The MoFo Top Video Games List: The Countdown!

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I've not played Demon's Souls, or any of the Dark Souls games. I feel like I probably should, but I don't think I have the patience for it.

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Ditto. I'm wary, as games often raise my blood pressure beyond comfort levels. I love the look of Dark Souls though. I'll give them a go sooner than later.

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Dark Souls is another game that carries historic weight for me, but didn't make my personal list.

In a weird way it reminds me of ole Super Mario Bros. You learn the pattern of the stage through trial and error, then you progress. From time to time you find little hidden access points to reveal shortcuts through the level should you get killed and have to start over. Like the sewer pipes!!


Weird fun game.

I had Dark Souls at the top of my list!

I love reading, I love intricate stories, and so this was perfect. Having to piece the story together is incredible, and doing so changes the perspective on everything and everyone considerably. It's difficult as hell too and I think it made me a masochist

NOW WE ARE TALKING! Deus Ex was my number 3!

As someone who made the plunge into the first person shooter waters with the original Shadow Warrior for the PC, I spent many an hour shooting the crap out of baddies ranging from demons, aliens, nazis, neo nazis, nazi demons, and aliens that looked demonic (it was the 90's). And as such I played LOTS of first person shooters for the PC and eventually on console as well. Several of which were on my list that will not make it. Namely my number 24 Quake 2 and my number 17 Soldier of Fortune. With many others not making my list like Shadow Warrior, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Wolfenstein 3D, and the first two Doom titles (one at least showed up).

But those games get BLOWN out of the water by Deus Ex. A product of the game developer Ion Storm Austin being broken into three teams with VERY different ideas on what the game should be. On one hand was the team that want to make the best computer FPS, the other team wanted to make an RPG, and the final team wanted to continue the path paved by Thief: The Dark Project (another great game) ala a Cyber Punk stealth game. Warren Specter found a way to marry the three paths into one game. AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!

The game plays like a first person shooter at first glance of the game play mechanics, but below that was additional game play features. You had an inventory system, skills to level, bio-mods that allowed you to choose what kind of a character you want to play as, and a damn fine stealth system. And that is on top of the plentiful choices of firearms to choose from.

Speaking of which among my favorite weapons were the Assault Shotgun, Assault Rifle and the Mini Crossbow. The very first major choice you make in the game is what is your issued weapon aside from your right prod and 10mm pistol. You had the choice between a 30-06 Sniper Rifle, a GEP Gun (a rocket launcher), or the stealthy mini crossbow with the capacity to shoot tranquilizer darts as well as lethal ones. As someone who played many times while I initially favored the sniper rifle or the occasional GEP Gun upon replay, towards the end of the umpteen times I replayed this game I favored the mini crossbow. Because I wanted a non-lethal play of the first mission so as not to piss of my character's NPC brother.

Truth be told that is what made the game fun and allowed for so many replays. CHOICE! Some games I want to be the guns a blazing heavy weapon tank guy who blows s**t up. You want to be the stealthy sniper? Have at it. You want to find ways around targets by hacking and nonlethal options? You can do it! The options of play was completely up to you. Add in multiple endings, branching story paths, decisions that had consequences, and a story that blended every major conspiracy at that time into one lead to the creation of what I would consider one of the very best games ever made. A Gunslinger top ten rivaled only by my addiction to a certain Gameboy handheld title. More on that when it drops.

A game so good I played the PC and PS2 version just because I could.

3. Deus Ex (PC & PS2)
6. Super Mario World (SNES)
14. Mario 64 (N64)
17. Diablo 2 (PC)
23. Star Craft (PC)
25. Super Mario Brothers (NES)

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

Never played. Not a shock to see it though.

The top 15 is kinda tasty.

Portal was just ..excellent. It was hard to imagine how they could match it with a sequel, let alone top it. Seems they did though. GREAT games, both. Wonderful voice acting, humor, and scripting considering how minimal the game was.

I'm a little heart-broken that it wasn't higher

If it's tasty, then I'm afraid I won't like it

I had Portal 2 at #2 on my list, if you can believe that. And no, Portal isn't #1.

Part of this is down to the fact that rankings near the top were pretty difficult: you could rearrange my top five in any order and it wouldn't bother me too much. I could make good arguments for each of them.

Ultimately, I put Portal 2 as high as I did for a few reasons:

1) Degree of difficulty. Following up on such a beloved game is an incredibly difficult thing to do, particularly when the primary strength of the first game is that it's so lean.
They had to make it bigger without padding it, and add new things that felt like a natural extension of the core mechanic. And they did!

2) The ending. Man oh man. Creating a great ending in a puzzle game is ridiculous. Great puzzle games are based around that "aha!" moment. The satisfaction is in that moment of revelation, which is why the peak of most puzzle games comes before the end: because it's not as if you can introduce a new mechanic in the final minutes without slowing all narrative momentum. Somehow they manage to craft a final puzzle with a genuine "eureeka!" that you're still likely to solve without having to die and try again a dozen times. Absolutely incredible.

3) The back story. Really enjoyed the way they filled everything in. Without spoiling too much, the retro vibe around the middle of the game, and the way they had narrative reasons for the different sections of the game, was just delightful, and the setting gave you a feeling of (sometimes literally) digging up and uncovering the past. The areas had such a tremendous sense of scope and scale, too. It felt big. It all added up to feeling like you were doing puzzles for an actual reason, and not just to beat a puzzle game

Mainly, when trying to decide exactly where to put my favorite games, I just think back to how I felt when I was playing them and--perhaps just as importantly--how I felt between play sessions. With Portal 2, I had to pull myself away from it nearly every time (which is nuts for a puzzle game of any degree of difficulty, since getting stuck and wanting to clear your head is usually par for the course). And I was so anxious to get back and continue playing it afterwards. One of just a handful of games that genuinely made me lose track of time.

I have nothing against Mario. I just had no idea that there were so many games with him. I've heard of a couple of them, (mostly because they get mentioned on "The Big Bang Theory" every once in a while), but I think the only Mario game that I ever played was Donkey Kong. (But I have a little PVC figure of Mario on my desk. )

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

Super Mario World changed things for me. It was such an intense game that I would play daily....and I never owned an SNES. Hard, fun and a lot of memories.


Portal 2 is a modern classic. Great comedy, visuals, story and easy/complicated puzzles. The Free DLC didn't hurt either, which let me play online with some friends. Never played the first game, but instantly fell in love with this one.


7. Super Mario Kart (SNES)
8. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
9. Super Mario World (SNES)
10. Bioshock (X-Box/PS3)
11. Portal 2 (PS3)
17. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Sega)
20. Halo (X-Box)
24. Doom -1993 (PC)

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Yeah, Portal 2 is amazing.

Speaking of my handheld addiction...

Pokemon Red and Blue was my number 2. I was a full blown Pokemaniac when the game came out when I was in middle school, and I continued to be one up until I eventually stopped playing video games.

Going back to Deus Ex (and Morrowind for that matter) the hallmark of a great game is replay ability. Having a single path to travel is fine if it is done really well, but to replay a game with multiple possibilities is even better. It starts with choosing your starter sure, but the dozens of other options for your Poke party is what kept me coming back and replaying the game even after I caught all 150 Pokemon (151 with Mew and a Gameshark).

Not to mention it was just a lot of fun. A kid traveling the world catching badass looking creatures, raising and training them, and twarting the
crime syndicate Team Rocket. It is pure fantasy fulfillment for a middle schooler.

For my starter I picked Charmander the first time and the most often, and his final evolution Charizard was my favorite Pokemon of this gen though on other replays I would choose either Squrtile or Bulbasaur. Other favs include Arbok, Sandslash, Golem, Articuno, Rhydon and Rhyhorn, Raichu, Gyrados, Exeggutor, Arcanine, Jolteon, and Mewtwo. Though I played this game using a bunch of others too.

Now I did have another generation of Pokemon as my number 1, but we shall see if it shows or not.

2. Pokemon Red/Blue (Gameboy)
3. Deus Ex (PC & PS2)
6. Super Mario World (SNES)
14. Mario 64 (N64)
17. Diablo 2 (PC)
23. Star Craft (PC)
25. Super Mario Brothers (NES)

I didn't like Portal 2 quite as much as the first Portal, but they were both solid puzzle games, with a good dose of humour. They were very close to making my list, but didn't quite make the cut.

Despite the fact that I haven't cared about Pokemon in many, many years, I've actually continued to play the Pokemon games, including the most recent ones. They are solid RPGs with a nice variety of customizable party options. I'm one of those crazy people who keeps track of EV points and would catch/hatch dozens of Pokemon looking for the desired nature. None of the games made my list, however. If I were going to vote for a generation, it would probably be Gold/Silver.

Haven't played Dark Souls, Deus Ex or either Portal which is why i wasn't commenting.

Considered Pokemon but Gold/Silver/Crystal think that was the best of the four generations i played. Red/Blue/Yellow is probably the most nostalgic as it was first but i think later generations improved on it. Still the original 151 are still my favourite Pokemon (my dad called them Pokemen ) whether they are actually better than later ones or not.

My favourite team was probably: Venusaur, Alakazam, Jolteon, Gyrados, Sandslash and Arcanine.

Pokemon Red/Blue is my second to make the cut. It's pure nostalgia. Actually was replaying it a bit this summer and it really hasn't lost its edge! I got a nice Charizard going as well as a kickass Jolteon and Golem. If it's not the best Gameboy game, it's at least the second best (I can't remember where I played the other Gameboy game on my list at the moment).