As this is the 100th post on this site, I’m taking this opportunity to break out of that “professional” shell to share some of my favorite games with the readers, and what better way to do that than with a generic list format.

I’m keeping this to a maximum of five titles/series per list; this allows me to focus on which games are truly my favorites of each section. I actually found this to be quite difficult, as many of the following titles/series bleed into several different categories. Despite the breakdown of each category, I still ended up with a lenghty sum of games; that said, I’m breaking this up into several posts:

FPS

Serious Sam (The Series)

The Serious Sam series takes no prisoners with its balls-to-the-wall intensity, throwing hoards upon hoards of enemies at the player without remorse. There’s no cover-system, no assisting AI to hold the player’s hand- it’s a FPS purely focused on testing player-skill. This was the series that initially introduced me into the world of PC gaming, as well as first-person-shooters.

Battlefield (The Series)

When you talk about military-based FPS games with people, the conversation will at some point become “Call of Duty VS Battlefield“; personally, I’m enlisted with the latter. Battlefield prides itself on realism, co-operative multi-player and amazing levels of destruction- EA and DICE have even created new words to describe the vast amounts of destruction in the upcoming Battlefield 4.

Wrack

“Wrack: The Most Fun I’ve Had From a Game No One Knows Exists”. Wrack is an Indie call-back to early DOS/PC shooters, but with modern flair. Remember when FPS games were fast-paced, held “secrets” for the player to find, had unique weapon variations outside of stock military guns, and weren’t littered with quick-time events that mar the pacing of gameplay? No? Play Wrack.

Crysis (The Series)

“But can it run Crysis?” The original Crysis released in 2007; only those with exceptional, DIY PC’s were capable of playing it. Six years later, this series stands as a benchmark for measuring the performance of computers. The impending release of Crysis 3 was one of the defining reasons for me building my own desktop PC.

Borderlands 2

Borderlands blended the action of FPS’s with stat-building and exploration of RPG’s, and the result was a pretty entertaining- albeit slow- title that inadvertently created a new sub-genre of shooters. Borderlands 2 is the perfected version, adding new vehicles, more weapons to the already Guinness-worthy amount, a refined story, and more characters that make the world of Pandora a less-savage planet. Also, Co-Op.

Fighting

Guilty Gear (The Series)

Bombastic, loud and flashy, the Guilty Gear series flourished my love for hand-drawn sprites in fighting games. Guilty Gear has a wild attitude that permeates through its rock-and-roll soundtrack and metal-influenced character designs.

Persona 4 Arena

When I saw the debut trailer for Persona 4 Arena, I couldn’t comprehend what I was watching; JRPG Persona…as a fighting game….It didn’t seem logical, if at all real. Needless to say, Persona 4 Arena is real, and it became one of my favorite breakout titles of 2012.

Divekick

Divekick is a glorious parody game based completely off the most overused tactic in fighting games- the overhead dive-kick. While the premise may be stupid to some, as the only attack is a dive-kick, this was one of my favorite surprises of the year so far.

Dead or Alive (The Series)

…I don’t play these games strictly because of the women; there’s already other voyeuristic titles for that. Dead or Alive features a deep system of mechanics delivered at a blistering pace; it’s balanced for both competitive and casual play, and it’s one of the few technical fighting games that won’t unfairly slaughter new players.

Skullgirls

Back to my love for hand-drawn fighting games, Skullgirls is the brainchild of competitive player Mike Z. and artist Alex Ahad…and a few other people from Lab Zero Games. I typically describe Skullgirls to people as “a beautiful, hand-drawn fighting game that plays like a balanced, unbroken version of Marvel VS Capcom 2.” Skullgirls is a fantastic game on its own, but it could also be a tutorial-in-disguise for those who want to play Marvel VS Capcom 2-3; Skullgirls features 3-on-3 fighting, complete with assists and wild super-combos. The core gameplay is geared towards competitive players, but an extremely robust Tutorial mode offers new players the opportunity to understand and master pro-level tactics, including super-cancels and breaking loop-combos. The only hindrance is the small roster of characters; there’s currently 10 playable characters, with 4 more DLC characters in development, courtesy of Lab Zero’s successful Indie Go Go campaign.

Racing

Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2

This was a hard one: One of my first racing games that featured cars (i.e. not MarioKart) was Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit on PC- I still have the jewel-case and manual. However, it’s a title that hasn’t aged very well; car physics feel very heavy, and the dated graphics rear their ugly heads with track environments. Hot Pursuit 2 however, still holds up pretty well with today’s standards….and it holds up much better than some of the current titles in the NFS series.

MarioKart 64

Simply put…Rainbow Road, Toad’s Turnpike, Wario Stadium. Next.

The Futuristic Game With The Vehicles In It (The Series)

Ok, I’m bending the rules with this one, as “The Futuristic Game With The Vehicles In It” covers F-Zero, Extreme G, Jet Moto and WipeOut. These series are awesome, and depending on what console you have, or what manufacture allegiance you’ve sided with, you’ve probably played one of these at some point. These were the series that defined combat-racing.

San Fransico Rush: Extreme Racing

…..You have no idea how many times I’ve died trying to reach that illustrious half-pipe.

Split/Second

Split/Second is also filed under my “Games That Need Sequels” file. One of the most intense racing experiences I’ve had, Split/Second pits racers against each other on tracks that have explosive traps and hazards, rigged to explode at the racers’ will. Also, it’s from Disney.

2D Platformer

Mega Man X

Mega Man X holds a soft spot in my chest, as it’s the first game that I purchased with my own money….Allowance is close enough. I’d explain the other reasons why this is one of my favorite platformers, but Egoraptor already beat me to the punch-line.

Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country is an interesting specimen among my video-game library; I helped my mom beat it. Reread that last section. DKC has a visual aesthetic that still blows my mind to this day. For a side-scrolling platformer, this is a game that is overflowing with secrets, some of which I still have not found.

BloodRayne Betrayal

I wasn’t a huge fan of the BloodRayne series, probably because I was too young to play them when the first games were released; the first one that I ended up with was BloodRayne 2……Then I downloaded BloodRayne Betrayal from WayForward, and any lingering stains were wiped clean from the slate. Betrayal is an excellent spin-off title, and for those who like a challenge, this features some of the most difficult platforming segments of recent history.

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge

If it wasn’t passively mentioned in an episode of Game Grumps, I probably wouldn’t have heard of Shantae until the Kickstarter from last week. Shantae: Risky’s Revenge was one of the first digital titles that I downloaded on my 3DS, and it’s probably one of the best platformers on the handheld. Risky’s Revenge offers a vast world for players to explore, and plenty of secrets to discover. It borrows heavily from the “Metroidvania” sub-genre, with plenty of backtracking and alternate areas that can only be unlocked after obtaining certain upgrades.

Toy Story

I’m not willing to put money on it, but I believe Toy Story was one of the first non-educational PC games that I played. Long before what I like to call the “License Curse”, video game adaptations of films were actually enjoyable, and playable. Toy Story is a fun platformer that recreates the world of the Pixar classic, without taking too many abstract liberties; every memorable element from the film has a dedicated level, from escaping the Claw Machine to the RC Car chase.