The latest thing doing the rounds of Twitter this morning is a good bit of fun: people are talking about their five favourite games of all time.
It’s always fun to see what strikes a chord amongst different people, especially there’s always one or two surprises here or there that leave a mark. Some are obvious: Mark loves Dark Souls. Amanda really loves Rollercoaster Tycoon, which makes sense for someone who tried as hard as they could to murder people in Planet Coaster.
For myself, Counter-Strike is a given. But Uncharted 2 is still comfortably in my top five – top three, really – games of all time, even though I’m not a huge fan of the rest of the series so far. I always took UC2 as the kind of flick that Indiana Jones: Legend of the Crystal Skull should have been, and I’ll always have a special place in my heart for StarCraft. Even though my wrists won’t feel the same way.
Cam and Hayley both loved Dead Space, and Knights of the Old Republic got mentioned a few times as well. Gizmodo’s Rae brought up Daytona USA – arcade edition only, of course – while Tegan couldn’t go past Age of Empires and, for true nostalgia, Alex Kidd in Miracle World.
Those weren’t the only games everyone mentioned, of course, but I’m sure there’s a few favourites for readers above. But what about yourself? What are your five favourite games of all time?
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84 responses to “What Are Your Five Favourite Games Of All Time?”
Mine change from time to time, but I’ve managed to nail it down to a few that are in no order.
Dues Ex Human Revolution
Metal Gear Solid
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts
Resident Evil 4
I understand some people will complain about the lack of early era games, but Super Mario Bros. 3, Knight of the Old Republic, Donkey Kong County 2 and Super Metroid don’t sit in my top 5. Plus then games like Spider-Man 2 and Pokemon Red/Blue are close to my heart also.
But the five I listed are games I can sit back and play endlessly.
You’re the first person I’ve ever heard even compliment Nuts & Bolts, let alone say it’s top 5.
What about it makes it so good may I ask? ( I hardly played any Banjo games but friends of mine condemn Nuts & Bolts for killing Banjo )
I love LEGO and this for me came way before Minecraft. So mixing parts and creating vehicles to take on races and tasks was just a dream come true. The visuals, and gameplay are utterly brilliant. And the music is amazing. I understand people wanted something similar to the original two games, but this was just a change I needed at just the right time.
On top of that, the fact the levels are created worlds where you actually see ‘behind the scenes’ was fun. It felt like a return to classic rare humour.
1. Link to the Past – SNES
2. Final Fantasy 7 – PS
3. World of Warcraft – PC
4. Super Mario Kart – SNES
5. Baldur’s Gate – PC
Baldur’s Gate, yes!
Baldur’s Gate is always the right answer.
Galaga (Arcade)
Wizball (C64)
World of Warcraft (PC)
Pirates! (C64)
Red Dead Redemption (PS3)
The Dig (PC)
Mass Effect 2 (360)
Sleeping Dogs (360/XBOne)
Space Quest III (PC)
Halo: Reach (360)
My top 5 is pretty fluid but these are the games that sprung to mind as games I really loved playing:
Final Fantasy 7 – PS
Baldur’s Gate – PC
Super Metroid – SNES
Resident Evil – PS
Dark Sun – Shattered Lands – PC
Hmm, that’s a tough one as I really like a lot of games. I’d have to say:
1. Breath of Fire III
2. Final Fantasy 7
3. Suikoden 2
4. Alundra
5. King of Fighters (as a series)
Honourable mentions go to:
Salt and Sactuary
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
Devil May Cry series (Except 2 and DMC)
Been gaming for a very long time so it’s difficult to narrow down to five, but these are the most memorable for various reasons:
Pitfall II – Commodore 64
Wonder Boy in Monster Land – Master System
Street Fighter II – Arcade /SNES
Metal Gear Solid – PlayStation
Horizon Zero Dawn – PlayStation 4
In no particular order
Dungeon Keeper
Warcraft III
Portal
Stuntman
Tony Hawk Pro Skater
In terms of a complicated, black box time/enjoyment formula:
1. Red Alert 2
2. Homeworld 2 w/ mods
3. Medieval 2: Total War w/ mods
4. All the NDS Castlevanias
5. X-Wing Alliance
Ocarina of Time
Mega Man X
Secret of Mana
Resident Evil (GC remake)
Perfect Dark
I was actually surprised how Super Nintendo-centric my top games are. They definitely left an impact on me.
1. Super Metroid
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Pokemon Gold/Silver
5. Super Mario RPG
I love questions like this, you get so many nostalgia pangs reading everyone’s list and see titles you thought you’d forgotten.
Some of these responses are getting reinstalled or played this weekend for sure.
Mine changes but these 5 keeps coming up in my mind. They aren’t perfect but you can’t argue they are some of the best games ever made:
Zelda – Ocarina of Time (N64)
The Last of Us (PS3)
Final Fantasy VI (GBA)
Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
GTA: San Andreas (Xbox)
Another 5 worth mentioning:
Goldeneye 007 (N64)
Horizons: Zero Dawn (PS4)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
PoP: Sands of Time (Xbox)
Tough one for sure… Of all time? Not sure I could do just 5 over all platforms from my whole life. Most likely I’d think of something later that I’d prefer to add that I can’t think of right now or something. Then there’s stuff like Link to the Past and Super Mario World, Super Metroid etc., which will always be favs, but kind of need to be on their own as like elite classics or something.
Think I’ll stick to PC for now as that’s what I play the most.
So.. no order cos I couldn’t possible rank them against each other….
Gothic 2
Industry Giant 2
Europa 1400 (aka The Guild)
Quake Series (can’t split, cos each has been just as good during it’s generation)
Might and Magic series (including Heroes) (again, can’t split cos they’ve all been great)
Interesting you have the Quake series in your list. My opinion:
Quake – technically impressive but the single player was so boring. Loved MP though!
Quake II – Loved SP but never got the chance to play MP.
QIIIA – Loved it until I played Unreal Tournament and never went back.
Quake 4 – Didn’t like it at all.
Quake Live – It was OK. Hated how they nerfed the rail gun.
I signed up to Quake Champions but haven’t had the time to download 11GB, plus my laptop won’t be able to handle it unless I turn down the settings 🙁
TBH, I’d forgotten about Q4! Tried to block that from my mind I guess 😉 I didn’t really enjoy it, but it wasn’t the multiplayer beast people wanted it to be, so that could be why.
I enjoyed quake 1 single player myself, and while it was possibly a bit on the dull side, it was still damn impressive for its time. Back in those days I could only really play multi on rare occasions, as I didn’t really have the right kit for lan gaming at home til a couple of years after it came out.
With Q2, I enjoyed single too, but multi was where it was mostly at for me in those days. Decent enough internet for online play by that stage, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours I must have put in to playing stuff like Rocket Arena 2 and Lithium!
Q3 was just amazeballs. I also played a lot of UT, but I probably played more quake as more friends had it than had UT. Live.. well… it’s still just q3, so I kind of consider them the same thing (despite the minor differences as you mentioned)
Champions is great though! I’ve been playing since the second round of the closed beta, and it’s as fun as Q3 was back in the day! If you miss that old school online shooter feel, definitely give it a go, cos it’s great fun! 🙂
Oh, and without knowing your pc specs, I can’t say how well it will perform, but the minimum requirements are quite low considering. Intel Core 2 Quad 6600, or AMD Phenom II X4-945, 4gb ram and nvidia 660 or amd r9 280x.
Even recommended is only like i5 2400 or AMD A1-7870K, 8gb ram, and nvidia 970 or AMD R9 390X 4GB. If you’re anywhere between those specs, you shouldn’t have too many problems with it. (I assume those recommended settings are based around 1080p gameplay at high settings)
I’ve got a 930m which is WAY lower than the minimum spec.
However Overwatch runs fine on it with low textures. I might have to give Quake Champions a try then!
I’ve always preferred the “lone wolf” MP games than the crappy team based ones like Overwatch or Counter Strike. If I lose it’s because of me and not because some idiot team mate 🙂
Yep same here. Not a fan of having to rely on team mates unless it’s at a LAN with close friends. Especially if they’re class based too… bleah! Classes of characters belongs in RPG’s, not shooters!
Just as a bit more encouragement, I’m not 100% familiar with the specs of the 930m, (though I can’t imagine it’s too supreme) but I started playing Champions on my old system (i7-920 and GTX960) and I could get playable (though not great) framerates at 2160p with all settings maxed. I played mostly in 1440p just for the extra smoothness, but I reckon you should do ok with mid-high settings if you’re only running 1080p.
TBH I reckon I’ll have to play on 720p with low to mid range textures!
Ugh, that’s a tight list…
Metal Gear Solid
Quake 3
Deus Ex
The Elder Scrolls 3
Privateer
…Maybe but there so much I could change out there
The Witcher 3
Chrono Trigger
Tekken 3
Unreal Tournament
Wing Commander 3
Or Maybe…
Final Fantasy 8
Diablo 2
Starcraft
Total Annihilation
KOTOR
That number is too small.
Privateer!!
Clive Owen at his very best and damn the naysayers!!
…thinking about it he may have only appeared in P2…
Yeah that was P2, also had John Hurt and Christopher Walken.
Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd
Mass Effect 3
Persona 4 Golden
Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky FC
Borderlands 2
Ocarina of Time (with the gold cartridge on N64, first console i bought myself)
Final Fantasy 7 (was lost in that for months and months)
Harvest Moon (No idea why… maybe i subconsciously wanted to be a farmer)
Final Fantasy X (had a crush on Yuna although couldn’t finish it until the PS3 re release)
Perfect Dark (my first shooter)
I realise that besides harvest moon i was always lost in the stories and that was what i loved about them.
The Last of Us
Uncharted 2
Oblivion
Final Fantasy VII
Elite
Crap. Forgot about the last of us…
hard to pick off the top of my head right now
baldurs gate 2
world of warcraft
diablo
alex kidd in miracle world
time crisis
honorable mentions to breath of the wild, castlevania, obilivion, twisted metal world tour 2, roller coaster tycoon 2, doom 1 and 2
Elite: Dangerous (PC)
The Dig (PC and everything else via SCUMM VM and where’s the remaster dammit there’s only an HD concept trailer and waaaaaaaaaaaa))
Gran Turismo (Playstation)
Far Cry (PC)
Journey (PS3/PS4)
Super Mario Kart
NBA Jam TE
GTA Vice City
Scorched Earth
Age of Empires 2
In no particular order off the top of my head:
Flashback – first game that really got me sucked into a fictional world
Gone Home – game that I had the strongest strongest emotional to (runner up would be Beginners Guide)
Timesplitters 2 – Shooter I can sink the most hours into
Silent Hill 2 – Game that scared me without relying on shocking me
Persona 4: Golden – The only JRPG I’ve been able to get through (well, I’ve since finished P3P)
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco: The Tides of Time
Final Fantasy IX
Ib
JuJu Densetsu (Toki: Going Ape Spit)
hahah Toki is one of my fav arcade games 🙂 So good!
Baldur’s Gate 2
Mass Effect
Fallout New Vegas
Skyrim
Witcher 3
All RPGs eh. Almost went that way myself…
Half Life 2 (PC)
Rock Band 3 (360)
WWF No Mercy (N64)
GTA Vice City (PC)
Micro Machines 96 (Mega Drive)
Honorable mentions:
The Last of Us (PS3)
Quake (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)
Legend of Zelda: BoTW (Switch)
In no particular order
Baten kaitos: eternal wings and the lost ocean(gcn)
Metroid prime (gcn)
Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi outcast
(Pc/gcn)
Banjo tooie (n64)
Uncharted series (ps3. 2 is probably my fav, but I love them all so much I couldn’t split them).
Honerable mention:
Oracle of seasons/ages (gbc)
The last of us (ps3)
Sunset overdrive (xbone)
The Legend of Zelda: Links Crossbow training
Quake 4
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 5
Metroid Prime: Federation Force
But Link’s Crossbow Training is really fun!
Tony Hawk PS1
Metal Slug Arcade
Golden Eye N64
Guitar Hero Xbox 360
Call of Duty All of them
Games are all about having fun with friends for me
Vagrant Story
I’ll get back to you on the other four.
Vagrant Story – absolutely! Love that game. The music, characters, setting & dialog all add to an unforgettable experience.
For me, I’d add the below:
Alpha Centauri
Jagged Alliance 2
Age of Wonders 3
Civilization 6
This needs a remake or updated release!!!
Such a ripping game with a great mechanic
The Last of Us
Chronotrigger
LoZ Link’s Awakening
Donkey Kong Country 2
World of Warcraft
There were others but that covers probably most bases
Put a list together based on the pretty solid metric of playtime:
Halo
Fallout 4
Battlefield 4
GoldenEye
World of Warcraft
MOO 2
Kerbal Space Program
Tie fighter
Civilization 1, 2, 5 & 6
Doom 2
Mine would be
Transport Tycoon
Civilization IV
Europa Universalis IV
Civilization: Colonization
Megaman Battle Network (series)
Close runner up would be
Tropico 4
Homeworld 2
Baldur’s Gate II
Final Fantasy VI
Little Big Adventure 2 (Twinsen’s Odyssey)
LoZ: Breath of the Wild
Overwatch
1. The Marathon Trilogy
2. Warcraft 2
3.Command and Conquer Tiberium Dawn
4. The Witcher 2 and 3
5. WoW
Frog blast the vent core.
Eat it Vidboi!
1) Mario 64
2) The Last of Us
3) Wave Race 64
4) F-Zero X
5) Halo
1. Mechwarrior 2
2. Final Fantasy IX
3. Stalker Clear Sky
4. Diablo 1
5. Gpolice
Worth noting how long it took to decide whether FF Tactics and Diablo 2 should be traded in.
Just did this over on OzBargain forums!
1. Metroid Prime (GCN)
2. Dark Souls 1 (PC)
3. Battlefield 3 (PC)
4. Pretty much any Bethesda RPG (PC)
5. Pokemon Sapphire/Ruby (GBA) OR Halo 3 (360)
They’re the games I’ve enjoyed most, even if I wouldn’t enjoy some them as much nowadays (I’m looking at you, Pokemon). There are also plenty of objectively better games that I haven’t enjoyed as much.
The Witcher 3
Persona 4
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Mass Effect 2 misses out on the top five by the absolute slimmest of margins.
1. Metal Gear Solid 4
2. Demon Souls
3. FFVII
4. Xenoblade Chronicles
5. Monster Hunter Tri
Honourable Mentions
1. Dark Souls
2. Final XIII-2
3. Metal Gesr 3
4. Eve Online
5. World Ends with You
Rocket league
Just cause 2
Skyrim
Return to castle wolfenstein
Duke nukem 3d
I had a few lists of 5 typed out, based on different criteria, but I was able to narrow it down.
As a teenager with a whole lot of spare time, I tipped (probably) over a thousand hours into each of Age of Empires 2, Diablo 2 and Counter-strike. They remain as shining examplesof their genres, so that’s an easy 3. The remaining two are more difficult – I had many hours of fun in Fallout: New Vegas and in Skyrim, but I think they’re simply two very good examples of open world adventure games. Deus Ex has not aged well, but is so memorable that, from a design perspective it has to make the list. The last one? Mass Effect 2, an amazing mix of ambition and restraint – what it did, it did spectacularly well.
TL;DR
Age of Empires 2 (plus, of course, The Conquerors expansion)
Counter-strike
Deus Ex
Diablo 2 (and, again, Lord of Destruction expansion)
Mass Effect 2
Wow, hardest question ever, but I’ll give it a crack!
1. Civilization. Every Civ since is better, but this is the one that I spent the most time with. Great memories.
2. Zelda: A Link to the past. Again, I’d say Ocarina of Time was marginally better, but Link to the past pips it for nostalgia reasons. I can vividly remember the day I bought this game and studied the manual religiously all day long until I got home to play it.
3. Mario Kart SNES. Brilliant.
4. Super Mario World. I was living overseas at the time, and as a kid living in a foreign country where I couldn’t speak the language, I spent days upon days going in to a local retailer to play this game.
5. World of Warcraft. Spent a fair chunk of my early adult life in this game. Don’t regret a second!
How good was the manual in LttP @psylar?
Did exactly the same thing when we bought our copy, the only other time I’ve poured hours upon hours over a manual was Warcraft 2. Chris Metzen’s artwork blew my mind.
… they really need to bring back the good ol’ manuals – especially in those sparse Switch cases. Nothing beat heading home with your head buried deep in a game manual building the anticipation.
Starcraft: Brood War
Final Fantasy VII
Metal Gear Solid
World of Warcraft
Uncharted 2
Changes day to day so today is;
-Witcher:Wild Hunt
-Bioshock
-Mortal Kombat(Arcade)
-Resident Evil 4
-Oddworld:Abe’s Oddysee
Ask tomorrow for different list please
Tough call! I’m gonna go with the most played and enjoyed rather than the ‘best’. In no particular order.
– Pool of Radiance (PC)
– Fallout (PC)
– Morrowind (PC)
– Elite (Apple IIE)
– GTA 3 (PS2)
Nice to see some Pool of Radiance love!
Tie-Fighter
Police Quest
Hero’s Quest
Duke 3D
Doom 2
plus
Kotor
Last Ninja 2
Street Fighter 2
Monkey Island
Witcher 3
That’s a very tough call. I can definitely think of a few though, in no particular order.
– Baldur’s Gate
– Battlefield 2
– Dark Souls 3
– Age of Mythology
– Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Edited: I forgot about the Dark Souls series haha
MGS3
FF7
Mass Effect 2
Batman: Arkham City
Bioshock
Honourable mentions: The Witness, Witcher 3, GTA:VC/SA, Bioshock Infinite, Chrono Trigger
Deus Ex
Mass Effect 2
Knights of the Old Republic
Age of Empires 2
The Witcher 3
For me:
1. Final Fantasy 6 – ps1
2. Starcraft – pc
3. Tie Fighter (best star wars space shooter ever) – pc
4. Gunstar Heroes – sega genesis
5. Baldurs Gate
River Raid (Atari 2600)
Mario Kart (SNES) – The staple party game for many years, even when MK64 came out
Zelda – A Link to the Past (SNES) – Me and a mate missed an entire summer playing this.
Resident Evil 4 (GC) – Seriously I would be so intrigued that I would play until 5am and think “Shite – I have to get up for work in 2 hours.
Empire Earth 2 (PC) – It started my love of RTS.
Finally getting around to playing The Witcher 3 and I am constantly astounded by how good the game is. Probably about 50 hours thru and I still cant wait to play to find out what happens next.
Other Mentions: KOTOR 1&2; Fable; Mass Effect 1,2, Andromeda; Star Wars Battlefront; Any Forza Motorsport game (not the Horizon series)
In No Order
Red baron (Amiga)
Total war Empire/Medieval/Rome
Bioshock Series
Red Dead Redemption
Close Combat series
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Uncharted 2
LoZ Twilight Princess (closely being overtaken with BotW)
Okami
Special mentions:
The Last of Us
Folklore
Heavenly Sword
Baldur’s Gate
In no particular order;
Bioshock
Persona 5
Bloodborne
Forza Horizon 2
Overwatch
I’m happy to say my list is odd, I prefer games that do something well, even if some of the rest of the game might preclude it from being genuinely ‘great’.
Warzone 2100 – large scale RTS that was a precursor to many of Supreme Commanders systems, but did it much more simply. The game had a very streamlined set of order and order devolution, that along with simplified resource management, let you focus on the task at hand. Its sensor\battery\counter-battery system of artillery in particular was well done.
This is still available as a continuously updated game (thanks Pumpkin\Eidos\whoever for donating the source to the community) with modern support from http://wz2100.net
The Opera – a Half-Life mod which was essentially a playable Hong Kong Blood Opera (hence the name) and inspired much of The Specialists mod. Points were scored on style and skill of kills rather than the act of death itself. Think akimbo beretta’s whilst diving down a set of stairs and pulling off a headshot.
Resident Evil 3 – it streamlined the OG Resident Evil formula, whilst still keeping the tension up with Nemesis, who would chase and ambush you throughout the game. Whilst Nemi’s patterns were learned by the second or third playthru, it stands as a highpoint of the OG tank control (i.e. pre RE4) series IMO.
Battlezone 2 – again the simplification of its order and resource system did wonders for the BZ sequel. Easily playable as either a straight commander or as a pilot in a hover tank, and the modding community has kept it fresh.
Syndicate (Reboot) – this is going to be a controversial one, but under its kinda tacky exterior leaves a game that oozes kinetic style. You genuinely feel like a cyborg badass, and one of the earliest ‘parkour like’ movement systems gave weight to your movement. A criminally underated (and fun) coop mode also came with the game.
No particular order
1 – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
2 – Mother/EarthBound Beginnings (FC)
3 – Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble (SNES)
4 – The Binding of Isaac (PC)
5 – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (GB)
just off the top of my head. 5 is way too few.
The Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past
Halo 3
Skyrim
Red Dead Redemption
Mortal Kombat 2
Hotline Miami
The Last of Us
STALKER – Shadow of Chenobyl
Resident Evil 4
Dayz (original mod)
Witcher 3
Portal
Mass Effect 2
Furi
Dota 2