Finally, the last installment of my 5 part list announcing the top 50 played video games.


10: Metal Gear Solid (Playstation)

Metal Gear Solid is probably the only series outside of the Role Playing gerne that I actually responded to storywise. Which this can be entirely attributed to Hideo Kojima. Maybe this was due to the fact that this really was the first case that characters were all fully voiced or maybe it was simply the script and plot, but the game was a marvel storywise. This was also the first game where I actually badly wanted to defeat my villains. Hell outside of Sephiroth I would wager that Psycho Mantis is one of the coolest villains in all of gaming and the excellent mechanics that went into his boss fight were genius. The setting of the secluded winter backdrop paired with the great gameplay made this a highlight of the Playstation generation. This series however is sadly dampened by my boredom with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty with its constant cutscenes and odd choice of backdrop. Truth be told, I really never had any issue with Raiden. It's just that an oil rig out in the middle of nowhere did not appeal to me. Most likely since Metal Gear Solid took place in a military base out in the middle of nowhere.



Played games in the series that lost to Metal Gear Solid:
Metal Gear
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
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9: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

I have to say that I personally am not a Zelda fanboy. I do indeed understand the appeal of the character, the world, and the overall perfection that Shigeru Miyamoto has put into this series, but realistically I am impartial to most of these games which is the only reason why it is not higher up on the list. That being said this category was split between Link's Awakening and this game, with Link's Awakening losing out due to its release superceding this game. A Link to the Past is probably the best top-down action adventure game that can be made and I can tell you this for a fact as there has yet to be any other game that has come close to emulating Link to the Past's success in this genre outside of other Zelda games. The gameplay is superb and the use of two seperate universes was refreshingly thought out for a Nintendo game.



Played games in the series that lost to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past:
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess
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8: Jet Grind Radio (Dreamcast)

I guess this is pretty much my favorite rebel against authority game. It involves the unlawful acts of vandalism (which realistically are a drain on society) and uses it with an amazing set of J-Pop and Acid Jazz that is probably the best music of its generation. Jet Grind Radio is probably the pinnacle of the Dreamcast console. Splashed with an excellent cel shaded Cyber-Punk style, that still feels fresh even today, the characters felt wholly original and unique with seperate unlockable "graffiti tags". Even if you didn't like those tags then you could always customize your own. Gameplay-wise everything is pretty much an expansion on the Tony Hawk mechanics just in a much more improved and fluid way. The automatic grinding and wallriding are very accurate. This game was excellent but with the ultimate fall of the Sega Empire its Xbox sequel ultimately proved to be tedious and stylistically bland. The key differences for me were the changes in the Tag system to a much simpler design which ultimately seemed like you were just slapping stickers all over the place.



Played games in the series that lost to Jet Grind Radio:
Jet Set Radio Future
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7: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (SNES)

Best beat-em-up ever. It had to be said. Turtles in Time was simply pure fun with most of the series staples being paired with odd locations to make for something truly different from the normal turtle game. Yet again we have another excellent game that is created by an excellent Japanese game maker in Konami. Its simply amazing how this is the 6th game with an American license and Japanese developer that made my list. The gameplay is astounding which can be expected after 3 prior iterations and the bright colors really complement the show in all the ways you would expect. Its just a fun and partially mindless beat-em-up. That and I just love throwing foot soldiers in Shredder's face.



Played games in the series that lost to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (GBA)
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6: Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)

You knew this had to be on the list somewhere. I don't know why I bought this game to be honest. I bought my Xbox prior to this games release and bought this game about a month after release (which there was still very little hype) but I can't recall what propelled me to buy the game. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised. I can say a game is a good game when I will play it alongside my wife who has seemingly the same enjoyment in it that I do. Its hard to understand that outside of her love of Spyro and Myst she would come to me and say let's play some Halo. With that reason alone it belongs on the Top 10. So without even going into the awesome level designs, or the great soundtrack, or even the fact that an RPG lover such as myself was spending more time fragging Grunts than spell casting, I'll discuss why this game is a step above Halo 2 and assumedly Halo 3 (have yet to play it). I'll use a comic metaphor to make this hopefully easier. Any type of story uses the first arc as set up. The Fantastic Four didn't start off in the Baxter building with amazing powers, they had to go to space and then deal with patents and inventions. Halo: Combat Evolved itself was arguably all about playing defense story-wise. All you as a character are doing is moving foward trying to get off of a planet that keeps sending horde after horde against you. Thats the story. In Halo 2 it tried to unravel the story and gave you the Arbiter which was in itself a wholly unpleasant experience. This paired with Bungie's constant claim that the only thing they actually finished on time (which I guess couldn't be said until after they sold 8 million copies) was the multiplayer put a huge damper on the series for me. As a stand alone title however Halo: Combat Evolved is a testament to console shooters and was a truly excellent game.



Played games in the series that lost to Halo: Combat Evolved:
Halo 2
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5: Chrono Trigger (SNES)

At times I love and loathe Square Enix. It can be said that Chrono Trigger is one of if not the greatest RPG of all time with little scoff or dismissal from anyone. So it pains me to say that while Final Fantasy is currently enjoying its 13th iteration and Dragon Quest its 9th they have made only one other Chrono title, which one could argue piggybacked the namesake just for sales stats. Why is this? Did Chrono Cross do so poorly that the market doesn't show demand of a new iteration or is it just due to the fact that production is so wrapped up in a FF or DQ that the company shall not be bothered with a new game. Rant aside, I have to say I did not play any of the 16-bit Final Fantasies during the SNES generation. Instead I played this gem. Probably the best twist in storytelling I've ever seen with a constant and subtle focus on the cause and effect of time travel. Most memorable moment still has to be the fantastic court trial scene. This game is fantastic in every single aspect that I had to take up half of this with a rant on why I can't play Chrono Trigger 2. Its that good.



Played games in the series that lost to Chrono Trigger:
Chrono Cross
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4: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)

Now that the greatest RPG has been declared at number 5 it seems a bit off to have another one ahead of it. Super Mario RPG is not the greatest RPG of all time. It's story is simple and its characters while gorgeous are somewhat humble in design. The reason this game squeezes past Chrono Trigger is just from feeding that fanboy itch. When a game based on a popular series comes out that hits everything just right while being in itself an epic departure from normality, well thats just too good to be true. Squaresoft the makers of Chrono Trigger paired up to make this oneshot of excellence that could not be emulated. This was the best Mario offshoot that could have ever been created. In doing so it also finally showed the humor behind Nintendo with the way that the characters made fun of himself. This game is indeed the pinnacle of the SNES era.



Played games in the series that lost to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars:
Paper Mario
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3: Tetris (NES)

Tetris is Tetris. Blocks fall on other blocks, I'm sure you've heard of the game. It has seen numerous iterations on numerous platforms and yet the one that reigns supreme is the original NES version. The music and feel of the game is exactly what I'd expect to play from a puzzle game that was smuggled out of Communist Russia. Not Tetrisphere or Tetris Worlds, these games fail to realize the glory of the NES version. To this day there has yet to be a time in my life when I could accurately say that I wouldn't willingly pick up and play a game of Tetris. Its unreasonable to think of. I'm humming the Tetris song as I type write now. Each iteration of the Tetris games seems to lose the basics that the NES had instead focusing on bright colors and effects. Tetris is the end all be all of basic design and developers need to focus on what the game is instead of what they want to do with it.



Played games in the series that lost to Tetris:
Tetris (Gameboy)
Tetris Worlds
Tetrisphere
The Next Tetris
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2: Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

This is one of the largest category on my list for obvious reasons. Keeping with the franchise rule I stated earlier, this includes every platforming Mario title to date with exception to Mario Galaxy as I have yet to play the game. So why does Super Mario Bros. 3 win? Its not hard actually. The Mario series is full of identical iterations that maximize the gameplay while only improving it slightly. Super Mario Bros. 3 was such a drastic leap from Super Mario Bros that it was extraordinary. The greatest thing about games like this is that they are relatively easy for a set amount of time. With the lack of an actual save feature and the addictiveness of the gameplay it makes a casual sitting into a 3 hour marathon session. Lets also face facts that I love this game and have still yet to beat it (stupid level 8 battleships). I can't say that about any other game in my Top 10 with the exception of maybe Tetris since there is no real ending. Regardless of that the game is amazingly addictive and with the wonders of the Flute I can visit any world I want to. Thanks especially to the Wizard for that.



Played games in the series that lost to Super Mario Bros. 3:
Mario Bros.
Donkey Kong
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2
Super Mario World
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
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1: Final Fantasy Tactics (Playstation)

For those who have been keeping up I doubt you were expecting this to be number 1. I have no loss of love for this game and constantly will trumpet its glory. Following the post-Final Fantasy VII wave of fanfare this title came out. I rented it probably 12 times before I finally got it for Christmas. I probably own two copies just because I couldnt be bothered to waste the time searching for it when it was a Greatest Hits for $15. Let me point out that this is indeed the original game that I am touting. When the War of the Lions was presented I had a fangasm that quickly died when I found out that characters names themselves would be rewritten and it would be using the Ye Olde English rewrite that followed in the wake of Final Fantasy XII, a game that I didn't like because of the Ye Olde English style it was translated in. Not to say anything bad about the style itself, its just when I've played one chapter of the Ivalice Alliance in standard Western English its a bit off to play it with an accent. I mean it when I couldnt actually play it, after hour 10 I was just so annoyed I've yet to put my Collector's Edition back in my PS2. So what makes Final Fantasy Tactics so great instead of that game where people don't have noses? Where to start, while the story is complicated (due all in part to some translation errors) its still an easily understandable game that is essentially a jewel quest to save the world from an unknown threat. The gameplay system is phenomenal and the level designs compliment the style perfectly and the music is the some of the best in gaming. At no point while micro-managing my army did I ever feel that I was tired of doing so. The boss battles range but the most memorable fights in gaming for me are the rescue of Agrias, Gafgarion (not Gaffgarion) and Wiegraf. Likewise I think Delita Hyral (not Delita Heiral) is probably one of the single greatest supporting characters in gaming as his role in the story evolves from friendly peasant to manipulative King as each chapter progresses.



Played games in the series that lost to Final Fantasy Tactics:
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
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I hope everyone enjoyed reading my Top 50 Played Video Games list and if this is the first page you've read be sure to check out the rest of the list.