I'll admit, I probably have nostalgia goggles on for this game, but it was one I played obsessively as a kid. Even after I beat it once, I liked roaming around Station Square, or gliding around the casino as Knuckles, or watching my little chao grow up. Sonic's first foray into a proper 3D platformer isn't perfect, but there's a lot to like here. For one, you get a diverse group of characters who all play very differently from each other. I despised Big the Cat's campaign, but he, mercifully, only has a few stages. The stages themselves are all quite different, in classic Sonic fashion, and they each have unique challenges. And let's be real, this soundtrack ROCKS. Nothing got me more hyped at 9 years old than Open Your Heart did during the final boss battle.

I've only played this with the mod that polishes up a lot of things--I'm aware that the release version was kind of a mess. Modded, though, this is an excellent game. Even with dated, 2004 graphics, it's fun as hell to play. Being able to pick from a wide variety of vampire types offers many different gameplay options, and even some of the dialogue is a bit different if you pick certain ones. I thought the story was interesting and paced pretty well, and the voice acting is great, with many veterans of the industry lending their talents to the eclectic cast of characters. Combat is maybe one of the weakest parts of the experience, but given that there are often options to avoid it, I wasn't that bothered by it. If you like 2000s era Western RPGs, this is a must-play.

Without question, the very best of the 2D Sonic games. Everything culminated in this tour de force that featured three playable characters with unique mechanics, including the introduction of everyone's favorite punchy echidna. The level design is also much improved from Sonic's first outing, which is maybe best exemplified when comparing the games' respective water levels. There's also an abundance of mini games that are a significant step up from the special stages of previous games. As separate titles, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are quite good by themselves, but they really should be played as one game to get the most out of it. And I'd be remiss if I didn't cite yet another fantastic OST. Even the PC version has some interesting changes!

It's a shame this was something of an obscure title for a while due to the relative unpopularity of the Sega CD add-on. This is a really cool game! The time travel concept was a neat innovation, and it made for a unique way of traversing the different stages as you searched for ways to travel to and from the past. It also introduced one of the iconic villains of the series in Metal Sonic, adding him to one of the coolest stages in 2D Sonic games. The real star of the show is the soundtrack, however. I do prefer the Japanese OST to the US one, but I think both produced some memorable tracks in Sonic's musical library.

Doom was a phenomenal debut for an early first-person shooter, and laid the groundwork for the future of the genre. Then id Software decided they weren't done blowing our minds and created something more kinetic and technical, but with the same DNA as their 1993 classic. Enter Quake. Now, finally we have free aiming using the mouse, and a fully three-dimensional space where the player and enemies can maneuver in new ways. This was the natural way forward, and with a new setting inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, another standout classic was born.

Long gone are the simple, flat, multicolored polygons of StarFox past! Now they're fully rendered in 64 bits! Sure, it's not a phenomenal looking game by today's standards, but I remember being impressed as a kid. The gameplay is classic, rail shooter action, with some fun twists by way of new evasive maneuvers, all-range mode, and even a variety of vehicles (only in a few stages, though). It also rides a fine line between obnoxious supporting characters and some of the most quotable lines in video game history. Cruising around the diverse planets of the Lylat System provides some nice variety, and the ability to take on different paths gives the game solid replay value. Definitely one of the highlights of the N64 library.

This is where Final Fantasy began to fall off for me a little. While this game had many of the familiar elements of the series, this is also where things took a much more linear turn. Not that the game is spent solely going in a straight line, but the nature of the map does leave a little less exploration at your whim compared to the previous era. I also think there was some awkwardness with this being the first FF game with voice acting. You can defend the laughing scene all you want, but it is absolutely cringe-inducing for me. I did like the sphere grid, and found that to be a compelling method of progression, and the new summons were cool! Overall, it's still a fun game, but more of a mixed bag that I'm not as eager to revisit compared to the older titles.

Easily my favorite platformer for the SNES, this was a major leap forward from an already fantastic game. Both Dixie Kong and the new animal friends add fun new gameplay elements, and the new worlds to explore are even more unique than those of the first game, with all kinds of new challenges to face. The bosses also allowed for a little more interesting movement thanks to setting-appropriate arenas (whereas it was all the same in DKC 1). Special recognition has to go to the music, where David Wise really brought the heat and made all kinds of new, memorable tracks. Who doesn't love Stickerbrush Symphony?

I'm lumping in the whole StarCraft experience here. I mean, what a masterwork! This is one of the most finely tuned RTS games ever. It has a phenomenal single player campaign, excellent online multiplayer, and even spawned an entire separate genre of games thanks to Aeon of Strife (which became DotA for you youngsters). This is a game you can spend hours in and never get bored of, and it has just enough going on to be challenging without the gameplay getting too overcomplicated. It was a defining moment for strategy games, and may very well be the best work Blizzard has done and will ever do.

Far from just being "Resident Evil in space," Dead Space took the survival horror concept to new heights with its futuristic setting and uniquely unsettling monsters. The weapons and combat are inspired, with a number of useful strategies for taking on the hordes of prowling necromorphs. The scares are potent and memorable, as well. I distinctly recall the first time I was grabbed by a tentacle and nearly dragged to my doom--it caught me completely off guard! It also conveys a great story through remote logs and conversations and a mostly silent protagonist. An excellent start to the franchise!