19. Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Super Mario Kart is such a genius concept and was so perfectly realized that it's no surprise that virtually every developer - including Nintendo themselves - has spent the last two decades ripping it off. Its combination of compulsive playability and masterful level design remain unsurpassed, however. The courses really are something close to perfection, starting with the disarmingly simple Mario Circuit 1, which is like a sweet first date that leaves you wanting more, and progressing all the way to the treacherous Rainbow Road, which is where your charming new boyfriend knocks out all your teeth and anally rapes you. Like Super Mario Bros. itself, Super Mario Kart is one of those concepts that sounds so strange for a second or two, but once you start playing it, it all seems so natural and intuitive that you wonder why it took so long for someone to make it and how you ever got through life without it. That is, I suppose, the Nintendo magic.
