3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Gen)
What? You didn't think that all of that praise of Super Mario World would get to my head did you? Sure, it's a great game... But Sonic the Hedgehog is still better. Specifically Sonic the Hedghog 2, my first adventure with Sonic, the fastest thing alive. I mean, here we have a blue Hedgehog full of 'tude and just itching to get back at Dr. Robotnik (none of this Dr. Eggman nonsense) for trying to enslave Mobius (well, at least I knew the world to be Mobius... that's what the comics said). He and his best pal Tails sped through the many Zones and Acts until they got to the mad Doctor's most fiendish machine yet: The dreaded Death Egg. But all before that... there were Chemical Plants, Oily Oceans, Nights at Casinos, Hill tops, the tough as nails city of Metropolis... it was all there. It was all just a perfect blend of sweet music (Chemical Plant Zone and Metropolis Zone rank as my favorite themes), beautiful graphics (I just love how the 16-bit games held up so beautifully. This game still looks fantastic to this day.), and pitch perfect level design to harness Sonic's need for speed (and platforming).
Yeah, this game has it all really. My hat's off to you Sonic. It almost doesn't get better then this... but then again, we're still only at number 3 on my list...
