[Phalanx]

I wanted to make this "top 5", I really did, but I felt like maybe I'd be forced to put certain games ahead of others that would've damn near equally made the cut. I know we've done the whole "favourite games" bit before, but where prior to this, most of them have been "on a system", this one's more "across the board".
Anyways...
If you were to consider every game you can recall ever having played, whether storyline, or gameplay, or graphics blew you away, or you just had a great amount of fun playing them...any system, pc OR console...what would be your top 10 games of all time, and, why?
No particular order required.

*Max Payne (pc, ps2, xbox)
If I were to choose a #1, I think this might be the one...The first one had way more impact than the second, which just felt like an expansion pack to me. The whole ultra-noir gritty "detective/mystery" storyline, the music was just incredible, the characters full and interesting, the dark imagery of both ingame and those awesome comic strips. The dream sequences, which you played through ingame...looked and felt disorienting...the overall challenge of the game was just PERFECT. The variety of different levels, from escaping fire (I died, again and again), to shooting up a club of cultist gangsters, to escaping from a bunch of armed thugs with nothing but a baseball bat...The voiceover narrative was done really nicely, the dialogue between some of the thugs and ingame characters was interesting and funny, and who didn't like the combat? Simple concept, great execution.
They promised you'd play an action movie, and that's exactly what you got.
Not to mention how "pure evil" the main badguys in this were...wow...
Absolute gaming satisfaction.

*Shining Force (sega megadrive)
I never really liked turnbased/strategy games at all...but this one showed me that with a decent storyline, and a good character combat/upgrade system, and the right balance of rpg/combat ratio, how well they could work. This game was fun, fun, fun. Looked nothing more than your average top-down rpg/strategy game yet managed to draw me in like no other.
This game changed my opinion, and really set the standard for me for games of this type.

*Blood (pc)
For sheer crazy, and 80's style horror content, this one gets it.
If you are into horror, you can't help but notice the whole game is one homage after another...someone with a love of horror put this together, for sure.
Some FPS games are just pure fun, and this one remains high on the list.
Good difficulty level, and nice level design. Enemies that you just LOVED to kick the shit out of...
A game that I still go back to when I find occasion...in fact, might have a look for a copy on ebay soon.

*Bomberman world (dyna punk) on arcade.
Finished this one, and that's a rare thing for an arcade game...I personally think this is the best bomberman game I've ever played. It was just so FUN.
The music was a little repetetive, but it worked for the game...the powerup system was just mental, hooking y'self up with explosives that take out half the screen...I loved the enemies, from the chickens who ran at you, to the ghosts that phased through everything, to those little purple bastards that would eat bombs and try to run after you like suicide bombers. It went from easygoing levels, to completely frantic...the bosses were NUTZ.
One player, or two players, it was great. Not to mention the deathmatch style levels too, great fun for up to four human or pc players.
I have never played another bomberman game that I've enjoyed as much as this...many have come before and after, but this one was it.

*Flashback: The quest for identity (multi-format).
What a COOL sci-fi storyline. From the intro (in that glorious oldskool blocky 3d) to the end, this one had it going on...the amnesia angle, the "message from yourself" setting you off on an unforgettable journey through some really great looking locations. The music rocked it, in this one too, so atmospheric and well suited to the game and scenes within...
The combat/control system was easy to pick up (and a treat for anyone into the old prince of persia style games), diving to the ground, rolling and coming out firing was great fun, running and taking those crazy leaps...the whole motion capture made your character look very cool IMO.
How about the variety of levels and missions? The initial jungle escape, Bodyguarding, courier, cyborg hunter, the crazy "running man" style gameshow, disarming bombs...Infiltrating military bases, fighting off hordes of shapeshifters on alien planets...
The weapons and gadgets you used were very clever and cool too, I remember the point-to-point teleporter was just the coolest.
Very challenging game, but I think the average gamer could get through it given the right amount of effort. For me, easily one of the most memorable games I've ever played. I well and truly hope this one gets a re-release on the wii.

*Dungeon Siege.
This game drew me in so much so that I'd never have expected it, really made you feel like you were on an epic quest, the music is probably some of the best I've heard in a game to date.
The party/team system was great, the armour/weapon/magic/upgrade system was very cool, and easy to use. I loved being able to set each character to different combat modes and formations depending on their strengths and weaknesses too...you could have a party of all archers, all melee, or all magic users which was pretty cool, but the best fun was mixing it up a little. You had to take care of all your characters in battle, which I found very "involving",and fun. Got a little crazy at times, fighting, healing, restoring mana, healing, ressurecting, fighting some more...when you got rushed, things just went nutz, but if you died, you learned from it, every time, and changed your approach.
I REALLY liked the levels on this one too, each one different from the last. The open fields, the spiders lair, the swamps, the underground goblins lair (now THAT was fucking cool...the goblins and their war machines...good stuff), the volcanic underground, loved it. The missions and sub-storyline quests were varied, and held the interest well.
Zombies, spiders, goblins, robots, bandits, magicians, magical creatures, demons...what's not to love? The bosses as well, they were great...a good challenge through and through. Another one I'll revisit soon.

*Crash Team Racing (ps1)
Cart games are cart games, either you like 'em or you don't.
For me, this one had an excellent singleplayer mission based game.
The races were fun, each having different shortcuts and ways to play them...the weapons system is IMO the best there has been in a cart
or racing game yet...and the "challenges" were exactly that, none of
them simply a breeze, but all rewarding in the end. The "boss/key"
races were a bit frustrating, but made you damn near stand up and
scream "suck it!" when you won.
The graphics were cartoony and fun, very well suited to this game.
I think young and old players alike can enjoy this one.
The two-player races and battle-circuit mode was SO fun...myself and
my chick played against eachother so many times, we both got so
good at it that sometimes we'd end up battling for a couple of hours
at a time...this game made you laugh...