I found a list on my Google Drive account, seemingly from 2008, which identifies itself as the “Best Games”. Obviously there have been a number of amazing games released since, but it’s interesting to see whether I still consider these to be near the peak of gaming. I’ll start with the list, and then below I’ll enter some thoughts.

1. Phantasy Star Online
2. Populous the Beginning
3. Crazy Taxi
4. Samba de Amigo
5. Advance Wars Dual Strike
6. Halo
7. Advance Wars Dark Conflict
8. Sonic 2
9. Mario Kart DS
10. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
11. Mr Driller Drill Spirits
12. Zelda: Wind Waker
13. House of the Dead 2
14. Puyo Pop
15. Tubaruba
16. Tetris DX
17. GTA3
18. Sonic
19. Treasure Island Dizzy
20. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
21. Spindizzy
22. Mario Kart Wii
23. Geometry Wars Galaxies
24. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
25. Sonic CD
26. Halo 3
27. Zoo Keeper
28. Populous
29. Yoshi’s Island
30. Super Mario Bros
31. Yoshi’s Story
32. Super Mario World
33. Sega Bass Fishing
34. Wii Sports

There’s nothing in this list that I’d consider a bad game. I’m surprised at the lack of 3D Mario, and there is some [at-the-time] recency bias there in terms of how high Advance Wars games are (and the fact the DS versions are the ones chosen). The CPC games are more nostalgia-driven than others – and why is Treasure Island Dizzy there instead of Fantasy World?

Phantasy Star Online is still magnificent, and I’ve played it recently via the Schthack servers. It is a shame that later versions of the game over-complicated it or required too much time investment. However, Populous the Beginning is a better game, and should be at the top.

Games that are too high? Crazy Taxi, Advance Wars Dark Conflict, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (the worst game on the list, probably), House of the Dead 2, Yoshi’s Story. Others should probably be further down but mainly because in the years since there have been so many more amazing games released. Some games have been completely superseded – Wii Sports Club and Switch Sports are better in every way, and Halo Anniversary (and the Master Chief Collection) include the original game in its entirety, plus more. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the ultimate in that series.

What would my top games list look like now? That’s a topic for another post …

I found a list on my Google Drive account, seemingly from 2008, which identifies itself as the “Best Games”. Obviously there have been a number of amazing games released since, but it’s interesting to see whether I still consider these to be near the peak of gaming. I’ll start with the list, and then below I’ll enter some thoughts.

1. Phantasy Star Online
2. Populous the Beginning
3. Crazy Taxi
4. Samba de Amigo
5. Advance Wars Dual Strike
6. Halo
7. Advance Wars Dark Conflict
8. Sonic 2
9. Mario Kart DS
10. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
11. Mr Driller Drill Spirits
12. Zelda: Wind Waker
13. House of the Dead 2
14. Puyo Pop
15. Tubaruba
16. Tetris DX
17. GTA3
18. Sonic
19. Treasure Island Dizzy
20. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
21. Spindizzy
22. Mario Kart Wii
23. Geometry Wars Galaxies
24. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
25. Sonic CD
26. Halo 3
27. Zoo Keeper
28. Populous
29. Yoshi’s Island
30. Super Mario Bros
31. Yoshi’s Story
32. Super Mario World
33. Sega Bass Fishing
34. Wii Sports

There’s nothing in this list that I’d consider a bad game. I’m surprised at the lack of 3D Mario, and there is some [at-the-time] recency bias there in terms of how high Advance Wars games are (and the fact the DS versions are the ones chosen). The CPC games are more nostalgia-driven than others – and why is Treasure Island Dizzy there instead of Fantasy World?

Phantasy Star Online is still magnificent, and I’ve played it recently via the Schthack servers. It is a shame that later versions of the game over-complicated it or required too much time investment. However, Populous the Beginning is a better game, and should be at the top.

Games that are too high? Crazy Taxi, Advance Wars Dark Conflict, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (the worst game on the list, probably), House of the Dead 2, Yoshi’s Story. Others should probably be further down but mainly because in the years since there have been so many more amazing games released. Some games have been completely superseded – Wii Sports Club and Switch Sports are better in every way, and Halo Anniversary (and the Master Chief Collection) include the original game in its entirety, plus more. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the ultimate in that series.

What would my top games list look like now? That’s a topic for another post …