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!
I like mushrooms, but only in the context of the kitchen. Some tasty morels, lobsters, and oyster mushrooms will always get me excited. I do find mushrooms kind of fascinating, how fast they can grow, how different they can all be, but their poisonous nature has always made me rather just get my mushrooms from a store instead of trying to venture out and pick my own. The last thing I need is to get a hospital visit because I mis-identified the gills of a chanterelle or something.
Undergrove is designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wootton, and published by AEG in 2024. In Undergrove, players are Douglas-fir trees, and are tasked with trading resources with the mushrooms that dot the forest floor. Your actions involve trading Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium with the mushrooms, to get special benefits or to just get more resources than you’re generally putting out. The core of the game is to use the Carbon to activate the mushrooms, then absorb that carbon through your roots to grow a mighty evergreen.
The care and interest of the mycology science shouldn’t be a surprise. Elizabeth Hargrave is the president of her local hobbyist mushroom club, the Mycological Society of Washington, DC, and she and Mark Wootton had many conversations with entomologists and PhD students to discuss how the science works. Sure, Undergrove abstracts some concepts, and the giant mushroom tiles may indicate the outsized abundance of the mushrooms in a real forest, but hey. It’s a board game, it’s often more important to be fun than correct.
The mycology theme is wonderful, and the production is utterly gorgeous. I have the Kickstarter edition with all the wooden pieces, including the amazing painted wooden tiles. The screen printed wooden pieces are all beautiful, and there are snug little circles cut out of the corners for your player pieces to sit. The art on the tiles by Beth Sobel is fantastic, colourful, and beautiful. Building out a large tableau of mushrooms is a sight to behold! There are sturdy tuck boxes for every resource and for every player’s pieces, making the inside of the main box a tidy affair. AEG absolutely knocked this production out of the park.
So the science is good. The art is great, and the production is fantastic. How’s the gameplay? Well, here’s where my notes turn a bit sour. Undergrove is a tight resource management game. Activating most of the mushrooms on the board require you to at least spend 1 carbon, and often will have you flip a mushroom activation disc (so you can’t just juice the same tile over and over again). The only way to get carbon is to take the photosynthesis action, which provides you with 2 carbon as a base. Then, you may choose to throw away any nitrogen you’ve accumulated for more carbon. The economy is already tight, it feels punishing to be jettisoning your nitrogen in exchange for carbon that you’ll spend to get a surplus of nitrogen so you can do other actions.
Spending the carbon onto the mushrooms feeds really nicely into how you score points and win the game. The absorb action lets you take a carbon from a tile and move it onto your seedling. Once a seedling has absorbed 3 carbon, it blossoms into a full tree, unlocking the ability for that tree to score all four of its roots. But fret not, if the game comes to an end and some of your seedlings have one or two carbon on them, they can score one or two of their roots. Speaking of game end, there is a carbon track. Anytime a player absorbs any amount of carbon, they move one step up that track, collecting bonuses as they do so. Once someone has reached the end of that track, everyone gets one final action and the player with the most points, wins.
One of the challenges with that carbon track is that the pace of the game is solely controlled by the players. If no one is absorbing carbon, you’ll all just be having a merry time spreading your seeds and roots, building an impressive forest floor, and maximizing each one of their seedling investments, only to realize that the end of the game is still an hour away. Conversely, a player with a singular focus can rush the game to an end, rendering your efforts in building any semblance of an engine moot. I suppose it depends on what you want out of your mushroom game. Is the player who plays lean and fast the one to win, or can a player build strong enough to put up a fight?
A small anecdote. Bear, Otter, and I played this one together. Bear was having an absolute blast chaining actions together to squeeze out one more resource, hitting the public objectives where possible, and getting out nearly all of their seedlings and roots. But completely failed to absorb carbon, so when Otter and I completed the carbon track on the same turn, his score was half of ours, despite his far superior forest structure.
The other things you can do on your turn include spending carbon and phosphorus to throw your seeds to the wind and settle your seedlings elsewhere on the tableau. Similarly, you can spend a carbon and two potassium to sprout two roots on any of your seedlings. The roots play an important role for your trees (no duh), as the roots are what give you access to any of the abilities or actions the mushrooms provide.
I feel like Undergrove is supposed to be an engine building game. It has all the hallmarks for it. But in play, it’s really not. Many players will get excited at the chance to put down new mushrooms, to add to the board, but putting mushrooms down doesn’t get you anything. Sure, you can control the location of it, which may slightly benefit you more than others, but it’s not like putting down a mushroom gives you ownership or a strong benefit. You’re not really building and engine in Undergrove, you’re claiming slightly more efficient action spots, then choosing which one you want to use on your turn. Because of that, Undergrove’s gameplay arc feels flat. From about the 5th turn until the end of the game, not a whole lot really changes, robbing players a real sense of progression that other, perhaps bird themed games, have.
Undergrove left me in a curious state. I love its celebration of fungi and nature, the obvious reverence for real science, and the sheer beauty of its production. Sitting around a table filled with colourful mushrooms and tidy wooden trees is genuinely delightful. But once the novelty and aesthetic glow fade, the gameplay settles into a low, pleasant rhythm. Pleasant, but rarely stirring. Its tight economy and player-driven pacing create interesting decisions, yet the lack of meaningful progression makes those choices feel more iterative than transformative. If you’re looking for a contemplative, tactical puzzle wrapped in a stunning package, Undergrove is right up your alley, but if you’re hoping to build a powerful engine, then this isn’t the mushroom you’re looking for.
Gosh. I love all the games on this list. Any of these games could be in my top 10, but, there’s only 10 spots on that list, and way too many really great games competing for those spots! But, if you asked me in person, any of these games would be liable to slip their way up the list, depending on how front of mind these games are.
20 – Golden Sun
Year Released: 2001 | Platform: Gameboy Advance
Golden Sun was literally a buried treasure for me. I was a pre-teen, visiting a friends house, digging through his treasure chest, when I excivated a random GBA cart from the bottom. The sticker has been ripped off. I asked him what game this one, and he just shrugged, so I asked if I could take it home to try it out.
Golden Sun is an epic tale of young heroes with the ability to use Psynergy powers, trying to save the world. Satros and Merdini have kidnapped your childhood friends, stole the elemental stars, and are trying to light the four elemental lighthouses spread across the land. If they do, the world will surly end.
Along your journey, you’ll find some Dijinn, who can be assigned to different character to augment their powers. Also, many of your psynergy powers can be used in the overworld to solve puzzles, from forcing vines to grow, to reading peoples minds, to psychally moving distant objects.
It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly make Golden Sun special, but it holds a pretty special place in my heart, and it the kind of JRPG that I enjoy returning to every few years.
19 – Mass Effect 3
Year Released: 2013 | Platform: PlayStation 3 (multiplatform)
Much like how The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won 11 Oscars, not just because the individual movie was stellar, but it was more of a recognition of what the series had accomplished. Mass Effect 3 is one of my favourite games because it was the culmination of a trilogy of excellent sci-fi games. While the series changed gameplay styles from game to game, and some storylines were a little more boring than others, the overall experience was nothing short of phenomenal.
I was originally put off playing the entire Mass Effect series because of the voheminetly negative reaction around the finale. But for my money, I thought the ending was perfectly adequate.
What I really pine for, from Mass Effect 3, is the online multiplayer mode. It was seriously, so much fun. it was cooperative as you try to hold your own against a waves of enemies. I don’t usually play online modes, but that one was absolutely worth the time.
18 – Final Fantasy IV
Year Released: 1991 | Platform: Super Nintendo
I’ve been working my way through all the Final Fantasy games as part of a Final Fantasy Challenge, but even before I started that, Final Fantasy IV has been a favourite game of mine ever since I was a little kid.
I covered Final Fantasy IV in depth already based on my very recent replay, and the long and short of it is, Final Fantasy IV holds up. As I continue to go through the FF series, I’m seeing a lot of rehetoric that FF 6 through 10 was the “Golden era”. In my humble opinion, that era starts with FFIV, and if anyone asked where they should start with the series, I’d point them to Final Fantasy IV without hesitation.
17 – Banjo-Kazooie
Year Released: 1998 | Platform: Nintendo 64
Banjo-Kazooie has a pretty special place in my heart. I distinctly remember visiting a video store while visiting a friend, and I was allowed to rent one game for the weekend. My friend tried pushing me towards Doom 64, because “LOOK HOW AWESOME THE COVER IS” (to a 9 year old boy, anyway). But I’ve never been a big fan of gratuitous violence, instead I was drawn to the bright colours of Banjo-Kazooie.
A 3D platforming collecta-thon, Banjo-Kazooie has you tracking down 100 notes and 10 jiggies across 10 distinct worlds, before confronting the evil witch Guntilda. The worlds are focused and full of charm and secrets, but what really stands out for me is Grant Kirkhope’s absolutely iconic soundtrack. Every track for this game is an absolute hit, and even the re-jiggied album is one of my default soundtracks when I go for any drive that’s longer than 30 minutes.
I recently finished a “100%” replay of Banjo-Kazooie with my 4 year old daughter as a copilot, and had an amazing time doing so, but I made a terrible mistake. Turns out, on the 360 version, if you play Bottles puzzles before going to the Haunted Mansion level, the Banjo in the puzzle will collect 4 notes, and then they won’t be there when you make your way to the level, forever leaving your note count for that world at 96.
16 – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Year Released: 1996 | Platform: SNES
Mario and friends embark on a JRPG adventure across the Mushroom Kingdom to collect stars to repair the star road, and kick Smithy out of Bowsers Castle. Square crafted a wonderful, charming adventure, and while the RPG elements are a bit of a back seat, I did really enjoy the active turn based battle system, where well timed button presses will net you extra damage, or give you a bit of a defensive buff. The isometric view is excellent, the story is goofy, but when I was a 8 year old playing this for the first time, I felt like there was a real gravity behind the events as they unfurled.
I did play the Switch remake, and I had a great time revisiting the game, but the extra bits that were added sucked any difficulty away from the game. I felt a profound sense of joy when Princess Peach joined the party, and how excited my daughter got when she saw that Peach was a playable character, and demanded she be present in every battle possible.
To this day, I pine to see Geno in Smash.
15 – Donkey Kong Country
Year Released: 1994 | Platform: SNES
To me, Donkey Kong Country is the quintessential Donkey Kong game. The music is atmospheric and perfect, the platforming gameplay is challenging, especially if you’re aspiring to collection all the KONG letters in each level. I really appreciated the inclusion of 2 players here, so I could play with my siblings. We bonded as we cursed those bastard bumble bees.
I know future DK games add so much more to the ape’s gameplay, including Donkey Kong Country Returns barrel jetpack, or Dixie Kongs hair twirling helicopter, but for me, Donkey Kong Country is the DK for me.
14 – Mega Man X
Year Released: 1993 | Platform: SNES
Oh the Blue Bomber. Mega Man X takes the jump and shoot gameplay and gives you a dash and wall jumps. Now you’re zipping through levels, leaping over chasms, and blasting baddies to kingdom come.
I’ll be honest here, I can’t even be unbiased. I friggin LOVE Mega Man X. I played it so much as a kid, that I just innately know the order in which to fight the bosses, where all 4 health packs are, and I can clear this game in like, 90 minutes.
The momentum and excitement of Mega Man X is brilliant. If I’m being really honest, Mega Man Zero 2 is probably the better game (of course it’s the better game, it has a friggin SWORD), but Mega Man X has such strong nostalgia, that I can’t help but put it here on my top games of all time list.
13 – Super Mario Galaxy
Year Released: 2007 | Platform: Nintendo Wii
Side note, sometimes when I write the year released for these games, I feel like I’m a billion years old.
ANYWAYS, Mario Galaxy is a stellar entry in the Mario franchise. The core quirk is that Mario flies around to little unique planetoids, and he collects stars. The gravity of the planets is so much fun, and pretty technically impressive on how well they pull it off. After all, it’s not uncommon for you to be running to the left, then for the camera to swing around, and suddenly you’re running to the right. A few times, Mario gets stuck running in circles, but coming to a stop resets the joystick orientation.
Being a Nintendo Wii game, there is an emphasis on pointer controls and stick waggles, but thankfully those moments are fairly few and far between and unobtrusive. Getting through the game is a joyful occasion, but getting that 100% will make you want to tear your hair out in a couple places. From the daredevil runs where you need to beat a boss with 1 hp, or trying to collect 100 purple coins. And when you do get those 120 stars, you get to do it again as Luigi!
I love Mario Galaxy. Mario Galaxy 2 is also excellent, but I generally really appreciate original games, rather than sequels that improve upon the path blazed by the first game. It also helps that Mario Galaxy is a part of the 3D All Stars collection, and I recently replayed it, while Galaxy 2 is locked to the Wii. Perhaps it’s about time I configure my Wii emulator and revisit that Galaxy.
12 – Slay the Spire
Year Released: 2019 | Platform: PC
I was determined to not like Slay the Spire. I immediately disliked the art style. And the animation. I played my first game, died before the first boss, and called the whole game unfair.
I don’t remember what brought me back, but at this point I’ve poured hundreds of hours into Slay the Spire. It’s an absolutely brilliant game that just keeps revealing new layers the more you dive into the system. Every character is a unique puzzle to solve, every decision matters, and most often I feel like my losses are due to my own poor mistakes rather than randomness just being a jerk.
The ascension levels change the game dramatically, getting and beating A20 with each character was an incredible challenge that I was so proud of overcoming. Every deck building roguelike gets compared to Slay the Spire and more often than not, I drop them after a few hours just to return to Slay the Spire.
11 – Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire
Year Released: 2002 | Platform: GBA
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire is my most played Pokemon game by a very wide margin. First, I was on a 10 hour road trip with my school one year, and one of the other boys wasn’t interested in playing it, so he let me take it. When I started, he only had 1 gym badge, and when I gave it back, I had just reached the Elite Four. But what made me replay this version of Pokemon so much, was that it was so easily emulate-able. Every smartphone and laptop I’ve owned had since I turned 18 has had a copy of Pokemon Sapphire on it, and it’s generally my favourite way to kill time. Spin up a new save, and blaze my way through the Hoenn region. I have a deep love for Ruby and Sapphire, from the music, to the new ‘mons introduced in 3rd gen, all the way down to the colourful sprites. Going from Pokemon Gold to Pokemon Sapphire was an incredible jump in graphics for my little 12 year old brain.
And as you’ll see next week, this isn’t even my favourite Pokemon game. 😉
Generally, I prefer to play games in person before I start playing them on Board Game Arena. For one thing, I’m much more likely to actually sit down and learn the rules, rather than rely on click-and-pray and letting the computer manage all the rules. But for River Valley Glassworks, designed by Adam Hill, Ben Pinchback, and Matt Riddle, with art by Andrew Bosley, and published by AllPlay in 2024 after a successful crowdfunding campaign, I was drawn into a tournament and ended up playing 5 games back to back.
River Valley Glassworks is a game about collecting glass. The main board is a series of tiles forming a river, ending at a small pool. Each river tile has a number of rocks, indicating how many glass pieces get placed onto that tile, and a shape. On your turn, you take one of the glass pieces from your satchel, and place it on a river tile that matches the shape of the glass that you’re placing, and then take all the glass from one of the adjacent tiles. You take the tile, put it at the end of the river, refill it with glass based on its stones, and place the glass you collected into your player board.
Your player board consists of 5 rows, with 7 columns each. You can choose the order in which you place your glass, but if you already have glass of the same colour, then that glass has to go onto that column. Should you exceed 5 pieces, the extra goes into the overflow. Glass in the overflow will cost you 3 points at the end of the game, which comes up surpisingly fast. the first person to reach or exceed 16 pieces of glass triggers the end game, which has all players complete the same number of turns, then take one final turn, and then you move into end game scoring.
For end game scoring, you simply count each of your rows from left to right until you reach the first empty spot, then you score your two tallest columns. If multiple columns are of equal height, you score the lower value one. Subtract your overflow, and that’s the entire game!
River Valley Glassworks plays lightning fast on the table with two players. Averaging 10 minutes per play, I couldn’t believe how quickly the game came to a screaming end, which makes this game perfect for starting the night off, or a tidy night cap before everyone heads home.
The gameplay is smooth as silk, with the only real decision you need to make is which piece of glass you want to put down, and which of the two adjacent river tiles you want to take from. Once you have the glass in your hand, it simply flops onto your playerboard into the appropriate spots (unless you have two new colours being added to your board, then you choose which order to add them in, but I digress). There is the decision of when to take glass from the lake to replenish your options, but that only really comes up once or twice in the game. Although I have been sincerely tempted before to take the lake glass ‘early’, forcing one into the overflow before. The loss aversion I hold refused to let me do it, however, even if it would had given me the tactical advantage in the moment.
There are 8 different colours of glass, but only 7 columns on your board. It is an interesting challenge to consider if you want to get the common colours early so you can build fuller rows, or if you hold out to get them a few turns in, so you have an easier time filling the most lucrative columns. That push and pull of short term planning is delightful in this lightning quick game. And if whatever choice you make doesn’t pan out, just throw all the glass back in the bag and play it again!
I played the retail edition of River Valley Glassworks, which was a perfectly reasonable production. The glass pieces were lovely to look at, if a tad small. The river tiles were colourful and fit together perfectly, and each of the animal entrepreneurships you play as are full of character and are fun to look at. I did see some pictures of the deluxe version of this game, and while it looks absolutely gorgeous, with its neoprene mat for the river, dual layered player boards, and animal meeples, I don’t think any of those deluxe components really add anything to the game, especially considering how simple and lovely the gameplay is. Personally, I don’t like an overwrought production, and the retail edition fits the vibes perfectly.
River Valley Glassworks is quick, cozy, and approachable, but still gives you meaningful decisions and a puzzle that lingers in your head afterwards. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, it looks great on the table, and it’s the sort of game I can play back-to-back without blinking. It’s also great to play asynchronously on BGA, if you’re so inclined, as it’s always easy to parse the board state. If you’re in the market for a half-hour filler with charm to spare and just enough bite to keep you engaged, this is one river worth diving into.
I’m constantly reminded that nostalgia is a bitch. Case in point, every game on this list is 10 years old or more.
30 – The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Year Released: 2006 | Platform: Nintendo Gamecube
The last Gamecube Zelda game, or the first Wii Zelda game, depending on your perspective. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was the ‘realistic’ Zelda game we were all clamouring for back in the early 00’s. See, in 2002, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was released with a gorgeous, emotive cel-shaded art style that looked amazing. But all us edgy teenagers rebelled against it, calling it a baby game for babies. We wanted the dark and gritty browns that were so pervasive across all video games at the time.
In Twilight Princess, Link and Midna embark on an adventure to save the world from an encroaching darkness. With Link having the ability to transform into a wolf, and Midna having an ethereal hand to overcome… well, pretty much anything. Twilight Princess was the real follow-up to Ocarina of Time that fans at the time wanted, and while Wind Waker‘s art style has aged MUCH better than Twilight Princess has, the dark fantasy atmosphere did a lot to entertain my teenage brain.
29 – Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Year Released: 2005 | Platform: Nintendo Gamecube
Intelligent Systems first foray for Fire Emblem into the world of 3D was one of my favourite experiences. From centering the story not on a little lord trying to raise an army, but instead on a common man, Ike, who is thrust into a leadership role when the continent is embroiled in war, and his father Greil, the leader of the Greil Mercenaries, is cut down in front of him.
The moment that really sealed Path of Radiance into the upper echelon of video games, is the chapter that happens immediately after Greil dies. Two of your teammates abandon ship, and you’re left to defend the princess against a seemingly never ending onslaught of enemy forces. The despair and hopelessness I felt as a young lad, seeing more and more enemy reinforcements swarm in from all directions, each of my young characters desperately holding their choke points, was a formative gaming moment for me.
Beyond that single chapter, Path of Radiance also grapples with themes of racism and prejudice between the humans and the Laguz, a race of people who can transform into beasts. As most Fire Emblem games, there are politics in play, but the themes feel well executed and personal, as Ike struggles against a mighty empire, hell-bent on Laguz genocide.
28 – Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Year Released: 2007 | Platform: Nintendo Wii (multi-platform)
Guitar Hero 3 sits at number 28 on my top video games of all time list, simply for the sheer number of hours played. Guitar Hero 3 was the only guitar rythm game that I owned for a long time, and one of my friends bragged that he could beat every song on expert, so, naturally, I had to do at least the same.
It turns out he was lying at the time. While we were teenagers, neither of us managed Through The Fire and Flames (although he did send me a video of him accomplishing that feat almost a decade later), but Guitar Hero 3 was the game that forged my rhythm fingers, and trained me to be a video game guitar expert.
27 – The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Year Released: 2013 | Platform: Nintendo 3DS
You’ll find A Link to the Past near the very top of the overall list, but A Link Between Worlds holds a special place in my heart. Revisiting that version of Hyrule nearly 20 years later was a blast, but what made this even better was that I just so happened to have a day off work on the day this game released. I picked it up from the mall the moment it opened, then went home and played through the entire game, start to finish, in essentially one sitting. I don’t think I have ever done that before, and I had a phenomenal time doing it here.
What makes A Link Between Worlds unique was the Zelda’s team first foray into a more open-world design. Instead of getting a new item in the middle of a dungeon, you can rent items from Ravio, and tackle the dungeons in almost any order. Many of the puzzles of A Link Between Worlds has you slipping between cracks in the walls, and between the light world of Hyrule, and the dark world of Lorule.
Listen, I could go on, but A Link Between Worlds is a fantastic Zelda game, and perhaps it’s boosted by my love of a Link to the Past. But hey, this is a subjective list, what do you want from me?
26 – Stardew Valley
Year Released: 2016 | Platform: PC
Growing up, I remember ranting to my sister about how much I disliked Harvest Moon 64. It was boring, tedious, and obtuse. Why would anyone choose to play Harvest Moon?, I’d cry. “Why did you play it?” she asked me. At the time, I answered it’s because it was my personal ethos at the time to beat every game I owned. After all, I don’t get many games, so I need to make the most of the games I have. She rewarded me with buying Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, taunting me to either give up my ethos, or be miserable in my attempt.
While Harvest Moon wasn’t the game that broke my ethos, it did lay the groundwork for Stardew Valley, the indie PC darling that has absolutely taken over my family. It started with just me playing it, then I got my wife into it. We both had 100 hours into each of our farms, then we started a new multi-player farm. Then my mom came to visit, and she tried it, and now she has dozens of farms, all well beyond Year 3. Now my brother has gotten into it, including the mods, specifically Stardew Valley Expanded
Stardew Valley itself is a cross between a farming simulator, a dungeon dive, and a dating simulator. Obviously, it’s more than the sum of its parts, as it’s utterly charming, and the kind of game that demands “just one more day” out of you, despite it already being 2:30 in the morning, and you need to work your real job at 7am.
25 – Star Fox 64
Year Released: 1997 | Platform: Nintendo 64
In my honest, spicy opinion, Star Fox 64 was the first and last good Star Fox game. You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard to follow up on this on rails shooter. I mostly enjoyed Star Fox Command with it’s multiple endings, and Star Fox Assault, despite the annoying walking Arwing missions, but neither really managed to capture the magic that was Star Fox 64.
Star Fox, despite being on-rails, manages to get my heart pumping, every time I revisit this classic. The characters are all unique with their quips, alternating between being helpful and needing to be rescued, crafting the brotherhood forged in battle feeling. The levels all feel unique and intresting, many with several paths to discover, Star Fox 64 is one of my favourite games on the Nintendo 64, and is actually one that I make a point of replaying year after year after year.
24 – Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Year Released: 2003 | Platform: Game Boy Advance
The start of the Mario & Luigi series was magical. I remember standing in a mall, debating between Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga, and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. In the end, I’m glad I made the choice that I did (if only because I hadn’t played Golden Sun at that point yet), Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga is a wacky and charming adventure through the bean kingdom to try and get Princess Peach’s voice back. It uses an active battle system, mapping Mario and Luigi to the A and B buttons respectively, encouraging you to press a button during an attack to get some extra damage, or, dodge attacks from enemies when timed correctly.
It was a bright, colouful, and fresh take on RPGs, and I adored this game. I haven’t enjoyed anything else in the Mario & Luigi series as much as this entry, but, this one, I wholeheartedly recommend.
23 – Super Mario Bros. 3
Year Released: 1993 | Platform: SNES
Alright, before all you NES fans get mad at me, for me, Super Mario Bros 3 was a part of the Mario All Stars collection on the SNES, and that’s where I experienced it, so this is the proper verion of Super Mario Bros. 3, for me.
It’s great. The levels are unique and can be challenging, the music is excellent, and the SNES sprite work is brilliant. SMB3 is one of the best platformers of all time, there’s no question there. I guess, the only question becomes, why are there 22 games above it?
Well, there are only 3 platformers above it, and each one is a special, nostalgic entry for me. Perhaps I’m not fair, but hey, neither is life.
22 – Heroes of Might and Magic III
Year Released: 2000 | Platform: PC
Goodness, just looking at this screenshot makes me want to drop writing for the night and start playing HoMM3
My earliest memories of HoMM3 involve hot seat with two other boys, huddled around their dads Windows 95 PC. In Heroes of Might and Magic III, you play as heroes, as they scour the lands surrounding their castle, recruiting creatures to fight in their armies, building up the castles under their control, and pillaging the land for resources. Another one of those “just one more turn” games that will literally keep you at your computer until the sun comes up, it’s hard to put into words as to just what makes Heroes 3 SO SATISFYING.
When your hero encounters a mob on the overworld, or another hero, or even another castle, the scene shifts to a 2d hex map where a turn based battle takes place. In order of speed, each of the creatures under your control move, and will do damage, with many having special abilities, such as flying, unlimited counter attacks, ranged attacks, and more. Whichever side manages to eradicate the other first, wins!
Most of the campaigns will have you trying to wipe out all of your opponents, or searching for various relics to outfit your heroes with. On and on the game goes, your power and empire slowly growing with you, until you achieve victory, and you start again from 0 on another map. It may seem anti-climatic, but again, it’s SO SATISFYING TO PLAY.
Heroes of Might and Magic represent hundreds of hours across various play-throughs. It’s the best in the series, and it’s not even close.
21 – Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Year Released: 2004 | Platform: Game Boy Advance
My first Fire Emblem. I don’t think Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is particularly well revered within the community, but for me, it’s the bar against which all other Fire Emblem games are measured. It’s fairly short, only 20 chapters long (although the story splits in the middle of the game, making a replay much more interesting), and pretty straightforward. I can’t help but be led by my baises here. This is one of the few games that I completed 100%. Getting every support conversation for every character made me fall in love with each and every one of them. While not all support convos were created equal, this is the game that made me love the Fire Emblem series! I can’t help but have it elevated in my top games of all time list!
