It's honestly hilarious how much of a well crafted game every Mario Kart ends up being. From Mario Kart 64 to DD to MK8 the series remains crisp and inventive in control and fun to play either alone, online, or with friends.

There's never a dull moment in MK8D, and the sales numbers are proof of that. Every map feels fun to drive on due to the intricate map design but also beautifully colored environments. Being able to fully customize your ride and pick from a plethora of Nintendo favorites is also a great touch. I also play Rosalina with Mr. Scooty because it just feels so RIGHT.

There's an endless amount of joy jumping on after a stressful day and getting into a lobby of people from across the world spamming "I'm using tilt controls!"

I laughed at Josef Fares at the Game Awards when he made his infamous "F the Oscars" rant, but I knew right away after hearing him for the first time that he was somebody who truly CARED about the games he made.

It Takes Two is an absolute labor of love from EA's Hazelight Studios. Every level of this ~10 hour experience is carefully hand crafted from top down, no segment is boring and no mechanic becomes too stale. I played this with a close family member and we were constantly laughing at the pranks we pulled on eachother, but silence befell us when listening to the story and our mouths were in awe at all the beautiful colors and extensive world design.

The minigames stayed fresh, the change of platforming to gameplay unique genre segments, the characters outside of the main two all added to what is without a doubt the greatest co-operative game ever made.

How do you capitilize off of the success of Halo 3, one of the genre's best games ever? You make Halo Reach.

While the campaign of Reach can't hold a candle to the John 117 original trilogy, the multiplayer absolutely blows it out of the water mechanically. While the maps of Halo 3 are undoubtedly better, it feels clunky. Reach? It feels like butter on a muffin.

Everything in Reach multi feels smooth. The DMR is a 10x level up from the BR, the large scale combat and modes of Reach and movement that came with the addition of powerups like sprint and jetpack made Reach not only fun in its launch year, but all the way in 2021 as well.

It should go without saying: This is the most influential first person shooter of the new milennium. There are two eras of First Person shooter, those that existed before Half Life 2 and those that existed after.

Physics. Story. Music. World. Characters. All perfected in Valve's smash hit that set the standard for games in the West in terms of plot, presentation, and overall success.

You can't do Half Life 2 or its subsequent expansions justice in word, only through play.

The multiplayer of this game is also WAY more fun that It really could be thanks in part to the amazing physics engine (that still holds up) and wonderful modding community that kept it alive thanks to the tools gifted by Valve.

Final Fantasy at its most youthful and wholesome. FFIX is a JRPG set in a medieval fantasy setting full of magic and wizardry and with a kingdom at peril against a sinister threat that is more evil than anyone can imagine.

WIthin the world of FFIX you will cry, you will laugh, you will cheer. Many of the characters have impressive growth and are entierly different at the end of the story, their arcs will hit you like a truck with surprise and make you more emotional than you ever would have thought.

Melodies of Life is also a 10/10 song.

Ain't that a kick in the head?

Fallout New Vegas was almost too successful at what it was: The outcast. Developed by Obsidian entertainment rather than Bethesda I was curious if it would end up being as good as Fallout 3 or the last few Elder Scrolls games, but I think it's safe to say it blew all expectations out of the water.

What we got with Fallout New Vegas was the most unique Fallout game in the franchise's history. Las Vegas and the surrounding area was almost perfect for what Fallout is, both are: wacky, zany, a little off kilter, and offer themselves for some very interesting happenings. Running through the Nevada countryside and coming across all the colorful characters of the NCR, Caesars Legion, and standard NPC's felt so appropriate for how the game was built, it was almost too perfect.

Players, in typical Fallout/Elder Scrolls fashion, were led to craft their own stories and make their own decisions across the Mojave. Story happened on the players' own time and the experiences they had looting and pillaging added so much to the overall experience. Again sidequests and NPC interactions reigned supreme and rummaging through the Strip and the city of Las Vegas held endless possibilities. Another appreciated piece was the ability to choose from four different endings that were all vastly different from eachother, I think this was the first game I'd ever played four times to get every single ending on different characters.

Fallout began its life as a CRPG franchise that would morph itself into a relic of the 1990's, but what was the next step for Bethesda and this groundbreaking game? The answer is 3D.

Fallout 3 is an immersive life changing 3D adventure that was probably best enjoyed when it came out in the earlier era of 3D open worlds where bugs and lower polygon textures were oft ignored in the face of new inventive gameplay.

The people you meet, choices you make, and stories you can craft were fantastic in the year they came out and serve themselves as memories that we can all look back on and smile. The wasteland vaults, denizens, and creatures were all so new and fresh for gamers who were scratching for something that could remind them of what Oblivion brought to the table yet with a retro futurist twist.

So many of Fallout 3's quests are permanently imprinted in their mind because of how cool they were to experience when nothing like it had existed previously, I hope others can feel the same.

Dragon Quest is a beatiful and endearing journey through one of gaming's most storied franchises. It's not hard, yet requires brainpower to beat hard enemies and bosses, it's long, yet always leaves you wanting for more.

DQ11 and Persona are two franchises that prove that pure turn based JRPG's have a place in the current gamescape. Akira Toriyama's legendary art and the greatest minds at Square Enix are responsible for keeping this franchise alive and well.

DQ11 exists as a love letter to the franchise including inspiration in the form of content and music from the days of yore but also has enough new content and ideas that it feels fresh and engaging. DQ11S is a must play for fans of JRPG's.

I have never played a game that is as crisp as Devil May Cry 5, it just feels so GOOD to play. Easily the best game in the storied DMC franchise for just about every reason. Playing as three different characters is a great way to break up any monotony and each character is vastly different from the others which makes it even more appreciated. The music is fantastic of course, and the character design is jaw-droppingly gorgeous (I mean LOOK at Lady's model in this game.) Capcom is seriously winning in graphic design in the past few years.

The same DMC humour is involved as well, which is best showcased when Dante is gifted the hat Faust by Nico, I couldn't stop laughing!

Play DMCV if you like fast paced action, or even if you don't because it's that good.

Soundtrack by Lena Raine? Check.

A game about Coloring? Check.

A real thoughtful, deep story about sadness that can be overcome through friendship and believing in yourself? Triple Check.

Chicory is an extremely enjoyable journey through the feelies in a beautiful and well developed world that has many quirky and loveable characters.

I think people who didn't play this upon its inception may not truly understand the beauty of COD4, especially if they came to the series aftewards.

Call of Duty up until 4 had always been a fun series, but never was exactly the best game in the FPS genre. Want to play an engaging experience with good maps? I'd wager for Medal of Honor. Want to experience combat on a larger scale? Play battlefield. It was here that Call of Duty finally broke away from the mold and became the massive franchise that it is today.

The campaign was very good for an FPS to start, I think just about everyone will remember "All Ghillied Up" for sometime where people got to channel their Solid Snake for bit. The real icing on the cake though was the multiplayer which had varied weapons, perks, and best in class maps that made experimenting enjoyable and playing hours upon hours on end joyful. COD4 hit every mark when it came to "FUN" and had the best ideas in the series before the series would devolve into multiplayer degeneracy in MW2 (which was still fun, yet very broken.)

Half Life Black Mesa should serve as the absolute model for all 1990's game remakes, it doesn't change whole areas or fundamentally redesign content to make it almost a different story like some games do, it takes what works and just simply makes it beautiful.

I recommend Black Mesa for people who have caught on to the series since the original game, which I never initially made it too far in. Everything from the physics, silly NPC's, horrific enemies, and bizarre world return with fantastic graphics and updated engine. This is the supreme way to start your journey with Half Life.