asking you, but commanding you to do his bidding. It's kinda eye-opening and NOT in a good way.
He's just so threatening, and what's worse is that he's just a guy. Not a super genius with superpowers, not a giant monster that can breathe fire, but just some dude that's like 2 degrees away from being Walt Disney. Really makes you think about how we live in a society huh?
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Honorable Mentions: GLaDOS from Portal, Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog, Porky from Mother, Flowey from Undertale, Hades from Kid Icarus: Uprising, the S Block from Tetris (I'm only half joking)

Best Story
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So to be totally up front, I think if I really had to rank these on my own personal biases, Mother 3 would probably have this spot too. But for the sake of diversity (and to not just repeat all the shit I said for "favorite game"), I'm gonna talk about a story I like equally.
Portal takes, what, like an hour or two to beat? It's super short (and you should definitely spend a day playing it if you haven't already) but you'd think that you wouldn't be able to squeeze a good story out of the short time it has. WRONG dummy. You're basically forced to do these stupid puzzles for a faceless company trying to release a device called a Portal gun, but what's so expertly done is the story it doesn't tell you. As you get further into the game, you realize that the robot lady talking to you is actually a little bit very fucking crazy, saying shit like "lmao hope you're content with your life, because after this you won't have one!" You even start to see these hidden rooms you're NOT supposed to be in that have manic writing all over the walls talking about how "she's always watching". It all culminates when the nice robot voice lady tries to burn you alive since she's done testing you. Then it's a mad escape to the surface just to stay alive. And what's SO COOL about it is you don't have characters monologuing about any of this, it's all done with your own insight and knowledge of what you see mixed with the subtle crazy ramblings of a weird robot lady.
It feels so isolating, something that the second Portal game would continue to do exceptionally well. I'd get into it more but I'm not writing a college thesis on this god forsaken website. Just know that I also like Portal 2's story almost as much as Portal 1's and is a fantastic sequel that doesn't ruin anything this game sets up.
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Honorable Mentions: Telltale's The Walking Dead, The Stanley Parable, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, One Night Stand

Have Not Played but Want to
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I know just enough about Chibi-Robo to know I'll like it. If it isn't obvious enough, I love me a cast of wacky characters, and Chibi-Robo (from everything I've seen) has that in spades. Like, the whole point of this game is to solve a family's unresolved trauma and resentment towards each other while cleaning grime and stains out of the floor? Dude, can Chibi Robo visit my house? I'm a GameCube-phile so even if this game is ass, I'll probably still give it an 8 out of 10. Now the only thing stopping me from playing it is the fact it's like 300 bucks? Maybe some day...
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Honorable Mentions: Mega Man Legends, Bug Fables: the Everlasting Sapling, Wargroove, Virtual Boy Wario Land

I Love, Everyone Hates
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It might be a stretch to say that everyone hates Arms, people more so just think it's eh. And I get that to an extent, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is just so fun and tight for me, that I can't help but love it. Maybe I'm too biased since this was the first Switch game I picked up when I bought it, but it managed to keep me entertained for hours, so it's definitely doing something right.
It falls into the classic modern Nintendo trap of not releasing with enough content, so people just stop caring after 3 weeks. If this game launched with all the characters and stages it has now, I guarantee people would've been nicer to it. Yeah sure, even THEN, the game might still be lacking in content compared to other fighting games, but I suck at other fighting games, so that doesn't matter at all to me. Just give it a chance. For me? I'd wink at you if I could.
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Honorable Mentions: None because I'm a sour bitch

I Hate, Everyone Loves
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My gamer sin is that I hate the Nintendo 64. I think that there are maybe like, 6 or 7 good games that it has? So I really could've just made this entire entry the N64 Library, but if I had to pick one I not only can't stand, but am BAFFLED that people still like, it's Goldeneye 007.
I just can't see any reason to play this game in the year of our lord 2023. I get that in 1874 when the closest thing we had to a good FPS was Doom, a somewhat decent game in that genre is gonna stand out, but please, I beg you, if you like this game, look inward and ask yourself why. It can't be the gameplay, I refuse to believe that. It controls like ass. You have to stop all movement just to LOOK UP, because the N64 controller was made for aliens with 3 hands and no depth perception. I've never been more frustrated that people like a video game, and I know it's such a piss baby thing to be upset about, but you cannot convince me that anything that this game does is better than something you'd find in the first Halo. Sorry if that's harsh but I don't think I've ever vented about why I hate this game anywhere else. A lot of internal frustration that I let spill out, y'know?
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Dishonorable Mentions: Borderlands 2, Pokemon Red/Blue, Mario Kart 64, Emily is Away

Best Art Style
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The keyword here is style. It's pretty obvious if you know me that I don't care about games that look technically impressive. If I wanted to see a real life human do shit, I'd go outside. So, when a game tries to have a fun or unique look to it instead of trying to make it look as realistic as possible, I eat that shit up.
Just looking up screenshots of Melatonin tells you everything you need to know. If I could make the real world nothing but pink and purple pastels, I would. It scratches an itch I never knew existed and makes me want to learn how to draw in that style and nothing else. The dreamlike quality of the graphics aids itself SO WELL to the concept of the game, which is literally going through different dreams the Mob Psycho ass main character is having. I also love that they use other colors very sparingly, to make sure that important objects really pop when you see them. It might be overwhelming to some people, but I'm not some people.
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Honorable Mentions: Cuphead, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Hi-Fi Rush, Frogun, Untitled Goose Game

Favorite Ending
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I, unfortunately, gotta spoil the shit out of this game too in order to talk about this so just be warned.
The Ace Attorney games are always showing you how backwards and corrupt the judicial system is in the AACU (Ace Attorney Cinematic Universe), but that corruption usually always comes from the prosecutor's side. I love this ending because it shows that when he's manipulated enough and under immense pressure to save the life of someone he cares about, that same corruption can follow Phoenix Wright too. The fact that Phoenix loses the last case of this game but he's just happy to find out Maya's safe literally took my breath away. And that's not even touching on Franziska's ark in this game too.
Franny learns that for Phoenix, it's not about winning, but finding out who the culprit is and bringing them to justice. She's SO confused at first as to how Phoenix could be happy with the results of the case but that leads into her own character growth. Growth that she desperately needed. It made everything she put you through in this game worth it. I mean, it's not her fault her dad's a piece of shit right? We can only hope that she can learn and grow, which is exactly what the ending of this game showed, and is expanded upon in the third game in the series.
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Honorable Mentions: The Beginner's Guide, To the Moon, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, Wandersong, Portal 2

Favorite Boss Fight
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So I'm kinda cheating with this one. Rather than talking about a game with one memorable boss fight, I'm lumping all of a games boss fights into one category, since I feel like my taste in individual boss fights is so specific. Sure, I like the final boss of Mario World a lot, but I wouldn't say that Mario World has incredible boss fights you HAVE to look out for y'know? Whatever man, I just wanna talk about Elden Ring.
Have you heard of this game? It's kinda niche, but completely redefined open world games for me. Nothing is more intimidating than walking in a field you think is empty, only to suddenly be cornered by a skeleton in a robe rowing a ghost boat shooting bone shit at you. And that's only a field boss, imagine the feeling you get exploring a castle and seeing that classic piss colored mist blocking a hallway?
It's what Elden Ring DOES with boss fights that makes them so incredible. You walk into every fight and after getting dominated, you say to yourself "how the fuck am I supposed to beat this?" Then when you finally do, the amount of satisfaction and relief you feel is addicting. I don't have a specific boss I like more than the others, I think they're all cool or interesting for different reasons, so I hope that justifies my pick a little more. I've just never played a game that makes me feel as accomplished as Elden Ring has and it's all thanks to this game's bosses.
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Honorable Mentions: Dark Souls III, Dicey Dungeons, Cuphead

Childhood Game
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One day me and my buddy also named Anthony both convinced each other to buy this random RTS game we found so we can play it with each other, and I've had a weird fondness for it ever since. When people talk about good LEGO games, they're almost always talking about the ones based off of famous IPs. You know the ones; Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, the transphobic magic boy, y'know all the classics! What makes this game so unique is that the only IP this game's attached to is LEGO. Its a game based on the Medieval, Pirate, and Space LEGO sets that definitely do exist. And like I said, it's not even a dumb platformer, it's a Real Time Strategy.
This is the game that showed me that traditional RTS games can actually be fun. Its story mode teaches you all the games mechanics and does so pretty well, but that's all so you can get to the bread and butter of this game, which is the VS mode. You get to choose a LEGO guy to be your captain, and all the different units that you want. And you're not choosing characters based on looks either, the ones you choose actually matter. For example, the foot soldier for the Medieval set isn't the same as the foot soldier for the Pirates, so actually have to think about the units you want on your team. Not even mentioning that all the team captains have their own unique abilities. Please play this game, it was released for the DS in like 2009 so it should cost either 3 cents or 5 million dollars, but i promise it's definitely worth at least the 3 cents.
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Honorable Mentions: Theme Park: Roller Coaster, Diner Dash 2, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Relaxing Game
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Like, of course right? What is there to say, this game is designed to be a cozy little utopia for you and a bunch of chibi furries. I could really put any Animal Crossing game in this spot, but I'm choosing the OG because I know it like the back of my hand, and it's the one I'm most likely to set up to play again.
What's great is that every day, there's a new reason to boot it up, just to either see certain events or to get new items in the shops. It's like the game is its own mini pocket dimension you get to pop into any time you want. It's the most low-stakes game I've ever played and that's what makes it so great.
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Honorable Mentions: Mini Motorways, Civilization V, Stardew Valley, Pictopix, The Sims 2

Stressful Game
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I think this game, along with games like Outlast, led to a pretty dull horror game craze where you walk and get jumpscared and gotta try walking again, but I can at least respect the original pioneers for at least knowing what they're doing.
Despite being a game literally meant to stress you out, playing this with other people really ups the stress factor. In games like this, you want to carefully weigh your options so you don't accidentally kill any playable characters. BUT since each person you're playing with gets their own character to play as, if you fuck up and kill someone, a friend just lost the privilege to play the video game and that's on YOU. It somehow is able to give you the general stress you get from playing a horror game ALONG with some super fun social stress to perform well! ... To be clear, I think that's a good thing.
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Honorable Mentions: Outlast, Any Mario Party game, Among Us

Game I Always Come Back To
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I honestly can't tell you why this relatively unknown indie game has it's CLAWS in me but I always end up playing it again after putting it down for a while. It's a pretty simple gameplay loop, but I think the challenge of trying to beat every variation of the main game is what keeps it interesting.
And like, the concept is so bizarre too. You have these Oregon Trail like sections where you answer questions to best help your odds in getting to Canada safely, but then also these sections where you go out on the field to scavenge for supplies and it basically turns into a dungeon crawler. The gameplay feels sluggish but with good reason, almost like how I'd describe a souls-like. When I die, it feels like it's either because I wasn't properly prepared or it's just a skill issue.
And this doesn't even mention the characters. There aren't any like, main characters with developed personalities but you can basically play as a bunch of self inserts of you and your friends. and that's ON TOP OF the parody characters like L*nk the elf swordsman, Gordo Freema, the scientist mute and others. There are so many of these random easter egg reference characters, I don't even think I've seen them all and I have like a total of around 100 hours in this game. Maybe that's also a skill issue tho.
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Honorable Mentions: Super Mario World, Plants vs. Zombies, Civilization V, Fall Guys

Guilty Pleasure
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If you take a look at my backloggd dot com profile, you'll notice a concerning amount of Simpsons games and unfortunately, that wormhole led to me downloading the stupid fucking money grubbing app holy shit dude, this game is addictive for all the wrong reasons. But there I am, checking it every day to make sure my stupid soulless Springfield citizens are doing their silly little tasks to make me more fake money to spend on more fake buildings and decorations and characters.
This game makes me think I'm insane, and I'm not PROUD I've spent over 50 real life American dollars to get shit I want but it's okay because I'll never publically admit that to anyone. Dude, I don't even log it on this goddamn website because like, why the fuck would I do that. This game is a fidget toy for when I'm bored on the toilet, not an in-depth story with enriching characters. The Simpsons can't really provide that anymore.
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Honorable(?) Mentions: King of Retail, The Simpsons: Itchy and Scratchy in - Miniature Golf Madness, Anticipation

Tons of Hours Played
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I don't really have much to say about Team Fortress 2 because I'll probably never play it again. It was great when I did, but the bot infestation has made it impossible to earnestly get back into for me. I remember playing a shit ton with friends all the time. I had favorite maps (turbine for life) and the fan-made game modes like TF2Ware were somehow just as fun as the base game. I even got so into it that I started doing online trading to get cosmetics I wanted. But I don't think that's something that's meant to last with games like this since they all unfortunately have an expiration date. I really hope they make a Team Fortress 3 or something because I probably would end up playing the shit out of that too, but Valve will never do that. It makes me appreciate TF2 so much for what it was and when I played it back in middle/high school non-stop.
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Honorable Mentions: Garry's Mod, Mario Party 6, Pokemon X