It’s finally here! My top 10 video games of all time! Expect me to get a little rambly, as (obviously) I adore each and every one of these games.

10 – Train Valley 2

Year Released: 2019 | Platform: PC

This was my Covid game. When we were all told to stay home for 2 weeks, which turned into the better part of 2 years, I got really, really into Train Valley 2.

It’s a simple concept. You have stations dotted around the map, one of those stations produces workers, and wants a certian type of good, lets say, chairs. You build train tracks to the wood station, and send workers. Then when the workers are turned into wood (don’t ask), you build more track and send that wood to the chair shop. But the chair shop also needs workers, so you build rail and send people as well. Then, when the chairs are done, you send the chairs back to the person station, and you’ve succeeded.

Now that that concept, and multiply it by 50. You now have 3 person stations, all of whom want different things. There’s 10 different goods, and each good needs 3 other goods before they can produce. Also, your rails are built on the edge of a cliff, so you need careful management to prevent head on collisions. And to get 5 stars, you can’t turn any trains around.

It’s a cerebral puzzle, kind of like digging into a box of wires, and slowly teasing the edges until you find one that can be pulled loose. As you tug and tease, the knot gives way, and you end up in a flow state. You’re a symphony conductor of trains, deftly balancing 7 locomotives, all with different destinations and switching junctions at the precise moment to get everything where it needs to be.

By the time you hit the end game levels, some maps take upwards of 45 minutes per attempt. I recognize this puzzle game is not for everyone, but goodness me I fell in love with Train Valley 2 HARD. At 362 hours recorded on Steam, it’s my most played game on the platform. I adore this little train game, and am always eager to get back into it and work my brain through a new map.

9 – Mario Kart 8

Year Released: 2014 | Platform: Wii U

I was one of the apparently few people that bought a Wii U, and my reward for doing so, was Mario Kart 8.

I find it kind of remarkable how Nintendo manages to release a new version of Mario Kart, which feels perfect and amazing, and renders the versions that came before it as clunky and terrible. I loved Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, and then Mario Kart 8, but once the later one came out, I found it very difficult to go back to the older itierations.

Mario Kart 8 (with the DLCs) was the sole reason my Wii U stayed plugged into my TV for years after the Nintendo Switch launched. The main gimmick of Mario Kart 8 is the anti-gravity wheels and the tracks going up walls, upside down, and curving all around, but that aspect can largely be ignored, as the camera sticks behind you the entire time. It is kind of cool when you’re not the one playing, seeing the course in the background curl up into the sky, or enjoy the details in the distance. Beyond that, Mario Kart 8 doesn’t dramatically reinvent the formula, but it does deliver on fantastic arcade racing, with power-ups and chaos that keeps my wife and I coming back over and over again.

And really, one of the biggest compliments I can give a game, is that I bought it at full price, plus paid for the DLC on the Wii U, and then paid for it again on the Nintendo Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

I am mildly salty that the Nintendo Switch didn’t get a proper Mario Kart game of its own. I know Mario Kart World is waiting for me on the Switch 2, but I’m waiting for a while before I pick up any new hardware.

8 – Fallout: New Vegas

Year Released: 2010 | Platform: PS3

Fallout 3 was mind-blowing for me, but Fallout: New Vegas improved on the experience in every way. While I didn’t get the ‘mind-blown’ experience of exiting the vault for the very first time and exploring the wasteland, I was instead treated to the Mojave Desert, and the excellent factions and characters that inhabit it

Now, I first played New Vegas on my PS3, and it was fine. It was buggy, slow, and prone to crashing, yet I persisted. I loved chosing between the factions, each one having their own ending as they fight for control of New Vegas. Mr. House loading you up with cash, Yes Man pushing for an independent New Vegas, siding with the NCR to bring governmental legitimacy back to civilization. There’s also a Caesar’s Legion questline that I never followed, because I’m not a rephrensible human being.

Also, because Boone is my main man.

What really cemented New Vegas as one of my favourite games of all time, was when I built my first gaming PC and I picked up New Vegas: GOTY for $5 on Steam. The DLC was a breath of fresh air, as by that time I has already plundered the depths of the game, but the DLCs were new and exciting. And even after several full playthroughs, every time I set out from Goodsprings, I found something new. I was always uncovering more layers of the onion, and discovery is something that I really appreciate.

For me, New Vegas is peak Fallout. It’s the one I keep going back to, and the one I hope will inspire future games in the series.

7 – Super Mario Odyssey

Year Released: 2017 | Platform: Nintendo Switch

Super Mario Odyssey is the definition of whimsy. A wonderful 3D platforming adventure with tight, exciting controls, and dozens of gimmicks around every corner, Odyssey is just a damn joy.

It’s something I’ve come back to again and again, Nintendo games are fun. Mario Odyssey doesn’t lose itself in trying to be a dozen different genres, it’s just a colourful, fun, romp through a myriad of biomes, with excellent music, and original thrills. Yes, Mario is the same running and jumping dude we’ve been playing as for 30 years, but every game feels fresh and joyful.

What I have really come to appreciate, is how if you just want to breeze through the worlds, you can do that. But if you want a challenge, some of those moons can be a real pickle to pick up. Much like Breath of the Wild and those damn Korok seeds, there’s powermoons EVERYWHERE. The more you stop to look around, the more you’ll find. The firehydrant you’ve run by a dozen times, turns out you can move that to reveal a power moon. Sit down next to a dude, power moon. Scale your way to the tip-top of any level, and you can be sure you’ll be rewarded with a power moon. Those little achievements are a joy to reveal, and after playing through all the 3D Mario games with my daughter this year, I can definitively say, they are always getting better. If you can shake your nostalgia glasses off, I’m sure you’ll agree.

6 – Super Mario World

Year Released: 1990 | Platform: SNES

But this is the Mario game of my childhood. 3D Mario games are great, but nothing replaces the joy I get from Super Mario World. Unlike the collectathons that are the 3D Mario games, Super Mario World is all about running to the right and getting to goal. Sure, most levels have some kind of secret for you to find, which may open a branching path on the world map, but the goal is still the same. Get to the exit. Coins exist to give extra lives, and that’s all. Just, run and jump platform to platform, stomping Koopas, and making your way to Bowsers Castle.

I know I just talked about taking your nostalgia glasses off, but I’ve literally been playing Super Mario World since before I could read. This is the Mario game for me.

5 – Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Year Released: 2003 | Platform: GBA

While Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones was the Fire Emblem game I played the most, The Blazing Blade was the one I fell in love with.

Beginning with Lyn’s story, serving as a 10 chapter introduction to the game, culminating with her reuniting with her grandfather, not only does this part of the game introduce you to the gameplay mechanics, but it introduces you to many of the characters that will come back in the second act.

I have always been a character first type of person, and Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade really knocked it out of the park with a genuinely good cast. The character interactions were brilliant, and by the end, I felt like each unit did have their own motivations and characterizations, which is tough to pull off with such a large cast of characters. As always, I really enjoyed the support system, seeing characters that would never interact within the main narrative spin have their moments in the sun.

The plot, I actually have a hard time recalling properly. A year after Lyn saves her grandfather, you follow Eliwood as he searches for his father. Accompanied by his best friend Hector, they find themselves entangled in a plot to bring Dragons back to the world.

But for all the plot’s weaknesses, the maps and gameplay more than make up for it. I loved playing The Blazing Blade, and it continues to be one of the games that I go back to over and over again. Sometimes the pacing of the narrative can mean that if a character is unlucky in their stat growths, then they simply fall behind and get benched. This is something that was “fixed” in The Sacred Stones, but I will concede that allowing players to grind made the game trivially easy.

And as a special bonus, when you finish Eliwood’s adventure, you get to play through it again with Hector as the main character! It’s a bit like Ender’s Shadow, where it’s really the same story, but there is a little bit more characterization for some units from Hector’s perspective. Either way, I’m a big fan of having a bonus mode getting unlocked after you complete the main narrative.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade is the quintessential Fire Emblem experience. It’s a tactical strategy game with great characters. While every entry in the series that has come after it has tried to add their own unique takes on the system, The Blazing Blade is the bar against which every other Fire Emblem is measured against.

4 – Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Year Released: 2003 | Platform: Gameboy Advance

This might be one of the more controversial takes amongst the Final Fantasy Tactics community, if not the FInal Fantasy community at large. I ADORE Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

I’ve always appreciated the depth of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. As a kid, I struggled to understand Marche and his desire to return to the boring ‘real’ world after being isikaied into a Final Fantasy adventure. why would anyone want to leave a magical world where they’re strong and admired to return to a harsh and boring reality? Especially as he meets his friends who have all of their main troubles solved. Doned has his health, Mewt has his father, who is a respected judge. Ritz has her… red hair. But, I appreciate the story that focuses on doing whats right, not what’s easy or comfortable, even when your loved ones are the ones pushing against you from the otherside of the battlefield.

Most people will say that Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best games ever, but I personally think FFTA improves upon the original, mostly in respect to a more approachable story and style, but especially on the gameplay mechanics. Some people despise the Law system, but I never found it to be that difficult to work around. It is fusturating when a law forbids blades and your whole party is kitted out with swords, but I appreciate the game trying to push you in different directions, to keep you from being comfortable.

My biggest gripe with FFTA is once you have your 6 characters, you keep recruiting party members that you’ll never use. The characters that you do use, however, grow and change jobs in a way that is very reminicient to Final Fantasy V. The job system and customization options makes Final Fantasy Tactics an absolute joy to play.

3 – Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Year Released: 2009 | Platform: Nintendo DS

A reoccuring theme you’ll see in these top 3 games is the surprise reveal of more or a new map/world to explore. When I first played Pokemon Gold on my Gameboy, I had no idea that after I got all 8 badges, and on the cusp of challenging the Elite Four, I’d be back in Kanto. And further to that, after challenging the Elite Four, I’d get to explore Kanto all over again, rebattling the gym leaders that I spent so much time banging my head against just a few years earlier. That hidden feature just blew my 11 year old brain when I discovered it.

I’ve chosen for HeartGold to represent this game, because it’s probably the best remake that Pokemon has ever recieved, followed closely by Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The real shame with that remake was the exclusion of the battle tower, but I’m getting off track.

Pokemon Gold improved on Pokemon Red in every way. A day/night cycle that affects which pokemone are available, new pokemon types in the Dark and Steel types, shiny pokemon, held items, eggs and breeding mechanics, all of which do wonders to deepen the gameplay experience.

HeartGold and SoulSilver were the best remakes, bringing the excellent Johto region into the DS era. The bright spritework is brilliant, now your lead pokemon walks behind you, giving so much more personality to the mons you keep at the top of your party, redesigns to the bug catching contest and the safari zone, I could go on and on, but the more I write here, the more I want to go and play a Pokemon game, and doing that would derail my Final Fantasy project…

2 – The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Year Released: 1991 | Platform: SNES

This is the first video game I have memories of. My mom had a SNES attached to our living room TV, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was the game that was most often slotted in. I remember playing this before I could read, which means I spent a lot of time just wandering the plains and forests of Hyrule. To this day, I clear the first three dungeons with complete and total muscle memory.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past tasks Link with gathering the three pendants spread out all over Hyrule, so Link can obtain the Master Sword and defeat the evil wizard Agahnim. When you do that, however, you’re transported to the Dark World, which doubles the world map size, and tasks you with collecting 7 crystals. Just when you thought your adventure was coming to a close, BAM, a new world and new objective.

I’m going to firmly blame nostalgia for the fact that no other Zelda game has ever surpassed A Link to the Past for me. A Link to the Past is a warm hug, a familiar friend that I can always go back to. I adore this game, but not as much as the top game on my list.

1 – Tales of Symphonia

Year Released: 2003 | Platform: Nintendo GameCube

Tales of Symphonia was my introduction to the Tales of… series. You follow the story of Lloyd, who is best friends with Collette, the chosen. The game begins with the Chosen embarking on her journey of regeneration, which involves her unlocking the seals at the elemental towers scattered throughout the world. When she completes this journey, the world, which has been in decline, will be restored.

The Tales of series is known for its Linear Motion Battle System, which puts you in control of only one of your party members, with the others being controlled by AI, and sets you on a 2D battle plane in a 3D arena. It’s a little confusing to describe with words, but basically, all your enemies and party members are running around the 3D arena, while you target an enemy, and can run towards or away from your target. The battles all happen in real time, creating a more engaging combat experience when compared to many other JRPGs of the same era.

As your party goes on the pilgrimage of salvation, unlocking the seals on the towers, and eventually scaling the tower of Salvation, in a big twist reveal, the party is transported to a second planet, the flourishing world of Tethe’alla. You eventually learn about the system of flourishing and declining worlds is due to the two worlds vying for access to the limited supply of mana, and the worlds were rent in two by an ancient hero named Mithos. Because Lloyd is dumb and an idealist, he simply proposes to put the worlds back together again. How lovely it must be to be unburdened by logic and reality.

I love the characters in Tales of Symphonia. There’s an affinity system that affect which characters join you for certain events in the game, and as a kid, I replayed the game enough to experience those events with every single character. This is another game that I was obsessed with as a teenager, eventually hitting that 100% completion goal, and then continuing to replay the game again and again, just because I loved the world so much. If I recall correctly, my GameCube save file had 36 game clears on it.

I should also mention that after completing a game and starting new, you are given access to a GRADE shop, which modifies certain things for your next play through. From increasing the amount of money and GRADE you can earn, to keeping your techs and titles, after enough play throughs it is possible to have everything there is to experience on a single save file.

I could go on and on, but Tales of Symphonia is a special game for me. The story of racism and perseverance resonated with me at a young age, and I love returning to this game over and over again. It’s just a shame that all the ports and remasters use the PS2 version as their base, which is locked at 30fps while the original GameCube version was a buttery smooth 60fps.

And that’s it, my top 100 video games of all time. Thank you so much for checking out my lists! As always, please let me know which games you also love, and what game would you call your #1 game of all time, if pressed for an answer!