Inspired by Dr. Jones’ article on games that shaped the way he games, I decided to write about some of my favorite games. Since I have played hundreds if not more games, I needed a way to narrow down my choices. So I made three rules for myself:

1. I had to still own the game and system.

2. Only one game per system.

3. No hand held systems (just too many choices).

Now with this in mind, here is my list:

First up is River Raid for the original Atari 2600. I logged more time on this game than any other 2600 game. It was also the first game I bought with my own money. Whoot! Why is this one of my faves? At the time it was one of the first scrolling shooters for the Atari 2600. You got that non-stop arcade style action at home! Remember these were the days when your parents warned you not to go the the arcade and no home system even came close to what an arcade provided.

Next up is Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis. This is another classic shooter that just does not stop. This was the first shooter I played that side-scrolled, top-scrolled and bottom-scrolled. This game went in all directions and raised the standard for many shooters to follow it.

Following in the tradition of the Panzer Dragoon shooters for the Sega Saturn that came before it, Panzer Dragoon Saga was blend of RPG and action shooter. You got to fly around on your dragon or was it the dragon that flew around with his boy…? There was no traditional party, just the two of you fighting together. You could also customize your dragon into a few different classes. With an engaging story and fun game play made this game my top Saturn pick.

The Sega Dreamcast brought us House of the Dead 2. The original was one of my favorite arcade light gun games ever. HoD2 port to the Dreamcast lived up to the original. Nothing said fun like blasting zombies, gargoyles and other nasty horror movie rejects in streets and sewers of Italy. For real fun, I would hook up 2 light guns, set the game for 2 players and blast away with a gun in both hands, John Woo style.

After waiting years for another Final Fantasy game to be released in the US. SquareSoft finally released Final Fantasy VII for the Sony PlayStation. All I can say is that it was well worth the wait. FF7 boasted a very original story and was actually more Scf-fi than fantasy. High technology, robots, bio-mutants along with humans and dragons made for a nice change from the pure fantasy games that came before it. FF7 was one of the first RPGs that actually made me care about my characters. This really came out with the death of one of the main characters in the story (not saying who, in case you want to play it). I don’t mean just KO’ed and brought back at the local temple. He/she died as part of a major plot point in the story.

Here is where I kind of break my rule of one game per system, however to me these are two parts of one whole game. With all the great games our for the PlayStation 2 why the Lego Star Wars collection? Mostly because it is my son’s favorite game(s). The draw of this game for me is both the Legos and Star Wars. I spent hours and hours playing with Legos, building space ships, robots and all kinds of cars. Mix that with the Star Wars stories and to me it was gold. Its not the most complex game or the most challenging game, but it is pure fun! I am really looking forward to the next Lego title, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Well there it is, my list of all time favorites. Why no next-gen titles? I decided since I have only had my XBox360 and Wii for a few months, I don’t quite have an all-time favorite yet.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Prof. Venatus, still wishing I never traded my Super NES for magic beans.