These are my top favorite games at the moment, but that could change at any time. These are in no particular order, as I couldn’t decide which were better or worse since I’ve enjoyed all of these games for different reasons.
- Pokémon Silver/SoulSilver
The second generation of Pokémon, originally released for the Gameboy Color, will always be my favorite out of the entire franchise. One of the reasons why is that they were and still are the only Pokémon games where you can travel through 2 different regions, due to being a more direct sequel taking place 3 years after the original games. Originally, this wasn’t going to happen, but the always amazing Iwata (may he rest in peace) found a way to successfully compress the game enough to fit both regions in. When I was younger, I played this game with my older brothers. Sometimes if a battle was too hard for me, I’d let them play because I clearly didn’t know what I was doing, which also contributed to my fond memories of it. This generation had of number of improvements and changes since the first, such as a day and night system, a breeding mechanic, and two new Pokémon types just to name a few. This game and it’s opposite version were later remade for the Nintendo DS with the updated graphics and game mechanics of the fourth generation Diamond and Pearl versions. The most interesting of them was that whichever Pokémon was first in your party would follow you around outside of battle, something not seen since Pokémon Yellow Version. The second generation of Pokémon games also has my favorite starter Pokémon family, Cyndaquil, which evolves into Quilava, which evolves into my overall favorite Pokémon, Typhlosion (shown below).
It’s a fire echidna/mouse that turns into a weasel and then a honey badger
- Yoshi’s Island
People that I talk to who don’t like this game says it’s because of baby Mario but… NOBODY LIKES BABY MARIO, NOBODY PLAYS IT FOR HIM… sorry, I got a little heated there. I like this game because i always liked Yoshi as a character and was sad that there wasn’t a game where you could actually play as them (as a little kid I loved dinosaurs). Then the Gameboy Advance port of Yoshi’s Island came out and I absolutely loved it. I even kept my Gameboy Advance SP and this game so that I can still play it whenever I want. Unfortunately, other Yoshi games just have not been able to recreate a similar feel, and I really hope that Yoshi’s Woolly World changes that, but if not, then it may just be the feeling of nostalgia that makes this game so much better than its successors.
- Shadow of the Colossus
While I think this game is severely overrated, it’s still one of my favorites. When I first saw the game years ago, I thought the concept was awesome enough, but wasn’t interested enough to actually get it. Years later I regretted this decision and bought the HD re-release on the Playstation 3. The controls are a bit difficult in my opinion, but not enough to ruin the rest of the game. The feeling of climbing up and fighting against giant bosses is amazing, and each boss actually feels different and unique because of the strategies used to defeat them. It was groundbreaking for the time it was originally released and I’m glad it was notable enough to get an HD re-release. I’d like to see a spiritual sequel on the PS4, because it would look even more gorgeous and the boss battles could create an intense sense of epic-ness that people could have only dreamed of back in the PS2 era.
- The Legend of Zelda Windwaker HD
I got Windwaker HD for free, since at the time Nintendo was doing a promotion where you could get one free Wii U game for registering a copy of Mario Kart 8. This seemed like the best choice, as all the other choices were the other Mario games that were on the Wii U at the time. I’ve heard a lot of people say this is the easiest Zelda game, and I might agree because it was the first one that I finished. I just love the atmosphere of this game, from the music, to the art style, to sailing around a huge ocean with pirates and exploring islands, to Link’s great facial expressions.
Like this one
As a kid, I loved anything related to Treasure Island, especially Muppet Treasure Island, so I’m not surprised with how much I enjoy the pirate and island exploration motif of this game. Being a more lighthearted Zelda game, it reminds me of a Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli movie. This is especially noticeable with the koroks (Leafy wood spirits), which are similar to the Kodama wood spirits from Princess Mononoke, based off of the same Japanese lore. The light tone also provides a decent contrast to both the previous entry of the Zelda series, Majora’s Mask and the later game Twilight Princess.
Korok from Windwaker and Kodama from Princess Mononoke
- Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
This game is insane, and I’d expect nothing less from Platinum Games. I’ve never been a huge fan of Metal Gear games because I’m terrible at stealth. When I first saw the trailers and demos for this game, however, I thought: This is the craziest and most awesome video game I’ve ever seen. I first played the demo back when I had an Xbox 360, but did not actually obtain it until I got a PS3, after playing Platinum’s other great games Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2. By the time I bought the game, the playable DLC was free, and who doesn’t like free extra content? This game has it all, from cyborg ninjas to giant robots to samurai showdowns as well as a soundtrack with no better words to describe it than totally kick-ass.
- War of the Monsters
I feel like this game is often overlooked and under appreciated. This is a fighting game with giant monsters and destructible environments. The twist is that most these monsters are homages to the giant monster movies of the 1950’s, instead of being part of a franchise. The loading screens even show movie posters for most of the monsters depending on which monster you’re about to face, or which area you’re about to fight in.
This one shows my favorite monster, Raptros the dragon
The problems with a lot of other games like this is that they do not properly recreate the feel of playing as a giant 50 foot monster and have too many limits on gameplay. In some other Kaiju (giant monster) fighting games, combat is too slow and not paced right, or environments are not destructible enough, and it really ruins the sense of immersion. In War of the Monsters, the speed is fine and you can destroy the environment until it has become a nearly barren wasteland, there is even an option in multiplayer to completely rebuild the level once your fight is over. There are some problems, such as an awkward camera you can’t fully control, as well as some unblockable attacks. These problems can be easily overlooked once you get a hang of the controls and look at everything else the game has to offer . On another note, you can also step on people as if they’re ants, and that’s always fun. It’s unfortunate that this game didn’t have any merchandising other than the game itself, I would’ve loved figures of these monsters, or actual posters like the ones shown during loading screens.
- The Darkness 2
I’m not a big fan of first person shooters, but if you add demonic powers then you can count me in. I love when characters have demonic or dark powers, because more often than not it causes the character to have an internal struggle, and this game is no exception to that. This game is a sequel to The Darkness, an adaptation of a comic series by the same name created by Marc Silvestri. Being based on a comic book series, this game has great looking cel-shaded graphics to make it feel closer to a comic book in video game form. I find most first person shooters to be boring and repetitive, but this game changed that for me. The Darkness 2 has something called “Quad-wielding”, meaning that you can dual wield guns and in addition have two demon arms that can help you fight and can protect you from enemies. This game also has a great story, and you don’t even need to play the first game beforehand to fully understand it.
- SoulCalibur 2
I wish Bandai Namco make a Soul Calibur that was more like this one in look and feel, as the other Soul Calibur games just haven’t had the same quality since then in my opinion. Having Star Wars characters in Soul Calibur 4 was interesting despite making absolutely no sense, and Soul Calibur 5 was horrendous. Each version of Soul Calibur 2 had a different console exclusive character, PS2 had Heihachi from Tekken, Nintendo Gamecube had Link from Legend of Zelda, and Xbox had Spawn because at the time Xbox didn’t have any mascots that would have worked well in the Soul Calibur universe, and I still don’t know if they do. The new HD online version released for PS3 and XBOX 360 has both Heihachi as well as Spawn. When I was younger I had the PS2 version and was didn’t understand why Link wasn’t in it. Despite this, I still found the game to be quite enjoyable anyway, due to having a somewhat entertaining choose your own adventure kind of story mode. Later on, when I was a bit older, I got the Gamecube version and loved it even more. Sadly, I lost it while moving back home for the summer from college, but I at least still have fond memories of it, as well as the HD online version downloaded on to my PS3.
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (Pronounced 358 days over 2)
It was really hard to decide between this game and Kingdom Hearts 2 because I enjoyed playing through both of them. I played Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2 junior year of high school and at the time, I didn’t have any friends who were fans of it. I played 358/2 Days during the beginning of my sophomore year of college and felt much more of a connection to it due to the group of friends (also Kingdom Hearts fans) I had at the time. While I agree that the gameplay of the panel system has plenty of problems, this is the one Kingdom Hearts game that I feel like I will always be able to go back to because of it’s re-playable missions and multiplayer modes. I don’t have to create a separate save file at a certain part of the game to replay it, I can just select it instead.
Unfortunately, instead of trying to create a full HD remake of this game for Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD like they should have, an HD cinematic compilation was created. The compilation had short stories to read between scenes about the missions you would have done, and if you have any kind of DS you might as well just play the actual game instead. On the other hand, they did make it an easy way to get PS3 trophies…so I guess there’s that…
- Simpsons Arcade
Simpsons Arcade was my Turtles in Time, which is understandable because they’re both beat ‘em ups made by Konami in the 90’s. I was never a big TMNT fan (more of a Power Rangers kid), while instead I’ve been watching The Simpsons since I was born, although not nearly as much in recent years. This game was out when The Simpsons were at the height of popularity in the early/mid 90’s, back when more arcades were around. When I was younger I would go down to the local arcade play this game with my dad or my brothers. From my experience, it turns out a lot of people do remember this game and enjoy the sense of nostalgia it brings despite its short play time. I bought it as soon as i found out it had been re-released for consoles, and still have it today.
Honorable Mentions: Bubble Bobble, House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return, Pokemon Emerald, The Last of Us, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland, Pokemon Stadium, Jurassic Park Arcade, Looney Tunes GBC, Bloodborne, Kingdom Hearts 2
TEAM-UP GAMING 
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