1. Super Mario:
It's hard to think of anything better the the first five Super Mario games, It would be #1 on my list simply on the strength of SUper Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World alone. The games are all showcases of the very best in platform level design and are among the best looking and controlling games on their respective systems.
2. Final Fantasy:
Besides Super Mario Bros. no other franchise dominated my childhood like Final Fantasy. I first found FFVI not long after it was released in the U.S. I was 10 years old and it was the first RPG I truely fell in love with. From there I would seek out FFIV and FF and then waited for the release of FFVII, which completely blew me away again. FFVIII and FFIX had similar effects and sealed the franchise for me.
3. Chrono Series:
Awhile after my discovery of Final Fantasy I also happened upon Chrono Trigger which would become one of if not my favorite game ever (to this day), the story, beauty, combat, and amazing time travel dynamics place the game alone near the top of this list, and including a great follow up like Chrono Cross only pushes it farther. It takes nine Final Fantasys to slightly edge out two Chronos.
4. Street Fighter:
The grand daddy of all fighters, I spent so much time in the arcade playing Street Fighter II and it's followers. The balance the series shows is really unmatched, to this day I would still take Street Fighter II over any other fighter ever made, it's just that good. Including all the spin offs, and other Street Fighter series it's just hard to not include it this high.
5. The Legend of Zelda:
I have many fond memories of playing The Legend of Zelda at the age of 4-5, with my father helping me through the dungeons. It would be a few years before I was playing it on my own and when A Link to the Past arrived I was estatic. While the early games mean a lot to me, I never fully liked the transition to 3D, so it fell down my list some.
6. Sim City:
My first experience with Sim City wasn't on a PC, it was on the SNES and I played the hell out of that game, always trying to build a bigger city then my last then destorying them in a wave of glory. I'd leave my SNES on over night to rake in the money for massive building sprees the next day, and the sequels only stole more time from me.
7. Sonic The Hedgehog:
When I was a kid you either liked Mario or Sonic, not both... I secretly liked Sonic. I didn't get a Genesis until later on in it's life cycle (pretty much just wanted it for a better version of SF2) but the included Sonic The Hedgehog 2 ended up becoming one of my favorite games of all time, it might not be Super Mario Bros. 3 but it's pretty damn close.
8. Xenogears:
The only single game on my list, the overall strength of the plot alone makes it one of the greatest games ever. Xenogears had a profound experience on me, showing me the depth a video game could have (and to think I almost never played it, a friend of mine wanted my copy of FF Tactics which I had already beat... and thus Xenogears came into my life).
9. Gran Turismo:
Gran Turismo 2 is still one of the greatest racing games ever, the amount of cars, tracks, and fun produced by that game was insane. I remember first seeing Gran Turismo and wondering how they could have so much stuff in one game. Gran Turismo set the standard for the modern racing game, a legacy it continously sets with each release.
10. Metal Gear:
I most remember Metal Gear being a really tough NES game, one that I could never beat as a youngster (it would be several years into the 16 bit era before I would beat it, and even then the story didn't completely soak in) However when I first got a play of Metal Gear Solid on a PS1 demo disc I had to have it, and it started a long trend of me loving Metal Gear.
