My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (85-81)

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85. Super Mario Maker (Wii U)

Super Mario Maker nearly became a full-time job for me when it released exactly one year ago today. Prior to the game’s release, I was reasonably excited for it, but I figured I’d play around with it for a few weeks and then move on. I ended up completely losing myself in this bottomless toy-box as my imagination completely ran wild. Super Mario Maker is a childhood dream come true for me. All those imaginary Mario levels I’ve daydreamed about and played through in my head over the years could now be reality (well, somewhat). While the game has some frustrations and limitations (most of which have now been addressed through updates), this creative-tool/game hybrid is nonetheless a treasure. I spent hours and hours deep into the night toiling away on making every brick perfect in creations that I poured my heart into, from a massive airship to an underground sewer complex to a four-level ghost story, and this isn’t even taking into account all the other time I spent exploring all of the creative and wonderful levels from other users. Super Mario Maker even extended beyond the screen as I’d pen ideas down in a notebook and plan out future courses; I even had a whole game planned but I inevitably got burned out before realizing my full ambitions. Looking back, this game fired up my imagination in a way that I hadn’t felt in many years; it was invigorating, and I was always excited to jump back into the game to start creating and playing around again.  Super Mario Maker is a universe, an endless template for creating and playing, and if you are someone who can appreciate both aspects of the experience like me, than it is a truly magical experience indeed.

84. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess/Twilight Princess HD (GameCube/Wii U)

I’ve written about this before, but to this date, I have never in my life been more excited for an upcoming video game than The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I remember when it was announced, I remember each new trailer, I remember when Midna and Wolf Link were revealed (in what still stands as my favorite video game trailer of all time)…there was the delay, the inevitable porting to the Wii, and all the hype and speculation surrounding the game’s release. I remember finally beholding the game Christmas morning in 2006, having just gotten home for winter break from my first year at college. I unpackaged the game, absorbed the title cinematic, and experienced those opening moments with shaking hands.

I had never been so immensely thrilled to herd goats.

I’ve long had a rocky relationship with Twilight Princess and "mixed feelings" only begins to describe it. Twilight Princess represents a catering to fans and a safe return to form after the unhinged imagination present in Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker, a facet which sours the title a bit for me to this day. Nevertheless, Twilight Princess is a beautiful, impeccably-designed, and memorable adventure. Its dungeons are some of the strongest in the series, with the haunting Arbiter’s Grounds and the charming Snowpeak Ruins being two especially memorable highlights. While it is lacking in terms of sidequests compared to other Zelda titles, TP’s main quest is mainly one engaging venture after another that takes Link to the dreary depths of a giant lake, to a moonlit desert encampment, and to the far reaches of an enchanted grove. There are thrilling horseback battles, sword duels with an undead knight, and even an old-West shoot-out…by the time the credits role, there are few games that can say they’ve delivered such a satisfying journey. It’s nothing too daring and it certainly apes a lot of material from previous Zelda adventures, but there’s something comforting and pristine about Twilight Princess’s traditional adventure, and the Wii U’s HD remaster only makes its creative art direction easier to appreciate.

83. The Legend of Zelda (NES)

I was surprised by how easily I became immersed in the original Legend of Zelda the first time I played it. I expected something that would be awkward and difficult to get into compared to the Zelda games that I’d played, and while perhaps in some ways this was true, The Legend of Zelda ended up being an absorbing adventure that not only contains many of the hallmarks that make later Zelda games so great, but also a unique charm that is all its own. It’s a satisfying challenge and there’s something about its minimalist pixel art, tiled dungeons, and satisfying sense of progression that I find very endearing. Coupled with its lovingly-detailed instruction manual and official old-school-anime-style artwork, there’s a very classic nature to this game that I adore. I was late to the party on this one, first playing the re-released Game Boy Advance version, but thanks to a close friend also playing through the same version at the same time, I was able to have that experience of sharing secrets and experiences just like people did with the NES version. And even though Level 6 is still a major pain in the ass, I still enjoy going through the original Zelda quite a bit today.

82. BioShock (PC)

I still remember the pre-release buzz for the original BioShock and thinking that the game looked fascinating. The concept of a mysterious, derelict city under the ocean full of hulking beings in diving suits immediately intrigued me. It did not take long at all to realize that the game was something special the summer that I finally dove into it and began exploring the halls of the city of Rapture. The environment, atmosphere, art design, and sound design in BioShock is all brilliantly done, and working my way through every flooded corridor and listening to every discarded audio log was truly a treat. There’s a potent sense of place in this game, and Rapture and its many colorful personalities is a beautifully-realized creation.

81. Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance)

Can you believe that back in the glorious year of 2002, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime both released on the same day in the US? I mean, what a time to be alive! Comparing that with the dark post-Other M times we live in today is bound to make a person a little wistful, especially since these two games were my very first experience with the Metroid series. While Prime admittedly left the bigger impact on me, Fusion is still a great experience. Taking Samus to a creepy space station overrun with mutants and a parasitic menace, Fusion is a polished and somber follow-up to Super Metroid, and is still currently the last Metroid story chronologically. While I prefer the more non-linear 2D Metroid titles over Fusion, it is nonetheless dripping with atmosphere and the encounters with Samus’s eerie doppelganger, the SA-X, are a tense highlight.

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Stop by again for #80-76!

My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (90-86)

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90. Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

Something I love in many video games, and especially platformers, is a great sense of progression. A good sense of moving from point A to B with purpose is something that most, if not all, of my favorite platformers accomplish well. There’s something so confident about the way Super Castlevania IV is executed that makes it the pinnacle of the classic 2D Castlevanias for me. After the eerie title screen and absorbing introduction cinematic, we see the classic shot of Simon Belmont cracking his whip before Dracula’s castle and then our journey begins. Simon must journey through forests, caves, and riverbeds before reaching the castle proper and I love this build-up as well as the presence of a world map between each stage that charts the player’s progress and lets them know where they are in relation to each level. This is something that previous classic-vanias did as well, but Castlevania IV also refines the mechanics and balances the difficulty, the visuals are dripping with grimy detail, and the soundtrack is one of the series’ most hauntingly atmospheric. The final moments against Dracula and the following credits sequence is simply one of the most satisfying finales to any video game I’ve played and the whole quest is always an extremely fulfilling undertaking.

89. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Game Boy Advance)

I have specific memories of playing Harmony of Dissonance at night when the weather was just the perfect degree of sweatshirt cool. I’m pretty sure I got through the bulk of this game in a weekend, but I spent much more time afterwards exploring every nook of the game’s two castles and striving for the true ending. Something that stands out to me about Harmony of Dissonance is its very NES-like soundtrack, which is unique among its Metroidvania brethren. I remember some reviewers criticizing this aspect at the time, but it’s something I’ve always liked about the game and that makes it stand out to me and have a unique atmosphere.

88. Rayman Legends (Wii U)

I considered putting Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends together in one entry on this list since Legends sort of acts like an expansion to Origins in a way (and even contains a bunch of remastered Origins levels), but technically Legends is a sequel and both games has very distinct vibes regardless. There’s a lot I could say that applies to both games: they are both delightfully imaginative and revel in absurdity, have a sense of fluidity to their mechanics that makes them an absolute joy to play, and many of their levels place a focus on running continuously through a thrilling gauntlet of obstacles (this last point applies to Legends especially). Legends is the more razor-focused adventure of the two and is simply pure platforming ecstasy. It’s also even more visually stunning than the already beautiful Origins and its beautiful soundtrack tops the original game’s also already great score. Legends’ main claim to fame is probably its brilliant musical levels, where every leap and slap is choreographed to the tune of zany arrangements of famous songs like “Eye of the Tiger” and “Woo-Hoo”. They are seriously some of the most exhilarating and satisfying levels ever conceived in the genre. Its worlds at large are imaginative and memorable as well, with its underwater world “20,000 Lums Under the Sea” being a particular highlight. The cumbersome touch-screen controlled Murfy levels on the Wii U version seriously drag the single-player experience down for me, but even with this unfortunate issue, Legends is still mostly a true platforming treat.

87. Rayman Origins (PS3)

What separates Origins from its successor and ultimately makes it a bit more special to me is the stronger context and cohesion of the adventure. I love the concept of Rayman’s world, a “Glade of Dreams” dreamed into existence by a slumbering frog-like god known as the “Bubble Dreamer”. The worlds of Origins tread more familiar ground than Legends but each one puts a spin on tried and true tropes. For example, there’s a desert world that is music themed and features platforms and obstacles made out of instruments, and the world’s soundtrack ties into this theme as well. Similar to Legends, I also love this game’s underwater world; I’m actually someone who usually likes water levels in platformers and the Rayman games’ aquatic sojourns are particularly strong. I praised the art and music of Legends, but both aspects are incredibly strong in Origins as well. Origins simply feels more like a full adventure to me than Legends; the world is more closely tied together via a map and the narrative is more prevalent. Its final bonus level is also a masterpiece and one of my favorite levels in any platformer ever.

86. Shovel Knight (Wii U)

Shovel Knight combines elements from several old-school games and perhaps does these things better than any of them to create the ultimate retro NES throwback that also has its own charming personality and plenty of its own original ideas. It also has some of the best level design and most well-constructed mechanics in any video game I’ve ever played, contains that satisfying sense of progression that I love, tells a surprisingly touching yet subtle story that is delivered through both text boxes and gameplay beats, and the final stretch of the game is one of the most elegantly and flawlessly constructed finales in anything I’ve ever played. Did I mention the lovingly-drawn pixel art and the chiptune heaven soundtrack (which can be downloaded here and was composed by the lovely Jake Kaufman of Shantae fame with a few tracks by Manami Matsumae, the composer of the original Mega Man)? Yeah, Shovel Knight is good. Really good.

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Next up: #85-81!

My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (95-91)

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95. Mega Man 2 (NES)

I’ve never been a big Mega Man person. I have hazy memories of playing some of the old NES games as a kid and I’ve tried several of the games since, but there are just so many of them and they usually kick my ass so much that I just quickly lose patience. The one big exception is Mega Man 2, which I find to be easy enough to comfortably enjoy, but not so easy as to be a total pushover (two different difficulty settings also help). Its level design feels simplistic, but there’s also something very elegant about it. Likewise, the colorful visuals, large enemy sprites, smooth mechanics, and fantastic soundtrack all jive together very well. The first time I got to Dr. Wily’s fortress and heard that inspiring music, I knew the game was something special.

94. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

I didn’t fully appreciate how much of a terrific platformer Donkey Kong Country Returns is until I replayed it shortly before its sequel, Tropical Freeze, came out. Once I took my time to fully invest myself in this game’s rich, finely-crafted world, I was transported back to a time when video games where I controlled a character that hopped and bopped through colorful, imaginative worlds consistently enraptured me. Every inch of Returns is polished, from its sound design to its artfully crafted levels, which are packed with detail and make Donkey Kong Island truly feel like a living, breathing world. Retro Studios has proven time and again that they have some of the best artists and environment designers in the business. As far as retro-throwbacks go, DKC Returns is basically as good as they come, but though it’s transformative, it’s still largely a callback to the original DKC. This is what initially underwhelmed me about the game so much, and while it isn’t necessarily a flaw, I almost always prefer when a game really breaks out on its own and carves out its own identity. Luckily, that’s exactly the direction Retro smartly took Tropical Freeze in, but we’ll talk about that later.

93. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)

I am not a big Kingdom Hearts fan. In fact, I find most of the first game to be pretty bland and empty-feeling. Kingdom Hearts II, however, captivated me immediately. I’ve heard many pan the game’s lengthy prologue section, but I was completely engrossed in its mysterious and surreal atmosphere. The rest of the game improved in every single way upon the first game for me: the worlds had more personality and felt more alive, there were more original, non-Disney locations and characters, the narrative felt more prevalent throughout the entire experience, the combat was more fluid and enjoyable, and the soundtrack is even more beautiful throughout. I associate Kingdom Hearts II with the summer before I headed off to college. Perhaps this is another reason why the prologue spoke so much to me: it involves a group of kids idling their time away during summer vacation, and something about the peaceful but melancholic music and atmosphere of Twilight Town felt very appropriate for the time in my life. Kingdom Hearts II as a whole felt like one last imaginative adventure before I headed off into the frightening unknown and although it may sound a bit melodramatic, in a way this game represents the bittersweet end of my childhood.

92. Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening (PS2)

Devil May Cry 3 may be the best pure action game I’ve ever played. This game is campy, goofy fun wrapped up in a delicious gothic atmosphere. As the titular Dante, you surf around on the backs of demons, wield creative weapons like a triple ice nunchaku and a demonic electric guitar (like it literally shoots electricity), and explore an ancient tower that has appeared in the middle of a modern-day city. Joining Dante are a memorable cast of characters, including a badass lady named, uh, Lady, Dante’s twin brother and rival Vergil, and a bizarre jester named, er, Jester…so the names aren’t the most creative thing, but the characters themselves are great, trust me. The deep combat and mechanics are where this game truly shines, as it involves several different combat “Styles” to cycle through such as Swordmaster and Gunslinger to name a few, and experimenting with each one and with the wide variety of imaginative weapons is an absolute blast. DMC3 is also a notably difficult game, but learning and mastering the mechanics and levels is a joy, and you’ll be amazed by the wacky antics you’ll eventually be able to pull off. It’s one of only a handful of games where I had so much fun replaying levels over and over again as I mastered my skills.

91. World of Goo (Wii)

For a puzzle game to captivate me it must have something more than just challenging riddles to solve; it has to have atmosphere, narrative, something that makes it stand out. Enter World of Goo, a game I played on Wii that really took me by surprise. I fell in love with this game not only because the core goo-building mechanic is interesting and the physics-based puzzles are challenging, but because the game’s world and vibe is simply intoxicating. The Tim Burton-esque art is one part of this, but the moody and beautiful soundtrack by Kyle Gabler (which is free to download on his website) is also a huge factor, as is the way the narrative unfolds. For such an initially silly-looking game, World of Goo is a surprisingly emotional experience.

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I hope you join me again for #90-86!

My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (100-96)

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100. Beyond Good and Evil (GameCube)

There’s a tangible quality to the characters and world of Beyond Good and Evil that really makes it stand out. The world isn’t very large by many adventure games’ standards but it’s vividly and imaginatively painted in a way that leaves an indelible impression. Likewise, Beyond Good and Evil isn’t a very long experience, but it is confident, focused, and everything about it simply comes together so well. Its narrative isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s gripping and incredibly well-told, and its characters are varied and endearing. It’s clear that BG&E takes some inspiration from the Zelda series, but like another game that will appear on this list much later on, it uses that template to serve a unique work that is full of personality and that easily stands apart. In fact, Beyond Good and Evil stands out so much that even though it has been many years since I played it and there’s plenty I don’t remember about the experience, I am still eagerly awaiting the long-promised but seldom-mentioned continuation of this story and a chance to return to this universe.

99. God of War (PS2)

I’ve played all three of the main God of War games, but the first one is still the most special to me. It feels more mythic somehow than the following two, with a larger emphasis on adventure than on simply ripping things apart, and it has a comparatively competent and satisfying narrative unlike the mess that the God of War story turned into by God of War III. I also love that pretty much the whole game takes places in a gigantic temple chained to the back of the colossal Titan, Cronos, who is doomed to wander through a vast desert. And yes, it’s fun to rip things apart in this one too.

98. Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)

From its saturated art direction to its impactful explosions to its twangy, heart-pumping sound design, Gunstar Heroes is pure Genesis. My fondest memory of Gunstar Heroes is playing through the whole game co-op with a good friend. Working together to take down the multitude of wacky enemies and bosses, such as Seven Force, a particularly memorable mechanoid that cycles through seven different unique forms, was a blast and super satisfying to finally conquer. Playing the game solo is also a good time, but Gunstar Heroes is primarily a co-op experience in my mind.

97. Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis)

One of my first introductions to Castlevania, Bloodlines burrowed its way into my subconscious and fueled my imagination as a child. There was something about the gritty, detailed environments and haunting atmosphere, and of course its transcendent soundtrack, the first in the series composed by the incredible Michiru Yamane (who would go on to score Symphony of the Night and much more) that really stirred me up as a kid. This is a bit difficult to explain, but I used to construct my own imaginary video games based on Castlevania: Bloodlines with toys as characters and the real world as levels, the game’s soundtrack humming along in my head as I did so. When I returned to Bloodlines years later as an adult, it held up as perhaps the most underappreciated classic Castlevania game, with its only drawback being the lack of infinite continues, which even the original NES game had. Still, it’s an experience I always feel drawn to as October rolls around and one I’ll always enjoy returning to.

96. Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)

Tales of Symphonia is JRPG comfort food. It contains pretty much every single JRPG cliché in the book, but it executes all of it with such delightful enthusiasm and polish that I can’t help but be taken in by its charms. The lovely cel-shaded art style doesn’t hurt either. There’s nothing too extraordinary about Tales of Symphonia and that’s kind of what I love about it. There’s something so inviting about its picturesque villages and character archetypes and stock-standard world map, and I found the action-packed combat system to be very simplistic but enjoyable to just slash through until I got to exploring the pretty environments more and came to the next contrived plot point. And when I say “contrived”, I mean that in the most affectionate way possible with a warm, remembering smile on my face.

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Next up: #95-91! Hope you stop by again!

My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (105-101)

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105. Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)

I do not have the religious reverence for Resident Evil 4 that many have, but I definitely recognize the game’s impact and it’s certainly a memorable experience. RE4 was a huge deal back when it first released in 2005 as a GameCube exclusive (yeah, remember that?). Many of my friends were playing it and talking about at the time, so much so that I kind of…got sick of it. Also, a good chunk of the game was spoiled for me as well because of my constant exposure to it before playing it myself. Despite all this, I still remember my first time with the early village sequence as one of the tensest and most harrowing sections in a game I’d ever experienced. I love the game’s atmosphere, its environments, its self-aware camp, and its ridiculous characters and varied bosses. RE4 is a game that just keeps one-upping itself and surprising the player with one exciting, nail-biting, interesting sequence after the next. Just when you get comfortable with a certain scenario and think you know the rules, the game throws a wacky curveball at you, or perhaps a chainsaw.

104. Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii)

Epic Yarn is my favorite of the “experimental” Kirby games, which include a game where you control a spherical Kirby with magic paintbrush strokes (actually there are two of those) and one where the pink cream-puff is split into a swarm of ten mini-Kirbys. I like Epic Yarn because unlike these other alterna-Kirbys, it’s still a traditional platformer; it just gives Kirby a new aesthetic and set of mechanics within its fabric framework to play around with. The word that always comes to mind when I think of Epic Yarn is “delightful”. It will charm the pants right off of you…which Kirby will probably then unravel and turn into a sled or something.

103. Yoshi’s Woolly World (Wii U)

The third and final title on this list from the booming “yarn genre” is Yoshi’s Woolly World, a special game that surprised me with not only its creative level design, but also an intimate and emotional adventure that I could feel was created with a  lot of love and effort. There’s something inherently nostalgic about Woolly World. Simply put, it is the video game equivalent of wrapping myself up in one of my Nana’s hand-knitted blankets and sipping a cup of tea on a cool autumn night.

102. Pikmin 2 (GameCube)

Pikmin 2, which I actually played on Wii, is special to me because it helped bring me fulfillment during a time when all I felt like doing was lying in bed in the dark, but it’s also a delightfully unique experience with an indescribable atmosphere. There’s something about venturing further and further down into the depths of one of Pikmin 2’s many underground labyrinths, not really knowing what’s going to be on each new floor, that’s intoxicating. This is only compounded by the game’s uniquely bizarre soundtrack, which drew me into a world that felt like a dream. The main goal of Pikmin 2 is to discover and collect “treasures”, a bunch of human junk ranging from Duracell batteries to bottle caps to references to Nintendo’s history, in order to pay off a debt. Discovering each treasure and seeing what extravagant name Olimar and Louie’s wonderfully characterized spaceship comes up with for these mundane objects is simply a delight and one of my favorite aspects of the experience. If you seek to complete it thoroughly, Pikmin 2 is a long game, and it can be both challenging and exhausting, but while it’s not a game I’m likely to return to that often or at all, it is a treasured experience for me and one that felt immensely gratifying to journey through and complete.

101. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (Wii)

I fondly remember the day that Kirby’s Return to Dream Land released in late October of 2011. After getting out of work and visiting two different GameStops before I was able to buy the game, I brought it home and found myself transported back to being a little kid with a Game Boy, playing Kirby’s Dream Land for the first time; back to the summer of 2000 when I first played Kirby 64. The so appropriately-titled Return to Dream Land, the first traditional Kirby game on a home console since Kirby 64, was a very welcome return to form for the series. This game is just good. It feels so artfully and perfectly traditional in so many ways, yet doesn’t feel stale or recycle too many old staples. In fact, I sort of wish one or two more classic bosses showed up even, as most are brand new. Even only five years later, I already find myself feeling a bit nostalgic when I listen to the soundtrack. Return to Dream Land is simply a joyful video game, elegant in its traditional design, and nearly unmatched in its level of polish.

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Check back again next time for #100-96!

My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (110-106)

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110. Shantae (Game Boy Color)

Compared to its smoother-playing sequels, the original Shantae is a little wonky, but it’s nonetheless an imaginative platforming adventure that is still probably the most unique game in the series. Released late in the handheld’s life, it’s probably one of the prettiest Game Boy Color games out there and is packed with big colorful sprites and charming animations. Structurally, the game is sort of like a cross between Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, Zelda, and Metroid, but Shantae definitely has its own original flare that makes it stand apart. The world and storyline is wacky, involving genies and pirates and roaming zombie caravans, and the whole experience has a distinct sense of humor about everything. I also adore the game’s unique and detailed belly-dancing mechanic and Shantae’s transformation abilities. The original Shantae GBC cartridge is notoriously rare and expensive, but the same experience can be purchased for a mere $5 on the 3DS eShop.

109. Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (DSi)

Risky’s Revenge carries over a lot of what made the original Shantae special and, in a quantifiable sense, improves on that game in just about every way. The combat and platforming mechanics are much more satisfying, Shantae’s dancing has been streamlined (though a bit of the charm has been lost in the process), the world is more enjoyable to explore, the music has been kicked up about ten or twenty notches as Jake Kaufman truly begins to hit his stride, the quirky writing is even stronger (this is actually one of the funniest games I’ve ever played), and the spritework is even more fantastic. The one big drawback of Risky’s Revenge is that its adventure feels a bit cut short and in order to get the full story, you’ll need to play Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. Still, even though I still find a lot to love in the original Shantae, Risky’s Revenge is much more playable and currently my favorite in this charming and creative series. While it was originally released as a downloadable title on the Nintendo DSi, Risky’s Revenge has since been ported to a bunch of other places, including 3DS, PC, and even smartphones.

108. Gone Home (PC)

I only just played Gone Home last year but it was a strangely nostalgic and personal experience with all of its references to the 90s and a shy, artistic, relatable protagonist with a large imagination and aspirations of being a writer. It also combined a fantastic central voice performance and intelligent environmental design to tell a gripping and human story that hooked me from beginning to end.

107. Super Smash Bros. (N64)

The original Super Smash Bros. was a bizarre and exciting game when it released in 1999. There was even something inherently exciting about the colorful, hand-drawn boxart that immediately captivated me, even though I barely knew who Samus Aran or Fox McCloud were at the time. I did recognize Mario, Kirby, and Pikachu though and I fell in love with this surreal mishmash of Nintendoverses almost as soon as I started playing. It was a blast playing with friends of course, but I also have fond memories of rushing home from school to smash targets with Donkey Kong by myself. The original Smash also has something that the newer games in the series largely lack: atmosphere. From the strangely toned-down main menu music to the meta narrative of a child playing with their toys to the eerie music that plays after defeating the final boss, there’s just something special about this game that I feel was lost as the series went on to become the flashy monstrosity that it is today.

106. Unravel (PC)

While a clever and charming puzzle-platformer on its own merits, what makes Unravel particularly special to me is how much I relate to it. As I wrote here, it feels uncannily like the game was made specifically for me between the beautiful, nearly photorealistic appreciation of nature’s small wonders, the theme of a small creature exploring our gigantic world, and even the fact that yarn has a special nostalgic quality for me because my Nana loved to knit. Heck, the dang thing even released on my birthday. While Unravel’s narrative impact admittedly could have been stronger, it’s still an experience that spoke to my heart and enchanted me thoroughly.

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Join me next time for #105-101! Hope to see you then!

My Top 115 Favorite Video Games (115-111)

I regret to inform you that The Stock Pot Inn will be closing its doors effective immediately…

…after one last gigantic game list that is! I’m not deleting this blog, but I don’t plan on posting here anymore. While The Stock Pot Inn has provided me with some good experience reviewing and writing about games, the amount of effort I put into each post is far too disproportionate to the people seemingly reading for me to continue to put so much time into writing here. I don’t plan to quit writing about or discussing video games though; I’d simply like to look into new avenues that will help me reach a wider audience. This may even include starting a new blog at some point, but for now I’d just like to move on from this one. I sincerely thank everyone who has taken the time to read anything that I’ve written here over the years. But hey, I thought, since I’m pretty close to 100 posts, why not have one last hurrah before I bid Blogger adieu?

That’s what this list mainly is. It’s a celebration of video games and my love for them, which is really what I began this blog to do. I can’t think of a better way to send off The Stock Pot Inn.

To this end, I’ve decided to highlight 115 particularly special games in an effort to catalog my thoughts and feelings from over the course of my 25 or so years of interactive experiences. This is sort of an update on my old “favorite games” lists from 2012 and 2013, but it’s mainly a way for me to reminisce and try to make sense of my love for games, as well as recommend some great games you may not have played. While I did make an attempt to number these according to a mix of how special they are to me and simply how much I like them, please keep in mind that comparing and contrasting so many disparate experiences is basically an impossible task. While the ordering generally reflects where these titles currently fall in my estimation, the numbering isn’t too important and many of these games are basically tied. The purpose here is not really to pit the games against each other but to celebrate them all and my experiences with them. Also keep in mind that this isn’t “the only 115 games I like” but rather the 115 that are probably the most special to me. Probably. Choosing the games was tough and many games that I'm also fond of were unfortunately left out. This isn’t in any way definitive and my feelings are always subject to change, of course.

Since I want to recommend games as much as discuss them, I will be trying my best to avoid what I would consider to be major spoilers. That said, if I feel I must include some spoilers that I deem might be detrimental to know before experiencing a game yourself, I’ll put a warning before that game’s blurb. Still, read at your own caution if you absolutely don’t want to know a single thing about any given game.

Just like my 2013 list, the games are labeled according to the first platform that they appeared on to the best of my knowledge. In the case of simultaneous multi-platform releases, I labeled the game with the platform that I first played it on (or the only one that I played it on).

Each post will contain five games until I get to the top ten, which will be split into one post of the first seven games and a final post about the top three. I plan on posting these just about daily, so I hope you enjoy checking out my picks and that you reminisce about your own fond memories with games along the way. Without further prattling, here are 115 video games that have shaped my love for the medium. Please enjoy!

115. Xenogears (PS1) 

I debated whether I should include Xenogears on this list as I’ve never actually played it myself. I experienced most of the game vicariously from over my older brother’s shoulder at the tender young age of ten or eleven, and I like to think of it as the “best game I’ve never played”. Most of the game’s heavy-handed narrative went right over my head back then, but I still have fondly nostalgic memories of the game’s world, characters, soundtrack, and battles involving gigantic robots known as “gears”. Though secondhand, Xenogears was technically my first experience with a proper JRPG (only having played the original Pokemon around the same time) and it completely enthralled me with an adventure beyond imagination full of wondrous and fantastical locales. I still think back to it on occasion and have frequently referenced it in my memory while playing through just about every JRPG I’ve experienced since.

114. Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis)

Ecco the Dolphin is strange. Yes, the game itself, which involves a time-traveling dolphin on a quest to save his family from a horrific fate, is of course quite strange, but what I actually mean is that my relationship with it is strange. It’s not a game I enjoy playing, not only because it is so difficult that I can’t even make it past the first level without using a level select code, but also because I’m downright terrified by it. This said, it’s a game that I have an incredible amount of respect and admiration for. I’m fascinated by Ecco. It’s haunting and eerie and totally unique and unforgettable. Ecco is a work of art in every way and it’s something that I can potently feel even when I actively avoid exposing myself to it as much as I can.

113. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)

Super Mario Bros. 2 has a unique atmosphere and sense of mystery and intrigue about it. It contains perhaps my favorite overworld theme (and one of my favorite OSTs in general) of the classic Super Mario games and I also really dig the game’s whole premise and its ending. Super Mario 2 would probably be one of my favorite Mario games if it wasn’t for two big problems: it controls like a wet bar of soap and its level design is often a tedious and awkwardly-designed bore (gotta love those sand digging sections). These issues unfortunately make most of my playthroughs of the game deteriorate into frustration and hair-pulling by the end…until that magical credits theme starts and I can’t help but smile and think, “hey, Super Mario 2 ain’t so bad”. In fact, it’s pretty darn special.

112. Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

The definition of a love/hate relationship, Xenoblade X (my review here) wowed me its vast open world full of awe-inspiring sights and moments of unparalleled scale and frustrated me with its overwhelming nature and a bunch of problems that threatened to ruin my good time like a flock of mosquitoes that show up on your vacation in paradise. From sprawling plains filled with gigantic stalks of coral and roaming hammer-headed brontosaurus creatures to particle-filled luminescent jungles and glowing bonsai gardens to the indescribable Sylvalum, the alien planet of Mira is a treat to discover. There is also a wonderful sense of progression to the way X rolls out its great sense of freedom, perhaps the greatest of any game I’ve played: first you are free to go anywhere by foot, then via giant robot, then via flying giant robot. Despite its wonders, however, X is host to a variety of issues both large and small: the soundtrack can range from hauntingly beautiful to ear-tearingly irritating, inexplicable glitches led to the game freezing and crashing for me, the game is simply colossally overwhelming and offers little instruction outside of a gigantic electronic manual that I had to study like I was actually training to get my giant robot license, the game’s text was designed for ants…I could go on. Despite it all though, Xenoblade X is a memorable experience that is survived by its best aspects and the more time goes on, the more I hold fondly the time I spent adventuring with Sara and her crew throughout the alien landscapes of the planet Mira.

111. Soulcalibur II (GameCube)

I’m not that huge on fighting games, but there is a certain quality about them that I’ve always admired. I’ve traditionally enjoyed fighting games with a wealth of single-player options and some kind of narrative to play through with a bunch of wacky characters.  I know I just described quite a lot of fighting games, but what sets the Soulcalibur series apart is that I also find it to be very accessible. See I also kind of suck at fighting games and the weapons-based combat of Soulcalibur has always felt more open to not learning the ins and outs of every little combo. I also love the wide variety of weapons to unlock as well as the campy, over-the-top narrative vibe the series has. So why Soulcalibur II in particular? I simply recall enjoying this one the most. I found it improved on the first one pretty much across the board, I really enjoyed its RPG-esque “Weapon Master Mode”, and the GameCube version had Zelda’s Link in it to boot.

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Next up is #110 to #106! I hope you check back then!