Playing video games is one of my favorite hobbies and has been for as long as I can remember. My first home console was the GameCube and my first portable console was the Gameboy Advance (SP). I still have fond memories of taking my Gameboy literally everywhere and playing pretty much any game I could get my hands on. I only had a few so my friends and I would borrow each others at school, which massively expanded my library. Gaming is such a great hobby because it can be enjoyed with friends or alone depending on the game.
As I have gotten older, I have less time to play and more responsibilities but I still carve time out to play. In fact, I rarely watch movies or TV shows because I find that most of my indoor free time goes to gaming, coding, or reading (usually in that order of preference). As I look back over my almost 20 years of gaming, I was considering what games were my favorite, or made the most impact on me. And so this list was born. This is my top ten favorite games that I have ever played and why.
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
The Wii U entry in Nintendo’s iconic video game franchise is fantastic and was thankfully ported to the more popular Switch so that everyone who never owned a Wii U could enjoy it. In a surprise to no one, Princess Peach manages to get kidnapped by Bowser again, and Mario has to go on an adventure to save her. In fact, you can choose between several different characters, some of which make the game easier. Either way, the player has to travel through eight different worlds to finally confront Bowser.
The artwork is fantastic, probably the best of any in the genre including the latest Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The platforming is excellent as Mario is easily controlled and any falls or deaths never felt “unfair”, but rather as a result of a mistake I made. Because of the different difficulty levels depending on character, you can make the game as hard or as easy as you’d like. I personally managed to collect all the star coins from every level and then collect them all from all superstar road levels, earning a 5 star save file. Needless to say, even though this game is at #10, it is a great game.
9. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
This one is cheating a bit as it is a mega collection of several games but it is my list so I get to make the rules. Halo was my first real first person shooter that I played and it is undoubtedly one of the best. The first three games in the series were extremely fun with a great storyline and sci-fi world that felt real. After that, a new game studio took over and took the series in a new, worse, direction. Halo has never quite recovered with the newer games but thankfully the original three still stand the test of time.
Halo 4 is also included in the bundle and, although the campaign isn’t my favorite, it had a great multiplayer that I enjoyed with my friends. The cool thing about the collection is that it continues to get updates all the time to add new content.
8. Forza Horizon 4
Forza Horizon is an open world series of racing games that are probably the best in the genre. This is not to be confused with Forza Motorsport that provides more of a realistic racing simulation experience. Forza Horizon is much more popular and for good reason, it is fantastic. The fourth edition is the best so far (yes, much better than Forza Horizon 5 although that game is also really good), partly due to its location.
Racing down the roads of a fantasy version of England is cool enough but it also comes with a Lego DLC where everything is made of legos including some of the cars. Probably the best feature of this version to me was the seasons. Every Thursday, the season changes and with it the entire map and world changes around it. Winter and Fall are particularly pretty with the frozen tundra and the leaves changing colors.
7. Luigi’s Mansion 3
It’s a little ironic that Luigi is the brother who is always the most timid and yet finds himself in the worst situations. In Luigi’s Mansion 3, you are trapped in a hotel by King Boo and the hotel owner who want to trap Luigi in a painting for King Boo’s wall. As usual with Luigi’s Mansion, the idea is sucking ghosts up with a vacuum and capturing them. Every level (or floor in this case) is filled with puzzles that you must solve with a boss at the end.
The really cool part of this entry is that each floor has a different environment and theme. One of the reasons it makes the list is that the game is the perfect Halloween game for those who are not into horror. It also has some unique puzzle components such as the ability to use a version of Luigi made of goo (think Jello) to walk through bars and through pipes.
6. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
This game has a rather sad story because it is about some mysterious force known as “The Decay” that is slowly wreaking havoc on the land due to the spirit tree (similar to the one in the first game) losing its light. As a result the inhabitance are suffering. Ori gets lost there and separated from his friend Kuo, therefore the quest of the game is to get Kuo back and save the land from The Decay.
5. Mario Kart 8 U Deluxe
Mario Kart, like Super Mario Bros., needs no introduction. It has been providing quick racing fun since the early 90s and yet each new entry in the series provides different game mechanics and items. No Mario Kart game quite feels like another and yet they are all so similar that it is undoubtedly the same series. For me, Mario Kart 8 earns the crown for the best game in the series mainly due to Nintendo’s continued support of it.
I had so much fun playing it back in 2014 when it came out for the Wii U and then bought it again when the Switch came out. It has been nearly 10 years and they just released the last wave of the booster course pass DLC which is an incredible level of support. It is a very odd but satisfying feeling to race new tracks on a game that I was playing so many years ago in such a different stage of life.
4. Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were my first Pokemon games and from then on Pokemon was one of my favorite franchises. Anyone who knows Pokemon knows that they release two games that are essentially identical but with a few minor differences such as exclusive Pokemon to each edition that force hardcore fans to buy both. Platinum was the last “third edition” Pokemon game where there are refinements made to the two games released that result in a third game.
Platinum can be seen as the best fourth generation Pokemon game for this reason and the fourth generation was my favorite (mainly because it was my first). Therefore, it finds its way on the list of my top ten favorite games. Sure, it isn’t perfect but battling your way to the Elite Four and defeating Champion Cynthia feel like a real challenge (with a little grinding), which is more than I can say for any of the recent games.
3. Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy is the best 3D Mario game created. Yes, Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, Galaxy 2, and recently Odyssey are all great games and belong on a top 10 list somewhere but Galaxy is the best of them. It has many different planets (worlds) to interact with that each have their own theme and increase in difficulty as the game progresses.
The game also has a gravity physics system that lets the player feel like they are actually playing in space. This leads to many creative levels in which these physics are used to make a very creative world. Thankfully you can play the game on the Switch by buying the 3D All-Stars collection which also happens to come with Mario 64 and Sunshine. As an added bonus, the motion controls are re-worked to use a regular controller and therefore remove my main complaint about the game.
2. Stardew Valley
The game has a very cozy feel to it that makes you want to continue playing. It also has an unusual way of passing time extremely quickly when it feels like it has been far less. You will quickly find yourself saying “I’ll just play one more day.”, then realize that it is 3AM and you have work the next day. The best part is that it keeps receiving updates all these years later and now has quite a long endgame where the player can achieve “perfection” by completing everything in the game via a convenient quest.
1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
And we are now at #1, which is none other than Skyrim. This game was the game I put literally thousands of hours into when I was a teenager. I would go to football practice, go to work, then play Skyrim until the early hours of the morning in the summer. During the school year, I would do the same thing except with school added. I still play Skyrim to this day on my Switch or my Xbox every time I get the feeling to start a new save.
The game allows you to be anything you want to be: mage, stealth archer, warrior, or a combination. It introduced a perk system where you can choose your abilities as you level up through the game. Also, thanks to the modding community, the game is still alive and well and has plenty of popularity. The only issue is that Bethesda seems to be unable to produce a sequel since it has been over 12 years now since its release on 11/11/11.
Conclusion
Video games are one of my favorite ways to pass time and find enjoyment everyday. There are so many different genres of games that everyone is bound to find something they like. You can play with friends or by yourself. Because I have played so many, it was really difficult to compile them down to just ten and there are several more that could have made this list. Also, it was a lot of fun to come up with a top ten list so I encourage everyone to do so and maybe even play through a few just to relive old memories.
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