Top 10 Games of All Time

Honorable Mentions: Soul Caliber (Dreamcast), Fallout 3 (360), The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask (N64)

10: No Mercy (N64)

Now I realise that this game isn't going to appeal to everyone. But hey, that's your loss, yes yours...Adrian. (Sorry) For those of us who are fans of the controlled chaos that is pro wrestling, No Mercy is STILL its finest exploration into the world of computer games. Yes, the graphics are well and truly outdated, but it is the only game on N64 that I still play regularly. It has the tightest controls of any wrestling game ever, EVER. It has multiple back stage areas that can be accessed at any time in a match, it has a roster that you can edit practically from the ground up and it has the easiest, and yet still quite robust create a wrestlers ever.

9: Oblivion (PC)

Awful truth time. Oblivion is actually on my pile of shame. Not my, 'I own but have never played' pile (Hi Beyond Good and Evil), it's on my 'never finished even though I should have' pile. Not since ..#1 on this list, has a game so perfectly captured, a world. In Oblivion, more so than any other game, is the feeling of freedom ever present. Once you leave the sewers the entire kingdom is open before you. Will you go visit one of the main villages? Will you go and become a fighter in the arena? Look for the fabled thieves guild? Join the Dark Brotherhood?Become a mage? Or will you wander the country side helping out where you can, like the village that is turned invisible, the painter stuck in their painting. The vampire hunter who seems a little too good at finding vampires. The side quests and little details are what make this game. Even a dungeon that may not be part of a quest still has its own story. Like the one you encounter early on, that has bandits camped out in it. You read their journal about how two of their number went missing. Then the complaints about what sounded like people clawing against stone. Eventually you discover the bandits were not the only ones using that forgotten mine as a home.It is stories like this that make you want to delve deeper and deeper into this world.

8: Half Life (PC)

Half Life was brilliant. What made it stand out, to me, at the time, was that all of the 'cut scenes' were done in game. It never took control away from you, it never forced you to watch what was happening (although it was almost impossible not to, you literally would have had to stare at the floor) and it presented everything to you, as if you were Gordon Freeman, an approach which I had never seen before. Running through Black Mesa, escaping from the military. It provided a gripping experience. The ending really detracted from the game though. For the entire game it's is set in 'reality', yes aliens show up, but it makes sense in the story. Then you go to their home world and fight the big bad. It breaks the pace, the setting and the flow of the game. Still definitely a must play.

As for its sequel. Well, it was a great display of what the engine could do. I just wish they had included things like, coherent game play, or y'know A STORY.

7: Civilization II (PC)

If ever a game deserved the title of 'time sink', this is it. I could start a game in the afternoon, then around dinner I would think, 'going to have to wrap this up soon', then after a few 'one more goes', bang, its midnight and I'm still playing. Just thinking about how good this game is makes me want to install it again. Building up a nation, betraying your neighbors, using tanks to crush chariots, this game had it all.

6: Goldeneye (N64)

What more can really be said. It was the shooter that redefined shooters. With objectives more detailed than pick up the red key to open the red door, it forced players to think like bond. If you went in and just blew everything up, more than likely you were going to fail at least one of the objectives. I have probably played the facility level, oh 250 times. I loved it.

There was also the fantastic multiplayer. Everyone has fond memories of this. For me personally it was forming quick alliances with one friend, that would last as long as it took for us as a 'team' to become the leaders, then it was a race to see who could backstab who the fastest. This happened damn near every game, and it was great.

It was all these things that made Goldeneye great, but it was all that and more. Who could forget the cheats you would unlock? DK Mode, paint ball mode, super speed. Such little touches that mixed things up enough to keep it fresh. It's an idea rarely used well in games now day's. Which is disappointing.

5: Super Mario World (SNES)

This is the game that turned me on to console gaming. I have memories of getting this with the SNES on christmas one year. My brother and I played this game to death. We never 100% completed it, I dont think we ever finished the star worlds (The ones with the cool names like 'tubular'), and I'm pretty sure we took a shortcut to Bowsers castle. This game was the pinnacle of easy to play, hard to master. Anyone could pick up the controller and make Mario run and jump, but to get him to bounce of a flying tutle, off a goomba onto Yoshi, that took skill.

4: Halo Series (XBox, X Box 360)

I was slow off the mark getting into this console generation. Both the XBox and PS2 had been out for a while before I dipped my tow into the waters of, at the time, 'next gen' consoles, and I'm sorry I waited so long. I had heard good things about Halo, but was not prepared for just how good it was/is. I played it again and again, trying different strategies, replaying my favorite set pieces, each time it was a blast. Then there was the multi player. My friend and I would spend hours mixing and matching, our favorite being a modified race. Then Halo 2 hit. I was there at midnight, with the same friend. We went back to my house and jumped online. Since Australia was one of the first people to get it, and the rankings had only kicked off at midnight our time, for a few hours there I was the #14 ranked Halo 2 player in the world. The story was a bit of a let down. It didn't feel like Halo 1, which was my primary problem with it. I know many complain about the ending, but I really don't mind it, since around the time this came out LOTR had just come out, which ended on a similarly abrupt ending, so I was use to it.

Then there was Halo 3. Again there at midnight, by myself this time, and with the pressures of the real world (meaning I couldn't stay up all night and play it). From the opening level, I was hooked all over again. This, in my opinion was Halo's finest hour. A fantastic story, great writing (Its one of the few games that I can, and do, quote ("We will bang the prophets shields like a drum", "I'm a thier...but I keep what I steal", "You know me, when I make a promise" "You..keep..it."). Fantastic multiplayer, that I still play, as in the day I wrote this article I had just finished playing it. It captured, what I feel, was the feeling of Halo perfectly. Playing it co-op on Legendary, with a different friend was also a blast. Trying so many different ways to get past certain areas, so much fun.

3: Bioshock (X Box 360)

So far the 'next generation' of consoles has produced some damn fine games. Assassins Creed, GTAIV, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Uncharted (Or so I've heard). But standing head and shoulders over all of them is the Big Daddy of this generation, Bioshock. Easily the best story in any game I have ever played. What sets this game apart, is not just its story, not just its in engine 'cut scenes' (which I mentioned in Half Life), what set this game apart was its atmosphere. From the very moment you lay eyes on Rapture, you know that it is unlike anything you have ever seen. From the art deco style, the windows out into the ocean, the splash of steampunk. Everything about this game screams individual. No where else do you get quite the same feeling. My favorite bit. You walk into a basement partially submerged with a cupboard in the corner. As you approach you hear splashing behind you. Turning to look there now appears a statue at the bottom of the stairs, one that you are sure was not there when you entered. Turning back you take a few more steps, more splashing, another statue. This happens a third time till you make it to the cupboard. You retrieve the ammo and health and head back. Just as you are getting close enough to examine the statues they burst into life. The suspense it creates is amazing.

2: The Secret of Monkey Island (PC)

Growing up, this was probably the most influential game I played. I remember playing this and Kings Quest 5. Those two games were the first I really remember having a story and characters that I cared about. Before that I had only played games on the Atari, which had minimal plot and no characters what so ever, you were simply chasing a high score. Money Island changed all that for me. It's mix of writing, creative problem solving and humor made me see just how fun games could be.

1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarnia of Time (N64)

While it might seem like an obvious choice, its the right one. This is the single greatest gaming experience I have ever had. It told a functional story, but more than that, it pulled you into it's world. You could race your horse, go fishing, explore the country side, or the mountains, or the villages. It had so many things to do, to only stick to the story would be to do yourself a disservice. I remember playing this in high school over one summer break. I remember doing everything possible. I got the master sword, I got all the bottles (5 from memory), I caught the special fish, got all the Skulltula's. Did it all, and loved every minute of it.